Free 4 Me: I Went Shopping!

I did a little shopping today! <evil grin>

And by a little shopping, I mean I bought 10 boxes of cereal. My name is Tracy, and I'm a Kashi-Go-Lean-Crunch-aholic!

First stop: CVS

Transaction #1

Preparation H Wipes (10 ct) - $3.99
2 Mars Chocolate Singles- 2 for $1
-$2/1 Preparation H coupon
-$3 ECB (leftover from last week)
Pay: $.02
Get: $3.99, $1 ECB = $4.99 

The Prep H will be donated. This is a perfect example of a product we don't need/use but I buy anyway because it's actually a money maker with the coupon! There were a number of choices for the Mars candy bars. The hubs wanted to try Snickers Peanut Butter so we got two of those. I downed one when my sugar got low while out shopping and the second melted in the insane heat! It's in the freezer chillin' out (I crack myself up!) which is why it's not pictured. (In my opinion, there was no need to mess with Snickers perfection!)

Transaction #2

Buy 4 Hershey’s Pieces or Drops 8-10.5 oz. 2 for $5
Subtotal = $10 

- two $2/2 coupons from the 5/1 SS
Pay $6 - $4.99 ECB (from Transaction #1) = $1.01
Get back $3 ECB

I was just about to type "I'm not sure what I'll do with all this chocolate"... then I realized how stupid that sounds. I'll eat it, that's what I'll do... and maybe an entire bag in one sitting. Don't judge! 

I actually only paid $.01 for this transaction. You can see, hiding in the middle of all that Kashi, a Green Bag Tag (it looks like a leaf). If you are a new CVS shopper be sure to get a Green Bag Tag! They only cost $.99 and sometimes the red CVS coupon machine gives out $.99 coupons for them, making it free. You put the tag on any reusable grocery bag and they will scan it every time you use it for your purchases. After 4 scans your receipt will print out a $1 ECB. Well, I got one of these ECB on transaction #1 so I was able to use it on this purchase and pay just a penny. A penny! For all that chocolate! I feel like a winner!

(FYI, You can only scan your tag once a day. For example, I scanned it on my first purchase and got 1 credit towards my 4 but didn't get credit for using it on my second transaction.)

Transaction #3

 7 boxes of Kashi Go Lean Crunch @ $3= $21

Paid: $21

What?!? No coupons?!? I know! So unlike me. Here's the deal, CVS has a promotion this week which gives you a $10 gas station gift card for purchasing $30 worth of specific products. Kashi is one of these products and we all know how much I love my morning bowl of Go Lean Crunch. 

The regular retail price for a box of my cereal is $4.99. The sale brought it down to $3, but if you factor in the $10 gift card, the final price for each box is only $2. Lord knows I'll use that gas gift card, so it's not like I'm buying something to get a reward I don't need. The problem is that my store only had 7 boxes and I needed 10 to complete the deal. Fortunately my CVS card keeps track of my weekly purchases for me and it's not necessary to buy all items in one transaction in order to qualify for a reward. 

This led me to Stop #2 and Stop #6. Two more CVS stores in search for more Kashi. I found two boxes at Stop #2 and my final & 10th box at Stop #6. My last transaction printed out a coupon at the bottom of my receipt for a $10 gas station gift card, but there were only 3 choices: BP, Shell and Exxon. Since we don't really have any of these stations in my area, the manager at my store gave me a $10 gift card to CVS instead. Score! Fingers crossed for good ECB sales next week!

Stop #3: Kohls

I received an email this week from Kohl's with a Memorial Day Weekend offer: $5 off a $5 or more purchase plus 15% off the entire purchase. I can't believe I'm about to say this, but there wasn't really anything I needed from Kohl's. I mean, I always want stuff from Kohl's but I didn't need anything so I didn't want to end up paying money out of pocket just to get $5 off. I ended up buying a couple cards that I need for an upcoming graduation and a friend's wedding next weekend. Free stuff that we needed: Awesome!

Stop #4: Target

I bought quite a few things at Target, but only got one great deal on Banana Boat products. I purchased these items first in a separate transactions so I could use the gift card on the rest of the items I bought.

Banana Boat Aloe AfterSun Lotion $4.99 

Banana Boat Sport Lip Balm $1.97
Buy 2 Sun Care Products, Receive $5.00 Target Gift Card
- $1.00/1 Banana Boat Sun Care Item (excludes Lip Balm) from SS 5/22
Pay $5.96, Receive $5.00 Target Gift Card

Total: $.96 for both items

My husband asked me if I had a sunburn and I said, "Not yet, but I intend to at some point this summer." It's inevitable so this time I'm going to be prepared!

I also got a free tub of Cottonelle Fresh Wipes, courtesy of Get Fresh with a Friend.

Stop #5: Weis grocery store

I didn't get a ton of great deals this week at the grocery store, but I did use a free coupon for Breve Creme coffee creamer courtesy of Vocalpoint. (Stayed tuned for a post on Vocalpoint soon!)

That's what I bought today! Some free stuff, some awesome deals... just another day in the life of The 2010s Housewife! 

Did you get anything free this week?

My New Favorite Antique Store Find!

When I was little I played school for hours. I think every little girl wants to be a school teacher at some point. Well, first I wanted to work in a bank and wear a tu-tu everyday and marry a man on a motorcycle. Then the school teacher, followed by a marine biologist, a sports writer, a photographer, and finally what I am, a museum Registrar. (And hopefully, one day, a mommy.)

I got the antiquing itch one night just 30 minutes before the store I wanted to go to closed, so I made my husband hop in the car and indulge me. I sure am glad I did because I found two awesome pieces:

 

My very own school chair! I'm so excited! And, as shown in a photo from my living room mini-makeover post, a little blue sewing chest!

I had some high hopes for the sewing chest, but my distressing job on it didn't work very well. It had a very, very thick layer of blue paint on it, but a color that I liked. I tried distressing it but ended up having to use a power sander given the thickness of the paint. After spending too long on it I decided to stop with a light sanding. You can see the wood grain now and it sort of looks like it has a blue wash over it. I planned to distress it even further but I like it just fine as it is now. 

I'm not using it as a sewing chest. It's currently holding the special rags we have to clean our flat panel TV and some DVDs.

I did spend a little more time on the school chair and I'm very happy with the results. First, it was a bit dirty so I gave it a good cleaning with Murphy's oil soap.

After the initial cleaning

It was clear this wood was thirsty! It was very dry and washed out. So the next step was a coat of Old English.

The wood soaked up the first coat like a sponge, so I put a second coat on as well.

I was just about to call it complete when I got the best idea! I wanted to find a way to make it a little more personal, so looky what I did:

I'm surprised at how hard it was to carve our initials into the wood, and I had a sharp drill bit! Kids used to carve into their desks with just No. 2 pencils... I don't know how they did it! The carving looked a little too fresh so I put some Old English over that as well.

What do you think? Would you have carved into it too or left it as is?

Linking up @ Today's Creative Blog

Living Room Mini-Makeover

I don't know how it affects your household but clutter grows like kudzu around my home! Our living room was getting a little out of control lately. Heck, the entire house was getting out of control and in need of a major cleaning, especially after my Memorial Day weekend 'o projects.

I am my mother's daughter and if you know my mother you'll know that means I need to reorganize, move furniture or redecorate every couple months. The last time our living room got a major overhaul was about 9 months ago after the wedding, so it was getting to be about time again. I decided to do a little mini-makeover on it.

Here are the before & afters:

(click on photos to view larger)

I bought these furniture covers for our couch over the winter, not so much to protect the couch from my husband and cat (though that is needed as well) but more to protect my eyes from the couch. I love the size and layout of it, as well as the color, but this couch came with the husband and lived a life of bachelorhood B.T. (before Tracy) that resulted in a few battle wounds (beer stains, patches that became victim to my cat's former claws, a few tears... the usual).

I love the covers, but they are just two standard size couch covers I'm trying to pretend want to be a sectional sofa cover. They don't stay in place very well but I'm testing out a Velcro remedy that I'll report back on (if it works).

 

Here's a little sneak peak at my two newest additions to the hodge-podge family: my new blue sewing chest & my very own school desk! (Posts to follow) We HAVE to figure out a way to cover that awful air conditioner!

Just a little tidier, just a little more organized. Just a little more "the room is clean now so you better not junk it up!"

Can you spy with your little eyes the two projects I came up with to use up some of the burlap left over from our wedding reception? (Don't worry, posts will follow on those as well!)

This is the tiered organizers new home. This sofa table is right in front of our front door so it tends to be the landing place for anything in my hands when I get home. I figured I better put a few catch-all containers on it. 

We call this the cat cave. I think it's the coolest! I bought it at Bed, Bath & Beyond. It's meant to hide a litter box, say for an apartment or small living space, but we use it to hide the cat's furry bed.

You can see here the final home for my bottle bowl. I'm still not 100% set on the other items on the desk but this will work for now... at least until I get the urge to redecorate again.

I like to call our home decor theme "stuff we like." I remember once being asked what the theme of our Christmas tree was. Uhhh... "theme"? The theme is "ornaments we have," that's our theme! Just about everything we use to "decorate" our home has some special or sentimental history.

 

And lastly, I had to share our new bouncy ball jar. The cat is especially pleased with this addition!

Who else gets the urge every once in awhile to mix things up a bit?

In the Mail Today: Birthday Month!

Today's "In the Mail Today" post (redundant?) is extra special because it's kicking off a month long string of posts celebrating birthdays! Wonder why? Oh, I dunno.... perhaps because June is my birthday month?!?

Every year I forget about all the awesome deals and coupons and special offers that come in during my birthday month, that is... until the very first offer pops up!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!! 

A $10 off a $10 purchase coupon from Kohls! I can't even tell you how excited I was! I was so excited I decided to dedicate the month to a birthday theme: birthday deals/offers, special (inexpensive) ways to celebrate birthdays, frugal birthday party ideas, special recipes you'd only make for someone on their birthday, etc. Even if it isn't your birthday month, I hope you stick around for all the celebrating!

(I probably received this coupon because I'm a Kohls card carrier... and an MVP shopper! That's how I roll! But I'll look into how you too can get a birthday present from Kohls and report back.)

I also received a mailer for a free John Deere hat, but that has nothing to do with my birthday. After three summers of push mowing our acre of lawn we finally broke down and bought a John Deere riding lawn mower. I wish I had a photo of my husband's face when it was delivered- priceless!

I believe my Facebook status that day was: "If you told my 24-year-old self that my 27-year-old self would be living in Central PA, married, and the proud owner of a John Deere tractor, I probably wouldn't have believed you." (When I was 24 I was much more concerned with the new hot martini flavor than anything else, least of all getting married or buying a tractor.) A friend from high school posted in response that her & her husband had just bought one too and that she was stoked about the free pink JD hat she got at the dealership.

Errrrr! Excuse me what?? My husband only came home with one green JD hat! There was some 'splaining to do! Luckily for him John Deere's primary focus is my happiness because they immediately sent out this free hat offer, which includes the choice of green or pink. Now, both my friend and I will be cutting grass in style this summer!

The other item pictured was a free sample of John Freida hair care products that I signed-up for on Walmart.com. If you aren't already hip to this game, Walmart.com has a special section on their home page, down to the left on the side bar labeled "In Stores Now." Located here are links to a printable coupons page, a free sample page and some money saving tips.

Like I say, if it's free it's for me so I sign-up for just about any free sample someone is willing to send me. As an added bonus, free samples often some with higher value coupons than you usually find anywhere else. Walmart is currently offering samples for Revitalens contact solution, Carefree pantyliners and Tena protection pads.

Did you get anything awesome in the mail this week?

Wife Points Wednesday: My Husband's Babies

No... my husband doesn't have children, but he does have babies. At least that's what we call his little pepper seedlings.

As I've mentioned before, my brother-in-law produces and sells hot sauces and bbq sauces. He started first growing peppers at home, varieties of chilies he couldn't get in the store. That resulted in his own company and now his ghost pepper sauce is award winning.  There is apparently no such thing as too hot for these guys!

(Side note, his ghost pepper sauce does have ghost peppers in it- the hottest pepper known to man- but it's sooo good, even I can eat it! Granted, in small quantities, but that's all you need anyway. It's not a traditional hot sauce. It's chunkier and very, very flavorful! I can't stand hot sauces that are so hot they have no flavor. Or rather, the producer was more concerned with making it hot than giving it a good flavor. This hot sauce is a blend of hot and sweet peppers and I promise you won't be disappointed if you give it a try! It's the one hot sauce in the fridge that both my husband and I like.)

My husband is all fired up about growing peppers too (har, har... pun intended), but just for our personal use. He thinks there isn't a good cayenne pepper spice blend out on the market so he's determined to make his own.

He attempted growing peppers last year, but started too late in the season and they didn't last. Thanks to his brother's tutorial on pepper growing, this years seedlings are taking off! My husband transferred them into pots, now that the temperature outside is consistent at night, and he needed a way to mark which plants were which type of pepper. I caught him outside thinking intently about this and came up with an awesome solution for him!

I bought these stickers from The Vinyl Chalkboard for a project for my husband's 30th birthday party this past spring and had a few leftover. I used a paint marker instead of chalk since they will be outside in the elements, though they won't be reusable now.

I'm not really all that interested in growing peppers, especially since I have a reputation for not being able to keep anything alive. (I just buried love fern #4 outside... it was a slow, miserable death.) But my husband has that sort of childlike excitement about them that we adults unfortunately don't get too often anymore and I love that! This was just one little way of encouraging and supporting my husband in a hobby that he enjoys. He does, after all, read my blog... which is a hobby I enjoy.

Happy Wife Points Wednesday! I hope you can find a little way to show support for your partners interests this week!