CVS WITH MY SISTER

I went to CVS this afternoon again, but this time with my sister Danni. She's only done CVS once before and was still a little unsure of things. She had not gotten any of the weekly deals or May deals yet so I wanted to take her today before all those sales were over and plus I printed out a bunch of those awesome $5/$15 coupons that are expiring tomorrow to give her. I don't have a picture of what she got or the breakdown but we did add up what she spent OOP when we got back to her house and for $7.20 Danni managed to get the following things....

10 Sobe Life Waters

5 Rolaids Soft Chews

4 Hellmann's Mayo

3 Aleve

3 Crest Pro Health Toothpaste

3 Adidas Deodorant

2 Excedrin Migraine

2 Johnson Body Wash

2 Tums Quik Paks

1 Huggies Clean Team Foam Hand Soap

1 Huggies Clean Team Wipes

I'd say for only her second time "CVSing" she made out awesome!

Way To Go Danni!!!

CVS 5-31

I thought I was all done going to CVS this week. I was completely out of ECB's and there was nothing else I wanted however, this morning I noticed I was out of milk and my shower cleaner and the toilet paper was down to the last roll. I figured with just my coupons and that great CVS $5/$15 coupon that I could make something work. This is what I got....

1 Cottonelle Toilet Paper(12pk) $9.99
2 Tylenol PM Liquid(8oz) $7.29 Each
1 CVS Back Pack Buddy Wipes $1.59
1 Milk(1/2gallon) $2.39
1 Johnson Buddy Soap $0.99
1 Scrubbing Bubbles Shower Refill $4.99
Total $34.53
Sales - $4.50
Clearance - $10.94
Coupons - $9.33
Total OOP $10.13
Savings of 71%

I found the Tylenol Pm in the clearance section for $1.82 each! I used these for fillers along with the Johnson Buddy Soap(I had a coupon for $1 off) and the Back Pack Wipes(I received a free coupon for them in my email). Next to the Cottonelle there was also a Catalina giving out .75 coupons so I was able to use that too.

My most exciting find today was a tear off pad in front of the Listerine Smart Rinse. This product is free after ECB's next month plus I already found $1 off coupons online. So this product will result in a profit!!

Want to see more CVS savings? Visit the Centsible Sawyer's CVS Superstars or Money Saving Mom's Super Savings Saturday!! You can find both of their links in my list of favorites!!

FRUGAL FRIDAY

Here it is the end of the month again....

Since I only do one big grocery shopping at the beginning of the month except for a few milk, bread etc runs, I try to use up everything I bought. Basically I have no pantry. I live in a one bedroom apartment and the kitchen is on the small side. I'm still able to cook in there comfortably however, there is no storage. Here is a peek at my kitchen and the only storage cabinets I have....

Mind you all these cabinets have to hold all my plates, glasses, pots and pans, Tupperware and food! So you see I really don't have any extra food storage space. So I shop for exactly what it'll hold and run through it all each month. Towards the very end of the month the pickings are very slim and I'm always determined not to go to the store. It's kinda a fun little challenge and every month I manage to create something new and yummy.

Earlier in the week I had cooked a whole oven stuffer roaster in my Crock Pot. Since I neglected to invite anybody until the last minute and nobody could come I had it all by myself. Needless to say there was a lot left over. I ate Chicken sandwiches all week for lunch but still had a ton.

I looked around the cabinets and fridge to see what I could make with the chicken. I found a bag of potatoes and a whole bunch of mustard, mayo and barbecue sauce I had bought at CVS last weekend when they had that great two day sale. An idea popped into my head to shred up all the chicken and place it in the Crock Pot with BBQ sauce. I also added some bay seasoning, hot sauce, chili powder and Cayenne pepper. It smells so good and it's only been cooking for a few hours. I figured I'll make some mashed potatoes later and then pile the chicken on top of the potatoes to eat.

I can't wait to try it!!

What do you think??

Would you eat it??

BIRD WATCHING

Still in heat....

Miss Mia is taking a break from floundering around the carpet and meowing to watch the birds outside our apartment window

MEDICAL UPDATE 5-29

If things weren't bad enough last night, I was also in terrible pain. I went for trigger point injections yesterday morning and ended up getting 3 shots in various muscles in my neck and shoulder. The Dr. is hoping this will loosen up the muscles and most of my everyday pain would go away. Of course before you can feel better, you must feel worse. So the Dr. injected me with some sort of stuff. I asked if it was Cortisone but he said it was some sort of numbing stuff with medicine in it. So honestly I have no idea what it was. The shots themselves hurt like heck. He didn't even use that spray numbing stuff that I've had before when getting Cortisone shots, He said to just breath through the pain, Ha Ha easier said then done!

When I made the appointment for the shots I was also told to make one next door at their Physical Therapy Office immediately afterwards, so that's were I went next. My therapist gave me a deep muscle tissue manual massage which also hurt like heck. I asked her why she was pressing so hard and she said the purpose of the PT appointment was to work the medicine through the muscles to help get things going faster. I was told that for that evening and the next few days I would be really sore since they had just overly aggravated all the muscles that already hurt me on a daily basis and sure enough starting around 5pm last night the pain was so bad.

So between trying to find a comfortable position to sleep with little pain and Mia meowing and rubbing all over everything in my room, I was up most of the night. The pain is no better today so as soon as I finish this I'm gonna grab a ice pack and lay on the couch. Hopefully I'll start to feel better in a few days but the Dr. did say he thought I might need 3 rounds of the injections so he made me another appointment June 4Th.

Hey whatever it takes to feel better and get back to work!

MIA UPDATE 5-29

Uuuggghhh.... What a night.... Mia is in heat!!

The last few days I noticed that she was becoming more and more affectionate but just thought she was getting use to me and all the new attention I was giving her. Mia's also been meowing at night since I got her. The first few nights it was just a little but then it got to be more and more. At first I thought she wanted more wet food, I only feed her one can a day but leave dry food down all the time. I would shoo her and tell her that she wasn't getting anymore and she should eat dry food if she was hungry. The next night as soon as I went to bed the meowing started again but this time she still had a little wet food left so I knew it wasn't that and since she sits by the front door when she does this(not over by the open window), I assumed maybe she was missing the other cat she use to live with.

Now none of this meowing has been annoying so far. Mia starts as soon as I get into bed for about 10-15 minutes and then stops till around 8am, plus her cry is so soft it wasn't agonizing to listen too. Yesterday however I noticed she started meowing a little bit more during the day and was rolling all over the carpet and then I saw her start kneading her back legs, kinda like she was walking in place. I was concerned because I had never seen any cat do this before and was afraid she was going to start peeing around the house. You see, my last cat Olivia was never fixed and I never saw her go into heat in the ten years that I had her, so I had no idea what to look for.

Thank goodness for the intranet. I researched her symptoms on various sites and all said she was in heat. In fact she clearly displayed every symptom the computer said she would. I kinda thought she may be too young for this but did you know they can start heat cycles as young as four months?!

The first day I got her I started calling around my area looking for a vet. My last vet was over 45 minutes away and I didn't like them so I wanted to switch to someone else. The couple I got Mia from said that she had had all of her kitten shots but was due for a checkup and they would look into getting her records from their vet to pass on to my new one.

The place closest to my house said it was $44 for a office visit plus a $14 one time record setup fee. OK $58 was no big deal and I could work with that. I next asked how much it would be to spay her and declaw.... $619!! I actually gasped into the phone and asked the lady if she was kidding. I thanked her for the info and said I was going to call around and call back if I chose to make an appointment. All the other places I called were right around the same ballpark... Yikes!! I had no idea that it cost so much. I figured for now I would take her in to be checked out and save my money for the summer and whenever I could afford it would have Mia taken care of. I figured I had plenty of time since she was so young still, Boy was I wrong!

The other night before I even realized she was in heat I was watching the local news and every week they spotlight a pet from the local SPCA that is up for adoption and give all sorts of info. One of the things they were talking about was how in June they were running a program to help Spay or Neuter pets in the area. Our SPCA use to have a hospital attached to it where you could go and get reasonable priced vet care but due to lack of funds last summer it closed so we are no longer able to have our pets fixed at the SPCA. I decided to call and see what it was about but found out it was for low-income families and even though I'm only making 60% of my salary being out of work, I still make too much to qualify. Are you kidding me?? It's not like I'm rolling in the cash over here. I live paycheck to paycheck and have no savings account!

While I was on the intranet looking up her symptoms I thought I'd see if there were any programs available and I actually found one! FriendofAnimals.org offers discounted certificates to get your pet spayed or neutered. The cost of a female cat was only $65!! The way it works is you order and pay for the certificate online and once you get it in the mail you can call a vet from their list of participating vets and make an appointment to have your pet taken care of. I checked out the list and found a vet on there that was approx 20-30 minutes away... hey if it's gonna save me over $550, I'll take the drive!

So I have a solution to my problem however there is a few hick-ups. I don't' get payed till June 2ND so I won't be able to order the certificate till then. Then I have to wait for the certificate to come in the mail, hopefully this won't take long. Then last but not least, they won't fix a cat that's already in heat so you have to wait till between cycles. I'm really praying and hoping the whole process doesn't take more than a month!

DENTIST VISIT

This morning I had a dentist appointment. OK, to give you a little background on my problem... this past January during my regular cleaning visit the hygienist notice a hole in the side of my top right back tooth. After X-rays it was determined by my Dentist, Dr. Liptak that it could not be filled and I either needed to have an extraction or a root canal. He suggested a root canal since last year I had the Wisdom tooth next to it extracted and now I would be down 2 in the top right rear.

I do have pretty good dental insurance so I thought for sure it would be covered. Their billing lady told me root canals were considered "surgery" and needed prior approval and as soon as they had gotten that from my insurance they would contact me and let me know what my OOP would be, unless I was in pain and then they would guesstimate the cost and do it right away. I was in no pain and hadn't even realized the hole was there so I chose to wait. Approx four weeks later I received a notice from my Ins Co and my Dental Office saying I was approved however my OOP was almost $600 and they wanted that paid up front!

Of course I didn't have the money since I am still on work. I mean I can pay all my monthly needs but coming up with another $600 was impossible so I was torn weather or not I should just pull it out. It still wasn't hurting me so I continued to ignore it, well I ignored the fact that I needed to do something but took special care not to chew super hard things on that side and always brushed paying attention to the hole to make sure nothing got stuck inside.

Well my luck ran out last Friday when I cracked it further by chewing gum(I Know... I Know). I called the Dental Office hoping to get in before the holiday weekend and figured I would just have it pulled. Of course there were no openings and since it still didn't hurt I could wait until this week. They had an opening with Dr. Craven this morning, he's not my regular Dentist but I wasn't going to be picky.

I'm so glad I went in, not only did he save the tooth by filling it, he said I don't need to worry about it again unless it hurts. So it ended up costing me $56 vs $600. He was a much younger Dentist than my regular and was willing to try some sort of new machine they had gotten and it worked!! I think I may switch to him permanently since my guy is getting pretty old anyways.

SAVING MONEY IDEA

I've been really trying to save money lately and scrutinizing everything I spend to see where it all goes. Today I stumbled across a good example of wasted money. Since I live in an apartment I don't have a washer and dryer but there is 2 of each located only two doors down from me which is very convenient, however it is $1.50 to wash and $1.50 to dry, that's $3.00 a load! Unfortunately it's one of those expenses I'm stuck with. I'd hang the clothes out to dry but it's not allowed here.

This morning I wanted to do a load of laundry but realized I was .75 short of a load. I decided to wash them and place them over a sweater rack I have. I've never done this before but now I'm thinking this could be a great idea for me! My apartment is always very warm but I have a good breeze so I know they'll dry. Gosh I don't know why I didn't think of this before. I do any average of 3 loads per week so I could potentially save $18 a month doing this!!

MEMORIAL DAY

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY EVERYONE!!

Take the time to remember our brave soldiers that lost their life in a fight for our Beautiful Country!

CVS 5-25 Part2

Also while I was surfing I found 2 more Sierra Mist BOGO Coupons! Since the limit was 4 offers(8bottles) at CVS and I had only done 2 offers this morning, I figured I would go back and get more "free" soda or almost free as it work out....

4 Sierra Mist $1.89Each

Total $7.56 + .20Deposit

Sales - $3.78

Coupons - $3.38

Total OOP $0.60

Savings of 93%

Want to see more CVS savings? Visit the Centsible Sawyer's CVS Superstars or Money Saving Mom's Super Savings Saturday!! You can find both of their links in my list of favorites!!

WALGREENS 5-25

This afternoon after I posted my CVS shopping trip I was surfing through some of my favorite blogs. I came across a post at Sisterly Savings that said Chex Mix was on sale this week at Walgreens for .99 and she had a link for $1 off coupons. I was only able to print two but that's OK. Before I left I wanted to look through the Walgreens flyer to verify the deal and to see if there was anything else I wanted. When I opened the flyer section of the paper there was a one page coupon sheet on top and the first coupon was for $1/2 Chex Mix or Gardetto's!!

Woot Woot!!!

See here's how the transaction worked out......

1 Chex Mix Traditional $3.29

1 Chex Mix Cheddar $3.29

1 Chex Mix Sweet & Salty $3.29

1 Gardetto's Original $3.29

Total $13.16

Sales - $9.20

Coupons - $3.00

Total OOP $0.96

Savings of 93%!!

Want to see more Drugstore Savings? Visit the Centsible Sawyer's Drugstore Divas!!

You can find her link in my list of favorites....

CVS 5-25

CVS is running a great 2 day sale on a few different products that I wanted to take advantage of. I looked through the flyer last night online so I could make up my list of deal scenarios for the week including items from the 2 day sale. I figured I would have time to run out either Sunday or Monday and be able to get it all. I ended up going today and was in luck! The CVS closest to my house had everything that was on my list so I didn't have to run around and try to find stuff at other CVS's. I ended up doing 5 transactions and spent very little OOP! I did burn through all my ECB's but that's OK because I got alot of stuff that will last awhile. I'll just have to earn some more with the June stuff coming soon!

Here's what I got today and the breakdown...
TRANSACTION 1
3 Revlon Nail Polish $4.59Each
1 French’s Mustard $2.19
1 Rolaids Soft Chews $2.99
Total $18.95
Sales - $3.33
Coupons - $3.50
ECS’s - $10.00
Total OOP $2.12
TRANSACTION 2
2 Sobe Life Waters $1.49Each
2 Sierra Mist $1.89Each
4 Rolaids Soft Chews $2.99Each
Total $18.62
Sales - $2.67
Coupons - $4.69
ECB’s - $11.00
Total OOP $0.26
TRANSACTION 3
2 Hellmann’s Mayo $5.99Each
3 Ragu Sauce $2.89Each
2 Crest Pro Health Toothpaste $3.99Each
Total $28.63
Sales - $12.15
Coupons - $7.00
ECB’s - $9.00
Total OOP $0.48
TRANSACTION 4
4 Sobe Life Waters $1.49Each
1 Crest Pro Health Toothpaste $3.99
2 French’s Mustard $2.19Each
3 Kraft Barbacue Sauce $1.99Each
2 Sierra Mist $1.89Each
4 Johnson Buddy Soaps $0.99Each
1 9Lives Cat Food(4pk) $2.49
Total $30.53
Sales - $11.70
Coupons - $10.15
ECB’s - $5.00
Total OOP $3.58
TRANSACTION 5
4 Friskies Cat Food $0.79Each
Total $3.16
ECB’s - $3.00
Total OOP $0.17
DAYS TOTAL $99.83
DAYS SALES - $29.85
DAYS COUPONS - $25.34
DAYS ECB’s - $38.00
DAYS TOTAL OOP $6.61

SAVINGS OF 93%!!

Want to see more CVS savings? Visit the Centsible Sawyer's CVS Superstars or Money Saving Mom's Super Savings Saturday!! You can find both of their links in my list of favorites!!

QUICK PASTA SALAD

After my CVS run this morning I ran to our local grocer Geissler's. I wanted to get a bag of Potatoes, Carrots, Onion for a Chicken Roast I'm making one day this weekend. I previously bought the roaster at the beginning of the month. I also wanted to pick up some Cube Steaks for supper. I have them marinating in a whole bunch of hot spices in a Ziploc Bag. I wanna pan fry them later with some Onion's and Peppers.

I was trying to decided on what type of side to make and was standing in the aisle flipping through my coupons hoping for an idea. I came across one for $1/2 Boxes of Suddenly Salad, Perfect! They were priced at $2.89 a box but when I got to register they rang up on sale at 2/$3, Yeah!! So I got both boxes for $2!!

I picked two of the classic salads thinking I could doctor it up at home. I made both boxes as instructed and then I added one of those half cans of sliced Black Olives and a half jar of Green Olives that I had in the fridge that I sliced up. I also found a can of Chick Peas that I drained and rinsed real well and threw those in. I added a little more Olive Oil and I now have a great Pasta Salad that I'll be able to pair with diners all weekend!

VIOLA!!

Oh and while I was at Geisslers I noticed those re-usable grocery/tote bags by the register. I've been meaning to switch to these since I'm so sick of all those darn plastic bags. I save them to reuse but the pile is overwhelming. Since I got a deal on the box salad and I still had a few dollars left I asked how much they were... $1.00!! That's All?? I was thinking they were between $3-$5. I bought 2 to get me started but plan to go back and get a few more for those big grocery trips. I wasn't paying attention to what the bagger was doing since I was watching the price scanner and when I got home I noticed she put all my stuff in plastic bags and then put it into the new bags...ggrrrr!!

What did she think the re-usable bags are for?!

No More Plastic!!!

CVS- NEXXUS DEAL

I had read over at Money Saving Mom's temporary site yesterday that Becca from Mission of Motherhood had gone to CVS to get the deal of buy $20 worth of Nexxus products get $10ECB. When she got to the register she received $20ECB back! I love Nexxus products even though they are a bit pricey so I figured I would go try the deal in my area. Unfortunately it didn't work, Oh well at least I got some good shampoo and conditioner and I can use the $10ECB to get the 2 day deals Sunday and Monday(Soda,Mustard,Nail Polish).

1 TRANSACTION

1 Nexxus SleekTress Shampoo $8.99

1 Nexxus HydraSleek Conditioner $14.99

Total $23.98 + Tax

Coupons -$3.00

Total OOP $22.03

I had no ECB's to spend because I had used them up last time to get some beverage items for the house but I did earn $10ECB today!

SILLY MIA

Another Relaxing day at home!!

MEDICAL 5-22

I've come to the end of me leave and Costco and Unum(disability co that pays me) have started to become a little bit of a pain. First Costco only approves one year leave of absences and I'm at fifteen months but I'm hoping to return in the beginning of July so I need just a small extension.

I was told that if I wrote the VP's of the company I could get an extension.

I sent out a few emails last Friday and on Tuesday a woman from human resources called me back on their behalf. She said they were happy to extend to July on one condition. I needed a letter from my Dr stating that I was on Lyrica, was having trigger point injections on 5-28, and am doing physical therapy and that he was fairly confident that after my next evaluation on July 1st, I would be released back to work.

OK, this sounds reasonable enough. I called the Dr's office and spoke to medical records and explain to the girl what I needed word for word, she put me on hold and another girl picked up and I again explained word for word what I needed. She said OK and would put the message on Dr. Cooper's desk.

I got a call yesterday saying the note was ready already. That was fast I was thinking. So I drove over(it's only 2 mins away). I got the note and before I left I opened to make sure it was what I wanted. It was a prescription sheet that had scribbled on it "Continue restrictions until next visit". That wasn't even close to what I needed, in fact I had already gotten pretty much last week to give to my work. I told the girl that it was wrong and asked for paper to write down everything I needed it to say...Was either girl listening to me yesterday or did the Dr just not care??? I resubmitted what I need so hopefully this time they'll get it right!

Today Unum called to discuss my case. Once again I was assigned a new claim adjuster (this will be my 6Th). The last lady was nice and we had already gone over everything and she said that since it seemed like I would be going back to work sometime this summer, they would continue to support me. The new lady today told me that as of June 3rd I was out of the "own position" claim period and was now in "any position" period. The adjuster has no idea why the last Lady told me they would support me since she doesn't have authorization for that. Oh well that's just great!She is sending Dr. Cooper a form to fill out and it must say that I can not work in any capacity or they won't pay me from June-July. Currently I'm at 5 lbs which means that I could technically find employment some where just not at my current employer. If I have the chance to get back into Costco I defiantly want to so it seems really unreasonable to get a job for only a month. Heck it'll probably take me that long to find a job.

So I wrote a note to the Dr explaining what I needed and if he could please help me out and write I could not work in any capacity. I'm not looking for a free ride through life but we're only talking about a month here and I obviously need the money to pay my bills. I live alone so it all falls on me and I have no back-up. I could absolutely call my parents but I don't want to have to do that! I'm dropping the note off first thing in the morning and hoping for the best.

MIA 5-22

As you can all see Mia is adjusting nicely. Today she was out in the living room with me most of the day. This morning when I woke up I found her curled up in my big comfy chair. She let me walk right up to her and pet her. Usually she won't let you get too close. You have to catch her but once you have her she's real calm and lets me pet her and brush her.

This afternoon Mia found the cat grass plant I placed in the window. She sat there for hours nibbling and watching birds.

After she was done bird watching it was nap time again. Back to the big comfy chair she went. Look at this pose... Talk about being relaxed!!

This evening I sprinkled a little catnip on her boa and Mia played and played until she passed out!

MIA UPDATE 5-21

Well I'm happy to report that Mia is doing great. She ate a whole can of wet food last night which is excellent. I have placed a bowl of dry food down that I leave down all the time and yesterday morning I opened a can of wet food and finally around 7:00 last night she gave in and licked the bowl clean! Mia is coming out more and more and loves to be petted(if you can catch her hahaha). I think in a few weeks she's gonna be an amazing friend. As you can tell from the photos below I went out and bought her some toys to try to get her to come out of her shell. Mia went crazy and rolled all over the living room for a good while. What till she finds the Cat Grass Plant I bought her that I set in the window. I'm sure she'll love it!

CVS 5-21

I ran out to CVS this morning to take advantage of some of the sales they had going on. I had many coupons to pair with stuff that was on sale so I think I made out fairly well. Although it did take me 6 transactions, the cashier was extremely nice and held my stuff behind the counter after each transaction so I didn't have to keep running to the car. She was a amazed at how much I saved and wondered how I was doing it so I gave her my blog address and Money Saving Mom's to help her get started. So this is the break down for what I got today....
TRANSACTION 1
1 Almay I-Intense Shadow $7.49
1 Almay I-Intense Liner $7.49
4 Sobe Life Waters $1.49 Each
Total $20.94
Sales -$2.96
Coupons -$5.00
ECB’s -$10.00
Total OOP $3.03
TRANSACTION 2
2 Colgate 360 Toothbrushes $4.49 Each
6 Oral B Indicator Toothbrushes $2.99 Each
Total $26.92
Sales -$7.00
Coupons -$7.00
ECB’s -$12.00
Total OOP $0.97
TRANSACTION 3
1 Banana Boat Sport Sunscreen $8.99
1 Banana Boat After Sun Lotion $6.99
Total $15.98
Coupons -$3.00
ECB’s -$12.98
Total OOP $0.00
TRANSACTION 4
1 Venus Embrace Razor $11.99
1 Garnier Shampoo $3.99
1 Garnier Conditioner $3.99
2 Dial Bar Soaps 3pk $2.79 Each
Total $25.55
Sales -$5.60
Coupons -$7.00
ECB’s -$7.00
Total OOP $6.25
TRANSACTION 5
2 Edge Shaving Gel $2.99 Each
2 Tropicana Orange Juice $4.29 Each
2 Buddy Soaps $0.99 Each
1 Sunsilk Shampoo $4.29
1 Sunsilk Conditioner $4.29
Total $25.03
Sales -$6.42
Coupons -$9.98
ECB’s -$7.00
Total OOP $1.72
TRANSACTION 6
1 Case Water $4.99
Total OOP $4.99
DAYS TOTAL $119.41
SALES -$21.98
COUPONS -$31.98
ECB’S -$48.98
DAYS TOTAL OOP $16.96
SAVINGS OF 85%

Want to see more CVS savings? Visit the Centsible Sawyer's CVS Superstars or Money Saving Mom's Super Savings Saturday!! You can find both of their links in my list of favorites!!

MIA

INTRODUCING

MIA!

Her first night went well. For the first four hours she pretty much hid under the bed. Came out a few times to sniff around but as soon as she caught me looking at her, she would take off back under the bed. Around 11pm last night I heard her go into the litter box... Phew at least she knows where that is already. Once I went to bed I heard Mia come out from under the bed and go to the box again!

When I woke up this morning I couldn't find her at first but eventually saw her behind the couch. She let me pick her up and brush her. She was shedding like crazy when I got her and being allergic to cats I want to try to keep this under control. The allergies don't' bother me that bad unless the fur is flying around the house so I'll just keep up on it and I'll be fine. Currently she is sitting in the window watching the birds. I'm a little worried cuz she hasn't eaten yet but I did place her by her food so she does know where it is. I'm hoping by this evening she'll go over and eat some!

MY NEW FURRY FRIEND

I'm so excited, I got a new kitty today!

As many of you know my cat Olivia passed away in March 07 after eating some of that bad pet food. It shut her kidneys down and she lost an incredible amount of weight in just two weeks. The vet said unfortunately there was nothing they could do and I lost my dear friend of ten years.

I was very upset and wasn't sure if I ever wanted another kitty. Living alone though, a kitty is the perfect companion for me. A few months ago I started having the urge to get another one. I started looking at the MSPCA websites trying to decided once and for all if I wanted another or not. I'm very afraid of getting a "bad" kitty. I don't want one that will destroy my house or pee outside the litter box. My Olivia was so good that she always used her litter box until the very end when she had little control. That experience of cleaning up cat urine(although it only happened 3 times) is awful. The smell never really comes out no matter what product you use. I ended up throwing away sheets, bedspreads, and pillows uugghhhh!

Today when I was checking the mail I noticed a sign hanging on the bulletin board above stating free kitten to good home. I thought about it for ten minutes and decided I would just stop by and have a look at her. Of course I fell in love immediately(although I didn't tell the woman that). She said that times were tight and feeding two cats was expensive. Their other cat is older and the kitten is about a year. Also her and her husband go to school and work full time so they were afraid the kitten wasn't getting enough human attention and was withdrawing some. They wanted to find her a home where she would get lots of attention. Perfect for me, being out of work I'm home all the time and when I do go back I'll only be gone for 9-10 hours a day versus the 16 hours they're gone everyday. I told her to give me a few days to think about it and I'd let her know either way.

Before I even got back to my apartment I had made up my mind that I wanted her. I grabbed my purse and headed to the store to get litter pan, food, bowls, brush, and poop scooper. I was so excited to get home and get it all set up. By this time about 3 hours had gone by so I decided I would call the woman and tell her I wanted her. The woman called me back right away and told me to come on down and get her. This time I got to meet the husband too. They were a super nice couple and I could tell they were concerned about her and wanted to make sure she got a good home. I told them to stop by and visit her anytime. I brought Mia(they named her but I like it!) home and placed her in her litter box right away so she would know where it was. She got a little scared and took off under the bed. I placed some food down hoping she would come out, I didn't want to go after her and scare her more. So far Mia's come out a few times and sniffed her litter box and food and then ventured into the living room and explored around but then ran back under the bed. I sure in time she'll be fine. Yeah I have a new furry friend!! I'll post a picture as soon as she'll let me take one.

So Welcome Home Mia!!!

I know you and I are gonna be great friends!

WEEKEND UPDATE

It's been a very nice relaxing weekend at home. I was in some pain but it wasn't as bad as it usually is. Hmmmm... I wonder if that new prescription is working already. Just curious, Are on of you out there on Lyrica?? I read the entire warning pamphlet and was a little concerned. My Dr was also telling me about some of the side effects like dizziness, blurry vision, feeling loopy, stay out of sun and absolutely no alcohol. Are any of you experiencing any of these symptoms?? So far so good for me, I was a little dizzy both nights when I took it but I took it at bedtime so it wasn't that bad but tomorrow I have to start taking it twice a day and am wondering if I'll be able to function OK and drive when I need to. I hate that all day loopy feeling, it's one of the reasons I stopped taking Vicodon and Percocet so soon after my surgery last year.

On to better things... My Red Sox won both of their games yesterday!! Woo~Hoo Red Sox!!! They were suppose to play Friday night but got rained out so they played a double header yesterday. I got all my laundry done in the morning so I could just flop in front of the TV all afternoon and evening to watch. Almost as good as the Sox winning was the Mets beat the Yankees yesterday. I hate the Yankees for obvious reasons but the Mets are my second favorite team. So it was a great day all around. Lets hope that both teams can pull it off again today! My family and good friends are either Red Sox, Yankee or Mets fans so we always have a good time talking trash to each other. All in good fun, Of course!

The Sox game is starting now so I need to wrap this up so I can plop my butt down and watch. This won't be completly wasted time however because I will be clipping my coupons as I watch.

LETS GO RED SOX!!!

***Update***

The Red Sox Won again this afternoon and swept the Brewers!!

And The Mets spanked the Yankees Bad!!

WOOT~WOOT!!

SHICK INTUITION

I tried the Schick Intuition Razor today, the one that's one sale this week at CVS for $9.99, Earn$6. It was awesome! It's now my favorite razor of all time! It's an all in one cartridge and shaving cream. You just wet your legs and the razor and go. Whatever the "shaving cream" stuff is that's in the cartridge is great. It left me legs super soft and smooth!!

While I was purchasing the razor I checked out the prices on the refills. It was like $20-something for a 6pk. I think they also had 3pks. I know this is kinda expensive but I'm sure I'll be able to work it into my CVS dealings!

MEDICAL UPDATE 5-16

This morning I had appointment with my Dr to review the results of my nerve test and to see if the meds or Physical Therapy had any effect on my pain. I've had absolutely no change unfortunately. The next round of treatment will be a new med, Lyrica to help with the pain and Trigger Point injections into my muscles to try to get them to loosen up some. After the injections I will be going back to Physical Therapy but in meantime I was told to continue doing my exercises at home in order to strengthen up the shoulder blade muscles. The Dr feels a combination of all of these things will kick my pain for good.

Again I'm willing to follow his instructions as I have nothing to lose but am getting terribly pessimistic since nothing has worked so far. After my visit I ran into Costco to pick up my new prescription. Lyrica was much more expensive. A normal Co-pay for me is $5 but this one cost $20! I hope it works but I am a little peeved since I just had the last med he prescribed refilled on Wed and now he said to stop taking it. Another waste of money, at least that one was only $3.

Next I ran into the office to talk with the Store Manager about my job. He was in a meeting but I talked to one of the Assistant Managers. I passed in my out of work note and then asked for a couple of our various Corporate VP's so I could email them to ask for an extension of my leave. My next re-evaluation with the Dr is July 1st so I asked for at least that long. Hopefully they'll be able to work with me. after all I have been employed there for thirteen years and am also a Manager. Not to toot my own horn but I have an impeccable record and my yearly reviews are always outstanding. So if they want to throw away a great employee it'll be their loss!

LOST 5-15

Did any of you see Lost??

I was having the hardest time trying to figure out who the 6Th Oceanic 6 survivor was. I guess that Claire's baby Aaron counts or should I say Kate's baby?! And where the heck did Claire go? We see her with Jack's father but isn't that her father too?? So Charlie's statement last week was wrong and Jack is related to Aaron! Claire's mom confirms this for us at the funeral.

The show has been very confusing for me this season but I love it and I'll watch till the end. I think part of the thrill for me it's so unlike me. I tend to over analyze everything to death and when I don't get how some fantasy is possible I will not stop talking about it until I think I have it all reasoned out in my head. Watching this show forget it, I stopped trying to figure it out long ago and now enjoy the drama and unbelievability of it all.

I love how Sun went back and stood up to her father. I understand the whole respect your elders thing but there comes to a point where enough is enough. Respect is a two way street. You go Sun!!

And Poor Hugo, Is he really crazy like we've seen in previous flash forwards or does he just have super bad luck and is extremely paranoid?!?! Do the numbers really have some sort of curse? We haven't heard anything about the numbers on the show in a long time.

How in the world do they plan on moving the island?? And what does "The Orchid" have to do with it?? Ben just goes in on a pretty much suicide mission in order to save the island?? I can't wait to see how the whole thing plays out but unfortunately we have to wait two weeks! It's the season finale already, darn writers strike but at least it's going to be a two hour episode!

NEW LAYOUT

You guys see what happens when I'm really bored on a rainy crappy day???? I change my blog background. I was getting a little bored with the other one and wanted to change it anyways. It took me a little while to do it and I still couldn't figure out how to change it without deleting all my widgets ....Grrrrrrr! So I ended up having to upload all my sidebar stuff again which was a real pain not to mention time consuming. I'll also stole the idea to add some music to my Page from Springmont Cottage... Thx Cynthia :]

So what do you think?? Do you like the change??

CVS TRIP 5-14

I went to CVS this morning basically to see if I could find the Hawaiian Tropic Chapsticks. I had already checked three of the stores around me and couldn't find them but there was still one more CVS that I could check. This store is my favorite. It's a little larger than the others and much newer. The cashiers are really friendly and they seem to have a better variety of "new" products that hit the shelves. I figured if I was going to find it anywhere this would be the store but unfortunately I had no luck so I've come to the conclusion they aren't sold in my area.

While I was there I decided to pick up a few other things. There was almost nothing I wanted that was on sale or issued ECB's but there was a few things I needed regardless. I broke it into 4 transactions so I could use more of the $3/$15 coupon since I wasn't really getting anything on sale anyways. While this defiantly wasn't my best trip by all means, I still didn't make out that bad. Here's how I worked it........
TRANSACTION 1
1 Shick Intimate Moisture Razor $9.99
2 Glade Sprays $1.69Each
1 Reese’s Pieces .79
1 Lady’s Speed Stick $2.79
Total $16.95 + Tax
Sales -$1.73
Coupons -$6.97
Total OOP $8.64
TRANSACTION 2
2 Kellogg’s Smart Start Cereal $4.69Each
2 Irish Spring Body Wash(18oz) $4.99Each
2 Johnson + Johnson Buddy Soap .99Each
Total $21.34 + Tax
Sales -$4.38
Coupons/ECB’s -$14.98
Total OOP $1.98
TRANSACTION 3
1 Softsoap Body Wash(12oz) $4.49
2 Hershey’s Miniatures $3.49Each
2 Reese’s Mini Cups $3.49Each
5 Reese’s Pieces .79Each
Total $22.40+ Tax
Sales -$7.41
Coupons -$3.00
Total OOP $12.06
TRANSACTION 4
1 CVS Bottled H2O $4.99
2 Air Wick Scented Oil Refills $3.49Each
1 Air Wick Scented Oil Holder $1.99
1 Hallmark Birthday Card for Mom $2.99
Total $16.95 + Tax
Sales -$1.00
Coupons/ECB’s -$14.99
Total OOP $0.96
DAYS TOTAL $77.64
DAYS SALES -$14.52
DAYS COUPONS/ECB’S -$39.94
DAYS TOTAL OOP $23.64
SAVED 70%

There was a few mistakes I made and it cost me a little more. The first one I made I was trying to do the Irish Spring/Softsoap Deal where you buy $10 and get $4. After purchasing two bottles of the Irish Spring Body Wash I realized I had only spent $9.98 not the full $10 and of course the register didn't print out the ECB's. In order to get the reward the cheapest thing for me to buy was another Softsoap Body Wash for $4.99 so that wasted $5.

The second mistake I made was not adding correctly before getting to the register. I was short $1.21 in order to use the $3/$15 coupon so I threw in three more Reese's Pieces in order to bring it up. If I had added correctly I would have found a different filler item instead of more candy since I had already bought enough.

All in all though it wasn't a bad trip because I defiantly needed the bottled H2O and the birthday card for Mom so those were things I would have paid OOP anyways!

Want to see more CVS savings? Visit the Centsible Sawyer's CVS Superstars or Money Saving Mom's Super Savings Saturday!! You can find both of their links in my list of favorites!!

GETTING STARTED AT CVS

This posting is for my many family members and friends that have started asking me how I'm saving so much money and want to jump on the band wagon too. At last nights party I had alot of people asking me about it and then today one of my nephews and his girlfriend asked so here it goes.....

1- Scroll down the side of my blog until you reach my favorite blogs and click on Money Saving Mom. This wonderful woman has put together a little how to shop CVS thing(Thanks Chrystal!). Once you reach her blog scroll through the sides and you will come across a CVS101 post. Click on this and read it all just remember that she posted that a while ago so her examples of deals are not currently going on. Once you read this you should have a better understanding of how the program works.

2- Make sure you pick up at least one Sunday Paper every week and go through the flyers and clip all the coupons. Coupons can be a bit time consuming but really do save you money so find a system that works for you and stick to it!

3- Along with Money Saving Mom, many of my favorite blogs post what they are doing at CVS each week and outline many deal scenarios for you. So please click through some and see how others are doing it as well. Many of these blogs post whats on sale each week at a variety of stores and put coupon links next to products so you can also print some coupons right from the Internet!

4- For me it helps to write down what deals I want to make before I get to the store and pull out all coupons I plan on using so I'm not stuck standing there shuffling through looking for coupons I need and getting all flustered. Also I've learned to break your purchases into mini transactions in order to get the most for my money and continue to roll over my ECB's again and again!

Hope this helps you guys for now. Please let me know if you have any more questions!!

MOTHERS DAY/NEVAEH'S 2ND BIRTHDAY

Today was a great day!! We all got together at My sister Danni's house minus a few that were either working(Valerie) or had to work early am(Laura) or were celebrating their wedding anniversary(Eddie & Betsy). My Brother n Law Dave cooked 2 Pork Panines and made some Spanish Rice and White rice, I made some homemade Macaroni and Cheese in the Crock pot, Adam made a Pasta Salad and Andy made a Potato Salad. I also brought over a double batch of Homemade Peanut Butter M+M Cookies and a Fresh Tangerine Cake. It was my first time trying this cake recipe and it was Delicious. The entire family enjoyed at as well, in fact every last piece was eaten!! Here's what it looked like....

Happy 2nd Birthday Nevaeh!!!!

This is the present I got her...

A Dora The Explorer Tricycle!

And of course being the responsible Titi I got her a matching Dora Helmet...

Safety First!

It was alot of fun. When the food was ready the men served all the women their plates which was nice and much less chaotic then everyone trying to squeeze into the kitchen to make their own. After supper David opened a bottle a wine that we all shared and then we had cake and did Nevaeh's presents. She wasn't super interested in opening gifts so Mommy had to help her and she was a little scared of the helmet I bought her. She wouldn't put it on but laughed like crazy when we all tried it on. After the excitement wore down I caught her giving the Dora helmet a kiss!

She'll get used to it when she learns she can't ride her bike without it.

So Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful woman in my family and

Happy 2nd Birthday Baby Girl!!!!

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

To all you wonderful mothers out there....

NERVE TEST

I just like to start out today by saying Thank You to my many new readers that have stumbled across my blog in one way or another. I've enjoyed reading many of your blogs over the last few months and it feels good to know that more and more people are reading mine everyday. So a big Thank You to all of you in blog land and keep leaving me those comments!
I was excited this morning to find that my tax money had been deposited to my checking account. It couldn't have come at a better time! I have already paid all my monthly bills, done my monthly grocery shopping and had finished my Mother's Day gifts so wasn't in "need" but I had forgotten to get my niece Nevaeh a birthday present. She is turning 2 on Monday however we are combining her birthday party with Mother's Day on Sunday since the whole family will be together anyways.
I've been wanting to get to Target lately to check out their grocery prices. I have read from many of you some good deals you can get there so I wanted to check it out for myself. I did get 2 boxes of Kraft Live Active cereal for 98cents! I had printed out 2 coupons for $3off each so this was a pretty awesome deal. Other than that I just got birthday stuff. I can't tell you guys what a got for her just yet since my sister Danni reads this blog and I don't want to ruin the surprise. I'll tell you about it on Monday and post some pics. I hope Nevaeh likes it!! As I was checking out I heard someone call my name and turned around to be surprised by an old high school friend I couldn't believe he recognized me but he said I look exactly the same. Turns out he moved back to our hometown and invited me to stop by sometime. Nice to see you Gabe!!
My next stop was a quick trip into Stop & Shop to get a few ingredients I needed to make Nevaeh's cake on Sunday. It's a tangerine cake that requires freshly squeezed tangerines so I needed to get some of those and some cream cheese for the frosting. I've never made this kind of cake before but I found the recipe in a Paula Deen magazine and I absolutely love her and have tried many of her other cake recipes and am always pleased. Danni requested anything but chocolate cake so I figured I would try something that wasn't just white. I'll post pics after I make it on Sunday and tell you guys how it turns out.
Now it was home to quickly unload the car. I had a nerve test at 3 and was cutting it close and it was starting to pour. Once that was done I was off to my appointment. Along with all my shoulder/neck pain I also have pain in the elbow and loss of feeling in my ring and pinkie fingers. Today they were testing my right arm to see if there was a pinched nerve in my elbow. Have you guys ever had one of these??? OUCHIES! The first part of the test was shocking the arm and hand in various places via small electrical pads. This was uncomfortable but really no big deal. The second part of the test requires needles to be stuck in various muscles(3 in neck, 6 in arm, 4 in hand to be exact). Then they send electricity through the needle to see how it affects the muscles. This hurt alot especially the soft part under my upper arm, between my thumb finger, and in the neck. I almost cried!
Of course when the test was over the guy said that everything was pretty much normal. Now I know this is good news but every test I seem to have comes back normal and I'm still in awful pain. So I just wish that one of these tests would show something significant wrong so they could just fix whatever it is that pains me and I could start to live normally again!

SHOWING DANNI THE ROPES

This has been a pretty slim week for me shopping wise. CVS only had a few things I wanted. I picked up the Venus razor, 3 Whitman Samplers, 6 Hershey Bliss and 4 Dove Bars for $4.40 OOP(I had various coupons and ECB's to spend). I also hit Walgreens up for another Venus Razor for $3.14(I had a coupon and a RR). Other than that there was nothing special on sale that I needed. Hopefully next weeks deals will be better.

On a better note I took my sister Danni to CVS yest with her list of supplies needed. She signed up for her card and then I showed her how to do it. I brought her a stack of $3/15 coupons that I had printed to get her started and I let her take any of my coupons she wanted out of my stash. By the end of our visit and four transactions later, Danni was completely amazed and understood how the program works and will now be using it!

She paid $10 OOP and got...

2 Tide HE Detergents

5 Colgate 360 Toothbrushes

1 Charmin Toilet Paper(24ct)

1 Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal

1 Lucky Charms Cereal

3 Pringles

3 CVS Allergy(5ct)

3 Aqua Fresh Toothpaste

2 Ice Breakers Mints

1 Venus Razor

1 Excedrin Migraine

YEAH DANNI!!

The store near her house were out of the Adidas Deodorant and Tums Quik Paks but she'll be going back to get those before the month is over.

Next we went over to Walmart and Danni did her grocery shopping. She did really great there as well and again I let her have whatever grocery coupons she wanted of mine. This saved her a little over $10. Not alot but every bit helps! So all in all it was a fun day and we both saved big time!

ORGANIZING & GIVING

After I was done with all my coupon clipping, which took me over an hour, I started going through all my recent purchases to try to organize things a little. I did go through my bathroom cabinets only a few weeks ago and straightened things but everything bought after that point just got thrown on top since I really have no extra storage space. While talking to Danni today about her learning CVS and couponing, she had said she was out of almost everything. I told her don't buy any haba stuff right now since I've been blessed with so many extras and I'd love to give her and her family some stuff. This way she can work on clipping coupons over the next few months and get a stock pile going and not have to worry about paying out of pocket from being a beginner. This is what I was able to give them....

After putting all her stuff in a bag, I started collecting all the items I wanted to make my Mother's Day Baskets with. Michaels has all their baskets on sale this week for 40% off so I plan on making a trip there tomorrow to get three. I also noticed that CVS has the Whitman Chocolate Sampler on sale for $3.99 this week and I have 3 coupons for $2 off each so I'm gonna stop and get them each a box to add to their baskets. This is what I collected so far....

After pulling all these items out I'm still left with more products than I can use for 6 months to a year on some. There is a few items I don't have yet so those will be things I will be searching and shopping for next. It feels so great to have gotten all this stuff for what I pay normally monthly for just me and to have so many extras to give out to my family! They all help me out in various ways and its nice to be able to give back!!

COFFEE AND COUPONS

My weekend was very nice. Nothing to exciting just hanging out at home, having a few drinks and watching The Red Sox!! The weather was kinda crappy the last few days around here but is perking up a bit today.

I made my usual ran out this morning to Dunkin Donuts to grab a coffee and a couple of papers. I don't actually buy coffee out much anymore being the prices have gone up so much but its like my treat on Sunday mornings. I use to go every morning on my way to work and when I started thinking about it I realized I was spending almost $65 a month on just coffee, that doesn't even count the few mornings I got a bagel too(I'm really not a breakfast person so I normally get just the coffee).

So I decided in January of 07 that I was going to buy a coffee maker and start bringing it from home. I decided on a Keurig model, although it was a little pricier I liked being able to make one cup at a time and having different variates to chose from. It's really cool, you turn it on and it warms up in about a minute and then u pick a K-Cup and place it in the machine and then hit the button of the size youwant.

When I first got the machine, K-Cups were only available online, which at first I thought would be a real pain but surprisingly it wasn't. The K-cups come either 5 or 25 to a box and if you bought 4-25boxes you get free shipping. The also have a club were the more you buy over time the more of a discount you get up to 15%. So about every month to month and a half I place an order for 4boxes, I get the free shipping plus 15% and it works out to less than 50 cents a cup! How can you beat that?? Now the cups are available in the stores but its still cheaper to order online and they come within 3 days.

I bragged about my love for it so much that now my parents have one too. They love it since they both drink different kinds of coffee so they no longer have to compromise plus Keurig also offers teas and hot chocolate cups. Its a win win for the whole family!

Ok now that I got a little side tracked telling you about my awesome coffee machine back to original thoughts....

Once I got to Dunkin Donuts I saw that they only had one paper left. So I figured I would get it and go home and see if the coupons were any good and worth getting a second paper. I was thrilled to find not only the Red Plum & Smart Source Coupons but an additional P&G Coupon pack... Woo-Hoo! I ran back out to get two more papers! As soon as I got back home, My sister Danni called from work and asked if I had gone out to get the paper yet and if I hadn't could I get her one too. She then asked me to show her how to do the whole coupon thing and how CVS works. Yeah! I get to show her something that will help her and her family out. Danni has always been very price conscience but has never clipped coupons before either so after hearing me talk about how well I've done since starting it, she wants in! So tomorrow after Physical Therapy I'm gonna go over to her house and show her the ropes and then were gonna go out and hit CVS, Walgreens, Walmart and Danni wants to go to BJ's too. It should be a fun day!

Oh did I mention that after splurging on coffee this morning, IT SUCKED :(I should have known better when I saw a new girl at the counter, unfortunately they never get it right their first few weeks and mine doesn't take a brain surgeon, Large Cream & Sugar... Nothing extra, nothing fancy and it still tasted so bad that I tried to fix it at home to no avail and ended up eventually dumping it down the sink, there goes another two bucks down the drain... Literally!