Good Deal Alert...Suave

Walgreens has an amazing deal this week! This may be a glitch, so get in while ya can!

Here's how it works: Purchase four different Suave 22.5 oz shampoo or conditioner and receive a $6 Register Reward. There are coupons for Suave available (from the 2/10 Red Plum insert), but it is a great deal even without coupons. The shampoo and conditioner are on sale buy one get one 50% off, which works out to $4.64 without coupons.

So, you invest the $4.64 and receive four shampoo and a $6 RR. Then, you can roll this RR toward your next purchase of Suave! Normally RR's do not roll, but this one is working. On your next trip purchase another four Suave shampoo/conditioner and about $1.40 of whatever you'd like. (I bought Ramen noodles, chicken broth, popcorn, seasonings and cheapo cookies.) Hand over your $6 RR to lower your total to just pocket change. (Depending on what I purchased I paid between $.09 and $.50) Best of all, you'll receive another $6 RR. Rinse and repeat!!

Keep in mind, if you do have coupons you'll need to increase the amount of extra items purchased along with your shampoo.

I did two transactions each at four Walgreen's this morning and plan to do another round tonight. Isn't shopping fun??!!

Garden Update

Despite perpetually cloudy skies and unseasonably cold days, we do have sprouts! Two varieties of lettuce, spinach, garlic and onions all have popped up, but we're still waiting on the carrots.

The parsley, oregano, thyme and rosemary are all growing well.

The cabbage and strawberries were damaged from a hailstorm on the 10th, but I'm hopeful they'll pull through. I guess I need to look into how to protect plants from storms...

I will plant a second batch of lettuce and spinach this weekend so that we'll have a second crop once the first is harvested.

The space for the tomatoes and zucchini is all cleared and I found a cool, fairly inexpensive trellis on sale at Lowes's which I'll try to work into the budget. The tomatoes, zucchini and peppers won't get planted until early May.

Make-up Mania at CVS

I got a great deal on Covergirl foundation at CVS on Saturday (4/12) and was able to combine their weekly deal (buy $20 of Covergirl receive $10 ECB's) and their monthly Covergirl deal (purchase a Trublend Whipped Foundation and receive $6 ECB's).

I bought:
2 Covergirl Trublend Mineral Make-up
2 Covergirl Whipped Foundation
1 Covergirl Advanced Radiance Foundation
1 Covergirl Advanced Foundation

Used three Covergirl BOGO Q's and two $1 Q's. Paid using $22.98 in ECB's and received back $28 in ECB's.

The same Covergirl BOGO coupons can be used at CVS this week (4/13-4/19) to receive free make-up since they have a BOGO sale. However, the items that earn ECB's for the monthly deal are excluded. But heck, free is good too!!

And, lest anyone wonder what I do with all the make-up, anything I don't need will go in the garage sale pile. I have a ton of "good deals" just waiting for our neighborhood's semi-annual garage sale later this month. Proceeds will definitely go toward our debt snowball!

CVS Haul 4/6

I just love CVS! In two transactions today I came home with $63.48 with zero OOP (paid with coupons, ECB's and less than $2 on a CVS gift card). Plus I still have $18.98 of ECB's for the next round of shopping.

5 Excedrin

2 Swiffer Wet Refills

1 10" planter

2 8" planters1 pair garden gloves (impulse purchases)

1EOB gift bag

2 EOB make-up applicators

4 Heinz vinegar

2 Newspapers

2 CVS Rapid Release

2 EOB facial buffers

3 EOB nail brushes

1 EOB massager

1 York Peppermint Patty (a treat for the shopper!)

My favorite transaction is the April Essence of Beauty (EOB) monthly deal. Anytime this month purchase three EOB items and receive $5 ECB's. This can be repeated five times per CVS card.

The most popular EOB products are the shower gel, body spray and body lotion, but the most profitable items are simple tools like a $1.99 nail brush or even a $1.49 gift bag. I bought a variety of little items for a total of three deals, but will do all gift bags on the next two transactions. For each set of three bags I'll pay only $4.47 (actual OOP will be zero because I will pay using ECB's) and I will receive $5 ECB's back. Fun!!

Free True Lemon Samples!!

Click here for a sample of True Lemon or True Lime! True Lemon gives your water or recipe fresh squeezed lemon and lime taste from a packet or bottle.

Square Foot Gardening

My desire to eat a salad without breaking the bank has turned into an interesting gardening enterprise! It all started this winter when I went on a salad kick but balked at expensive pre-packaged salad mixes. What if I grew my own lettuce this spring??

At first I salivated over the thought of owning a pricey ($165!!) AeroGarden. Wouldn't it be cool to grow my own lettuce indoors without dirt or any fuss or muss? But then my frugal side kicked in. I could grow the lettuce outdoors in a pot. A pack of lettuce seeds couldn't be more than $1.50, could they?

Now the quest for cheap, homegrown lettuce had become an obsession. I was doing online research when I discovered someone mentioning Square Foot Gardening... hmmm. Now I could grow lettuce (several varieties), plus radishes, carrots, and green onions. And while I'm thinking big, how 'bout broccoli, bush beans and strawberries??!!

Long story short I purchased the Square Foot Gardening book (using a coupon, of course!), a pile of lumber and some concrete cinder blocks. I borrowed a power drill and actually put the 4x4 foot garden boxes together myself. (It was my first time building anything and the execution was probably lacking, but I am still proud :)

Now we have two boxes built, elevated about 22 inches off the ground. That should keep away the pesky (but cute) bunnies that normally invade our yard. We planted some cool weather items (lettuce, broccoli, spinach, parsley, rosemary) and will add beans, radishes and more herbs later in the season.

We also planted carrots in a deeper container and two pots of strawberries. I'll add tomatoes and peppers in containers when the warm weather arrives.

This is a pretty intimidating project for a woman with NO green thumb, but an exciting challenge all the same. Can't wait for the harvest!

CVS Clearance Find

It must be over two weeks since I have stepped foot into Walgreens or CVS for some serious bargain hunting. I decided to stop in CVS before driving the afternoon carpool and purchase some Softsoap Spa Radiance which is free after ECB's from this weeks's ad.

Imagine my surprise to find Pioneer Photo Album 2-packs on clearance for $2.49 each! Each album holds more than 200 photos and are great for gift albums. I snapped up all four sets.

Total OOP = $0.00!! (I paid using ECB's and a CVS gift card that was free with filling a prescription.) Earned back $24.95 ECB's!!