Spendthrift Saturday

Today we started our morning by having a yard sale, mostly of mark's stuff we stashed for "sell" when we began cleaning out his house. Not a very successful sale, as far as these things go, as we made only $73.50, but then we took the stuff that didn't sell to Goodwill and have a receipt for a 501(c)3 donation (tax deductible). After a short nap and some xbox 360, we headed out for some errands. i've been wanting shelves in my utility room (to house my stash!), so we went to home depot. we used 2 gift cards, one of which was a wedding present in march, and added $7. tomorrow we'll put up my four shelves! then we went to linens n things. they're going out of business, and we still had $38.17 on a gift card we got as a wedding present. we had looked online about a month ago and even though we don't need anything right now, we'd decided to get a comforter for when ours needs to be replaced. we tried to order online, but since they're going out of business, they were no longer accepting gift cards for payments online. well, the first store we tried to go to was already closed and vacant. at the second one, the shelves looked so picked over that i wasn't hopeful we'd find anything. i was so wrong! we found a quilt that we both liked, marked 119.99 regularly, and the signs said bedding was 50% off. well, that would have put us over the gift card balance, but we didn't see anything else we liked, so we decided we'd get it anyway. guess what - it rang up as $38.96 including tax! we only had to add 79 cents! the set we got is the one in the picture. so, even though i was disappointed with the yard sale results, i'm glad we were able to use some more of our wedding present gift cards.

Walgreens Wednesday!

I know you want to know how much I paid for all this stuff . . . well, I did 3 transactions, and I had $8, $5, and $5 RR to start with, and I finished with $5 and $5 RR for next time. My first transaction i paid .04 OOP, .09 for the second, and .55 for the third, for a grand total of .68 for the following:

2 9-big roll packs of white cloud tp
3 robitussin
2 26 load arm & hammer laundry detergent
4 reynold's foil
4 3-pks of scotch tape
2 bic soleil razors
2 sure deodorants
4 campbell's tomato soup
6 pkgs walgreens cough drops
6 taper candles
6 2-pks of sharpie markers
1 brown eyeliner

This may be my most impressive walgreens trip ever. Definitely worth going out sick in the cold for!

CVS Trip 12/5

I had time to stop at a CVS on my way to my hair appointment last night, and I got some good deals.

Complete contact solution 8.99
Russell Stover Private Reserve Candy 2.50
Russell Stover Private Reserve Candy 2.50
birthday card for nephew 0.99
crest pro whitening toothpaste 3.49
reese's pb cups 0.50
total before coupons: 18.97
less $2.00/1 Complete <2.00>
less B1G1 Free Russell Stover <2.50>
less $3/$15 CVS CRT <3.00>
total after coupons: 11.47
ECBs used <11.00>
total OOP 0.47
ECBs received: $8.99 and $4*

All in all, CVS paid me $1.52 to eat good chocolate and then brush my teeth afterwards!

* I had a raincheck for the Crest from last month, when it was on sale 3.49, get 3.49 ECB. They charged me for the Crest at the sale price, then manually created a $4 ECB. The CVS I usually shop at would have just given me the item free. If I'd known how this CVS was going to treat it, I had a $1 coupon I could have used!

Another $5 Dinner- Turkey Pot Pie

I'm posting today for the $5 Dinner challenge over at the $5 Dinners blog.

Turkey Pot Pie

INGREDIENTS

* 2 refrigerated pie crusts (the ones in a box) (cost $1.50 w/coupons & sale)
* 4 tablespoons butter, divided (.50)
* 1/2 onion, minced (free, leftover from Thanksgiving)
* 2 stalks celery, chopped (free, leftover from Thanksgiving)
* 2 carrots, diced (free, leftover from thanksgiving)
* 3 tablespoons dried parsley (.05)
* 1 teaspoon dried oregano (.05)
* salt and pepper to taste (.01)
* 2 cups turkey broth (free, made with Thanksgiving turkey carcass)
* 3 potatoes, peeled and cubed (.60)
* 1 1/2 cups cubed cooked turkey (free, leftover from Thanksgiving)
* 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour (.05)
* 1/2 cup milk (free w/coupon during Kroger Mega Deal)

Total cost: $2.76

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Unfold one pie crust, press into a 10 inch pie pan, and set aside.
2. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat; add the onion, celery, carrots, parsley, oregano, and salt and pepper. Cook and stir until the vegetables are soft. Stir in the broth. Bring mixture to a boil. Stir in the potatoes, and cook until tender but still firm.
3. In a medium saucepan, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Stir in the turkey and flour. Add the milk, and heat through. Stir the turkey mixture into the vegetable mixture, and cook until thickened. Cool slightly, then pour mixture into the unbaked pie shell. Roll out the top crust, and place on top of filling. Flute edges, and make 4 slits in the top crust to let out steam.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), and continue baking for 20 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

Walgreens pays me to shop - again!

I stopped by Walgreens on the way home from work today. I didn't have enough on my list to use the $5/$25 coupon good yesterday and today, but I did have Register Rewards I wanted to use up.

First Transaction:
Colgate Max Fresh toothpaste $2.99
One gallon reduced fat milk $3.99
less $1 Colgate coupon <$1.00>
less Register Rewards <$5.00>
Total OOP .98

Second Transaction:
Right Guard Clinical Strength $5.99
All Free & Clear 12 load size $3.29
All Free & Clear 12 load size $3.29
3 Hershey's Special Dark Bars $2.39
3 Hershey's w/Almonds Bars $1.50
3 holiday mini tins $1.50
6 holiday pencils $1.50
less IVC on All Free & Clear <$1.50>
less IVC on All Free & Clear <$1.50>
less $1/1 All Free & Clear <$1.00>
less $1/1 All Free & Clear <$1.00>
less IVC on pencils <$0.50>
less IVC on mini tins <$0.50>
less IVC on Hershey's Bars <$1.04>
less B1G1 Hershey's coupons <$1.20>
less Register Rewards used <$8.00>
TOTAL OOP $2.45

I will get $5.50 back on the deodorant on my Walgreens GC with EasySaver Rebate, and I should have gotten a $2RR for the Colgate toothpaste, but it didn't print out and I didn't realize it until after I left the store.

Total OOP both transactions = $3.43 minus $5.50 rebate = 2.07 PROFIT!!!

$5 Dinner Challenge

I'm posting today for the $5 Dinner challenge over at the $5 Dinners blog. Over the past few months, I've discovered that my husband and I really enjoy casseroles, both for ease of preparation, and because they taste great. Two of our favorites are king ranch chicken and chicken-broccoli-rice casserole.






King Ranch Chicken:

Ingredients:
1 lb chicken (i prefer to use breast meat)(cost $2)
1 can cream of mushroom soup (cost 33 cents)
1 can cream of chicken soup (cost 33 cents)
1 can ro-tel (diced tomatoes & green chilies) (cost 50 cents)
corn tortillas (not fried) (cost 50 cents)
1 c. grated cheddar cheese (cost 84 cents)

Total cost: $4.50 (less if you substitute chicken thighs)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook 1 lb chicken breast and cut into small pieces (approx. 1" x 1").
In large bowl, mix 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1 can of cream of chicken soup, and one can of rotel tomatoes (diced tomatoes and green chilies).
In a 9" square casserole dish (or similar size), spoon about 1/4 cup of the soup mixture on the bottom.
Mix the chicken in with the rest of the soup mixture.
Layer corn tortillas on top of the soup in the bottom of the pan. Layer with 1/3 of the remaining mixture. Repeat with tortillas and soup mixture twice more. Top with grated cheese and bake for 45 minutes.

This should feed four adults.

Chicken-Broccoli-Rice Casserole:

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts (approximately 1 1/2 lbs @ $2/lb cost $3.00)
1 can cream soup (mushroom, chicken or celery - your preference)(33 cents - 3/$1 at 99 Cents Only Store)
1 package broccoli and cheese rice mix (cost 89 cents)
1 package frozen broccoli florets (cost $1.00)
1 c. grated cheddar cheese (cost 83 cents)

Total cost:$6.05 (less if you use coupons and/or substitute chicken thighs)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a 9 x 13 casserole dish, put the contents of the rice mix in the bottom and add water as indicated on package. Mix thoroughly, then add in the broccoli. Lay chicken breasts on top of rice mixture. Spoon soup over chicken. Top with cheese. Bake for 45 minutes.

This should feed four adults.