Walgreen's Fiasco

tonight, DH needed some brand-name liquid plumber because our chicken sink was backed up, and the off-brand stuff i had didn't work. he said he could get it at walgreens, so i gathered my coupons, made my list, grabbed the free redbox code, and off we went. i was able to get most of the items on my list, though not all, so i divvied it up for DH's transaction and my transaction. first fiasco - i dig out a gift card for him to pay with. actually, i dig out three, because i'm not sure which one has a balance. earlier in the day, i had received an email that said my january easy saver rebates had been added to my giftcard. well, DH uses all three cards. one has less than $2, one has nothing, and one has about $8. that's not right! well, by now there are many, many people behind us in line. flustered, i only buy my stuff in one transaction, making it so i can't use DH's $6 RR for the gillette fusion razor, since i'm also buying one. then, i actually have to pay cash! now, that wouldn't be so bad, except my goal this year is to spend less than $5 OOP each month at walgreens. but, once i get home, the fiasco continues. i sit down to enter our receipts into the easy saver rebate. DH and i each have an account. i had previously purchased theraflu for the rebate, and we bought two more tonight for DH. but here's where i screwed up - i entered his receipt on my account, and went ahead and claimed my rebate, since i knew i wouldn't be getting any of the other rebate items this month. of course, i didn't realize this until after i'd entered my receipt on his account. so, not only did we pay out of pocket, but i "lost" $6.60 in rebates because i messed up on entering the rebate receipts!

oh well. better luck next time!

Chicken and Dumplings - $5 Dinner Challenge

Tonight's dinner ended up being almost free!

I made up the recipe myself, based on a handful i looked at in cookbooks and on the web.

Ingredients:

2 c. diced cooked chicken breast (free from rotisserie chicken brought by neighbor)
3 c. chicken broth (i used turkey broth frozen after thanksgiving)
1/2 c. milk (free evaporated milk from Kroger sale last November)
1/2 c. sliced carrots (15 cents)
1 pkg Grands biscuits (22 cents after sale and coupon at Kroger)
flour (5 cents)
cornstarch (5 cents)

Total Cost: 47 cents! Feeds two hungry grownups, with enough left for one large or two moderate lunches.

Slice carrots and add to large pot with chicken broth, chicken and milk. Simmer until carrots are soft, adding spices as desired. I used marjoram, celery salt, bay leaves, parsley, sea salt and black pepper. Add about 2 tsp of flour or cornstarch to thicken the gravy. Cut raw biscuits into 8 pieces each and drop in chicken/gravy mixture. Put lid on pot and simmer for about 15 minutes. Serve and impress! M really liked this one a lot!

Bargain Briana Has Another Great Giveaway

This time, the giveaway is for a movie night at home kit. I sure hope she draws my name!

Great giveaway!

Bargain Brianna is having an amazing giveaway, with entries through february 28th! definitely go over and enter, then check out her site. she has really helpful posts about all kinds of great deals!

Best Freebie EVER!!!!!!!!!!!

photo courtesy of www.houstonzoo.org

today, my co-workers and i were treated to the best freebie ever! the director of the Houston Zoo took us to see the brand new baby giraffe, Miles. we got to pet him for a bit and take photos, then we got to feed the grown giraffes. seriously, Miles is the cutest thing EVER! he's only ten days old, and he's adorable. he was friendly and playful and affectionate. i got quite a few giraffe kisses!

to make this freebie even better, we got to park in employee parking by the entrance (and let me tell you, that was a huge deal, because it seemed like everyone in houston was going to the zoo or somewhere else in hermann park today!) and after the show-and-tell with Miles, we could take advantage of being at the zoo to see the other exhibits. my co-workers bailed, and since my husband was out of town and didn't get to go with me, i just checked out the meerkats and then left. i'll go back with M and explore another time.

Super Shopping Saturday

today i went to one walgreen's and THREE CVS stores.

here's my loot:


from walgreens - total OOP = .27
will get back $6 and $2.49 plus 10% on GC for EasySaver rebates
the five boxes of gelatin mix are for my "charity" box



CVS #1: total OOP = .41 (used raincheck for BOGO on the mentos and 4 $1/1 Qs)
the mentos gum will go in my "charity box" because we don't chew gum


i also got a 4 pack reese's peanut butter cups which didn't make it into the photo

CVS #2: total OOP = nothing (used B1G1 Free American Greetings Q, CVS CRT for free lens cleaning cloths; paid with $11.97 ECBs, got $3 ECBs)



CVS#3: total OOP = nothing (used B1G1 free Q on the Russel Stover, $1/1 CRT on Excedrin, paid with $7.93 ECBs, got $6.49 ECBs.

Total spent OOP = .67

I also went to Randall's, but i don't have pics.
(4) 3.5 lb bags Purina Cat Chow x $4 each = $16 - (2) $4/1 -(2) $3/1 = $2
(2) Frito's corn chips x $1 each = $2 - $1/25/2 MQ = .75/2
(1) 1.08 lb green seedless grapes = .95

Through the 15th, i get 10% off purchases because its a new randall's card, so they took off $1.90 for that.
Total OOP = $1.97

so, my grand total for today was $2.64 OOP. not too bad!