Target and Walgreens mega deals!

I went to Target last night. I won't go into every single thing BUT, my grand total was $130 and after coupons (manufacturer and Target) I spent only $53 PLUS received $15 worth of gift cards for my trouble! Oh what fun :D

Then, Walgreens was having a killer coupon day for $10 off a $30 dollar purchase. Yay! I bought a few things including a really cool Disney Cars pool for Sean and my total was $35. After my coupons and the $10 coupon, I spent $16. I used my Walgreens gift card from my April rebates to pay for it so really I didn't pay a thing....plus $11 of the $16 was for rebate items so really I bought all my goodies for $5!! Yeah baby! I never knew coupon shopping could be SOOOOO much fun!!!

Shame on those of you who doubt the sheer awesomeness of CVS!!!!!

So, I have explained my CVS obsession to some people but to others this is probably going to sound like a foreign language.... Read on though as it will knock your socks off!!!

CVS is the greatest place in the universe. It's a broke single mama's Disneyland! The rush you get after spending NO MONEY for LOTS OF STUFF really is comparible to the Tower of Terror!!! Today's trip was an especially fun trip....

ECB = Extra Care Bucks - simply put, you buy something from CVS that has an ECB promotion attached to it and a receipt spits out at the end of your transaction for the amount you earned. It's basically cash to spend on whatever you want.

B1G1 = Buy one get one free

Transaction #1:

Tums Quick Pack 24 count $4.69

Neutrogena Sunless Tan cream $9.99

Lysol Healthy Touch foam $1.99

I used:

$1 off manufacturers coupon for the Lysol

$2 off manufacturers coupon for the Neutrogena

$2.25 off manufacturers coupon for the Tums

$5 off $15 CVS coupon

$5 ECB

Paid $1.89 cash and earned $4.69 back in ECB from the Tums!

Transaction #2:

Tums Quick Pack 24 count $4.69

Neutrogena Sunless Tan foam $9.99

Lysol Healthy Touch foam $1.99

I used:

$1 off manufacturers coupon for the Lysol
$2 off manufacturers coupon for the Neutrogena

$2.25 off manufacturers coupon for the Tums

$5 off $15 CVS coupon

$5.58 ECB

I paid $1.27 cash and earned back $4.69 for the Tums and $5 for buying over $15 of Neutrogena in ECB's...however since the Neutrogena ECB did not print, they gave me $5 cash, and I completed the rest of my purchases with that!

Transaction #3:

Excedrin 24 ct $1.99

Lumene facial exfoliator $9.99

Lumene face mask Free (B1G1)

Kids Tums 36 ct $4.99

I used:

$2 off manufacturers coupon for the Excedrin, making it -0.01!!

$2 CVS coupon for Lumene

$2 CVS coupon for the Lumene

$4 Target coupon for Lumene - our CVS's take competitors coupons now!!!!!!

$5 off $15 CVS coupon

I paid $2.25 in cash (from the $5 given to me for the Neutrogena). No ECB's earned I will be sending in for my FULL REBATE for the kids Tums! $4.99 back for the measly cost of a stamp!

Transaction #4:

6x Sobe Life Water $1 each

Excedrin 24 ct $1.99

Oral-B Cross Action toothbrush $2.99

Lumene face mist $7.99

Lumene eye makeup remover Free (B1G1)

Lysol Healthy Touch foam $1.99 (Sean and I use a LOT of this stuff!)

I used:

3x Buy One Get One coupons for the Sobe water

$1 off manufacturers coupon for the toothbrush

$2 off manufacturers coupon for Excedrin (making it -0.01!)

$2 CVS coupon for Lumene

2x $4 Target coupon for Lumene

$5 off $15 CVS coupon

I paid 87 cents (with my Neutrogena money) and earned back $1 EBC for the toothbrush and $3 ECB for the Sobe waters (it was buy 2 get $1). Plus, I had $1.88 REAL cash left over from the Neutrogena mishap! WOO HOO!!!!!

Isn't that just unbelieveably awesome????? CVS, you are the bomb, baby!!! Jenny, I owe you my sanity for introducing me to this!!!

To learn more about how to CVS, see Money Saving Mom's CVS 101 here: http://www.moneysavingmom.com/money_saving_mom/2008/03/cvs-101.html

Just in case you were wondering what the red hammer looking thing is in all the pics, it's , well, a red wooden hammer....Sean insisted that it be in the photos!

And to top it all off, here is a pic of Sean from the playground on Tuesday:

The night we ran away to the circus....

About a month ago, I took Sean to the Antioch Shrine Circus. I had a buy one get one free coupon and it was Family Night so my ticket was only $12! That was pretty awesome in itself! But I digress....I have taken Sean to the circus every year so far and he has always been enthralled. This time was no exception. Though, it was a much better circus than the last one by FAR! He was absolutely thrilled to see the acrobats and the motorcycle daredevil...then came the tigers. There were five tigers and he was mesmerized!!!

It was a lot of fun. At intermission, they had pony rides, pictures with a tiger, and elephant rides. Sean's big thing is, and always has been, elephants, so I expected him to be uber excited about the impending elephant show. He went for a pony ride first and was SUCH a big boy! To my knowledge he has never ridden a live animal and he was so excited and so brave! I stayed back to take photos like this one.....

He rode like a champ and I was such a proud Mummy! We had a walk around, got some autographs with some clowns....

...and since the line for the elephant ride was sooooooo long, we went outside to the carnival they had going on. The tickets were cheap but when they kept letting us on rides for free, they were even cheaper!!! We had a fun little ride on the merry-go-round...

...and the dragon spinning thinga-ma-jig.....

...and then my big brave boy asked to go on the ferris wheel!! I was a little dubious - those things are HIGH!!!! But we waited, and waited, and waited...and since we waited so long they let us on for free (another freebie! Woo Hoo!!). Sean absolutely blew me away! He was so excited and curious throughout the whole ride. There was an older boy behind us who was VERY upset and my big brave boy couldn't understand why! I think he may have had a wee moment of doubt as we reached the top and stopped to let more people on below, but then again, perhaps that was just me...

I am still amazed at how composed he was throughout the entire ride. So much so, that he wanted to go on the kiddie ferris wheel ALL BY HIMSELF!!! When did my baby get so big?


Of course, throughout all this, the second half of the circus was going on - which we missed every minute of! I asked Sean many times if he would rather go back inside to see the elephants - once again, always his thing - and he said every time that he wanted to stay on the rides! BUT, we managed to get inside just in time to join the (much smaller) line for the elephant ride - and it completed a perfect evening.

Thank you Antioch Shrine Circus for a fantastic evening! We will see you next year!