Restaurant Coupons

I have got to go to bed soon.  I am wide awake and this is going to make for a long night.  Yes, I go to bed early.  I like to have 9 hours of sleep.  8 is not enough.

However, another deal before I rest.  Go here to sign up for Chili's and Maggiano's e-mail club and you'll receive coupons: $5/2 entrees at Chili's and $10 off at Maggiano's.  Mmmm, Maggiano's!  My mom and I made the mistake once of each eating an entree and then each of us ordering a dessert for ourselves.  Can we say holy huge chocolate cake piece?

Thanks, STL Mommy!

Walgreens & Rite Aid Trip 08/31

Yes, you read that right.  My trip back to Walgreens was successful (though they still need to throw out their cash registers and start again, and they need a better labeling system).  Since I felt slightly embarrassed about my passive aggressive e-mail to corporate and didn't know how much of it the manager had seen, I felt I should throw a few more things in the buggy.  See, I'm not as rought around the edges as you'd think based on my post about Walgreens!

To let you know what happened, apparently the Celsius energy drinks are on sale B1G1 50% off (of course this was not marked and is STILL NOT marked, but let's not talk about that), so they ring up as 7.99 + 3.99 = 12.00 (approx), less $3 September coupon book x 2 = $6.00.  My two $3 manufacturer's coupons were making it equal $0 which you know the Walgreens cash registers hate.  The manager did adjust them both so I only paid 2 cents, due to my issue the other day.  I have heard Walgreens corporate is not very customer friendly, but I was very pleased with the response and them fixing the situation.  I wrote them back to let them know the situation had been taken care of, but that their cash registers leave a lot to be desired.  I also apologized to the manager and told her the cash registers suck, which she said to trust her, they knew.

Anyway, here's my $12 trip (and I got $2 RR for the Carmex)

Then I went over to Rite Aid where I love, love, love the employees.  One of the managers opened up a line for me as I'd put two people in front of me because I had so many coupons.  I don't like being the person holding up the line when there's only one open register.

Another reason my store rocks is because they have great clearance.  Maybe every location does, but I love browsing theirs.  Even if some of the same things have been on clearance for like 3 months now.  Seriously, I have seen the same Gillette shampoo for $2.99 at least since June.  Maybe longer.

Today's great finds were: the Perfect 10 hair color.  I was going to buy some anyway as my highlights have grown out, so $5.99 less a $2 coupon is much better than $80 at the salon.  Or $11.99 full price. ;)

Then the Symphony bars!!  They were just marked clearance, so I was fine if they were even 50% off which would have made then .44 cents each.  But they were .22 cents each.  So I bought 12.  Don't worry, they're not going straight to my hips, they're going in gifts.  By the way, there were a ton of them left, so 12 didn't even begin to deplete their stock.

In total, after my $5/25 Video Values coupon and the other coupons (including $5 in Up Rewards), I spent $5.16 before tax.  I got back $1 Up Reward for the cereal.

By the way, the sales ad states 40 count Dixie plates, but the picture is of the 45 count.  All the Dixie and Vanity Fair products were marked as $1.99 at my store.  Anyway, in the coupon book at the front of the store there is a $1 off any Dixie product coupon which makes your 45 count plates .99 cents!

Rite Aid Trip and a Trip to Walgreens

I know what I said, no more Walgreens, but I'm going back one last time to get cheap Celsius.  After writing that letter I had a message on my answering machine from that manager I dealt with Sunday to please contact the store so they could resolve my issue.  So I'm hiking my fanny back to the store tonight with my coupons and a copy of the corporate coupon policy in hand.  And maybe I'll take Jimmy in case he needs to pull me out of the store.  Kidding on the last part.
Mostly.

So I was organizing my paper clutter yesterday so I could find my RA receipt.  It was in my purse the whole time.  I had a doctor's appointment today so had time to clean out the black hole that is my purse.  I also found a whole bunch more coupons today that were stuffed into the "bill basket."  That got cleaned out, too.

That Target giftcard?  $25 FREE from using MyPoints.  MyPoints is one of those get points web deals like Swagbucks, except MyPoints has surveys and sends you e-mail offers also.  I rarely sign up for the e-mail offers, but you get 5 points even if you just click on the e-mail.  Pretty awesome for a few seconds every day.  The one advantage over Swagbucks is that you get a physical giftcard whereas Swagbucks gives you an online code.  So the giftcard is going into my giftcard pile to save for Black Friday.  Last year I want to say you got a $10 giftcard when you spent $100 that day, so my mom and I combined our orders to get up to $100.  Much easier to spend $100 out of pocket when you already have $25 free to use towards it.

But on to Rite Aid.  I know, it seemed like I'd never get here!

There were also Orange Slices that my mom threw in the buggy, along with her Tide that she took home so didn't make it in the picture.  Again, we combined our purchase to get up to $20 so I could use my $4/20 Video Values coupon.

The Febreze Noticeables refill was clearanced to $2.79 (reg $5.59) and I used a $1 off coupon

Tide was on sale for $5.99 (reg $9.99) and I used a $1 off coupon and got back a $1 Up Reward

I'll also get back $1.99 Single Rebate Check for the Nivea lip gloss, and I got a $1 Up Reward

The Nivea body wash was $3 less a $1 coupon, and I got a $2 Up Reward

I used a $4/20 Video Values coupon bringing my out of pocket to $10.38 before tax.

After SRC and Up Rewards, I spent approximately $4.38

I'm headed back in a little while to get some cheap cereal and perhaps some Nexxus shampoo.  I like my staff at Rite Aid, so I'll keep taking my business there... ahem, Walgreens.

Organizing

I'm so behind on my coupon organization.  This is a picture of the chaos that I am attacking this afternoon.  In my air conditioned house.  Thank God for AC because it is 97 degrees outside!

Whenever I find my Rite Aid receipt in all this chaos, I'll post my trip from yesterday.  It's Monday, I can't remember much of anything, especially something from yesterday! ;)

Later this evening I am going to attempt some cookies so this should be interesting.  Let's start by saying I had to borrow a cookie cutter from my mom and go buy a rolling pin.  This, my friends, is how little I bake.

The Final Straw!

Today was the final straw at Walgreens!  I don't care if they start handing out $100 bills to everyone who walks through their door, I am done.  Jimmy and I went to buy some Celcius energy drinks.  They were priced at $7.99, there was a $3 Walgreens Sept coupon booklet coupon, and I had a $3 manufacturer's coupon.  The manufacturer's coupon, as it has done before, did not scan, but instead of typing in the numbers on the coupon, the assistant manager told me I couldn't use two coupons.  I told her I could, as the coupon booklet coupon is considered a Walgreens coupon and not a manufacturer's coupon.  Then she changed her story and told me that I couldn't have a $0 balance.  I told her I wouldn't, as I would still owe $1.99, but she told me no, she couldn't ring it through.  I asked her could she then reduce the price of the coupon so that I would owe something.  (My blood pressure is rising at this point.)  She said, no, she couldn't, even though their coupon policy clearly states that they can.  I told her what the corporate coupon policy said, but she told me she still couldn't do it.  At this point I probably sighed loudly and told her to never mind and to please give me my coupons back.

Then I went to Rite Aid where I had a successful trip, nothing was an issue, and the cashier was pleasant.  In between, of course, I wrote Walgreens a scathing letter.  For every 10 visits, only 1 is issue-free and/or has a nice cashier.  I am done with them, RA and CVS can get all my business.

I'll cover the RA trip tomorrow.  I'm up in bed already and didn't take a picture.  Where did the weekend go??  I hardly got anything on my to-do list accomplished!

CVS Trip 08/26

I made it into CVS today.  Mainly because we needed milk for the macaroni and cheese we were having for dinner, but I figured I'd go ahead and do my shopping.

If I have a guilty pleasure, it's definitely bad tv.  You know, Real Housewives of wherever, Teen Mom, The Rachel Zoe Project.  Bazaar has a photo spread with Rachel Zoe in it, so Bazaar mag made it into my basket.  The Wendy's giftcard was something I'd needed to buy as a gift for a few weeks now, the Listerine had an ECB offer and I had a $5 off coupon when you bought 3 Listerine, Reach, or Rembrant products.  I'm not sure where I got the coupon from, but it's been in my binder for at least 3 months, and I finally got to use it!  The Reach floss was clearanced, so after the ECBs, it was a $1 moneymaker.  That paid for a portion of my magazine, right? ;)

After my coupon and using $6 ECBs my out of pocket was $17.  Not bad considering $15 was a giftcard.  So this wasn't exactly my shopping list, but it works for me!

Restaurant.com 80% Off

What a long week!  I've gone to work and then come home and crashed.  I still need to make it to CVS, I might have time on my lunch break to do that today.  I can't even remember what I was getting--good thing I make my lists on Sunday evenings when I can think. :)

In the meantime, Restaurant.com is having their 80% off sale until 08/31.  If you don't find anything this time, the restaurants change occasionally and the 80% off sale pops up a lot.  I've bought quite a few certificates off there and never had a problem redeeming them.  It's a good way to try somewhere new for cheap, or eat somewhere you know you like cheap, too.  Right now, use code CLEARANCE to get your discount.

Headaches and More Fun

Ugh.  My migraine has subsided, so I'll try to update now. :)

I'm not going to recap my Target trip from Saturday morning because it's not really that exciting, it was mainly things we needed (carpet cleaner, Band-Aids, fruit, bread, etc), no fabulous deals.

I will show you the cute things I got at Hallmark, though.  My local store has their clearance marked down to 75% off, and I was in desperate need of gift coverings of some sort that weren't for Valentine's Day.

Isn't that elephant gift box so cute?  Luckily I have somewhere to store all this, as I have no one in particular to give a gift to in that box until our friends' baby's first birthday next year.  What can I say?  I like to be prepared!  I've had some of this years' Christmas presents since Dec 26 of last year.  Where to store them?  Pack them up with your Christmas decorations.  They'll be ready and out of the way.

I have the perfect friend to give this bag to!  The ribbon and shred paper will be used with my wonderful cupcakes and cookies that I apparently plan to make up.  Oh, I'm such an optimist!  I probably should start baking now so I can have it down by Christmas.  Haha.

In total, I spent about $7 on my whole Hallmark purchase.

 

Speaking of Christmas, Jimmy has informed me he thinks he broke our Christmas tree putting it in storage last year.  I told him that was fine, I'll let him know where the best deal on the prettiest tree is for him to get up at the crack of dawn on Black Friday!  Let me tell you about the nightmare of buying it in the first place.  Sears had a pretty tree on sale a few years ago for $99 on Black Friday.  They had a $10 off coupon, too, so I was all set to buy an $89 tree.  I want to say they were opening at 4 am, but I believe when I was discussing what time to get up with my right hand man, er Mom, her exact words were, "4 am?  How many people do you really think are going to be up buying a Christmas tree at 4 am?"  Apparently, a lot.  We did compromise and go at 5 am.  I got the little tear card, paid for my tree, and we went and got in the pickup line.  We were about 6 people from the front (after about an hour in line), and they informed the people who had purchased the exact same tree that they had no more.  Whomever was in charge did not put out only enough slips for the trees they had, and Sears' inventory system apparently leaves a lot to be desired.  By then there were 4 or 5 of us who had purchased non-existent trees.  After a lot of back and forth, one manager said they would give the same discount percentage off any other tree, and another said they'd sell any other tree for the same amount.  So I ended up with a gorgeous 8 foot tall prelit tree for $89.  (It was originally around $350.)

I say Jimmy gets to go this time mainly because we didn't consider how we were getting this thing home.  A kind man in the Sears parking lot offered to load it into our car.  Then we barely got it into the house, and then it stayed downstairs until my Dad (Jimmy was in the military at the time so out of town) carried it upstairs.  I say we barely got it into the house because my mom kept laughing at my dog Daisy, who was poking her head out of the bedroom blinds.  And we may have been a little delirious from being up that early and spending almost 2 hours in Sears. :)  Anyway, even with both of us, it took a few minutes to get a huge 80 pound box in from the car to the foyer.

But I digress.  I then went to Rite Aid.  Not a good idea to go shopping when not 100% as I've mentioned before, and today was another example of this.  My RA Video Values coupon was for $5 off $25, my total was $19.  How I was that far off is beyond me, but I threw some things in the buggy.  I needed chips, of course, and I needed a Gatorade.  Note the caramels are for another cooking project I have on my to-do list.  Oh but that will be an interesting post once I step in the kitchen.

 Sorry for the reflection off the stove, it must be too clean.  Haha!  In total, after all my coupons and Up Rewards, I spent $12 out of pocket.  Not fabulous, but considering the normal RA price alone on 8 roll Viva is $12.99, it's not too bad.  I'm just too spoiled and expect to pay pennies on the dollar for everything all the time.  I have to realize that regardless it's a $30 savings, so I did do really well.  Plus, I truly did need paper towels and I don't think you can ever have too much tp!

Until next time... :)

A Real Post to Follow...

I'll have a real post later.  I had good intentions for yesterday, then woke up with a killer headache and nausea.  Hopefully today will go better.  At least I'll try to entertain you. :)

All About Food

I woke up to rain.  Outside, thankfully.  Last time I woke up to rain inside it was in the form of a leaking water heater in the attic.  That caused a few weeks of chaos in my house.

Anyway, I woke up to rain.  Rain always makes me hungry.  I'm not sure why.  Today I had a doctor's appointment at 11:30 which included fasting labwork so could not eat.  (I was half tempted to go back to work after my appointment to eat another piece of Coldstone Creamery birthday cake from lunch yesterday.  I resisted the urge.)  We're sending one of our temp coworkers a little care package as she went off to college this week, so this was at my desk this morning:

That is my sad water next to Skittles.  I don't even like Skittles, but the ribbon around them was so cute they made me want to eat them!  And did you know they now have Fizzy Skittles?  That's the blue box.

So I worked for a little while and put the Skittles in the drawer so I wouldn't see them and think about them.  Or any other candy.  Or food in general.

I went to my appointment and while waiting, thought about what I was going to eat for lunch.  The appointment took 1.5 hours (it was for a clinical research trial, this was my first visit so they had to do a lot), so by 1 pm I'm of course starving.  I had my mind set on Subway, but so did the guy next to me who wouldn't let me over!  I planned on stopping by Ollie's later anyway, so ran there first, figuring I might spend less money if I was hungry and wanting to get out to eat.  I didn't think about that all their food would look delicious.

Who needs Chocolate Cream Puffs?  Me, when they're only .49 cents.

Mashed potatoes?  They look so good with the butter, and yum.  Another good rainy day food. .49 cents each, too.

Green sprinkles?!  Yes, I have visions of all the baking I'm going to do, and of course I can't just by one container, because what if I run out in the middle of a great project?  For .99 cents each, think of all the cute things I can do!

I did resist the urge to buy ground toffee sprinkles, ground chocolate sprinkles, and football themed sprinkles.  And frosting mix.  And decorative icing.  I did use some self control.  When did I last bake a cake or use sprinkles?  I don't have a fat clue.

I also bought some burrito seasoning and Combo's because, well, they looked good.

Shopping on an empty stomach is a bad idea.  I think that the lack of sugar in your system leads to bad decisions.  My husband eventually wants kids (talk to me in a few years), so what did I need to buy and keep for whenever that day comes?

A Winnie the Pooh Baby's First Year calendar complete with stickers.  This picture doesn't do it justice, it's sooo cute!  And you write in the year, month, and days, so I can keep it and use it whenever.  Yes, I told you it's a bad idea to shop on an empty stomach!  Believe it or not, I'm not a hoarder.  Though I'd probably deny it even if I was, but I swear, I'm not.

My total at Ollie's was $8.40.

Ollie's is a dangerous store like TJ Maxx in that the inventory constantly changes so you feel the need to buy then.  I almost bought my husband an Ohio State Gillette razor but then snapped back to reality.  $7 for a razor?  Heck no.  Their food usually isn't a really good deal, except when they had bags of Starbucks for $3.99 the other week.  Generally, if you coupon, you can get things much cheaper elsewhere, but you can't beat the prices on a lot of items they have.

I finally made it to Subway around 2 pm.  While writing this, Jimmy called and offered to make dinner.  Is it bad that I'm finally full?

Gap Groupon Deal

So if you've been around here any amount of time, you know how I love, love, love Groupon.  Today's deal is equally as fantastic as some of the others.  For $25 you get $50 worth of merchandise at Gap.  I love Gap, but I do not care for the prices.  So, I love me some Gap sales racks!  This is even better as you can use this deal on sales items.  This Groupon will help you really stretch your budget.  I'll let you know how I do whenever I go.  The Groupon is good until November 19, so you have a while to let their summer clothes clearance, or wait for them to get out their cute fall clothes. :) 

Kroger -- 88% Savings

I've been to Kroger more this past week than I've ever been before.  The deals, particularly the changing clearance items have been pulling me back in.  Mainly the Sobe water, though!  Jimmy goes through 2-3 a day, and we don't want it to end like the Crystal Light episode.

My out of pocket before tax was $6.02.  And that, my friend, is why I keep going back!

The Dentastix were 2/$5 then I used four $2 off coupons making each bag .50 cents.  The bigger your dogs, the fewer treats in the bag, so the more expensive.

The Stride was clearanced to .60 cents then I used the buy one Stride, get Stride Shift free.

I had been holding on to a Kroger coupon for $5/2 Mirra products for a few months now, so used them for two sponges.

My coupon and Kroger savings was $44.49.

Can you imagine paying $50 for everything pictured above?  I heart coupons! :)

Free Lunch

I had some yummy free lunch today with my mom, sister, and a friend at Abuelo's at Peninsula Town Center.  They are opening Thursday so were doing test runs with customers, during which they give out free meals.  It was good.  They were inviting people walking by on the mall street, too, if you're interested.  You might take a stroll by this evening and inquire.

Then I headed to Rite Aid because we're getting dangerously low on toilet paper.  At Rite Aid, I failed to use my brain.  It happens.

My total before tax was $11.47.  It should have been $10, but I didn't think to use the Charmin coupon in the free coupon book at the front of the store.  I got $3 back in Up Rewards from the Pantene, so I'm going to go back to get more Charmin tomorrow.  It's on sale for $6.49 less $1.50 less $3 Up Reward and then I'll get $1 Up Reward back, so approx $1 after all that.

Then I headed over to TJ Maxx with a giftcard.  I love both TJ Maxx and giftcards, so it was a happy trip. :)  I spent $17.71 and have .13 cents left on my giftcard.  Yay!

The DuraBone was $2.99

Biodegradable poop bags were $5.99

Tazo Tea was $3.99

I also bought a Christmas present for my sister which is not pictured because she would have peeked even if I told her not to.

I could have spent much, much more, but I was trying to stay within the gift card balance.  I can't go to TJ Maxx too often.  I have no self control in stores like that.

I'm headed back to Kroger again tonight.  I'm getting a little obsessed with that, too.  The savings have been so good, though!  I'm also going to Kohl's.  This may not be good.  Uh-oh.

CVS Savings 08/13

It has been a heck of a Friday the 13th.  Is it a full moon, too?  Or does it just feel like one?

Anyway, I stopped at the nice CVS on the way home from work today, but they did not have any of the Schick Hydro razors, so I decided to go to the not as nice CVS later this evening.  Jimmy went in with me and told the manager who was ringing me up to "watch this!"  Sweet, but embarrassing!

I didn't get to do all I wanted as this store had the razor (well, had 1 razor) but no Dulcolax or Brawny paper towels.  Also, they don't mark their sales very well, so I had a time with that, too.

But I did find some EXCELLENT clearance hidden in the back of the store!  Those Gillette After Shaves are for my dad; he likes them but has only been able to find them at Wal-Mart.  Shudder.  They were marked down to $1.50 and $1.23 (they're different scents).  The Nexxus shampoo was marked down from $11.99 (shudder again) to $2.25.  Yipee!  The magic coupon machine had spit out a $2 off Nexxus coupon a few weeks ago, so I got both bottles for $2.50 total.

It was at this point Jimmy informed me he needed more deodorant.  Does he eat the stuff?  Seriously, I feel like I'm constantly buying him deodorant.  So, $4.79 later he has deodorant.  Gees.

I used $5/$30 from an email coupon from CVS, then the Fuze were 4/$5 and get $5 ECB when you spent $10.

I used $15 in ECBs to bring my out of pocket to 3.27 before tax.  I received $9 back in ECBs for the Fuze and razor, and saved a total of $56.79.  And that, my friends, is a successful shopping day!

60% Savings at Kroger

I'll be honest, I almost didn't go back to Kroger, but I'm glad I did decide to.  I had dragged Jimmy out to Kroger earlier this week; it was an epic failure.  Okay, perhaps not epic, but they were wiped out of everything.  Today, however, was better.  It was still slim pickings on the Sobe Lifewaters (and I saw a woman with at least 30 in her cart--do they not put customer limits on these things during sales?), but I was able to get 8.

Here's what I did:

I also needed to get some more Smart Ones dinners which were on sale for $1.88 each, and I had a $4 off when you purchase 10 coupon that I got off their website a few weeks ago.

The Tide Stain Release was clearanced to $3.79 and I used the $3 off from the 08/01 P&G making it .79 cents!  That's the right price to pay to try a new product!

I had loaded a .60 cent off coupon from Kroger.com to use off the $1 A&W Root Beer.  I foresee cheap root beer floats in my future. :)

The Crystal Light Pure Fitness was 2/$5 and I used two $2 off coupons from Vocal Point

The pastry shells were clearanced to $3.79 and I have high hopes of making something wonderful with them.

8 Sobe Lifewaters at $1.09 each minus $4 for buying 8 in their sale, used 3 B1G1 free coupons from Sobe.com  (I was supposed to buy 10 to get $2 off from my Kroger coupon, but didn't read my list even though I actually made one.)

2 Gold Peak Teas (yum!) at 1.00 each, and used a Kroger coupon for $1/2

3 Fuze at 1.00 each, Kroger coupon for $1/3

4 Larabars at 4/$5, used .75 cents/3 from Coupons.com

2 Pure Protein bars 1.49 each, Kroger coupon for $1/2

Total Before Tax $30.09, Total Savings $45.14

I actually saved more than I should have as the cashier rang each Sobe coupon as 1.89 off, the maximum value of the coupon than 1.09, but she wasn't interested in listening to what I was saying.

Do I dare point out that I went shopping alone this time and managed to save more money?  Hmmm.

"You Didn't Do That Great"

My husband Jimmy tagged along with me to Farm Fresh this evening.  They were doubling coupons up to $1 today.  We checked out and he told me, "you didn't do that great."  We do occasionally have to spend money on food!  Then he did say, "Well, some of it was my V8 drink."

In total we spent, before tax 24.35 and saved 10.00

Not a huge savings, as he pointed out, but we were out of cereal and I needed peanut butter to make my dogs some more Frosty Paws (they were a big hit with them yesterday--yes, they're very spoiled.)  I am also going to make some Breakfast Muffins so needed some Bisquick (that's what has Shrek's face on it) and cheese.  We finally used the 10 pounds of cheese in my refrigerator.  Okay, 10 pounds may be an exaggeration, but I haven't bought cheese in a few months.  (We'll not talk about not planning ahead and how the price of the ONE bag of cheese was 1.99.)

Then we headed over to see our friend Evie.  My sister is babysitting her Wednesday nights for a few weeks, so we stopped by for a little visit.

This weekend my dad, Jimmy's golf partner, is working, so Jimmy's going to be put to work around the house.  He so far has only mentioned washing his truck and my car, but I am much more concerned about the hurricane in our living room.  We'll see how much we can get accomplished. ;)

Fun Mail

Today was one of those days it's fun to check the mail.  No bills, no junk mail (I know, one of only like three days a year without it!), but lots of coupons and a silly celeb gossip magazine (Ok!  btw, I only get it because it was $1 for a subscription with something I bought on Amazon last year.  I feel I should clarify, hehe.)

I got some Macy's coupons, a Bath & Body Works one (free signature collection item with any $10 purchase), $10 off $25 at Yankee Candle, and a Money Clip magazine.

Of course that means that I shop at these stores too often if I'm getting so many coupons from them, but let's not talk about that.  Did you get your $10 JC Penney cash coupon.  Mine came in the mail Saturday and starts today.  I don't usually shop at JCP, but I do like to go spend their free money!

I'd been keeping my eye on this magazine rack at JCP, though.  I originally saw it last time I was browsing with my $10 cash coupon, but couldn't justify spending the $30 it was marked down to in the store (marked down from $120, mind you!!!  What in the world?!).  It got marked down again to $23 but I'm still too cheap to buy it.  Last time I went to check it, they were all sold out.  I was thrilled then to find it at one of the malls in PA marked down to $13.  That, I could justify.  It could have been only $3 had they had some at my store now with the coupon, so now I feel I need to get my $10 worth back from them.

I Think I Left My Brain On Vacation

Or it may not have left the house to go on vacation with me.  On my husband's Tom-Tom (Jane--yes, she has a name), it maps out your route and asks if you want to avoid toll roads.  Since it was a 1 hour difference, we said no.  You would think that it would have dawned on us to make sure we had cash, but we assumed the other one had plenty.  This is a picture of all the cash we had with us (on top of my $15 Kohl's Vera Wang purse, by the way):

This is a picture of our first toll:

Below is our second day, at the National Constitution Center.  It was a really, really cool museum.  At the beginning they had a video/live person production that Jimmy said should be played for everyone entering boot camp.  We didn't have time to go anywhere else that day as he had to be to training at 1 pm (he was there to work, after all ;)), so we didn't get to see the Liberty Bell, but this museum was definitely worth our trip into the city.

The next day I was on my own as he was in training all day, so I mosied on out to Longwood Gardens.  As a side note, if you are buying a Groupon for another city, make sure you find out how far away the attraction is from where you are staying.  I almost didn't go since I found out it was an hour and 15 mins from our hotel, but decided it was better than trying to navigate back into Philadelphia by myself.  I am really glad I did end up going to Longwood Gardens, though.  It was gorgeous!

I spent two hours there and could have easily spent more time had, well, mainly had I remembered to actually pack my tennis shoes.  My comfort footbed Nike flip flops were only but so comfortable.  You could also pay $4 extra for a 45 minute behind the scenes tour, eat at a few different restaurants on the grounds, etc.

I mainly couldn't eat there because I was looking forward to Legal Seafood.  Yum!  I hit the HUGE King of Prussia Mall on the way home, mainly just to eat at LS.  The mall itself was fairly overwhelming, and I can shop!  I only went in one side, the side with the cheaper stores. :)

All in all, it was a great trip and I thank my husband for allowing me to tag along and spend money while he worked and made money. ;)

Philadelphia With No Cheese Steak

I have been in Langhorne, PA the last few days with a bad wireless connection and little time.  Okay, little time to get on the computer, I was out having fun! :)  Pictures later.  My husband had to go up for a class for his work, and it worked out I was able to take off work, so I tagged along for a little vacation time.

Our last night there we had Outback for dinner, then went down on the water in Philadelphia for fireworks and realized, hey, we should have waited and eaten a cheesesteak.  Oh well.  I didn't eat any cream cheese either. ;)

Walgreens & CVS Trips 08/03

I'm having one of those days.  I cannot for the life of me think clearly!  Anywho, I made a few pit stops today, first at Walgreens with my 15% off Friends & Family coupon.

I used the $3 off Cortaid coupon from the sales flyer along with a $2 off coupon I had from a pack of Benadryl I bought a couple of months ago.

The markers will go in someone's Christmas present, they were $3 with a $3 mail in rebate which prints after your receipt.

The envelopes were apparently not the correct ones, but I needed some anyway so coughed up 1.01 each.

After paying with a $5 RR from last week my total out of pocket was around $1.64  (I've already misplaced the receipt.  Sigh)

Then I went to Rite Aid (of course leaving my $5 off $25 Video Values coupon at home).  I struck out, though, as I was in desparate need of face powder, and they had no Neutrogena makeup at all today.  There was the sign, but there was no Neutrogena there.  Note to self: don't wait until you are completely out of face powder to go buy it.  So off to CVS where I paid the full price instead of the 40% off as advertised by Rite Aid this week.

I used a $5 off $30 coupon from e-mail

Sobe is B1G1 free and I used two B1G1 free coupons making all four free

Fusion ProGlide was 9.99, used $4 off coupon, produces a $5 ECB

Sally Hansen was 5.99, used $1 off coupon

(I learned a while back to never use expired wax.  I pulled the top layer of skin off.  Fun times.)

Neutrogena face powder was 13.99 (pick me up off the floor, will ya?), used $2 off coupon

Altoids was 1.49 and produces a $1 ECB

Used $9 in ECBs to pay

Total Before tax 10.46

Received $6 ECBs

Saved $30.86

VA Tax Holiday

Virginia's Tax Holiday starts this Friday, August 6th.  It runs through Sunday.  It's officially back to school, but I'm just calling it a complete tax holiday because who needs "Wedding apparel, including veils (sold not rented)" to go back to school?

You can find the complete list of qualifying items at the Daily Press website and get more specifics.  Certain rules apply, but I won't be buying $100 jeans this weekend, so I'm good. ;)