Mamavation Monday

Last week was another flat week. I'm down about .1#, so really nothing.

I had the opportunity to fit in some unique exercise over the past week. Yesterday, we took the family roller skating. When I was younger, I thought I could skate for hours - now I know better! The open skate was 3 hours long, but we were a little late in getting there, so we skated for about 2 1/2 hours. Holding onto my caughter's hand for most of the time, it was a nice slow skate. Both kids were definitely more confident about the experience this time - my son moved away from the wall and my daughter even would let go of my hand for a few minutes at a time.

What I'm worried about now is the coming week. I have a number of all day meetings, followed by evening social activities, because we are having some quarterly meetings at work. Early mornings, sitting all day and appetizers/dinners in the evening is going to make it more challenging to not only eat properly, but also to fit in any workout time.

I sure hope I am up for the challenge and can have a successful week, or at least a flat one.

This post shared at Mamavation Monday.

Menu Plan Monday

We seem to have the stuff on hand that we need for the week, so I didn't make a trip to the grocery this weekend. We likely will need to stop in mid-week for some bread and fresh fruit and vegetables, but otherwise should be good to go.

Last week, we tried four new recipes. Two were a hit, I'll try to get those posted later this week. One needs to be tweaked, so I will try to figure that out before sharing and the other one was deemed as not so good. The one that wasn't good was the roasted red pepper and noodles dinner. We even tried to doctor it when we ate it as leftovers and it still wasn't right. I think it was too much onion, but there also seemed to be something off balance in the total flavor.

Sunday
cereal
leftovers
dinner out with friends

Monday
Pizza

Tuesday
Chicken Alfredo

Wednesday
Favorite local Mexican restaurant

Thursday
Spaghetti and Meat Sauce

Friday
Chicken Fingers

Saturday
TBD

Most days, it is cereal for breakfast for everyone. As for lunch, my son will either buy or pack, based on the menu for that day. I tend to pack. My husband will do a bit of both.

This post shared at Menu Plan Monday.

CVS Scenarios - week of 2/27

There seem to be a few free and money-maker deals, as well as some deals on things that I could use a restock on. Some of my coupons expire tomorrow, so I definitely need to try for an early week trip to CVS.

Transaction #1
1 - Crest ProHealth Rinse
1 - Crest Satin Floss

-$1 Crest ProHealth Rinse mfg coupon (there was one last month for the smaller size)
-$.75 Satin floss mfg coupon

Total $4.83 OOP, earn $6.58 in ECBs.

Transaction #2
2 - Oral B Cross Action Power Toothbrushes
1 - Kashi Go Lean

-$3 Oral B Cross Action Power Toothbrush mfg coupon
-$3 Oral B Cross Action Power Toothbrush mfg coupon
-$1 Kashi Mfg coupon (or print one here)

Total $8, pay with $6.58 in ECBs and $1.42 OOP. Earn $6 ECBs.

Transaction #3
2 - Dove Shampoo/Conditioner
1 - Dove Deodorant
1 - Vaseline Lotion
1 - Kashi Go Lean

-$1 Dove Shampoo/Conditioner mfg coupon
-$1 Dove Shampoo/Conditioner mfg coupon
-$2 Dove Deodorant mfg coupon
-$5.79 Vaseline Free mfg coupon
-$1 Kashi mfg coupon (or print one here)

Total $7.50, pay with $6 ECBs and $1.50 OOP. Earn $5 and $2 ECBs.

Transaction #4
1 - Revitalens Multi-Purpose Solution
1 - Arizona Tea, gallon

Total $7.98, pay with $7 in ECBs and $.98 OOP. Earn $5.99 ECBs.

In these four transactions, you would have purchased $47.85 in product for only $8.73 OOP, with $5.99 ECBs remaining to roll, a savings of about 84%.

In addition to the above, I need to see what the Nexxus Products are priced at. I have two $3 coupons from recently received samples, so the spend $20 get $10 ECB deal could work out to allow me to get $20 in product for a net of about $4. Not too bad from my perspective. I just don't know whether that will be two items or more and how much over $20 I will have to spend to qualify.

For more deals and scenarios, check out Money Saving Mom and Deal Seeking Mom.

CVS $5 Challenge
Transaction #1
1 - Crest ProHealth Rinse
1 - Crest Satin Floss

-$1 Crest ProHealth Rinse mfg coupon (there was one last month for the smaller size)
-$.75 Satin floss mfg coupon

Total $4.83 OOP, earn $6.58 in ECBs.

Transaction #2
1 - Revitalens Multi-Purpose Solution
1 - Dove Deodorant

-$2 Dove Deodorant mfg coupon

Total $7.49, pay with $6.58 in ECBs and $.91 OOP. Earn $5.99 ECBs.

Transaction #3
2 - Oral B Cross Action Power Toothbrushes

-$3 Oral B Cross Action Power Toothbrush mfg coupon
-$3 Oral B Cross Action Power Toothbrush mfg coupon

Total $6, pay with $5.99 in ECBs and $0.01 OOP. Earn $6 ECBs.

Transaction #4
2 - Kashi Go Lean
1 - Dove Shampoo

-$1 Kashi mfg coupon
-$1 Kashi mfg coupon
-$1 Dove Shampoo mfg coupon

Total $6.00, pay with $6.00 ECBs. Earn $2 ECBs.

Transaction #5
1 - Dove Conditioner
1 - Vaseline Lotion

-$1 Dove Conditioner mfg coupon
-$5.79 Vaseline Free mfg coupon

Total $2, pay with $2 ECBs. Earn $5 ECBs.

For the trip, your total would be $5.75 OOP, with $5 in ECBs to roll, for $45.86 in product. A savings of about 89%. Of course, I broke two "rules" - I had too many transactions and my OOP was over $5 - but I still think it is a great set of scenarios for minimal OOP.

For more $5 Scenarios, check out the CVS $5 Challenge.