Enjoy the scenery. We sure did.

The deals at CVS this week, in my opinion, are some really good ones. Paired with the right coupons there are some great moneymakers, and some good opportunities to stock up for the winter and that means cold/flu season.

10 Halls honey/menthol cough drops $1.50 each = $15.00
1 Theraflu Warming liquid = $6.00

Total $21.00

Coupons
(5) Buy one bag of Halls get one free
(1) $2.00 off Theraflu
(1) $3.00 off any purchase of $15.00 at CVS

ECB's used $7.98
Total oop .52
ECB's earned $10.00

Not too shabby. Earned an extra $2.02 in ECB's. Got a ton of cough/throat drops for this winter and probably next. And in the paper there is a mail in rebate for the Theraflu. So this may be quite a moneymaker.

I had to go back one more time so I wouldn't have to make another trip during the week

2 Halls honey cough drops $1.50 = $3.00
2 Bic Comfort Advance razors $5.99 each = $11.98
2 Cottonelle wipes $2.50 = $5.00
1 bottle of cinnamon spice .99

Total $19.98

Coupons
(1) Buy one bag of Halls get one free
(2) $3.00 off Bic Comfort Advance razors
(1) .50 off Cottonelle wipes(1) $3.00 off any purchase of $15.00 at CVS

ECB's used $9.00
Total oop .97
ECB's earned $8.00

Lost a $1.00 here, I planned on getting 4 of the razors, but they only had 2 left. So I had to improvise the rest. We needed the wipes and I had a coupon for them and I got two more bags of the Halls. I had one more coupon for them I couldn't resist.

So there you. I have razors coming out our ears....ouch. And lots of cold products.

I have combination hair. I thought you could only have combination skin, but apparently my body wasn't told of that. The roots of my hair get greasy fast, and the ends could use some moisture. And because my hair gets greasy fast I have to wash my hair every day. I can't even imagine what it is like to wash your hair every 2 or 3 days like most people. You must save on shampoo and your hairdryer must last longer. Thankfully I do the CVS deals, so I don't spend so much on the shampoo I do have to use every day.

So because of this hair type I have always been leery to buy moisture rich shampoos. Yes, my ends need some love, but I don't want to over saturate my roots. And for years I didn't even use a conditioner as my hair didn't need it and would just weigh it down. Once I got my hair highlighted I had to use a little conditioner just on the ends.

Finding a shampoo that works with this type of hair is tricky. Most shampoos have done an okay job, but the ones for oily hair can tend to leave your hair almost too dry. When I saw Aussie was a good deal at CVS I jumped right on it. I remember buying Aussie styling products when I was young and I really like them. When I got to the store I was very excited to see their product entitled Cleanse And Mend, "cleans grease at the roots and guards tips of combination hair". Holy crap, they should have just put my name on the bottle.

So with much hope I took them home. And it has been love ever since. It really is a nice shampoo, lathers up well, cleans well but doesn't dry it out and along with just a pinch of conditioner makes it soft enough without weighing it down. I'm so sad I only got 2 bottles when I did the CVS deal for this. So the minute this goes back on sale I am stocking up.

So if you have that crazy combination hair like mine, this may be the product for you. But they do have products for all types of hair, so I'm sure they work just as well.

Jim - "Jan is about to have a baby with a sperm donor. And Michael is preparing for the birth of a watermelon with Dwight. This baby will be related to Michael through........delusion."

This is the perfect summation of the beginning of this episode. Michael is going to act like this is his baby. After Dwight proclaims his cervix is ripening, he then simulates his water breaking by dumping a cup of water between his legs and then catching it in another cup and drinking it. Even I had to stop and say EWWWWWW. Dwight then simulates the birth of the watermelon, I mean baby, in Michael's office.

Dwight - "DO YOU HAVE THE SHARPIE? DO YOU HAVE THE SHARPIE? When the baby emerges mark it secretly in a kind of a mark that only you can recognize and that no baby snatcher could ever copy."

Brilliant Dwight, not only are you using the Sharpie trick that Michael used in the Christmas party episode with the Benihana waitress but you also now have saved hospitals tons of money in using those stupid bracelets.

Dwight then delivers the watermelon, which Michael drops due the fact that Dwight covered it in butter because "newborns are slippery".

Michael has the office throwing a baby shower for Jan. Michael has M&M's personalized with the baby's prospective names "Chevy" for a boy, and "Astird". Yes Astird. That will be explained later.

Pam is still at art school. Jim and her are trying to stay in touch over the phone, but Pam's stories about the various dorm residents issues are starting to bore and confuse Jim. And before he can catch on to the story Pam has to go to class.

Michael tells Holly that he has to ignore her and treat her badly in front of Jan so that Jan doesn't get jealous or mad, because Jan is in the "terminal" state of her pregnancy, and Jan is really big and fat and Holly is one of the more attractive people in the office, and so is Ryan.

Stanley gives one of my favorite lines about pregnant women, "I do not like pregnant women in my workplace. they are always complaining. I have varicose veins too. I have swollen ankles. I'm constantly hungry. You don't think my nipples don't get sore too? You don't think I don't need to know the fastest way to the hospital?" You know, he really does have a point.

Jan comes into the office......carrying the baby. Guess Michael wasn't invited to the delivery or told of her arrival. Michael meets Astird, or as Jan corrects "Astrid". That is much better, in an 80's semi-hippie kind of way. Jan lets Michael know that her birthing instructor thought it was a good idea if he wasn't at the birth. Poor Michael.

Michael begins his fake hatred of Holly as they all enter the baby shower. "I'm fine weirdo. Such an HR weirdo. Try not to suck out all of the air in there as you walk in." As a person in the HR field, I actually do find these comments quite funny. I tell my boss them all the time.

The shower doesn't go well as most of the games are designed around the baby not actually being here yet. The office chips in together to buy Jan a stroller. But the one Jan has costs $1200 and is supposed to be top line. Well leave it to Dwight "Consumer Report" Schrute to see if Jan's stroller is so great. He takes the stroller out of the office and puts it to the test, tying it to the back of his Trans Am, and throwing it up against a fence.

Jan sings "Son Of A Preacher Man" to her baby in front of everyone. And as Jim explains to Pam on the phone, the song is about someone losing their virginity next to a church. Very child appropriate.

While Jim is on the phone with Pam telling her the story, she can barely hear him due to the washing machines at the laundromat she is in. So she has to let him go. She comments on that they are just having a day where they are not in sync, and that everyone has days like this, oh and she washed her lipstick in her towels.

Jan description of the birth in a tub, makes many people lose their appetite for cake. Michael starts to feel quite badly that he wasn't there for the birth so he goes to the best place possible for sympathetic advise....the warehouse. There he asks Darryl, about being a Baby Daddy and having an instant connection with the "baby baby" (not a typo). Darryl tries to inform Michael that he is not the baby Daddy and he shouldn't feel a connection to her. We are still not sure if Michael is getting it.

Holly wakes up Jan, who decided to take a nap in reception. When Jan asks where Astrid is, Holly says she is on a sales call "Waaaaaa, more paper, waaaa". Jan is rude to her. Shocking, but I really thought it was funny.

Andy and Angela decide while Jan is sleeping to put Astrid in a Anne Geddes type picture in the kitchen in a cornucopia surrounded by produce. Andy "She is nature's bounty."

Michael helps Jan to her car with the baby. Jan tells Michael she does not want him to date Holly. Michael agrees, although he doesn't know why. When Michael walks back in the office he goes right over to Holly and gives her a very slow yet touching hug, and then asks "You wanna go out?" Holly says yes, and with tears in her eyes. Michael "I didn't feel much when I held Astrid, but I got a good feeling from Holly". YOU GO MICHAEL! I was never so proud of him.

The last scene we see that Jim and Pam are really quite in sync. They both reach each other's voice mail at the same time at the end of the day, and relay the same story about a scary man that they both had encountered on a trip together to Pam's laundromat and how Jim then helped Pam buy a washer and dryer. They both end the conversation with "I miss you".

I really liked this episode. It had great juxtaposition in the craziness of the baby, and Dwight's birth mixed along with little touching scenes with Holly and Michael, and Jim and Pam. Its one of the great talents of The Office writing staff, the mix of these two elements. Even though Michael does wacky things in every episode, we are really starting to see him grow as a person through the wonderfulness that is Holly. I only wish she were staying on the show forever. And I hope this is the end of Jan, but I think that is wishful thinking. I do love that they are making the relationship with Jim and Pam work, and not making it a soap opera, but I am hoping they bring her back to Scranton soon. We had enough of them being apart during the whole Stamford year.

After a dismal week of ECB deals at CVS, they came back this week a bunch that were great. They also had Degree deodorant on sale. And even though it didn't come with any ECB's, it is the only deodorant my husband will use, so I had to get at least 2. I had quite a healthy list and still was able to do them all in one shot and pay very little.

2 GUM 2 pack toothbrush set $3.99 each = $7.98
2 bags Brach candy (Autumn Mix and Candy Corn) $1.29 each = $2.58
1 box Excedrin Express Gels 20 ct $1.99
2 Powerades $1.69 each = $3.38
2 Degree deodorants $1.99 each = $3.98
1 Colgate MaxFresh $2.99

Total $22.90

Coupons
(2) $1.00 off any GUM toothbrushes
(1) $3.00 off any Excedrin Express Gels (CVS coupon) got $1.01 overage on this
(1) $1.00 off any 2 Powerades
(1) $1.00 off any 2 Degree deodorants
(1) $1.00 off any Colgate MaxFresh toothpaste
(1) $1.00 off any Colgate MaxFresh or Total toothpaste (CVS coupon)
(1) $3.00 off any purchase of $15.00 at CVS

ECB's Used $10.00
Total oop .90
ECB's Earned $14.25

I really hope there is a moratorium soon on toothpaste deals or I may have to decorate my Christmas tree this year with tubes of it. Think it might be time to donate a few.

As I become more and more into paying off my debt, I am making more changes to saving money in our household. And I hope they are changes that I keep doing long after my debt is gone.

1.) Using the dryer less. I have started washing all my clothes in cold water. I have hung clothesline all around my basement and now hang up all my clothes to dry. When they are about 98% dry I throw them in the dryer for only 5 minutes to make them soft. I used to put clothes in the dryer for at least an hour a load and this reduces the electricity used by dryer by a ton. Its not hard and actually the smell of the clean wash hanging makes my whole house smell good.

2.) Pack our lunches. I have been packing my lunch for years for work. But I started a few months ago doing it for my husband and I'm sure this has saved us at least $35 -$50 a week.

3.) Knocking the grocery bill down. Way before the couponing started our grocery bill a week was around $150.00. That is for two grown adults. Pretty insane huh? We wasted alot of food too. I can't remember how many meats I thawed out and then we didn't feel like making them and ended up throwing them out when going bad. I now have a goal to keep our weekly grocery bill at $50.00. So far I am sticking around that, every once in a while going over 5 or 10 dollars here or there. And we have even more food on stock and more options of things to cook, and I don't waste a bit of leftovers.

4.) Eating out less. We are huge on eating out and did it about 3-4 times a week. Now we only do it once a week, and I try to only go to places then that I have a coupon for and that is very reasonable. I am thinking this has saved us at least $100 a week, probably more.

5.) Buying meats on the cheap. A huge portion of our grocery bill was the meat section. Superfresh is now my best friend with meats. They have manager's specials where the meat's are marked down at insane prices. The key to getting these is going pretty early in the morning and being flexible at what you will find. I have said before I have gotten turkey legs, ground chicken, ground turkey and lamb for under $2.00 a package. Plus more. This has made for some cheap and creative dinners. Now when I see meat at full price I cringe at seeing people paying those prices. Thank you Superfresh. I'm sure some other stores probably do this too. Please keep an eye out for these specials and stock up when you can.

Still having no luck with some free coupons I am getting in the circulars. Still can't find the French's Worchestershire sauce. I have looked in four stores. This weekend coupons came out for free Pedigree dog treats. Shoprite didn't even have them, and Walmart was completely wiped out. So time to hold onto them for a little longer.

At Shoprite, here are some deals that I partook of this week:

Knorr Rice or Pasta Sides were .94 and there are q's for $1.00 off 2 = .44 each
Powerade was on sale for .69, I got coupon tags from Acme for $1.00 off 2 = .19 each
Rayovac batteries were only .99 if you purchase $15.00 or more and $1.00 q's were in the newspapers this weekend, so free batteries. Limit of 2 of each variety.

Not pictured were Ore Ida Steam N Mash for $1.94 and my Shoprite, has $1.00 q's taped to the door of the freezer! Score for only .94 cents

Mrs. T's Pierogies were $1.99. There is an internet printable for .75 making them .99.

Some weeks there are more great deals to get at CVS than I have time to do. And sometimes there are weeks where you have to work really hard just to get one or two good deals out of their circular. This was one of those bad weeks. Thankfully I had good coupons for Dove. I didn't have any coupons for the Gatorade, but my husband had been asking for it. I didn't make any extra ECB's, but I am hoping some good sales soon will build them back up soon.

3 Dove shampoos $3.99 each = $11.97
5 Gatorades $1.00 each = $5.00

Total $16.97

Coupons
(3) $2.00 off Dove hair care
(1) $3.00 off any purchase of $15.00 at CVS

ECB's used$6.50
Total oop $1.99
ECB's earned $6.00

Summary: In a time where some business ethics are sorely needed in some of the big businesses in this county, The Office decides to approach this subject of what is good and bad to do at the workplace (pay attention AIG, well, maybe not) with an ethics seminar.

The show starts with a cold open. For those of you that don't know what a cold open is, its the teaser scene as you would say, that kinda throws you right into the action before the opening credits begin. This is one of my favorite ones. Jim is speaking to Pam on the phone. Pam is still at art school. And be advised that this is Pam's only scene in this episode (and sorely missed). Jim decides to tell the office they are engaged with Pam on speakerphone. Let the love fest begin.

Oscar- "I thought you were already engaged?"
Angela - "That was Roy. She was engaged to Roy."
Kevin - "I got a gift for Pam and Roy, do I have to get another one?"
Andy "Little close to my engagement Tuna, what's your game here"
Dwight - "She's not a virgin you know?"

Michael is his undying love for the couple that is Jim and Pam, tackles Jim onto the ground. You hear Pam on the line go "Sorry".

Holly has to conduct an ethics seminar. Michael and Holly make their entrance in the seminar to Olivia Newton-John's "Physical", but its "Lets get ethical". With their 80's workout headbands and all. Again, Holly is Michael's perfect match. The reason the class is being held is because of Ryan actions at corporate, who sounds like he really doesn't regret what he did.

Michael thinks Holly is taking the seminar too seriously, reading from the binder. The group starts to take over the meeting by saying what they consider ethics or not. Holly asks the group to let her know if any of them have ever faced an ethical dilemma in the workplace.

Michael's example "When I discovered YouTube, I didn't work for 5 days. I did nothing. I viewed Cookie Monster sings Chocolate Rain about a 1000 times." I can't pick on Michael here, I probably would have watched that a ton of times too. Love me some Cookie Monster.

The employees give their examples of their time theft from Global. But Meredith's time theft takes on a whole new level.

Meredith "Have you guys ever met Bruce Meyers, the Scranton rep for Hammermill? For the past 6 years I have been sleeping with him in exchange for discounts on our supplies and Outback Steakhouse gift certificates."

Wow, that is some serious time theft and about 100 other company violations and gets her tips in steak and deep fried onions. Michael tries to blow off her statement and goes back to flattering Holly. Holly pulls Meredith into Michael's office.

Meredith "No, I wouldn't have done it if it wasn't for the discounted paper, not alot of fruit in those looms". I think that is a new slogan for that company. Holly is pushing for Meredith to be terminated.

Dwight says he never does anything personal at work. Jim decides to use a stopwatch and time every little personal thing Dwight does, including yawning, arguing and making fun of Jim. Jim even has a discussion with Andy about Battlestar Gallactica and gets parts of it wrong, just to see if Dwight will engage in an argument over it. Dwight struggles to stay out of it.

Michael asks Holly to lunch to go over this situation, by dumping her lunch in the trashcan. Every time Holly tries to go over the situation at lunch, Michael jokes or changes the subject. Seems like a new perfect team is not seeing eye to eye here. Instead of firing Meredith, Michael suggests they punish her by getting a chastity belt for her. Hey, why didn't I ever think of that in my job in HR.

Jim's report of Dwight's activities so far "He has not stopped working for a second. At 12:45 he sneezed while keeping his eyes open, I always though it was impossible. At 1:32 he peed and I know that because he did it in a open soda bottle under the desk while filling out expense reports". The visual of that is bad enough but they show Dwight putting the bottle on his desk. Yuck. Brings back memories of Dwight peeing in a soda can when Michael took them on the trip to Utica.

Jim does catch Dwight missing for 19 minutes and 42 seconds. Dwight won't tell him why. The camera pans over to Angela buttoning up her shirt. Oh snap, that is still going on? And 19 minutes, Dwight I am very impressed!

Michael gets mad in only the way that Michael can when Holly says that Dunder Mifflin is not a family but a workplace. He throws out her leftovers, takes the coffee pot away from her, and cuts in front of her at the Xerox machine. Holly "In middle school I was a hall monitor, and the kids used to stuff egg salad in my locker. Yeah, I was just hoping middle school was over"

Michael and Holly have a conference call with Kendall, the HR rep from Corporate. He decides that since the company is getting a discount at a tough time with the economy, that these circumstances don't warrant any actions. Now I try to suspend disbelief with my shows, but as I said, I work in HR and I have never seen anything like this swept under the carpet. Seems like corporate is the one that needs some business ethics.

Holly tries to argue with Kendall and he yells at her back, telling her that she should just get signatures that people attended the meeting and keep it at that. Michael feels bad for her for trying and yells at everyone to get back in the meeting. Michael watches her with admiration as she reads the rest of the seminar from the book.

The staff enjoys a nice lunch, courtesy of Meredith, from Outback Steakhouse.

I tried on Monday to get 4 of the Maalox, where you had to buy $20 worth to get $10 back. But I went to 2 CVS's and only found one bottle of the regular strength Maalox. So I decided my next trip back I would be more prepared for issues like this.

I planned either 4 of the Tylenol PM's or 4 of the Viactiv Flavor Glides. But when I got there I found both, so I got 2 of each. My husband uses the Tylenol PM's now and then and I was interested in trying the Viactiv.

2 Tylenol PM's $6.00 each = $12.00
2 Viactiv Flavor Glides $6.00 each = $12.00

Total $24.00

Coupons
(2) $2.00 off Tylenol PM
(2) $2.00 off Viactiv Flavor Glides
(1) $2.50 off any pain relieve purchase of $10.00 at CVS
(1) $3.00 off any purchase of $15.00 at CVS

ECB's used $10.00
Total oop .50
ECB's earned $10.00

So I broke even on the ECB's and spent a whopping .50 cents and got some cool product.

I try to post regularly. Just been a bit busy. I'm updating my coupon system into a spreadsheet database to make finding deals so much easier. Its alot of work to do but once its done it will save me tons of time.


Thursdays are huge days in my house. As soon as I get home from work, and finish my dinner and household stuff, I have the new circulars from the stores to peruse, my husband was updating the program on my computer, I was inputting more information and The Office was on. So before I know it, its bedtime. But I will have my Office review up tomorrow and another deal that I finished up this week.

I found this great site today while perusing the Internet for more frugal advice. It has fantastic articles on personal finance and frugal living. I have been reading everything I can get my hands on, on the site. Please check it out.


WiseBread


A great article today by Julie listed the 10 things she wouldn't give up to save money and some other lists, that I just loved reading about. It made me want to list mine, and I would love to hear yours too. Now I don't think any one's lists are completely set in stone. If times got horrible, I'm sure we would all make concessions to things we wouldn't right now.

10 things I won’t give up to save money:


1.) Air conditioning. Yes, it is getting much cooler now, so we don't need it on most of the time and hopefully not anymore until next summer. But I hate heat in general and I hate the hot weather of summer with a passion. Of course we turn up the temp to make it warmer in the daytime, but at night I like it really cool when I sleep. And since I only get about 5 hours of sleep a night, I need every minute of it to be comfortable. In my opinion, air conditioning is the greatest invention man has ever made.


2.) Sugar. I exercise 6 days a week. I watch what I eat 99% of the time. I don't smoke, I barely drink. I follow all laws, both federal, state and local. But I have to have sugar, and I mean real sugar. No sugar substitutes. I can taste them a mile away. Sugar is my one big vice. I usually have a small bowl of ice cream every night and I do my best to get it as cheap as I can. But I'm going to buy it anyway if I am out of it. Take sugar from me and you will get the equivalent of someone trying to quit smoking.


3.) TV. Now it doesn't have to be a big fancy TV, unlike my husband has to have. I don't need all the wacky channels. But I do want at least standard cable. NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, E, Food Network, Home and Garden Channel.


4.) Anything My Pets Need. I have seven pets, in case you forgot. I take the adoption of animals seriously. They are my responsibility for the rest of their lives. They need their food, their medications and their vet trips. I don't skimp or scrape on that.


5.) Certain Foods. I get get lots of cheap food with coupons, but some of it is just not too healthy. And since I have to be a pretty healthy eater or my pants won't fit. Somethings I have to buy for my meals to keep me in trim shape. Veggie burgers, egg whites, fruits, skim milk and yogurt are staples in my diet. I do try my best to find them on sale or use coupons. But either way I have to get them to keep me on track.


6.) My Landscaper. I know this is a horrible one for me to have and someplace I could really save money. But hear me out. I am a redhead with freckles. I burn in the sun at the drop of a hat. I have to wear the equivalent of liquid steel to go outside in the summer for longer than 5 minutes. I also get eaten alive by bugs when going outside for anything in the warm weather (see another reason for me to hate warm weather). On top of all that, I really just hate being outside and have suffered many a cut and bruise from mowing my lawn, edging the grass and trimming bushes. I'm not lazy, not one bit. I would happily clean the inside of my house from head to toe with a toothbrush if I had to. But I despise yard work horribly. So much I sold my lawnmower and tools a year ago at a yard sale. My lawn guy is reliable, cheap and takes forever to cash my checks too. Its a happy relationship.

7.) My laptop. Another strange one. Although it was an expensive initial investment, it has saved me a ton of money. It has showed me to tons of frugal websites with great information on saving money. But its biggest benefit has been something to keep me entertained during my lunches at work. I used to go out on my lunch break and go shopping, or peruse the book stores and buy a cookbook or two, and also this burned up gas as my work area can get bad traffic. Now I go around the corner from work to a lake, a 10 second drive, park my car, turn it off, roll down the windows and pop a DVD I already had, into the laptop and just watch TV shows. Its so relaxing and entertaining and cheap.

8.) My Ipod. I use this every time I exercise and just go outside and run. And considering how much gym memberships costs, I have more than made up for the price of the Ipod by not joining a gym.

9.) My dishwasher. But actually if you look it up, washing dishes by hand wastes more water than a good energy efficient dishwasher. So really its a good thing to keep.

10.) My 401K. Even though I hate them and it feels like gambling your retirement savings. Everyone and their mother tells me to never stop putting money into it. I have lowered or raised the amount on occasion but not stopped it. I will be a good girl and always stay in it, and hopefully one day this thing will actually look like it is going somewhere substantial.

We had some great coupons in the newspapers this week. More $1.00 off Marcal, which if you find it in the right place can get your free paper towels or tissues. And a great coupon for a free bottle of French's Worcestershire sauce. Now the Marcel ones work for me, but I went to two stores this weekend and cannot find the French's Worcestershire sauce to save my life. So those I will hold onto.

The deals this week:

Electrasol Gelpacs $2.49 - $2.25 q's that expire today, so this is a quick deal, if you can make it. But you get them for .24 cents.

GUM toothbrushes are .88 and there are $1.00q's still out there. Making them FREE and if some stores allow you will get .12 overage

Lysol disinfectant spray $1.88 each, and there are $2.00 q's for this. So this is again FREE with .12 overage

A while ago we got coupons in the paper for $1.00 off of milk when you buy 2 Welch's jelly. Well, SR had Welch's on sale for $1.69 each, and I needed milk.

Also LaChoy soy sauce was on sale for $1.19. No coupons, but I think it was a great price for it.

After Shoprite I headed over to Superfresh again to check out the manager's special meats and to get free pasta.

Ronzoni Smart Taste at Superfresh this week is 10 for $10.00, so $1.00 each. $1.00 q's came out in this week's paper. So I was able to get 5 boxes free. And I found some cheap chicken wings packages there for only $1.90.

I had been waiting for a chance to get what I thought would be some cheap Halloween candy. I don't need alot of it, as I don't get home from work that day until 5pm, so I miss at least 2 hours of trick or treaters. But I do need some. When I saw the buy one get one free candy sale at CVS and I knew I had coupons for it, I figured now is my time. But I also got more toothpaste. A ton of chocolate and toothpaste, my dentist would be so proud.

I have been trying lately to get more of what I need and less of just getting what the great ECB deal is. I still have to keep my ECB's up's but you have to find a good balance between getting the good deals and getting what you actually need and will use.

2 Colgate Maxfresh toothpastes $2.99 each = $5.98
6 Bags of Hershey's snack size candies $2.99 each = $17.94

Total $23.92

Coupons
(1) .75 off Colgate MaxFresh
(1) $1.00 off Colgate adult toothpaste
(1) $1.00 off Colgate toothpaste (CVS coupon)
(2) $1.00 off when you buy 3 bags Hershey brand snack size candies
(1) $3.00 off any purchase of $15.00 at CVS

Plus the candies were buy one get one free, so that is $8.97 off too.

ECB's used $5.79
Total oop $1.77
ECB's earned $5.00, plus.....

I got $1.79 in ECB's for my Summer Spending. When you shop at CVS, they issue you at the end of each season 2% of your total spending there in ECB's.

I can't believe I never finished posting the pictures and details from my trip to Chicago back in late July. The rest of my life got in the way and it completely slipped my mind.

So lets see if I can remember where we left off. The last thing I showed were the pictures of Wrigley Field and the awesome cracked egg in the front of the McDonald's across the street from the field.

Later that evening the four of us went into the city for dinner at Harry Caray's Steakhouse. It was pretty crowded but we managed to get a seat in the bar. The food was very good, but nothing over the top or too memorable. We then walked around the city and I just have to say this is the most beautiful city I have ever seen. So many amazing buildings. I really do have an appreciation for great architecture and there are some fantastic examples of that in Chicago. It was so clean and wonderful designed in my opinion. I really enjoyed walking around the city and wish I had had more time to do so.

My brother also informed us the The Dark Knight was shot in Chicago. So it was almost a creepy and surreal experience to walk around the city and see the places where particular scenes were shot. I could feel Batman in the air.


My husband's one request was that we hit the Apple store, since he is such a big fan of the company. The store was two levels and beautiful. They even had a glass walkway over the top floor that neither of us were brave enough to walk across.

We left the next morning. Our flight home wasn't too bad, a little turbulence, which my husband and dad said was very minor. However any turbulence for me is too much. I think I lost all the circulation in my hand from gripping the armrests. But all in all the stress of the flights were worth it for the great trip I had. My brother moved from Chicago about two weeks ago. He is now living in sunny Florida. I am sad he left, as his place was very cool and in such a great section of the town, but my husband and I promised ourselves that we would still go back to great city again one day even though our free room and board is gone.