A BIG Thank You to Thrifty Mom in Boise

About 2 months ago I saw this post about a new vacuum on TMIB's blog. I had been researching new vacuums at the time, because our Dyson quit after 3 years and the Shark just doesn't seem clean to as well as I'd like it to. I hate feeling any kind of dirt when I walk around the house bare feet. My plan was to look for a good vacuum deal over the holidays.

Well, I found this Bissell she mentioned at Walmart. I must admit that I was rather skeptical when I first saw the size of it, after opening the box. DS assembled it and immediately took it for a test drive. This little sucker works great! (pun intended). It cleans far better than the Shark does. We haven't used the Shark since purchasing the Bissell. I can also easily vacuum under the beds, without taking the vacuum apart (like I do with the Shark)

Then last week (out of curiosity) I asked DH to test how much energy the Bissell uses vs the Shark (we mainly use Solar energy, but I'm still mindful of our energy consumption). The Bissell uses 260 watts vs 1000 watts that the Shark uses. So not only does the Bissell clean better, it also saves us almost 75% worth of energy for vacuuming. Such a great investment for just $20.

So a great big Thank you Thrifty Mom for sharing this deal! We couldn't be more pleased with this stick vacuum.

Easy homemade pizza recipe

Two weeks ago, my friend shared this pizza recipe. She knows that I like to cook, so she's always sending me recipes of things that she thinks I might like. When I saw this recipe, I knew that I absolutely had to try it.

So this is what's called a rainbow pizza. The part I liked was the easy dough recipe. The best part was that I already had all the ingredients at home.

Dough

1½ cups Self raising flour - found at Walmart (or AP flour and 1 tsp baking powder)
1 cup plain or greek yogurt

Mix together. Add more flour as needed and roll into a crust. Top with basil pesto, 2 cups mozzarella cheese and veggies of your choice. Top with olive oil and bake for 20 minutes at 400F

I made 2 large pizzas and they were gone within 2 days, they were THAT good! Now I must admit that I'm a food snob (no shame here). I grew up eating lots of fresh, high quality food and all our meals were cooked from scratch with fresh herbs and pure spices. We ate very very little processed food. In South Africa, we never knew pepperoni pizza. Our pizzas were topped with a variety of meat and/or veggies, so this recipe was right up my alley.

Then yesterday I decided to make 2 more pizzas, since I have to run errands today. I'm experimenting with different toppings.

Grilled eggplant (I just grilled it on my small George Foreman grill. I added salt/pepper and a little olive oil
1 Can artichokes
Roasted red peppers (Ollie's sells the large jars for cheap)
Mozzarella cheese
Basil pesto
I sprinkled a minimum amount of oregano on top
Top with olive oil

I had a slice last night and this was the BEST pizza I've ever made. Even DH was impressed when I told him that it tastes better than the ones we get at our favorite restaurants. Those pizzas normally set us back $25 each. They also don't offer as many toppings. I made sure that I placed a layer of each topping over the entire pizza. I want to get all those flavors in every single bite.

Hawaiian pizza with a twist

Famous Dave's bbq sauce
Mozzarella
Ham (I just diced up the slices that I buy at Sams)
Diced pineapple (I just up a can of rings)
Red onion slices
Cilantro

Unfortunately I ended up overcooking this pizza. After 20 minutes, the crust wasn't completely done. So back into the oven it went. A little too long - yikes! The flavor's still good, but it's not as pretty as the artichoke pizza. I won't serve this to anyone other than DH & DS, because presentation is as important as taste to me.

You can play around with all kinds of different toppings. There's no right or wrong way. Just choose your favorite toppings and fill your pizza with it.

For pasta sauce. Mix tomato sauce, some tomato paste and a little oregano together. Garlic is optional. I'm just gonna use my Prego pasta sauce, instead of buying tomato sauce and hope & pray that my pizza turns out okay...lol.

I told DH that I should just make about 6 pizzas at one time and freeze the rest. That way I don't have to bake pizzas every week. Although the fresh pizzas always taste better :)

Bon Appetit.

Drugstore fun

Hi everyone

I've decided to just do a 2 month finance blog post next week again. I'm just way too busy to write 2 separate posts. All online sellers will tell you that this is the busiest time of the year for us, so there's not much time to blog.

Today I hit up WAGS (to spend down points) and CVS. So here's what I got

 Trans 1

1 x Lays chips $2.49
Less CAT from last week (1.99)
OOP $0.50

Earned 3000 BR ($3). Found this q in my account today. Crazy part is that just last night I told DH I was craving some Lay's chips. So a nice MM and my craving's getting satisfied :)

Trans 2

1 x Tide $4.99
1 x Gain $4.99
1 x Gain Flings $4.99
2 x Carmex Supercran $5.98 (B1G50% off 2nd)
4 x Mars Minis $10.00
Less Tide DQ (2.00)
Less Gain DQ (2.00)
Less Gain Flings DQ (2.00)
Less Carmex DQ (1.00)
Less Mars q (2.00) monthly q booklet
Less CAT from 2 weeks ago ( 0.89)
Less CAT from last week (1.99)
Less BR redeemed (20.00)
Sales tax $1.26
OOP $0.33

Earned $1 BR for Carmex. Submitted $4.10 Ibotta ($2 Mars candy, $2 Carmex, 10c any item)

I started out with $70 worth of points. Redeemed $20 points, but still have $55 worth of points available. Crazy WAGS math...lol

CVS

2 x Maybelline eyeshadows $7.98
Less CRT (2.98)
Less EB (5.00)
Tax : 0.48
OOP $0.48, earned back $5 EB

There are lots of good deals at CVS this week, but without RMN qs (can you tell I'm still upset that we don't get those inserts. I don't even know why they no longer distribute them in select states) and CRTs, it wouldn't have been worth it for me.

When I got home, I went online to order Softsoap bw. There's a $5 EB WYS $10 and 30% off + free
shipping online.

4 x Softsoap bw $19.56
Less $2 off BW DQ (2.00)
Less 30% (5.27)
Less $10 EB (10.00)
Sales tax $0.74
OOP $3.03 Paid with an old gc.

Earned $5 EB and should qualify for $3 Beauty EB

I've had this gc for about 7-8 years. I got it for an item I returned, but this darn things set off the alarm at CVS whenever I walked into the store. So it's been sitting in my desk drawer for years. When I checked the balance, I saw that there was still $7.41 on it, so I will use it for online purchases.

Then I made a dozen chicken pot pies in my pie maker. So that's what's for dinner tonight. I still have some filling left over, but need to get more pie dough from Sams (I use the Pillsbury ready made dough. It's just way more convenient than making my own). Eating out of the freezer, so I made steamed broccoli, snap peas and carrots to go with the pies.

WAGS tripping

Boy did it feel good to get out of the house today, after being home sick for so long. I decided to make a quick WAGS run to make use of that 10x points and $7 bonus WYS $20 q.

Trans 1

2 x Kit Kat $3.98
1 x Black Forest gummy bears $1.99
2 x Mitchum $3.98
1 x Bic Razor $2.99
1 x Tostitos Salsa $3.59
2 x Speed Stick (B1G2nd 50% off) $4.48
Total $21.01
Less 2 x Mitchum qs (2.00)
Less Speedstick DQ (1.00)
Less CAT from 2 weeks ago (0.89)
Tax 0.69
OOP $17.81

Earned 16100 points ($16.10) + $1.99 RR (register reward for gummy bears)

Points breakdown

1000 wyb 2 Mitchum
3000 wyb 2 Speedstick
3000 wyb Tostitos dip or salsa (my main reason for buying the salsa, cause it's 59c after reward)
7000 wys $20
1890 10x bonus
210 everyday points

So I spent $17.81 OOP and earned $18.09 in rewards.

For some reason my $3 Bic DQ didn't deduct. I think it's because the razor was $2.99 and WAGS does not adjust qs or give overage. I'll contact CS to see if they'll give me the credit.

The gummy bears are free after RR this week, so that's a nice filler item.

The register gave me another $7 bonus wys $25. Sigh. I don't need it, unless there's a really good sale. Next week doesn't look too great, so we'll see.

Trans 2

4 x Kit Kat $7.96
2 x Mitchum $3.98
1 x Gummi Bears $1.99
Less 2 Mitchum qs (2.00)
Less 10000 points (10.00)
Tax $0.24
OOP $2.17

Earned 1000 points ($1) Mitchum and 30 everyday points and $1.99 RR (gummi bears)

So grand total spent today : $19.98
Total rewards earned : 17130 points ($17.13) and $3.98 RR. So $21.11 earned

I know that there's 5 bags in 2nd pic, but I only purchased 4. We don't eat much candy, but this is DS's favorite, so he opened a bag the minute I got home...lol. The rest of the candy is for halloween.

My account says that I now have $70 in rewards. What on earth. I'm supposed to be spending down points, not accumulating more. I want to try and use points for RR deals next week. I don't like this new rule of only being able to redeem up to $5 reward per transaction.

I'm still here - I'm sick

I apologise for my lack of posts. I've been so busy with work and then I got sick a little over a week ago. I spent the past 2 days in bed all day. I'm so over the flu. I'm finally beginning to feel human again, so will be back to posting soon.

My $6.09 for 16 items Ibotta Walmart trip

Last week Ibotta had a $10 bonus offer. I had to purchase 15 items to earn $10 bonus (number of items varies by user). So off to Walmart I went. I've read that people were finding peelies on the Softsoap Earth Blends items, but alas, there were none at my store

Round 1

Quaker rice chips $1.50

Quaker oatmeal 2.34

Softsoap bar soap 2.97

2 Softsoap hand soap $1.96

Forto coffee shot 1.98 (free after rebate)

Barilla pesto 2.78

Band aids 1.93

Tax 0.41

OOP $15.87

Earned $9.28

Round 2

I waited until the rebates reset, to do round 2

Quaker oatmeal $3.24
Barilla pesto 2.78
Ballpark hot dog buns 1.98
Lala yogurt smoothie 0.88 (free after rebate)
Softsoap hand soap 0.98
Band aid 1.93
Breakstone sour cream 1.99
Tax 0.17
OOP $13.95

Earned $16.43

Also the Sargento sweet snacks that I paid for with WAGs rewards, counted towards this deal. Earned 50c.

Total OOP : $32.30
Total earned : $26.21

Total cost for 16 items after Ibotta rewards = $6.09

During the first trip, I wanted to check the different oatmeal prices. I always calculate unit price, to see which sized item is the best value. However, there were no shelf tags and no scanners. When I went to Walmart the 2nd time around, there were shelf tags, so I gladly grabbed the bigger oatmeal container.

18 oz oatmeal $2.34 (0.13c per ounce)
42 oz oatmeal $3.24 (0.08c per ounce)

With the exception of the coffee shots, we use everything. I'm especially happy that I got oatmeal and pesto (my favorite) at such a good price.

 I also picked up this Bic Soleil razor pack for $3.47 (incl tax). Earned $4 Checkout51, so a 53c MM (moneymaker).

I should've checked the limit before going shopping, because I didn't know it was a limit of 2. I just read about the deal online and added it to my shopping list. Oh well, I'm not gonna make a special trip to Walmart just for an extra pack of razors. I'll wait until I do my weekly shopping there again.

I've been cherry picking at Meijer and doing the bulk of my grocery shopping at Walmart and Sams. I'm always amazed at the price differences when I buy something 'new' at Walmart. Last week I was planning on buying more Johnsonville breakfast sausage (the only brand I'll eat) at Meijer, since it was on sale for $3 (regular price $4.29). Well, when I was at Walmart and checked the price, I saw that their regular price is $2.98. Unbelievable Meijer!!

I know that Walmart gets a bad rap (my closest store leaves a lot to be desired, but I have a few other nicer locations where I can shop), but you just can't beat their prices.

Shopping the past 2 weeks

Here are a few good deals I scored the past 2 weeks

Kroger mega event (amounts are after the Mega event discount)

2 x Colgate Optic White $3.98
1 x Colgate Total $1.99
1 x Stayfree $1.99
1 x Kotex 1.99
1 x Epic bar $2.00
Less Colgate DQ (4.00)
Less Colgate DQ (2.00)
Less Epic DQ (2.00) Friday freebie
Tax $0.59
OOP : $3.34

Earned 50c back through Savingstar for Epic bar, so total cost $2.84

My plan was for no more than $1.50 OOP, but Kroger was OOS on the other items that I had DQs for, so I had to improvise

Walgreens. I don't really like spending much cash OOP, but I wanted the $10 wys $25 bonus and you don't earn the bonus if you use points to pay.

1 x Gain $4.99
1 x Tide 4.99
4 x Irish Spring $15.96
1 x Newspaper $2.00
Less 2 x Irish Spring qs (2.00)
Less Gain DQ (2.00)
Less CATS (9.00)
Tax 1.56
OOP $16.50

Received $20270 points. Approx $20 worth points ($10 bonus $10 Irish Spring). The rest of the points were everyday points that you earn on any purchase. I was on my way out when I did this deal. When I checked my receipt the next day, I saw that my $2 Tide DQ didn't deduct. Ugh! Too much hassle for me to contact them over $2.

WAGS 2

4 x Softsoap bw $15.96
Less Softsoap DQ (1.00)
Less CAT (4.00)
Less BR (10.00)
Tax 0.96
OOP $1.92

Earned $10 BR. So $1.92 for 4 bottles of bw or 48c each

WAGS 3

2 x Shick Razors $14.00
1 x All detergent $2.99
1 x Sargento sweet breaks $1.79
Less Schick DQ (7.00)
Less All DQ (1.00)
Tax $1.02
Less BR used (10.00)
OOP $1.80

Earned $2 BR and 50c Ibotta (Sargento)

I had a different pack of Shick razors in my hand and then I spotted these bonus packs. 4 Extra razors, yes please!...lol. I always grab bonus packs when it's available. Why not? If it costs the same price as the regular item, then I'll gladly take the free extras.

I'm trying to spend down my points, because from 11/08 you will only be able to redeem up to $5 in BR....grrrrr. Bye Bye WAGS. This is a bad decision on your part.

And whaddya know - WAGS gave me another $10 bonus WYS $25. I'm gonna try and double dip with the PG deal this week.

When I was at Sams 2 weeks ago, I noticed that their cheese slices were $5.98 (down from $12). Signs said $5.98 wyb 8, but it worked for me. I bought 4 packs of cheese (we love cheese), but think I need to go back and get some more to freeze. This is even cheaper than the grocery store and the cheese tastes much better too.