3 Trips to Walgreen's This Week!

Despite a busy week of doctor appointments and other commitments, I managed to make it over to Walgreen's three times because the deals were just that good! :) Granted, Walgreen's is less than half a mile away from where we live, but still, getting out with an infant is never the easiest.

So, on top of the back-to-school sales, there were some great Register Reward deals this week, which I was able to roll-over a couple times and take full advantage of. Here is what I got...




That's 2 tubes of Colgate toothpaste, a pack of G-2 red pens for Jesse (professors use red ink), 10 highlighters, a pack of 3 glue sticks, 3 wooden rulers, 2 Dr. Scholl's Hidden Arch Supports, 2 pencil/crayon boxes, a box of 100 paper clips, and a small notebook for a grand total of $2.21 after tax, with a total savings of $41.89! Plus, I have $3.50 in Register Rewards to use next week. I'm totally loving this "Drugstore Game!"

I saw a neat video blog the other day about a lady who was able to frugally shop and stretch her dollar enough to fill 45 Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes for $45! That inspired me to stock up on some of the above mentioned school supplies, since I basically got them for pennies, and we don't necessarily need 10 highlighters anyways. :)

Apart from Walgreen's, I also made an exciting stop at Walmart to take advantage of a free lunch box deal. After a mail-in rebate, I will actually make money on the transaction, as the lunch boxes were on sale for $3.00 and the rebate is for $4.96.

In other news this week, Jesse, Anna, & I took a nice walk along Good Harbor Beach. By walk, I mean I frolicked in the waves while Jesse and Anna hung out on the shore. I have been trying to swim as much as I can in the Atlantic, as it is so refreshing and the sad realization that we won't be this close to the ocean forever has begun to set in. Jesse and Anna are happy to not swim in the cold water, so they just watch me from afar, with Jesse praying that I don't get run over by the many surfers. :)


We also took Anna to the park today for her first time on the swings! She had a blast and squealed with delight.

Birthday Trip to New Hampshire

I'm officially a quarter of a century old! Turning "25" has been a year where I feel different... in my mind, 25 is closer to 30 than 20, and it sounds much more adult-like than "24" ever did. Maybe it's all in my head.

Anyways, I had a wonderful 25th birthday celebration! On Friday, my actual birthday, Jesse & Anna took me out to eat at my favorite local restaurant, Not Your Average Joe's! This was the first restaurant we ever went to while living here (the day we moved into our studio apartment on campus, we had dinner at NYAJs with Jesse's mom since she had come from Colorado to help us move and our apartment was full of boxes). If you come to visit us sometime in the next few months (before we move), we will have to take you there! I went there for my 24th birthday as well, so I guess it's a tradition now.

On Saturday, we took a day trip up into the White Mountains of New Hampshire. We hadn't been up that way since Easter of last year, so it was nice to get away into the mountains. They certainly aren't as grand as the Rockies, but they are a nice reminder of Colorado and a good change of scenery from the shoreline. There is a highway that cuts through the mountains called the Kancamaugus Highway, which we enjoyed driving on. We saw about 50 motorcycles drive by us in a procession. There were several lookouts as well, and we had a picnic lunch in the mountains. Then, the "Kanc" led us to North Conway, a touristy mountain town with restaurants and outlets! We shopped for a little while, then had dinner and headed home. It was a busy, fun-filled day and was much needed! I find myself getting very antsy if I do not "get away" after a few months in the North Shore. I'm a country girl at heart, and it's nice to see open spaces every so often. Below is a short video of Anna & Jesse enjoying the scenery.

Here's to 25!

Today's Walgreens Trip

For the past month or so, I've been playing the "Drugstore Game." What is the Drugstore Game, you ask? It's a "game" where one takes advantage of the rebate programs offered by major drugstore chains like Walgreens and CVS. When played successfully, a drugstore game shopper can walk away with items that cost pennies to nothing.

I have heard that CVS is a better chain to "play" the game with, as their rules with their Extra Cash Bucks are less stringent than Walgreens with their Register Rewards... but I decided to play the game with Walgreens as it is a bigger and easier store to get to here in Gloucester. And I can walk to it with Anna in her stroller.

Anyways, I am experimenting for at least 6 months to see how much I actually save while playing the drugstore game. At the end of my experiment, I plan on posting exactly what I bought, what my out of pocket expenses totaled up to be, and what I saved.

I had to share today's adventure though, because it was quite exciting. I had $2 in Register Rewards leftover from my last Walgreen's trip, and coupled with coupons, I got the above items for...... 19 cents! Plus $2 Register Rewards for my next trip!

The total for the two boxes of crackers on sale would have been $6! So my out of pocket expenses were $.19 and my total savings with my candy bar filler were $6.50.