Extreme Couponing, Houston Frugal Living Blog
There is a new $3.00 off Chuggington on DVD coupon that you can print. Chuggington is a DARLING little video series that is AWESOME for boys and girls! A lot like Thomas the Train, it is educational and fun for kids to watch.
These have been on sale at places like Best Buy, and Target for really cheap and $3 off will make for a great deal somewhere!
Last fall I posted a Living Social deal for the River Road tree houses on the Guadalupe River in TX. We bought a voucher along with my Brother and Sister in law. We decided to meet up over Easter this weekend. They have 5 kids, all girls, the same ages as my youngest 5. It is always fun when we get together!
We spent Friday driving and playing on the river. The tree houses were just as cool as we had expected! There were 6 of them built onto the side of a ravine in the trees. We had a small creek below our cabin that was perfect for the little kids to play and across the road we had a private launch into the Guadalupe. Which worked awesome for the big kids.
This was a little untraditional for us as we normally spend Easter at home, going to church and making the traditional Easter dishes.
I snapped the dinner picture at the last minute! I had eaten most of my dinner at that point! I think this was one of the best meals I have ever had. Everything was cooked perfectly and the flavor was OUT OF THIS WORLD!
We had corn on the grill, steak, fresh green beans and my husbands favorite fruit salad, made with canned cherry pie filling. For dessert we had strawberries, angel food cake and whipped cream. PREFECT MEAL! Oh and of course Dr. Pepper, frosty icy cold!
The kids were dirty, sweaty and happy as can be! In swim suits and even a diaper or two!
The best part was this morning after the egg hunt, all the kids were in the living room together, we had an impromptu Easter service. We sang a few primary songs, had prayer and the Dads led an Easter Q&A with the kids. Asking them about why we celebrate Easter and what it means to them. I love those kinds of moments, you can’t plan for them, they just happen and that is what makes them so cool.
As we left, the cows that had been in the field behind us came to visit again, and we showed our true colors as city folk….
Everyone of us stood at the fence and begged the cows to come over and say hi! For 30 minutes or more we were mesmerized by cows eating grass. Sigh!
As we are on our way home and I have time to reflect on this weekend, I have to tell you how thankful I am for my sweet family, for all my brothers, sisters and for their families. I am thankful for all of you who take time out of your day to stop by and see what is new and for all the amazing friends I have had the privilege to make through my blog! I hope you had a wonderful Easter!
There are 2 new Easter candy coupons! $1.00 off two bags of Wonka Jelly Beans and $1.00 off two BAGS of NESTLE NestEggsFINALLY!!! Nothing like waiting till the last minute! Make sure to get them before they are gone!!
Nestle Nest Eggs $2.68
Use $1.00 off two BAGS of NESTLE NestEggs
Total: $2.18
Wonka Jelly Beans $2
Use $1.00 off two bags of Wonka Jelly Beans
Total: $1.50
If you are new to cvs shopping you can pick up from here and do this scenario with no starting ECB’s. You can go HERE and read my CVS 101 if you are new and have some questions and view the CVS weekly deals HERE.
The deals are just okay this week and we can get by with one scenario this time around. If you have the $2 ECB’s from last week scenario than just roll it into you first transaction for less out of pocket.
You can check out how the Green Bag Tag purchase is working out for other readers HERE if you’re still thinking about getting one for yourself.
***CVS beginners scenario will spend $14.71 + tax and save $28.75! Have $2 ECB left over and walk away with $43.46 worth of products!***
Not too many freebies going on this week but the few there is are pretty good. If you’re just staring out at Walgreens there are a few rules to keep in mind so be sure to read my Walgreens 101 before heading out to the store.
I will be adding a “filler” item into the certain transactions because the RR is a manufacturer catalina coupon, you can not have more manufacturer coupons than you do products. This is where a “filler” will come in. This week I’ll be using Nice or W Candy – $0.69 each with in-ad coupon. I chose this because the size listed on the coupon – 1.75-9.5oz, that’s typically more than I like to spend on a filler but worth it if you get the larger 9.5oz bags! If you see a better deal in-store go for it!
The advanced scenario will pick up with the $5 RR from lasts week. Read this week’s complete list of walgreen’s weekly deals here.
***This Walgreens beginners scenario you will spend $8.64 + tax OOP and save $18.40 and have $3 RR left over. Walk away with $27.04 worth of products!***
***This Walgreens advanced scenario you will spend $5.82 + tax OOP and save $26.90 and have $1 RR left over. Walk away with $32.72 worth of products!***
This weekend, because it is a holiday weekend, there are NO coupons in the Sunday paper. So…. spend the time enjoying your family and have a WONDERFUL Easter!
There is a new $.70/1 Keebler Fudge Striped Dark Chocolate Cookies coupon that you can print. Use zip code 12345 to find it fast! Thanks Hip2Save
Walgreens Deal Scenario (valid starting 4/8)
Keebler 11.5-16 oz, Kellogg’s Special K cracker crisps 4 oz, Nutri-Grain bars 8 pk, Special K bars 5-6 pk, Rice Krispies Treats 8 pk or Cheez-it 9 oz 4/$10 = $3 RR
Deal Scenario:
Buy 4 Keebler Fudge Stripes Dark Chocolate cookies 4/$10 (if available)
Use 4 $0.70/1 coupons found here (will need access to 2 computers)
Pay $7.20
Get back a $3 RR
Final cost $4.20 total – $1.05 each!
Now, what are you going to do with those cookies?? Make my husbands VERY favorite “side dish”. This is a dish that we made in college all the time, this recipe comes from my roommate Cami!
There is a BOGO free Hungry Jack pouch coupon that you can get under zip code 77477. This is a sweet way to get these for free and try them. Because they are new there might be a BOGO sale to look for!
During Spring Sprint each day you have a set earning goal, and the homepage meter will tally up your daily earnings. Spring Sprint begins TONIGHT at Midnight PST and goes all the way through Monday, April 9th at 11:59pm PST.
Each day you will have an earning goal of 150 Swag Bucks. For every day you reach this goal, you will earn a bonus of 15 Swag Bucks, to be applied at the end of the promotion.
If you reach your goal all six days of this promotion, they will DOUBLE your bonus for a total of 180 Swag Bucks! Just as in March Swagness, any way you can earn Swag Bucks counts towards your daily goal.
Swagbucks is basically a search engine that rewards you with “swag” I win Swagbucks and use them to purchase Amazon gift cards to use to pay for my Christmas. Each year when I start in January, and cash them in by December I have about $400 to pay for my kids Christmas presents!
My friend Samantha sent me this recipe a few days ago, and I wanted to try it before it got too hot outside to have soup. For me that is NEVER, but for my family, they frown on hot soup when it is 90, go figure 🙂
First, Samantha RAVED about how good it was, and MUCH better, like 100,000 times better than Outbacks! That sealed the deal and I made it last night!
It was AWESOME! This recipe is from one of the restaurants at Disney.
Loaded Baked Potato Soup
Serves 6
1 pound bacon, roughly chopped
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
3/4 cup diced celery
4 large Russet potatoes, peeled and diced
4 medium red potatoes, diced
1/4 cup flour
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
Coarse salt, freshly ground pepper, to taste
4 cups heavy whipping cream
Optional garnishes: chopped chives, bacon bits, sour cream, shredded cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese
Cooks’ notes: Soak diced potatoes in cold water until ready to use to keep them from turning brown. To make bacon easier to chop, lightly freeze.
Part comedian, part Dad, part athlete. He will boss around your children while they play ball.
Just as angelic as she looks, this girl could easily raise a Village by herself, and all the children would grow up to be President.
Self proclaimed, she would be a webkinz dog. Because, "they're cute, and puppies are too. And they're sweet and they always get along with other puppies."
This mini-Martha Stewart can handle ANY craft you send her way. She isn't all bows and rainbows, she's got karate kid moves!
Not "Pick-Me-Up" like caffeine, she wants you to pick her up! AND NOW!
Anything that can be destroyed WILL be destroyed!
Practically Perfect in Every Way for now! Nicknamed "The Panda" she is rolly polly and lives by the motto, "the little one, is KING!"
The resident Labradoodle, Miller got his name because Mom won and got to name the baby! Need something chewed up? He'll take care of it. Especially if it's expensive..