Nov 30, 2009

Menu Plan Monday - Nov 30th, '09




We came. We saw. We ate. (and ate, and ate and ate!) Turkey day is behind us, and while we may still be enjoying the leftovers we can now focus on Christmas madness! This is actually my favorite time of year, a happy bright spot at the beginning of my least favorite season: winter. Yeah, I live in New England and can't stand the winter. So sue me ;)

Last week we did very well sticking to the menu, and I only had to make a minor adjustment on Friday because we had family at the house - thankfully my pizza recipe doubles and triples easily! This week I have a craving for spinach, so it's showing up in a couple of recipes (all of which freeze well so I'll probably make doubles!). I have an itch to try something I saw on Laura's menu a few weeks ago - a mexican dish with cinnamon rolls on the side - but I think it'll have to wait till next week when I have more time. If I can get the kiddos to cooperate though, I may be trying Amy's cinnamon roll recipe this week and pop them in the freezer :)

Here's what's on our table, don't forget to visit I'm an Organizing Junkie for MANY more recipes and menu ideas!

monday - Leftover Sausage Potato Soup from the freezer (free!)

tuesday - Crockpot Vegetable Curry over rice ($6.06 for 8-10 servings)

wednesday - Grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup ($2.10 for 4 servings)

thursday - Turkey Veggie Lasagna ($5.78 for 6 servings)

friday - Shrimp Scampi with broccoli and linguini ($7.00 for 4 servings)

saturday - Unbelievable Chicken & Pasta ($6.35 for 6-8 servings)



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Nov 25, 2009

SodaStream home sodamaker - Review!




My husband is a Type 1 diabetic, which means he can't drink juice or milk without having to take some insulin. He hates plain water, so his beverage of choice is almost exclusively diet soda. The cost was killing me - I'd be buying 8-10 2 liter bottles a week, and the cost plus deposit added up FAST. So I was SUPER excited for the chance to test and review one of SodaStream's Fountain Jet home soda makers!

If you haven't seen one of these units, they're slick little gadgets. SodaStream/Soda Club entered the US market in 2002 but they're well known in Europe as an environmentally conscious, economical way for folks to enjoy soda straight from the pantry! (They've been making soda machines since 1903, they definitely know their stuff.) They provide BPA-free plastic bottles, so you don't pay the redemption fee or send more plastic to the recycling center. They recycle the carbonation canisters and pay for return shipping of empty units. And if that isn't good enough, the REGULAR soda mix has 8-9g of carbs per 8oz (compared to 21-28g of carbs in most regular soda), and about TEN PERCENT of the sodium. Diet sodas are 0 carbs and also very little sodium.

Out of the box: not too many parts, NO batteries or electrical! Easy to start using right away. Took me about 2 minutes to read through the instructions and connect the CO2 canister, then I was in business!

Ease of use: It really is this simple - fill the bottle with cold tap water, screw it into the SodaStream unit, and press the carbonation button till it buzzes until the water is at your desired level of carbonation. It took 3 bursts of carbonation to get a good "fizz". My 2.5 year old wanted to hear the "cool sound" from the machine and was imitating the buzzing noise all night :) Then you add the flavor syrup and you're good to go!

They offer a great array of knockoff soda flavors, in bottles with measuring cup lids that remind me of laundry bottles :) The great thing about this is that whether store soda is too sweet or not strong enough, you can adjust and customize the flavor to your taste buds! I had read some previous reviews of the SodaStream and a few people mentioned the flavor improved if you let it sit for a while. I made a bottle of diet cola and put it right in the fridge to let hubby try when he got home from work. He was impressed! The flavors definitely "mature" after a few hours in the fridge, but were still tasty if just made. After drinking nothing but SodaStream soda for a week, he actually found store-bought soda to be LESS flavorful and preferred his new homemade version!

SodaStream units can be purchased online at SodaStreamUSA.com and at select major retailers - units start at around $99 and include everything you need to get started. If you have a big soda drinker on your holiday shopping list, this is one gadget worth having!

This is a sponsored post, and I did receive compensation in the form of free product for this review. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. This review reflects my honest opinion based on my experience in using the product, and this post was not edited or reviewed by anyone.




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Nov 24, 2009

The almighty FSA (Flexible Spending Acount)




I love this time of year - Thanksgiving turkey, Christmas shopping, open enrollment....

Yes, for most of us, this is the golden time of year when we have to re-opt for our benefits, smack in the middle of the busiest season of holidays. Brilliant planning, I tell you. I just finished making my christmas shopping list and now I get to choose how much more I'm going to pay to keep my family insured for next year. (because it's almost always more, isn't it?) Hooray!

One benefit that I find is TERRIBLY underused is the Flexible Spending Account. You might also see phrases like "Healthcare Spending Account" or "Dependant Care Account", but it all boils down to the same thing: An amount of money that YOU choose gets taken out of your paycheck PRE-TAX (same as your health insurance)every week, and you are able to use it to pay for pre-determined goods or services. What exactly does that mean?

See if you can answer "yes" to any of the following:
Do you and your family members
- visit the doctor at least once each every year and pay a copay?
- fill a prescription and pay a copay?
- use over the counter cough medicine, pain medecine, antacid, bandaids, vitamins, or anything else in a drugstore that can be considered "medical"?
- have a baby that needs diaper rash ointment?
- wear glasses or contacts?
- wear braces or have a child that will be getting them this year?
- have other dental work that won't be fully covered by dental insurance?

(these are generally ALL acceptable expenses for a Flexible/Healthcare spending account - check with your benefits provider to be sure. You can't use it to pay your health insurance premiums, or for nursing home or other long-term care arrangements)

What about these, do you:
- have a child in daycare?
- plan to send your child to a full-day camp?
- have an adult family member in daycare?
- have a family member that requires in-home care not covered by insurance?

(these all qualify as expenses for a Dependant care account, but check with your provider. Most do NOT count sleep-away camps or nursing home costs)

So you can actually set aside a portion of your paycheck every week to cover these expenses, that's helpful for budgeting...but how can an FSA save you money?

Remember, money for a flexible spending account is taken out PRE-TAX. If you just use money deposited in your bank account to pay these expenses, you've already given the government their share before you have the money to spend. By having it taken out pre-tax, it reduces the amount of pay you're being taxed on! Let me use myself as an example...

I decided this year to sign on for $1000 in my FSA (that amounts to just over $19 per week out of my check). Let's say conservatively that I'll be hit with 25% tax each paycheck. In order for me to have the SAME $1000 to use for expenses after taxes, I would have to make $1335! No typo there - I save $335 in taxes by having the money put away pre-tax!!! What could you do with an extra $300 this year?

The thing I find that scares most people away is the "use it or lose it" clause that all FSA's carry, meaning if you don't use all the money in your account by the end of the year, it goes away. But before you get too worried, take a look at the list of eligible expenses...many of them are regular, fixed costs! Here's how I figure out how much to put away:

- # of doctors appointments (in my case, regular checkups for us and the kids, plus visits to the specialists for my husband's diabetes and ADD, I also added 2 sick visits for each child) x our copay
- Cost of maintenance medications (anything you take daily, weekly or monthly). Figure out how many times you'll refill them over the year, and the copay each time.
- Cost of any planned procedures or medical equipment (including glasses, contacts or dental gear). My doctors offices helped out a lot in estimating cost ahead of time.
- I figure in about $75-100 a year in "incidental" expenses like bandaids, aspirin, cough medicine, and unplanned prescriptions. If you have low copays, a lower number may work better for you.

Healthcare spending accounts are easy to use up if you have anything leftover come December - I rarely do but if there's $10 or $12 still in there I stock up on band aids and Neosporin...having boys in the house makes that a no-brainer :) But it can just as easily be used on vitamins, pain relievers, or anything else you buy over the counter with regularity.

Dependant care accounts are a little different - most dependant care is a fixed weekly or monthly cost, so it should be pretty simple to tally up a year's worth. But if you have leftover money, there's not much you can do about it. Those I know who use this kind of pre-tax account have told me they figure out their yearly cost, and put about 75-80% of it in a Dependant care account. Yes, there is a period of time where they're paying after-tax money at the end of each year, but they never worry about losing unused funds.

As always, check with your own benefits provider to confirm what is covered, and how you get access to your money (we recently switched to a system that gives us a "credit card" linked to the account but before that we had to save receipts and submit them for reimbursement). It also might not benefit you if your out-of-pocket expenses are high enough that you can use them as a deduction on your taxes (FSA money cannot be deducted since it's pre-tax). But if it'll put a few hundred dollars back in your pocket, it's worth looking into!




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Nov 23, 2009

Menu Plan Monday - Nov 23rd, '09




Happy Turkey Day! Are you like me, playing the Family Shuffle for the holiday! We're lucky that both our parents live within an hour of each other, so it's not TOO hard to make stops with both on the holidays. Except for the 2 1/2 year old, who will refuse to nap because of the excitement. Oh, and the 3 month old, who comes with a full set of luggage wherever he goes :) We love it though, the kids are overstimulated and exhausted by the end of the day but it's worth it!

This week I'm doing a lot more regular cooking, hubby has a short work week and we don't need to cook anything for the holiday. We never got to the Italian Chicken Skillet last week so it's back on the menu, plus I have a bunch of Macaroni Grill dinner kits that I want to start using (boneless chicken breast was $1.49/lb last week so I stocked up!)

Here's our table, don't forget to visit I'm an Organizing Junkie for tons of recipes and menu ideas!

monday - Christmas displays with the kids, dinner on the fly (ended up at the in-law's!)

tuesday - Italian Chicken Skillet ($4.35 for 4-6 servings)

wednesday - Macaroni Grill tomato basil pasta with extra diced tomato, homemade breadsticks from the freezer ($4.68 for 4-6 servings)

thurdsay - Thanksgiving!! I'm bringing party meatballs - more on that later!

friday - Homemade Hawaiian pizza, sliced cukes and ranch ($5.24 for 8-10 servings)

saturday - Fish sticks, veggie, chips ($4.55 for 4 servings)

sunday - Dinner at the in laws (free!)



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Nov 20, 2009

The breast/bottle debate continues...




I read this post over at Penny Pinching Parent in response to a question that was put out there - is Bottlefeeding the new taboo for motherhood?

Before I had kids I definitely missed the beauty of a breastfeeding mom. Nursing in public didn't weird me out, but I never saw what the big whoop was. Then I nursed my older boy, and it made sense :) There is definintely something uniquely magical about the process of breastfeeding, and I applaud every woman that makes the choice to nurse and is able.

I actually posted about my adventure in babyfeeding after the birth of our youngest son. The long and short? I would have loved to breastfeed, but it simply wasn't in the cards this time.

I never really thought about whether I'd be viewed differently for formula feeding until I got "the look" from women who knew I had nursed my older boy - that look that either says "oh, I'm so sorry", or "wow, I'd never have expected that from YOU..." It was a little strange to feel the need to EXPLAIN myself when it came to feeding my baby - you want your kids to grow and be healthy, and as a good mom you do that by any means possible, 'nuff said. But it did strike me that because I nursed my older boy, it might seem weird that my next child would be fed out of a can.

The post at PPP also got me thinking about the relationship I was building with my child in each feeding situation. I ABSOLUTELY loved the process of breastfeeding, the closeness with my child, the admitted pride I took in knowing his healthy baby body was directly due to what my body was making for him. And I know breastmilk is the best of all options for most babies. It's why I fought so hard through so many issues with both kids, one with a successful outcome, the other with an alternate plan (notice I don't say failure here?). But is my bond with my formula baby any different?

Every time his face lights up when he hears my voice, I'd say no. Each time he's inconsolable until he is in my arms and buries his face in my shoulder to get my scent and then falls asleep, I say no. Each time his little contented feeding sighs make my heart skip, I'd say no! Having kids close together affords me a good memory of the great bond I had with my now 2 1/2 year old...and it's the same bond I feel with my new baby boy. Formula feeding has a few added benefits too - he has great bonds with his dad and other family members that help with childcare, who he trusts at mealtime as much as he trusts me! Not that my breastfed baby wasn't bonded with others early on too, but it definitely took him a little longer before he'd really take a bottle from other family members. And knowing that I don't have to shoulder the ENTIRE load of feeding, either because of nursing or pumping, has been liberating in the midst of balancing a newly expanded family.

So yes, I applaud moms who choose to nurse their kids - but in the same way that I cheer on every mom who carries her bottle bag and formula can with pride...if healthy babies are the end result, does it really matter which road you take?


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Nov 18, 2009

Winner - Vaseline Sheer Infusions




Just a quick thanks to those who entered my Vaseline Sheer Infusions giveaway - welcome to my new readers, and I hope you all picked up the $1.50 coupon for the lotion while you were here!

The winner of the 3 full-sized bottles of Sheer Infusion is Tamara B! She's been emailed and will have 72 hours to claim her prize.

Congrats Tamara!



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Nov 15, 2009

Menu Plan Monday - Nov 16th, '09




I am SO not ready for the holiday season...I know retailers are trying to get a jump on holiday spending, but sheesh folks, can you at least let the turkey get cold first??? :)

We did *moderately* well sticking to the menu plan last week - I haven't been fantastic with night-before prep so we had to switch a few meals around, and one night I had to pull out a freezer meal instead of cooking because we ran really late getting home. But that's the nice thing about menu plans, it's a PLAN, not a law :)

This week my husband is home more nights than usual but we've got a lot of running around to do so I'm working off a lot of crockpot and freezer meals. I was going to try jumping back on the OAMC bandwagon this month, but I think it'll just have to wait till after the holiday madness has passed.

Here's what's on our table, and pay a visit to Laura over at I'm an Organizing Junkie for hundreds more menus and recipes!

monday - Homemade pizza, sliced veggies ($3.97 for 6-8 servings)

tuesday - Obama's Chili, homemade cornbread ($8.40 for 8-10 servings)

wednesday - Corndog Muffins, mixed veggie ($2.00 for 4 servings plus extra for the freezer!)

thursday - Italian Chicken Skillet ($4.35 for 6 servings)

friday - Pineapple Pork Roast, mashed sweet potatoes, veggie ($6.75 for 6 servings)

saturday - Breakfast for dinner! Pancakes and scrambled eggs with fruit ($3.39 for 4 servings)

sunday - Dinner at the in-law's (free!)



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Nov 14, 2009

Kellogg's Frosted Mini Wheats, why do you torment me?



I don't normally like to complain, but Frosted Mini Wheats, you have let me down once again.

I love your crunchy sweetness, and the way you hold just enough milk to whet my whistle during breakfast...but EVERY time I open one of your big yellow boxes, I know what's waiting for me at the end of the journey:

Photobucket That's almost 3/4 of an inch worth of Mini Wheat dust at the bottom of the bag...bound for the trash bin instead of my cereal bowl. Now, I completely understand that shipping and man-handling will cause SOME cereal to get damaged. But I also know that I can go to my local Price Rite, Stop & Shop, or even Wal-Mart and buy the generic store brand (for at least half the price) and get more ACTUAL CEREAL in the box.

I actually decided to take out ye olde food scale and see just how badly I was getting gypped:

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Photobucket Do you see the dial? FOUR OUNCES. That was from a 24-oz box of cereal. One-sixth of my cereal was totally unable to be eaten - and at full retail price (about $3.75 per box), that means $0.62 of my hard earned dollar is flushed down the toilet. And we all know every penny counts!



Dear Kellogg's, take a cue from your generic competitors - SAVE THE CEREAL!!!



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Nov 12, 2009

TOT Thursday - Weights and measures



A few weeks ago I mentioned how changing your portion size can not only reduce your food budget (by eating closer to correct portions your food will go further) but also reduce your waistline, especially if you're in the habit of filling up that giant dinner plate! But it's hard to eyeball a correct meat portion until you've seen the actual accurate size many times.

How can you make your meat purchase go further this week?

Invest in a food scale!

According to the USDA's food pyramid guidelines, women should consume about 5 1/2 oz of meat/protein daily, while men should consume about 6 1/2 oz. Consider that most restaurants serve up between 3/4 and a full pound of meat, and even at home we're making one full chicken breast (8 oz) for a meal..it's a reality check! If you're serving protein twice a day, your meat portion should be three ounces at each meal. THREE OUNCES! The eyeball measurements I've heard are a deck of cards or a woman's palm...but I've been guilty of "cheating" that size estimate, because it's easy when you're not dealing with hard numbers.

Using a food scale will keep you on track with your portion sizes, and will also allow you to buy meats and other foods in bulk and separate into useful portions more quickly and easily! I picked up this food scale at Ikea (hubby works there!) for six bucks, and I use it constantly - not just for meat, but bulk shredded cheese, veggies, even flour for baking (many really good bread recipes use flour measurements by weight and not cups).

So the next time you pick up that 3-lb package of chicken breast at the store, remember that it should serve up eight daily portions - then get yourself a scale and be sure you're making the most of that purchase!


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Nov 11, 2009

CLOSED Vaseline Sheer Infusion with Stratys-3 - Review and Giveaway!




Winter is approaching, and (at least in the Northeast) so is the dry skin that comes along with the cold weather. If the outside cold air doesn't get you, the dry heat inside will! So it was very timely that I received Vaseline Smooth Infusion with Stratys-3 to try out and review for you!

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I'm pretty picky about my lotions because I have my hands in everything during the day and can't deal with sticky or greasy feelings that linger. The first time I tried the lotion, it went on SO smooth and soaked in almost immediately. I noticed that the LOOK of my hands had changed, even after a few hours - the skin looked smoother and healthier, and I didn't feel like I needed to re-apply every hour to keep that hydrated feeling.

Vaseline Sheer Infusion delivers two times more moisture than leading body lotions and is the only lotion that can infuse and suspend moisture into each layer of the stratum corneum (surface skin) – the top, the core and deep down. This results in unprecedented hydration leading to better, more healthy moisturized skin and an unmatched silky skin feel. Clinical studies show that more hydration leads to improved skin softness, smoothness and quicker elimination of dry skin.

The real test for me was a lingering dry spot on my ankle - the one that in my wedding pics looks like someone colored my anklebone greyish white and wouldn't go away with pumice stones, creams, scrubs or anything else. I used it in that particular spot for a week and there was a NOTICEABLE difference in the skin - it was less scaly, more skin-colored and started to feel softer. That alone makes this lotion a necessity in my beauty arsenal!

One lucky reader will win THREE full sized bottles, one each of Botanical Blend, Mineral Renewal and Vitamin Burst. For your first (mandatory) entry, visit the Vaseline website and comment with something you learned about Vaseline Sheer Infusion, or another Vaseline product that helps you fight dry skin in the winter! (and don't forget to pick up this $1.50 coupon so you don't have to wait for the contest to try it out!)

For additional entries (be sure to leave a comment for each!):
- Become a subscriber to my blog via email
- Follow me on Google Reader or subscribe in a feed
- Follow me on Twitter (@scorbett) and tweet this contest! (One entry per tweet, one tweet per day) You can use the Tweet link at the top of this post, or just copy and paste the following: Stay smooth all winter! Vaseline Sheer Infusion giveaway at The $200 Mission http://bit.ly/2d0Do @scorbett ends 11/18

Contest ends at 10pm on November 18th, when the winner will be chosen via Random.org. Winner will be notified via email and will have 72 hrs to claim their prize!

This is a sponsored post and giveaway, and I did receive compensation in the form of free product for this review. The sponsor also provided free product to be awarded in a giveaway. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. This review reflects my honest opinion based on my experience in using the product, and this post was not edited or reviewed by anyone.



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Nov 10, 2009

80% off at Restaurant.com - 3 days only!




Restaurant.com is offering gift certificates at 80% off again! That means $25 GC for just $2! This is only good for 3 days (thru 11/13) and GC's will sell out fast.

Just visit Restaurant.com, choose the GC's you want, and enter the code ENTREE at checkout - the discount will apply to everything in your shopping cart.

Be sure to read the fine print, as most restaurants place some restrictions on GC use. This is a great way to get early gift shopping done, or to try out new restaurants without breaking the bank!





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Nov 9, 2009

Menu Plan Monday - Nov 9, '09


It's the middle of November, meaning it's time to start pre-planning the Holiday Shuffle! I love that both our families live closeby, but coordinating to make sure BOTH sets of grandparents see the kids can be rough. Anyone got a spare cloning machine?

Last week we did great with the menu plan until Friday, we got home late so I just made spaghetti. Then we ended up out of the house for the whole weekend so I didn't have to cook! The end of week meals will carry over into this week so I can use the ingredients while they're good. I'm still working out the juggling of mealtime cooking with a toddler AND an infant in the house, but we're making progress :)

This week we only have ONE day when the whole family is home for dinner, otherwise one of us working-types is...well, working. I definitely need to squeeze in a baking day somewhere too - my toddler wants to know why the bananas look funny :)

Here's our table for the week, don't forget to visit Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie for hundreds more menus and recipes!

monday - Black Bean Quesadillas, sliced avocado ($4.50 for 4 servings)

tuesday - Honey Balsamic drumsticks, veggie, Honey wheat breadsticks ($5.00 for 4-6 servings)

wednesday - Homemade Pizza ($2.95 for 6-8 servings)

thursday - Country Chicken Cobbler in the crockpot ($2.27 for 6 servings)

friday - Leftover Bee Rocks from the freezer, veggie ($0.50 for 4 servings)

saturday - Leftover Shepherd's pie, veggie, rolls ($1.00 for 4 servings)

sunday - dinner at the in-law's (Free!)



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Nov 5, 2009

Do you Woot? Halo Sleep sacks for $7.99 shipped!



I love Woot! If you haven't visited them before, I highly recommend it - they get closeouts and seconds to sell at deep discounts, and they offer one item per day until they're all sold out. Definitely worth a daily check-in!

Today at Kids.woot.com they have Halo Sleep Sacks for $7.99 SHIPPED! The only size they have left is small (suitable for babies about 1-6 months but check the Halo sizing info) and you can choose a pink leopard print or olive camoflage print. These retail for $20-30 even at Target, so get it while you can!



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TOT Thursday - Dinner is served - twice!


I chuckle to myself whenever one of the nurses I work with finds out what I've done with our food budget through budgeting, couponing and cooking more at home. The first reaction is generally amazement at how little we spend. But the second response is almost ALWAYS "I just don't have time to cook every night". Sound familiar?

I certainly don't expect the mom who works full time, runs her kids to activities, shops and cleans to throw the ol' apron on and put out a five course spread every night...but with a TEENY bit of pre-planning you can easily reduce how often you eat out or grab frozen entrees during the week. Both dinnertime options are not only costly, but can also have an impact on your health, when you consider the preservatives it takes to make fresh food shelf-stable.

Here's an easy way to reduce your dinnertime costs THIS WEEK:

- Look at your schedule for the week. Is there one night you will have about 30-45 minutes free before dinnertime? Ideally you should try for two nights, but one's better than none!

- Take a minute to browse your cookbooks or online for recipes that won't take long to make. Pasta bakes and rice casseroles work very well for this exercise. Need a place to start? Try some of these resources:
30 Minute recipes at cdkitchen.com
Quick Dinner Recipes at Taste of Home
Allrecipes.Com Quick and Easy recipe library

- Now for the tricky part: DOUBLE THE RECIPE. It will only add about 5-10 minutes of prep time for you to make two full meals worth, and since you're already in the kitchen you may as well put the time to good use! Make your grocery list ahead of time so you'll have everything you need (and to help you stick to the plan - writing down your goals and plans increases your chances of acheiving them!)

Before an hour is up on the day you cook, you will have TWO fully prepared meals - send one to the table, and immediately wrap the other one and pop it in the freezer. I use a sharpie marker and write what the dish is right on the foil, along with the reheating instructions. If your family's schedule makes it hard to all sit down together, invest in some single-serve plastic storage containers. Dish out the servings and freeze for lunches or dinners on the go. Then make your family do the dishes as a reward for your hard work :)

If you can do that once or twice a week, before too long you'll have a nice reserve of frozen entrees sans preservatives at your fingertips - not to mention you'll have made dinner for less than $3 a serving, instead of $10 a head at a restaurant! Getting in that habit may inspire you to start meal planning a week at a time, which will do wonders for your food budget and your peace of mind. Get REALLY good, and you can try your hand at once a month cooking!



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Nov 4, 2009

Cleanup in the cereal aisle!

Man, I have a hard time when a good deal comes along! I had read Deal Seeking Mom's post about the Kellogg's cereal deal at Target this week and had to see what I could make of it.

According to the deal, selected Kelloggs cereals were $2.66 and ALL Kelloggs cereals are buy 3, get one free. There are several links to Kellogg's Mfr coupons on the post, plus a Target store printable for $1/1 Kelloggs cereal that can be stacked! I also found a Target printable for Chex mix that could be combined with a couple of Chex mix printables from Coupons.com, and a free Pop Tarts coupon I had from an old campaign.

As it turns out, the cereals under the sale price were VERY limited - the Raisin Bran was the only one I had coupons for (my store didn't carry the Corn Flakes Touch of Honey, and the Special K cereals weren't at the sale price). But I still managed to get all of the cereal for an average price of $1.05 per box after coupons, so I'm satisfied :) Here's how it worked out:

13 Boxes Kellogg cereals (2 Corn Flakes, 1 Rice Krispies, 1 Special K Blueberry, 2Special K Cinnamon Pecan, 3 Raisin Bran, 4 Frosted Mini Wheats) - $40.83
used 10 $1/1 Target Printables
used $8.25 in various mfr printable coupons
Received 3 free boxes as part of promotion

Final cost: $13.64, or $1.05 per box!

2 bags Chex Mix, on sale for $1.75
used $1/2 Target Printable
used 2 $0.50/1 mfr printables

Final Cost: $1.50, or $0.75 each!

1 box Blueberry Muffin Pop Tarts, $2.29
used mfr coupon for a free box
Final Cost: FREE!

1 bag Goldfish crackers $1.89 (The Boy Wonder and I got a snack attack)
1 DVD Cat in the Hat animated $5.00

Grand Total: $22.03!!!



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