save a ton at cvs!

ok, so i have FABULOUS news: i've saved SO MUCH MONEY in the past week! wahoo!!!!! first of all, click here for a free sample of ob tampons, and click here for a $1.50 off coupon as well. ok, so that aside, now let me let of my adventures at cvs. . .

my friends have been telling me that i should really get into couponing and cvs's ecb deals, but i wasn't sure and neither was jon. well, i decided to give it a try and here's what i ended up getting and how much i paid for it all:

7.24.08 i made 3 trips to the register--
1) 5 glade scented oil candle refills, 2 coupons for said candles ($2 off 2 and $3 off 3), and 2 boxes of 135-count kotex pantiliners. i paid $20.09 and got $7 in ecb's
2) 2 cvs brand 375-count cotton swabs, 2 cvs brand baby lotion, 2 cvs brand baby oil, and 2 cvs brand baby shampoo. used $7 ecb's from previous purchase. paid $7.49 and got $5 ecb.
3) 3 bottles clean & clear morning burst facial cleanser. used $5 ebs from previous purchase. paid $13.88 and got $5 ecb's

7.25.08 i made 4 trips to the register--
1) 3 l'oreal vive pro hydra gloss shampoo, 3 l'oreal vive pro hyrda gloss conditioner, 3 buy 1, get 1 free coupons for shampoo and conditioners (plus they were one sale for b1g1, so they were all free), 2-pack crest w/ scope toothpaste. i paid $6.92 and got $2 ecb's
2) 2 cvs 22-count pantiliners. used $2 ecb's, paid nothing, got $2 ecb's
3) 2 blade 12 oz. body wash. used $2 ecb's from previous purchase, plus $5 ecb's from yesterday's last purchase. paid $1.07 and got $2 ecb's
4) 2 crayola 24-count crayons (on sale as b1g1). used $2 ecb's from previous purchase. paid $0.31

i added it all up and here's what i came up w/: i spent a total of $49.76 on $129.15 worth of stuff. that means i saved $79.39 or 61.47%! it's like christmas only better b/c it doesn't cost as much! :)

here's my haul--

i'm way excited too b/c later today i'm gonna go dumster diving at the recycling center w/ some friends to get massive stacks of coupons for when i go grocery shopping on thursday. happy evelyn! :)

bumGenius

ok, so we decided to make the switch to cloth diapers to help save money and so far, i LOVE it! they're so cute w/ the colors, he almost doesn't even need to wear pants! :) here's the 411--

we ordered 3 dozen bumGenius 3.0 all-in-one one-size diapers from palmetto diaper works on 6.17.08. we waited and waited forever it seemed and they FINALLY came in on 7.22.08. almost 6 weeks! when i got home from picking them up, i realized we'd only gotten 22 of the 36 we ordered, so i called to let her know. she got back to me TWO DAYS later to tell me she'd have them in 5-10 business days. um, 2 more weeks? i don't think so. i asked for a refund, but so far i haven't seen it. that same day (7.24.08), we ordered the remaining 14 diapers from cotton babies and paid the same prices we'd have paid from the first place, but they'll be here on tuesday. so what i don't get is why it's gonna take 2 weeks to get them from the first place, but less than 1 week from the second? anyways, i called the first place to ask where my refund is, but i got her voicemail and i haven't heard back from her yet. we're getting really mad about the whole thing. really, how hard is it to give someone what they paid for? and honestly, i picked it up from her, so she didn't even have to pay shipping! i swear, some people are so irresponsible. . .

ok, so that's the end of my vent, on to the good parts of cloth diapering. first of all, it'll save money in the long run. it cost a little over $600 for 3 dozen diapers, which is more than we probably need, but at least we won't run out. they're every bit as easy as disposables, you just add the step of washing them. yeah, you have to get the poo off and into the toilet but TECHNICALLY you're supposed to do that w/ 'sposies too. . . the only nice thing about the diapers taking so long to get to us is that she gave us one of those diaper sprayers that hooks up to the toilet for free. they normally retail for $40 or so. . . so that makes the poo spraying alot easier and less messy and time-consuming.

we've also switched to cloth wipes, which is infinitely easier than i'd expected. we had a bunch of baby washcloths that were given to us, but i hadn't used since trevor was about a month old, so we use those. them you just make the soap solution which is super easy. the cool thing about this is that you can make your own disposable wipes this way too. just get a roll of viva paper towels and cut it in half w/ an electric knife. pour the solution over it while it's still warm (not boiling though) and pull out the cardboard roll. then you just pull them up from the middle! pretty smart, huh? well, i don't remember where i heard that tip, but i didn't come up w/ it on my own. . . it was the same place i got the "recipe" for the soap solution.

anyways, here are a couple of pictures of trevor looking stinkin' cute in his new COLORFUL diapers--