I made it to the CVS and Shoprite this morning all by myself. I was able to get my hands on a few good deals.

I had a $5/$30 ECB. CVS ran a promotion if you buy $25 worth of Proctor & Gamble you'd get $10 ECB back. I got a 12-pack of Bounty paper towels and 13 Puff tissues. I also got a tube of Clearasil normally $4.99 for $1.99, thanks to a CVS coupon and a mfr coupon, and a pack of envelopes to mail books, which was $3.99. Altogether, spent $34.84, minus the $5/$30 and the $3 Clearasil coupons. Got it down to $26.84. I used a $10 gift card I got from Mypoints, and $8 in ECBs, for a total out of pocket of $8.84 + tax. And I got the $10 in ECBs from the Proctor and Gamble stuff to use next time.

Then I headed to Shoprite. I got a free Smart Balance sour cream ($.99-$.50 coupon doubled). That was the only freebie, but I got some good deals. Cherries are in season, $2.29/lb. A whole watermelon was $3.99. And I had a $1.50 coupon for Buitoni pasta, so I bought Angel Hair for $1.99, which I ended up getting for $.49. But here's the kicker: I got $.95 for recycling bottles and cans (had plastic too, but the line for that machine was too long, so that'll have to wait until next time), and I got $.20 for using canvas bags. So that was an extra $1.15. I want to get in the habit of this more, because it's free money and there's absolutely no reason not to take advantage of it.

Planned the menu for the week, mostly using things we already had around the house. It's a start...