More Free Chick-fil-A

September 1, 2008, any person who goes into Chick-fil-A wearing professional or collegiate football logo anywhere on their person will receive a free three-count box of Chick-fil-A's new chicken strips.

Check out MoneySavingMom for more details.

Is Walgreens really gonna pay me to take all this?

So the question becomes...

Does the early bird get the worm?

or

Does luck favor the prepared?

We'll see tomorrow. I spent a great deal of time getting ideas from other sites. Check out MSM's mr linky there are far too many people to list, but rest assured if you linked there I probably checked it out.

I couldn't go today as my little boy stayed home from school sick but if you are curious what I plan to do tomorrow check out my spread sheet here. I borrowed the idea for the spread sheet format from frugaldrmom.

I couldn't get my google doc to show the entire spreadsheet on one screen to take an image but if you are only interested in the cliff notes then check this out!

Total cost: $222.78
Total Spent: $95.32
Total Earned: $110.97
TOTAL OOP: -$15.45!

Edit: oops I added an item in twice and the sheet had to be rebalanced. I spend a $1 more and make a $1 more so still earn the same amount!

That's right I PLAN to get them to pay ME for taking all that stuff. I say plan because all of this is speculation at this point. I have to see what happens when I get there tomorrow. Will everything be gone as so many CVSs were when the deals were this good? We'll have to see what happens tomorrow!

How I plan to hit Rite Aid

Thanks to MNTK and iheartriteaid for these deals

Rebate #149
Valid from 07/27/08 to 08/30/08
$2.00 Rebate
Pledge
Purchase Two (2):
• Duster Plus or Refills
LIMIT ONE (1) $2.00 REBATE

+$4 buy 2 Pledge Dusters Starter Kit or Refill 5 ct.
-$1 Pledge Multi Surface product ss 7/20/08 (even has dusters pictured)
-$1 Pledge Multi Surface product ss 7/20/08 (even has dusters pictured)
-$2 scr
=free

Pledge Orange Oil, Aerosol, Spray or Wipes: $2.99 with a $1 SCR (pair with $1/1 from the 7/20 SS to get it for $.99)

Rebate # 30
Itch-X - Anti Itch Gel, 1.25 oz.
Up to $3.99 SCR< class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">SCR it's free Rebate

#102 Revlon Purchase 1 of any variety Face Makeup
AND Purchase 1 of any variety Revlon Powder
$10.00 SCR

This week's sale: Revlon: foundation, blush, powder or concealer: $3.00 off regular retail.
Use: $2.00 off MQ coming up on most 8/24 Sunday papers.
or $2.00/1 Revlon Color Cosmetic Product, Any, 7.20.08 SS (exp.11.16.08)

Rebate #154 Duck Brand EZ Start Clear Tape, 1.88" x 22.2 yds. $1.50 SCR (free after scr)

Glade Scented Oil Candle Refills Sale: 2 for $5.00 +$7.50 buy 3 -$2.50
Glade Scented Oil Candles Refill Packs B2G1F up to $3.49 ss 8/24/08 -$2 SCR

(#142) =$3 for 3 Lysol Nuetra air Sale-BOGOF -
Lysol Neutra Air Aerosol, 10 oz.+ B1G1F up to $2.99 (9-8-08) SS 7/13/08
= 2 FREE

Chex Mix: $.97 (pair with $.50/1 coupons from the 8/10 General Mills Insert)

My Walgreens plan of attack

Check out all the free items you can get this week!


Many thanks to MSM, Cherry Picker and afullcup for these deals


Glade Scented Oil Refills 2-pack
Sale Price $4.49ea, purchase 2 = $8.98
Use BOGO q -$4.49
Use $1/1 September ES q -$
Claim $1.50/1 August ES rebate -$3
Make 51c profit!

Glade Scented Oil Warmers are buy-one-get-one-free through Saturday (8/30).

Use BOGO 8/24 SmartSource insert to get both free.
But wait, there's more! Hold your purchase until 8/29 or 8/30 when you
can take advantage of the September EasySaver Rebate deal that gives
you $1 for each Glade Scented Oil Warmer you buy (up to a maximum of 4
rebates).

Huggies Jumbo Pack or Pull UPs $9.49
- $2.00 Register Rewards
use $2/1 pullups coupon found in 8-24 SS
or go here for $2/1 printable coupon
price for each after RR =$5.49

Oust Air Sanitizer
Reg Price $4.49, purchase 2 = $8.98
Use BOGO q -$4.49
Use $1/1 September ES q -$2
Claim August $1/1 rebate -$2
Total: 49c for two of them!

Glade Fabric & Air Refresher
$3.49 ea
Use $1.50/1 manu
Use $1.50/1 August ES q
Use $1/1 September ES q
Total: 51c profit!

Rimmel eye shadow is on sale B1G1 at KMart and Walgreens this week. Buy 2 and use one B1G1 coupon from the August All You magazine and you'll get both free.


I also have a rain check for Cheerios $1.99 x 4 so I plan to use the rest of my Cheerios coupons from the challenge emails.

I plan to hit Walgreens on Friday...wish me luck!

Glade free or cheap this week!

Wow it's dueling drugstores this week when it comes to Glade air fresheners. Check this out!

Thanks to I "heart" Rite Aid for these deals

Glade Scented Oil Candle Refills
Sale: 2 for $5.00
+$7.50 buy 3
-$2.50 Glade Scented Oil Candles Refill Packs B2G1F up to $3.49 ss 8/24/08
-$2 SCR (#142)
=$3 for 3


Glade Plugins Scented Oil Refills
+$5 buy 2 for $5.oo
-$2.50 Glade PlugIns Scented Oil Refill B1G1F up to $5.49 ss 8/24/08
-$2 SCR (#151)
=$.50 for 2

or if Walgreens is your store of choice you can get this.

Glade Plugins Scented Oil Refills
Sale: BOGO
- Glade PlugIns Scented Oil Refill B1G1F up to $5.49 ss 8/24/08
=2 FREE

Glade Scented Oil Warmers are buy-one-get-one-free through Saturday (8/30). Pair this sale with the buy-one-get-one-free coupon from the 8/24 SmartSource insert to get both free.

But wait, there’s more! Hold your purchase until 8/29 or 8/30 when you can take advantage of the September EasySaver Rebate deal that gives you $1 for each Glade Scented Oil Warmer you buy (up to a maximum of 4 rebates).

Thanks to Centsible Savings for this!

WFMW (Naked Breakfast)

Well it's been awhile since I have posted on this, but I figured I'd get back into the game with a tip I like to call "Naked Breakfast"

My just shy of 2 years old daughter is utensil obsessed! She insists on having cereal in a bowl with milk and a "poon" just like her older siblings, same with spaghetti which not even my 5 year old can effectively keep on a fork.

The rule in our house has always been dressed before breakfast, because my boys will eat until it's time to leave if allowed. Now with my little girl I've had to reverse the order. First I tried to just take off her shirt but her pants got ruined with all the milk she would spill in her attempts to "eat like a big girl". After going through 2 or more outfits every meal I opted to strip her down to a diaper when eating messy foods. A bib would probably have done the job, but she won't wear one, so ya do what ya gotta do.

On a similar note I also keep tooth brushing items in the downstairs bathroom as the first thing the the kids do after eating dinner and the last thing they do when walking out the door in the morning. With kids as easily distracted as mine, out of sight out of mind and convenience is the key.

Want to see more WFMW, check out
RocksInMyDryer

Walmart strikes out again.

Well I guess Walmart doesn't want me on their advice panel. Gee really? I mean they didn't even get my name and yet they knew they didn't want me. Such a shame, I'm sure they could have benefited from my opinion and perhaps maybe changed their deplorable customer service which would have benefited us all! Oh well spilled milk and all that...

Check out this post from imommies and maybe you will fare better. Alas no gift cards for me.

It's good to be the teacher!

I was reading through my MSM feed and found out this potentially great deal! Since I know a bunch of teachers I thought I would pass this along.

Starbucks is honoring teachers by giving them a nice little treat. Stop by each Monday now through September 29 and receive a tall cup of Pike Place Roast ™ I'm not sure if it's happening everywhere. More details can be found here. I can't seem to find any information on the Starbucks site so before you run down there just for the free item make sure you call and confirm that your store is doing the same thing.

How do I do it?

Over on Frugal Mommy of 2 Girls she is holding a Couponizer giveaway. You head over there and post a tip for how you save money and you are in the running for a Free Couponizer. So I figured as long as I was sharing tips over there I might as well break it all down here too. So here goes...

Sales for Grocery stores in my area run Wed-Tues each week. Super Walmart, Super Target and the drugstores run their deals Sun-Sat. There are a number of sites that do wonderful break downs for shopping deals and I check out as many as I can. Most people put out their deals on Thursday for grocery stores or Sunday for the others. There are two types that I check out.

1. Blog posts. There are some lovely ladies out there that do a very detailed list of what deals are out there and how best you can take advantage of them. Money Saving Mom and Moms Need To Know are two of my favorites. If you want a complete line of just about every store out there (localized to the individual "host" you can also check out the GROCERY GAME over at BeCentsable They have different stores in their areas than I do, but for the most part everyone has the same stores. For instance...I have a King Sooper in my area, but all stores under the Kroger name (Kroger, Ralphs, City Market, Dillons, Smiths, Frys to name just a few) have roughly the same promotions and often the same prices, same with all stores under the Safeway name (Vons, Randalls, Tom Thumb, Genuardi's, Carrs). So I check them out to see if someone else has found a better deal and then I almost always double check my source to make sure the deal is valid at my particular store.

2. Localized information. If you want something more specific in your area there are a few sites that are worth checking out. TheCouponMom.com, MyGroceryDeals.com and Pinchingyourpennies.com are pretty much the only free localized sites I have found so far. Unfortunately the Coupon Mom and Pinching Your Pennies doesn't cover Albertsons in CO, and My Grocery Deals doesn't cover Super Target so if you want to cover all your bases in a place where maybe these two places don't, you're going to have to part with a bit of cash. Hey like I said you have to spend money to save money and definitely to make money. Now let's face it, with all the stores out there I have yet to find a place that covers them all, but if a paid site is worth it to you then I suggest you look at couponsense.com or grocerygame.com. I have tried them both and personally I prefer the multi-store availability of couponsense to the pay per store option of grocerygame, but each service has it's loyal following so it's really a matter of preference.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the plethora of savings forums, hotcouponworld and slickdeals are just two of the ones I know of. If you are a dedicated couponer that can navigate these sites and keep up then more power to you. I for one know my limitations so I let the other more experienced ladies find the deals listed there.

After I make my blog runs and track down the deals I think are worth pursuing as well as any I happen to find on my own, I do one final sweep through searchalldeals.com a search engine that does just what it says, searches all deals. If someone lists a deal but there is no coupon associated with it, I put in that item in the search and let it find out if there are any places that have a coupon or a trick that I haven't come across yet.

While all this may seem very thorough and organized, I'm afraid that's where the ends. I am still amidst a massive struggle in trying to find or create the coupon solution for me If this is a problem you suffer from as well, Kingdom First" has quite the list of coupon solutions from bloggers from all over!

Right now it's just a handwritten list on a pad of paper and a Ziploc baggie filled with the coupons I need for all the stores. Not the best solution, but being a person who has bought something many times before that I thought would work only to have wasted my money, I'm waiting until the right system comes along and finds me. When I find it I'll be sure to let you know.

In the land of Steve and Barry's

An entire store at $8.98!

Before coming to Colorado I had never even heard of this place, but after a mere three visits there I am hooked!

Steve and Barry's is a retail clothing store with exclusive lines from celebrities such as Sarah Jessica Parker, Venus Williams, Amanda Bynes among others. Their concept is simple and stated quite nicely in the Bitten line from SJP. "It is every woman's inalienable right to have a pulled-together stylish confident wardrobe with money left over to live" Now of course that's not the entire store's manifesto but they must have something similar in mind to have the entire store priced at $20 or below most days. I have found light leather jackets that look very similar to ones I have paid upwards of $150 dollars for under $20! For those of us who were drawn in for the Old Navy Denim sale in the hopes of getting Adult jeans for $12, this place blows them out of the water!

Right now the entire store is $8.98 or below! That means my $19 jacket is even lower than before and the Adult jeans (and all other style of pants) are just slightly more expensive than the one day sale price at Old Navy for kids! This sale (if you can call it that) is the result of what looked like a "Going out of business sale" and has been going on since November of last year. Some of the stores are closing, and the sale could very well end tomorrow, but until your store closes or the sale ends, I highly recommend stopping by and checking out their inventory which, surprisingly, doesn't appear to be lacking.

Why I coupon...

I was totally inspired by MNTK and her why I stockpile post. It's been a motivating mantra for me to "Never pay for than .80 for a box of Name Brand cereal". I'm not there yet, but I will be someday, and honestly I think .99 for a $5 box of Cheerios is a pretty good deal regardless.

While I hope to eventually develop my own stockpile (besides the 15 some odd boxes of various cereals), I coupon for to solve a much more immediate problem. I coupon so I can afford the things that almost never have a coupon! I have a very picky household and growing up in a family where things just appeared without me having any concept of what things cost, I grew up to be a bit of a brand snob. I have come a LONG way, but there are certain things I just can't seem to live without. Saving money on things I buy or buying them for "free" makes it so I can pick up my
Tropicana Orange Juice pulp free with Calcium and my Tillamook Sharp Cheddar Cheese. Neither of these items ever get very cheap (least not that I've found).

Using coupons makes me feel good about myself. After I spend an hour aimlessly wandering the isles of an unfamiliar store and fumbling around to find that special item I read about, it always makes me smile when I leave the store and look at the money I've saved and I realize it wasn't a waste of time after all! Especially when you consider I wandered aimlessly before and spent a bunch more!

With all the changes that have happened in the last month, I haven't been keeping track of my spending as much as I used to. Starting next month I go back to living on cash and I can really see what I have left over every week. Wish me luck!

If at first you don't succeed...

Try try again! I went back to Walgreens to try the Wheat Thins deal, now that my mistake has been realized from before, and Success! I got the Jell-O, the Wheat Thins, the Peanut Butter, Hemorrhoid wipes, more Cheerios and even a few extra things on the side.



Here are the deals I managed to pull off.

12 boxes of Jell-O (.39 each with Walgreen's coupon)
4 boxes of Wheat Thins (free with all the Jell-O with All You coupons)
6 Jars Skippy Peanut Butter (3/$5 times 2)
4 boxes of Cheerios/Honey Nut Cheerios (.99 each with $1 printable)
3 Hemorrhoid Travel Wipes (free after $2/1 ES coupon and $3/1 printable for each)
6 pack of bic highlighters ($1 as a substitute for their 4/$1 highlighter deal)
2 Fiskar Scissors ($2.49 BOGO)

It took two transactions because the manager was convinced that using the All You coupon would void the RR from printing out. She was nice enough to break them up so I could void out the Wheat Thins if I had wanted to, in the event I didn't get the RR. Lucky for me I did get them, however. $3 RR for the Wheat Thins and $4 for the Peanut Butter.

The Total Spent for the two transactions:$22.02
Total Saved: $59.04!

Not bad for my first okay second attempt at the Walgreen's Game!

Anyone up for free breakfast?

Sign up for Mimi's Cafe Eclub and get a coupon for a free breakfast! No need to buy anything else either and you can get a breakfast up to $10. Not a bad deal.

What I have learned...Pride, is it worth it?

Well I did it again. I went to a store with a very clearly laid out plan of what I was going to get and how. I had my coupons neatly gathered in order and I even brought scissors so that I could cut them out in the car ahead of time (and thus reduce the likelihood of losing them in the car). Alas this is yet another in the line of cautionary tales I share with you here.

I'm sure you remember my time savers post. Well I'm ashamed to say I broke just about every rule I learned from that! I went to do the Walgreens Deal I learned about at Money Saving Mom. I printed out my Cheerios coupons, got a 4th All You magazine (I already had 3), got 2 ES rebate booklets and proceeded to shop. Everything was priced differently than posted on various blogs!

The Cheerios was 3.79 instead of $1.99, the hemorrhoid travel wipes was 4.79 instead of $3.99 and the Jell-o was .79 cents instead of .39! I had seriously considered called ahead because I have on far too many occasions gone to a store just for the free item, only to find that either the item wasn't there at all or the price was different enough to make the trip a waste of time! But, I figured everybody was going to do that deal, it's too good to pass up, so asking about the Jello or Wheat Thins might just get me flak from the store personnel. Don't ask me why I let that stop me, but I did.

So what did I learn in my first ever foray into Walgreens' Easy Saver world?

Double check your source! If someone says something is a certain price, find it yourself as well. Now that you know what you are looking for, you should be able to find it much easier. Confirm the price, get the source for the official price and don't be afraid to question the tag on the shelf if the price doesn't match! What's the worst that can happen? They tell you, that you are wrong? Better to confirm the price is not what you thought then have to run back into the store once you find out the price is indeed as advertised, just not on the shelf. Of course you could always call ahead and save yourself the hassle of driving out for possibly nothing, but I would suggest that you only confirm prices on the "deal breaker" items. For instance, I went there for the Wheat Thins Deal (the Cheerios was merely icing). Had I known the Jell-o was more than twice the price listed for the deal (which it might not be, just mislabeled), I might not have gone down there. Then again, maybe the Cheerios would have been enough, who knows.

edit: Turns out the .39 cents was based on a coupon in their weekly flyer, guess next time I will have to check the ad myself to make sure I don't need a coupon for anything!

That's it for this installment of What I Have Learned...tune in next time. It's a new town with new stores, there's bound to be a learning curve!

Price vs. Service or Walmart vs Target

As prices get higher and items seem to get smaller, I am forced to ask, How far do you go for lower prices?

As a proud resident of the land of Super Targets and Walmarts, I have the opportunity to visit both often (and did when I lived near them previously). With the possible exception of Tortillas, which hands down Walmart always has cheaper than Target or any other grocery store, I see little difference in their inventory.

From what I can tell, Walmart is cheaper in most things including customer service. Target is helpful, courteous and their prices aren't exactly expensive...Let's run down the list.

First let's take a look at the prices side of the equation:


Walmart: Dairy is priced similar to grocery stores. Milk, cheese and yogurt are as good there as anywhere.

Target: I wouldn't be caught dead buying milk, cheese or yogurt at Target, the prices are through the roof!

Walmart: Tortillas (as previously mentioned) can be bought there in larger than mission sized packages for just over, and often under a dollar. No other store can say that, I know I've checked.

Target: Tortillas are priced same as all other grocery stores, no more no less.

Walmart: Produce is OK, some things are lower than others, but nothing overly special.

Target: Not being a Sam's Club member I can't vouch for them, but Target is the only place I have ever seen that has bags of fruit besides apples. Seems like everywhere you can get a bag of apples (though usually only red ones), but in my local Super Target you can find bags of Nectarines, Plums, Peaches, Apples and even Pears, which only Costco can boast as well.

Walmart: Non grocery items seem to be fairly reasonably priced with a pretty good selection. Clothing wise Walmart even has a section for preemie sized baby clothes, which I have never seen in an a one stop shop like Walmart, Kmart and Target.

Target: Again reasonable prices, different inventory but the items are very similar and priced within the same range as Walmart. Here it's really a brand preference issue, they don't carry many of the same things.

Now onto the Service aspect:

Walmart: Checkout lines. Total Choas! This may just be the 6 Walmarts I have visited in my area, but the lines are horrendous and often only a few of them are open. It reminds me of a visit to Costco on a Sunday afternoon.

Target: I don't know if it's a planned aspect or a fluke, but in the 5 Targets in my area, I can't remember a time when they were as slammed as a Walmart. It almost seems as if they have a "Three's a Crowd" policy as new checkstands open up whenever there is an abundance of people waiting in line at the others.


Walmart: Price Matching? I'm told they do it, but just what does it take to accomplish this particular feat? I can't get them to even match their own prices without a battle. I have on only one occasion had a checkout price adjusted to match the sticker on the shelf. Generally what I get when questioning a discrepancy is the checker going to get someone else to walk with me over to the item in question's location and to make me feel like an idiot because their pricing was unclear or inaccurately placed. And then I get to go back and pay the price they rang up initially.

Target: Many is the time I have had an item ring up differently and pointed it out to the cashier. Typically what those cashiers do is to get the different price from me and the location of the item. Then they make the change. I don't have to go back and walk the isles to prove the discrepancy and they are not rude or derisive about it either. I guess this could be a deficit on their part if you were trying to trick them, but as I am not one of those people and I doubt many of us are, it's nice to have someone give you the benefit of the doubt and not make you and whoever else is in line, wait to be vindicated.


Walmart: Coupon Policy. Despite now having a clear printed document that lays out their coupon policy, my previous trips to Walmart resulted in having a manager called who informed me that a max of two IPs (Internet printed coupon) were allowed per transaction. Two! That's not even duplicate coupons. I can only imagine what would have happened had I had their policy to show them, because of course ultimately the discretion lies with the individual stores.

Target: After my single fiasco (after which I was given a gift card for my troubles), I have yet to find an issue at a single Target since. They are friendly polite and (I'm sure it's only a matter of time before this changes) I haven't received a single dirty look, regardless of the number of coupons, duplicate or otherwise, I have used in a single transaction.

All in all there are definitely price related reasons to go to Walmart and as I am not a political shopper, I will still go where the best price is for the items I want, but it makes me wonder if there isn't a real legitimate reason for the "Did your cashier greet you today?" question asked at the beginning of the transition process. Mine even have a more in depth "Click here for yes, no, or ignore this question" What does it say about a company where customer service is rated on a transaction level? I'd like to think it means Walmart cares about having good consumer relations, but from what I've seen, I think it's more of a real accountability issue, one that stems from not providing good customer service in the first place. For me, all things being equal, price, availability and product, I will definately be leaning more towards Target, I like leaving a store feeling better than when I went in.

What about you? What are your experiences with these two stores?

Go Rockies!

I'm sure this is probably too late, but I was just informed that until 6pm tonight Taco Bell in Colorado is offering Tacos 4 for a dollar! Apparently if they score 7 runs in a single game and go on to win the game. Taco Bell celebrates their accomplishments by running this promotion. Wow my Favorite Fast food place...GO ROCKIES! I'm headed over there now.

Since this is appears to be a regular occurrence I will monitor the scores more carefully and give more notice next time. Looks like there are some benefits to being a Coloradan after all!

NOT so Super Savings...

I decided to post this as a reminder of how good I have been doing using coupons and carefully planning my trips. The following is a result of virtually NO coupon usage and even less planning in an unfamiliar town while I try to replenish my frozen foods and refrigerator items.

I discovered I can do a triangle of sorts from my house to Target-KingSoopers and finally Walmart (across the street from King Soopers). It's not as good as my 10 stores all clustered around each other that I had in California, but I'm making due.

Target:

Pork Chops 10 pk
Stouffers Lasagna Party Size
Hanes Bikini 7 pk
Ziplock Bags 25 ct (2)
Bays English Muffins
Pre Packaged Romaine Hearts (2)
Kid Cuisine Frozen Dinners (2)
2lb Bag of Plums
2lb Bag of Nectarines (2)
Deli Sliced Swiss Cheese
Chuck E Cheeze String Cheese (2)
Tyson frozen Chicken Nuggets (2)
Crystal Light 3 pk single serve powders
1/2 Watermelon
Pepsi 24 oz 6 pk (2)
Diet Pepsi 12 pk (2)

Total Spent:91.22
Total Saved with coupons: $1.50!!!!!!!

It makes me sick just thinking about it.

King Soopers:

Sooperb Wheat Bread (4)
Honey Bunches of Oats
Honey Nut Cheerios
Tropicana Orange Juice 128 oz
Lean Cuisine various flavors (10)
Kroger Honey Nut Chex
Purina One Dog Food 20lb bag

Total Spent: 53.84
Total Saved with coupons $5!!! and that was just using their nestle promo I found out about IN the store!

WalMart:

Gallon 1% milk
Bunch Bananas
Walmart Brand Cream Cheese
Energizer AA Batteries 6 pk
Austin Cheese & Peanut Butter Crackers

Total Spent: 13.43
Total Saved with coupons: ZERO!!! At least I didn't have much to get there.

Verdict: Once you coupon, you can't ever go back! It hurts too much. MNTK said when explaining why she stockpiles, the goal is not to have to pay more than .80 for a box of name brand cereal. Considering how much cereal my kids eat on a weekly basis that's a pretty good motivation for me and one I quote to my husband quite often when explaining why I do what I do. The bonus is, now that I am caught up on my survival food, I can afford to stick with planning and cutting coupons. I'll keep you all posted on how it goes from here.

Gulliver's Travels...the grocery edition

Is it just me or have you started feeling like a giant in the world of shrinking groceries these days?

First it was the ice cream (or at least that’s what I noticed first). MNTK brought that to our attention as she asked the question, why does nobody think we will notice when a quart of dryers ice cream shrinks but the price does not?

Then it was the actual number of diapers in an individual diaper package that Baby Cheapskate has been kind enough to track for us. At least Huggies and Pampers have been honest enough to tell us they are going to affect the price per diaper bottom line.

Now they are messing with my orange juice! That’s going to far! I walked into a Target today and discovered that my much loved Tropicana Orange Juice (which has always been a guilty pleasure in the world of frugal living due to it’s price) has adopted a new prettier and yes smaller size for, what I can tell, is just the same price as it’s previously larger sized bottle. Yes, my friends the 96oz bottle of orange juice appears to have gone the way of the dodo only to be replaced by a similarly priced 89 oz bottle, with, lest we forget, a New easy pour spout! Well maybe not the dodo, but it’s definitely an endangered species at this point. I was able to find the giant 128 oz bottle at WalMart, but still no sign of the 96 oz in now, two stores!

I can understand one company trying to put one over on us, and prices do rise at times and the diaper industry has at least warned us ahead of time (though I’m sure their public warning was missed by most of their regular customers), but now this seems to becoming a trend, one that I, for one do not appreciate! What’s next? What will be the next item to feel the manufacturer’s shrink-ray?

What about you? What other mini sized, regular priced items have you noticed?

What I Have Learned. (The Moving Edition)

Well I am almost through the worst move in history! Or at least our history of 11 moves in 9 years. Day one, our packers failed to pack everything they needed, including computer equipment and even an entire drawer! I caught the drawer but missed the rest. Day two, our movers forgot a number of our items, after having me sign off that they were all taken, but not before doing substantial damage to our home! Day three and four were uneventful as we drove our two cars cross country and back to our new home. Day 5 we bought a 5 day cooler, filled it ice and food that would survive. Then we rested and waited for our second week to begin.

Day 6 Hubby went back to work out of state and my youngest and I were left to cool our heels, living out of a cooler until our fridge with the rest of our stuff arrived. It should have been on Day 5, and then again on Day 6. Day 7 I got a delivery time and then halfway through the day with no sign of them, I was informed that they would not be coming that day either. Day 8 they finally arrived and spent the day unloading my stuff. Day 9 should be the end of my moving fiasco as unpackers should have us mostly set up then.

Here's what I have learned during all this...

1. CONSTANT VIGILANCE! In 11 moves we have never had a problem and it may have allowed us to become complacent. For all future moves (and with our life that's a very real likelihood) I plan to be just as aware and vigilant as I was in the 2nd or 3rd move, because lets face it you never know what you have to be worried about in your first move.

2. Never sign ANYTHING before you read it! Seems simple enough right? I mean who wouldn't read what they are given before signing it, but when you get page after page after of forms to sign nobody wants to give you enough time to read it. These pages come at the end of a usually very long day, either buying a car or in this case confirming that everything they said was packed, loaded etc is in fact the case. Which leads me to my next piece of wisdom...

3. Check, check, double check and then check again! This seems to be somewhat of an issue with me, as you may have noticed during my Summer Savings Marathon debacle . In the case of moving, had I not checked every single drawer I would have missed an entire drawer filled with important papers. Even when I ran through my house repeatedly checking all around, inside and out, somehow I still managed to miss some items, that even after the 5th time of keeping things from being left behind, I somehow didn't catch before the truck left. And on that note...

4. If you can't remember to check every single nook and cranny, how can you expect someone else to? I'm not sure what a person (or at least me) has to do to ensure every nook and cranny is left empty, but next time around I think I will make note of each area to confirm they have been gone through. Open every cupboard, drawer and closet. If you are too short to see inside a given cupboard or onto a shelf, get a stool or ask the person you are dealing with to look for you and confirm nothing is left. In my case, I would probably create my own form for them to sign affirming that they checked and state that an area I can't see inside is clear, but I've had a really bad move! I'm sure you can trust your movers in general, but for me I'm gonna be a bit on the paranoid side.

5. Be sure and tip your waiters! Or in my case movers. Most people wouldn't have tipped their loaders after the problems and damage that occurred, me I did. I was pretty bothered by that fact as day after day went by without my stuff with more and more problems being uncovered, but when they did show up, it paid off after all. I had a number of items that were previously in the house and needed to be moved to other parts of the house before the new items could be placed and because they had good feelings towards me, I was able to get them to move those items, even though they could have easily refused. On that note...

6. You can catch more flies with honey...or in this case pizza. Ahh pizza, is there anything a person won't do? In the middle of the move, I ordered pizza for me and my household and included the movers in the order. The appreciation felt from them as a result helped to smooth over little things like, they had put our huge filing cabinet on the wrong floor as well as placing our secondary freezer in the wrong location, both of which had to be remedied. By the end of the day, I started to apologize for them having to fix so many things (even though they were wrong) and the reply was "Hey you bought us pizza we're happy to make things right." But even when everyone is trying to do a good job and make things right...

7. No matter how hard you try, there are things that will go wrong. I checked all the beds and found they were not fully put together, I checked our outside equipment and found the same. I walked the house every square inch examining the walls, doors, floors, everything. I triple checked the crib in the very end and fortunately discovered before they left that it was put together backwards and couldn't be latched. A problem that would not have been able to be resolved that night and would have cost my little girl her bed for yet another night. Even after checking everything I thought I needed to it wasn't enough. My husband and I spent the entire night searching for various critical things that should have been labeled clearly, but weren't, including our bedding box (the one packed last thing of the moving day so you could have blankets to sleep on up until your things are taken), as well as my husband's riding suit and helmet for his motorcycle.

8. Take a deep breath...Realize you did the best you could, that things are going to go badly, sometimes worse than most. Get your house in order, unpack, and get to know the area around you. There is always something new to experience in a new town, new friends to make, new places to go. Breath deep and accept that even if things may have gone wrong, it will eventually be over. You will get over it and some day soon this will be the place you call home. In the end, at least you have some great stories to tell!

My moving experience is not quite over yet, so if I learn anything else along the way I'll be sure to pop in and share that too :)

In the words of the movie "Airplane"...

Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop...

Getting the newspaper! Wow here I am thinking I can afford to give saving a break while I get my stuff settled..maybe a week or so, not much time, just enough for my stuff to show up and then all THESE show up! I guess that's another thing I've learned. Don't let your couponing stuff out of your site for a minute! Well maybe a minute but definitely don't neatly pack up your coupons safely in a filing cabinet and have movers take that filing cabinet away from you for just under a week! Last night I spent close to $50 at Walmart with no coupons to use when I was buying things that I could keep alive in a 5 day cooler. I am living in my new house with no fridge for going on 2 days now. Doesn't seem like much, until you realize just how many things require refrigeration. Well enough about that, I'll write more about my moving "education" later.

In the meantime check out these posts from some of my favorite bloggers and maybe you will be lucky enough to be able to take part in some of these rockin deals!

Money Saving Mom tells us all about how to get Free Groceries with the Kellogg's Rebate from last weeks paper here.

Over at Centible Savings we get to find out how to combine the Kellogg's Rebate with some very cool RR deals at Walgreen's. Check em out
here.

If you are able to take advantage of any of these above deals let me know, so I can live vicariously through you!

Wait There's More...

First I gave you guys a list of just some of the places in Colorado with free days throughout the year. Now I come bearing FREE FOOD!

Check out this list of places where kids eat free in Colorado, there's some for every day of the week!

Thanks Again Vic :)

KIDS EAT FREE!
Sunday
LoDos - $1.99
Lansdowne Arms - after 4 pm
La Msa Mexican Restaurant
Sunset Grill
Jose Pepper's Authentic Mexican Food
Chartroose Caboose
Big D's BBQ (Parker)
Monday
Brothers BBQ
Buffalo Wild Wings - $0.99 - 5-8 pm
C.B. & Potts
CiCi's Pizza
Chartroose Caboose - after 5pm
Cinzetti's - 5-9 pm
Fuddruckers - $0.99 - 5-9 pm
Gunther Toody's
Rio Grande
TGI Fridays
Big D's BBQ (Parker)
Bono's BBQ
Texas Roadhouse Steak

Tuesday
3 Margarittas
Atlanta Bread Company
Bennigan's
Black Eyed Pea - after 5pm
Brothers BBQ
Champps
Chick-Fil-A
Cinzetti's - 5-9 pm
Denny's - 4-10pm
Fazolli's - $0.99 - 5-8pm
Fuddruckers - $0.99 - 5-9 pm
Lone Star Steakhouse
Perkins
Pizza Street
Planet Subs - after 4pm
Ponderosa Steak House - after 4pm
Salty Iguana Mexican Restaurant
Big D's BBQ (Parker)
Treo (& ½ price hamburgers)
Wednesday
Applebees - $0.99
Old Chicago
Rainforest Café - after 5pm
Zarda BBQ
Big D's BBQ (Parker)
Thursday
Buffalo Wild Wings
C.B. & Potts - $1.00
Big D's BBQ (Parker)
Saturday
Lone Star Steakhouse - 11 - 4pm
LoDo's - $1.99

EVERYDAY KIDS EAT FREE:
IHOP - $0.99 - 3-9pm
O'Charley's Restaurant
Old Spaghetti Factory
(with coupon from Kids Pages Magazine)

Whats better than free tickets?

Wow my first post for a different town and I haven't even moved yet! I guess it pays to be addicted reasonably interested in checking my RSS feeds. Well as long as I am not able to post grocery deals (since I have no grocery store just yet), I found something else to share with everyone. FREE TICKETS! Forgive me yet?

I found this over at MoneySavingMom and look it's good for all over, including Colorado. Yay! Oops turns out for Colorado they only give $1 off admission with proof of purchase of a Sun World SUPERIOR SEEDLESS grape bag. Offer is good from May 26th through December 31, 2008. But wait! I have some actual Free tickets or rather free days, but hey Free is Free right? Check out the list below for all of the Free days for events Denver has to offer. I'm getting excited just thinking about it!

2008 free days!

Thanks Vic!

Denver Zoo
2300 Steele St.
Denver, 303-376-4800

Monday, January 14
Saturday, January 26
Thursday, January 31
Thursday, February 14
Tuesday, October 7
Saturday, October 18
Sunday, November 2
Sunday, November 9

Denver Art Museum,
100 West 14th Avenue Parkway,
Denver, 720-865-5000

The art museum is free the first Saturday of every month:
Saturday, January 5
Saturday, February 2
Saturday, March 1
Saturday, April 5
Saturday, May 3
Saturday, June 7
Saturday, July 5
Saturday, August 2
Saturday, September 6
Saturday, October 4
Saturday, November 1
Saturday, December 6

Denver Botanic Gardens,
1005 York St.,
Denver, 720-865-3500

Monday, Jan. 21 (Martin Luther King Day)
Monday, February 18 (Presidents' Day)
Monday, March 17
Tuesday, April 22 (Earth Day)
Monday, July 21
Saturday, September 27
Saturday, October 18

Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield,
8500 Deer Creek Canyon Rd.,
Littleton, 303-973-3705

Friday, January 4
Friday, February 1
Friday, March 7
Friday, April 4
Friday, May 2
Friday, June 6
Friday, August 1
Friday, October 3
Friday, November 7
Friday, December 5

Denver Center for the Performing Arts,
1101 13th St.
Denver, 303-893-4000

"Our House " January 10 · 6:30 p.m. · Space Theatre
"Lydia" January 17 · 6:30 p.m. · Ricketson Theatre
"Plainsong" January 24 · 6:30 p.m. · Stage Theatre
"Gee's Band" March 13 · 6:30 p.m. · Space Theatre
"The Merry Wives of Windsor" March 20 · 6:30 p.m. · Stage Theatre
"Doubt" April 3 · 6:30 p.m. · Ricketson Theatre
"3 Mo'Divas" May 8 · 6:30 p.m. · Stage Theatre

Denver Museum of Nature & Science,
2001 Colorado Blvd.
Denver, 303-322-7009

Wednesday, January 16
Sunday, April 20
Saturday, May 3
Wednesday, June 25
Wednesday, August 13
Sunday, September 7
Wednesday, October 22
Sunday, December

Who knew there was so much to do here? I can't wait to try some of it out. Stay tuned as I discover more about my new home.