Starting to Save

It's moving day!

2009-04-25T06:32:00.000-07:00

I've decided to move to Wordpress. It's been fun here and I will miss my pretty colors, but it's time for a change and what better way to begin than with a fresh new template with a new host. I finally took the plunge and bought my domain so here it is: http://www.startingtosave.com

Hope to see you there!

Earth Day Freebies!

2009-04-22T09:23:00.000-07:00

Well if you haven't gotten on the band wagon in terms of getting reusable grocery bags yet, here's your chance! The following are all different places where you can get yourself a reusable grocery or shopping tote, as well as a reusable lunch bag (I didn't even know those existed!). Most of these come from Money Saving Mom, if it's from someone else I'll let you know.

Whole Foods has a coupon for a Free Reusable Lunch Bag as an extra perk for Oprah viewers (and isn't everybody?)

If you bring in 3 empty plastic bottles to the Disney Store on Wednesday, April 22, 2009, they will give you a free gift (a shopping tote). Go here for details.

Go here to find out where you can print out a coupon for Walgreens to get yet another free tote . Not to mention an additional 15% to 20% off eligible items in the store. Not a bad deal. I think I'll be taking advantage of this one myself.

This one is mine: Check out your Albertson's flyer this week and there might be a coupon for a free reusable tote in it. Plus this one is good from 4/13-5/31, so if you get tired of ~~or don't feel like~~ running all over town picking up free totes, you can get this one on another day!

Here's another one you don't have to run right out for. Go here to find out where you can print a coupon for a FAR (Free After Rebate) package of their new 100% recycled Reynolds Wrap foil. You can take advantage of this rebate if you purchase anytime from now until May 4th, but you need to print out the form today!!!

That's all I see so far. If I see any more I will be sure to pass them along. Who knows maybe you will be able to take advantage of it if you see it in time :)

Random Blog Sightings

2009-04-08T19:57:00.000-07:00

I've recently decided that even though my blog is far from well viewed, there are many among my few followers that don't take the time to scour the blogosphere like I do and may miss some more important postings. In this spirit I'm going to take part in a practice that many other bloggers have and share some things I've come across in my searching.

The first of what I'm sure will be many worthwhile shared posts comes to us today from Money Saving Mom

Here she asks her readers about still being frugal while attempting to address food allergies. I know some of my readers have this issue, so I thought I would pass it along.

Enjoy!

Toys R' Us Easter Party!

2009-04-02T19:18:00.000-07:00

This Saturday from 12-2 pm Toys R' Us is hosting an Easter Party!

Head on over to Good Deal Gal to find out all about it! Or as much about it as anyone knows ;)

Making up for lost time

2009-04-02T13:17:00.000-07:00

Well I'm well enough to start shopping again, but it's taking a lot out of me, so no pictures yet.

I went to King Soopers at the tail end of last week's sale (as I seem to do most often) to take advantage of the Quaker deal. Since Last week was spring break and I'm not crazy enough to try to take my 3 kids shopping (especially when sick), I had to wait for school to start up again.

I was sitting on a ton of Quaker coupons but you could only do 4 at a time so it took 4 transactions.

#1.
4 boxes Cap'n Crunch (2 berries, 1 without, 1 peanut butter) - used 4 $.50/1 coupons (doubled) 4/$10 less $4 if you buy 4
2 Kroger Cottage Cheese $1 each
3 Kraft Shredded Cheese (2 mozzarella, 1 cheddar) 3/$5
2 3 lb bags Red Delicious apples $2.99 each

Total Spent: $15.77
Total Saved: $16.65 or 52%!

#2.
3 Quaker True Delights bars - used 3 $1/1 coupons
1 Quaker Fiber + Omega 3 bar
total for these 4/$10 less $4 if you buy 4
1 Eggland eggs $2 each
1 3 Musketeer Minis $3.39 (had a .50/1 coupon but forgot it)
1 10 lb potatoes $3.99
1 tub Country Crock Calcium Margarine $2.49
2.46 lb bananas .69 lb

Total Spent: $17.45
Total Saved: $12.56 or 43%!

#3.
4 boxes Quaker Life (3 regular, 1 maple brown sugar) - used 2 $1/2 coupons
4/$10 less $4 if you buy 4

The checker also let me use the missing .50/1 coupon from before (doubled)

Total Spent: $3.36
Total Saved: $ 8.76 or 74%!

#4.
4 boxes Quaker Life (3 regular, 1 maple brown sugar) - used 2 $1/2 coupons
4/$10 less $4 if you buy 4

Total Spent: $4.38
Total Saved: $7.76 or 65%!

Grand Total Spent: $40.96
Grand Total Saved: $45.73

It's always nice to come out ahead :)

Check out the latest deals and matches AND Mr. Linky at Let's Go Krogering on The New Frugal Mom!

Culinary Catastrophes - Bubble Pizza

2009-04-01T15:30:00.000-07:00

It's time for another attempt to create something new ~~for me~~ in the kitchen and to see what I end up with.

Today I'm making Bubble Pizza. Of course, this wouldn't be my blog if I had all the necessary ingredients, my kids were willing to eat the ingredients or some part of me didn't interfere with the step by step procedure. With that in mind, here we go...

I started out with refrigerated grands biscuits (as opposed to the frozen package in the recipe). They also happened to be butter flavored, so I'm not quite sure what that will do to the flavor. Has anyone ever ordered buttered pizza before?

I also opted not to cut up the biscuits into quarters because, honestly I couldn't figure out why I should use an entire jar of pizza sauce when I had no toppings whatsoever (at least available to me right now). I placed the biscuits in rows of 2 and there was enough room in the baking dish for all 8 of them. I pushed down the center of each one to create a little grove for the sauce and ladled a spoonful or so of sauce into each one, smoothing it out.

I was going to try to take pictures , but I forgot so this is a few minutes into the oven.

I put them in the oven at 350 for 15 minutes (the package says 13-17) and then removed them to add the mozzarella cheese (I had the right cheese this time) sprinkled on top and then put them back in the oven for another 10 minutes.

So basically I have made fairly elaborate mini pizzas. Just sauce and cheese and nothing else. Beats English muffins in a toaster oven I guess. My prediction is that these will be a big hit as ~~with no toppings~~ my kids haven't met a pizza they didn't ~~like~~ LOVE. If something goes wrong I'll be sure to let you all know, otherwise tune in next week for another round of...

edit:I was right, my kids LOVED these! And having the biscuits butter flavored added a nice contrast to the tang of the sauce. I will definitely be making these again soon!

Saving my sanity at the dinner table (fully made dinners)

2009-03-30T19:07:00.000-07:00

Well I'm coming off ~~at least I hope I am~~ an entire month of a flu-like-plague, or is it a plague-like-flu. As a result, even though I am well stocked with boxed meals and frozen meats, after this last week, which included a relapse of this bug, not to mention spring break, I don't have really anything complete to cook for dinner.

I'm working on making some more organized menus, but in the meantime, this is what I "made" tonight for dinner.

Betty Crocker - Roasted Garlic Potatoes
Green giant Steamers - Cheesy Rice and Broccoli
Fast Fixins - Popcorn Chicken

Believe it or not, it was a more complete dinner than usual, and it was a big hit! Maybe I'll be able to put more real meals together more often, in time, but for now, it's nice to know that my stockpile allows for an entire meal that feeds all 5 of us.

My boys are back in school this week, so I hope to replenish the things that allow me to turn my meat into a meal. Stay tuned, I'm sure I'll have another Culinary Catastrophe soon enough!

Culinary Catastrophes - Revisited

2009-03-27T20:33:00.000-07:00

Well tonight I finally served the Mini Meat Loaf and Glazed Baby Carrots from my first escapade. I'm sorry to say that my efforts to steam the carrots resulted in over/undercooked (if that's possible) and on my second 2 minutes of cooking I actually exploded one half of the bag! Good thing it was on its side or that would have been messy. The mini meat loaves, however defrosted quickly in hot water in their bags and 2 minutes later in the microwave I had a meal ready.

Verdict: 4 out of 5 members of my family LOVED the meat loaf, 3 out of 5 loved the carrots, but I think that's my fault so I will definately be trying that again.

Stay tuned for my next round of...

One bad banana...

2009-03-19T13:17:00.000-07:00

Spoils the whole bunch...or so I hear.

I promise this isn't becoming a food blog. I don't know nearly enough about it to make it my focus, but I have recently decided that I read way more blogs than any sane person would ever consider, and so I am going to start sharing info that my limited readership might be interested in that they wouldn't normally read elsewhere.

With that in mind...I read today over at Carrie's Cooking a great tip for extending the life of your bananas. Check it out. I always seem to be walking the tightrope between running out of banana's too fast or rationing them into the point where they brown. I'll take any help I can get!

Culinary Catastrophes...the results show

2009-03-18T17:27:00.000-07:00

Well, as a result of not freezing but leaving the Lasagna Rolls in the fridge, I ended up with very tough edges BUT I beat my 4 out of 5 family members objective. EVERYONE LOVED IT! My picky 5 year old ate the entire thing and my husband informed me that I should be making this "more often, say once a week or more" ;) I guess we have one more item to add to the "my family will eat it" category. Whoohoo! Thanks New Frugal Mom!

I'll be sure to let you know how the rest of the meals end up working out just as soon as we eat them!

Culinary Catastrophes

2009-03-17T12:09:00.000-07:00

I was thinking that in my ongoing efforts to try to find better ideas of what to cook, that I would chronicle my journey. Remember this is not the blog of an expert but rather a first timer who was never very good at saving, spending less, making real meals, etc. Might as well share it all. Who knows, maybe I'll manage to make a eatable if not somewhat tasty dish that 4 out of 5 members of my family (at least) will be willing to eat. Or, maybe I'll just add some "sure glad that's not me" stories that can make you feel better about your cooking. Here goes nothing...

I have started this series by attempting to make New Frugal Mom's Double Duty Dinner Lasagna Rolls and Mini Meat Loaf.

First off I should tell you that I have never made Lasagna other than Stouffer's before and as such I didn't even know the correct size pot to use to cook the noodles! I started with a pot large enough for my standard "Not quite Spaghetti" dinner, (not quite, because my 5 year old son refuses to eat actual spaghetti noodles so we alternate whatever random shapes he picks and add spaghetti sauce). I started the water boiling, put 3 noodles in and waited somewhat impatiently for them to soften enough to sink into the pot. After a good 30 seconds, it became clear to me that this was going to be an exercise in futility. I moved the (by this time) 5 noodles to a large stock pot along with the already boiling water. Add some more water to make up the difference in volume and another 3 noodles and I was finally ready to start the timer on the suggested 12 minutes for the lasagna noodles.

By this time I had already mushed up the meat loaf mixture. I'm not sure what cheese is typically added to meat loaf (as I have never been much of a fan and thus never made that before either), and the ingredients listed simply stated Sargento Cheese. Of course had I bothered to look at the detailed picture included on the site I might have noticed it was a mozzarella and provolone cheese mixture, but alas I did not and the result was the use of shredded cheddar cheese instead (because when I finally got ready to make this, it was all I had).

I mixed up the meatloaf and pushed it into my new silicon muffin tin. By this time, my poor lasagna noodles were ready (I hoped). Again having never used them, I made a beyond foolish not even rookie mistake. I pulled out a pair of tongs and promptly tore the corner off one noodle. It was then that I remembered that the directions stated to rinse them in cold water "to prevent them sticking" Now please understand that I make pasta on a fairly regular basis (see above) but whenever I undertake a new recipe I tend to get flustered and fail to use common sense, and this was two meals at once! At any rate I picked up the pot and strained the remaining noodles under cold water, leaving them in the sink.

It should be noted that as I had prepackaged food saver bags of 1 lb of ground beef, that I opted to use only 1 lb of ground beef as opposed to the 1.71 lbs or I assume roughly 1 3/4 worth that was listed in the ingredients list. I had already opted out of the onions and peppers so I used the 1/4 lb of ground beef left over from the amount needed for the meatloaf and fried it up in a pan. After frying it up I added the sauce and cheese (again Cheddar) and mixed it all together for the Lasagna Rolls.

I took the meatloaf out of the oven and let it cool on the stove, pulled out a cutting board for the lasagna noodles and ladled it with no where NEAR 3 tablespoons of the meat, sauce and cheese mixture. At this point the lack of mozzarella cheese became impossible to ignore, but being a cheese obsessed household we have a steady supply of string cheese. I used two sticks to painstakingly string tiny strands of cheese to cover my six (not 8) rolls, some of which definitely have more meat in the meat sauce than others.

I rolled up the lasagna noodles, made up some more sauce (sans meat) and ladled some of that onto the top of the rolls. Then I took the remaining half of a string cheese and used it to cover in strips the top of the rolls. I put the dish covered with foil in the oven, along with the meatloaf tin. I'm not sure just how much grease should have been associated with the meatloaf cups but in an effort to fully cook the meat I stuck it in for 3 of the lasagna's 20 minutes.

I took the meatloaf tin out and let it cool, eventually placing the cups on a paper towel in an effort to soak up some more of the grease. After removing all the grease I could, I placed them all in a food saver bag, making sure to separate them slightly. I sucked out most of the air and hit the force seal button when it became apparent that the grease was encroaching on the top of the bag, thereby preventing any sealing from taking place.

Meanwhile I took out a 1 lb bag of baby carrots, poured half into a food saver bag and added the brown sugar, butter (in this case margarine) and cinnamon. I sealed that bag without sucking the air out (as I hope this is what you do in order to steam it in the bag), and took the lasagna rolls out to cool. It could be the minimal cheese and could be the missing two rolls but whatever the reason they look nothing like the picture on the site.

I didn't have time to make the Twice Baked Potatoes.

This entire process took New Frugal Mom less than an hour. Me? I came in at just under two hours! On top of that, since I am freezing this for dinner another time, I don't even know how good it's going to taste! But, I'm finally finished with the beginning process. Technically all I have to do when I'm ready to eat it, is put them in the microwave, so I shouldn't be able to mess that up, but we'll see ;)

I'll check back in to let you know how it ends up tasting!

Saving my sanity at the dinner table.

2009-03-17T08:58:00.000-07:00

As I have mentioned before I have been following some cooking sites in the hopes that I can add some easy things to the dinner menu that my kids will actually eat!

Recently I came upon a few other recipe and cooking sites that have led me to even more. I started out building up a stockpile, but the plan has grown to building up stores as well. After checking out a guest post on $5 Dinners by Once a Month Mom I was led to another site FSME or "Food Storage Made Easy".

I sit here with my freezers and fridge bursting at the seams and yet I still struggle to figure out what to make for dinner that night. I'm still sitting on two frozen turkeys and boy do they take up space! I looked at OAMC but what would be the point with no room to freeze anything? Thanks to the Once a Month Mom, I now have list of 10 tips for organizing your freezer. Then I can go to the FSME site and follow the baby steps training to organizing my food storage and then back to OAMM and I can start setting up dinner to be ready whenever I need it.

I'm sure that having a food storage is designed to be saved and not eaten until the SHTF (**** hits the fan) but being able to organize it allows for me to be more organized with the food I do plan to eat. The thing is, the world doesn't have to come to an end for a food storage to be useful. With everyone out there feeling the pinch financially or having lost their jobs entirely, not having to buy groceries for awhile, could be a big help. On the other hand making dinners to freeze for later is sure to make for an easier time when it comes to dinner as well.

All that's left is for me to get the kids to eat it ;)

If cooking a month all at once is too big a first step, check out this Double Duty Dinners post over at The New Frugal Mom. Most often I can't get my kids to eat what most other creative dinners people come up with, but I think I may be able to have success with this one.

Wish me luck!

Super Savings Saturday

2009-03-14T12:35:00.000-07:00

Well it's been awhile since I first got sick and I am just now coming out of it (I hope). I managed to get some good deals over the course of the week. No pictures this time but I do want to share the totals.

Albertsons: My store's deals are Wed-Tues. I went once on Tues and once on Fri
Tues-
Spent: $58.05
Saved: $58.47

Fri-
Spent: $35.91
Saved: $44.43

King Soopers: I went once for the old deals on Tues
Spent: $26.92
Saved: $12.81

Walgreens: Two and a half transactions for this one.

First:
5 Huggies wipes at $6 each
5 $5 off coupons
Total spent $5.43
Saved: $31.95
plus $10 RR printed out

Second total Spent: 32.73 after $10 RR used
Saved: $28.20

This included 3 Sambucol items for $13.99 with a $4 IP $10 Easy Saver coupon, but I forgot the $10 one so the above total should have been $1.95 spent. I later went back and they gave me the $32 difference back. I bought a set of gloves for $3.99 and received $28.25 back.

Not the greatest amount in the spent categories but as I said, I've been sick and I had to make up for some of the things I needed and hadn't bought earlier.

Want to see other great savings?? Visit MoneySavingMom

You learn something new every day.

2009-03-12T17:35:00.000-07:00

I live in a place populated with just about every major chain of stores I can think of. Safeway, Kroger (King Soopers), Albertsons, Super Walmart, Super Target and Kmart (they removed all the Supers). But of the 3 major grocery stores, I was under the impression that only King Soopers doubled coupons and even then, only .50 or below. Then I discovered that Safeway not only doubled .50 and below coupons, but they also double anything else above .50 up to a total of $1 or .99 I never paid that much attention. I thought that was unique in my area, until I discovered by a fluke that King Soopers does the doubling up to $1 as well! This opens my options considerably, especially since King Soopers is much closer to me than Safeway.

I don't know if it's always been this way with my grocery stores, but according to
grocerycouponguide coupon policies seem to be changing across many stores all over. What about you? Have you noticed any coupon policy changes?

Get paid to buy Pillsbury rolls!

2009-02-27T11:32:00.000-08:00

Not a bad deal. This month I have tried not to go shopping unless the stores were paying me to and I have done fairly well. Looks like I'm going to have to go to King Soopers this week and get paid to buy some more Pillsbury rolls. My poor fridge is sagging from the weight of all of the ones I bought back when Albertsons was quadrupling .25 coupons. Of course having Pillsbury rolls already baked at all times isn't necessarily a bad thing. I also found a recipe for Bubble Pizza Thanks to Shop Smart in Vegas for the link.

Mmmm Yummy! So if you are anxious to know how to get this deal to work for yourself so you can find cool things to do with your rolls, check out I am a Money Magnet for a complete break down. Then look around as she shows you some great ways she made this deal work!

edit: I discovered when I went today that the 10/$10 deal is for the mini containers of cinnamon rolls. I didn't find any when I went out last time but I will look if I make it that way again.

The beauty of a blogroll.

2009-02-27T09:13:00.000-08:00

So I was scanning through a few of my lesser read blogs in an effort to catch up and I found myself on a blogroll chain. I bounced from one blogger to a blogger in their roll to one in their roll and so on. I found myself at a very entertaining blog called Taking what is left. She had a link to the Typealyzer. This site will analyze your blog and give it a version of the Meyers-Briggs test. How cool is that?

Looks like mine is:

ESTP - The Doers

The active and playful type. They are especially attuned to people and things around them and often full of energy, talking, joking and engaging in physical out-door activities.

The Doers are happiest with action-filled work which craves their full attention and focus. They might be very impulsive and more keen on starting something new than following it through. They might have a problem with sitting still or remaining inactive for any period of time.

Well I guess if you take out the outdoorsy portion, that's pretty much my blog. I definitely get more steam out of starting a project than finishing it, as evidenced by the ugly gaps in posting here, but I'm working on it :)

What about you? How does your blog score?

Kmart doubles $2 coupons

2009-02-26T09:14:00.000-08:00

For those of you who haven't received this information somewhere else, Kmart is doubling coupons up to and including $2 coupons. I went yesterday bought $60 worth and spent $20. Go here and here to see detailed breakdowns of how other people did and coupon matchups.

Make sure you print out your $5 off $50 coupon first!

Lots of BOGO or FREE food!

2009-02-25T20:53:00.000-08:00

Ok lets start with the FREE stuff first.

Wendy's Free $1 menu item

Texas Roadhouse Free appetizer

Chilis Free chips and queso

And now the BOGO deal

Denny's B1G1 coupons

Finally

B1G3 Free Zone Perfect

all of these brought to you by
Money Saving Mom

They like me they really like me!

2009-02-24T18:56:00.001-08:00

I got a blog award! How cool is that? Thanks so much Marianne for letting me know you like what you've been reading!

Here are the rules for the Honest Scrap Award:

Choose a minimum of 7 blogs that you find brilliant in content or design. Show the winners names and links on your blog, and leave a comment informing them that they were prized with “Honest Scrap.” There’s no prize, but they can keep the nifty icon.

List at least 10 honest things about yourself.

1. I have 3 children, at least 2 of whom have special needs
2. In the 10 years I have been married I have only lived in one place longer than 2 years and no we are not in the military.
3. Most of my current friends have never seen my natural hair color.
4. My closest family member resides more than 900 miles away.
5. All of my female friends living near me are teachers.
6. I am not a techie but I surround myself with them.
7. I have only been actively saving money and using coupons for a little over 8 months
8. My favorite color is purple
9. I am not a terrible cook but not a terribly inventive one either
10. 3 out of the 5 members of my family all have birthdays in July

Not the best list but it's my first time filling one of these out.

And now it's my turn to share the love!

1. Money Saving Mom
2. Moms Need To Know
3. Chief Family Officer
4. Playgroups are no place for children
5. If only I had Super Powers
6. List Mama
7. Common Sense with Money

For those of you who have never heard of me before, I've been watching you and I really enjoy reading your blog! Hopefully I'll be able to comment more often (or at all) from now on.

Even easier than "Easy"

2009-02-23T09:16:00.000-08:00

Contrary to my recent posts about baked goods, I am far from a consummate chef. My all time favorite book is one called Help my apartment has a kitchen!. Recipes are listed in order of very easy, easy and not so easy. Their Teriyaki Chicken is a favorite in our house, even loved by my beyond picky 5 year old! Problem is, for someone one like me it's still a bit of work, you have to use up a big bowl large enough to hold the chicken and mix all the ingredients together and then find room in your fridge for such a bowl for 2 hours or more!

I just stumbled onto this site Dinnersonme on my never ending search for ideas to cook for my family. I haven't looked through it very long, because on the first page I saw there was a link for teriyaki chicken. Unbelievable! 4 ingredients, put them all in a bag with the chicken and let it sit. NO DISHES! I can't wait to try it.

What about you? Do you have any really simple recipes you swear by? I'm always looking for other ideas.

Kashi Secret Contest

2009-02-23T08:14:00.000-08:00

I don't know how many of you have already signed up for Kashi through one of their promotions, but if you go log in you get entered in a contest for a years supply of Kashi products! I went to go get this Free Kashi frozen entree that I found on MNTK. Sadly most of the time if you are already a member these promotions do not apply though. I decided to try anyway (as I always do) and this time the free entree is for everyone! On top of that if you register with them or log in as a member you are entered in the contest I mentioned. What a great deal!

When I say this is a secret contest, it's possible that they mentioned it in my email but since I get sooo much email in my folder I may have missed it.

Pampers users

2009-02-21T14:52:00.000-08:00

I'm a Huggies girl myself, I don't have any little ones in actual diapers and I'm not a fan of Easy Ups, but for those of you who do use Pampers here's a great way to get an extra $1.50 coupon.

When good couponers go bad!

2009-02-20T19:36:00.000-08:00

My stockpile is overflowing! I should be able to go without buying even milk, eggs or bread for some time. I still need to build up my chicken and beef stores but if I HAD to go without buying anything I could do it...I think.

Unfortunately during my newbie days I went coupon crazy! I bought everything that was 75% or less with the benefit of a coupon, and if I could buy it for free, you'd better BELIEVE I bought that too! When I looked on the bags of free things, it was easy to forget about little details like expiration dates and to worry that these oppertunities might never present themselves again. As a result I hoarded most of my items and now they are useless.

Below is just a few of the items I have had to throw away.

I have reorganized my stores and placed them in expiration date order. I am using up the items whenever and wherever I can, and I am going to have faith that the deals will be around again.

Cool stuff to find out about!

2009-02-20T08:14:00.000-08:00

Forgive this Shameless plug for one of my favorite blogger sites *blush*

You've got to check out MNTK (otherwise known as Moms Need To Know).

Over the last few weeks I have gone stockpile CRAZY! I bought and froze a ton of grapes, blueberries, blackberries and strawberries! I found an article on MNTK talking about how she feeds her family on only $50 a week (be sure to check out all of this series). Part of this article links to a post on how to freeze just about anything and I kinda went overboard. The most important thing I froze was the blueberries. I have a child with food dye allergies and you'd be surprised how hard it can be to find blueberry muffin mix that doesn't have red dye added to make the blueberries look more purple! Nothing like that natural look to require unnatural dye. So I looked up some blueberry muffin recipes and when blueberries were .88 cents at Safeway a few weeks back I bought like 5 packages! I froze them using eHow.com.

The problem with baking any muffins, packaged mixes or homemade, in my house at least, is a case of hardware not working very well. My "nonstick" muffin tins quite frankly aren't and I have yet to produce anything in them that doesn't stick to the bottom or even worse burn! MNTK to the rescue again! Yesterday she shared with us how you can get FREE easybakeware products. I don't know if these are the infomercial style or not but they are guaranteed to work with a 60 day money back guarantee. PLUS since they are free all you really risk is shipping cost which is $7.95 standard or $1 if you sign up for a free trial of a service. You can get more than one item off the site too. Standard orders above $25 are free shipping, and they will take the most expensive item in your cart and make that one FREE.

I started off with 3 products, the muffin tins, some spoonulas (which I love) and some cool looking collapsible measuring cups. My total was 27 something aka free shipping, but I realized that I was trying not to buy things I don't need and after a quick web search, I found that spoonulas can go for as little as $14.95 considerably cheaper than easybakeware's price of $29.95 (which BTW was my most expensive item). In the end I restrained myself, bought my 1 item, my muffin tins, and signed up to get the $1 shipping. A word of caution, write down the number for the trial company (as MNTK urges) because at least for me, the email went into my spam and I almost didn't find it. Calling and cancelling is simple (I LOVE these kinds of companies). They know most of us don't really want the service so their first prompt is a cancellation option. You push the button a couple times and you are done. It takes 24 hours though so don't wait until the 6th day to cancel or you may find yourself with a bill!

The benefits of a stockpile (revisited)

2009-02-19T20:10:00.000-08:00

In an effort to prevent the wastefulness of my earlier couponing days, I am actually using the items I buy. Imagine that, actually taking the things out of their neat little pile and putting them to good use!

To make sure that my Pillsbury crescent and grands rolls don't go bad I am baking them and using them as an addition to snacks and part of dinner. To appease my generous husband who gave me a kitchen aid mixer for Christmas, I am having cookies or brownies in the house most, if not all of the time. And to make sure that the countless boxes and pouches of Betty Crocker Potato mix doesn't go to waste I am having a side more often than not in my nightly dinners.

Perhaps this is nothing unusual to most of you, but for me it has produced enormous benefits! As a result of always having treats ready and that I am willing to give out, my 5 year old, who would rather starve than eat anything new, has been trying more of my dinners! You would be amazed just how much of a motivator a home made (or even store bought specialty) cookie can inspire a finicky eater. On top of that, my ability to make dinners that are eaten by my entire family has removed a level of stress that has been in our house since I can't remember when.

I can't wait to see what other benefits I can discover!

It never hurts to ask.

2009-02-04T11:45:00.000-08:00

So I have been missing out on most of the good deals Safeway has had lately. Due to the fact that I am more than 12 miles away from any Safeway, my post office has neglected to include their flyer in my collection. I am in the area once a week so if I know the deals to get, I can take advantage of them. I can get a basic idea from MNTK but with a different name in a different state, the produce items don't always line up. On top of that, if you are in possession of a print flyer for any Walmart competitor (and let's face it, with all they sell who isn't) they will match your deal in their store! I can't say enough about this deal and even with all the issues I've had with Walmart, this particular benefit gets me in their store a whole lot more!

But I digress. At any rate, I called Safeway's customer service line and asked them if they could send me a weekly insert. They took my address and that was it, in 2-3 weeks I will once again be able to partake in the deals from the store that used to be my favorite, before I moved to the land of SUPERS. After all with, now FIVE stores to choose from, all of which hosting their own bakery...you still can't beat Safeway's French Bread (and now I find out they even slice it to your desired thickness)!

Who knows, maybe once I get my inserts I will be inspired to do my own grocery deals again, like I did in my last town.

Super Savings Saturday...(a bit late)

2009-02-01T11:33:00.000-08:00

First I went to King Soopers

Total spent : 86.63
Total saved $121.77 or 59%

Then I went to Walmart to take advantage of cheap deli meat prices and some free items.

4 Oscar Mayer deli meat packages 2 each Roast Beef and Honey Ham $2.50 each down from $3
1 package sliced swiss cheese $2.42
1 package hot dog buns $1
1 bag of oranges (8 lbs) $3.98 (down from $6.98)
1 bunch of bananas .48
2 Cucumbers .68 each
1 bag Russel Stover Sugar Free turtles $1.50 (used $1.50/1 coupon to make it FREE)
2 J&J buddies soaps $.97 each (used $2/2 coupon to make both FREE)

Total spent: $21.02
Walmart doesn't break down your savings like the rest, but with the WAY cheap bananas, oranges, deli meat and the free items I'm pleased.

Finally I went to Target for almost free Kashi bars and WAY cheap milk.

2 Gallons of 1% milk $2.49 each
4 Kellogg's Fiber Plus bars $1.88 each (used 4 $.75/1 coupons)
1 Kashi Soft Fruit bars $2.67 (used a $2/1 coupon)

At this point I discovered that my cashier had a VERY strict interpretation of the word "purchase". This has been my first time that I had actually experienced this objection and I almost forgot the proper response. Which is btw..."an item is a purchase...the collection of items all at once is a transaction, so as long as you only use one coupon per item it's still fine." Unfortunately I got myself a cashier that told me that "we" (I assume target) consider them the same thing. Ok so 3 more individual transactions of .85 later (1 Kashi bar $2.75 less $2/1 coupon) .

Total over all transactions: $18.38
Total saved (according to Target): $15.60

Saturday I made another stop at Albertsons to take advantage of the deals I didn't already get here.

2 French bread $1 each
8 Honey Bunches of Oats cereal $2 each (used $1/2 coupon, less .50 each for Big 10 Deal)
4 Boxes of Wheat Thins $2 each(used $2/2 coupon, less .50 each for Big 10 Deal)
3 Boxes of Ritz
AND
1 Box of Triscuits $2 each (used $2/2 coupon, less .50 each for Big 10 Deal)
4 SoBe Life Water $1 each (less .50 each for Big 10 Deal)
2 Dark Chocolate Chex mix $1 (used 2 $.50/1 coupon doubled)

Total Spent: $25.39
Total Saved: $57.38!

Topped it all off with a quick stop at Walgreens:

2 Reynolds Wrap Foil .89 each (used 1 $1/1 coupon...the other was returned to me)
6 Special Dark Hershey's Bars BOGO (used 3 BOGO coupons to get em all FREE)

Total Spent: $.85
It could have been less apparently, because they took the whole $1 value off the .89 foil. I wasn't able to use the last coupon because it would have had them giving me cash!

What I have learned...Awareness

2009-02-01T08:54:00.000-08:00

Well it just goes to show no matter how much you think you know there is always more to learn. And so we begin another rousing installment of What have I learned.

1. Read the fine print. And by fine print, what I really mean is, read the small print, on the top, bottom or side of every single product. Otherwise known as the expiration date. Don't count on the store to be responsible for this. It's a big store, and I don't know who's job it is to check each and every item, but I have yet to find a store that has never slipped up.

Today I went to take advantage of the Albertsons coupon deals. I checked all the Pillsbury crescent rolls, grands and sweet rolls because in my zeal to keep my stockpile as full as possible, I have discovered a tendency to hoard as well, which I will get into later. I conducted an exhausting search to confirm all my items had the farthest expiration date I can find. I made a point to check the date on all of the Pillsbury products, but for some reason I neglected to check the rest of the items. So I get home and take my picture of my groceries and then begin the process of figuring out where everything is going to go and I discover that not one but all eight of my cans of frozen apple juice expired over 2 weeks ago!

When I run a deal in a store it takes a ton of planning, probably more than most sane people and probably more than my fellow couponers do. I run the sales, collect the coupons, make my list and then walk into the store (usually with my 2 year old). It takes forever to get through one store and I usually hit 2 or three in a day. Still, for all the time it takes me, apparently, I am still not taking the time I need to in the store. So now I need to make a point to check every single product for the expiration date, I'm sure I will miss some eventually, but with any luck the ones I forget to check won't be expired! Of course, this leads me to the next thing I have learned...

2. Stockpiling is not hoarding. As of right now I believe I have multiple packages of cookies,
more Pillsbury bread products, yogurt, cereal bars and who knows what else, ALL EXPIRED! As a result of all the deals I came across when I first started saving, I have a large number of various snack foods. Since I would normally not have bought them due to price, I opted to save them rather than add them to the normal rotation of foods and eat them along with everything else. As a result, I find myself with a pantry full of food and none of it eatable. Looks like I need to find a way to trust that I will be able to replace the food I use, otherwise free or not it's not worth getting it if it goes to waste.

3. Being a coupon snob isn't always beneficial. In my zeal to take advantage of free or better than free products from the beginning of my savings journey, I have developed a bit of an arrogance when it comes to paying more than the best price I have found. For instance, every month or so Albertsons seems to have milk for the equivalent of $2 a gallon. I buy the maximum I can each time and freeze the excess, hoping to have it get me over to the next sale period. Of course, freezing milk has it's own complications as I learned here. However, I find that my unwillingness to pay for milk until absolutely necessary if it's above my predetermined price is costing me more money and hassle over all. Turns out you have to be flexible and willing to pay a bit more than you'd like sometimes, because let me tell you, running out of milk in a house with three kids sucks!

4. Count your chickens...or in this case your items. Anyone who brings a 2 year old to the store knows you run the risk of having extra purchases tacked onto your bill. Last week I discovered to my dismay that my single box of Yogos fruit snacks had multiplied into 2 extra boxes, courtesy of my "helpful" daughter. Add that to the fact that my last King Soopers run had me buying an extra can of soup, an extra box of cereal bars and an extra cream cheese ALL without coupons. Some of these were items I'd forgotten to put back when my coupon went missing and some of them were due to a miscount in my cart scanning that I do before I check out. This is where being aware is really critical. I'm not entirely sure, yet how I plan to prevent this from happening in the future, as I tend to over fill my cart and can't always see every item, but once I figure out a way I'll be sure to share that with you all!

And that's it for this installment of What I have learned. What have you all learned in your efforts to be more frugal? Any cautionary tales for the rest of us? I'd love to hear them.

Swimming in soup and other deals.

2009-01-30T19:39:00.000-08:00

What you are looking at is 37 cans of various flavors/brands of Campbell's soup.

I used 19 .50/2 coupons 6 each for Campbell's Select, Chunky Healthy Request, and Select Healthy Request, along with 1 Chunky soup.

Now for the rest of my shopping trip.

5 packages of strawberries $.99 each
6 powerade zero bottles $1 each (was supposed to use .40/1 coupons but forgot.
2 SOBE Life Water $1 each (less .50 after Mega deal)
1 Brick of Tillamook Cheddar $18.99 (nobody but King Soopers carries them)
2 Mountain High Yogurt $2.50 each (used 2 .50/1 coupons doubled)
1 Green Valley Steamers $1.59 each (less .50 after Mega deal, used .50/1 coupon doubled)
5 Fiber One bars $2.69 each (.50 less after Mega deal, used 4 .50/1 coupons doubled...lost one)
2 Nature Valley bars $2.69 each (.50 less after Mega deal, used $1/2 coupon)
2 Betty Crocker cookie mix $2.39 (used .40/1 coupons doubled)
4 Martha White muffin mix $1 each (used $1/4 coupon)

Total spent for contents of both pictures: 86.63
Total saved $121.77 or 59%

Now I just need to learn how to freeze strawberries so they are eatable when defrosted.

Check out the latest deals and matches AND Mr. Linky at Let's Go Krogering on The New Frugal Mom!

Albertsons unbelievable deals part 1

2009-01-28T21:54:00.000-08:00

Albertsons is doubling (and more) coupons again!!! From 1/27 through 2/3

.50 and below doubled
.33 and below tripled
AND
.25 and below QUADRUPLED!!!

I plan to share in detail the deals I hope to accomplish but after spending way too much time getting ready for this. In the meantime check out this post by Hot Coupon World listing the majority, if not all of the .25 coupons that are left available from various places, inserts, peelies etc.

So many deals so little time...

2009-01-22T13:02:00.000-08:00

King Soopers shopping trip 1/18/09

12 Cans Campbell's Chunky soup 1.25 each. Used 6 $.50/2 coupon (doubled)
4 packages of blueberries 10/$10
2 Boxes Kroger brand generic (Ritz Crisps) $1.99
5 Packages Kroger brand pudding $.90 each
1 Box Better Cheddars $2.20
1 Package Value brand Semi-Sweet chocolate chips $1.32
1 Package Tyson Chicken nuggets $6.99. Used $1/1 coupon
1 Package Kroger brand Boneless, Skinless chicken breasts $8.99
2 Bags Doritos (Nacho not pictured) $1.97 each

Total Spent $46.98
Total Saved $43.37 or 49%

King Soopers Trip 1/22/09
MEGA 10 DEAL

3 Loaves Mountain Fresh bread .69 each
1 French bread $1.49
1 Hershey's Syrup $1.91
1 Box Kroger Graham Crackers $1.69
1 Box Lotion Kleenex $1.59 .40/1 (doubled)
1 Bunch Bananas $1.85
4 Quaker Oats Rice Crisps 10/$10. Used 1 $1/1 coupon
7 Fiber One Bars $2.69. Used 7 $.50/1 coupons (doubled)
6 Nature Valley Bars $2.69. Used 6 $.50/1 coupons (doubled)
1 Orville Redenbacher Simply Salt Natural popcorn $2.19. Used $1/1 coupon
2 1 lb packages of ground beef $4.79 BOGO
1 Bag Wavy Lays Chips $2.59
3 Boxes Yogo fruit snacks (my 2 year old snuck 2 extras in) $1.99 each
6 Green Valley Steamers $1.59 each. Used 6 $.50/1 coupons (doubled)
1 Nice n Soft flushable wipes $1.79
1 Box Cap'n Crunch Cereal $2.49. Used $.50/1 coupon (doubled)
4 Boxes Life Cereal $2.49 each. Used 2 $1/2 coupons
2 Boxes Tropicana OJ $2.99 each. Used $1/2 coupon
1 French's Mustard $1.69 Used $.50/1 coupon (doubled)
1 Kroger Cottage Cheese $1.99
2 Glade warming gel refills (special 3 packs) $2.62 each Used $2/2 coupon
Add in an additional $15 taken off the total for the 3 sets of 10 items...

Total Spent $63.92
Total Saved $92.90 or 60%

Of course now I am sitting on some 20+ boxes of cereal bars in the middle of a peanut crisis...crossing my fingers they won't be recalled as well.

Check out the latest deals and matches AND Mr. Linky at Let's Go Krogering on The New Frugal Mom!

Quite an eventful day for everyone!

2009-01-20T08:52:00.000-08:00

There's a run on canned goods and cosmetics

So today's the day. Inauguration day, or the beginning of the end of the world as so many people seem to think. It's amazing how so many people of different walks of life have become united under a single cause. Democrats, liberals, republicans, conservatives alike. NONE of them are looking forward to today.

It's time to run (don't walk) to your nearest grocery store. Not, that everyone is going to be needing canned goods and not that I'm advocating the end of the world, but considering the moratorium on peanut products right now, many people are going to be cleaning out the supplies of the canned goods on sale to make up for the lack of food they can eat that's already in their pantries. I know I personally have lost access to at least 1/3 of my inventory due to the detailed and specific instructions handed down by the FDA basically in a nutshell they say not to eat ANYTHING containing peanuts except peanut butter, until they get more information. Meanwhile I'm sitting on stockpiled food laced with, containing or having sat next to peanuts that I can't eat! So for those of you looking for canned goods, for whatever reason.

Albertsons has Chef Boyardee ravioli on sale through today for .88 a can
King Soopers has Cambell's Chunky soups on sale 4/$5 $.50/2 coupons doubled make $.75 a can.
I'm sure there are other deals out there but these are the ones I have personally taken advantage of. Don't forget Walmart will match any prices for an identical product, so if you don't want to run all over town just take your weekly sales flyers to Walmart and kill all your birds with one stone. Of course they don't double your coupons so you need to keep that in mind.

If, instead of stocking up you'd rather party today TGI Fridays is throwing a big party at all locations. Card members even get double stripes. They are also offering free Red and White chips and salsa. For more information click here.

As for cosmetics, if you happened to have purchased any cosmetics in department stores between May 1994 and June 2003 you are eligible for $20 in free makeup Today through the 27th! Thanks to MNTK you can click here for more details.

Seems like today is full of things to take advantage of!

Falling for Albertsons all over again!

2009-01-17T20:10:00.000-08:00

Lately there have been some deals at Albertsons that along with my coupons were too good to pass up! I tend to get my shopping there done at the tail end of the weekly sales so this week I went twice. Once the Tuesday before the deals ended and again on Wednesday of the new sales.

Albertsons deals week of 1/7-1/13

11 boxes of various flavors of Quaker instant oatmeal on sale for 1.87 each. Used 9 $1/1 coupons, 1 $1/2 coupon
2 boxes of Fiber Oatmeal to go bars at 1.87 each. Used 2 $1/1 coupons
4 apple pears at 10lbs/$10
3 half gallons of 1% milk at .97 each
1 Loaf of french bread at .88 each
3 Rubbermaid premiere containers various prices. Used 3 $1/1 coupons
1 Rubbermaid produce saver Used 1 $1/1 coupon
1 Baby sunblock 50% off

I broke this into two separate transactions and due to my lack of organization lost the receipts (it's been a rough week) but I spent approximately $30 over the two transactions and saved close to $70

Albertsons deals of 1/14-1/20
EVERYTHING on this screen started at $1.88 or less! (with one exception of $2.50 for the strawberries)

Strawberries $2.50
Orange Creme bars $.88
2 boxes of Cinnamon Chex $1.88 each. Used 1 $1/2 coupon
2 packages Yo-Plus $1.88 each. Used 2 $1/1 coupons
3 boxes Fiber one bars $1.88 each. Used 1 $.50/1 coupon and 1 $1/2 coupon
1 box Nature Valley bar $1.88 each. Used 1 $.60/1 coupon
3 boxes Chex mix bars $1.88 each. Used 1 $1/1 coupon and 1 $1/2 coupon
1 box Multigrain Cheerios $1.88 each. Used 1 $.75/1 coupon
1 box Wholegrain Total $1.88 each. Used 1 $.75/1 coupon
1 box Honey Kix $1.88 each.
2 boxes Kix $1.88 each. Used 2 $.75/1 coupons
2 bags 1lb baby carrots $.88 each
1 loaf French bread $.88 each.
2 loaves wheat sliced bread $.88 each

1 12 ct large eggs
1 loaf wheat sliced bread
1 gallon 1% milk
ALL OF THESE FREE! (WYB 10 of the above products)

Total spent $31.06
Total saved $57.04

I can't wait to see what they have next week!

My new years realization

2009-01-08T20:57:00.000-08:00

I've fallen off the wagon, I'm trying so hard to save money on everything that I am spending more than I need to, because I don't have to buy them. Check out this guest post on MSM. Spending less vs. Saving more? An interesting distinction and one I think I will start paying attention to from now on.

I LOVE Big Government...don't you?

2009-01-04T19:58:00.001-08:00

Ok so I was checking my normal plethora of blogs and I came upon this wonderful ~~gut wrenching~~ piece of news. For those of you who get the majority of your children's clothes second hand, this information is devastating!

Turns out after Feb 10th 2009 a major law goes into effect that will basically render the second hand clothing business obsolete. Not, I'm afraid because no one will need to purchase those clothes, but more, because no one will be able to afford them anymore.

Check out Babycheapskate for full details as well as links to actual articles addressing this. For those of you who using local consignment stores, pay particular attention to the LA Times link as the founder of Kid to Kid expects to "lock our doors and file for bankruptcy".

Isn't it nice when someone decides to step in and "solve" the problem at the expense of everyone else? I'm sure there was another way to address this concern without making so many suffer in the process.

What I have learned...The holidays.

2009-01-01T23:17:00.000-08:00

Well it's been awhile since I've had worthwhile lessons to share, but over the recent holidays I have come across quite a few learning opportunities, so I thought I would share with you...

What I have learned.

1. Keep track of your stockpile, never think because you have a bunch of a particular item that you are safe! Over the holidays I have managed to run out my frozen milk stockpile as well as my multiple jars of Prego Spaghetti Sauce. Not to mention I was this close to running out of bread, of which I try to have at least 4 in the freezer at any one time.

2. Pick a squeal point. When it comes to holiday shopping, it's a fine line you have to walk between getting the best deal and losing the deal entirely. I found out the hard way when I watched a kitchen aid stand mixer go from 189 to 209 to 229 and finally (I thought) settling at 249. I know you are not supposed to chase a stock as it goes up, but let's be realistic here, if you were chasing a stock that was rising from 10 and you bought it at 15 and it stopped at 60 you'd still think you got a good deal. This is where a price log comes in handy (not that I would have thought to be tracking kitchen aid mixers) because no more than a week after I finally got my dream mixer the price went down again back to 229! It could just have easily not. What have I learned? You need to decide how much you are willing to pay and be willing to wait for it or not get the item at all. Tracking the price of an item only serves to heighten the fear and anxiety that maybe the item will not go down any further. Pick a squeal point, how much you are willing to pay and stick to it! Sometimes it hurts not to get the thing you really want, but sometimes the price tag stings just a bit more.

3. Price matching is your best friend! As I mentioned here, I managed to avoid nearly all the Black Friday Chaos by arming myself with everyone else's ads and walking into Walmart well after the door buster madness had thinned out. Turns out I could have done even better had I been paying attention and gone back out the day after Christmas,which I had made a point not to do. I discovered at MNTK that you can make even more money by using price adjustments. Definitely something to keep in mind next year.

Free HappyBites and Missing Rayovac

2008-12-21T12:04:00.000-08:00

Well I'm afraid we're running short on time, but I just thought I would pass this free coupon for Happy Bites Baby food here thanks to MSM. It expires 12-31-08 so if you plan to use it, better hurry!

According to their website you can find these at Super Target and King Soopers. I plan to pick one up this week and I'll let you know, Was it worth buying?

Also, looks like the word is out on the Rayovac Deal. I sent my husband to pick up another 4 packages (I've been buying groups of 6 or less so as not to raise any flags with my local Target) and the fully stocked section I have been visiting is now totally bare! A Target employee even went to my husband and asked him if he was looking for the "FREE batteries" and suggested they might have more on Monday. So if you are looking to stock up any more you may want to get the ones you need first since you may not have another chance.

A deal too good to pass up!

2008-12-11T13:27:00.001-08:00

It's been awhile since I last posted, the Christmas chaos has dramatically affected my ability to sit down and find the deals, let alone post them here. I did stumble upon an insane deal taking place at Target for Free Rayovac Batteries. Follow the link and it will take you to a PDF with an unlimited number of times you can print! I also took advantage of the Free Lumin Air Candles

Both of these deals come courtesy of one of my favorite bloggers
Money Saving Mom

I know this picture isn't as inspiring as many of those out there, but I just had to post it. I am working this Battery deal gradually so as not to become Target's Public Enemy #1 as I am at my local Walgreens.

Besides the two blanket sleepers which I got for $8 (instead of $9.99) and the snow had I got for $1 everything else in this picture is 100% FREE, well before tax that is. The batteries represent 2 separate trips, one for 6 packs and one where I bought 4.

Personally I think with all the electronic toys and gizmos out there and many more to come with the holidays, what better thing to stock up on than FREE batteries?

My First Black Friday

2008-11-28T19:46:00.000-08:00

Well I made it though my first ever Black Friday! I didn't get up for the door buster deals, and instead walked casually into Walmart at 9am armed only with a shopping list and everyone else's Black Friday ads.

What can I say about Walmart on Black Friday? Well I haven't been there during the Door Buster hours, but by 9am it was a typical Walmart day. Isles packed with carts but people there just as friendly and helpful as always. Not overly so, but nothing like the horror stories I usually hear about.

The store was only missing two items from my list and as for the rest of them, only three things were actually bought for Walmart's price, the rest I was able to price match from Target, Best Buy and Kmart!

All in all I think I did fairly well for not getting up that early and only spending two hours from the time I left to the time I got home.

Retail Price: $219.97
Price Paid: $130.99

Run run as fast as you can...

2008-11-28T00:21:00.000-08:00

Well it's 1am on Black Friday and already I can see how poor planning has cost me. I decided to hit the Kohls "door buster" deals online starting at 11pm MT. I picked out a King down alternative comforter for 24.99 (normally 119.99) and went about my shopping. By the time I got to check out (20 minutes later) my cart was conspicuously lighter and cheaper. Turns out my comforter got removed and rightfully so, since that particular item no longer existed!

Oh well live and learn I guess. In the end I bought 5 things ranging in retail price from 6.99 to 89.99 and after a 15% off coupon followed by a free shipping coupon, my total was only 65.01. Not as good as I'm sure some people will do later on today, but good enough for me sitting on my couch staying up only a little bit later than I normally would.

Now I get to go to bed not do the door buster deals and see how much I can take advantage of Walmart's price match policy (even on black Friday deals) at a reasonable time of day.

Wish me luck!

A Chance to get a free Magic Eraser!

2008-11-17T09:11:00.000-08:00

For those of you who remember my obsession with Mr Clean Magic Erasers you can go here to learn about how you can share your stories of using a Magic Eraser in your house and get your very own mini eraser! You can bet I'll be there too!

This story brought to you by MSM

The benefits of a stockpile

2008-11-03T09:46:00.000-08:00

In times like these when couponing for me becomes more second nature and I get by with no more than .80 for a box of name brand cereal, I like to remind myself why I work so hard to make that happen. Because let's face it if saving money this way was worth any measure of time and effort everyone would do it. Unlike many of you out there I have yet to have perfected any method for organization. I shop around an insane amount, tracking countless blogs and shopping sites and even *gasp* trying to come up with my own ideas at times. It's a lot of work, more than most sane people would spend and more than most of my fellow couponers will even consider spending.

Things are pretty tight this week and my grocery budget this week has gone from $100 to my personal savings or nothing. Normally I would be freaking out, but I look in my pantry and while I consider my stores to be lower than I like, I have 6 or more boxes of cereal (good because my kids insist on "combo" bowls with 2 or more kinds mixed in). It might seem that my milk stores are diminished but then I remember I have 2 more gallons waiting in the freezer if I can only time it right! And last but not least, I had a brief moment of fear when I saw how little paper towels were left on my counter, but I went into my storage and was overjoyed to see that I still have 2 and a half packages of paper towels and even more toilet paper! I can't even remember the last time I bought those.

Once again I have tangible proof of how good life can be, even when things are rough as long as you keep your stores up!

More Taco Bell Benefits!

2008-10-28T08:04:00.000-07:00

Looks like I know what I'm having today! Thanks to Money Saving Mom, I just found out that Taco Bell is giving away one free Taco from 2-6pm today Tues Oct 28th as a result of some base stealing during the World Series. Gotta love their promotions.

A brief stop in the kitchen.

2008-10-19T10:49:00.000-07:00

I have been talking with some people about the joy and ease of using crock pots and how to save money when you are providing dinner for your family. Many of us are so frazzled and flustered that the idea of a home cooked meal for your family is somewhat of a fantasy. Especially, in my case with way picky special needs kids, making dinner is not unlike working at a fast food diner.

A short time ago I came across these posts from Money Saving Mom and since they fit into my topic of conversation and suggestions I thought I would pass them along.

Here is a guest post she shared recently from a woman who has dedicated herself to making every dinner for an entire year cost no more than $5! Check it out and then go subscribe to her blog. Having a new idea every day is pretty cool in my book!

Here is a question asked by MSM taking a poll of how many of us use our crock pot. Check out the links she has. One of them is another 365 days of ideas, this time all surrounding the crock pot. Since I have been without a crockpot for so long and finally got a replacement, you can bet I'll be checking it out for ideas.

Another way to help our Military Families

2008-10-16T10:05:00.000-07:00

I know many of you send your expired coupons to Military Families, since apparently they are still good for them 6 months after expiration date. How cool is that? Imagine the waste generated from unused coupons from six duplicate copies of the Sunday paper (for example), and now we can send them to be used by someone who can use them, even if we can't!

But let's be honest, there are many of us out there who want to help but never seem to make it happen. Or maybe you have it totally together but wonder, what else can I do?

Well now there is a way to do more for those of you who want to do more, or the rest of us who are still trying to do something. I was scanning through my mountain of blogs and came across this from grocery coupon guide. It's a quiz site where you answer questions about grocery savings and coupon knowledge and for each right answer you get they donate coupons on your behalf!

Here's what the site states:

"About Coupon Quiz
Coupon Quiz is dedicated to giving grocery coupons to military families living overseas. These families have limited access to grocery coupons meaning they can't get discounts we take for granted. By taking the Coupon Quiz, you help provide grocery coupons to these families reducing their food bill."

You get 5 chances every day to answer questions. For each right answer you get .50 in coupons is donated giving you $2.50 to donate every day! And if you aren't sure about the answer you get to ask for a hint which takes you to a page with the information on it!

I've already donated $2.50 today and you can bet I will be back tomorrow!

WFMW (Wii like to be fit)

2008-10-08T09:22:00.000-07:00

Well after 3 months of wishing and an additional 6 months of searching our family has finally become proud owners of that elusive creature the Wii Fit. I swear it's one of the most wonderful "toys" we could have ever brought into our household. The Wii is, in general as well. We don't tend to go out and do things as a family, with our kids public adventures are just that...adventures, not merely a relaxing form of entertainment and as little time as Daddy has at home with us, we like to make the most of the time.

Enter the Wii (and now Wii fit). Only in the comfort of our living room can my 2 year old go bowling as well as my carpal tunnel suffering husband. For my racing obsessed 5 year old nothing beats Mario Kart...he doesn't even care if he loses the race he just enjoys falling off a cliff! And last but not least for my 9 year old who has to win at all costs even if it involves cheating (thus not too many board games played here) there is Mario Party 8...basically a board game you can't cheat on with interactive games every turn.

Now we have the Fit. Again, easy enough my 2 year old can do it...and does! Granted a 2'8 22 lb 2 year old comes up as Obese (I guess the system isn't designed to take into account "baby fat") so don't take it seriously for your kids. My balanced challenged 5 year old comes up with a Wii Fit Age of 33! But that alone is entertaining for the kids, nothing like a spot light coming on a # filling the screen and an animation accompanying it. In the case of my kids, it's the Mii looking like a frail old man/woman leaning over and holding their back.

But enough about that. The activities range from a variety of options under categories of Yoga, Strength, Aerobic and Balance games. I got this beause I didn't want to go to a Yoga or Pilates class, but now that I have it there are so many other things to do. Tight rope between two high rise buildings (Balance), hula hoop challenges (Aerobic and one of my personal favorites), a dance dance revolution style step aerobics (not as much fun as the real thing but still challenging nonetheless) and lets not forget hitting a soccer ball with your head, but watch out for the shoes! What could be more fun than having your family of Miis kick soccer balls, shoes or panda bear heads at you!

I haven't been at it for very long but already I feel my balance improving, I had no idea my posture was so bad. My kids are keeping at it and I even manged to get my husband to create a profile! It brings our family together and our kids beg to exercise! I have no doubt that with continued use the benefits of the Fit will far outweigh the cost.

But don't take my word for it. My local paper just did an article on a woman and her Fit right here. Be patient with the link at the end of the article . I don't think the site was prepared for the traffic they would get as a result of the articles popularity.

Want to see more WFMW, check out RocksInMyDryer

Buyer Beware! (Catilina Marketing Insider Info)

2008-09-26T11:00:00.000-07:00

So I had another botched trip to Walgreens yesterday. I read on MSM in the comments section that the belief that using coupons voids out RR (otherwise known as Catilinas) is false and that they will in fact work, so I decided to try an experiment. I was on my last day of one of my RR from the Robutussin deal and figured that I would add it to my $10 of other items and the Dimetapp deal and see what happens. Worst case I have 3 bottles of cough syrup for my kids (and who doesn't need that) for a whopping 9 bucks! Best case I have proven a theory and I can go on my merry shopping way with another piece of knowledge to use on the front line.

Well it didn't go so well. I went to a different Walgreens, because I didn't have time to hassle with the manager of my local one, who tends to be there whenever I go. The experience was much better and might be worth the extra few minutes. I bought exactly $10 worth of items plus 3 Dimetapp boxes, used my $10 RR, 3 of the printable Dimetapp $2/1 coupons, paid roughly $12 in cash and got...NO RR!! But I was prepared for this, as proven from countless other blogs and comments, arguing about a Catilina not printing out at the store is pointless, especially at Walgreens (more about why later) so I left without a word.

The next morning (because I missed the open hours for Catilina Marketing by 5 min!) I called and spoke to a very friendly guy in their customer service department. He checked my receipt information and to my surprise I was supposed to get the Catilina after all! But that information was not easy to come by for me or him. The reason? Walgreens has a "Weird" set of rules they use, different from any other store that uses these machines!

Turns out that Walgreens has what the guy called a "Buy none get none" there are no official specific over all rules but basically the guideline is this: "I want you to buy my product and I will pay you to do it, BUT I don't want you to use my coupons to do it". The problem with this policy is that it is inconsistent. For instance: You might think, for example that you can use a Kraft RR to buy a Kellogg's product that spits out another RR and vice versa, but in the case of my experiment it turns out that both Robitussin and Dimetapp are both Wyeth products and so (you'd think) should NOT spit out a RR using one to pay for the other, but as proven by my phone call, it does.

So what's a poor couponer to do? I talked to the customer service guy and he told me that not even they have a clear list of what RR items do and do not allow you to use a coupon, and BTW this is not limited to RR coupons, he gave me an example of the Crest Pro Health RR deal floating around out there. In their department they don't have an actual name or description of coupons allowed or not, but what they DO have is a UPC number and based on that they tell me that (if I understood correctly) while a RR should work, if you use the .75/1 Crest coupon it won't spit out a RR!

The following number (also in the MSM comments above) 1-888-322-3814 belongs to Catilina Marketing. Memorize this number people, put it in your contacts list, Rolodex whatever just make sure you don't lose it. This could be the most important piece of information you could ever have for running these Catalina deals at ANY store. While the guy was not able to tell me a base rule for knowing what things will and won't work with what coupons he did tell me that the best thing is to call the company ahead of time, tell them the deal you are looking at and they will tell you if it should work or not! How cool is that? No more botched Catilina deals, because there was a trick that nobody knew about.

I went ahead and asked the guy if he minded me passing along this information and he said there was no problem with it. So go ahead and call people...they've been forewarned.

Edit: Well I talked to MSM and she says that people have been getting the Crest deal to go through using the coupon...guess there still aren't any complete answers. I for one will still be calling ahead of time, at least that way I can still have an idea if I may run into some problems.

Saving money as an act of greed?

2008-09-24T15:55:00.000-07:00

So I was talking with someone today about couponing and working hard to find the best deals. She had a conversation with a person who in their line of work has to help people who get themselves into trouble trying so hard to find the "better deal" and getting swindled or just making bad decisions over all. I guess that gives her a unique prespective on something we all strive to accomplish and since I am nothing if not interested in other points of view (even if I don't agree) I thought I would take a minute to look at this.

IS there something wrong with using coupons to try to save a buck? I know that a number of the stores I go to seem to be rather pertubed with the fact that I walk in with coupons walk out with free stuff. Stores like CVS seem to have modifed their outrageous deals because they were being abused according to the higher ups. Walgreens has even gone one step further and prevented us from taking advantage of their $/$$ deals by requiring the total after coupons. And lets take a look at the vernacular we all use. Most every "savings" blog I visit talks about taking advantage of a deal every change they get.

Personally I see nothing wrong with using what some people might consider to be a loophole to get a better deal. After all, how many of us aren't willing to pick up 2 items for the price of NONE curtosy of the BOGO sale combined with a BOGO coupon. Let's be honest though...how many store managers, cashiers etc that actually care about their job and have an emotional connection to it, dont watch us walk out with free stuff without being frustrated, annoyed or in my case I'm pretty sure the manager at my local walgreens has my picture on a dart board in the back.

So what does that say about us? The couponers from far and wide robbing stores legally and bragging about it to the webverse? I have only been doing this for a little over 6 months and I am far from what I would call an expert, but I plan on getting better and every week I find another chance to "rob" another store. So I guess my question is...

How much is too much? IS going out of my way to get something for nothing (and in some cases making money) actually being greedy? Where is the line? Does anyone know?

I need your help fellow couponers! As someone who is a virtual toddler in the world of coupon mavens, what do you think? Is saving money akin to a form of greed? And if so, when is saving money a good thing?

There's no crying in couponing!

2008-09-24T13:33:00.000-07:00

Or guilt either for that matter.

I have been debating on writing this post after my not so overly successful last two trips to my local Walgreens. I think I will file this under the "What I have learned" section even though it is not in the same format.

I am far from a veteran couponer, having only done this for the last 6 months. I have, however had the benefit of coupons in two different states and many different locations of quite a few different stores, so I think I have seen just about everything at this point ~~with the exception of the fantasy land store that takes expired coupons~~ , and I can tell you one thing...

We are at war people!!!

Well not really, because honestly I have run into more coupon friendly cashiers than I have encountered the non coupon friendly ones. Sometimes, though you will walk into a store with a smile on your face and walk out with a frown, or maybe even on a really bad day you might just walk out close to tears. There are many places I have found that have tips on how to address a "bad" cashier on the technical aspects, what order to run your coupons to get the most out of them (because it really does matter in some places). I will provide a list of some of those places below.

I'm here today to talk to you about the emotional side of couponing. Most of the time you will walk into a store with your coupons and walk out with way more items than the cashier or fellow shoppers would ever expect. You will do this without a hassle from the cashier or at least (if need be) the manager will be accepting. Other times, however you will find yourself with that unenlightened frustrated poor soul who considers a loss for the store a personal attack. They are the same ones who will run after and tackle a shoplifter risking their safety when the store would rather keep their employee alive than a .75 cent pack of gum. I have encountered strong opposition at Target when I started in California and recently I am pretty sure I have become public enemy #1 at my local Walgreens. I even got some of the dreaded "These coupons are getting really out of control" This statement by the way after I tried to use their register rewards in a fairly straightforward deal with none of the usual extreme savings we're all used to.

But I digress...couponing is not for the faint of heart. You get looks, huffs, sighs, comments, and even the occasional refusal, often with the explanation that there is no way you can expect to get something for nothing, or even really really cheap. Stores get emotional, so you can't afford to join them! Steel yourself to expect the worst hassles on your shopping trip, but walk in with a smile, acknowledge the people who are eyeing you as soon as you set foot inside and even sometimes a little humility and self deprecating humor can smooth the way. They know you are planning to walk in with as little money as possible and to walk out with as much as you can, and so do you, so why hide it? No sense in looking suspicious.

But no matter what don't let them get to you. There's no crying in couponing ~~unless you want to cry over that deal you botched~~ and there shouldn't be any guilt either. The next time you get hassled for trying to save a few cents (and we all know those cents add up) remember that those pennies that people get so frustrated with you trying to keep are just as important to a big store or corporation as they are to you. Probably more so. Most of us take some of our abundance and donate it to others and those change jars aren't filled by cashiers, but ~~almost~~ no grocery store is going to let you walk out a few cents short so why shouldn't you protect those few cents when it's your money saved? Don't let anyone make you feel guilty, sad or ashamed for wanting to use the money you have to its best possible benefit to you.

Ok I'm stepping off my soap box now.

Here are some great places if you want help with Combating Cashier Confusion:

Walgreens 101
CVS 101
Making CVS Work
curtosy of Money Saving Mom

And before you decide that maybe it's not worth the aggravation, maybe you can get by without using coupons and "working" the stores...MKTK reminds us why stockpiling saves more than money.

Now it's your turn...does anyone have any venting stories or bad experiences they had that they handled with class and grace? Or not...Surely I can't be the only one with overly protective store employees. How did you handle a legitimate deal being rejected?

Silk Savings

2008-09-14T11:35:00.000-07:00

I have been asked by a reader to keep track of the Silk Soy Milk sales and deals, so here's what I have found so far...

Apparently on occasion there is a coupon from the Silk site that has pretty good coupons. Get there quick though because looks like there are a lot of Silk buyers and those coupons go fast! For those of you interested here is the link for setting up an email alert for yourself so that perhaps you can get the coupon before it runs out.

In the meantime TheCentsibleSawyer shared some good Walmart Deals, one of which is Silk Soy Milk for $2.98! Follow this link, scroll to the bottom and you can find a link for a $2/1 Silk Soy Milk coupon bringing a Silk purchase from Walmart down to .98 cents!

Of course if you don't want to go to Walmart, $2 off is a great deal wherever you go!

edit: King Soopers has Silk on sale for 2 for $5 at $2.50 each that's even better than the Walmart Price!

If you are one of those forced to pay a bunch for Silk, be sure to check in often. Whenever I find a deal on Silk I'll be sharing my discoveries with you!

More Free Chick-fil-A

2008-08-31T10:45:00.000-07:00

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?

2008-08-29T13:07:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-27T22:09:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-27T21:22:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-08-27T13:07:00.001-07:00

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)

2008-08-27T09:32:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-08-27T08:57:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-08-25T08:24:00.000-07:00

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?

2008-08-24T14:57:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-24T11:14:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-08-23T13:23:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-08-22T18:12:00.000-07:00

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?

2008-08-21T23:19:00.000-07:00

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?

2008-08-21T13:08:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-20T21:00:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-08-20T16:11:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-08-19T12:35:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-18T19:28:00.000-07:00

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)

2008-08-06T15:24:00.000-07:00

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"...

2008-08-05T12:32:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-08-02T08:19:00.000-07:00

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?

2008-08-01T15:39:00.000-07:00

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.

Leaving California...

2008-07-24T23:15:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry to say that my posting regarding the OC (Southern Calfornia) Albertsons is at an end. My family is moving to Colorado. Our house is being packed up next week and we will be driving out to Colorado that weekend. I will miss being able to share the Albertsons deals, as well as being able to play the Drug Store Game. Ahh CVS I hardly knew ye! Alas Colorado has no CVS's to speak of so I will be forced to learn the Walgreens Game along with so many others. I hear once you get the hang of it, its actually pretty good. Gone are the days of 7 different stores in a 5 mile radius, but I am looking forward to being back in the land of Super Walmart and Super Target! I can't tell you how many times I have gone looking for a deal listed only to find that my standard store doesn't even carry that item!

Stay tuned, as I hope to be back up and running by mid-August at the latest. School starts then and I may actually have some more time to put into this. Don't worry I will continue my work at being a more frugal person and I'm sure there will be many more lessons to learn along the way.

As for my contribution to the Grocery Game? I don't have a local Albertsons so I will have to see what, if any voice in the Colorado area for King Sooper, Super Target, Safeway or Walmart is needed. I'm sure I'll find something I can contribute eventually!

If anyone knows of something in the CO area that no one is talking about or sharing with people, feel free to let me know, I'm always open to new ideas. Until then, Thanks for dropping by, hope to see you all again real soon!

Albertsons deals week of 7/23-7/29

2008-07-24T19:23:00.000-07:00

I apologize for the lateness in this posting but a number of things caused for it to be delayed. This will also be my last Southern California Albertsons Posting see here. These are the deals I see can be made better with coupons for this week.

The following items are part of the General Mills deal. Buy 4 participating items and get $6 off instantly. Listed are items made better with coupons: Prices assume purchase of 4 items.

Yoplait Fiber One Yogurt 6 pk 4/$4
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 7-13 newspaper insert to get it FREE!

Yoplait Yo Plus Yogurt 4 pk 4/$4
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 6-1 newspaper insert to get it FREE!
Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks 4/$4
buy 2 and use .80/2 printable coupon found here to get them for .60 each!

Betty Crocker Hamburger Helper meals 4/$4
buy 3 and use the $1/3 printable coupon found here to get them for .67 each!

Betty Crocker Pop Secret Popcorn 4/$4
buy 2 and use the .50/2 coupon found in the 6-29 newspaper insert to get both .75 each!

Cheerios Snack Mix 4/$4
use the the .60/1 printable coupon found here to get it for .40 each!

Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Trix 4/$4
buy 2 and use the $1/2 coupon found in the 7-13 newspaper insert to get them for .50 each
for Trix use the .55/1 printable coupon found here to get one for .45.

Chex Mix (select varieties), Chex 100 Calorie Packs 4/$4
use the .50/1 coupon found in the 6-15 newspaper insert to get it for .50.

Green Giant Steamers 4/$4
buy 2 and use the .60/2 printable found here to get them both for .70 each!

Pillsbury Ready to Bake Cookie Dough 4/$4
buy 2 and use the $1/2 coupon found in the 7-13 newspaper insert to get them for .50 each!

The following are deals with coupons found inside the weekly flyer after Minimum $10 purchase:

Chicken of the Sea Tuna (various types) .69 each (limit 4)

Fresh Blueberries 11 oz package .99 each (limit 1)

Hillshire Farms Deli Select Lunchmeat .99 each (limit 4)
use .55/1 coupon found in the 6-22 newspaper insert to get one for .44!

Nabisco Oreo Cookies $1.99 each (limit 4)

Nestle Fun Size Candy $1.99 each (limit 4)

Pepsi, Diet Pepsi or Mountain Dew 12 pk buy 5 and get them for $2.40 each!

Here are the rest of the deals:

Wild Harvest Organic Large Brown Eggs $3.99
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 5-11 newspaper insert to get it for $2.99.

Wild Harvest Organic Milk $5.99 each
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 5-11 newspaper insert to get it for $4.99.

Ball Park Meat or Turkey Franks $2 each
buy 2 and use the $1/2 coupon found in the 7-27 newspaper insert to get them for $1.50 each!

Lloyds BBQ Meats $3.99 each
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 6-29 newspaper insert to get it for $2.99.

Betty Crocker Suddenly Salad $1 each
use the .40/1 printable coupon found here to get it for .60.

Barilla Pasta $1.25 each
buy 2 and use the .50/2 coupon found in the 6-15 newspaper insert to get them for $1 each!

Jello Pudding Singles $2 each
use the .50/1 coupon found in the 6-8 newspaper insert to get it for $1.50.

Powerade Sports Drink .80 each
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 7-13 newspaper insert to get it FREE!
Listerine Antiseptic Mouthwash $3.99 each
use the .50/1 coupon found in the 4-27 newspaper insert to get it for $3.49.

Tums Antacid $3.67 each
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 6-29 newspaper to get it for $2.67.

Schick Intuition Razor is $8.99 each
use the $4/1 coupon found in the 6-29 newspaper insert to get it for $4.99.

GUM Toothbrush $2.50
use the .75/1 coupon found in the 6-29 newspaper insert to get it for $1.75.

Johnson and Johnson Band Aid Bandages $1.99
use the 41/1 coupon found in the 6-22 newspaper insert to get it for .99.

Kotex Pads $2.50 each
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 7-20 newspaper insert to get it for $1.50.

Loreal Natural Match Hair Color $7.99
use the $5/1 coupon found in the 6-29 newspaper insert to get it for $2.99!

Garnier Fructis Hair Care $3 each
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 6-22 newspaper insert to get it for $2.

Maybelline Great Lash Mascara $3.99 each
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 4-27 newspaper insert to get it for $2.99.

Shout Stain Remover is $1.99 each
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 7-13 newspaper insert to get it for .99.

Windex Glass Cleaner $1.99 each
use the .75/1 coupon found in the 7-20 newspaper insert to get it for $1.24.

Glade Glass Candle Jar $2
us the $1/1 coupon found in the 7-20 newspaper insert to get it for $1.

Purina Tidy Cat Scoop Cat Litter $6.99 each
use the $1/1 coupon to get it for $5.99.

Albertsons deals week of 7/16-7/22

2008-07-16T18:47:00.000-07:00

Buy $25 of participating products in one transaction and get an $8 coupon for your next order.

Hersheys Snack Size Candy $2

Keebler Fudge Shoppe Cookies $2.49

Keebler Club Crackers $2.75
buy 2 and use the $1/2 coupon found in the 6-1 newspaper insert to get them for $2.25 each!

Kelloggs Cereal (Frosted Mini Wheats, Frosted Flakes or Corn Pops) is $5.99 BOGO

Kelloggs Special K Bars $2.50

Kleenex Tissue $1.50

Cottenelle Bath Tissue $6.50
use the .50/1 coupon found here

Viva Paper Towels $6.50
use .50/1 coupon found here

Twizzlers $1.33

Tyson Cooked Chicken Strips $3.50

Tyson Meal Entrees $5.99

The following are sale items made better with coupons

Loreal Excellence Hair Color $6.99
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 6-1 newspaper insert

Pantene Pro V Hair Care $4
buy 2 and use the $2/2 coupon found in the 7-6 newspaper insert to get them for $2 each

Gillette Shampoo $4.50
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 7-13 newspaper insert

Nivea for Men Shower Gel $3.99
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 6-8 newspaper insert

Gold Bond Ultimate Lotion $4.50
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 6-29 newspaper insert

Oral B Floss $1.50
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 6-1 newspaper insert

Crest Toothpaste $1.50
use the .50/1 coupon found in the 7-6 newspaper insert

Dove Deoderant $3.50
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 6-8 newspaper insert

Suave Deoderant $2
buy 2 and use the $1/2 coupon found in the 7-13 newspaper insert to get them for $1.50 each!

Gillette Sensor 3 or Daisy 3 Disposable Razors $5.49
buy 2 and use the $5.49/2 coupon in the 7-6 newspaper insert to get them for $2.75 each!

Easy Off Bam Cleaner $2.99
use the .50/1 coupon found in the 6-1 newspaper insert

Wisk Liquid Laundry Detergent $3.99
buy 2 and use the $1.50/2 coupon in the 7-13 newspaper insert to get them for $3.24 each!

Wild Harvest Organic Milk $3
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 5-11 newspaper insert

Dannon Activia Yogurt $2.50
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 6-22 newspaper insert

Tropicana Coastal Groves Lemonade $2.50
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 6-8 newspaper insert

Ensure Complete Nutrition Drink $6.99
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 7-13 newspaper insert

Pampers Underjams $9.99
use the $2/1 coupon found in the 7-6 newspaper insert

Hillshire Farms Deli Select Lunchmeat $3.99
use the .55/1 coupon found in the 6-22 newspaper insert

Hillshire Farms Smoke Sausage $3
use the .35/1 coupon found in the 6-22 newspaper insert

Powerade Sports Drink .79
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 6-8 newspaper insert to get it FREE!

Quaker Chewy Granola Bars or Bites is BOGO
buy 2 and use the $1/2 coupon found in the 6-22 newspaper insert to save even more!

SoyJoy Nutrition Bars $1
buy 3 and use the $1/3 coupon found in the 5-11 newspaper insert to get them for .67 each!

Wild Harvest Natural Cereal $2.99
use the $1/1 coupon in the 5-11 newspaper insert

Wild Harvest Organic Microwave Popcorn $2
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 5-11 newspaper insert

Pedigree Canned Dog Food is 10/$10
buy 10 and use .75/10 coupon to get them for .93 each

Summer Marathon Savings (what I have learned)

2008-07-15T18:30:00.000-07:00

Well I got inspired by the Safeway (or in my case Vons and Pavilions) Summer Savings Marathon (thanks MMM) and I decided to give it a shot. I spent a ton of time researching products and matching up coupons, made my list and headed off to the store with all three kids in tow.

In my first trip I bought:

2 4 pks of Tava Sparkling Beverage
2 bags of Chex Mix (dark chocolate and turtle)
2 Boxes of Cheez-Its
2 Boxes Jolly Time Popcorn (100 calorie and Kettle corn)
4 Planters Peanuts used 4 $3/1 coupons
12 Kool-Aid packets .25 each
1 box Kelloggs Poptarts and 3 boxes Frosted Mini Wheats
2 6pk 20 oz bottles of Diet Coke
1 Viva Paper Towels and 1 Cottenelle Toilet Paper
4 Kleenex Tissues
1 Chinet Plates
1 Chinet Bowls

Total before coupons:$74.93
after coupons 42.42
I received a $10 savings award.

Here is what I learned on this trip:

Check, check, double and TRIPLE check! Apparently making a detailed list and matching coupons and repeatedly counting the items in my cart wasn't enough. After checking out I only got $10. I assumed the error was on their end, because this particular Vons was woefully unprepared for this promotion. I had to ask no less than 3 separate people where the summer savings brochure/coupon booklet was. Ultimately I had to show them the picture in their weekly flyer and even then there was only one available. No one was aware of any master list and my poor checker was eventually asked to go down the isles matching each item n the list. The first item? Tava, which I know from my fellow bloggers is on the list. So that was the end of that, if I couldn't convince them that items I knew were on the list were there, nor could I even convince them there was a list, it was time to go home. I was frustrated, but still polite and once they tried to remove an item I knew was valid, I told her nicely that I would take it up with corporate and would no longer take up any of her time. I went home and called 1877-SAFEWAY, can you believe they didn't have a master list either? They told me that the computer handles it all automatically and the stores have no list or need for a list (and yet somehow items get left off) but they told me they would check in on it and get back to me. Meanwhile I rechecked again all my items off the master list and found that yes, every one f them matched. The corporate office called back with a number to talk to about the savings marathon (which I now pass onto you all), I thanked them and while I prepared to call that number I confirmed fully that I had purchased the required items and required number of items. And it was during this last count of the items spread out neatly to photograph for the blog, that I had the disheartening realization that while every item was on the list, I was in fact missing one of them. I have no idea how I managed to lose track but in the end it was a $10 mistake. Live and learn.

For those who are interested in the contact information I have it below. I'm sure we will all be running into further issues with this marathon, I had yet another issue the next trip I made to a Pavilions this time, I joked to my husband that the reason it's called a marathon is because by the time you finally GET the coupon and get out of the store you feel like you ran a marathon! Here is the #1-888-826-8766

Albertsons deals week of 7/9-7/15

2008-07-09T19:59:00.000-07:00

Buy any 10 participating General Mills Products in a single transaction and get 2 free movie tickets.

The following items are all on sale for $2 each:

Betty Crocker Brownie Mix is $2 each.
buy 2 and use the .75/2 coupon found in the 6-29 newspaper insert to get them for $1.63 each

Betty Crocker Helpers is $2 each.
buy 3 and use .75/3 coupon found in the 6-8 newspaper insert to get them for $1.75 each

Betty Crocker Warm Delights is $2
use the .55/1 printable coupon found here to get it for $1.45 (often you can go back and reprint the coupon up to 3 or more times)

Honey Nut Cheerios, Cocoa Puffs and Trix cereal is $2
buy 2 and use the $1/2 coupon found in the 6-8 newspaper insert to get them for $1.50 each

Chex Mix is $2
use the .50/1 coupon found in the 6-15 newspaper insert to get it for $1.50

Curves Granola Bars is $2
use the .75/1 printable coupon found here to get it for $1.25
Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks are $2
buy 2 and use the .80/2 printable coupon found here to get them for $1.20 each

Nature Valley Granola Bars is $2
use the .60/1 printable coupon found here to get it for $1.40
Yoplait YoPlus Yogurt $2
use the $1/1 printable coupon found here to get it for $1
The following items are on sale for $2.50:

Pillsbury Toaster Strudel is $2.50
buy 2 and use the $1/2 printable coupon found here to get them for $2 each

Cheerios Snack Mix is $2.50
use the .60/1 printable coupon found here to get it for $1.90
Yoplait Go-Gurt is $2.50
buy 2 and use the $1/2 printable coupon found here to get them for $2 each
And now the rest:

Advil Pain Reliever is $6.99
use the $2/1 coupon found in the 6-8 newspaper insert to get it for $4.99

Purina Alpo Canned Dog Food is $1
buy 4 and use the $1/4 coupon found in the 6-22 newspaper insert to get them for .75 each

Purina Friskies Dry Cat Food is $3.99
buy 2 and use the $1.50/2 found in the 4-27 newspaper insert to get them for $3.24 each

Purina Fancy Feast Elegant Medleys canned Cat Food is $.75
buy 6 and use the $1.6 coupon found in the 6-29 newspaper insert to get them for .58 each

All Liquid Detergent is $3.50
buy 2 and use the $1/2 coupon to get both for $3 each

Colgate Total Advantage Toothpaste is $3
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 6-29 newspaper insert to get it for $2

Excedrin Pain Reliever is $5.99
use the $2/1 coupon found in the 6-8 newspaper insert to get it fr $3.99

Suave Shampoo and Conditioner is $1.66
buy 2 and use the $1/2 coupon found in the 5-18 newspaper insert to get both for $1.16 each

Schick Disposable Razors are $5
use the $2/1 coupon found in the 6-22 newspaper insert to get it for $3

Kotex Maxi Pads are $2.50
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 6-8 newspaper insert

Huggies Baby Wipes refills are $8.99
use the .50/1 coupon found in the 6-22 newspaper insert to get it for $8.49

Lipton Iced Tea Mix is $4.99
buy 2 and use the $1/2 coupon found in the 5-18 newspaper insert to get them for $4.49 each

Pepsi, Diet Pepsi and Sierra Mist 24 pk is 2/$8 (must buy 2)
no coupons here but a great deal nonetheless

Powerade or Powerade Zero buy 10/$10 to get 5 free
use the .75/1 coupon found in the 6-8 newspaper insert to get one of them for .25

Ragu Pasta Sauce is $1.69
buy 2 and use the $1/2 coupon found in the 5-18 newspaper insert to get them for $1.19 each

Ragu Pasta Sauce Pouch is $1.69
buy 2 and use the $1/2 coupon found in the 5-18 newspaper insert to get them for $1.19 each

Sunshine Cheez-It Crackers are $2.49
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 6-1 newspaper insert to get it for $1.49 each

Tostitos Chips is $2.99
use the .55/1 coupon found in the 6-8 newspaper insert to get it for $2.44

Fresh Express Salad Blends is $2.50
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 6-1 newspaper insert to get it for $1.50

Wild Harvest Natural Cranberry Juice is $3.99
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 5-11 newspaper insert to get it for $2.99

Wild Harvest Organic Canned Beans is $1.25
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 5-11 newspaper insert to get it for .25

Wild Harvest Organic Cheddar Mac & Cheese is $1.50
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 5-11 newspaper insert to get it for .50

Wild Harvest Organic Ketchup is $.250 use the $1/1 coupon found in the 5-11 newspaper insert to get it for $1.50
Wild Harvest Organic Pasta is $1.50
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 5-11 newspaper insert to get it for .50

Wild Harvest Organic Salad Dressing is $2.50
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 5-11 newspaper insert to get it for $1.50

Wild Harvest Organic Salsa is $2.50
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 5-11 newspaper insert to get it for $1.50

Wild Harvest Organic Applesauce Cups are $2.99
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 5-11 newspaper insert to get it for

What I Have Learned. (The Stockpile)

2008-07-08T18:14:00.000-07:00

Normally this post goes out on a Sunday, but I'm running a bit behind. It's been a couple weeks and as promised in the cautionary tale that is my struggle to save money with all the rest of you out there, I have some more things to share that I have learned along the way.

This collection doesn't really have a topic that ties them together, if it did I suppose it would be "The Perils of Stocking up too well" So we'll go with that one. We'll start with the inns and outs that I have found.

1. Stocking up on milk is not as easy as it sounds. With the rising milk prices it's no wonder that people want to stock up on milk. Freezing milk is one of the first things I heard of on a frugal tips website for how to save money on groceries. For my family I have 2 (now 3) big cereal eaters. We're talking 3 or more bowls. Even with significant rationing measures put in place I go through a gallon of regular milk (1% or 2%) and one of whole milk (just for my daughter).

The stores that have the "buy 2 gallons and get them both for so much cheaper than a single gallon alone" ads don't allow for a household that buys 2 gallons of milk but only buys 1 gallon of each, so when a deal comes along (for instance 2 1/2 gallons for 3 dollars with no limit) I stock up like crazy and even pick up rain checks if they don't have enough to accommodate my purchasing desires.

When you freeze milk it will expand so pour out about 4 oz (I used a baby bottle) before you put it in the freezer. Make sure you have no less than 3 days worth of milk defrosted when you get your next bottle out of the freezer or you will end up with either no milk or icicles within your milk. Just like everything else, partially defrosted liquid is very strong and if you use what isn't frozen what you will end up with when you finally defrost the rest is something we like to call at my house "milk water" not tasty. Also you want to watch your defrosted milk carefully. I have run into one of my bottles of whole milk curdling before even a week was up. Believe me if you can get a really good deal freezing your milk is a great idea, but it does require some forethought.

2. Printer ink is expensive and coupons use a lot of it. I mentioned before here that it's very important to think through your coupon printing needs, but as I have now gone through 2 color cartridges in the 3 months since I have started using them, it bears repeating. Only print out the coupons you know you will actually use. Save all PDFs until you plan to use them if you are unsure. Try to make a note of 'bricks" or other straight to your printer IPs (internet printable coupons) and check them against sales you plan to take advantage of. If you know u will use the coupon sale or no sale by all means print it, but if you are unsure don't waste the ink. Make a note (maybe notepad or word doc) of the link and save it until you are going to use it. I guess there is a possibility it could run out if there is a limit but the chances of that are less likely than those of you printing a "maybe" coupon and never using it or having it expire before you get the chance. IPs are very colorful and they don't have to be. Modify your printer settings so that it only prints in black and white or grayscale. This way your color lasts longer, of course your black will run out faster than normal but at least this way your ink should remain balanced. Set aside a portion of your coupon savings to accommodate your ink and paper cost, and be sure to compare prices. I found two cartridges of both color and black ink for less than the price of 1 combo pack at the manufacture website here They recycle cartridges and you earn points for each empty one you turn into them, which can then be turned into credits to buy more. Not a bad deal.

If you, like me tend to use IPs a lot then check out this post about how to handle uninformed or difficult cashiers here thanks MKTK.

On the flip side my last piece of learned advice...

3. Gas and Milk, never go below a 1/4 of a tank/bottle. On that note, never allow any required staple to run down to empty. My kids are huge cereal eaters (as mentioned above) and due to a number of circumstances I allowed the last of our milk to be used up after breakfast this morning. Not a huge deal, but one that needed to be fixed before the next morning. I checked the deals at all the grocery stores and the only one that looked to be worth it was 2 gallons at 6.19 (a full .50 up from the usual buy 2 get them for so much less deals from every other week). I bit the bullet and paid the 6.19 for the milk and a few other things, got home, found the weekly flyers and discovered that if I had just waited a single day, there is a 2 gallons of milk for 3.19 starting tomorrow! Yet another lesson learned. Don't get stuck paying any price for something you need, always leave yourself a buffer to seek out the best deal.

Stay tuned, the more I do this the more I learn what not to do and I pass that information along to you dear readers!

Albertsons deals week of 7/2-7/8

2008-07-02T19:43:00.000-07:00

The following are deals available after a minimum $10 purchase with in store coupon:

Coke, Pepsi, 7up are $1.99 each (limit 3) after minimum $10 purchase
use the store coupon in the weekly flyer

Doritos or Lays chips $1.69 each (limit 3) after minimum $10 purchase
use the store coupon in the weekly flyer

Fresh Seedless Watermelon $2.99 each (limit 1) after minimum $10 purchase
use the store coupon in the weekly flyer

Gatorade Thirst Quencher 8 pk $4.00 each (limit 2) after minimum $10 purchase
use the store coupon in the weekly flyer

Hershey's Candy Bars 6 pk is $2.00 each (limit 2) after $10 minimum purchase
us the store coupon in the weekly flyer

Hillshire Farm Smoked Sausage of Kielbasa is $1.99 each (limit 3) after $10 minimum purchase
use the store coupon in the weekly flyer
use the .35/1 coupon found in the 6-22 weekly insert to get one of them .35 cheaper!

These are the rest of the deals:

Fresh Express Green and Crisp Salad Mix is on sale for $2.00
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 6-1 newspaper insert

McCormick Grill Mates Seasoning is on sale for $1.25
use the .25/1 coupon found in the 5-4 newspaper insert

A1 Steak Sauce is on sale for $3.99
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 6-15 newspaper insert

Chef Boyardee Canned Pasta is on sale for 10/$10
buy 3 and use the .35/3 found in the 5-18 newspaper insert to get them for .88 each

Bertolli Pasta Sauce 26 oz is on sale 2/$5
buy 2 and use the $1.50/2 coupon to get both for $1.75 each

Wish Bone Bountifuls Dressing is on sale for $1.66
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 6-29 newspaper insert

Wish Bone Spritzer 7 oz or Dressing 16 oz is on sale for $1.66 each
buy 2 and use the $1/2 coupon found in the 6-29 newspaper insert to get them for $1.16 each

Sargento Natural Sliced Cheese is 2/$6
buy 2 and use the $1/2 coupon in the 6-22 newspaper insert to get them for $2.50 each

Hebrew National Franks is on sale for $3.00
use the .75/1 coupon found in the 6-22 newspaper insert

Oscar Mayer Beef Franks, Cheese Dogs or Fast Franks is on sale for $2.00
buy 2 and use the $1/2 coupon to get them for $2.00 each

Land O Frost Premium Lunchmeat is on sale for $3.99
use the .55/1 coupon found in the 5-11 newspaper insert

Gas X Extra Strength Antigas is on sale for $3.79
use the $1.50/1 coupon found in the 5-4 newspaper insert

Bic Soleil Razor is on sale for $4.29
use the $2/1 coupon found in the 6-1 newspaper insert

Boost Nutritional Energy Drink is on sale for $6.99
buy 2 and use the $2/2 coupon found in the 6-1 newspaper insert to get them for $5.99 each

Chinet Plates or Platters are on sale for $2.50
use the .75/1 found in the 6-29 newspaper insert

Reynolds Wrap Aluminum Foil is on sale for $3.00
use the .75/1 coupon found in the 5-18 newspaper insert

Angel Soft Bath Tissue is on sale for $5.50 each
use the .50/1 coupon found in the 5-18 newspaper insert

Sparkle Paper Towels 8 ct is on sale for $5.50
use the .50/1 coupon found in the 5-18 newspaper insert

Dove Body Wash is on sale for $5.99
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 6-8 newspaper insert

Loreal Vive Hair Care is B1G1
buy 2 and use a $1/2 coupon found in the 6-8 newspaper insert to save even more!

General Mills Cereals - selected varieties are 2/$4
use the $1/2 coupon found in the 6-29 newspaper insert

Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks are 3/$4.98
buy and use the .50/2 coupon found in the 5-4 newspaper insert to get them for $1.75 each

Lipton Tea to Go is B1G1
buy 2 and use the $1/2 coupon to save even more!

Neosporin Antibiotic Ointment is on sale for $3.50
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 5-18 newspaper insert

Nestle Juicy Juice 64 oz is on sale for $2.50
use the .75/1 coupon found in the 4-27 newspaper insert

Nestle Nesquik Flavored Milk 16 oz is on sale for $1.25
use the .50/1 coupon found in the newspaper insert

Tropicana Premium Orange Juice is on sale 2/$6
buy 2 and use the $1/2 coupon found in the newspaper insert to get them for $2.50 each

Mission Tortilla Chips is on sale for $2.99
use the .75/1 coupon found in the 4-20 newspaper insert

Tostitos Family Size is on sale for $3.49
use the .55/1 coupon found in the 6-8 newspaper insert

Pepperidge Farm Cookies is B1G1
use the .50/2 coupon found in the 6-8 newspaper insert to save even more!

Wolfgang Puck Pizza is on sale for $5.50
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 4-20 newspaper insert

Kraft South Beach Diet Wraps are on sale for $3.99
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 6-1 newspaper insert

Albertsons deals week of 6/25-7/1

2008-06-25T19:21:00.000-07:00

The following are all part of the buy $25 in P & G Beauty Care Products and get a coupon for $5 off your next Sun Care Purchase:

Crest Renewal Whitestrips is on sale for $29.99
use the $5/1 coupon found in the 6/1 newspaper insert to get it for $24.99

Gillette Fusion Razor is on sale for $9.99
use the $4/1 coupon found in the 6-1 newspaper insert to get one for $5.99

Gillette Venus Razor is on sale for $9.99
use the $2/1 coupon found in the 6-1 newspaper insert

Old Spice Body Wash is on sale for $5.50
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 6-1 newspaper insert

Head & Shoulders Hair Care is on sale for $4.50
buy 2 and use the $4.50/2 coupon to get them at $2.25 each

Secret Flawless Anti Perspirant is on sale for $4.00
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 6-1 newspaper insert

Lots of Baby deals as well:

Gerber Pasta Pickups are 10/$10

Gerber 2nd Foods Baby Food 2pks are 10/$10

Pampers Cruisers or Baby Dry Big Pack Diapers are on sale $19.99
buy 2 of them and use the $2/2 coupon in the 6-1 newspaper insert to get them for $18.99 each

Pampers Cruisers or Swaddlers Mega Packs are on sale for $15.49
buy 2 of them and use the $2/2 coupon in the 6-1 newspaper insert to get them for $14.49 each

Pampers Kandoo Body Wash or Hand Soap is on sale for $2.50
buy 2 of them and use the $2/2 coupon in the 6-1 newspaper insert to get them for $1.50 each

Pampers Wipes, Swipers or Clean n Go Refills are on sale for $5.99
buy 2 of them and use the $2/2 coupon in the 6-1 newspaper insert to get them for $4.99 each

Johnsons Baby Care Products are discounted 25%
use the $1/1 printable coupon found here Thanks MSM!
or use the $1/1 coupon found in the 4-27 newspaper insert

Similac Infant Formula 24.7 oz powder is on sale for $23.99
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 5-11 newspaper insert

Similac Infant Formula 32 oz is on sale for $5.99
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 5-11 newspaper insert

Huggies Baby Wipes are on sale for $2.50
use the .50/1 coupon found in the 6-22 newspaper insert

Huggies Diapers 54-104 ct are on sale for $19.99
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 6-22 newspaper insert

Huggies Diapers Jumbo Back is on sale for $9.99
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 6-22 newspaper insert

Now here are the rest:

Shedds Country Crock Spread is on sale for $2.79
buy 2 and use the $1/2 coupon found in the 5-18 newspaper insert to get them for $2.29 each

Daisy Sour Cream 16 oz is on sale for $.99
use the .50/1 coupon to get it for .49

Foster Farms Split Chicken Breasts are BOGO

White Castle Burgers 6 ct are on sale for $3.00
use the .50/1 coupon found in the 5-4 newspaper insert

DiGiorno Pizzas are on sale for $3.75
use the $1/1 ultimate variety coupon found in the 5-18 newspaper insert

California Pizza Kitchen Pizzas are on sale for $3.75
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 6-1 newspaper insert

Dove Miniatures Ice Cream Bars are on sale for $3.00
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 5-4 newspaper insert

Albertsons Novelties (Ice Cream) is BOGO aprox $2 each

Whole Fruit Sorbet is on sale for $2.50
use the .75/1 coupon found in the 6-8 newspaper insert

Fruit a Freeze Ice Cream Bars are on sale for $2.50
use the 75/1 coupon found in the 6-8 newspaper insert

Edwards Pie Slice is on sale for $2.00
use the .75/1 coupon found in the 5-11 newspaper insert

Aquafresh Toothpaste is on sale for $2.00
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 5-4 newspaper insert

Aquafresh Direct Toothbrushes 2 ct are on sale for $2.00
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 5-4 newspaper insert

BullFrog Sunblock is on sale for $5.99
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 5-18 newspaper insert

Aveeno Sunblock is discounted 25%
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 5-18 newspaper insert

Ban Invisible Solid Antisperpirant/Deoderant is on sale for $2.79
use the .75/1 coupon found in the 4-20 newspaper insert

Garnier Nutioniste Skin Renew Facial Care is on sale for $11.99
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 4-20 newspaper insert

SunSilk Shampoo or Conditioner 12oz or Styling Aids are on sale for $2.99
use the $1.50/1 coupon found in the 5-18 newspaper insert

Maybelline Mascara is discounted 30%
use the $1/1 coupon to save even more!

Shick Quattro Razor is on sale for $8.99
use the $2/1 coupon found in the 6-8 newspaper insert

Tums are on sale for $3.50
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 5-18 newspaper insert

Sundown Vitamins or Supplements are BOGO
buy 2 and use the $2/2 coupon found in the 5-18 newspaper insert to get them for $4 each

Band Aid Adhesive Bandages are on sale for $2.50
use the .50/1 coupon found in the 4-27 newspaper insert

Purex Liquid Laundry Detergent is on sale for $7.99
use the .50/1 coupon found in the 5-18 newspaper insert

Barilla Pasta is on sale for $1.25
buy 2 and use the .50/2 coupon found in the 6-15 newspaper insert to get them for $1 each

General Mills Cereal Select Varieties are on sale for $2.50
buy 2 and use the $1/2 coupon found in the 6-8 newspaper insert to get them for $2 each

Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks $2.50
buy 2 and use the .50/2 coupon found in the 6-15 newspaper insert to get them for $2.25 each

Weber Seasonings are on sale for $2.50
use the .50/1 coupon found in the 5-18 newspaper insert

Hefty Foam Plates are on sale for $2.00
use the .50/1 coupon found in the 5-18 newspaper insert

Fresh Express Salad Blends are on sale for $2.50
use the .75/1 coupon found in the 6-1 newspaper insert

Kens Lite Accents Dressing Spritzer is on sale for $1.33
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 5-4 newspaper insert exp 6-30

Kens Salad Dressing is on sale for $1.33
buy 2 and use the $1/2 coupon found in the 5-4 newspaper insert exp 6-30

Kraft Salad Dressing is on sale for $2.00
use .75/2 coupon found in the 6-15 newspaper insert

Litehouse Organic Dressing is on sale for $3.00
buy 2 and use the $1/2 coupon found in the 6-1 newspaper insert to get them for $2.50 each

Frenchs Mustard is on sale for $1.00
use the .30/1 coupon found in the newspaper insert

Hersheys Bliss Chocolate Candy is 2/$6
use the BOGO coupon found in the 5-4 newspaper insert to get both for $3

M&Ms Dark Chocolate Candies are on sale for $2.00
buy 2 and use the $1.50/2 coupon in the 6-1 newspaper insert to get them for $1.25 each

Keebler Club Crackers are on sale for $2.99
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 6-1 newspaper insert

7Up or Sunkist Drinks 12 pks are on sale for $3.00 each.
normally I don't report non coupon deals, but when 12 pks are $3 or less it's worth it alone!

Boost Nutrional Energy Drink 6 pks are on sale for $6.99
buy 2 and use the $2/2 coupon found in the 6-1 newspaper insert to get them for $5.99 each

Buy 10 32 oz bottles of Powerade or Powerade Zero and get 1 Dasani 24 pk of water FREE
use coupon found in the weekly flyer

Arrowhead Mountain Spring Water 24 pk or 12 pk are on sale for $3.99
use the .75/1 coupon found in the 5-18 newspaper insert

Nestle Juicy Juice 100% Juice 8pk is on sale for $2.50
use the .75/1 coupon found in the 4-27 newspaper insert

Duracell Batteries AA or AAA 4 ct, C or D 2 ct and 9V 1 ct are on sale for $3.00
use the .75/1 coupon found in the 5-18 newspaper insert

Grocery Goodies for the week!

2008-06-21T14:17:00.001-07:00

Ralphs:
over two trips due to the absence of pullups the first time.

2 Private Selection Ice creams @ $1 each
2 Ralphs Sliced Cheese (Swiss) @ $2 each
1 Ralphs Pretzeles (part of a Bartles and James Salty/Drinks coupon deal) @ .99
Green Grapes @ .79/lb (2.85lbs)
Value Bundled Bananas @ .29/lb (1.81 lbs)

Total Spent 1st Trip= $9.76
Total Saved = $12.23! (no coupons used)

Trip #2:

3 Jumbo Packages of Huggies Pullups @ 9.99 each. Used 2 shortcuts loadable $2/1 coupons, 1 $1.50/1 coupon from their potty training DVD (doubled to an additional $1), 1 $1/1 Huggies Diaper (doubled to an additional $1). I should have gotten another $2/1 shortcut coupon but it didn't go through for some reason.

Total Spent 2nd Trip = $23.64
Total Saved = $14.50! That's even better than the previous $7.99 sales at CVS!

Stater Bros:

2 24pks Pepsi and Diet Pepsi (not shown) @ 2/$11 used store $2/2 coupon made it 2/$9
5 Guerrero Tortillas 12 ct @ $1 each
2 Honey Bunches of Oats Family Size @ 2/$5 used store $1/2 coupon made it 2/$4
2 Cheetos and Fritos bags (1 ea) @ 2/$3 used store $1/2 coupon made it 2/$2

In their Buy 10 items get $5 off deal I bought:

2 Pillsbury Grand Biscuits @ 2/$4 used .30/2 printable coupon made it 2/$3.70
2 Betty Crocker Brownie Mix @ 2/$4 used 2 .40/2 printable coupons made it 2/$3.20
2 Yoplait Yo-Plus 2/$4 used 1 $1/1 coupon found in recent insert made it 2/$3
2 Honey Nut Cheerios @ 2/$4 used 2 .65/2 printable coupons made it 2/$2.70
2 Green Giant Corn Nibblets @ 1.99 each used .60/2 printable coupon made it 2/$3.38

Total Spent = $34.42
Total Saved = $40.91!

Albertsons:

4 Lean Cuisine @ $2 each used rain checks to get this price & 2 $1/2 printable coupons to get them all for $6!
Nectarines @ 1.49/lb (2.67 lbs)
Plum @ 1.49/lb (1.94 lbs)

Total Spent = $12.87
Total Saved = $10.61

CVS:

Skippy Peanut Butter @ $3.29 (I was out)
Hershey's Sweet & Salty @ $2 (used as filler for ECB)

Total = $5.29
Used a 5 ECB
Total Spent .= .29!

Pavilions:

3 Hot House English Cucumbers @ $1 each
3 1lb bag of peeled baby carrots @ $1 each
2 lb package of strawberries @ 3.99 each
Safeway French Bread @ 1.89 each
1 Safeway brand Parmesan Cheese Canister @ 4.49

Total Spent = $16.37
Total Saved = $9.24

Total over all spent = $97.35
Total over all saved = $92.49!

Albertsons deals week of 6/18-6/24

2008-06-18T19:40:00.000-07:00

Not the best deals this week but here are some that can be made better with coupons.

Peaches, Plums or Nectarines are $1.49/lb
no coupons but a good deal nonetheless

Dole Fruit Bowls 4 pks are on sale 5/$10 (buy 2)
use the .50/2 coupon found in the 5/18 newspaper insert

Johnson's Baby Care Products are on sale 25% off the regular price
use the $2/2 printable coupon found here or the $1/1 here
or you can use the $1/1 coupon found in the 4/27 newspaper insert

Huggies Little Swimmers are on sale $7.49
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 5/18 newspaper insert

Head and Shoulders Shampoo, Conditioner or 2 in 1 is on sale 2/$9
use the B1G1 coupon found in the 6/1 newspaper insert

Sunsilk Shampoo and Conditioner is on sale $2.99
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 5/18 newspaper insert

Gillette 2 in 1 Body Wash in on sale 2/$8 (buy 1)
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 6/1 newspaper insert

Curel Moisturizing Lotion is on sale $5.99
use the $1/1 found in the 4/20 newspaper insert

Frigo Cheese Heads String Cheese 24 oz are $6.99
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 5/11 newspaper insert

Dannon Danimals Drinkable Yogurt is on sale 3/$4.98 (buy 1)
use the .50/1 coupon found in the 5/4 newspaper insert

General Mills Cereals 5/$10 (buy 2)
use the $1/2 coupon found in the 6/8 newspaper insert

Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice Cocktail is $1.99
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 5/11 newspaper insert

Tropicana Coastal Groves Lemonade are on sale 2/$5 (buy 1)
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 6/8 newspaper insert to get it for $1.50

Land O Frost Deli Shaved Lunchmeat are $2.99 (buy 2)
use the $1/2 coupon found in the 4/27 newspaper insert to get them for $2.49 each!

Oscar Mayer Beef Franks are 2/$4
use the $1/2 coupon found in the 6/15 newspaper insert to get them $1.50 each!

M&Ms Dark Chocolate Candies are $2/4
use the $1.50/2 coupon found in the 6-1 newspaper insert to get them $1.25 each

Dove Chocolate Candy 2/$6
use the B1G1 coupon found in the 5/11 newspaper insert
or the B1G1 printable coupon found here and here

Lysol Aerosol Disinfectant is $3.99
use the $2/1 coupon found in the 5/4 newspaper insert

Electrasol Dishwashing Detergent is on sale 2/$7 (buy 1)
use the .75/1 coupon found in the 6/1 newspaper insert

Snuggle Liquid Fabric Softener is on sale $2.99
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 5/18 newspaper insert

Wisk Liquid Laundry Detergent is on sale for $4.99
use the $1.50/1 coupon found in the 5/18 newspaper insert

Albertsons week of 6/11-6/17

2008-06-11T10:38:00.000-07:00

Well compared to the last week's events, this week's deals seem rather bland, but I will try to highlight the ones that you can benefit with extra coupons.

My personal favorite this week is Disney Little Einstein Milk is on sale for 2/$6
if you have been holding on to your printable coupons $1/1 or $1/2 now is the time to use them, far as I can tell there is no limit!
I think there is also a paper coupon in a recent insert but I will have to flip through them and get back to you.

If you have ever considered going the Organic route, now is the time to start!

Wild Harvest Organic Microwave Popcorn is on sale for 2/$4
Wild Harvest Omega-3 Large Eggs are on sale for $3.79
Wild Harvest Organic Mini White Tortilla Rounds are on sale 3/$5
Wild Harvest Organic Applesauce Cups are on sale $2.59
Wild Harvest Organic Grape Juice is on sale for $4.49
Wild Harvest Organic Ketchup is on sale for $1.99
Wild Harvest Organic Lemonade is on sale 2/$6
Wild Harvest Organic Milk is on sale for 2/$6
Wild Harvest Organic Mustard is on sale for 2/$3
Wild Harvest Organic Peanut Butter is on sale for $4.29
Wild Harvest Organic Salad Dressing is on sale for 2/$5
Wild Harvest Organic Salsa is on sale for 2/$5

Every single one of the above has a $1/1 coupon found in the 5-11 newspaper insert!

Barilla Whole Grain Pasta is on sale for $1.25
use the .50 coupon found in the 5-4 newspaper insert

Lloyds Fully Cooked Pork Spare Ribs or Back Ribs are on sale for $9.99
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 5-18 newspaper insert

Cheez-It Crackers are on sale 2/$4
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 6-1 newspaper insert to get 1 for $1

Tropicana Pure Valencia Orange Juice or Pure Fruit Juice is on sale 2/$8
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 4-20 newspaper insert to get 1 for $3

DanActive Yogurt Drink 4-pks are on sale for $2.00
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 4-27 newspaper insert

Yoplait Fiber One 4 pks are on sale for $2.25
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 5-11 newspaper insert

Yoplait Yo-Plus 4 pks are on sale for $2.25
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 6-1 newspaper insert

Dove Hair Care is on sale for $3.50
use the $1.50/1 coupon found in the 6-8 newspaper insert

Right Guard Xtreme Deodorant is on sale for $3.79
use the .75/1 coupon found in the 5-18 newspaper insert

Excedrin is on sale for $4.99
use the $2/1 coupon found in the 5-4 newspaper insertk

Bic Soliel Razor is on sale for $5.79
use the $2/1 coupon found in 6-1 newspaper insert

Colgate Total Toothpaste is on sale for $2.00
use the $1.50/1 coupon found in the 6-1 newspaper insert

Hefty Trash Bags are on sale for $6.79
use the .75/1 coupon found in the 5-18 newspaper insert

Albertsons week of 6/4-6/10

2008-06-04T20:05:00.000-07:00

Wow it seems like only last week Albertsons was having one of their famous 8 hour sales...oh wait it was last week. Oh well any chance to take advantage of insane prices is a good one. Seems like Albertsons is putting deals all over, on top of their 8 hour sale, they also have an additional flyer that came out with their usual one. So let's get to it.

First the 8 Hour Sale because that takes place tomorrow June 5th from 1pm to 9pm.

Fresh Extra Lean Ground Beef 85% Lean is $1.59 lb
Red Seedless Grapes are .69 lb
Farmer John Meat Wieners are .79 each (limit 4)
Coke, Diet Coke or Sprite 24-pk cans are 2/$9 (when you buy 2)
Budweiser or Miller Beer 30-pk cans are $15.88 each (limit 1)
Kellogg's Cereal & Snacks, General Mills Cereal, Kellogg's pop-tarts 2/$3 (limit 8)

Corn Flakes
Raisin Bran
Fruit Snacks
Yogos
Trix
Golden Grahams
Cocoa Puffs

Albertsons Purified Drinking Water 24-pk 2/$5
Hormel - Honey Ham, Virginia Ham, Hard Salami, Genoa Salami or Grande Pepperoni $2.99 lb
Jennie-O - Oven Roasted Turkey Breast or Hickory Smoked Turkey Breast $2.99 lb
Chocolate Chip Cookies 18-ct $1.99
Twizzlers .99 each (limit 4)

Save $5 Instantly when you buy $25 or more of participating Kellogg's products in a single transaction.

Kellogg's Cereal in a Cup 10/$10 (final price .80 each after $5 savings)
Kellogg's Pop-Tarts, Go-Tarts, Special K Bars, Nutri-Grain Bars 2/$5 (final price $2 after $5 savings)
Kellogg's Cereal - Mini-Wheats, Special K, Eggo Syrup $2/5 (final price $2 after $5 savings)
Kellogg's Eggo Waffles 10-ct 2/5$ (final price $2 after $5 savings)

Theater Box Candy 10/$10
Equaline Rubbing Alcohol 10/$10
Equaline Toothbrush of Floss 10/$10
Assorted Theater Candy 10/$10
Hershey's Candy "Pack a Snack" 10/$10
Tropicana Punch 10/$10
Albertsons Whipped Topping 10/$10
Vita Snacks Dog Treats 10/$10
Gerber 2nd Stage Baby Food 10/$10
Gillette Foamy or Barbasol Ultra Shave Cream 10/$10
Johnson & Johnson Band-Aid Adhesive Bandages 10/$10
VitaminWater 10/$10
Honest Tea Organic Tea 10/$10
Max Velocity Energy Drink 10/$10

Band Aid Bandages $1.00
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 5-18 newspaper insert and it's FREE

Fresh Strawberries $1.99

Storck Werther's Candy 2/$5
use the .75/1 coupon found in the 5-11 newspaper insert Olay Skin Care Products 20% off
It's possible that the following coupons will be useful:
$1/1 Olay Quench Hand & Body Lotion or Mousse found in 5-11 newspaper insert
$1/1 Olay Facial Moisturizer or Facial Cleanser found in 5-11 newspaper insert
$1/1 Olay Facial Moisturizer or Facial Cleanser found in 6-1 newspaper insert
$1/2 Olay Body Wash found in 5-11 newspaper insert (this is a Target only coupon, but I could swear my Albertsons accepts competitors coupons so it's worth a shot).

Oral-B Cross Action Toothbrush 2/$6

Ajax Dish Liquid $1.00 each
use .20 coupon found in the 5-18 newspaper insert

All Liquid Detergent 64 Loads $7.99 each
use $1/2 coupon found in 4-20 newspaper insert

Aquafresh Extreme Clean ToothPaste $2.50
use the $1.50/1 coupon found in the 5-4 newspaper insert

Bertolli Complete Meals for Two $6.99
use the $1.25/1 coupon found in the 5-18 newspaper insert

Breyers Ice Cream is B1G1 at $6 buy 2

Chef Boyardee Canned Pasta $1.00 buy 3
use the .35/3 coupon found in the 5-18 newspaper insert

Crest Pro Health Rinse $4.00
use the .75/1 coupon found in the 6-1 newspaper insert

Crest Toothpaste $1.50
use the .75/1 coupon found in the 6-1 newspaper insert

Degree Men's Deodorant $3.50
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 5-18 newspaper insert

Gillette Fusion Razor $9.99
use the $4/1 coupon found in the 6-1 newspaper insert

Head & Shoulders Shampoo, Conditioner or 2 in 1 $2/9 (buy 2)
use the $4.50/2 coupon found in the 6-1 newspaper insert

Kraft Salad Dressing $1.66 each (buy 2)
use the .75/2 coupon found in the 5-11 newspaper insert

Juicy Juice 64 oz $2.50
use the .75/1 coupon found in the 4-27 newspaper insert

Nestle Nesquik Flavored Milk $1.25
use the .50/1 coupon found in the 4-27 newspaper insert

Pantene Pro-V Shampoo, Conditioner, 2 in 1 or Styling Products $3.50
use $1.50/1 coupon found in the 6-1 newspaper insert

SoyJoy Nutrition Bars $1.00 each (buy 3)
use the $1/3 coupon found in the 5-11 newspaper insert

Suave Shampoo or Conditioner $1.50 (buy 2)
use the $1/2 coupon found in the 5-18 newspaper insert

Suave Invisible Solid Deodorant Twin Pack $3.00 (buy 2)
us the $1/1 coupon found in the 5-18 newspaper insert

Tums Antacid Supplement $3.79
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 5-18 newspaper insert

Wild Harvest Organic Milk $3.00
use the $1/1 coupon found in the 5-11 newspaper insert

Windex Glass Cleaner $2.50
use the .40/1 coupon found in the 5-11 newspaper insert

Yoplait Go Gurt $2.50 (buy 2)
use the $1/2 coupon found in the 4-20 newspaper insert

My Coupon Organizing (System?)

2008-06-04T16:21:00.000-07:00

As with most of my posts, this is not just a statement of what I am doing, but also an explanation of why I chose to do what I did...hope you enjoy!

After careful consideration, I have decided that I do have a coupon organizing system...of sorts. It's actually a work in progress. At the time I am writing this I only get and use my own coupons and only get one copy of the paper...a total noob I know! After browsing around the web last night I became fully aware for the first time just how badly I am going about this, compared to the rest of you "pros" out there. As has been the case, most of the time, I find a great idea and then I over complicate it an it ends up falling by the wayside. This being my third attempt to clip coupons I am determined to make it work this time! Here's what I have been doing...

First I clipped the entire 4/20 inserts collection (which is when my first paper came) and then I created an excel spreadsheet for 4 sheets, broken into categories

Need it - staples, toiletries, soda, bread etc,
Want it- treats, things I would only buy because I had coupons
Extras - things I have little to no intention of buying but as I mentioned here no item is useless
Other - Restaurants, entertainment...basically anything not grocery related.

On each of those sheets I have columns for:

Product
Category
Subcategory (this is largely just what *I* call it)
Coupon Amount
Date of insert
Expiration Date

and then I stopped. My 4-27 paper vanished before I could get it and two weeks went by while I waited for the agency to send me the missing coupons, the next set of coupons I clipped was the 5-4 set. I clipped them but became overwhelmed and was unable to transfer them onto my spreadsheet, after that I just kept the inserts labeled as I saw to do here but unless I was following something someone else found, they were pretty much useless to do my own research and deal making.

Then I started going printable happy, but keeping track of those was even harder, either keep 3 various ones on a sheet or cut them all up and make them smaller and (with 3 kids) easier to lose (which I have done a LOT). After forgetting, or *gasp* loosing, the printable coupon I needed when I went to use it, I came up with a system of sorts for them as well. There is nothing quite as heart breaking in the coupon world (or at least mine) as seeing a printable coupon link that I "have already printed the number of times allowed" and being unable to find it, and having to sift through pages and pages only to find I do not have it was not very effective.

So now I have taken the remaining pages of coupons and numbered them. If it was pages of the same coupon then they got a 1a, 1b etc and if it was a page of various coupons (for instance the target ones), I just put one number for that entire page. Then I put them all in an excel spread sheet with the following columns:

Page number - in some cases there are varying types of the same coupon in which case it would be numbered 1-1, 1-2, 1-2, 1-3 depending on how many are on each page.
Coupon Amount
Product
Expiration Date

I have realized that as insanely complicated as it is to put each and every coupon in a spread sheet, you can't beat the efficiency of finding coupons to match up to your grocery or drugstore deals. Even if you don't have a list posted by someone else already the "find" button is all it takes to see if you have a coupon that nobody has mentioned yet. Turns out I am not the only crazy person out there considering a list of every coupon...
Deal Mama Belle is already doing it!

They say you can't serve more than one master (in terms of following a given system), but I think that I can make something work by using parts of other's system and making one that's definitely mine.

So here's my plan...

Stick to dating the front of the insert, but not clipping them.
Start numbering each page of the insert and putting each page worth in a spread sheet with the columns I used in the coupons I already clipped.
Store each insert in date order (newest to oldest) and keep them available
Cut out only the coupons I need for a given trip and maybe some from the "Want it" category. Put those coupons in order for each store and place them in individual holders. Right now I am using sandwich baggies, but I hope to upgrade soon.
I am also hoping to be able to track how much I have actually saved from week to week, and at least track my CVS purchases in depth.

Well that's it for now, I promise to put up pictures once I have access to a camera and a more defined system is in place. I realize that this doesn't allow for me to benefit from stumbling onto an unadvertised clearance section or unbelievable deal, so maybe I will print out my spreadsheets, put them in a sheet protector and bring a dry erase marker to note the deals that would benefit from a coupon I have. Or maybe since I am a one paper couponer currently, I can afford to put all the inserts in a folder to bring with me, with no less than 2 kids in tow at all times, I don't have the luxury of going back to the car for a coupon I need. Honestly, though, as the Queen of impulse purchases, coupon or no coupon, I don't think my budget will mind me not having the ability to buy something I wasn't planning on. Especially since I do all this in cash and budget down to the wire.

No one system works for everybody, this what I am creating for me. Want to see some others? Check out The "Cent"sible Sawyer

Which is Better?

2008-06-02T09:35:00.001-07:00

Conservation or Preparation?

That's the question that plagues me this morning. With all the printable coupons I have acquired lately, my husband has commented on the abundance of ink being used by our printer. He has requested that I not print out a coupon until I am SURE I plan to use it. This creates a bit of a problem because, as you know, often the site with the link can go away or the offer will expire even before the coupon itself does. So what to do? I have been making note of the coupons I might want to use at some point and saving the ones that are in PDF form until I am going to print and use them that day. Seems like a good plan, right? Well it was until I found myself right near the Macy's I was planning to visit later in the week for the FREE Jocky's I found on Be Thrifty Like Us. Of course, since I hadn't planned to be there this morning, I hadn't printed out the coupon yet, and now I have to decide if it's worth the cost in gas to go back for the $9.50 free panty. Honestly, it probably is, since the mall is just a short way off of my normal route and I would definitely save more than I will spend in gas. That won't always be the case though, and going back to my organization emphasis from yesterday's post, apparently I need to make sure I have any random coupons (ones in places I don't normally go) all printed out and in my car just in case I find myself in that area before I have planned.

As I mentioned in my previous post (linked above), you should NEVER go someplace just for the FREE item, but after searching the Macy's website for something else I might need that was fairly cheap, I came to the realization that the extra cost just to prove to myself that the trip was a productive one, wasn't actually helping my cause and now tat I think about it, I'm sure that's part of the plan behind giving an item completely 100% free (though to be fair, as I haven't picked up the item yet, I may end up paying tax, only time will tell). Turns out as is the case with almost everything these days, there is no rule that fits all the time in every occasion. Perhaps my recommendation should be modified to say "Only go someplace just for the FREE item when the benefit of the item is worth the cost in time and gas and if you can confirm the item is there ahead of time." In the meantime, I'm going to print out the Macy's coupon and see if there is any other Specialty coupons I should have ready and waiting. As for the normal grocery printables, I am going to try to check over the notes I make while reading my blogs and decide which coupons I am actually going to use, not just which ones would be nice to have, that way I can use only the ink and paper that's necessary.

Lesson learned.

What I've Learned (Time Savers)

2008-05-31T14:32:00.000-07:00

Well it's been a month since I started so I think it's time for another installment of "What I have Learned". I have been using the techniques and methods used on the various sites intended to help all us frugally inept people learn to save. A few of the ones I visit more often are:Money Saving Mom, BeCentsAble , The New Frugal Mom, and Be Thrifty Like Us. Sometimes I am proud of myself, sometimes, not to much. After a 2 day shopping spree (see my Grocery challenge). I emerged with a great haul, but feeling like I wasted a lot of time, so I have decide to write about some things that have cost me quite a bit of time and money.

1. Never go someplace just for the FREE item, unless you are willing to buy it at full price or with just the coupon discount.

I went to Target for the Free Butt Paste travel pack (after $1 coupon), after 30 minutes wandering the store on both the "grocery" side (we have no Super Targets in CA) and the baby side, I was still unable to find them and ended up leaving the store empty handed. I went to Walmart in search for the Free Honey Bunches of Oats (after $2 coupon), after checking all the end caps and the cereal isle backwards and forwards, I was only able to find Regular Honey Bunches of Oats (the coupon was for chocolate) and at $2.96, so not free and not available at that. Fortunately, this time around I actually had a purpose to be there so it wasn't a complete waste of a trip. Not so with two trips to CVS and a couple more to Target. My Target trips included, but not limited to the Free Lipton To Go packets (after $1 coupon), that particular venture took me to two Targets before I found one that would do the deal. I did get $19 worth in the end and a $5 gift card from corporate for my troubles at the first Target, so it wasn't a complete waste of time. Most of the time, however those trips ended up being a waste of gas and time. Which leads me to the next thing I have learned...

2. Call Ahead.

If the deal is too good to pass up and there is only one item you are looking for. Call the store and confirm the availability and or price. When I ran into a dead end with the first Target store I made sure to call the other store to confirm that the coupon was indeed accepted, and I even called corporate to make sure that I wasn't running into a running trend. Now I doubt that phone calls to that extent are necessary, but every one of those wasted trips could have been avoided had I taken the few minutes to call ahead. Of course that brings me to the next thing I have learned.

3. Write it all down.

The need for organization keeps popping up. Every day I scan my RSS feeds for my various sites and I get a list of places to visit and deals to keep in mind. I star the priority posts and I make a mental note of the things I should pay attention to and plan to return later. I clip my coupons and set them aside to make sure I have them when I go on my trips. Notice a running theme here? No matter how well I think I have it all planned out, I don't make notes as I am reading and so inevitably I miss something. If I wrote things down ahead of time (not just right before running out the door) I would be better prepared and not waste so much time running all over for that elusive bargain. I would have all my coupons carefully laid out and I would never get to the register (or in some cases the store) without having the particular coupons I needed ready and available! I can recall almost every trip has been afflicted with some hassle that could have been avoided. The next thing I have learned is a result of some of those problems that arose.

4. Always check the receipt.

This goes beyond the obvious checking of the price at the end, though that is, of course always very good advice. I have also discovered that during a complicated order, by which I mean request that involves the use of coupons or anything "made to order", not only should you check the receipt but you should also confirm that your order went through as expected. After filling an order incorrectly in the Albertsons deli, the person behind the counter fixed it by providing me with an item twice the price of the one I ordered. Had this exchange not taken so long, I would have double checked the slip on the deli meat and caught this mistake before getting home. If I had confirmed after a 3 times failed exchange at CVS that the cashier had re-scanned my card, I wouldn't have been short changed my ECBs for my 2 SoBes. AND had my husband checked the carry-out pizza order he would have noticed the lack of bread sticks (which were later delivered to us). Fortunately each of these events, after a phone call has been or will be rectified. The only one I have fully lost out on (as a result of my lack of organization) is the CVS ECBs because, as I mentioned above, I arrived at the store without the receipt and with the price of gas going home and coming back was in no way worth the single ECB.

So what am I going to do from now on?

I'm going to keep a notepad and pen by my computer at all times and write down any deals I see or ideas I come up with based on information I see on my various blogs.
I'm going to use that notepad to write down the # of the stores I plan to visit and highlight the items that are my main reason for going so I can call about the special items I am looking for (no more than 2 items per store for the call...I don't need to waste their time either).
I'm going to see just how long it takes to get to each of the stores on my list and determine if the deals I am looking for are worth the cost in time and gas.
I'm going to get one of those coupon accordion folders, or if I don't have one of those I will at least put each store's coupons in a sandwich baggie, it really doesn't matter as long as when I get to the counter I am not digging for them. People really hate that.
If I can save time getting my coupons ready for the cashier, maybe I can afford the time to check the items being scanned and ensure that I never get short changed on my receipt or an item I didn't ask for. Well I can try to limit the amount of times that happens.

Tune in next time as I discover more things along the way.