Money Saving Challenge - 4/30

I am very tired today. I think the events of the past week are catching up to me. So I did very little today. But here are the few things I did do:

1. Breakfast was coffee, juice and donuts.

2. In my prior post, I showed the shopping I did. I made my list, pulled my coupons and ran my errands in an efficient circle.

3. I filled the van up at the Fry's gasoline station getting $ .10 off a gallon using the points that I have earned on my card.

4. I deposited the $101.83 Staples Rebate check at the bank.

5. Lunch was turkey sandwiches.

6. Lights are off until dark. The A/C is timed to on peak and off peak hours. We have it set up for tomorrow when the summer rates go into effect. It is set for 81 on peak and 78 off peak.

7. We set the hot water tank to go off between the hours of 1-8pm which is summer on peak hours. We will time our use of water around those hours.

8. I did a load of wash today during off peak hours and hung it to dry.

9. The mail today brought a campaign package from BzzAgent- John Frieda Root Awakening.

10. Dinner tonight was spaghetti and meatballs, tossed salad and homemade garlic bread.

11. We will watch CSI for entertainment tonight.

As usual please feel free to let us know what you did today to save money by leaving a comment.

CVS, Safeway, Bashas and SuperWalmart!

Since swine flu has been confirmed in the East Valley where I live, I wanted to get out today before it gets any worse and get my errands and shopping done. So after I went to the bank and UPS, I did some shopping. This is what I purchased:

CVS:

1 Natural Dentist Mouth Rinse - $ 6.99 - Used $2./1 IP cpn= $ 4.99

Used $ 2.00 in ECB's

Total OOP was $ 2.99 and I received a $ 4.00 ECB and will send for the $10.00 Rebate now that I have purchased two.

Safeway:

1 Keebler Fudge Shoppe Grahams - $ 1.00 - Used $ .55/1 IP cpn dbled = Free

Total OOP was $ .00!

Bashas:

1 Whole Beef Tenderloin(8.25 lbs) - on sale for $4.97 a lb. = $ 41.00

1 Bakery Crusty Bread - Used Bashas Cpn = Free

Used $ 5./25 Bashas Cpn

Total OOP was $ 36.00!

SuperWalmart:

8 Evercare Trial Size Lint Rollers - $ .97 each - Used $ 1./1 IP cpns = Made $ .03 on each

1- 18 ct. Eggs - $ 2.00

Total OOP was $ 2.38 including $ .62 tax!

ANALYSIS: I am overbudget this month but I don't care since the tenderloins were such a good price, so I bought another one. I needed one more Natural Dentist to send for the rebate and this is the best mouth rinse I have ever used. The cookies and bread were free. The lint rollers were a moneymaker and the eggs were needed!

Money Saving Challenge - 4/29

This is what I have been doing to save money today and the last few days:

1. We had my grandaughter and DIL staying with us on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. We ate from the stockpile with the exception of Sunday night when we got take out at KFC. My DIL had not had KFC in a long time and was happy that I was getting it. I had the coupon from Sundays paper for a free piece of the their new grilled chicken. That along with a kids grilled meal fed my grandaughter and made a wrap for me last night. They gave us back the coupon so if I want it I can use it again. I used a coupon for a cheap bucket of wings and we got some sides. We got home to find they had screwed the order up so I have e-mailed KFC. We won't be eating out much because I am worried about the swine flu.


2. I cooked a turkey dinner on Monday and DH made some turkey, lettuce, dried cranberry, celery and mayo wraps last night. We will be having the turkey wraps again tonight along with some strawberry shortcake.


3. Breakfast this morning was Cheerios and strawberries, oj and coffee for DH. I just ate a granola bar and had some coffee because I wanted to get out shopping very early.


4. Lunch was salsa and chips.


5. I quickly read the ads, pulled coupons and shopped this morning. The deals are in my prior post.


6. I did a load of laundry in cold water with minimal detergent and fabric softener and hung it to dry.


7. I cut up the beef tenderloin into steaks and used my foodsaver to shrink wrap them for the freezer.


8. My DIL gave me the rest of the food from her freezer and fridge and I spent some time today taking inventory and rearranging things so I can find items when I need them. My refrigerator is very full so we will be eating out of that for a while.


9. We finished the milk in the fridge this morning so I am thawing a gallon that was in the freezer.


10. The new salt system for the pool was installed yesterday so things are running normally now and I won't have to buy any more chlorine. We had a problem with Leslies Pools since they broke their promises of when they would install it, so we had to buy chlorine that we hadn't planned on buying. DH was angry with the frustrating customer service we received especially after 34 years of being Leslies customers. So he wrote a letter to both the CEO and the President of the company. Well, he got two calls from the higher ups yesterday with apologies and asking his advice on improving customer service. Also, they are sending $ 75.00 worth of vouchers so that we can shop on them. That is 3 times what we spent on a weeks worth of chlorine. It pays to be the squeaky wheel.

11. In the mail today and the last few days, I have gotten my Staples Rebate check for $101.83 (all that computer paper that I bought shown in a prior post),a sample of Kelloggs MiniWheats and some coupons from Vocalpoint, a few Stonyfield Farm Organic coupons
and my Free Womans Day magazine.

12. I have a bunch of things that my DIL forgot here plus my grandaughters toys that I need to ship next week so I am researching the cheapest way to do that.

13. I ran the dishwasher almost every day on off peak hours with just 2 Tbsp. of detergent and I always use Jet Dry.

14. My DIL and grandaughter gave me the most beautiful bouquet of fresh flowers and a balloon on Monday night as a thank you. I have been enjoying them every day since.

15. I made out and mailed two rebates.

16. While I am watching CSI tonight, I will be filing coupons.

As usual, feel free to let us know what you did to save money today by leaving a comment. Also, be sure to read everyone elses blog who I have linked on the right side of my blog who are participating in this challenge. They have some great ideas!

I'M Back! Fry's Bashas,Safeway and CVS!

I am starting to get back to normal. My grandaughter and DIL arrived in New York last night about 8:00pm. My son and his friend should be arriving with all of their possessions within the next hour. I will truly miss them all.

I had a lot of errands to run this morning since I haven't really done any since last week. I had to pick up 5 prescriptions this morning. While I was waiting for 3 of them to be filled, I spotted the Mylanta. Even though I didn't have my coupons with me, I found a way to make it work. I scanned my card and got the $5.00 in ECB's for a survey I did a few weeks back.

So this is what I purchased today:


CVS:


3 Mylanta Ultimate Mint - on clearance for 75% off - $ 1.82 each


Used $ 5.00 ECB's


Total OOP was $ .50 including $ .04 tax.


Bashas:


3.13 lb. Bananas at $ .59 lb = $ 1.88 - Used $1. Bashas Cpn(Thanks Michelle!) = $ .88


1 Whole Beef Tenderloin( 6.67lb) - on sale for $ 4.97 lb = $ 33.15


1 Crusty Bread - $ 1.49 - Used Free Bashas Cpn wyb minumum $10. = Free


1 Cucumber - $ .59

Used $5./25. Bashas Coupon(Thanks Michelle!)


Total OOP was $ 29.62.



Frys:


1- 20 oz Sobe Water - $1.00 - Used Free Mfrs. Cpn (Thanks Michelle!) = Free

1 Propel - $ 1.00 - Used Free Mfrs. Cpn ( Thanks Michelle!) = Free

1 Marie Callendars Dinner Entree - $ 1.88 - Used $ 1.1 IP Cpn = $ .88

2 - 8 ct. Mission Tortillas - $ .99 each -Used $ 1./1 IP Cpns = made $ .01 on each

Total OOP was $ .86!



Safeway:


3 Keebler Fudge Shoppe Cookies - $ 1.00 each - Used $ .55/1 IP Cpns Dbled= Free


4 - 12 pack of Diet Coke - on sale for B2G2F $ 5.99 each- Used (2) $ 1./1 Coke Rewards Cpns = $ 9.98


1- 24 pack of Dasani Water - Free when you buy the Coke Deal = Free


Used $ 2.00 Catalina OYNO


Total OOP was $ 7.98


My rollover grocery budget was $ 27.91 and I spent $ 38.96 so I am $ 11.05 over budget for the month but since I wanted the filet mignon that is the way it goes.


ANALYSIS:

I had about 2 Tbsps. of Mylanta left so I was glad to find the 3 bottles. I will always buy fresh produce when needed. The beef tenderloin was a fantastic price that I could not pass up. If I can find room in the freezer, I may buy another one. We love this sliced into thick filet mignons which we grill outside. I needed bread and the crusty bread was free.

The waters were free. The Marie Callendars was a great price and I like to have at least 2 prepared ready to eat dinners to throw in the micro when we have a hectic day so that I am not tempted by fast food. I only had one in there prior to today. We use the tortillas for sandwich wraps at lunch time and I was down to my last two plus they were a moneymaker.

The cookies were free. Diet soda is DH's treat and after the move this weekend, we had none left so this was a great deal with the water being free.

Just Wanted To Check In!

This is a hard few days for me. I just hugged my son goodbye an hour and 1/2 ago. He left driving the big truck with my DIL's car trailered behind it. His friend, who flew in from New York is driving my son's car pulling a trailer behind it. They have a long trip that will take about 3 and 1/2 days. They hope to stop in New Mexico tonight, then Missouri the second night and to my other son's house in Buffalo, NY the third night. Then about 4-5 hours the next day to Albany. I wish them a safe and uneventful trip. I have been crying since he left. I will miss him!

I still have my grandaughter and DIL here at our house until we put them on an airplane to New York on Tuesday morning. It is going to be very hard to say goodbye to them!

So I just wanted to check in and let you know whats up. I will be back with the money saving on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Money Saving Challenge - 4/24

This is what I did to save money today:




1. We are troubleshooting our drip system for our landscaping. For some reason it is not working. Before we hire someone to fix it, we are researching the problem ourselves. DH found a part that he thinks is not working so we will try to find the part locally.




2. Breakfast for both of us was cereal, orange juice and coffee.




3. We went to a luncheon today that we were invited to in order to meet the business owner. It was so nice to meet him and listen to his plans for the business for the future. The nice lunch consisted of an assortment of submarine sandwiches, chips and bottled water. We were each given a gift bag when we left which consisted of very nice T-shirts, license plate frames and reusable water bottles.




4. Mail today was 5- coupons for Martinelli products, a Free Sweet Baby Rays BBQ Sauce coupon and an assortment of Ken's coupons. I also got notice that the April Rebate amount of $ 17.60 was added to my Walgreens Giftcard. I submitted early this month for it knowing that I was done with what I wanted to get.




5. I pulled my coupons, made my lists and did some grocery shopping which is shown in previous post today.






6. Dinner tonight will be homemade pizza.




7. I think DH and I will be taking a swim in the pool for the evening.






These are the few things I did today to save money. As usual feel free to post in comments what you did to save money today!

Safeway and Fry's!

I am feeling better today so I got out to do some shopping. Here is what I purchased:

Safeway:

2 - 8 packs of Arrowhead Water(not pictured) - $ 1.99 each - Used (2) $1./1 Mfrs. Cpns= $ .99 each and I received a $ 2.00 Catalina good on my next order

4- Sobe Waters - $ 1.89 each- on sale b3G1F - Used (2) B1G1F cpns = $ 1.89 for all 4

2 Hunts Diced Tomatoes - $ 1.00 each

9 Boxes of South Beach Living Bars - $ 2.50 each - Used $ 2./1 IP Cpns = $ .50 each

Used $ 10. Cpn OYNO

Total was $ .90 of which $ .53 was tax and I received $ 2.00 Catalina for the Arrowhead water. I was supposed to get a $ 10. Catalina for the Living Well Promotion but for some reason it didn't print. I called Catalina and they will research it and get back to me on Monday.

Fry's:

2 Michaelina Entrees - Used Free Cpns = Free

1 OnCor Lasagna Family Entree- Used Free Cpn = Free

1 Reynolds 100% Recycled Aluminum Foil - $ 2.50 - used $ .55/1 Mfrs. Cpn Dbled = $ 1.50 and I will send for the TMF Rebate.

1 Quaker Quakes - $ 1.00 - Used $ 1./1 Mfrs. Cpn = Free

1- 4 pack Angel Soft Toilet Paper -$ 1.00 - Used $ .50/1 Mfrs. Cpn = Free

4 - McCormicks Grillmates - $ 1.00 each - Used (3) $ .75/1 Mfrs. Cpns Dbled and (1) $ 1./1 Mfrs. Cpn = Free

3 Lawry's Marinades - $ 1.00 each - Used $ .50/1 Mfrs. Cpns = Free

Total OOP was $ 1.70 of which $ .20 was tax and I will send for a $ 2.50 Rebate!

My grocery budget was $ 30.51 minus the $ 2.60 I spent today leaves $ 27.91 for the rest of the month!

Saving Money Challenge - 4/23

I am still here so just wanted to check in. I spent most of my day playing with my grandaughter yesterday and DH and I taking my DIL and grandaughter out to lunch. Today I do not feel very well so I am taking it easy. These are the few things involving money that happened today:


1. Breakfast this morning for DH was cereal, fruit, oj, and coffee. I didn't eat.


2. I made homemade chicken soup for lunch using cooked chicken from the freezer, celery, carrots, rice and spices.


3. DH is going to make tilapia for his dinner. He will be breading it with my homemade bread crumbs and spices and deep frying it. He will also have a tossed salad with it. We are out of tartar sauce so DH will make some from mayonaise, dill pickle relish, minced onion and lemon juice. I am sticking with the chicken soup until I feel better.


4. I spent some time today organizing my register receipts. I keep them in a drawer in a file cabinet in case I need them for rebates. But I needed some organization so that I could easily find whatever receipt I was looking for. I filed each store's receipts into a marked envelope in numeric date order. Now when I have a new receipt, I only have to file it in the store's envelope at the very back. Since I blog about every purchase I make, all I have to do to see if I have a receipt for a particular product, is search for the product on my blog to see what date I blogged about it and go the envelope and search for the receipt. This system will be so much easier.

5. I received in the mail today 2 coupons for Free Fisher Boy products, a Free Wolfgang Puck soup coupon, a Fry's Booklet of Private Selection coupons, 2 coupons for Barber Chicken products and my Free More Magazine.

6. Fed Ex delivered our new cellphone that my son sent.


7. I ran a load of dishes on off peak hours.

8. I did one load of wash using minimal detergent and fabric softener in cold water. I hung it to dry.


9. I pulled all of the April expiring coupons from my coupon boxes and binder.

10. Entertainment tonight will be reading.


I am hoping to be better and get back into the swing of things tomorrow. Please feel free as usual to leave a comment and share with us what you did to save money today.

Saving Money Challenge - 4/21

Today was a hectic day since I had my 6 month checkup with my orthopaedic surgeon who did my knee replacements. Everything is well with those. So not a lot of money saving today except for these:

1. Breakfast this morning was mini cinnamon coffee cakes, juice, and coffee.

2. After breakfast, DH and I went shopping for a new pair of sandals and sneakers that he needed. He got both the New Balance sneakers and the Dockers Sandals that he wanted. Famous Footwear was running a buy one pair of shoes and get the second pair 1/2 off sale. So he got $ 25.00 off the sandals. I also had a $10.00 off coupon so we got both for $75.61 including tax. I was happy that we saved $35.00 on this purchase.

3. We also stopped at Home Depot to pick up some items we needed for the house and pool. I used a $5./25 IP True Value coupon to lower this purchase.

4. Lunch was salsa and chips for DH and cheese and crackers for me.

5. My Dr. gave me a prescription for a drug like Aleve that will cost me a lot less than buying Aleve for the next 90 days or so that I need it.

6. Dinner was Hamburger Helper and broccoli both from the stockpile. I used 1/2 lb. of ground beef instead of the called for lb. I cooked the broccoli in the microwave and the HH outside in my electric skillet so as not to heat up the house. It is 104 degrees here today and I don't want the A/C working any harder than it is now.

7. I received 2 Free Celeste Pizza For One coupons in the mail. We also got an invitation from a business that we are good customers of. They are inviting us to a luncheon to meet the owner and have also advised us that we will receive a nice gift basket. Yeah!

8. I received my Amazon.com gift certificate from SwagBucks today and applied it to my Amazon.com account. These are really adding up to spend on Christmas gifts.

9. Entertainment tonight will be 2 hours of TV: NCIS and The Mentalist!

As usual feel free to post what you did to save money today by leaving a comment!

Money Saving Challenge - 4/20

This weekend is when my family is packing to move back to New York so it is going to be a crazy week right up through Tuesday morning of next week. So if you don't see me on here, you will know why and I will be back sometime Tuesday afternoon in all my glory. I will post when I get time this week. This is what I did to save money today:

1. Breakfast this morning was eggs and toast for me. DH had Cheerios with strawberries. We both had juice and coffee all from the stockpile.

2. I ran some errands this morning to the bank, the Post Office, Subway, Coldstone Creamery and Safeway in the most efficient path that I could take to save on gas. I picked up more Forever stamps before the price goes up in May.

3. I won a $ 5.00 Subway Giftcard in their contest so picked up a $5.00 footlong Italian Sub for DH and I to share for lunch. They didn't even charge me tax.

4. Then I went across the street to Coldstone Creamery and picked up a container of the Founders Favorite Ice cream using a Giftcard that our son in NY gave us for Christmas. This will be for dessert the next week or so.

5. I think this is our day for Free things. My son that is moving to New York is giving us his propane tank because it is too dangerous to move to New York. This could not have come at a better time for us because we needed to buy a new one since ours is old and rusty!

6. Then my son in New York contacted us to tell us he is sending us a cellphone, activating it, and paying the bill so that he can always reach us from his phone or we can call him, now that we will be all alone out here. This will save my son minutes when he calls us and it will save our minutes on the cellphone we have now for other calls.

7. Dinner tonight will be leftovers from last night. I made double yesterday. I like to make at least 2 meals when I turn on the oven. We will just heat our plates in the microwave tonight.

8. In the mail today, I received Litehouse coupons, 2 Free Coupons for OnCor Entrees and a $ .50/1 coupon, 2 Better 'n Eggs coupons, a $10. Booklet of coupons from Bayer, a Eucerin sample and coupon and my new CVS card with a $ 5./30 coupon.

9. Entertainment tonight will be 1 and 1/2 hours of TV programming and I will be filing coupons at the same time.

As usual, please feel free and let us all know what you did to save money today by leaving a comment.

Safeway Living Well Promotion Again

I went up to Safeway to do the promotion again and this is what I got:

1 pkg. No Yolk Egg Noodles - $ 1.25 - Used $ .75/1 Mfrs. Cpn Dbled = $ .25

9 Boxes South Beach Living Bars - $ 2.50 each - Used $2./1 IP Cpns = $ .50 each

1 Box of Electrasol Powerballs - $ 3.99 - Used $ 2.50/1 Mfrs. Cpn = $ 1.49

1 box of Hostess Mini Cinnamon Coffee Cakes - $ 2.79 - Used Free Cpn = Free

2 Bags of Sun Maid Raisins - $ 2.00 each

Used $10.00 OYNO Cpn

Total OOP was $ .56 of which $ .32 was tax and I received a $10.00 Coupon Good On My next Shopping Order. I am loving this deal!

My grocery budget was $ 31.07 minus the $ .56 I spent today leaves $ 30.51 left for the rest of the month.

Money Saving Challenge - 4/19

These are the things I did today to save money:

1. Breakfast for DH this morning was Cheerios and fresh strawberries. I had a granola bar. We each had coffee and juice.

2. I checked the air in our tires today. They were soft so I filled them to where they should be. This saves on fuel.

3. I did my CVS shopping stocking up on gift basket items and garage sale items. No money out of my pocket!

4. Ran a full dishwasher on off peak hours.

5. Called my sister in NY and chatted for about an hour or more using the free minutes on my cellphone.

6. While I was out running to CVS, I stopped at Safeway and got a refund for an overcharge.

7. I also decided that we needed a treat for lunch so I picked up 2 Arby Medium Roast Beef sandwiches using a $ 1.99 IP coupon for each. We drank our beverage at home with them. Cheap lunch and no tip to be paid.

8. Dinner was homemade Shake and Bake porkchops and roasted potatoes in the oven. I just left the skins on the potatoes and diced them up. I put them in a bowl with olive oil and spices and tossed them to coat well. Put them on a cookie sheet and roasted them in oven while the porkchops were baking.

9. I changed the baking soda in the refrigerator today. I poured the old one down the garbage disposal to freshen it.

10. I will be reading and watching some TV tonight for entertainment.

As usual, please feel free to leave a comment and share with everyone what you did to save money today.

GO GRAB THOSE SKIN VITALIZERS!

CVS had the Dove Skin Vitalizers marked down from $12.99 to $ 4.00. Not every store shelf is marked but they ring up $4.00! Go print yourself some $ 3.75 IP coupons and you pay $ .25 each plus tax. If I had been able to find the 7 of these in one store I could have used the $4./20. Beauty coupon! I paid with a Free CVS Giftcard. So go grab them before they are gone! I am thinking gift baskets or garage sale!

Good CVS Shopping Morning!

I am very happy with the deals I did at CVS today. This is what I purchased:

CVS Order # 1:

3- 5 oz. Aveeno Positively Ageless Cleansers - $ 9.99 each = $29.97 -Used $ 10./3 IP Coupon = $ 19.97 and I received $ 10.00 in ECBS

Used $5./15. CVS Cpn

Used $ 4./20. CVS Beauty Cpn

Used $ 9.05 in ECB's

Total was $ 1.92 of which $ .75 was tax and nothing OOP because I paid with a Free CVS Giftcard and I received a $10.00 ECB

CVS Order # 2:

1- Conair 10 pc. Comb Set - on sale for 90% off= $ .79 ( think gift basket)

1 Conair Round Blow Dry Brush - on sale for 90% off = $ .49 (think gift basket)

1 Goody Copper Infused Brush - on sale for 90% off = $ 1.19

1 N.Y.C. Lipstick - on sale for 90% off = $ .19

1 Voortman Chocolate Chip Cookies - on sale for 90% off = $ .13

1 Edge Shave Cream - $ 2.89- used $ 1./1 Mfrs. Cpn = $ 1.89 and I received $ 2.89 in ECBS - made $ 1.00 on this deal

1 Softsoap Scrub Body Wash - Used Raincheck - $ 4.99 - Used $ .75/1 Mfrs. Cpn = Received $ 5.00 in ECB = Made $ .76 on this deal

1 Gardettos - $ 1.50 ( I needed a filler to use the ECB and since DH has had no junk food, I got these to surprise him)

Used $ 10.00 in ECBS

Total was $ .45 of which $ .03 was tax but nothing OOP because I paid with a Free CVS Giftcard and I received $ 7.89 in ECB's.

CVS Order #3:

1- 24 ct. Non- Drowsy Claritin - $ 9.99 - Used $ 7.00 Mfrs. Cpn - Used $ 1./1 CVS Allergy Cpn = $ 1.99 and I received a $ 2.00 ECB so made $ .01 on this deal

1 Gold Emblem Popcorn - $ 1.19( also a filler to use ECB- surprise DH)

Used $ 2.89 ECB

Total was $ .67 of which $ .38 was tax but nothing OOP because I paid with the Free CVS Giftcard and I received $ 2.00 in ECBS!

Saving Money Challenge - 4/18

Here is how we pinched our pennies today:

1. I ordered my grandaughter's birthday presents using $50.00 in Gymbucks.

2. When DH went outside to get the newspaper this morning, there was a package at our door that must have gotten left yesterday. I wrote Arizona Beverage Company an e-mail about how much we loved their teas. They sent 2 really nice baseball caps - they even have adjustable leather straps.

3. I had enough points this morning to order a $10.00 check from My Survey.

4. Breakfast was sausage, eggs ,9 grain toast, juice and coffee from the stockpile.

5. Washed a bunch of Ziploc bags to reuse.

6. Lunch was salsa and chips.

7. No lights on in the daytime. A/C has been off yesterday and today. No TV for me but DH has to have his sports on, on Saturday and Sunday.

8. I gave myself a facial today using a homemade oatmeal one. My skin felt so good afterward.

9. For dinner I am making homemade pizza using up the rest of the spaghetti sauce from dinner last night. I will add pepperoni, black olives, onions, mozzarella and parmesan grated cheeses. It will taste so much better than store bought.

10. Took a walk today for exercise. No gym fees for us to pay.

11. Clipped our cat's nails so that we don't have to take her to the vet or for grooming to have them done.

12. DH made oatmeal raisin cookies.

13. My refrigerator temperature was too cold at 36. It was freezing the strawberries. I set the temp up to 40. We keep the freezer at 0. This will save energy.

14. I am growing my hair longer to all one length so no money spent on haircuts in the past 10 weeks or so. I will just have DH trim the bottom.

15. We stayed home today so no gasoline used.

As usual please feel free to tell us what you did to save money today by leaving a comment. We all learn from each other!

Saving Money Challenge - 4/17

Sorry that I am so late with this but basically we are the same time as Pacific time in the Spring, Summer and Fall. We just finished dinner. Since my family will be moving to New York the end of next week, we went down to my son's today to babysit my grandaughter so that my DIL could have a day at the spa. So not too much money saving today except:

1. Breakfast was cereal with cranberries and almonds, juice and coffee.

2. I packed our lunch which is leftover stir fry from dinner last night for DH. I packed vanilla yogurt with fresh strawberries for me. I also packed cans of Diet Coke.

3. Before we left, I put dinner in the crockpot which was hot Italian sausage and spaghetti sauce. All I had to do when I got home was cook the angel hair pasta and make homemade garlic bread.

4. DH and I spending a day with our grandaughter: PRICELESS!


5. The mail today was some great Aquaphor coupons, some Marie Callendar coupons and a $1,500. reimbursement by our healthcare company. So a good day for mail.


6. My DIL gave me some terrific coupons and samples that she can't take to New York. She also gave us a Harkins soda cup so that we can get soda for 2009 for $1.00 on a refill.


As usual, feel free to leave a comment on this post about what you did to save money.

Money Saving Challenge - 4/16

These are things we did today to keep those pennies in our pocket:

1. We so enjoyed the yogurt, fresh strawberry and granola parfaits yesterday. So we had them again this morning with our juice and coffee.

2. Lunch will be the end of the mac, cheese and ham casserole. We are getting kind of sick of eating it.

3. This morning I cut up all the veggies, pineapple and chicken for our stir fry dinner. The pineapple was fresh and needed to be chunked. I am using some of the chicken rotisserie chicken that I got free yesterday. We just slice onions, carrots and celery and use a sweet n sour sauce and we will have a delicious and easy dinner served on rice. The rice will be cooked in the rice cooker out on the patio.

4. Washed a load of sheets and hung them to dry on the shower rods.

5. Ran a full dishwasher with a tbsp. of Cascade in each cup and on off peak hours.

6. I spent some time today straightening up my spare room grocery stockpile and taking inventory. I need to know what I have to plan meals.

7. We had an abundance of milk that needed to be used. Since I was almost out of yogurt, I got out the yogurt maker and made a batch of vanilla yogurt.

8. Received in the mail today: 2 Free Cpns for Michelina's Entrees, 3- $1.50 off Michael Angelo's Entrees, $ 1.00 Cpn for Bays English Muffins, cpns for Yogi Tea and Free sample of Cottonelle TP and Wipes plus cpns, $ 14.00 in Rebates and my Free Traditional Home Magazine.

9. Once every couple of weeks I peroxide our toothbrushes to get rid of germs. I also wipe all of the lightswitches, telephones and doorknobs with my homemade bleach and water cleaner. Today was the day! I believe this little bit of precaution helps keeps us healthy and our medical bills down.

10. I ordered another gift certificate from SwagBucks today. I am amazed at how fast the points add up.

11. I tend to hold onto Coke Rewards codes and Stouffer Dinner codes and enter them once a month or so. I did that today.

12. Entertainment tonight will be CSI!

As always feel free to let us know how you saved money today by leaving a comment.

Money Saving Challenge - 4/15

These are the things I have done today to squeeze those pennies:

1. We had yogurt, strawberry and granola parfaits along with juice and coffee for breakfast. I had no granola but plenty of granola bars. So I broke up a granola bar for the parfaits.

2. Lunch will be more mac, cheese and ham casserole.

3. Dinner will be lamb chops which DH will grill outside served with mint jelly and a tossed salad. No cooking indoors so it will save on electricity.

4. I made my grocery lists and pulled my coupons for this week and did the shopping this morning. The results are in my prior post!

5. I ran a very full dishwasher during off peak hours - no heated dry.

6. My son in New York called me long distance. He has a much larger minute plan on his cellphone than I do. So that saves me minutes or paying for minutes.

7. I emptied all of our wastebaskets into plastic grocery bags to put out for the garbage today. This saves me on buying so many tall kitchen garbage bags.

8. No lights or TV on during the daytime. The A/C is set at 81!

9. I again ran my errands in an efficient circle to save on gasoline.

10. I called my local newspaper to see if I could get them to give me a break on what I am paying per week. I got nowhere. They say I have the lowest rate since I allow them to charge it monthly to my credit card. It was worth a shot! If DH didn't like the crossword puzzle so much, I would cancel the weekday paper and just get it on Sundays. It is so easy to read online.

11. Entertainment tonight will be Criminal Minds and CSI - NY!

12. In the mail today, I received the $ 5.00 Subway Giftcard that I won in their contest. This will buy us a $5.00 sub that DH and I can split for lunch one day. I also received a coupon booklet and a Free coupon for Glade Wisp.

13. I got invited and accepted my Fifth Campaign that I am doing all at once from BzzAgent . This one is for John Frieda Hair Products.

14. I received another Amazon Gift Certificate from doing SwagBucks . These gift certifcates are adding up in my Amazon account. I am saving them for Christmas shopping this year. I love SwagBucks . It is just as easy to search through them than rather than google.

Please feel free to leave your comments about what you did to save money today and work toward the Challenge. I love hearing from all of you and it helps me and others out.

Safeway, Bashas,SuperWalmart and Petsmart- All Free Today + a $ 10. Catalina!

Knowing what my guidelines were for the Challenge, I really had to prepare my shopping lists this week and figure out how to stay within those guidelines. It took a bit of planning but I did very well today. This is what I purchased:



Bashas:


2 Barilla Pasta $ 1.00 each - Used $ .50/1 Mfrs. Cpns = Free


OOP - $ .00!


Safeway:


1 can DelMonte 100 Calorie Pear Halves - $ 1.35 - Used Free Cpn for $1.17 off and Safeway gave me a store adjustment for the other $ .18 = Free


1 bottle of Safeway Ammonia( necessity for making my cleaners) - $ 1.99


1 Scrubbing Bubbles Auto Shower Refill - $ 5.49 - Used Free Cpn for $ 4.00 and Safeway gave me a store adjustment for the other $ 1.49 = Free


1 Safeway Reusable Bag - $ 1.99 - Used Free Safeway Cpn with $10. min. purchase = Free


1 Honeysuckle White Turkey Breast on sale for $ .99 a lb = $ 7.80


1 Signature Cafe Rotisserie Chicken - $ 4.99 - Used Safeway Cpn for $1.00 off = $ 3.99 - Because this rang up incorrectly as $ 6.99 she gave me another $ 4.00 off so I made a $ .01( Don't ask because I have no idea what their policy moneywise is; I picked up the chicken because I knew it was marked wrong)


Living Well Deal:


4 No Yolk Egg Noodles $ 1.25 each - Used $ .75/1 IP Cpns = $ .25 each


10 Boxes of South Beach Living Fiber Fit Bars - $ 2.50 each - Used $ 1.50/1 Mfrs. Cpns = $ 1.00 each


Used $ 5.00/50.00 Safeway Cpn


Total was $ 16.54 which I paid with a Safeway Giftcard that I had from a transferred prescription so nothing OOP! This even made the turkey Free which delighted me! I also got a $10.00 Catalina Coupon Good on My Next Order from the Living Well Promotion



SuperWalmart:


2 cans of Muir Glen Roasted Tomatoes - $ 1.57 each - Used $1./1 IP Cpns = $ .57 each


1 Kraft Mozzarella Cheese - $ 4.32 - Used Free Mfrs. Cpn up to $ 3.99 = $ .33


2 V8Fusion - $ 2.98 each - Used $ 2./1 IP Cpns = $ .98 each


Total was $ 3.43 which I paid with a Free Walmart Giftcard from My Points!



Petsmart:


1 Bag of Science Diet Natures Best Cat Food - $ 12.99 - Used $ 5./1 Mfrs. Cpn = $ 7.99
and I will get $ 12.99 back for Rebate


Total was $ 9.04 with tax but it had a TMF Rebate Peelie so I will submit for the rebate and make $ 3.95 on this deal! So even the cat gets to eat for Free!



My monthly grocery budget was $ 31.07 minus the $ 9.04 spent today leaves $ 22.03 for the rest of the week!

Money Saving Challenge!

Well, today is the first day of the Money Saving Challenge. I am so happy that so many of you have joined me. The people who have joined who have blogs are linked on the right side of my blog for everyone to enjoy. I am happily watching every penny that gets spent in this household. These are the things that I did today to keep more money in our pocket:




1. Lights are off except for after dark.



2. A/C is set at 81.




3. I reached into the freezer last night and pulled out for breakfast this morning 3 very large Banana Nut Muffins that DH had gotten free when he did a volunteer gig a couple of weeks ago. DH and I each had one and some OJ and coffee. I am still using the Free Archer coffee that I got a while ago at Target.

4. Cloth napkins are being used at the table for meals.
5. I needed to go to CVS to pick up a prescription refill for DH. I checked this online drug site:
http://www.internetdrugcoupons.com/ before I went out to look for a coupon. No luck today! But I always check!
6. I ran all of my errands in a circle and drove the speed limit and steadily accelerated and braked to save on gasoline. I kept the windows up and used no A/C.




7. I filled my tank up with gasoline using my Fry's points at their gasoline station which gave me $ .10 off a gallon. I paid $ 1.659 a gallon. The other 2 gas stations on my route were $ 1.839 and $1.779 a gallon, so I felt pretty satisfied that I got the best price.




8. I deposited some rebate and survey checks at the bank and then took the mail to the PO across the street.



9. While I was at CVS, I tried to pick up the Softsoap Scrub Body Wash which is a moneymaker this week with a coupon, but they were out of stock. So I got a raincheck!
10. On the way home, I stopped at Albertsons and got a $3.00 refund for an overcharge last week.
11. I got 2 rebates ready to mail today. I am also checking to see if there are any more that I have receipts and UPC's to mail.
12. I added some codes to my NatureMade Account so that I can eventually get a $7.00 off coupon.
13. Lunch was ham and cheese sandwiches. We have a bit of ham to use up.
14. For dinner tonight I will be making this recipe that my sister gave me:

Ham and Cheese Casserole
1- 8oz. Velveeta cheese
1 lb elbow macaroni
1/2 cup milk
2 Tablespoons butter or margarine
2 cups diced ham
2 cups canned or frozen peas(I have also used peas and carrots)
1 -8 oz package shredded sharp cheese

Boil macaroni. Once its done- drain. Put in Velveeta , 1/2 cup milk and 2 tablespoons butter or maragaine. Mix well. Then stir in diced ham and peas. Put mixture in a 9-12 baking pan. I use a Pyrex one. Top with pkg. of shredded cheese. Bake 375 for 20-25 min till cheese on top is melted.

Me again: But I will be substituting Piccolini Wheels Pasta instead of elbow macaroni. I will also be using 3 cups of ham since I will be leaving out the peas. DH hates peas. We will have a tossed salad instead for a veggie. This should make 3 meals for us. I also found a Velvetta subsitution recipe online but decided the first time I make it, I will use the Velvetta. I got some yesterday. Next time I will try the substitute. I will be cooking the pasta on top of the stove but when the water comes to a boil, I will put in the pasta, cover the pot and turn off the heat. At 20 minutes the pasta should be perfect to drain and continue the recipe. This saves on electricity.

15. I was out of Spray and Wash so made up the Tightwad Gazette Recipe and put it in my empty spray bottle. This is the recipe:
1/2 cup of Wisk( I have used other liquid laundry detergent)
1/2 cup of white vinegar
1/2 cup of ammonia
Fill with water to the top of the spray bottle and shake up.



16. Washed a full load of clothes using cold water and the shortest setting for wash. I hung them to dry on a rack in the bathtub.
17. For entertainment this afternoon, DH and I watched an already owned DVD.



18. The computer was only on for less than an hour today and fully shut down( on a power strip) when not in use.

19. I have outgrown my Recipe box. So today instead of running out and buying a new one, I am using an old photo box. Then I needed to make alphabetized dividers. I could have bought them but I knew there must be something around here to make them out of. I found a pack of card stock that I got as a Free Sample and it had more than enough card stock to make the dividers that I needed. I love projects where I don't have to run to the store and put money out!

20. In the mail today, I got my BzzzAgent Kit for Max Factor - 2 Lipsticks and 1 Mascara Pump, some coupons and an issue of Phoenix Magazine. I also received a Prilosec sample. Since I use this in place of the Nexium that my drug plan won't pay for, I am so glad when I can get even 2 tablets free. They are so expensive!
Please feel free to post any money saving that you did today in comments!

My Challenge to Myself and To Anyone Else Who Would Like to Join Me!

I told you in the beginning of the year that I was going to try to save up as much money as I could out of our monthly budget this year for something that was important to me. With our family moving to the Northeast, my priorities for that savings has changed. However this means that I will be trying to save even more than before. Every penny will count like it never has before.

So starting tomorrow, I will be watching every penny like there will never be another one. In order to reach my goal, one of my major savings is going to be grocery money. I have built up a huge stockpile of food over the past year. So here are my challenge rules that I am going to be following:

1. We will use what we already have stockpiled.
2. If an item is Free or under $ .25, I will purchase it. The under $ .25 items need to be necessities. My only exceptions will be milk, eggs, produce, flour, sugar, rice, toilet paper,meat, fish, poultry, and juice. But even with those items I will try to save as much as possible.
3. If I don't have an item for a recipe, I will try to substitute something I do have.
4. If it is not a necessity for health or nutrition, we will go without. This means things like soda and junk food.
5. If I need an item, I will try to make it from scratch first before I even consider buying it.
6. We will use every last bit of food; NO WASTE! Waste is only dollars down the drain. Stockpiling food that never gets used is WASTE!
7. I will be posting every day or every other day what I am doing and how, under my Saving Money label along with the other things that I am doing to save money!
I would love for any of you who are up to this challenge to join me. You can decide what your exceptions are or add any rules for yourselves. I am sure there are so many people out there who are like me and have huge stockpiles to use up. Many of you would like to boost your savings or pay off debt! So please come join me on this journey. Leave a comment if you would like to join and please feel free on my daily posts to tell us what you did that day to save also. We can all learn alot from each other.

Update: I just wanted to let everyone know that the people who have joined the challenge who have blogs I have linked on the right side under my profile!

Quick Trip to Fry's!

Just a quick trip to Fry's to pick up two things. I really saw nothing that I had to have at CVS or Walgreens this week. I am pretty well stockpiled. Here is what I bought:


Fry's:


1 32 oz. Velvetta - $ 4.88 - Used $ 1./1 IP Coupon = $ 3.88 ( With the coupon it was about $ .40 cheaper than buying store brand)

1 Fry's Cloth Bag $ .99 - Used Free Bag Credit on My Shoppers Card = Free

Received $ .05 bag credit


Total Out of Pocket was $ 3.91!

My monthly grocery budget was $ 34.98 minus the $ 3.91 I spent today leaves $ 31.07 for the rest of the month!

I will be posting later with a special challenge that I am going to do so that I can rachet up my savings! I promise to make this challenge very interesting and hope that some of you will join me! So come back later, read it and decide!

Easy Ham Leftovers!

I hope everyones Easter was wonderful. Now a lot of us have to figure out what to do with all that ham this week. Today I am making Black Bean and Ham Soup in my crockpot. As you can see, this crockpot is VERY FULL! However after a few hours of cooking and most of the meat falling off the bone in chunks, I can take the bone out and the pot will only be 1/2 full. This is a frugal and nutritious way to get all of those little bits of meat off of that bone.

So here is the recipe:

Black Bean and Ham Soup:

1 Ham Bone with Meat

1 Onion chopped

3 cloves of minced garlic

4 cans of Black Beans

1 Carrot Diced

1/2 tsp. Cumin

1/2 tsp. salt

2 cans of Chicken Broth

Black Pepper to taste

Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Sour Cream

Put the bone with ham in the bottom of the crockpot. Add the canned beans and chicken broth. Then add the onions, garlic and carrot. Finally add the cumin, salt and pepper. Cook on high for at least 8 hours. When the meat has pretty much loosened from the bone, take the bone out and get the rest of the ham off and put the ham in the soup. Discard the bone. Serve with cheese and a dollop of sour cream on top!

Notes: I have made this with from scratch beans also cooking the beans in water the night before. Since my supply of canned beans was high, I used canned. I have also made this recipe with Northern Beans adding some celery seed to the pot and leaving the cumin out. This recipe is very versatile so feel free to substitute other beans. The same goes for the chicken broth. You can use your own homemade, canned, boxed or just use bouillon cubes and water. I had no homemade at the moment so used the canned broth.

Please feel free to leave a comment and share with us what you are doing with your ham leftovers!

How To Save Money in the Land of No Doubles!

Happy Easter to everyone! I hope you have a wonderful day with your families and that the Easter Bunny is good to all of you!


While I have some Free time while I am waiting to cook dinner later today, I decided I would write about grocery shopping in the Land of No Doubles. I used to live in an area that did not double coupons so I used to shop a little differently than I do now. But most of these ideas anyone can use whether you have double coupons or not. With prices rising so rapidly on food and the values of coupons declining, I am using these ideas more often than not.

Since my DIL will barely be able to use coupons there with the exception of one store who has limitations on what percentage of your bill can be coupons, I thought this would be helpful to her too. So I am going to list these ideas in no particular order.



1. I made everything from scratch that I possibly could find a recipe for. Some examples:
spaghetti sauce, most sauces, baked goods, bread, meat rubs, dishwasher detergent, laundry detergent, spot cleaners, window washing solution, etc. With google now, you can search for a recipe for just about anything!


2. We had a membership to Sam's Club because our family was larger and their meat was pretty good. I do not believe that warehouse clubs save you any money unless you really pick and choose what you buy there and know that you will more than save the membership fee during the year. I used to buy marked down meat, bags of yeast for breadmaking, large bags of rice, flour and sugar, some fruits and vegetables, milk, large bags of shredded mozzarella cheese, vitamins and some other over the counter medicines there. You have to be very careful when shopping there because all kinds of processed foods and other items will try to make you impulse shop. Most bulk packages were even too big for my family and in the long run, I could buy them cheaper elsewhere.


3. I purchased the majority of our vegetables and fruits here: http://www.ryansproduce.com/ Their prices were so much less than the supermarket and the food was fresher also.


4. I fed my family as many organic meats as I could - especially chicken. There was a small organic food store on Route 9 in Clifton Park that I frequented. They always had some kind of meat as the deal of the week. I do not know if that store is still there; however I am sure that there are many other choices for organic meats in the area today. This was more expensive than buying meat in the supermarket but I would just serve smaller portions of it.


5. In a pinch when I did not have time to make homemade bread, I would go to the Freihofer Outlet store or the Pepperidge Farm Outlet and stock at great prices. I would make that run about once a month and just put it all in the freezer.


6. Aldi's was one of my favorite stores. The one closest to me was about a 30 mile round trip but I would go about every 1-2 months and stock on canned goods, snacks and some great fresh produce deals. You needed a quarter to use a cart and you got your quarter back at the end. You have to bring your own bags or boxes and bag your own groceries. It was worth every penny of effort. They had the best prices on canned soups, epecially cream soups, and tortilla chips of any place. They do not take coupons; however on the items I purchased, the prices were so rock bottom that you didn't need coupons.


7. Stewarts or the corner gas stations always had the best prices on milk. Stewarts was the only ice cream that we would buy. Whenever, they would have their ice creams sales( a few times a year), I would stock our freezer.


8. During apple picking season, I would buy bushels for pies or for eating and just store them in the cool basement. The farm stands were the best deals for these and for apple cider.


9. There are many roadside stands in the summer where you can buy bushels of fresh veggies. I used to blanch them and freeze for the winter - green and yellow beans. tomatoes for making spaghetti sauce, etc. Many years we had a garden also.

10. CVS is the best place to buy any meds or HBA with their Extracare program. I also shopped at Rite Aid buying their monthly rebate items. I have heard that they may be going out of business.

11. There were many meat markets where you could buy cold cuts at reasonable prices. Sorrentino's in Clifton Park was my favorite for getting great deals.


12. We grew cherry trees( pie cherries) on our property and had enough blueberry bushes to give us a years supply that I would freeze. We would pick strawberries or pick them up from the farm stands.


13. In the land of no doubles, I found the most important thing was to make a pricebook. I just used a little 3 ring binder with a page for each item. When I found a cheaper price somewhere I just entered it and erased the old price. There are spreadsheets you can make online to do the same thing today. With my price book I not only tracked the lowest price on each item but also tracked sales trends. That way I knew how often an item went on sale. I never paid full price for anything.


14. When I would find a great price on roast beef, turkey or chicken, I would roast them and we would have a hot meal the first night and then I would freeze the rest in slices for future meals. At Thanksgiving I would buy 6 turkeys at rock bottom prices and cook one every other month.


15. Hannaford had the best Fresh Fish(their haddock is to die for) in the area. I would buy when it was on rock bottom sale and freeze some till the next sale.


16. I would buy many more store brands or generics than I do now always checking the unit prices for the best deal.


17. When I couldn't find a great deal on organic meat, I would bulk buy our meats on sale and freeze. I always checked for marked down meats first.


18. I eliminated as many paper products as I could. We used cloth napkins and a roll of paper towels would last 6 months. I used rags for almost everything.


19. I would stock, for the year, on baking supplies during the holidays when they were the cheapest.

20. I would stock on loss leaders which were usually the items on the first page of the stores sales flyer.

21. I would never go grocery shopping hungry or without a list. I would plan our menus in advance so I knew exactly what I had in the house and what I needed. I rarely purchased anything that was not on the list.

22. And lastly, but I think most importantly, I had a budget so I knew exactly how much I could spend each week. I took that amount each week in cash and only spent that amount. I never took a credit card or checkbook to the store with me so I knew that I couldn't spend any more than the cash I had on me.

I am sure there are many more things that I did that I just can't think of right now since it has been 8 years since I lived in the land of no doubles. I hope this helps my DIL out and everyone else.

If there is something special that you do in the land of no doubles to save money on groceries, please leave a comment and share it with all of us! Thanks!

It Has Been a Week of UPS and DOWNS in This Household!

It has been a week of Ups and Downs in this household! On Tuesday evening, my son, DIL and grandaughter met us for a lovely dinner at Chili's. They broke the news to us that my son had accepted a wonderful position with a firm in upstate New York. He starts work there in about 3 weeks. We knew that he had interviewed there and that hopefully this is a wonderful opportunity for them but in your heart you hope they don't leave. I can't even imagine life without seeing my grandaughter whom we love so very much. We have seen her every few days since she was born 22 months ago. They will be over 2900 miles away so we won't see them very often and I doubt our grandaughter will even know us the next time we see her after the move. We are truly heartbroken! So I have been really weepy this week! My DH has gotten very quiet this week so it is affecting him deeply also. He doesn't show his emotion with tears like I do but he is hurting inside. So if I don't seem to post as often or shop as often, please bear with me. We want to spend as much time as we can with our grandaughter before they move. When I do post, you will know that I am trying to occupy my mind so I don't think about it. It doesn't take much to make me weep. We have never been so unhappy in our lifetime that I can remember.


On the other hand, my sister has been my support since this happened on Tuesday. Without her support, love, and her constant staying in touch and listening while I cry, I don't know what I would do. She has been MY ROCK! This morning she called to tell me that she has booked a two week trip to visit me the middle of July. I am just thrilled. She and I will have a fantastic two week visit! You have to know that her coming to visit me in the middle of July
when the temperatures are 110-115 takes true courage. But she is coming to support me and we will have a wonderful time! Thanks Pat! So her call was the UP part of the week!


So if I go missing in action, you will know why. But eventually I will be back to normal blogging!

Albies, Safeway,Bashas, Holsum Outlet, Produce Market

With Easter coming, there were so many errands I wanted to get done before all the places are really crowded tommorrow. Besides all the grocery shopping I needed to stop at the bank for cash and the Post Office to buy 200 more Forever Stamps. It was just a beautiful morning for errands- sunny and 70! So this is what I purchased:

Albertsons:

5 - 12 packs of Diet Coke- $ 3.00 each - B4G1F Instant Deal = $12.00 - Used $ 1.00 Coke cpn from Coke Rewards and $ 2./4 Mfrs. Cpn = $ 9.00

2- 2 ltr. Bottles of Diet Coke - $ 1.67 each - Used $ 1./1 Mfrs. Cpn wyb $ 4.00 in meat = $ 2.34

1 Spiral Sliced Ham - $ 1.27 lb. = $ 11.51

Boneless Chicken Breasts on sale for $ 1.57 lb. = $ 5.40

1 DelMonte Gold Fresh Pineapple - $ .77 lb. = $ 3.23 - Used IP $ .75/1 IP Cpn Dbled = $ 2.23

Total OOP was $ 30.48!

Superstition Ranch Produce Market:

2 lbs. of Fresh Strawberries - $ .50 each = $ 1.00

1 Head of Iceberg Lettuce - $ .15

1 Celery - $ .89

10 lbs. of Russet Potatoes - $ 1.34

Total OOP was $ 3.38

Holsum Bakery Outlet:

1 Dozen Sourdough English Muffins = $ 2.99

1 loaf of Aunt Hatties 9 Grain Bread - Used Free IP Cpn = Free

Total OOP was $ 2.99!

Bashas:

1-32 oz Coffemate Liquid Creamer - $ 3.69

Total OOP was $ 3.69!

Safeway:

9 Vitamin 10 Waters - $ 1.00 each - Used $ 1./1 Mfrs. Cpns = Free

2 pkgs. of Safeway Hot Italian Sausage - $ 3.00 each = $ 6.00

1 Pkg. of Tilapia - on sale for $ 3.99 lb = $ 2.15

Used $ 8.00 in Catalina Cpns Good On Your Next Shopping Order

Total OOP was $ .15!

ANALYSIS:

DH loves his Diet Coke. I bought another ham for Easter and will submit this receipt for the Unilever Rebate since it will give me a larger rebate. I plan on cooking both hams on Easter and giving a lot of ham to my son and DIL to take home so that they can just have cold ham sandwiches, etc. since they are busy packing to move. This will help out my DIL with the cooking. We were almost out of chicken and I haven't seen such a good price in a long time. The pineapple was a great deal and will be used on the ham. We love strawberries and these were so cheap. I needed lettuce and I have never seen such a cheap price. The potatoes will give us many cold potato salads on the hot days. We use English Muffins often and this price was about $1.00 cheaper than anywhere else when on sale. The bread was a freebie so I won't have to make a loaf for a couple of weeks. We use creamer daily here and I am low and this was a decent price. The vitamin waters were a freebie. I always have trouble finding GOOD HOT Italian sausage here in the Southwest. This sausage is one of the best I have had and was on sale this week. We eat fish every couple of weeks and the tilapia was on sale. Besides the Catalinas paid for all but $ .15 of the sausage and fish.

My monthly grocery budget was $ 75.67 minus the $ 40.69 I spent today leaves $ 34.98 for the rest of the month! That is not much but if I need more I will just add it to the budget since Easter is a big holiday around here and I spend more than normal. However, I may not need to; we'll see! A little tip for all of you that don't know: If you double click on any of my pictures, they will enlarge for you to see brands etc.

Free Reuseable Shopping Bag from your Kroger Store

You can get a free reuseable shopping bag from your favorite Kroger or Fry's grocery store.



Just go to: http://www.designareusablebag.com/ and design a bag online and provide them your card #. When you finish designing the bag, a credit for the $ .99 reuseable bag will be added to your Kroger or Fry's card. You then have 30 days to redeem the credit for the bag!


I just finished mine! It didn't take long to do and was kind of fun!

SuperWalmart, Frys and Safeway!

A quick trip out this morning to use some coupons that were getting close to expiration! Here is what I purchased:

Fry's:

3 Stride Gum - 3 for $ 2.00 - Used a $2./3 Mfrs. Cpn

Total OOP was $ .00!

Safeway:

6 Bertolli Spaghetti Sauce Pouches - $ 2.00 each - Used $ .75/1 Mfrs. Cpns(she dbled them all) = $ 1.00 each and I received 3 - $ 2.00 Catalinas Good OYNO cpns.

1 Package of Easter Bunny Cookies - $ 4.79

Used 5- $ 2.00 OYNO Catalina Coupons

Total OOP was $ .79!

SuperWalmart:

2 Boxes of Glucerna Cereal - $ 3.94 each - Used $5.00 IP Cpns( Thanks Amiyrah!) = Free

7 Jugs of Pace Picante Sauce - $ 4.98 each - Used $ 4./1 Contest IP Cpns = $ .98 each

1 - 16 oz Kraft Salad Dressing - $ 1.58 - Used $ 1.50/1 Mfrs. Cpn = $ .08

2- 2 packs of Olay Soap - $ 2.48 - Used $ 2./1 Mfrs. Cpns = $ .48 each

Total OOP was $ 8.30!

My monthly grocery budget was $ 84.76 minus the $ 9.09 that I spent today leaves $ 75.67 left for the rest of the month!

My Leg of Lamb Recipe!

We are having ham on Easter this year. However many times over the years we have had leg of lamb.

Abigail's Mommy just asked me for my leg of lamb recipe. This recipe I have been using for 40 years and it has become a family favorite. Lamb is very expensive, so we only buy it when it is on sale. The bone in leg of lamb will cost you a whole lot less to buy. Also, I always buy lamb from New Zealand. It is much more tender.

1 Boned or Boneless Leg of Lamb

Vegetable oil

2 tsps. salt

1 tsp. oregano

1/2 tsp. pepper

2 Tbsps. oil

1 minced garlic clove

2 cups of beef consomme

2 small cans of tomato sauce

Brush the lamb with the vegetable oil. Sprinkle with salt, oregano and pepper. Brown in the 2 Tbsps. of oil in a large pot. Transfer the pot to the oven. Mix together the garlic, consomme and tomato sauce. Pour around the roast in the pan. Cover with foil. Baste the roast every 20 - 30 minutes while it is roasting at 325 degrees in the oven for about 2 and 1/2 hours. If the gravy needs thickening, do it with just a bit of cornstarch mixed in a small amount of cold water. My family always likes me to make rice to put the gravy on.

I am SO PROUD of My Frugal Son who got a GREAT DEAL at Sports Authority!

My son, Sean, is a runner. He and his wife are training to run a Marathon at Disney World next January.


Over the weekend he went to Sports Authority to buy new running shoes. He usually pays about $105. a pair for his shoes and he wears them out about every 250 miles. On average most people wear them out every 400 miles. He is hard on his shoes. He found the Brooks Adrenalin GTS8 Running Shoes clearanced from $ 94.99. down to $ 59.99 a pair. He figured out how many miles he will be running before the Marathon and purchased 6 pair. They also had a replacement warranty that you could purchase for $ 10.00 a pair that will replace them if they wear out in a one year period or if they no longer carry the shoes they will refund your purchase price. He purchased the $ 10.00 warranty for each pair. In the long run( no pun intended), he will only pay $10.00 per pair for these shoes.



I am so proud of this deal he got. Do you think that he takes after his frugal Mom?

Remembering The Unilever Ham Rebate Deal- Safeway!

Since Safeway has such a great deal right now on the Bertolli sauces and it is part of the Unilever Ham Rebate Deal, I stocked. Here is what I purchased there:



12 Bertolli Pasta Sauce Pouches - $ 2.00 each = $ 24.00 - Used (3) $ .55/1 Mfrs. Cpns Dbled and 9 - $1./1 Mfrs. Cpns = $ 12.00 and I received (6) $ 2.00 Catalina Coupons Good on My Next Shopping Order(You get 1 Catalina coupon for each 2 that you purchase)


4 Mentos Gum - $ .99 - Used $ 1./1 Mfrs. Cpns = Free


Total Out of Pocket was $ 12.00 and I received $12.00 in Catalinas Good On My Next Shopping Order! Today I have accumulated $ 32.64 towards the Unilever Rebate and spent nowheres near that and purchased my ham. Although while the hams are on sale I may buy a bigger one to cook and get more money back on the rebate. You know that we love ham and I can always dice it up for quick meals.



My monthly grocery budget was $ 96.76 and I spent $ 12.00 so that leaves $ 84.76 left for the rest of the month!

Bashas!

I was originally going to have lamb chops for Easter since I already have them in the freezer. However since hams are so cheap and because of the Unilever Ham Rebate I decided to buy the ham. DH is thrilled that we are having the ham. So this is what I purchased at Bashas:


1 Cooks Ham - Butt portion was $ .97 a lb. = $ 7.35 - Used $ 1.00/1 Mfrs. Cpn = $ 6.35


3 Breyers Ice Cream on sale for $2.88 each - Used $ .75/1 Mfrs. Cpns Dbled = $ 1.88 each



Used $ .55 OYNO Coupon


Total OOP was $ 11.44.


My monthly grocery budget was $ 108.20 minus the $ 11.44 I spent today leaves $ 96.76 for the rest of the month!

CVS Does Not Want to Challenge Me With a $ 20./100. CVS Coupon!

Yesterday when I scanned my CVS card at the machine, I received a $ 20./100. CVS coupon. At first I thought, UGH! But then the more I thought about it, I took it as CVS challenging me.

So after a lot of thought, making a list, pulling coupons and taking extra coupons with me in case they didn't have the stock I wanted, I was off to CVS. Twenty five of the original items that I was going to get were out of stock or they just didn't carry. However, I managed to get other items and a gift so I am very happy with my purchases! This is what I got:

1 can of Planter's Cashews - $ 3.50 - Used Free Mfrs. Cpn = Free

2 Glade Aerosols - $ .99 - Used B1G1F Mfrs. Cpn = $ .99

4 Afrin Sea Nasal Rinse - $ 9.99 each - Used $ 3./1 Mfrs. Cpns = $ 6.99 each and I received $ 12.00 in ECB's ( $ 3.00 for each one)

2 Nature Made Multi Complete Vitamins - $ 10.49 each- on sale B1G1F - Used $ 1./1 Mfrs Cpn = $ 9.49 for both and I will enter the codes on the Nature Made site to eventually get a $ 7.00 off cpn

2 Schick Intuition Plus Razors - $ 9.99 each - on sale for B1G1F = $9.99 - Used Free Mfrs. Cpn = Both Free

4 Schick Intuition Plus 3 ct. Razor Refills - $ 10.99 each - on sale for B1G1F = $ 21.98 - Used B1G1F Mfrs. Cpn and a $ 4./1 Mfrs. Cpn = $ 6.99 for all 4

1 Essence of Beauty Gift Bag - regularly $ 14.99 - clearanced for $ 4.99

1 - 2 ltr. Diet Dr. Pepper - $ 1.89 - Used Free Mfrs. Cpn good up to $ 1.49 = $ .40

2 Boxes of Nabisco Wheat Thins - $ 3.99 each - Used 2 Free Mfrs. Cpns = Free

1 can of Planters Cocktail Peanuts - $ 3.99 - Used Free Mfrs. Cpn = Free

Used $ 20./100. CVS Cpn

Used $ 14.49 in ECB's

Total was $ 19.10 - $ 12.64 was paid with a CVS Giftcard that I received Free for filling a prescription, so I paid out of pocket: $ 6.46 of which $ 3.77 was tax! Plus I received $ 12.00 in ECB's back on my receipt for the Afrin purchases!

My monthly grocery budget was $ 114.66 minus the $ 6.46 I spent OOP today leaves $ 108.20 for the rest of the month!

CVS Again and Walgreens!

I hadn't planned on going out again; however DH found algae in the pool this morning. He offered to go but I said no that I would go figuring I could do a little more shopping along the way. The algaecide is expensive but we had a $ 21.61 credit at Leslie's Pool Supplies so I went there and after the credit only had to pay $ 5.39. So here is what I purchased:


CVS Order #1:

This was on DH's card:


2 Easter Baskets( Sunday and Monday deal only) - $ 1.99 each = $ 3.98 - Received $ 3.98 in ECB's


2 Easter Grass( Sunday and Monday deal only) - $ .79 each = $ 1.58 - Received $ 1.58 in ECB's


1 Skintimate Shave Cream - $ 3.49 - Received $ 3.49 in ECB's


Total was $ 9.78 which I paid with a CVS Free Giftcard so nothing OOP and I received $ 9.05 in ECB's.



CVS Order # 2:


1 Natural Dentist Mouth Rinse - $ 6.99 - Used $ 2.00 IP Cpn = $ 4.99 and I received a $ 4.00 ECB

Used $ 4.98 in ECB's


Total was $ .17 which I paid with my Free CVS Giftcard so nothing OOP and I received $ 4.00 in ECB's. As soon as I find another one or get a raincheck, I will get the Mail in Rebate also.



Walgreens:

1 Oust Sanitizer - $ 2.99 - $ 2./1 Mfrs. Cpn = $ .99 and I will receive a $ 1.00 + 10% Easy Saver Rebate


4 bags of Herhseys & Reeses Easter Candy - $ 2.50 each = $ 10.00 - Used $ 1.50/3 Mfrs. Cpn = $ 8.50 and I will submit for a $ 5.00 + 10% Easy Saver Rebate

1- 10 oz. Palmolive Dish Liquid - $ .99 with In Ad Cpn - Used $ .25/1 Mfrs. Cpn = $ .74


4 cans of Swanson Chicken Broth - $ .69 each with In Ad Cpn = $ 2.76 - Used $ .40/4 Mfrs. Cpn = $ 2.36


Used $ 2.00 Register Reward

Total OOP was $ 10.91 but I will be submitting for a $ 6.60 Easy Saver Rebate!


My monthly grocery budget was $ 125.57 minus the $10.91 I spent OOP today leaves me $ 114.66 for the rest of the month!

CVS!

The coupon inserts were so good this morning that I needed to get extra papers depending on what was in the store ones. So I was off to CVS where I purchased:



8 Newspapers = $16.00


2 Easter Baskets(Sunday and Monday only deal) - $ 1.99 each = $ 3.98 and received $ 3.98 in ECB's


2- 2 oz. Easter Grass( Sunday and Monday only deal) - $ .79 each = $ 1.58 and received $ 1.58 in ECB's

1 Skintimate Extra Dry Shave Cream - $ 3.49 and I received $ 3.49 in ECB'

2 CVS Gold Emblem Almonds -$ .99 each = $ 1.98 - Used $ 1. CVS Cpn = $ .98

Used $ 5./25 CVS Cpn

Used $ 19.49 in ECB's

Total was $ 1.54 which I paid with a Free CVS Prescription Giftcard so nothing OOP and received a total of $ 9.05 in ECB's!

Fry's, CVS and Superwalmart!

It was nice to have a car today! I was off to Staples, the Post Office with the mail, the bank and to do some shopping early this morning! I brought 3 inkjet cartridges to Staples and got $ 9.00 in Rewards put on my card. I also have been purchasing Forever Stamps every time I go to a Post Office, grocery store or drugstore while we can still get them. The inside of the Post Office was closed today but I was able to get 2 books of stamps at Frys. Besides the stamps this is what I purchased today:


CVS:


1 Softsoap Ensemble - $ 3.99 - Used $ 1./1 Mfrs. Cpn = $ 2.99 and I received $ 4.00 in ECB's since I bought another one last Sunday

Used $ 2.99 in ECB's


Total was $ .06 tax which I paid with a Free CVS Giftcard so nothing OOP!



SWM:


1 No Nonsense Ultra Sheer Panty Hose - $ 1.00 - Used $ 1./1 Mfrs. Cpn= Free


4 Pace Picante Sauce - $ 4.98 each - Used $ 4./1 IP cpns(from contest) on Each = $ 3.92


Total OOP including $ .08 tax was $ 4.00!



Fry's:


2 Sutter Home Wine - $ 4.99 each - Used $ 1./1 Hangtags = $ 3.99 each


2 DiGiorno Frozen Pizzas(not in picture) $ 5.00 each - used $ 3.00/2 Mfrs. cpn wyb Budweiser Beer and 2 DiGiorno


1 -30 ct. Budweiser Light Beer - $ 23.99 and I will mail in for a $ 9.00 Rebate!


1 Dreyers Ice Cream ( not in picture) $ 3.00 - Received $ 3.00 Instant Rebate for buying 2 Digiorno Pizzas = Free


2 cans of Dole Pineapple Chunks - $ 1.00 each - Used $ .55/2 Mfrs. Cpn = $ .50 each


Total OOP was $ 42.11 however since the wine and beer come out of my entertainment budget and not my grocery budget, the only amount for groceries was $ 8.00!


My monthly grocery budget was $ 137.57 minus the $ 12.00 spent on groceries today leaves $ 125.57 for the rest of the month!


ANALYSIS:


The soap was Free with coupons, ECB's and giftcard plus it gave me $ 4.00 in ECB's. The pantyhose were free and will probably end up in a gift basket. The Pace we use almost daily and this was a great deal for these huge jugs using the coupons. The wine,beer and ice cream are for our family Easter celebration and stacking the coupons and getting the $ 9.00 MIR on the beer was a fantastic deal! Pineapple chunks get used in stir frys here all the time.

A Quick Trip to Basha's!

I just made a quick trip to Basha's for a couple of sale items. Here is what I purchased:



Bashas:


1 Romaine Lettuce - $ 1.00


1 Breyer's Ice Cream - $ 2.88


2 lbs. of Challenge Butter - $ 1.99 each - Used $ .50/1 IP cpns = $ .99 each and I received a $ .55/1 Catalina good on my next shopping order


2 - 64 oz. Florida's Natural Orange Juice - $ 2.29 each


1 gallon of FF Milk - $ 1.99



Total OOP was $ 12.43.


My monthly grocery budget was $ 150.00 minus the $ 12.43 I spent tonight = $ 137.57 for the rest of the month!


ANALYSIS:


DH finished the lettuce in his salad for lunch today so this was desperately needed. I used the last of the butter baking cookies today. Since it was such a great price for butter, I got the 2. DH only drinks OJ for breakfast. Since the OJ was on sale and dated May 19th, I got 2. The milk was a good price and we are almost out. Now the ice cream is a different story: My comfort food!