Friday and no waste!

I'm excited to report that I don't have anything to throw out this week. In looking through my fridge this morning I got a good idea about a number of things that probably would end up in next week's picture if I do not use them up this week: salsa, sour cream, and tomatoes. Hmmm that sounds like a mexican meal plan idea without hardly any effort!

This is probably the biggest thing that I have benefited from with taking a look at our food every week - I am seeing what needs to be used up ahead of time. Especially since we only have 2 people eating "normal" food (not pureed baby food), it can be very easy to end up with a fridge full of leftovers and half eaten jars of things!

Have you looked through your fridge this week? I know there are others who have over at The Frugal Girl!

Right at Home

Right at Home is a site by SC Johnson filled with recipes, money-saving coupons, and cleaning and organizational tips. Members receive monthly emails about recipes, giveaways, and exclusive coupons.

Just this morning I received an email with a coupon for buy one, get one free 2 oz. soy based Glade candles. This is a nice coupon on its own, but remember to submit for the $5 SC Johnson rebate!

Would you like to join Right at Home? Click here.

More Toy coupons

A few weeks ago I wrote about a number of Hasbro/Playskool coupons that are on coupons.com. I don't think I made clear that these are also on Playskool's website, so you can get an extra copy if necessary!

LeapFrog's website also has a number of coupons. I have included the promo codes because the coupons can be used on Amazon - which is especially awesome if you have some extra Amazon money from redeeming Swagbucks!
Save $3 on Any Tag Book (use code: WT9TAG)
Save $4 on any Leapster Book (use code: WT9LSTR)
Save $5 on any Didj game (use code: WT9DIDJ)
Save $2 on any Tag Junior book (use promo code LPTGJ2)
Save $3 on any ClickStart Software (use code: WT9CS3)
Save $3 on any LeapFrog Learning Toy (use promo code LPTOY3)

"Deal"icious Mom wrote about a number of coupons for Hasbro games here. Games include Connect 4x4, Guesstures, Clue Secrets & Spies, Cranium Family, The Game of Things, and Pictureka! Flipper. Also, there is information about how to get a free Monopoly Deal Card game why you buy $25 worth of select Hasbro games from Amazon (expires 10/31/09).

And Coupon Cravings found this coupon for $5 off Trio Building Blocks, along with $5/$20 toy purchase at Sears!

Whew! That's a ton, but I'm sure there will be more as retailers and manufacturers look to spur gift buying!

Rite Aid 10/25-10/31

I've talked with several people lately who were apprehensive about bargain shopping at Rite Aid. My encouragement is to take it slow and don't try to do a huge transaction the first time. Take a look at this post to see a further explanation of the Single Check Rebate program at Rite Aid. You can sign up online here. Unlike mail-in rebates which are easy to lose or forget about, Rite Aid's rebate program is all online! Just enter your receipt information on their website, and each month you can request one check based on what you have purchased.


I see a few things at Rite Aid this week that you can get for cheap or free.


Hershey’s, Mars or Nestle Fun Size or Snack Size Candy $2.44 ea
buy 3 get 1 free Hershey's, Reese's,, or Kit Kat (10/18 SS)
$1/2 Mars Candy (10/11 RP)
$1/2 Nestle candy (10/18 RP)
$1/1 printable Nestle or Wonka
note: the $2 Nestle or Wonka from coupons.com is for 24oz or larger


Vaseline Intensive Care Sheer Infusion Body Lotion
$4.99
-$4 Single Check Rebate (SCR)
-$1/1 coupon (10/18 RedPlum) or $1.50 printable
Final Cost: FREE or $.50 moneymaker after coupon and rebate


Naked Naturals shampoo or conditioner
$7.99
Buy one, get one free (of the same product) -- look for "try me free" tags on these to get 2 free with a mail-in rebate from the manufacturer!


Yardley Bar soap
buy one, get one free -- this should be a good deal (less than $1 a bar) and great for laundry detergent!


St. Ives elements skin care, apricot scrub, or collagen elastin moisturiser
$3.99
-$3 SCR
Final Cost: $.99 **note: $1 coupon in the 9/20 SS in some areas


Harvest Decor, Domestics, and Candles
75% off ---this could be a good opportunity to get some cheap fall decorations!

If you are looking to do an easy transaction this week to get your feet wet in the Single Check Rebate program, I suggest buying the Vaseline lotion. If you do not want to bother with coupons, you can get some really nice lotion for just $.99. If you have last week's coupon, you can get the lotion for free. Or, if you want to print out a coupon, you can end up getting paid $.50 to take this lotion out of the store!


Any questions about Rite Aid shopping or this week's circular? Leave a comment!

Food Waste Friday

Looks like I have to throw out this week is some dip that is really old. I kept thinking I would use it another time, but then I would remember how old it was and lose all motivation to check and see if it was still good. We didn't really like it, so that's why it was so easy to forget about it!

Remember to read more about trying to reduce the amount of food that you throw out every week by reading The Frugal Girl.

Giant this week

I am not planning on doing a post about Giant every week, because most of the time I feel like their sales just cannot compete with Acme. I did want to mention that they have Gala, McIntosh, Red Delicious and Golden Delicious apples on sale for $.59/lb this week. This is a great price (especially for Gala - our favorite, which are usually $1 more per pound!). You have to buy a larger quantity since they are sold in a pre-measured bag, but we have no problem finishing it.

Last year around this time Giant had apples on sale like this for a while, so hopefully this will not be the only week!

To see coupon match-ups for the entire ad check out Frugal in Virginia. For the most part, the prices and sales should be the same for Delaware as Virginia!

Acme 10/23-10/29

I wanted to highlight a few good deals that I see at Acme this week. Mindi at Moms Need to Know has coupon match-ups for the entire ad.

Not all of the coupons she lists were in the Delaware News Journal, so just remember that if you can't find a specific coupon.

Overleaf:
Big Buck a Bag Sale (everything $1)
Fresh Celery
Yellow onions (3lbs)
Farm Stand Grape Tomatoes (pint)
Locally grown button Mushrooms (6 oz)
Fresh mini peeled carrots (1 lb)
Fresh bulb garlic (3 ct)
Convenient bag scallions (5oz)
Fresh Express Spinach (9oz) Garden Salad (12oz) Cole Slaw (16oz)

Page 1
Favorite Four: 4 packages of meat for $19.99 - over 30 items to choose from, must buy 4 **note, if you are going to do this, the time to go is first thing in the morning, because there is a much larger selection!

Arctic Shores Extra Large Raw Shrimp 2lb bag $8
This is the lowest that I've seen this shrimp in months!


Page 4
Pillsbury crescents, grands, cinnamon rolls and biscuits $1
**the Catalina deal I wrote about last week is still going on!

Free Subscription to Parenting Early Years

There are many opportunities to get free magazine subscriptions on various topics, especially children and parenting. Here is an 11 month subscription to Parenting Early Years. I had never heard of this magazine before, but I'm going to be checking it out the next 11 months!

Children's Resale - Anny Bananny

UPDATE: Unfortunately, Anny Bananny is no longer open.

Over the next few weeks I'm planning to do a review of sorts about several different resale stores in the Middletown area, the first of which is Anny Bananny.

Anny Bananny is located in the Cricklewood Grove Center at 5350 Summit Bridge Rd, Suite 104 in Middletown. From the center of Middletown, take 71 south. The shopping center is on your right just past Old St. Anne's Church.

Anny Bananny is a resale store as well as a wholesale store, so while most things are used, there are new options as well. I thought that they had a good selection of clothing, and for reasonable prices. I saw many new items that were from Macy's, along with some Carters. There were several racks of resale clothing, all of which was well organized. I saw an assortment of cold weather clothes, including children's coats. There were also a few children's (t-ball sized) bats, as well as some small toys and baby items (like bouncers and bathers).

Everything was in great shape - it was hard to believe that some of it was actually used!

I went mostly to look around, and ended up getting a Christmas dress for my daughter for $4.75. What a steal! I could have easily paid $30 for the same dress in a department store.



The store has an indoor play area as well as a small tv and kid-sized chairs to help keep little ones occupied while their parents shop. I was very impressed that they were able to get a whole playset inside the building!

Anny Bananny is currently accepting clothing for fall and winter clothes as well.

Have you been to Anny Bananny? What did you think?

$35 coupon book

Refresh Your Nest is a coupon book that you can request every couple of months - I have done it several times. It is filled with coupons for products like Cascade, Swiffer, Mr. Clean, and Febreeze. There used to be a coupon for a free bottle of Cascade Rise Agent, but the last booklet that I got just had a $.50 off coupon.



Sign up to get your Refresh Your Nest coupon booklet here.

Tying up some loose ends

I wanted to touch on a couple different things today.

Acme

I went to Acme today and can confirm that both the fruit snack and Pillsbury catalina deals are working. There are even $1/2 coupons in the refrigerated isle for many different Pillsbury products. My $10/$25 purchase did not print out for my first transaction, so I had to go to customer service and get them to print it for me. If your catalina does not print and you know you bought the right things, don't be afraid to ask them to give it to you! They had to try twice to get mine to print, but I was able to finally get it.

Rite Aid

I didn't get around to posting about Rite Aid this weekend (we had a lot of family and friends over this weekend for my daughter's dedication at church)...there are many cold care items that are free after single check rebate. My favorite is the EOS lip balm. This is awesome lip balm....not only does it look really cool, it tastes great (and is free after SCR)! When I was there today they were low in the chapstick section, but there were more of this lip balm by the registers.

Also (and this is huge!), my friend MVB told me that she was able to use the $5/$25 purchase coupon along with the $5/$20 purchase Video Values coupon in the same transaction. I went today and I was able to do the same!

Walgreens

I prefer Rite Aid to Walgreens 9 times out of 10, but I will be going to Walgreens this week to pick up some Yardley Almond Soap for making laundry detergent. It is on sale for $.69 this week, so I'm stocking up!

Target

The Playskool musical sit-n-spin is on sale for $20 at Target this week - which means you can get it for $10 by using the $10 off coupon from coupons.com or from the Sunday paper inserts from yesterday.

Acme Oct. 16-22, 2009

I really wasn't planning on shopping at Acme this week because of all that I was able to get last week, but there is a great catalina deal! Actually, this is a 3 in 1 catalina deal (2 are not advertised, but they will work).

On the back page of the Acme circular this week is a General Mills deal: get $10 coupon when you buy $25 worth of products. Remember, the $25 is before your coupons.

Second, there is a Pillsbury refrigerated products catalina. The products that are included in both this Cat and the General Mills Cat are the cookies, pie crust, Grands biscuits, crescent dinner rolls, and grands cinnamon rolls. The Cat is get $2 off next purchase when you buy 2 products, $2.50 for 3, and $3 for 4.

Third, there is a Catalina on Betty Crocker fruit flavored snacks (shapes, fruit by the foot, fruit roll-ups, which are included in the GM cat). Get $1.50 off your next purchase when you buy 3, $2.50 off when you buy 4, $3.50 off for 5.

There are tons of ways to double or triple up on these deals to get extra catalinas, and there are an abundance of General Mills coupons floating around out there. Check your inserts from 9/13 and 10/4 especially, and there are many many on coupons.com also.

One other thing that I wanted to add. Pretty much all of these products are snack-type foods or pre-packaged meal options. While you can definitely get some great deals, I try not to buy pre-packaged stuff that I can make at home easily. I don't buy any ready-made cookie dough, for example, because I love to make cookies, and I can freeze dough and have it ready to go just as quickly as the packaged stuff. Granola bars and yogurt are things that I can make too, though I will buy granola bars if they are super cheap (I'm not going to on this deal though). Specialty yogurt like in this deal is a treat for us once in a while because I can make vanilla yogurt for less than the cost of a multipack. With all that said, I'm not trying to deter anyone from buying snacky foods or premade cookie dough! We all have choices to make, and I'm just explaining some of mine!

Here are the best deals that I see, making use of coupons.

2/$4

Gold Medal flour: $.50/1 printable coupon ($1/5lb. bag)

Whole grain total: $.75/1 printable coupon ($.50/box)

2/$5

Betty crocker fruit snacks deal: $.50/2 (9/13 insert and coupons.com) ($4/2 boxes or $8/4 boxes plus $2.50 CAT)

Pillsbury deal: pie crust ($.50/2 coupons.com and smartsource)

3/$5

Pillsbury again: crescent rolls ($.50/2 9/13 and 10/4 inserts)

Warm delights: $.50/1 (9/13 and 10/4 inserts)

Progresso High Fiber: click here to get a $1/1 coupon (the link is for an article, but there is an ad midway down on the right side of the page. you may have to refresh several times to get the Progresso ad)

Like I said, there are coupons for nearly all of these products (click here to see), but I wanted to list just a few. I have my trips planned out and it looks like it will be a great week! Happy Saving!

Food Waste Friday

Things are looking pretty good in my fridge this week...I only had to toss a little bit of soup. This should have been thrown out last week. My husband took it to work and didn't eat it, and it set out at room temperature for the day. But my analytical skills were struggling last Friday, so I neglected to pull this out.

Why not go through your fridge today and see if anything needs to be tossed? You may find something that can be used up over the weekend!

Read more Food Waste Friday

Swagbucks

You may have noticed the Swagbucks button on the right side of this blog. Swagbucks is a search engine that rewards you for using it! By searching you will earn "swagbucks" which can be redeemed for prizes -- including gift cards or money via Paypal!

I see swagbucks as part of living thrifty because it does not require you to do anything different. Do you use Google to search? Swagbucks is powered by Google! I have Swagbucks as my default search now, which makes it super easy to use. The swagbucks searches are not always as great as Google, in which case I pop over to Google, but usually I can't complain.

You can probably expect to earn between 1 and 4 swagbucks searching on a normal day. It seems like they are rewarded completely randomly -- no particular search gives you extra swagbucks. You can earn swagbucks in denominations of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, and there are larger denominations too 20, 50, etc. I have never earned more than 3 at a time, but I'm sure it does happen!

There is an option to shop through swagbucks as well; usually you can earn 1 SB for every $5 spent. I always buy our iTunes music through swagbucks. There are also coupons and promotions for some of the companies that you can shop in through swagbucks.

Sign up your friends and earn swagbucks as they earn swagbucks too. You can earn up to 100 swagbucks for each of your friends that you sign up.

The best bang for your (swag)buck is a $5 Amazon gift card, which costs 45 SB, although right now you can get a $25 Restaurant.com gift certificate for 40 SB (its on sale). This is a REALLY good deal if you can use it. There are not a ton of participating restaurants in our area, so this is not something I've bought before, but it could make a nice Christmas present. $5 through Paypal is 70 SB; a little more pricey, but its money you can spend anywhere. You can also get a $10 Starbucks gift card for 130 SB. Again, this is a little more expensive, but is a nice treat!

To sign up for swagbucks you can click here or use the sweet button on the right!

Rebate Offers

Here are two nice rebates that I wanted to share.

First, SC Johnson is offering a $5 rebate by mail when you purchase 3 items. Each household can have up to 3 rebates ($15, but each offer must be mailed separately) and the offer runs from 10/1/09 through 6/30/10! Thats a ton of time! (and also plenty of time to forget about it....) I have done one so far. I bought 3 Glade soy candles and with coupons only paid $3.10 -- so with the rebate I will make a little!

Click here to get the rebate form.

Participating products include:
• Ziploc®
• Glade®
• Windex®
• Scrubbing Bubbles®
• Pledge®
• Shout®
• Fantastik®
• Drano®
• Raid®
• Off®
• Saran™
• Nature’s Source™



Second, Johnson & Johnson is offering a free ($10 value) bath toy frog set when you send in your receipt for any Johnsons bath or lotion product bought between 9/28/09 and 12/1/09. Mail your receipt to:
Johnson & Johnson/Parents GWP
375 Lexington Ave, 10th Floor
New York, NY 10017

Lentil-Veggie Soup (crockpot)

This soup was a lifesaver last week when I was sick; it only took me 15 minutes to prep in the morning and lasted for dinner twice and multiple lunches. It was good the first night we had it, but I think it got better after sitting for a day or two. A lot of soups get better after sitting, but this time it could have been my stuffy head the first night...


Lentil-Veggie Soup
(from Better Homes & Gardens)

1 cup dry lentils
1 c. chopped carrots
1 c. chopped celery
1 c. chopped onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried basil, crushed
1/2 t. dried oregano, crushed
1/2 t. dried thyme, crushed
1 bay leaf
2 14 oz can vegetable broth or chicken broth (3 1/2 cups)
1 1/2 cups water
1 14 oz can Italian-style stewed tomatoes (I use crushed tomatoes instead)
1/4 c. snipped fresh parsley (I used dry parsley)

In a 3 1/2-4 quart crockpot place (rinsed) lentils, carrots, celery, onions, garlic, basil, oregano, thyme, and bay leaf. Stir in broth, water, and tomatoes.

Cover; cook on low-heat setting for 12 hours or high-heat setting for 5-6 hours. **I cooked it for 2 hours on high and then low for 4 or 5. Before serving, discard bay leaf.

Also, I don't usually measure the veggies because I like to make a larger quantity of soup. I also used a 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes and less water. This made it very tomato-y, so I could have put in even more veggies. This is a great cold-weather soup, especially with hot bread!

Rite Aid 10/11 - 10/17

There are tons of items that are FREE after Single Check Rebate this week, and they all deal with fighting colds! Remember, unless otherwise stated, you can only get 1 SCR for each product.



Comtrex 20ct. $3.99
-$3.99 SCR
-$1 coupon located by the product in store!
you make $1!



Sucrets Throat Lozenges 18ct. or Sucrets Ice pops 6ct. $2.99
-$2.99 SCR
FREE!



Breathe Again SinoMarin Nasal Spray 3.3 oz $7.99
-$7.99
FREE!



Beyond BodiHeat Pain Relieving Heat Pads 3-4 ct. $2.99
-$2.99 SCR
FREE!



Children's Throat Cooler 6ct. $2.99
-$2.99 SCR
FREE!



Dr. Thompson's Coldwar 20ct. $3.99
-$3.99 SCR
FREE!



Simply Saline Nasal Mist 3oz. $4.99
-$4.99 SCR
-$1/1 from 7/26 SS insert or peelie located on product
you make $1!



Simply Saline Children's Nasal Mist 1.5oz. $3.99
-$3.99 SCR
-$1/1 from 7/26 SS insert
you make $1!



Bee M.D. Throat Drops 21ct. $2.49
-$2.49 SCR
FREE!



Chloraseptic AllergenBlock Gel 20ct. $9.99
-$9.99 SCR
FREE!



Carmex Moisture Plus Lip Balm $2.29
-$2.29 SCR
FREE!



Carmex Lip Balm $1.99
-$1.99 SCR
FREE!



Sinus Buster or Allergy Buster $8.99
-$8.99 SCR
FREE!

Other deal:

Air Wick Ultra 50% off (makes it $6.49)
use $6/1 coupon (from August, don't know the date) to get it for $.49!



Remember to use a $5/$25 coupon from here or $5/$20 from Video Values to make some money this week!

Acme this week = amazingness

I'm pretty sure amazingness is not a word, but its been a long few days, so I'm making words up. Seriously though, there are some great deals at Acme, even without coupons, though they are super amazing with coupons.

Check out the back page of the Acme circular to see the possibilities. Basically, there are different categories where if you buy $10 worth in that particular section, you get $3 off instantly at the check out! Make sure you buy the right number of things (10 in the $1 section, 4 in the $2.50 section, etc).

I was hoping to have some scenarios up, but that will have to wait until tomorrow at least. Mindi has tons of info about the coupon match-ups here. Just remember that we didn't get all of the coupons she listed. Many of them are Internet coupons, so that is helpful!

I was so stoked about this deal and so bummed that I didn't feel up to going out of the house, that my dear husband went to get some for me! Here's what we got:

4 steamfresh dinners @ $5 each = $20
-$6 instantly (buy $10 x 2)
-4 $1.50 coupons
4 for $8

4 steamfresh veggies @ $2.50 each = $10
-$3 instantly
-4 $.50 coupons (that double)
4 for $3

total spent: $11
total saved: $36

I'm hoping to go again when I feel better, and I will probably wait until the coupons come on Sunday; there should be some in the inserts that will work well.

No Food Waste Friday!

Well the last 3 days have been a little rough - I have had a really nasty cold with a low fever today...uggh! We ate a lot of leftovers this week, so nothing to throw out today!


Remember, you can read more about people trying to reduce their food waste at The Frugal Girl.

Playskool coupons

There are some really great coupons from Coupons.com for toys this month! Here is the list:


$5 Mr Potato Head Silly Suitcase

$2 Mr Potato Head toy

$5 Playskool Busy Ball Popper

$3 Playskool Gloworm

$5 Playskool Step Start Walk’n Ride

$5 Mr Potato Head Spud Buds

$10 Musical Sit N Spin

$5 Playskool Activity Ball

$5 DinoRoars Hatchlings

$10 Playskool Dance Cam

$5 Tumble N Twirl Top

$5 Swing N Score Baseball

$10 DinoRoars Stompers

Pair these with a sale at Target or Walmart and you're looking at some great kids toys for a great price!

Sunday paper and Babies R Us deal

A few things that I wanted to note in yesterday's paper:

*There were 3 coupon inserts
--In the SmartSource insert is information about getting a free journal from Energizer with the purchase of batteries. Read more about it here.
--Coupons for SuperCuts, located in Middletown Crossing shopping center
--Form for a full rebate on No Yolks egg noodle pasta
--Coupons for Red Lobster
--$3 coupon for Sunggle products, which should mean cheap or free fabric softener (and I've heard free dryer sheets at Family Dollar)




My friend MVB first made me aware of this deal at both Babies R Us and Toys R Us stores:

Purchase $30 worth of the following items and receive a $10 gift card to Babies R Us/Toys R Us.



Additionally, the $30 purchase qualifies you for a Good Cooks kitchenware set ($40 value) that includes a saute pan, kitchen timer, measuring cups, and spatula!

Thanks to Deal Seeking Mom for coupon match-ups on the participating products:

Always

$1/1 Always Infinity, exp. 10-31-09 (P&G 9/27/09)

$0.50/1 Always Pad, Clean or Feminine Cleansing Cloth, exp. 10-31-09 (P&G 9/27/09)

$0.50/1 Always Pantiliners, exp. 10-31-09 (P&G 9/27/09)

This would also be a great opportunity to use the free Always infinity coupon!

Bounty

$0.25/1 Bounty Napkins, exp. 10-31-09 (P&G 9/27/09)

$0.25/1 Bounty Towels or Napkins, exp. 10-31-09 (P&G 9/27/09)

Charmin

$1.50/2 Charmin Toilet Paper, exp. 11-30-09 (SS 9/20/09)

$0.25/1 Charmin Toilet Paper, exp. 10-31-09 (P&G 9/27/09)

Dreft

$1/1 Dreft Product printable

Duracell

$0.75/1 Duracell CopperTop, PowerPix, Ultra Digital, Ultra Advanced , exp. 10-31-09 (P&G 9/27/09)

Tide

$1/1 Tide Product, exp. 10-31-09 (P&G 9/27/09)

$1/1 Tide Stain Release Duo Pac, Liquid or Powder, exp. 10-31-09 (SS 8/16/09)

$0.35/1 Tide To Go, exp. 10-31-09 (P&G 9/27/09)

Remember, the $30 is before coupons! This offer runs through October 14th, and the rebate for the kitchenware must be postmarked by October 28th.

Rite Aid Oct. 4-10

After so many great deals last week, there are not a ton this week at Rite Aid. I did want to highlight a few:

Colgate toothpaste or toothbrush: $.99

Clean & Clear products: 2 for $9 (coupons for this through the Video Values program)

Tylenol 8hr: $7.99 - $2 SCR - $1 (9/20 RP insert) $4.99 for 100

Dove shampoo, conditioner, or stylers: BOGO $1.50 and $1 coupons in 10/4 RP insert

Pampers jumbo pack diapers: $8.99 - $2 (9/27 P&G insert)

Ziplock: $1.99 ($1 coupons from 9/20 and 10/4 inserts)

Dawn dish soap: $.99 - $.20 coupon from 9/27 P&G insert


One note that I wanted to add about Rite Aid...if there is ever something advertised with a Single Check Rebate that is out of stock you can ask for a rain check. I have been told that the rain check should allow you to still qualify for the SCR for that item, though this is something that I have not yet done.

Acme Oct. 2-8

Every Saturday (and sometimes I may be able to get to it on Friday), I'm hoping to have posted some of the best deals and coupon match-ups in the Acme circular for the week.

Mindi at Moms Need to Know goes through the entire Acme circular and posts match-ups for the Philadelphia area Acme stores. Most of the time, the circular is the same for us in Delaware, which is really great! The one issue is that the coupons that come in the Philadelphia papers that are listed in the match-ups are not always the same as the coupons we get in the Delaware News Journal. So sometimes there will be a really great deal if you have the right coupons, but they were not even in our paper.

One way around this if there is a really good coupon that you want, is to look into getting it on a coupon swapping website like The Coupon Clippers. On this site you can search for a specific coupon that you want and pay a small (5 cents to 20 cents usually) "handling fee". Since you are not allowed to sell coupons, the handling fee is payment for the service of someone else clipping the coupon and sending it to you. Obviously this is going to cut into your savings, so it is only worth it if you are getting a GREAT deal. It could also help more if the coupon is a very high value. Coupon Clippers also has restaurant coupons, so check them out!


Without further explanation, Acme this week:

4-day sale (through Mon. 10/5)
6 oz. red raspberries, 2 for $3

Arctic Shores Raw Shrimp $4.99/lb
(sold in 2 lb. bag)

The rest of the week:

Acme or Perdue Boneless Chicken breast, buy one, get one free

Nabisco and Planters products $1.75 (must buy 4)
coupons $1 wheat thins, $1 wheat thins flat bread, and buy Ritz get Crackerfuls free (8/23 SS insert)
as low as $3.25 for 4 boxes!

General Mills Cereals, snack bars, and Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks $1.75 (must buy 4)
TONS of coupons for these, cereal coupons on Coupons.com, 9/13 inserts, and tomorrow's insert (10/4)

Nestle Morsels 2 for $5 ($.50 coupon 9/13 RP insert)

Pringles Super Stacks 4 for $5 ($1/4 coupon 9/27 P&G insert)

On the back page are Acme store coupons for Tide, Bounty, Charmin, Pampers, Crest, Herbal Essences, and Aussie products. These can be combine with Manufacturer's coupons, many in 9/27 P&G insert. However, unless you need the items now, many can be found for cheap or even free on drug store deals!!

Catalina $5 on your next trip when you spend $20 on Folgers ($1/2 9/20 RP insert), Dunkin Donuts coffee, Pillsbury Cake Mix, Brownie Mix, frosting, cookie mix, flour, and quickbread, Hungry Jack, Eagle Brand Condensed milk, Smuckers Preserves and jam ($1/2 coupon 9/13 RP insert), crisco spray, oil ($1 coupon 9/13 RP), and shortening sticks, Uncrustables, and JIF p/b

On the "pull out for extra savings" part of the add are 12 coupons that are manufacturer's coupons, so they cannot be combine with other coupons!

Happy Shopping this week!

Food Waste Friday

I'm trying to throw away less food by going through my fridge every Friday to see what needs to be used up and what needs to be tossed!

A little bit of heavy whipping cream left over. Earlier in the week I had to toss a bunch of celery that went completely bad. I really don't know how it went bad so quickly, especially because it was fine last Friday.

Have you looked through your fridge today?

More food waste pictures (or hopefully lack of pictures!) at The Frugal Girl.

Potato Soup

This was my grandfather's specialty that my sisters and I would always ask him to make. He never used a recipe and I don't really use one anymore either. But the great thing about soup is that you can just keep adding things to make it how you like.

Here's the basic recipe that I follow:

Melt about 1 tablespoon of butter in a large pot. Chop up some onion and let it cook in the butter. Once the onion is cooked to your liking, add chicken stock. I used several quarts.

Chop up carrots and celery -- I used a bunch this time because I was making a large amount of soup.

Chop up potatoes. My favorite for this soup is red skin potatoes, but this week I had yukon.

Bring the soup to a boil to let the potatoes cook. Once the potatoes are done, add in milk (probably about 1 quart), slowly so that it doesn't curdle.

Add salt and pepper to taste and parsley for color.

Thicken the soup up a little I shake flour and water in a ziplock container and then add it to the soup. I used about 1 cup of flour and gradually added the water until it looked like this:

The most important thing is to keep tasting the soup! (This is why I like being the cook)

Opa's Potato Soup

1 tablespoon butter

1 medium size onion

2 or 3 stalks celery

3 or 4 carrots

4 or 5 potatoes

chicken stock (3 or 4 cans, or 2-3 quarts)

salt and pepper

Melt about 1 tablespoon of butter in a large pot. Chop up some onion and let it cook in the butter. Once the onion is cooked to your liking, add chicken stock.

Add carrots, celery, and potatoes. Bring to a boil and allow to soften.

Once the potatoes are done, add in milk slowly so that it doesn't curdle.

Salt and pepper to taste and add some parsley.

Once the soup is heated through, you can thicken with flour and water.

Enjoy!

Free Starbucks Coffee

I am a coffee lover, and coffee lovers do not drink instant coffee! A few months ago I got to try a free sample of Starbucks VIA which (gasp) is instant coffee. It really wasn't bad, though probably not something that I will buy on any sort of regular basis.

To promote VIA and get people to try it, go into participating Starbucks from October 2-5th to take the Starbucks VIA Taste Challenge, tasting VIA and Pikes Place. And just for tasting you will receive a coupon for a free tall brew coffee! I called the Starbucks in Middletown and confirmed that they are participating.

A Starbucks habit is not very thrifty, but it is a nice treat. I enjoy using my Starbucks gift card, and I recently learned about the rewards program with my gift card. Go here to register your gift card and take advantage of these rewards:

Free syrup and milk options for your beverage
Free brewed coffee refills (hot or iced)
Free Tall (12 fl oz) beverage with your 1 lb whole bean purchase
Up to two hours free AT&T Wi-Fi per day

AND

a free drink on your birthday!

Free coffee...I'm there!