Summer Harvest

Overall, the Square Foot Garden is doing fantastic, especially considering this is my first year. We have a steady supply of Roma tomatoes, delicious meaty Bush Goliath tomatoes, and crisp green peppers. It has been wonderful to just run outside to pick a warm-from-the-sun red tomato to add to a sandwich or sprinkle over a salad.

My favorite tomato meal has been combining a vine-ripened tomato with fragrant garden-fresh basil, mozzarella and drizzling with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Delicious... and so healthy too!

Despite the fact that I am not a cucumber lover, I did add one plant to the garden. We have picked two huge cukes so far and I've used them for homemade tzatziki sauce to serve over burgers. Yum!! Christopher is my official cucumber helper and he daily runs out to a garden with a ruler to see how large the cukes have grown.

The beans are about done so next year I need to either plant the ever-producing pole variety or do several plantings of the bush green beans.

I chopped some of the green peppers and dried them in the dehydrator for use later in the year. I have two pepper plants but next year I think I'll add more.

About my only total failure was zucchini. I had two plants which both (I think) fell prey to the dreaded squash beetle. I must be the only person on earth who cannot grow zucchini. Too bad ... it's one of my favorite veggies!

I'm Baaaaack!!

After a much needed break from clipping coupons, researching sales and driving around town to find bargains, I am ready to get back to work. CVS has some great sales and ECB deals this week.

Above is "round one" of my CVS shopping. The best deal this week is the bagged Life Savers or Gummi Savers BOGO. There are BOGO coupons available (from the 6/8 Smart Source insert) which makes the bags FREE! But what is even better than free, is being PAID to take the Life Savers out of the store. This week's ad offers $5 ECB's when you purchase $10 of assorted candy, and the Life Savers are part of the deal.

So, purchase 10 bags and hand over 5 BOGO coupons. The candy will be totally free and you'll earn $5 ECB's. The deal limit is three, so you can do this deal three times, or purchase 30 bags at once to receive $15 ECB's.

There have been problems with the coupon beeping so be forewarned. If a cashier questions you and says something like "you can't use this coupon because then you'll get both bags free" you need to be able to respond intelligently. I always say very pleasantly that "Yes, I will get both bags free. However, I am paying for one of the bags with this coupon. CVS will be reimbursed for not only the purchase price for that bag, but also an additional $.08." Others have contacted CVS Customer Care when challenged by a cashier and the official CVS position is that both items in a BOGO sale with a BOGO coupon would be free. Unfortunately, many cashiers and managers have a mistaken understanding of the CVS coupon policy.

Another great deal is the "purchase $20 of selected Procter & Gamble products, receive $10 ECB's." I purchased four Stayfree and used one $2/2 coupon and two BOGO coupons. My total was only $19 so I added one of the Johnson's Baby Products at $3.99 and used a $1 coupon. Total OOP is $9.99 and then earn $10 ECB's.

Also, the Revlon Limited Edition Collection is a money maker. Purchase one of the sale items for $9.99, use a $1 coupon (4/6 Smart Source) and receive $9.99 ECB's. I had one $2 Revlon coupon but I'm not sure where it came from, so there may be other $2 Q's lurking out there.

Band-Aids are free if you have the $1 coupon in the 4/27 Red Plum insert.. Purchase a variety for $2.99, use the Q, and receive $2 ECB's. Our area only had a $.50 coupon but they still make for really cheap bandages!

Also free are the Schick Intuition Razors. On sale for $3.99 and there is a $4 coupon in the 6/29 Smart Source insert.

Oh, and don't forget the free One Touch Mini Glucose Monitor! It's on sale for $19.99 and there is a $20 coupon in today's paper making it a freebie.

The photo above is from my first trip. So far I have made three CVS outings. I still need to max out the Life Saver deal on my husband's card, so I'll be going back later in the week. My totals so far are:

* 40 bags Life Savers candy
* 2 packs Band-Aids
* 1 Revlon Lipstick
* 1 Revlon Eye Shadow
* 2 One Touch Mini Glucose Monitors
* 2 Lumene Face Cleansing Wipes (free with CRT)
* 4 Stayfree
* 1 Johnson & Johnson Baby Wash
* 2 Schick Intuition Razors

Total OOP $8.62 Earned $53.98 in ECB's!!

Fun (and free!!) Sunflower Project

If you're looking for a fun summer project for kids (or kids of all ages, for that matter), visit The Great Sunflower Project .

Sign up online and you'll receive a free packet of sunflower seeds. Plant the seeds in a container or directly in the ground. Then, twice a month you'll time to see how long it takes for your flower to attract 5 bees. The data will help scientists to learn about the current state of bee activity, specifically in home and community gardens.

Hurry, the free seed offer ends June 15!

Broccoli Salad

We harvested another big bunch of broccoli tonight, so I decided to make some frugal broccoli salad! I used free garden broccoli, $.50/lb bacon and sale Vidalia onions, mayo and cheese. Simply delicious! This salad tastes even better the next day. The recipe is originally from Allrecipes.

Bodacious Broccoli Salad

8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 heads fresh broccoli, chopped
1 1/2 cups sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 large red onion, chopped
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/8 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

In a large bowl, combine broccoli, cheese, bacon and onion.

Prepare the dressing in a small bowl by whisking together the red wine vinegar, sugar, pepper, salt, mayonnaise and lemon juice.

Combine dressing with salad. Cover, and refrigerate until ready to serve. Makes approximately 12 servings.

Free Sierra Mist and Free (or almost) Nail Polish at CVS

CVS had a few great deals this Memorial Day weekend. These particular sales are good only May 25 and 26, so hurry!


FREE SIERRA MIST: Sierra Mist is on sale buy-one-get-one-free. Visit coupons.com to print out a BOGO coupon. You should be able to print two coupons. Pick up 4 bottles, present your two coupons and all four should be free!

FREE NAIL POLISH (after ECB's): All Revlon Nail polish are on sale for $3.99. Purchase the Colorstay variety and use the $2 Revlon Color Product coupon from the 5/18 Smart Source insert for $1.99 OOP. Then, you'll receive $3 ECB's! Limit is 3.


$.16 MUSTARD: French's Mustard is on sale for $.66. Print off a coupon here (or use insert coupons from March 9 Smart Source) and pay only $.16.

Square Foot Garden Update... May 24

It’s been almost a month since I last posted a garden update (shame on me). Since that time the little garden has exploded! We’ve harvested green onions, spinach, radishes, broccoli, herbs, lettuce and a few strawberries. I have enough lettuce for daily salads and the butter lettuce is so tasty I hope I never have to go back to grocery store bagged lettuce again!

The broccoli is just amazing. We’ve harvested several heads and there are tons of new heads forming. Despite having three broccoli lovers in the family, I think I will be blessed to be able to freeze some for later!

I’ve pulled out my old Ronco dehydrator and have dried green onions and lots of parsley. I plan to dry other herbs if they start getting overgrown.

My newest garden project is starting a compost bin. Well, a compost trash can actually. Our homeowner’s association won’t allow compost bins but I turned an old Rubbermade trash can into a bin. I just put it together today and added grass clippings, kitchen peelings and scraps, and shredded newspaper. Hopefully Mother Nature will do her magic and turn the garbage into wonderful, rich soil over time. We’ll find out!

Graduation on a Budget

When every extra dollar goes to pay off debt, extra expenses like planning a graduation puts creativity to the test. My son Mark graduated 8th grade from his Catholic grade school and at our school it’s a big event. An entire week of fun graduation activites are planned for the kids, such as 8th grade vs. teacher volleyball game, trip to Worlds of Fun, bowling and pizza, etc., etc. All these events are covered by the school budget, but not the famous "surprise locker decoration day"!

It’s a tradition for the parents to decorate the kids’ lockers in with their new high school colors to surprise the kids on one of the last days. As I watched other moms and dads decorate their student’s lockers I couldn’t believe the amount of $$ that was spent! Helium balloons, custom high school pennants, candy, stuffed animals, etc. But I could secretly smile because, while my son’s locker may not have been the fanciest, it was for sure the CHEAPEST... and he loved it!

The only real out-of-pocket expense was for the navy foam to create the Lee’s Summit West high school banner. I used a logo printed off their website for decoration, along with odds and ends of paper from my scrapbook stash. I blew up a few balloons from home, and taped on 2008 graduation sunglasses and a homemade visor. The sunglasses, as well as the candy, bear and other goodies inside the locker were purchased using Walgreen’s register rewards. I also "bought" with RR’s a frame that could be autographed by all of Mark’s classmates.

It took a little bit of work and ingenuity, but even a tightwad like me could create a fairly decorative locker!

Walgreens Totals... 5/24

I am so slow in posting my Walgreens totals, but here they are:

8 Gillette 2-in-1 body wash
36 Nabisco cookies (Oreos, Nilla Wafers, Chips Ahoy, etc.)
2 Cascade
5 Charmin wipes
20 Venus Embrace razors
91 Crest Pro Health Toothpaste
12 Zantac
145 Covergirl make-up (shown above)
plus miscellaneous fillers such as popcorn and chicken broth

Total OOP = approximately $50

Earned RR’s $311


All the RR’s are finally spent which was no small feat in itself. My local Walgreens will allow only one RR with each order so I did multiple small orders to keep my OOP as low as possible. I’m too lazy to pull out all my receipts to get exact totals, but I purchased the following items:

clearance outdoor solar lights
potting mix
chocolate milk
eggs
bacon
lunchmeat
hamburger buns
tons of popcorn
honey
olives
canned fruit
ice cream for the kids
some WAG May rebate items
hand cream
dried fruit
paper plates
plastic cups
graduation gifts and decorating items
Mother’s Day cards
etc, etc.

I’m exhausted but this latest Procter & Gamble deal was the best. Thanks Walgreens!!

How I Love Walgreens!

Walgreens has a spectacular deal this week with Procter & Gamble products! Check out today's ad, pages 5, 28 and 29. What makes the deal even sweeter are the fantastic P&G coupons in today's newspaper. Hence the extra copies I bought, shown above.

This picture shows what I am referring to as "Stage 1" of the P&G deal. I'm going back throughout the week to buy more, if that's possible. This P&G deal can roll into the Zantac $3 RR and Venus Embrace $6RR so your OOP total is very low even with minimal coupons.

The best deal if you don't have a huge stash of Q's is to purchase 9 of the Crest Pro Health 4.2 oz toothpaste. Use the $3 off 2 coupon found in the Walgreen's May EasySaver catalog (or you can print the coupon from Walgreen's web site). OOP will be $9 plus tax and you'll earn $20 RR!

My totals for Sunday morning:

• 60 Crest Pro Health Toothpaste
• 4 Venus Embrace Razors
• 2 Cascade
• 7 Zantac
• 10 Newspapers
• 6 Covergirl eye shadows
• 2 Covergirl bronzers
• 3 Covergirl blush
• 6 Covergirl Lipslicks
• 2 Covergirl Nail Polish
• 4 Candy Bars (fillers)

Total OOP ("real cash money paid") was approximately $24. Best of all, I still have $151 RR's left to spend!!! They will be used to continue the deal this week, to buy items for the May monthly rebates, and miscellaneous items we "need."

What's stopping YOU from getting a great deal too??!!

Walgreens Haul...May 1

My favorite kind of shopping is when I come home with multiple bags of "stuff" and no money spent out of pocket. Shouldn't it be like this all the time??

Walgreens had some fairly good deals this week both with and without coupons. I paid using my last two $6 RR's from the Suave deal and about $4 on my Walgreens gift card which I received from doing last month's rebates.

The Butterball chicken broth also goes toward May's EasySaver rebate. Amazingly, all of these items are things I will actually use!!

3 Bounty Basic

5 Jello

8 Butterball chicken broth

6 Reynolds foil

6 Softsoap pumps

4 Morton Salt

TOTAL OOP = $0!!

Our first harvest??

If a few sprigs of oregano and some radish thinnings mixed in with our pasta count, then yes!

The square foot garden is doing great. The green onions are almost 6 inches tall (which I've read is when you can start yanking them), the broccoli has really grown and has formed what we call "baby broccoli," and lettuce and radishes are growing great.

This weekend, if time allows we'll get plant tomatoes and peppers, chives and basil. I might even attempt growing one zucchini plant vertically... yum!

Debt Snowball Garage Sale...a success!

Last weekend we held a garage sale to raise money toward debt payoff. Since our neighborhood only allows two garage sales per year (and they pick the dates) we were forced to open on Friday despite unseasonably cold temperatures and rain.

These pictures were taken on Saturday which had (unbelievably) even less traffic than Friday! However, we managed to net $452, most of which was from my coupon deals, books and kids clothes.

After treating ourselves to a frugal barbecue dinner (using a coupon from restaurant.com) and subtracting some well-deserved blow money, we applied the remaining $420 to our debt snowball. Hurray!

Good Deal Alert...Suave

Walgreens has an amazing deal this week! This may be a glitch, so get in while ya can!

Here's how it works: Purchase four different Suave 22.5 oz shampoo or conditioner and receive a $6 Register Reward. There are coupons for Suave available (from the 2/10 Red Plum insert), but it is a great deal even without coupons. The shampoo and conditioner are on sale buy one get one 50% off, which works out to $4.64 without coupons.

So, you invest the $4.64 and receive four shampoo and a $6 RR. Then, you can roll this RR toward your next purchase of Suave! Normally RR's do not roll, but this one is working. On your next trip purchase another four Suave shampoo/conditioner and about $1.40 of whatever you'd like. (I bought Ramen noodles, chicken broth, popcorn, seasonings and cheapo cookies.) Hand over your $6 RR to lower your total to just pocket change. (Depending on what I purchased I paid between $.09 and $.50) Best of all, you'll receive another $6 RR. Rinse and repeat!!

Keep in mind, if you do have coupons you'll need to increase the amount of extra items purchased along with your shampoo.

I did two transactions each at four Walgreen's this morning and plan to do another round tonight. Isn't shopping fun??!!

Garden Update

Despite perpetually cloudy skies and unseasonably cold days, we do have sprouts! Two varieties of lettuce, spinach, garlic and onions all have popped up, but we're still waiting on the carrots.

The parsley, oregano, thyme and rosemary are all growing well.

The cabbage and strawberries were damaged from a hailstorm on the 10th, but I'm hopeful they'll pull through. I guess I need to look into how to protect plants from storms...

I will plant a second batch of lettuce and spinach this weekend so that we'll have a second crop once the first is harvested.

The space for the tomatoes and zucchini is all cleared and I found a cool, fairly inexpensive trellis on sale at Lowes's which I'll try to work into the budget. The tomatoes, zucchini and peppers won't get planted until early May.

Make-up Mania at CVS

I got a great deal on Covergirl foundation at CVS on Saturday (4/12) and was able to combine their weekly deal (buy $20 of Covergirl receive $10 ECB's) and their monthly Covergirl deal (purchase a Trublend Whipped Foundation and receive $6 ECB's).

I bought:
2 Covergirl Trublend Mineral Make-up
2 Covergirl Whipped Foundation
1 Covergirl Advanced Radiance Foundation
1 Covergirl Advanced Foundation

Used three Covergirl BOGO Q's and two $1 Q's. Paid using $22.98 in ECB's and received back $28 in ECB's.

The same Covergirl BOGO coupons can be used at CVS this week (4/13-4/19) to receive free make-up since they have a BOGO sale. However, the items that earn ECB's for the monthly deal are excluded. But heck, free is good too!!

And, lest anyone wonder what I do with all the make-up, anything I don't need will go in the garage sale pile. I have a ton of "good deals" just waiting for our neighborhood's semi-annual garage sale later this month. Proceeds will definitely go toward our debt snowball!

CVS Haul 4/6

I just love CVS! In two transactions today I came home with $63.48 with zero OOP (paid with coupons, ECB's and less than $2 on a CVS gift card). Plus I still have $18.98 of ECB's for the next round of shopping.

5 Excedrin

2 Swiffer Wet Refills

1 10" planter

2 8" planters1 pair garden gloves (impulse purchases)

1EOB gift bag

2 EOB make-up applicators

4 Heinz vinegar

2 Newspapers

2 CVS Rapid Release

2 EOB facial buffers

3 EOB nail brushes

1 EOB massager

1 York Peppermint Patty (a treat for the shopper!)

My favorite transaction is the April Essence of Beauty (EOB) monthly deal. Anytime this month purchase three EOB items and receive $5 ECB's. This can be repeated five times per CVS card.

The most popular EOB products are the shower gel, body spray and body lotion, but the most profitable items are simple tools like a $1.99 nail brush or even a $1.49 gift bag. I bought a variety of little items for a total of three deals, but will do all gift bags on the next two transactions. For each set of three bags I'll pay only $4.47 (actual OOP will be zero because I will pay using ECB's) and I will receive $5 ECB's back. Fun!!

Free True Lemon Samples!!

Click here for a sample of True Lemon or True Lime! True Lemon gives your water or recipe fresh squeezed lemon and lime taste from a packet or bottle.

Square Foot Gardening

My desire to eat a salad without breaking the bank has turned into an interesting gardening enterprise! It all started this winter when I went on a salad kick but balked at expensive pre-packaged salad mixes. What if I grew my own lettuce this spring??

At first I salivated over the thought of owning a pricey ($165!!) AeroGarden. Wouldn't it be cool to grow my own lettuce indoors without dirt or any fuss or muss? But then my frugal side kicked in. I could grow the lettuce outdoors in a pot. A pack of lettuce seeds couldn't be more than $1.50, could they?

Now the quest for cheap, homegrown lettuce had become an obsession. I was doing online research when I discovered someone mentioning Square Foot Gardening... hmmm. Now I could grow lettuce (several varieties), plus radishes, carrots, and green onions. And while I'm thinking big, how 'bout broccoli, bush beans and strawberries??!!

Long story short I purchased the Square Foot Gardening book (using a coupon, of course!), a pile of lumber and some concrete cinder blocks. I borrowed a power drill and actually put the 4x4 foot garden boxes together myself. (It was my first time building anything and the execution was probably lacking, but I am still proud :)

Now we have two boxes built, elevated about 22 inches off the ground. That should keep away the pesky (but cute) bunnies that normally invade our yard. We planted some cool weather items (lettuce, broccoli, spinach, parsley, rosemary) and will add beans, radishes and more herbs later in the season.

We also planted carrots in a deeper container and two pots of strawberries. I'll add tomatoes and peppers in containers when the warm weather arrives.

This is a pretty intimidating project for a woman with NO green thumb, but an exciting challenge all the same. Can't wait for the harvest!

CVS Clearance Find

It must be over two weeks since I have stepped foot into Walgreens or CVS for some serious bargain hunting. I decided to stop in CVS before driving the afternoon carpool and purchase some Softsoap Spa Radiance which is free after ECB's from this weeks's ad.

Imagine my surprise to find Pioneer Photo Album 2-packs on clearance for $2.49 each! Each album holds more than 200 photos and are great for gift albums. I snapped up all four sets.

Total OOP = $0.00!! (I paid using ECB's and a CVS gift card that was free with filling a prescription.) Earned back $24.95 ECB's!!

Tip of the Week

This week's money saving tip is to check and double-check your mail-in refunds and rebates BEFORE the deadline!! This can prevent costly errors.

Case in point... the March Walgreens EasySaver catalog. I was expecting to send in for a $44.76 rebate, even had the form filled out and receipts circled and labeled. However, when I double-checked everything two days AFTER the deadline for purchases, I realized I was $2 short for one of the refunds...which cost me $5!

Five dollars certainly doesn't seem like a big deal, unless it is on a Walgreens gift card that can be stretched, and combined with coupons, and used to purchase items for NEXT month's rebates. So, lesson learned :) Triple check the math!!

Restaurant.com

Dining out while on a budget is, at least for our family, almost non-existent. We do budget for occasional take-out from Subway or McDonald's, but a sit-down dinner is a rarity.

While chatting with some online friends yesterday I discovered Restaurant.com. For $10 you can purchase $25 gift certificates to a variety of local restaurants. Restaurant.com helps restaurant owners promote the new and unique aspects of their restaurants while providing diners with great value in a fun, new and cost effective way.

Just visit the Restaurant.com website and plug in your zip code to see the available restaurants. We found one of our favorites in the Kansas City area...Waldo Pizza.

To make the deal even sweeter, if you purchase the gift certificate before March 31 and use the coupon code GENIUS you receive that same $25 gift certificate for only $4!!!!!

Some restrictions do apply so check out the terms for your particular restaurant of choice. Waldo Pizza requires a $40 minimum purchase which is no problem for a family of 5, and it is valid on dine-in service only.

I purchased our gift certificate this morning and the process couldn't have been easier. Just enter your name and address, choose a password, and pay via credit, debit or Paypal. You'll be able to instantly print out your gift certificate which is good for a whole year.

What a fantastically frugal way to "budget" in a little splurge!!

Walgreens 4 Day Sale

Stock up on super cheap batteries, scotch tape and coffee (among other things) at Walgreens, 3/26 through 3/29! Click here for printable store coupons.

Happy Easter!

This year we had a happy and FREE Easter, thanks to Walgreen's Register Rewards and CVS Extra Care Bucks. Smart shopping is so much fun!

Frugal Menus for the Week of 3/23-3/30

In an effort to save money and enjoy fresh produce this summer, I am planning a Square Foot Garden. For the time being any surplus grocery money will help to finance building the garden boxes, special potting soil, seeds and a new garden hose! Total spent on groceries for this week : $79.80 (which included stockpiling $.48 sour cream, $.67 eggs, $.27 frozen veggies, and $.26 evaporated milk).

Breakfasts:
Oatmeal
Frozen Waffles
Pop-Tarts
Eggs with Bacon
Cereal
...plus apples, yogurt, milk, juice

Lunches:
Peanut butter & jelly
Bologna & cheese sandwiches
Tuna fish
Fried rice
Leftovers
...plus carrots, grapes cookies, yogurt, milk, etc.

Dinners:
Monday: Chicken Noodle Soup, Crackers, pineapple parfaits

Tuesday: Leftover roast beef (from Easter), Napa Cabbage Salad, frozen dinner rolls

Wednesday: Spaghetti with meat sauce, green beans, salad

Thursday: Hamburgers with cheese, tomato, lettuce., homemade french fries, dip

Friday: Homemade pizza, salad

Saturday: Chicken patty sandwich with lettuce, tomato, mayo, carrots and dip, fruit

Sunday: Grilled Hot Dogs, Baked Beans, sliced apples

Snacks:
Pretzels
Carrots and dip
Grapes
Homemade yogurt
Popcorn
Peanut butter balls

Not-so-Frugal Easter Menu

We were planning to eat out for Easter and budgeted $100 to do so. We rarely dine out anymore so this is a bit of a splurge.

However, I came across a fantastic recipe by Giada at the Food Network. So now I've decided we'll stay home and feast on homemade gourmet food. Even though we will have a fairly expensisve dinner, we'll still save at least $50... which can go into our "gardening" fund. Oh, and we will get to enjoy leftovers too!

Easter Menu

Stracoto Beef with Porcini Mushrooms

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Asian Sugar Snap Peas

Fresh Blackberry Cobbler with Whipped Cream

Total Cost: $41.03

Freebies

Get a free sample of new Dove Go Fresh Deodorant and hair care samples. Just fill out a quick survey ... http://www.dovegofresh.com/

Love yogurt? Get a coupon for a free package of Yoplait Kids Yogurt. I got mine in the mail yesterday! http://www.yoplait.com/products_yoplaitkids.aspx

Frugal Flops

Despite the best laid plans, carefully-crafted spreadsheets, alphabetized coupons and shopping strategies, sometimes our deals, well, flop.

I had two such experiences this weekend which caused me to reflect on "frugal failures." Neither were earth-shattering failures, but they were disappointments. At one store I paid $2 more than I expected; at a second store I was left with a whopping $11 OOP! Rather than wallow in self-pity, I decided to treat these flops as learning experiences.

If you learn something from every deal then there is no failure. What are some of those lessons?

1. You can't control every outcome. Despite our best efforts we cannot control beeping coupons, items ringing up at the wrong price, surly cashiers or ECB's not spitting out when they're supposed to.
2. Always have a "plan b." I've learned this from playing the CVS game. I can work out a scenario to the penny and then have one or more items be out of stock. The unexpected always throws me in a tizzy! Since I am mathematically challenged I am sure to tuck a calculator and pen in my purse in case I need to do some last-minute calculations on my shopping list. Or, better yet, figure multiple scenarios without even leaving home.
3. Always bring extra coupons for the items you are purchasing...just in case!
4. If you don't carry all your coupons in the store, make sure to bring your coupon box or binder and leave it in the car. I personally am guilty of "forgetting" this one. I can't even count the number of times I've been in Walgreens and found a great clearance deal but couldn't take advantage because my coupons were at home.
5. Treat your frugal shopping be a game, rather than as a chore. It really is OK to skip a deal or even to avoid the stores for a time. As with any game, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. There WILL be times things don't go as planned. Take this into account and "budget" for failures like that higher-than-expected OOP. Then when things go as well (or better) than expected you can celebrate!

Living on a budget necessarily means more time and effort spent in planning and shopping, but it should not become a dreaded chore. And a deal that goes awry or a high out-of-pocket is not cause for beating yourself up. Look at your frugal flops for what they are... learning experiences and not failures. Think of all the times your smart shopping has benefited your family! Remember of all the times your stockpile has allowed you to donate to food pantries or a favorite charity. Be happy each time you pull out a bag of almost-free chocolate to give to a teacher or friend on a whim. Concentrate on the positives.

Viva Viactiv!

No, Viactiv is not a performance enhancement drug, LOL. Viactiv manufacturers vitamins and supplements geared toward women, like delicious chocolate and caramel flavored calcium chews and their "Glides" which are multi-vitamin pills with a berry-flavored coating.

Unfortunately this is not a current deal, but last week Walgreens had the 50-60 count Viactiv Glides on clearance for $3.49. They also had a 7-day ad coupon for $3 off of Viactiv products, AND an Easy Saver coupon for $2 off Viactiv Glides. You can use both coupons at Walgreens.

What this meant was that for each clearance bottle of Viactiv purchased, you received the Viactiv free PLUS $1.51 overage!! I only found the clearance bottles at two Walgreens stores, but as you can see from the photo I didn't hesitate to clear the shelves.

Total "take home" was 34 bottles Viactiv Glides, six boxes of chews -- all free -- plus $51.34 of free merchandise, mainly grocery items and products for the Walgreens rebates. This was my all time favorite deal!

Hummus Recipe

Hummus is a delicious, nutritious snack, but it can be very pricey purchased at the grocery store. Once you have the ingredients on hand, hummus can be very quickly made in the food processor or blender. Serve with pita bread, veggies, crackers, tortilla chips or toast.

Hummus

2 cups canned chickpeas, drained -- save liquid

4 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon kosher salt (if using regular salt, reduce to 1/2 teaspoon)

1/4 cup tahini (ground sesame paste)

1/4 cup lemon juice (fresh is best)

6 tablespoons liquid from chickpeas

few dashes hot sauce

1 teaspoon olive oil

Place all ingredients in a food processor (or blender) and process until the hummus is a smooth paste. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Frugal Menus for the Week 3/16-3/22

We're trying to pare down the grocery budget even further, so most of my meals this week will be using items from the pantry and freezer. Affectionately known as "pantry pillage" and "freezer forage"! Total spent on groceries for this week : $58.01 (this included the $.67 Heath bar impulse purchase for the shopper)!

Breakfasts:

Oatmeal
Frozen Waffles
Pop-Tarts
Eggs with Bacon
Cereal
...plus apples, bananas, yogurt, milk, juice


Lunches:
Peanut butter & jelly
Chicken fingers & dip
Macaroni & cheese
...plus carrots, bananas, grapes cookies, yogurt, milk, etc.


Dinners:
Monday: Hamburgers with cheese, tomato, etc., homemade french fries, dip

Tuesday: Chinese Chicken, cabbage salad, sliced apples

Wednesday: Parmesan Tilipia, couscous, frozen veggies

Thursday: Out... Buffalo Wild Wings to celebrate birthdays!


Good Friday: Hot Cross Buns, rice and beans with corn tortillas

Saturday: Chicken patty sandwich with lettuce, tomato, mayo, carrots and dip, fruit


Easter Sunday: Out...restaurant to be determined!


Snacks:
Pretzels
Homemade hummus (see recipe)
Carrots and dip
Grapes
Homemade yogurt

CVS Freebies...Week of 3/16

Don't ya love freebies! CVS has several for the week March 16-22. There are manufacturer's coupons available for a few of the items to turn them into money-makers!

Listerine Smart Rinse For Kids...$2.99 minus this $1 printable coupon for OOP of $1.99. Earn $2.99 ECB's back to make a buck! (There is also a manufacturer's rebate for this item...check stores for the mail-in form.)

Maybelline Superstay Lipcolor or Gloss... Sale price $8.99; earn $8.99 ECB's.

Hershey's Pot of Gold Premium or Nut Assortment 7.7-12oz ... Sale price $4.99; earn $4.99 ECB's. This deal can be done twice.

Confectionary Lane Jelly Beans 9oz ... Sale price $.99; earn $.99 ECB's. This deal can be done twice.

Plastic Eggs Large 12ct or Extra Large 6ct ... Sale price $.99; earn $.99 ECB's. This deal can be done twice.

Oral B Cross Action Pro-Health or Vitalizer Toothbrush ... Sale price $4.99 minus $1 coupon (2/10 Procter & Gamble insert) for OOP of $3.99. Earn $4.99 ECB's to make a buck. This deal can be done twice.

Happy shopping!

Good Deal Alert...BeFine at CVS

One of CVS's March monthly deals from their Extra Value Book is "purchase any BeFine Skin Care Product get $3 Extra Care Bucks (ECB's)." These are skin care products made from fruits and vegetables and have yummy-sounding names like "Exfoliating Cleanserwith Brown Sugar, Sweet Almond & Oats." Most of the full-size products retail for about $15.99.

However, if you purchase the trial size packets at $1.99 you will still receive the $3 ECB's! Some stores even have the trial size packets on clearance and those are reported to be generating the ECB's as well. The limit is five ECB's per card.

Walgreens Haul...Part 1

Walgreens had one of the best RR deal ever the week of March 2. Purchase two packs of Olay soap (at $2 each) and receive $4 in Register Rewards (RR's). Free soap sounds like a good deal, right? But the kicker is that there were $2 Olay soap coupons to make the soap totally free. So you paid nothing and received $4 RR's and two packs of soap... sweet!

I did the deal multiple times and ended up with over $120 in RR's. The only drawback is that the RR's can be spent only one at a time, which means I have been hitting Walgreens multiple times a day to spend my RR's. I've tried to concentrate spending the RR's for staples like milk, butter and eggs, items for Easter, and products that will earn rebates.

An easy (and delicious) way to spend the RR's was to purchase Oscar Mayer Ready-to-Serve Bacon which was on sale 2/$4. I think I ended up with 10 packs and paid only tax for each set of two. Yummy since I enjoy eggs and bacon almost every morning!

Pop-Tart Pyramid

This certainly isn't one of my best deals, but the kids certainly think it is one of the tastiest! Target has a $.50 coupon on Pop-Tarts which I combined with the Kellogg's manufacturer's coupon. Each box ended up costing only $.52 cents.

Total 14 boxes Pop-Tarts..... OOP = $7.28

My First Post

Wow! My teenage son will be so proud that mom has a blog! Not that I expect anyone but family to read this, but I am starting a blog partly to satisfy my need to scrapbook important areas of my life. I've made albums for years but it's been tough to keep up lately. The immediate reward of posting words and a picture or two might be easier to do online rather than in a paper album. We'll see!

I expect that most of my posts will be regarding saving money, coupon deals, cheapo recipes and frugality! Our family has gone through Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University and are working toward becoming debt free. Although I have couponed and sent for rebates off and on in the past, I really have become quite obsessed with getting great deals and freebies since July 2007. Every little bit we can chip off the grocery budget allows more money to be paid toward our debt snowball. Hence the title of my blog!

So if anyone other than myself is reading this....welcome!!