T.G.I. Fridays

Want a free burger? Well, become a friend on Facebook to get one. Once you become a fan, click "Register" !

K-Mart

Looking for a way to earn something a little extra for all of those Holiday gifts you are purchasing? Well, K-Mart is offering 3% back if you join their Christmas Club Card. Basically, you add money to the card until November 14, just like a gift card and then make purchases at K-mart, Sears or Lands End. In order to qualify, you must activate your card before October 31. For more information or to sign up check it out here!

Family Fun

Looking for something to do today? Head on over to Michael's from 10 am-2 pm. They are holding an American Girl Craft event for free today! For more information check it out here!

Thanks Shannon!

Catching Up

Do you ever feel like you have a million things to do and you can never get them all done because as soon as you check on off the list it's dirty again? That's how I feel today. You know, you get all the laundry done, only to find a big pile in your kids room or the bathroom.

Today, I've been taking some time to make a "to do" list and let me tell you it's LONG! I'm trying to cut myself some slack because about a month ago, I had back surgery. I wasn't able to clean much of anything when my back was really bad, so things have gone by the wayside and now, I'm overwhelmed.

Does anyone have a good system to stay on top of things? I'd really like to be able to sit in a comfy chair and not feel guilty because something needs clean. Let me know how you keep it together!

My Saving Story Part 2

Shopping a multiple stores.....HUH?

I know what you are all thinking...I don't have time to shop at one store, let alone 3 or 4. I used to think the same way, not to mention there are times I hate to go shopping! But, one major way I have found to save money is to shop the sales, not the stores.

Now, if you are still thinking you can't do one more thing in your schedule, just continue to read. If you haven't read my coupon article yet, please do because what I'm about to tell you will hopefully save you time and money!

Here's my routine: Once I make my list (grocery and otherwise), and clip my coupons from online and the Sunday news, I review the sales. I tend to look at Giant, CVS, Walgreens (Wags), Rite Aid, Family Owned Markets, Weis, SKH and Target. (WHAT? Yep, I look at them, but most of the time I go to about 4 stores in 1 week, and depending on our situation, I might only go to 1 store.) Now, I go back to my list and coupons and do match ups. I write a list for each store I want to go to and then I file the coupons that I need for that store in my coupon organizer. I probably have 10 items or less on each stores list, it will be different each week and different for everyone (I have a 3 person family). Knowing what I need ahead of time and organizing my coupons really saves me money at the store (plus I don't get sucked into buying items we really don't need) and once you get your own system, it won't take you long to organize your coupon match-ups!

I know what you are saying, "I'd rather just shop at one store than go all over the place, I'd rather pay for the convenience of it." I used to think that way too. I never thought I'd be one of these people making multiple trips to the store or mall, but I saw the results. It's worth my time to save $60+ a week in groceries a lone. I honestly spend no more than 20 mins in each store and you don't have to go to the most beautiful Giant or the biggest Weis. Sometimes, the stores I need to go to are within a mile from each other, so I just go to those places because that will save me more time (not to mention gas)!

One other thing I do: Sometimes, stores will offer a high value coupon, such as $10 off $50 or 40% off one item. I don't spend over $50 because I will go back and use another coupon to get another $10 off my purchase because I stockpile (I will write more on this). If the coupon is for 1 item, I only purchase 1 at a time. Sometimes you will get a nice cashier and they will let you split your order so you can use 2 coupons, so it doesn't hurt to ask and if you don't have time to go back to the store, just get back in line!

Still skeptical? Just try it for a few weeks to see if this will work for you!

Do you have any great tips? If so, please share them with us!

A Couple of Freebies

Free Beach Nut Baby Food (you have to sign up for their newsletter, but they include high value coupons!)

Free Honey Nut Cheerios and $1.00 coupon

Free Dairy Queen Blizzard when you buy one, plus $1.00 off

Free Kashi cereal sample

Free subscription to Kiwi Magazine (I love this magazine, great information for going green/organic) Thanks Coupon Gal!

The Wizard of Oz

The 70th anniversary celebration of The Wizard of Oz will be showing across the country on the big screen for 1 night only. Local readers can enjoy this movie with their families at Penn Cinema's on Wednesday, September 23 at 7pm. Price is $10.00, but if you love this movie as much as I do (actually it my #2 most favorite movie), it will be well worth it!

For locations across the country check here!

Couponing

Don't get discouraged if at first you only save a few dollars (which is fabulous already)! Your savings will ebb and flow. I know I went to the store once and my total was $130.57 before coupons and I walked out the door paying only $18.98. I haven't been able to do that well since, but I am still saving money. Any money saved while shopping is money in your pocket to do something else with.

Weis Deals--Week of 9-17-09

Shannon, over at For the Mommas has the best Weis deals for this week.

Here are my favorites!

Keebler Chips Deluxe $2.99 BOGO
use $1.00/1 PRINTABLE HERE
$1.99 for 2 after coupon

Select Kelloggs Cereal 4/$7.00
use $1.50/2 PRINTABLE HERE
use $2.00/2 in 08/30 RP
as low as $.75 each after coupon

8th Continent Soy Milk $2.50
use $2.00/1 PRINTABLE HERE
$.50 after coupon

Pilsbury Cinnamon or Crescent Rolls $1.50
use $1.00/1 PRINTABLE HERE
$.50 each after coupon

Thanks Shannon!

American Baby

Go over here to sign up for 6 free issues to American Baby!

Thanks Coupon gal!

SKH Week of 9-16 to 9-22-09

Sorry this is up late! Let me know if you see any deals that I missed!

Large Eggs--$.85

Thomas' English Muffins (12 pack)--$1.97

Hatfield Bacon--B1G1 Free

Mini Wheats--2 for $5.00

use $1.50/2 Printable

$3.50 for 2

Welches Grape Jelly--2 for $4.00

use $.75/1 Printable

$1.00 each

Progresso Broth--$1.99

use $.50/1 Printable or here (DND)

$1.49 for 1

Kotex Tampons--$2.99

use $1.00/1 from 8/23 Smart Source (SS)

$1.99 for 1

Wheat Thins--$3.49

use $1.00/2 Printable

$2.99 each

Keebler Chips Deluxe 2 for $5.00

use $1.00/2 Printable or $1.00/2 from 8/2 Red Plum

$3.00-$4.00 for 2

Aunt Jemina Syrup or Pancake Mix--2 for $5.00

Use $1.00/2 from Red Plum 8/30

$4.00 for 2

Purex 3 in 1--$4.99

use $1.00/1 Printable

$3.99 for 1

Huggies Diapers--$8.99

use $2.00/1 printable

Swiss Miss Half Gallons--$.99

Advil PM (20 ct)--$3.99

use $1.00/1 from 9/13 Red Plum insert

$2.99 each

Pillsbury Grandes--3 for $4.00

use $1.00/2 Printable or here or $.30/2 7/12 Smart Source insert

$1.66 for 2

Green Giant Boxed Veggies--4 for $5.00

$.50/2 from 9/13 Smart Source insert

$1.50 for 2

Mackintosh Apples--$.89 lb

Celery--2 for $3

Bartlett Pears--$.99 lb.

Boneless Chuck Roasts--$1.88 lb.

Don't forget to sign up for SKH's loyal customer club to receive $5.00 off any grocery purchase of $75.00 or more!

Stauffers of Kissel Hill

Hi everyone!

I'm a little late getting the SKH list together! Make sure to check back tomorrow, as I will have the list up! There are a few good deals there worth checking out!

Michael's

Here's a new 50% off one item coupon for Michael's which expires on September 22!

Thanks CouponGal!

Home Depot Garden Club

Home Depot has a coupon for Mums through their Garden Club. You do have to sign up for the coupon, but the coupon is for B1G1 free!

My mom just bought be a mum for our front porch, it's so beautiful, but I might have to go and check these out!

Picture People

Picture people has another great coupon they just released. Buy 2 Classic portraits and get 1 free. That's 3 framed & matted pictures for $96.00!

This is a great deal for Christmas or other holiday for family members (I know Michael's grandparents would love it!).

Kids Clothes

OshKosh B'gosh is having a great $10 and under sale. They also have a new coupon available for 20% off $50 or more here.

Carters is also have a great baby sale with a 20% off $50 or more coupon. Plus, buy $50 or more and get a diaper bag for $10.00.

How I save at the grocery store using coupons!

I'm sure there are many ways to organize and use coupons, this is my version. Once you get the hang of it, you will create your version, but hopefully this helps get you started!

I bought 2 letter sized plastic coupon organizers, I'm sure you have seen them, you can get them anywhere (but the key is letter-size). I placed labels on each divider (frozen, breakfast, Cleaners, Hygiene, Snacks, Baking, etc). Normally, I get a few Sunday Newspapers if I like the coupons and I cut out the ones I know I am going to use. The others that I haven't cut out, I place in a binder, just in case I hear about a good deal or a friend needs them. Next, I sort my coupons from online and the Sunday News and place in the appropriate area, making sure I place like coupons with each other.

Next, I make my grocery list, normally this is everything, what we need, what we would like to have and things that we maybe don't need right now, but we're running low. Now comes the fun part..... I check out the store circulars--all of them! From there, I widdle my list down. If we need something because we're running low and it's not on sale, I don't buy it. If we want something that we haven't had in a while as a treat and it's on sale AND I have a coupon, I buy it. Things that we need that usually don't come with coupons, I buy anyway, i.e. milk, produce, etc. But typically, I wait for a sale to pair with coupons and stock up (I will have another article on this soon!)

Next, I organize the coupons I am going to use that week and place in another coupon organizer. I find this to be extremely helpful, because everyone is busy, you don't have to fiddle around finding a coupon you want to use, it's right where you need it and you don't have to get them out and carry them around the store, just open up your organizer and give the stash to the cashier. I have labels on my organizer, such as: "This Week at XYZ", so I can get what's on the list and check out!

Since I'm a complete nut about organization, I also like to type my list out on Numbers (we have a Mac) and figure out the cost of each item and then subject the sub-total with my coupons to make sure I don't go over budget. (You must think I have a ton of time on my hands, but I really don't. Once you set up the spreadsheet, it takes about 5 mins to input each week. PLUS, it's a really good list to have if your husband goes shopping for you!)

Don't be discouraged if at first you are only saving a few dollars. The more you use coupons, the easier it will become to save and reduce your monthly grocery budget!

Dollar Store

Check out the Dollar Stores new coupon for:

10% off on health & beauty, laundry, cleaning chemicals, paper, pet, food and plastic bags

20% off on home decor, toys, giftware, apparel, seasonal, domestics & stationary

Coupon is only good for this Saturday & Sunday only!

New Express Coupon

Go over here to get a coupon for $30 Off your purchase of $75 or more OR $15 off your purchase of $30. They are having a great B1G1 50% off sale, so this should make for some good deals!

Hurry, offer expires September 20, 2009.

PS--you can also use these codes for online shopping:

$15 off $30 use: 3060

$30 off $75 use: 3059

Join Right@Home

Go on over here to join Right@Home and receive great coupons, recipes, and a newsletter via email.

Right now they have some great cleaning coupons for Windex products.

New High Value Sara Lee Coupon

Hurry, this coupon won't last long. Go over here to print this great high value coupon from Sara Lee for $3.00 off any pre-sliced deli meat.

I've been hearing you can print this out up to 4 times. Don't walk to the printer...RUN!

Thanks For the Mommas and Bargain Briana

My Shopping Trips

Last night I took advantage of some of the sales at Giant and Weis. I also took a trip to Roots Market for some produce. Here is what I bought.

Here is the breakdown of what I spent and saved:

Weis: (Green Giant boxed Veggies, Campbell's Soup, Progresso Soup, Gum Toothbrushes, Tomato Sauce)

Total before coupons and Club Savings: $32.07

Total Club Savings: $13.31

Total Coupon Savings: $8.70

Total Out of Pocket: $10.06* PLUS, I got back $2.00 in catalina's to spend on my next trip

Giant: (Pasta, Ragu, Bread, Chips, Instant Pudding, Yogurt, Ground Turkey, Candy, Iced Tea--but I drank that on the way home!)

Total before coupons and Bonus Card: $40.01

Total Bonus Card Savings: $13.37

Total Coupon Savings: $11.35

Total Out of Pocket: $15.29*

Roots Market: (Bananas, Watermelon, Peaches, Apples, Peppers)

Total out of Pocket: $7.75

Grand Total OOP: $33.10

My weekly budget is $40 and under, so I did pretty good!

*I didn't go to the store organized with my coupons like I normally do, so I forgot to use some coupons that would have saved me another $6.00. Oh well, such is life!

Did you find any good bargains this week? If so, post them here!

H&M Coupon

Click here for a great coupon from H&M. Buy 1 item, get the other for 50% off! Hurry, coupon expires September 20, 2009!

$10 off coupon for Yankee Candle

Print this coupon to get $10.00 of a $25.00 candle purchase at Yankee Candle. These make great gifts! If you want to buy a bunch of candles, I'd suggest going back a few times to take advantage of this coupon each time!

Free XBox 360 Game!

HOT COUPON!!!

Go over here and print this $20.00 coupon for X Blades Game (on sale for $19.99) at Best Buy. This would make a great gift for Christmas or Birthday!

(You have to be a member of their Rewards Zone Gamers Club to use this coupon, but just ask anyone at Customer Service to apply in store!)

Thanks Coupon Gal!

Isaac's Coupons

Go here to join the Flamingo Fan Club at Isaac's Deli. Receive a free sandwich when you join, as well as exclusive discounts and offers and birthday dessert!

New Luvs Coupon and Sweepstakes

Go over here to sign up for Luvs Special Money Saving Offer (I hear it's a $5.00 off coupon that will be mailed to your home in 4-6 weeks) and while you are there, sign up to enter their "Diapers for a Year" Sweepstakes and "$5,000 retail gift card" Sweepstakes.

Hurry, this coupon isn't going to last long!

Butternut Squash Soup

It's really hard for me to post recipes of things that I make, unless I'm baking because my Grandma taught me to add a little of this and a little of that, so I really don't use measurements. But, here is my recipe for the Butternut Squash soup I made the other night with the squash I bought at the Amish farm for $1.00! I'm sure there are a ton of recipes out there, but this was my experiment and it was great!

1 butternut squash

2 c. chicken or vegetable stock (have more on hand in case the soup is too thick once you puree it)

1/4 c. evaporated milk (I used skim evaporated milk, but you can use heavy cream or other variety of milk if you want to)

1/8 c. onion

2 tsp. olive oil

2 tsp. cinnamon

1-2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

salt and pepper to taste

Pine Nuts and Olive Oil to garnish

1. Peel, clean and remove seeds from squash. Cut up squash into cubes and put on baking sheet.

2. Drizzle olive oil and cinnamon onto squash and add onions. Mix until it is coated.

3. Bake at 350 degrees until tender (about 30-40 mins depending on how thick you cut the squash).

4. Add stock to Dutch Oven or other heavy stock pot on medium on top of stove.

5. Add squash & onions to the stock mixture

6. Add pumpkin pie spice, salt and pepper and cook for 15 mins.

7. Once squash is very soft, puree with a handheld blender or add a little to a blender with the top off to allow the steam to come out. Blend until smooth, adding evaporated milk and/or extra stock to thin the puree.

8. Garnish with pine nuts and a drizzle of olive oil.

This will make 6 servings and approximate cost per serving is about: $.67 each!!!!

This soup is also great left over or you can freeze it for another meal!

Mambo Spourts Coupon Booklets

Go here to sign up to receive valuable coupon booklets for natural and organic products from Mambo Sprouts! They are sent to your home 3 times a year!

They also have a great variety of coupons on their website right now you can print!

Picture People

Go over here to get a coupon for a FREE 8x10, 2 5x7 and 8 wallet size prints of the same picture. Offer expires October 4, 2009.

Thanks, Coupon Gal!

Sunday Newspaper Coupons

Here is a list for the remainder of the year for coupons inserts that will be in the Sunday paper. Remember, coupons are regional, so you may or may not get all of those listed below.

September
20 — Smart Source, Red Plum
27 — Smart Source, Red Plum

October
4 — Smart Source, Red Plum, Procter and Gamble
11 — Smart Source, Red Plum
18 — Smart Source, Red Plum
25 — Smart Source, Red Plum

November
1 — Smart Source, Red Plum, Procter and Gamble
8 — Smart Source, Red Plum
15 — Smart Source, Red Plum
22 — Smart Source
29 — No Inserts (Thanksgiving)

December
6 — Smart Source, Red Plum, Procter and Gamble
13 — Smart Source, Red Plum
20 — No Inserts (Christmas)
27 — No Inserts (New Years)

Pillsbury Coupons

Go over here to sign up for Pillsbury coupons (over $100 worth of coupons a year) and e-newsletter with recipes.

Save up to $130 with Rite Aid Videos

Go here to sign up for Rite Aid Video Values and save up to $130, plus get a $5.00 off your next $20.00 purchase when you watch 20 videos.

The videos are about 15 seconds to 1 minute (some may be a little longer). You can pair these coupons with other online or Sunday insert coupons for additional savings! Plus, use the $5.00 off $20.00 or more for an even greater savings!

Old Navy

Old Navy.com is having a great Maternity and Baby Sale, up to 40% off. Plus, get free shipping with any Maternity or Baby purchase of $50.00 or more!!!

Go here to start saving.

Printable Coupons around the webosphere

Nestle--Toll House Cookie Dough $1.00 off 1, Carnation Evaporated Milk $1.00 off 2 and Nestle Chocolate Chips $1.00 off 2

These would be great paired with the coupons found in yesterday's newspapers.

Organic Coupons (a large variety) at Mambo Sprouts

Butterball Ground Turkey--$.75 off 1 package

Joint Juice--B1G1 Free

Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Toilet Cleaner--$5.00 off 1

Kashi Honey Sunshine Cereal--$1.50 off 1

Free Samples!

Walmart has some great free samples available right now. Not only do you get a few things to try, but they usually also include some high value coupons! As part of being green, please only sign up for the samples that you will use or you know someone else will use!

Free Samples of Playtex here

Free Sample of Huggies "Little Movers" here

Free Sample of Good Nights here

Free Sample of Kotex here

Giant Deals 9-13-09

Shannon over at For the Mommas has the best deals for Giant this week.

Here are my favorites:

Nestle Toll House Cookie Dough $2.00
use $1.00/1 in 09/13 RP

$1.00 after coupon

Campbells Chicken Noodle or Tomato Soup $.44
use $1.00/2 PRINTABLE HERE (tomato only)

FREE after coupon

Edge Shave Gel $1.66
use $.75/1 in 08/02 SS

$.91 after coupon

Thanks Shannon!

Rite Aid

Rake in the Savings at Rite Aid, now through October 17, 2009 and get up to a $20 gift certificate.

The more you buy, the more you save! Go here to sign up for the savings!

Links to Coupons

Here are a few links to printable online coupons. You can print 2 per computer,

just hit your back button!

Coupons.com

Smartsource.com

Redplum.com

Happy Printing!

Cutting Food Costs

One way my family cuts costs at the grocery store is eating one or two vegetarian meals per week. My husband is a total meat and potatoes kind of guy, but I have found some recipes that he really likes and doesn't miss the meat at all. One of them, we had last night.

Butternut Squash Soup.

We took a trip on Saturday to an Amish furniture store and next to their store, there was a farm selling produce (mainly pumpkins--for $1.00 each!). They had Butternut Squash, which I had just bought at Giant for $.79 lb. Guess how much these were? $1.00 each and they are bigger than the ones I got at Giant! So I bought 2 more and made soup last night (actually just with 1, it made so much!). I figured it probably cost us about $.95 a serving because I also made a small homemade whole wheat pizza because I had to use the cheese before it went bad. We will get 5 servings from the soup and 2 servings from the pizza. Let me tell you, it was a hardy meal!!

Do any of you have a vegetarian meal you would like to share?

Free Barnes & Noble Gift Card!

Buy $15 worth of participating Hain Celestial Group Natural & Organic Produces and get a Free Barnes & Noble Gift Card and you can enter to win $500 in books for your school library!

Take a look at their website for more details. Offer ends 9/30/09.

Stauffers of Kissel Hill

Stauffers has a great coupon in the Lancaster Sunday Paper for $10.00 a $100.00 or more food purchase (Section A7). They also have some great sales going on. If you don't think you will buy $100 this week, go with a friend or family member to utilize this coupon.

You can find their circular here, but here are some of my favorite (continue to come back because I am going to start listing the deals for Stauffers in the coming weeks!)

Royal Gala Apples $.59 lb (value bag)

Green Giant Potatoes $1.59 for a 5lb bag

Progresso Classic Soup B1G1 (use the coupon from here to get an even better deal!)

Cherrios $1.88 each (use the $1.00 of 2 from 8/30)

Breyer's Yogurt $.39 each

Coupons! Coupons! Coupons! Coupons! Coupons!

We got some great coupons this morning in our Sunday paper. 5 inserts!!! I would suggest buying a few papers to get these great coupons for your shopping trips this week and beyond!

Here are some of my favorites:

$.50 off 1 Toll House morsels (I don't usually see these, and Christmas baking time is coming up!)

$.40 off 1 can of Campbell's Tomato or Chicken Noodle soups (these are on sale at Giant for $.44 each, they will be $.08 for two when doubled! Just an FYI, Giant only doubles 1 like coupon per purchase, so maybe go through the checkout a few times if you can to get 2 for $.08)

$1.00 off 1 Dreamfield pasta (sometimes these go on sale for about$1.25-$1.50, so it makes for some healthy and cheap pasta!)

$1.00 of 2 Combo's snacks (my husband loves these, so it will make for a nice treat for him since we usually don't buy things like that)

Did you find coupons that you really like? Let me know!