You Saved What?

Extreme Couponing

2011-05-27T14:31:00.000-07:00

I finally watched TLC's Extreme Couponing and as usual it is a very sensationalistic show, which probably hurts couponing. I kinda wish it wasn't on. For one thing, the deals they get of course are possible, but not typical. They make it seem typical. And on the show they commit coupon fraud and make this seem natural. Try this at Bi-lo and they will coupon ban you. I have heard that since the show has aired, that stores have been bombarded and especially in the Atlanta area it has made the stores check item by item to make sure the coupons match the items. Now everyone thinks they are a coupon genius. I know here, the number of people using coupons has made the availability of product tighter -- get your rainchecks! Also, it has made Ingles so much stricter on their coupon policy...especially with rainchecks that it is a pain.

Anyway, the big deal I see this week is the Bi-lo's BOGO on Crystal light with the buy two get one free. So it will be a buy one get two! score!

Deals this week

2011-05-18T04:59:00.000-07:00

I noticed whole chickens at Ingles are 79c a pound this week, although I didn't see this in the paper. The other deal I saw is the herbal essence shampoo at Ingles. It is even less that the BOGO price last week at Bi-lo. With the 50c off one doubled it will be $1.50 each. Good for donating if you don't need it.

At Bi-lo the Dukes mayo is a good deal, I am not sur eif there are coupons, which would make it an uberdeal. The other deal which might be good is the 20c off gas with purchase of three potato chips or sun chips, which may be a good a deal if you have the coupons. 20c off on 20 gallons is $4, so buying three is $12 with $3 off coupons and $4 back is 3 for $5. The sun chips are a better deal. I pack chips with every lunch, so I will probably take advantage of this deal.

Free stuff for Charity

2011-05-10T09:39:00.000-07:00

Even if you don't need any more free toothpaste, soap, shampoo....Consider donating the free stuff to go for tornado relief and probably for flood relief soon.

The things you can get free or cheap with coupons are usually the things these people need most.

I saw a collection box at Rite-Aid. Feel free to post if you know of any other collection areas.

Harder to get coupons

2011-05-04T18:39:00.000-07:00

I guess it is a sign of the economy, but lately I find if I don't get up early on Saturday and order coupons on CC, they are really hard to find. Although I like to buy in multiples, sometimes I don't want to buy 20 or even 10 at a time, like for paper towels or even dog food. I guess I will just be the coupon fairy and leave them for others. I am often looking for people to split with.

I am also looking for Free printables more than I used to, so I can get only a few at a time.

One good deal this week on dog food, BOGO Kibbles and Bits at Bi-lo. Using two coupons, it would be $12 for 32- 40 pounds.

What deals do you see?

Free stuff at Walmart

2011-05-03T09:38:00.000-07:00

Check out the coupon mom's website and extreme deals for Walmart. They have some for CVS (toothpaste), but the sale ends this Saturday, so if you don't have the coupons already it will be too late. But since Walmart doesn't have sales, the deals are good until the coupons expire.

Some freebies: Free nivea bodywash, free ivory soap, free reach floss.
Cheap rice: Get the watrmaid 50c/1 coupon and use it at Ingles where the small pkg is $1.16, so 16c a pound.

The extreme deal list is very helpful.

Have you noticed the "coupon creep" lately. What used to be for cat food $1 off 15 cans is now $1 off 20 cans. What used to be $1 off one or two is $1 off 3. It gets tougher and tougher to get a deal.

Update on 1800flowers

2011-05-03T09:37:00.000-07:00

Apparently they will take multiple codes if you call, only one at a time if you use the website.

Triple Play for Mother's Day

2011-05-03T06:37:00.000-07:00

Go to www.Cardwoo.com ( if want use my referral link http://www.cardwoo.com/sell/?acno=21580&partid=5K1AJ913NH ) buy a 1800FLowers giftcard for $50 for $35.

Go through upromise.com and buy flowers using the code for free shipping and handling (save $15) and you get 11% back to your upromise acct. Buy flowers for mom from their selection that is $49.99.

so: $50 giftcard $35 Save $15
no ship/hand Save $15
11% back upromise Save $5.50

Spend $35 Save $35.50. Send a $50 gift for $35.

Note: With 1800flowers you can only use 1 gift code (which Cardwoo will send you electronically) per order, so to send multiple gifts, you will need to do them separately. THis is different than most giftcards.

To save the shipping/handling you must shop their certain selection, but they have a few nice ones that are $49.99

Happy Mother's Day

Best Price on Butter since Thanksgiving

2011-04-19T07:10:00.000-07:00

Ingles has 1 lb of butter on sale for $2.50 this week, which is the best price since Thanksgiving. I have finally run out of my holiday stash, so I went in and bought 20 lbs yesterday. The checkout girl was like, " that's a lot of butter". I tried to explain stockpiling when the price is good and her eyes glazed over.

Also, they have whole chickens for 78c a pound, which is 20c better than any sale lately.

Walmart Coupon Policy and Price Book

2011-04-19T05:13:00.000-07:00

I was looking at the Walmart Coupon Policy (which I will print out and take with me, because they seem to always hassle people about coupons) and I noticed it says they will accept competitors coupons, even catalinas, as long as it says manufacturer's coupon on it. Has anyone tried this?

I generally don't think the prices are better at Walmart if I can get a BOGO or sale price somewhere else and have a coupon that will double, but what is my coupon is $1 off and the item I need is not on sale? I found that the couponmom web site has a price book list on Walmart items. So, with this I can see what their price is and compare with Bi-lo or Ingles.

Ingles has gotten so strict with the rainchecks (limit 6 and expiration dates), that I don't usually shop there, except for deals. Also their gas program is not as good as Bi-lo's.The cumulative gas program at BI-lo saves me more.

Another thing I found on the Coupon Mom website (which I haven't looked at much in a while), is the Free area. I am running low on soap and razors and they listed both as free with coupons at walmart (OLay and BIC). I am also going ot stock up on free floss for the poeple in my house who floss.

Peter Pan and triple coupons

2011-02-20T16:03:00.000-08:00

Triple Coupons this week at Ingles!

Also, if you have the time and money that Peter Pan show in Atlanta is incredible! You know I am cheap but it is sooo worth the $75 I paid per ticket. It was hard to tell from the floor plan, but it is a very small tent (made for the show) and there could not be a bad seat in the house, so I wouldn't hesitate to get the cheap seats. The 360 degree theater was awesome and the actor who played Peter was fantastic. A great memory with my girls, and my sis and her kids.

Things I saved on this week

2011-02-19T04:18:00.000-08:00

The thing I have used the most to save this year is buying the discounted gift cards. This week (because we are doing some remodeling) I bought $2000 worth of Lowe's gift cards off of ABCgiftcards for $1800. Saved 10% off face value. Then when I go to Lowes, I can use the discount card they have , but most likely I will use the 10% off military discount we get. So I will save 20% off the cost of the materials. The hardest thing about buying the giftcards is planning ahead, rather than just buying things. Katie and I combined giftcards with the extrabucks at a clothes place she likes, Limited, and saved over 80% on her clothes purchases. I gave both my girls Sephora cards I bought through there for Christmas and here is the best....I bought Itunes gift cards 10% off and my girls buy their itunes purchase through upromise, so we get another 1% back.

Another savings this week... my mom got Directv when she moved and said she got free HD for life. I got an offer in the mail for free HD from dish, so I called up Directv and asked them for Free HD. I pay I think $10 a month for HD. Thye agreed to waive the fee for 2 years! I will address it again then.

Lastly, we went to Young Harris last night and saw the Shakespeare play, a Midsummer's Night Dream. We all three went for $15. A deal for entertainment. I forget sometimes about all the free and low cost entertainment possibilities at Young Harris that are fun, educational and entertaining. Check out the event calendar at the Young Harris website.

January Savings

2011-02-14T14:58:00.000-08:00

I have been keeping a spreadsheet of savings/spendings.... For January I spent $561.68 on groceries. That includes all three meals for 3 people (sometimes 4) and drugstore purchases and pets. I used 63.35 in coupons and saved 208.75 w/ coupons and store sale savings. I also had 85c gallon Bi-lo gas savings. So using coupons and shopping sale items, I saved 37% off my groceries. I spent 8.25 buying coupons. This brought home to me the importance of shopping sales.

We budget $100 a month for restaurants, and I still have $60 of it left at the end of the month. When you think of the cost of food at a restaurant, it is hard to eat out, although I love love not having to cook or do dishes. But think of this, tea at a rest is $1 or more a glass. you can brew a whole gallon for less than 25c. Spaghetti at monet's is more than $5. WIth free spaghetti from my stockpile and sale sauce assembled into home made sauce, this is less than $2 for 4 people. A whole roast chicken from the 79c pound sale and potatos and vegetables is less than $6. To that end I love the $5 dinner website for ideas and inspiration.

One of my new years resolutions was to make more bread, which I have been doing since I got this great three day bread recipe. 3 loaves costs less than $2 to make, but homemade bread doesn't "last" as long as publix store bought, so I freeze it and reheat with certain dinners and use the store bought in between.

cat litter at bi-lo

2011-02-12T04:51:00.000-08:00

there are $1.50 off each plastic container of tidy cats on ebay and tidy cats 14 lbs are 4.99 ( I think this must be a price lock), which makes it $3.50 each. This makes it less than 1/2 price. We are down 1 kitty now, but those who are here, still use plenty.

THe new Ingles

2011-02-11T05:07:00.000-08:00

I noticed Ingles ads the last two times were for two weeks at a time. Even with the new big store and gas deal, I don't shop there as much as Bi-lo. You just can't beat a BOGO with coupons AND the gas deal is so much better. I had built up 60c off this past week. The most you can get at Ingles is 10c. If I have a 55c or 60c coupon, I 'm going to BI-lo cause they double there.

I do go to both store based on deals.I have some $2.50 off finish dish detergent coupons that are expiring and lysol that I will be using with their sales at Ingles, but that is about it.

Last week at BI-lo was good, but mostly I got rainchecks, because everyone thought it was good.

Just when I ran out of toothpaste, there has been some great toothpaste sales, notably $1 each colgate at ingles this week, so I am stocking up. Now if there was free shampoo. Used to there were better free deals on herbal essnce at CVS from time to time, but now I can only help for cheap, not free.

Too Lazy to Coupon

2011-02-03T17:24:00.000-08:00

Yikes I posted this on the wrong blog!

Anyway the two deals I see this week are the Welch's grape juice at CVS starting this Sunday for $3 each. This is a 54% savings. There are $1 off coupons on Ebay.

Also, at Bi-lo the Hartz dog biscuits are BOGO and there are $2 coupons on TCC. Last time I got 54 boxes! This time I am getting twenty at least.

They are also having a good deal ont he pilsbury. Buy three and get $3 off twenty gallons of gas. If you go through the line 4 times and use coupons you could easily stock up on cresent rolls and get $12 off gas. Need inspiration on what to do with the cresent rolls beyond pigs in a blanket? Search pilsbury.com cresent rolls for scads of recipes. My kids love the blt cresent rolls for lunch and the cinnamon and sugar are good for bfast. They have some great ideas.

TOo lazy to Coupon

2011-02-03T17:23:00.000-08:00

My usual weekly plan for coupons

2010-12-19T09:32:00.001-08:00

Here is the plan I use for ordering coupons weekly. It just demonstrates the poverty of my activities.

Thursday: Look on coupon clippers and see int he tracker what coupons are coming out that week.

Saturday: Order coupons I must have, especially those that may be popular. Look at Ingles ad for Sunday before ordering and order for that.

Sunday: look on Southern Savers at the Publix / Kroger/ Rite Aid ads and see if there is anything super great I must have. Order more coupons if needed.

Tues: Get Bi-lo upcoming ad and CVS ad for next week in mail. Order coupons I need for sale items. Circle items I want rainchecks for

Thursday, start all over.

And that my friend is how I organize my sad, penny pinching life.
Does anyone shop at Dollar General? aRe there good deals there?

Cheap Cat Food

2010-12-15T04:47:00.001-08:00

The Friskies is BOGO, so with the $1 off coupons it will be $1.29/ 3lbs or $7.74 for 18 lbs, which is about 60% off. I just got 60 lbs at Ingles when it was on sale and my old cats aren't chowhounds, but I might get a raincheck if they run out.

Bi-lo ad this week

2010-12-15T04:07:00.000-08:00

well, I haven't been able to leave the house for 3 days... and the Bi-lo ad this week gives me no reason to want out. The only deal I see is the turkey for 69c. I like to get a few and freeze them, cause I like turkey at times other than thanksgiving and christmas. I make it about once a month. Since I pack lunch for Hannah, I love having extra for sandwiches and that is her favorite sandwich after chicken salad.
Looks like I won't get my Christmas wish for Smithfield bacon on sale or Breakstone sour cream. Overall, this holiday season has been a worse coupon experience than last year, in my opinion. As usual, the best butter prices were at Thanks giving and the best price was 2/$5...much higher than last year.

This gets back to one of the basic principles of couponing, which is get it while you can. When something is a good deal ..STOCK UP. You might miss a better deal, but the better deal may never come. The deal Amy and I got on bacon 2 years ago was an epic savings, never to be repeated and fondly remembered. As will our trip to Kmart for super doubles! Couponing is for bonding and friendships as well.

I don't know what you think about the economy, but the predictions I have heard say that food prices are going to be rising by a lot. Just with gas rpices going up, transportation of food causes prices to go up. I am planning a garden this summer, but I am also trying to stockpile things that are a good deal now. like olive oil. And canned vegetables..what ever it is. I will post a picture of my stockpile soon. I need to build up my soup stockpile, which I think is one of the best things to stockpile, since it is almost the perfect food that you can eat no matter what.

Seems like a dry week

2010-12-10T17:24:00.000-08:00

I was out of town last week at a conference at Emory. But I have to say I was really dissapointed this week at the sales and oppurtunities. Have you seen any good ones?

The best thing for me this holiday season has been the discounted gift card sites. I have ordered quite a few. WIN/WIN. I pay less they get more. And I have been buying through Upromise..WIN/ WIN/ WIN.

All I want for Christmas is a BOGO or smithfield bacon sale at Bi-lo and cheap breakstone sour cream. The coupons for the week end look poopy, too.

Sometimes I miss good deals, so let me know if you saw some.

Does anyone shop at Dollar General? What are some good deals you cam get there?

Two deals at Ingles

2010-11-29T04:50:00.000-08:00

Two deals that I saw at Ingles this week are the cut up chicken for 98c a pound and the Friskies BOGO 3.15 lb cat food, using the $1 off each coupons out there. That will make it about $1.20 a bag for cat food,or less than $7 for 19 or 20 pounds.

What deals do you see?

Yet another way to save on giftcards

2010-11-29T04:43:00.000-08:00

I know you are probably tired of this subject, but here is yet another way to save on giftcards. I started researching sites for buying discounted giftcards and found a site that consolidates the sales info from many of the other sites. It is www.giftcardgranny.com. It lists Ebay sites, also and the prices there are the current bid prices, not the final price. It also gives you an idea of what kind of discounts you can expect. For instance, home depot cards are less than 8% discounts usually (which would save you sales tax) and express gift cards are 15% off. Sephora are an extra 5% at some sites today.

I don't think I can find more info on discounting gift cards, so you won't have to read more about this soon.

Yet another way to save on giftcards

2010-11-24T10:03:00.000-08:00

Here is a new service I just heard about and used for the first time this week-- Cardwoo. It is www.cardwoo.com. You can go on the website and buy giftcards at a discount. I found one for one of my favorite restaurants, Fago de Chao at a 5% discount. They buy giftcards also that you don't want, but I better you can get better prices by selling on Ebay.

They have a lot of stores and the variety is changing all the time.

Why not give a gift and save a little, too?

A big thanks to BI-lo

2010-11-21T12:05:00.000-08:00

A big thanks to Bi-lo. They let the Band bag groceries for tips yesterday and helped us link up shoppers to our donation card where we recieve 1% of all the person's purchases. Just this alone if we link to 200 families should raise $2000 for the band.

Laura and Brenda were great. Elizabeth linked every shopper who had a Bi-lo card and came through her line.

In addition, we made $150.00 and the kids had fun.

Our next fundraiser is Dec 7 th at McDonalds, so mark your calendars.
Ingles no longer lets groups bag for tips, no do they let community groups link to the savings cards, even school groups.

Free Deodorant at Rite Aid

2010-11-21T11:59:00.000-08:00

This week at Rite Aid deodorant is BOGO and there is a coupon available for BOGO. When you use the coupon, you get both for free. I did not see a limit on the BOGO. It is Dry Idea or a man's deodorant. This is where you stock up for a years worth or so.

Deodorant is one of the five things I think you should never pay for. To never pay for it, though, you have to take advantage when it is free and stock up til the next time.

Another way to get a discounts on gift cards

2010-11-19T08:50:00.000-08:00

I almost forgot --- there is another way to get a discount when buying gift cards:

Buy them through Upromise and you get a percentage of money back depending on which card it is. On Home Depot you get 3%. SO let's say you know you want to buy something at Home Depot. Buy a gift card for $100. you get $3 on your upromise acct. THey have them for many many stores including outback, barnes and noble....

$3, well, Debora, why would I bother??? Yes it doesn't seem like much, but slowly, slowly it adds up. And if you are buying gift sertificates to give as gifts, a gift for you and a gift for them. IF you ger Walmart giftcards for what you spend it's another 1% bakc for you.

If you can't find what you are looking for email me or leave a comment and I will help you

What are getting to donate?

2010-11-19T04:13:00.001-08:00

When I can get stuff really cheap, I use some of my excess to donate to the food bank. This week I am donating some of the free gain dishwashing liquid and 99c maxwell house coffee from CVS and free toothpaste.ALso, the 1/2 price peanut butter. What have you found to donate?

United Community Banks is collecting for the local food bank. Many churches also collect. Mine, St Francis does on an ongoing basis. I am sure Joy's does, cause they seem to have tons of programs.

Who uses coupons?

2010-11-18T04:22:00.000-08:00

A new study just released by the Neislen corporation says the person most likely to use coupons is higher educated, higher income (greater than 70k), white people. The people least likely to use them are the people who may need to most, low income and single parent families. In addition, less than 5% of coupons printed are ever used.

Of course some coupons are really not good, or are for things nobody wants, but I wish I had those other 95%.

The reasons they give for the reluctance of someone to use coupons is the perception that only poor people use them. I say you will be if you don't. And the most interesting thing that determines someone's use of coupons is the attitude of the cashier when they use them. Sighs, eye rolls and giving people a hard time are reasons people give for ceasing use of coupons. The study stated the more self confidence you have the more likely you are to use them despite the attitude of the cashiers.

I guess that goes along with why low income people don't use them, being judged and low self confidence. This is a shame, because people who get food stamps or don't have much money need more than anyone to use coupons. They should teach coupon classes in school or when you get food stamps.

Personally, I love the cashiers who cheer me on and I think the ones who look down on them or give the eye roll are just clueless. I don't care what they think.
It doesn't make me back down if someone gives me a hard time, I just feel sorry for them and go on saving money. I never get confrontational with cashiers, just politely insistent. Really, in Blairsville, I hardly ever run into these type of cashiers. I also go out of my way to praise those who are nice to the management. I don't complain about those who are not, silence is enough.

Saving on gift cards

2010-11-17T15:08:00.000-08:00

Two ways to save on gift cards:

One, buy them at Bi-lo, because you get fuel perks. Usually around Christmas they run specials and I will let you know.

Secondly, buy them on ebay. I go on ebay and bid 80% or less of the value. I get outbid on a lot of them, but I get some. I got both my girls Sephora gift cards for their birthdays. There is every manner of giftcard on there, so give it a shot.

Stockpiling

2010-11-16T03:23:00.000-08:00

The biggest principle of stockpiling is to buy things when they are cheap in large quantities til the next time they are cheap. For instance the sugar ar bi-lo. It is dixie crystals for 1.98. there is a 50c off coupon available at TCC, making it 4 lbs for 98c. Normally it is $3.15, so this is a 70% savings. Why not get 10 bags and store them? Keep a little journal and see how long it takes you to use them, so you know what you will need for your goal of 6 months or a year.

I am probably getting 20. TO get them, I will have to go through the line twice, since Bi-lo has been enforcing it's 10 like per order, bu tI have more time than money. Sugar stores forever. You can either put them in ziploc bags or vacuum pack them. Either way you can use the bags over. I do this to about the 1/3 I think I'll need last.

Good things this time of year are the baking ingredients.

Snapfish deal

2010-11-15T20:14:00.000-08:00

Wow! When you buy $10 worth, you get 365 free prints! I wasn't sure if I should put this here or on the scrapbooking blog, cause that's what I use most of my prints for. But you also get 8% back on snapfish when you buy through uPromise. Kaching, ka ching!
Here's how:

Our very special holiday shopping extravaganza, The Merry Deal Reveal, has begun!

With today's offer you can get up to
365 FREE 4" x 6" mail-order prints with any $10 purchase
. That's like a whole year of smiles for FREE! So get a head start on your holiday shopping and get plenty of prints to share with family come
Thanksgiving
.

To get your FREE prints,
place 365 4" x 6" prints in your cart with a $10 purchase
, and use
coupon code

2010MY365
at checkout before
11:59PM PST on November 20

Advance copy of Bi-lo ad

2010-11-15T14:37:00.000-08:00

I got an advance copy of the BI-lo ad and they have got some deals this week. The turkey is 49c AND you get 10c back for fuelperks. The Del Monte vegetables is BOGO and there is $1/5 coupons, making that a great deal to stock up. The cream cheese is $1/pack. There are lots of BOGO deals. And Amy, the LOL butter is 2/$5. TIme to buy. I noticed the regular price of butter is 4.96 a pound and with the coupon it will be $2 a pound. That is about a 66% savings. Also, the Dixie crystals sugar is almost half off and there are coupons available. I would buy as much as you can. Sugar has increased alot. You can store sugar for a long time. If you vacuum pack it, it will last for years.

I think that in addition to getting current deals you have to really think about stockpiling deals. You should have at least 3-6 months worth of food stored up. Everything I read says that the price of food is really going to skyrocket in the next 6 months, so when you get a deal you should stock up.

Using a vacuum sealing device means you can really store things a long time. I usually rotate things so that I use them and replace on a 6 month rotation to a year.

How to have a free unlisted #

2010-11-14T04:26:00.000-08:00

You can list your number through the phone company under any name you want. To get a free unlisted number list your number under an alias. I do this. The only thing it affects is that when I call you, my caller ID comes up under a different name. My family and friends know it's me and know where to find me in the phone book. My bill still is in my name.

The funny thing is that my alias gets mail and sometimes phone calls, which immediately lets me know it is something I am not interested in. I think the charge for an unlisted number was $4 month, so I am saving.

Peter Pan at Ingles

2010-11-13T22:47:00.000-08:00

If you get the 50c off 1 Peter pan peanut butter coupons, at Ingles this week it will be 68c a jar. On sale for $1.68. Also, Oscar Mayer bacon is BOGO...how I wish I had a coupon!

some other deals

2010-11-13T04:47:00.001-08:00

I see CVS also has Maxwell House coffee for $1.99/11ounce can. There are $1 off coupons, so 99c for each. They limit it to $3 per card.

The Herbal essence is 49c after ECB. The wierd thing about CVS and Rite AId is that they limit you to 1 rebate per card, so you can't get both shampoo and conditioner, just one or the other.

The colgate toothpaste is BOGO with $1 off each coupons available, which I am thinking will make it less than 50c a tube.

The right guard or dry idea is $1.99 after ECB and there is BOGO coupons available, so for 2 it will be $6 - $2.99 -$1 = $2. That is great for deodorant.

There are coupons for the oral b electric toothbrush that will make it free after ECB.

They have those Pillow Pets, which is a hot gift for girls this year anyway. They are at the regular price of 19.99, which is what they are everywhere. But buy this and your colgate, Use your $4/20 and your $13 ECB from the toothbrush deal, $1 from deodorant deal $3 from your peanut butter deal and $1 from shampoo deal and you get a pillow pet for free and free toothpaste. Both my girls and all their friends are crazy about these pillow pets.

GReat coupons this week

2010-11-13T04:10:00.000-08:00

Of course everyone has different needs nad tastes, but there are some good coupons out there this week. To get what you want , get on the coupon clippers today and order.

Some that I thought were good:

Peanut butter - both skippy and peter pan have coupons. The Skippy makes it more than 50% off at bi-lo. Peter pan is involved with a special at CVS, 3/$5..get $3 back with $10 purchase. So if you bought 6/$10, you get $3 ECB and then use 6 coupons and get $3 off, so you get 6/$4 or 66c each! If you get a 4/$20 in the mail and have your coupons to use or got the mailer with the 4/$20 you could get 12/$20 -$4 -$3 -$7= 12/$6 or 50c a piece. You only get 1 $3 ECB with this transaction. 50c a jar!

The 55c off Breakstone sour cream is a good coupon. It will go on sale and you will have your coupons. It was free last year at Bi-lo around Christmas.

Let me know what deals you see.

Go to The coupon clippers this morning and order to get your best selection. GO to tracker and click on the inserts for tomorrow to get a jump on the coupons coming out tomorrrow.

Kroger MEga Sale

2010-11-10T05:00:00.000-08:00

Check out Southern savers listing for the Kroger mega sale!

yesterday I got 20 lbs of butter, 2 cases of del monte tomatoes, 8 12 oz bags of Dunkin Donuts coffee, 2 cans of soup, and two boxes of nabisco ritz crackers for $79.00. The pre coupon/mega sale price was $180. Although it was not listed in the mega sale flyer for the Ellijay mega sale, all the items listed on Southern Savers were included. How it works is that for every 10 items you buy from the list, they credit your account $5. SO i got an instant $20 credit. I also got 10c off gas, which as everyone knows in Ellijay for some weird reason is cheaper than anywhere else, so the reg price yesterday was 2.64/gal, so I filled up for 20c cheaper than Blairsville for the trip home.

I also got rainchecks for the DD since I bought all the whole bean they had.

If you're going that way worth checking out. 26c a can is the lowest price I have ever gotten on canned tomatos.

Almost free cat food

2010-11-10T04:57:00.000-08:00

At Rite Aid this week the Friskies cat food is BOGO. It is about $3.98 for the 3.15 lb bags. So, $3.98 for 2 - 2 $1 off coupons makes it $1.98 for 6 + pounds of cat food. Stock up or get a raincheck if they run out.

Deals at Ingles

2010-11-08T02:42:00.000-08:00

There are some good deals at Ingles this week. 1st of all, the whole chickens are back at 78c/lb,which you can't beat!

Land o lakes butter is 2/$6, I think it might go lower, but you never know. With $1 coupon it is 2/$5 or 2.50 each, less than 1/2/price.

Amy H I hope you are still reading, cause DD coffee is $6.98..with those $1.50 off coupons that is the lowest you will get it, even lower than bulk with the discount in the store.

The best deal is the steamfresh BOGO, combine this with the steamfresh BOGO coupon of the lightly sauced (good up to 2.99) --- it is essentially BOget two free.
Last week I got 30 bags of the premium vegetables for $27, normally $90.

And once again, BOGO on olive oil. There must have been a glut on olive oil this year, because it has been BOGO for months.

I was visiting with a friend this weekend who told me she doesn't use coupons because she doesn't want to eat processed food and thinks shopping at Walmart is much cheaper than Bi-lo. Well this week you can get fruit cups, vegetables, chicken and olive oil. I know Walmart never has sales,nor does BOGO..I just don't think they are a better deal. Plus with anything I get at Bi-lo I get fuel perks, which you definitely don't get at bi-lo. This week I am getting 20 bottles of gain dishwashing liquid free and fuel perks..that beats Walmart. And even if you don't eat processed foods, you use dish detergents.

Comment and tell me how you do at Walmart or what deals you find.

The best time to order coupons

2010-11-06T08:00:00.001-07:00

The best time to get new coupons is Saturday morning as early as you get up.
Go to the coupon clippers, go to tracker and click on the upcoming sunday's inserts and order away. You will have the earliest and best selection. On coupons with limits, you can always go back every 24 hours and see if there are more. Most of the time it is cheaper to buy on CC, but sometimes it can be better on ebay. If a coupon is "hot" you will usually get a better deal on CC, but then you usually have limits.

UPromise again

2010-11-06T08:00:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to let you know, after 4 years, my current balance on uPromise is $580. I just asked for a check for Katie for college of $450.00. You are right,it doesn't buy much, but it is something and it is money I got from buying things I would have anyway.

The thing that boosts my savings is using the uPromise toolbar or turbosaver ( I think they changed the name). I buy a lot online and when I do, the Turbosaver automatically gets my uPromise savings. There are so many stores and businesses that participate. IF I want some thing from QVC or HSN I order online and 3% back! Also, many times when you order online, no tax.

When you buy Archcards or McDonalds gift certificates, these are eligible for uPromise, so if you are going to eat there, get a rebate for doing it. I signed up for the uPromise credit card, used it once, got the $25 rebate and cancelled it. If you sign up for Netflix, you get $15. Having the turbosaver does save me.

So if you haven't signed up for uPromise, do it before Christmas online shopping.

Boxtops for Education

2010-11-05T03:10:00.000-07:00

IF I have been over to your house and gone through your cabinets, you know I save boxtops from betty crocker,pilsbury and general mills. Now back on progresso soups! I tear them off when I get the product in the house and stick them in a baggie. Once ayear I send the large baggie to the school. They get 10c for every one. Now I know that is not much, but like everything else in life (saving,exercise..) it is the little things that add up. Every year the amount our schools have recieved has increased.

This year, Ingles is offering extra boxtops on a lot of products and if you go on the Ingles website and put in your Advantage card number, they automatically track some of your purchases for extra savings. I never buy the products at full price on purpose, but on sale with coupons, the boxtops labels are still 10c each, even if you get the prduct for 10c.

Other things the schools turn in for money are tysons chicken boxes labels and campbell's soup labels. So don't throw them away, send em in.

Saving money on coffee

2010-11-05T02:51:00.000-07:00

Last night, I bought 7 cans of Maxwell house, BOGO, at CVS. I had $4 in extra bucks and $4/20 coupon from the mail for CVS. I had $1 off Maxwell house, so after all that my total was -2.08. I had to buy some candy to fill in.

I don't remember reading why, but apparently the cost of coffee has gone up dramatically this year and that will be reflected at the stores. CVS runs Maxwell House BOGO about every 8 -10 weeks or so. Usually there are $1/2 but even better still $1 off coupons available. SO when the stars line up-- take advantage.

I am going back to get 8 more cans this am to donate, so I think you might be able to get a raincheck today or tomorrow and shop at your own convenience when coupons are good.

Now, I just have to sneak it into my husband daily coffee. SInce he doesn't read this maybe he won't notice it is not DD.

Also, A great deal at CVS this week is their San Disk 4 GB SD card for 14.99. It is usually 34.99 and I haven't seen one at other stores for less than $24. They are out of them currently, so go by and get a raincheck. There is not limit on how many you can get. These are great for cameras or storage from computers.

Honey Baked Ham Gift Certificates Band Fundraiser

2010-11-04T17:00:00.000-07:00

The High School Band is selling gift certificates for $10, $25,$35 and $50 amounts that will be here in time for Thanksgiving and would make great Christmas gifts. Small enough denominations for teacher, church, exchange gifts. The are nice certificates in a shiny envelope.

There will also be coupons in the paper for money off before Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter so you can stretch the gift certificates further if you want to use them for your self.

The band gets a percentage of all the sales. If you are interested, contact me, Debora Quigley through a comment or call me at 706-745-7448.

SOme current good deals

2010-11-03T17:07:00.000-07:00

There is a coupon available on the coupon clippers for B1G1 free of Right Guard or Dry Idea. There is not currently a sale, but before 11/30, there will be and I will let you know. The Kleenex B1G1 at Bi-lo with a coupon 50c off 3, so they will be 87c each for 200 ct. or use it at CVS starting Sunday for 6 110 count for $4.34. WIth sneeze season coming this is a stock up.

Deals for Fuel Perks: Don't you LOVE fuel perks????

20c off when you buy $15 of purina dog food, tidy cats litter, friskies cat chow. There are coupons and sale prices for all, so they are a triple dip! The dog chow is $9.99 and there are $1.50 coupons. I will have extra tidy cat coupons if anyone wants some. And if you get 20 gallons of gas, you save another $4. The deal with the "per order" thing at BI-lo is that you can buy what you need, get back in ine and buy another bag of dog food and litter and that is another "order". I plan on three "orders" so 60c off a gallon. I have two dogs and run a senior citizen home for 5 cats.

I can't wait til I get fuel perks for buying wine!

Upcoming deals

2010-11-01T04:11:00.000-07:00

With Thanksgiving coming, there are some items that will be going on sale that you need to think about stocking up on for the whole year.

Turkeys will be on sale, but they will also go on sale around Christmas. Last year, the prices at Thanksviing were lower, going to 69c/lb.

Butter will go on sale. Last year, the prices at Thanksgiving were the lowest, going to 1.99/lb for Land of Lakes. There is 50c off two coupons, so it could go as low as 1.50/lb. Last year I froze 50 lbs. It lasted us til August. They will also run out when they have good prices, so it is a great time to stock up on rainchecks.

Sour cream is another item that was free around Christmas last year. It was 99c for 16 oz of Breakstone and there were 55c off coupons available. I refridgerated 30 tubs. I am down to the last two. Can sour cream go bad? In my experience, as long as you don't open it, it will last a year.

Some good coupons out there now are the $1 off Gain dish detergent. You have to get them off Ebay at this point. It is $1 everyday at Walmart, and on sale price lock 10/10 at BI-lo. OF course at Bi-lo, your purchases go towards the Fuel Perks. I got a bunch and donated some to the food bank.

Also, the mahatma/watermaid rice coupons 50c/1, mean at ingles you can get a lb bag for 9c or 3 lbs at 99c at Bi-lo. Another donation oppurtunity.

Cindy's class rescheduled

2010-03-09T04:33:00.001-08:00

Due to the snow, Cindy cancelled her class last week, but is able to get the Civic Center for the 16th,March 16th, from 6-8. Same class, admission fee $10. Forward to anyone you know who would be interested

don't forget Tues class

2010-02-25T03:52:00.000-08:00

Don't forget about Cindy's class tues night from 6-8 at the civic center. It will be good. If you have friends who beg you to teach them, pass this on, cause you couldn't learn from someone who knows more.

Stupid things I have done lately with coupons

2010-02-19T04:37:00.001-08:00

Lately I have been making mistakes that make me go ARRRGGGH at the checkout. During triples I was so tired after filling two baskets, I skipped the progresso soup, knowing it would be on sale for a while..but when I went bakc to get it, after ringing up 36 cans on the self checkout , I realized my coupons were EXPIRED! ARRRGGH. I wasn't going to unring them, so I took them anyway, but I could have saved $18 more. Then the week before I rang up individually 48 cans of cat food and then realized I had gotten a different brand than my coupons (friskies instead of 9 lives). $2 down the drain. Someday I will learn to double check before I go instead of at the checkout.

In the scheme of all I have siad it is not a big deal, but I get frustrated when I relaize after I could have save more!

change in date for coupon class

2010-02-18T04:35:00.000-08:00

Cindy Ryals called and said she has changed the date for her coupon class. It will be March 2nd from 6-8 at the Civic Center. Sign up at the door. Fee $10. Cindy is an excellent teacher. If you know anyone who is interested in learning basic couponing, pass this on. She is going to plan some advanced classes, as well as a class about drug stores.

Do you stockpile? This year I have tried to use up my stockpile and not buy new stuff until I made a dent in it. I stockpile for three reasons, one is when I get something for free (shampoo,razors,soap,toothpaste), when I get a good deal on things we use over and over (soup,dog food, diced tomatoes, canned vegetables, cake mix, brownies) and so that if something happened I would have enough food and water for at least three weeks. Nutty?, I guess, since I have never had to use this aspect of my stockpiling and just rotate this stock, but it makes me feel better knowing it's there. What's in my 3 week stockpile? Rice, pasta, soup, beans, canned fruits and vegetables, water,clorox, peanut butter, canned spaghetti sauce, applesauce, bisquick, powdered and canned milk, dried eggs, and oil. Also, dried fruit. Somethings I store in the original contianers, some I do in the vacuum packer cause it helps them last for years.

Almost Free Rice and A Coupon Class

2010-02-12T12:20:00.000-08:00

Wih the 50c off Mahatma rice coupon available, a package of rice is 7c Ingles. What a deal and the new Ingles is beautiful.

Cindy Ryals is going to teach a "How to Coupon" class at the Civic Center Tues Feb 23rd from 6 pm. The cost is $10 a person, pay at the door. Believe me, you will make this back over and over. It is a small invest ment with a huge reward.

Did you see the article on the front page of the paper about the food bank running out of food? What amazes me is the number of people having trouble or on food stamps that do NOT use coupons. IF you used the above rice coupon and bought the chicken that is 98c/lb at Ingles and the steamfresh that were 10/$10 with a 50c off coupon (free), you would have a meal for 5 people of rice, chicken and vegetable for less than $4! And the week before, the BOGO spaghetti and $1 Hunts spaghetti sauce..same deal. I for one am getting more of the rice coupons and donating the free rice to the food bank.

Deal of the week at Ingles

2010-02-02T03:47:00.000-08:00

In my humble opinion, this is the deal of the week at Ingles:

Breakstone Sour Cream 98c use the 55c off one and the sour cream is 43c. you can store it unopened over 6 months. The days of the free Daisy sour cream are over, however there are daisy coupons out this weekend, which if they coincide with a BOGO would be a good deal...but I need sour cream and a bird in the hand is better...

The other good deal is the progresso soup 10/10.It is not every flavor. There are various coupons available. I am down to my last 10 cans of soup in my "sstore". During th winter my kids eat soup for lunch about every day (I pack their lunch)., so fo rme this is a necssity. I also like having soup in my "store". Can you think of another food that is more complete if you couldn't get to the store and had to live off what you had for a few days?

What is your deal of the week?

phoney internet coupons

2010-02-01T17:14:00.000-08:00

I don't use internet printables usually, but I know many of you gentle readers, do. A cashier at Bi-lo today told me there has been a problem with some internet printable from Del Rio Texas that look like they come from smart source, but they are phonies. I wondered if anyone has seen them or knows anything more about them. But apparently Bi-lo is looking out for them. I don't generally use intenet printables cause I can't get quantities, don't want to use my ink...although sinc eI have been using Southern Savers I do find it convenient when I just want to quickly take advantage of a single item, but that is not usually the case.

I have heard that Rite Aid is now taking internet printables (IP) but I heard one of the cashiers at Ingles this weekend turn down an IP because it had been copied not printed and also told the lady they only take on or two of a same item IP, due to the high fraud.

What has been your experience?

good coupons this weekend

2010-01-29T16:47:00.000-08:00

check out the coupon clippers and look at the tracker. there are some good coupons coming out. I have been waiting for some pet food.

After stocking up on the free noodles, I doubt I will be shopping for a while, but I always say that...

Triples at Ingles starting tomorrow

2010-01-23T05:25:00.001-08:00

Starting tomorrow and for 1 week it is triple coupons at Ingles! They have a lot of BOGO's this week also, which is very unusual for them, but makes triples even a better deal. Get there early tomorrow or check online for the circular and get your coupons ordered!

BIlo/Ingles or Walmart?

2009-12-23T04:17:00.000-08:00

This is a great article on southern savers about how much more you can save at a local store rather than shopping the everyday low prices at the Walmart Superstore. To see his very informative article click here. I have been tracking my spending /savings the last two months and will post this soon.

My experience has been that with very rare, and I mean very rare exceptions, I have saved much more at our local grocery stores rather than going to Walmart. Yes, it might be convenient to get everything at once (one stop shopping), but if you over all spend more,is it worth it? I will admit,sometimes I hate shopping, going to one store for one thing and another for others.. but when I think of saving over $150/month, it doesn't seems like that much of a hassle. That is 4 tanks of gas. And, as I have said before, if I go into a Walmart, I usually spend more on other crap I don't need because while I am there I think I need it. I am not anti-Walmart, it just doesn't work for me.

One thing I noticed this year, the prices/sales were much better at Thanksgiving than Christmas. For instance, butter (Land of Lakes) was $1.88 pound at a lot of stores over Thanksgiving, the lowest price at Christmas was $2.50/lb. I had 50c/1 coupons and a raincheck, so I got it for 88c/lb last week at Ingles. Don't look in my downstairs fridge freezeror you will think I am a butter hoarder! The Turkey prices were also a lot lower. I will definitely keep this in mind next year.

Rite Aid $5/20

2009-12-10T03:17:00.000-08:00

To get the Rite Aid $5 off 20 do you have to watch those videos or is there another way?

I am not sure I am going to watch 20 videos.

I am going today to check out the gift of savings. Last year it was totally worth it.

Have I mentioned how much I love southern Savers? I love the layouts. I love the links to printables (which saves me from buying coupons). I hardly ever use Hot Coupon World anymore.

BI-lo Meow Mix deal

2009-12-09T13:21:00.000-08:00

Bi-lo has a BUNCH of BOGO deals this week. The few that caught my eye are the meow mix BOGO cause there is $1 off each bag coups and the johnsonville sausage. I am alos going to get the olive oil deal..there must be an oversupply of olive oil this year as often as it has been one of the things they have had over and over again!

I was so mad, cause one of the checkout girls at Bi-lo wouldn't take my coupon for Dole 55c off fruit or trpoical fruit for the pineapple, which I think is a tropical fruit.It was still a good idea.

Also, keep in mind Ingles usually does triples the first few weeks in Jan and I am seeing coupns come out now with exp dates past Jan, so if you see ones you might want to use for triples (50c or less) put them aside.

RIte Aid deals

2009-12-06T03:52:00.000-08:00

My friend, Joy, told me about the awesome deals she has been doing at Rite Aid, so I decided to give it a look this am and plan ahead. Luckily they have a popup tape deal and free lightbulbs with printables, so I don't have to wait for coupons in the mail. Maybe I will give the Single check rebates another chance. I haven't done the $5/20 coupons, but I might try that ,too.

It is so easy to look at the deals through Southern Savers. Also, if you are buying anything online, make sure you sign up for Upromise and see if you can put some money in your college fund while you shop. I usually shop through there at Barnes and nobles rather than Amazon, who does not participate. Barnes and nobles ,also will let you use your member discount and any coulpns they mail you.

CVS this week is offering ECB on iTunes cards and of course with the $30 coupon, the Free Meter and free $5 ECB.

Scrapbook Page

2009-11-22T04:29:00.001-08:00

Here is picture f the scrapbook layout I will be teaching at the scrap a thon. If you want to make these pages, I will be teaching this at 5 pm. There is a charge for these of $5, as I will be providing the materials. I need to know how many ahead of time, also, to cut the right amount of letters.

How does scrapbooking fit in with saving money?

Well, for Christmas I am making pages and putting pictures on them to give as gifts. For my mother inlaw, for her birthday one year I made her an 18 page scrapbook of her life ( I teach these classes, too if you are interested) and for subsequent holidays or occasions I make her pages to add to her scrapbook. She doesn't need more "stuff" but she loves these personalized gifts. You can also take a page like these and put them in a frame (sold at micheals) with photos and make a personal gift.

My family thinks our scrapbooks are priceless. There are ways to scrapbook and spend tons and ways to do it and utilize things to the max.

Also, Ingles ad this week runs for last week and this week. They ran out of the land o lakes butter, so i got a raincheck and will wait for coupons.I had some for 40c off,so i got a pound of butter for $1. I love love those steamfresh deals..with the 50c off one coupons, these were free..my freezer is full of vegetables and butter. I guess I think it balances out, right?

Dec 5th Scrap a thon/ Cookie Swap

2009-11-21T04:51:00.001-08:00

Do you like to scrapbook or make cards?

then join us December 5th at St. Clare's Episcopal Church from 1-10 pm. We will be having an open crop get together and a cookie swap!

There will be classes during the day , but mainly it is a time to bring your projects and work on them with fellow scrappers.

I will be teaching a class on how to make these trifold cards at 2 pm. There is no charge, but you bring your own supplies (cardstock,paper,stamps, embellishments).

Haley Dyer is offering a workshop on making Christmas Cards..look for details at www.inkyscrapper.blogspot.com

Mostly, though it is a time to scrap with friends old and new. Contact me or Haley Dyer to reserve a table to scrap on (which is $10 for the day).

At 4 pm we will also do a Christmas Cookie swap. Bring 3 dozen of your best Christmas Cookies ( no chocolate chip) and a box or tin and we will send you home with 3 dozen variety!

Come for an hour or all day..what a great time to make Christmas gifts. If you know someone who might be interested, pass this along.

Bi-lo sale this week

2009-11-17T16:07:00.000-08:00

Lots of good deals and stock up prices. If you have room I would defintely buy an extra turkey to put in the freezer for another month. I love having turkey when it's not just the holidays. There is too many deals to list, so check it out at Southern Savers. And if you go on Saturday that's the band bagging for tips.

free redbox codes

2009-11-15T04:53:00.000-08:00

I noticed when I was in the Walmart, the one time I went, that there is a redbox in there. The redbox sits in the are where you walk in. At redbox you can rent dvds. I do Netflix, but the thing is the first monday of every month there are free redbox codes, so you can get a free movie. The codes are published at the Jane4girls blog which is linked at the bottom of this page. So mark your calendar, check out her blog, and enjoy a free movie every month.

Coupons for Christmas

2009-11-15T04:35:00.000-08:00

Although I would like gift of coupons, not everyone would, but with some of my gifts I am giving coupons and with some I am buying with coupons.

With my honey baked ham certificates I bought to support the band I am including the coupons for $7 off to stretch the gift certificate further. Try to act surprised if you get one.

I have a certain sailor and college student who are peanut butter freaks..so I am taking advantage of the 3/$5 Skippy at CVS. Buy $10 get 3ECB and I have 60c off each jar. So this will be 56c a jar. I think this will be cheaper than doubling the 60c at Bi-lo, but I will check it our first! A lot of stocking stuffers can be a good deal with coupons, especially for my girls I get make up when it is BOGO. I looked ahead at the CVS Black Friday, I must be missing it, but nothing really seemed like anything I would get up early for.

Cindy, I wish I had a raincheck for the Kellogs. I bought what I thought was enough for months and they are all gone! But I just recently got my $10 rebates from the fuel for school I get sooo excited when I get a good deal. It is really an illness, I have decided. I could easily work more and make more money (I guess), but I get such a thrill from saving money..I can't wait to get out of the store and see what I save on my tape register.. At least my thrills save money and don't involve illegal substances. But it is sooo hard for me to pass up something free even if I don't need it. I have passed up the free toothpaste and am insisting we go through our stockpile first.

Tomorrow at Ingles

2009-11-14T14:24:00.000-08:00

THe big deal I saw at Ingles is $1.88 a pound land o lakes butter! The turkey is of course a good deal and the chicken at 98c lb. There is a lot that is on sale that has coupons. The birdseye steamfresh is bogo...I love those so much! I got the 10/10 steamfresh deal today - 40 bags- all free cause I had 50c off one coupons.

Does anyone here shop at Dollar General? DO they have good deals or not really? I think soon there will be one in every house in Blairsville. Since there are what 4 of them in Blairsville there must be a demand, but I don't see it. Please tell me what it is.

What did you get a deal on this week or what are you looking to do soon?

The tracker is up! Good coupons

2009-11-12T14:11:00.000-08:00

The tracker is up! What is this ? It is the list of coupons that will be coming out in this weekend's newspaper. How do you find it? Go to the coupon clippers and click on the tracker at the top. Then click on the inserts showing for the upcoming Sunday. She has them available to buy on Sat am and puts more up on monday.

There is the finish available for the BOGO deal. There are honeybaked Ham coupons, so all of you who bought the gift certificates from the band will be able to use these coupons..so you help the band and you get to double dip with a coupon! SWEEETT.

Also, finally a Daisy Sour Cream coupon (just when I run out) a great hellmans, Dukes and an applesauce you can use with the BOGO at Bi-lo. There are sugar, aluminum wrap...so many

Check it out three inserts.

Bi Lo Deals

2009-11-10T16:55:00.000-08:00

Hey Joy did I call it or did I call it?? Crisco BOGO! But I think the smaller bottles will go on sale.

The All/Surf is a great deal! $5.24 for 2 and there are $1 off each coupons available at CC. So that would be $3.24 for 64 loads of laundry! This is a stock up deal or a raincheck deal.

The Sun Light also has $1 off coupons on the CC, making 2 bottles $2.26. That is a deal!! A stock up deal.

I wish there were post cereal coupons out there..if you know of any,please let me know cause i love this stuff and I will get a raincheck if I can't find some.

The kleenex BOGO facial tissue is hot, as is the applesauce. I eat a lot of applesauce. But I may have to get a raincheck to wait for coupons.

I will get a raincheck on the electrasol/ finish detergent cause there may be the $2.50 coupons come out and last time I had a raincheck when they did, so I got two packages for $1.84.I bought a years worth.

Of course more olive Oil..What I wonder is the deal with all the cheap Olive oil this year..a bumper crop in Italy?? It is so expensive, but it has been months now that it has been BOGO.

Some things to keep in mind..Black Friday is coming up. Hot coupon world has sneak peeks of Black Friday deals.. CVS leaves me wanting. But if you need something specific check out blackfridayads.com to plan ahead. Last year I did the Radio Shack deals and saved a buttload on stuff I need, like blank discs and a new phone and memory cards.

Rite Aid Program

2009-11-08T03:38:00.000-08:00

As some of you know I don't shop at Rite Aid much because their ad comes out in the paper 4 days before the end of the sale AND I have had problems with the SCR system. Not many problems, but by the time you find out you didn't buy the right thing (even if the sign was underneath it and it looked like what was on the picture) time has passed and it is a hassle to take it back...on and on. With the CVS program, you know right away.

One way around my first problem is to check Southern Savers ad posts on Sunday and then you have all week to order coupons and take advantage of the specials. There are some good ones this week including free light bulbs and shampoo. They also have a new program where you watch videos,get coupons and money off ($5/20) printables. CVS sent me a $3/15 and I didn't have to watch any ads. They also have the Maxwell house BOGO, like CVS. When I got my coupons from CC, my coups were for $1 off each WOOOHOOO! Not $1/2. It is sad what makes me excited.

If anyone is going to Micheals on Weds I have some coupons off and if anyone needs a 50 % off coupon on any item there I have one good through 11/19.

Tyson Labels for schools ..weekend coupons

2009-11-07T04:46:00.000-08:00

Well this weekend there are a few good coupons coming out.

The hungry Jack Pancake mix 55c at Bi-lo will make it less than 80c a box. So if you eat pancakes this is a good deal.

There are lysol coupons and the lysol stuff will all beon sale at Ingles.

There are more coupons for baking goods, but not a ton. The Crisco coupons (off any crisco product) will come in handy, cause these products always go on sale before and between Christmas and Thanksgiving. LAst year there was even mail in rebates.

Lastly, the Union County Schools are now participating in the Tyson Labels programs. They get back 25c for each label..So inaddition to the boxtops you save and the campbells labels add in Tysons labels.

Maxwell house coffee deal at cvs

2009-11-05T03:14:00.000-08:00

Starting Sunday, CVS will have Maxwell house coffee BOGO and there are coupons on EBAY for $1/2. I got mine on CC, but they are out. Since CVS has a limit of 4 per card, here's my plan:

Buy four $18

- 2 coup: -2 = $16

20% off mailer = -1.60

50c ECB= -.50

= $14 - $9 BOGO = $5.00 , so $5 for 4 lbs of coffee and I have 2 cards!

I may buy other stuff I need and use my $5/30

With Christmas coming up 2 things: Did you know you can buy gift cards on Ebay and sell them, too? What happens is people might get gift cards they don't want to use and they would rather have cash, so they sell them on ebay at a discount. If you have some you don't want (Like the one you got for Victoria's secret) or want to get a deal it is worth a look.

Speaking of gift cards, the band is selling gift cards for Honeybaked Hams in denominations of $10, $25 , $35 and $50. We will deliver the gift cards to you. I bought some last year to give for last minute gifts that you didn't know you needed kinda thing and I used all the extras for myself. They can be used in the store,online in any area of the country. For your couponing friends, HHH puts out a lot of coupons over the holidays, why not give a gift certificate WITH a coupon!! Email me at jquigley06@windstream.net if you are interested. We will have them in time for Thanksgiving use.

Current and upcoming deals

2009-11-04T03:16:00.000-08:00

This should be the time of the year of some awesome deals and great coupons due to the upcoming holidays...I haven't seen it yet...It should start this weekend with the coupons so I will keep you updated.

What should be good deals are baking supplies (flour,sugar, mixes) and holiday related foods (turkeys, hams) and some of my favorites party type foods (crackers,snacks) and it is the time last year I got the most awesome deal on butter. I will keep my eyes peeled for this. I froze 20 pounds last year. ( I am not going to embarass myself by telling you how fast I went through it).

I didn't see anything mind blowing at Ingles or Bi-lo this week, but there were a few highlights:

Both have the Birdeye steamfresh vegetables BOGO and there are various coupons out there. I am getting 80 bags, cause these are soooo convenient and good.

At Bi-lo they have the buy 4 cheerios cereals and get $4 back, with a 55c printable at Southern Savers making it 40c a box for 4 boxes of cereal.

Kraft Cheese buy 3 get $3 back instantly. There is coupons for $1 off 2 so at $2.50 @ it would be $3.50 for 3 slices,chunks or shreds. It is a limit of one per bonus card.

At southern savers, there is a printable coupon for $5/30 at CVS. I got a mailer for 20% off next weekend. I haven't seen the ad yet, but combining these two with deals and coupons could be good.

Also, In preparation for the upcoming shopping season, do not forget to sign up for UPromise.

Click on the button on the blog, sign up, link your CVS and grocery cards and download the turbosaver bar. What that does is that whenever you search online for something, it will search the participating merchants that give you a rebate and let you know. Using Upromise does not limit you from deals you can otherwise get. For instance this week, I ordered prints from Snapfish for my scrapbooking addiction, I mean hobby... I got 9c prints (as always there) and 7% back in my account and I was still able to use the code for free shipping!

I do a lot of shopping online and you may as well get paid for it. It goes into an account you can use for education for children or grandchildren or friends children.... I almost have enough after 3 years from just shopping for 1 quarter at a state school. Please email or make comments if you have questions about this.

Amy's Class and cheap gas

2009-10-19T03:59:00.000-07:00

Amy P is teaching a coupon class Oct 26th (Monday) at 6 pm at the Brackett Room at UCBI for all that are interested. I guess it is open to the public.

Why is gas soo much cheaper in Jasper? It is about 15c- 20c a gallon cheaper. I don't get it it, but I always plan to fill up when I go by....and if you shop at Kroger and spend $100 (which isn't hard) you get 10c a gallon off. Same at Ingles. It is still not so cheap that it is worth driving down there...but.

Out of town

2009-10-13T04:57:00.001-07:00

For Fall break, I am out of town, so I haven't even looked at the new ads.

But there is a Bi-lo here in hilton Head..so I used my card and shopped there and yes I brought my coupon book on vacation. I told the kids we were only going to go out once this time to eat. The timeshare we have has a full kitchen, so no current cost for the room and less spent on food.

we ran in to some other people from Blairsville on the beach and had a blast. I think at Disney World this week you can't throw a stone without hitting someone from Blairsville.

Good Deals at Bi-lo

2009-10-07T09:09:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of BOGO's at Bi-lo this week. Some are great deals in my humble opinion:

The pompeiian olive oil... With a coupon printed from the southern savers site, this is $4 for TWO BOTTLES OF OLIVE OIL!

The dole pineapple with the $1 off 5 will be 50c can. I use pineapple in chicken dishes, chicken salad, pork chops, ham,pasta dishes,cream cheese sandwiches, pizza...and so much. It is a great fruit to sneak into foods.

The ALL or Surf detergent will be $4 for a months worth of detergent doing 2 loads a day. This is a good example of a time to stock up using multiple coupons to really save. If you bought a years worth of detergent it would be less than $48, as opposed to over $120 or more. This is a stock up ,stockpile item.

The fresh express salads are a good deal (wish you could freeze lettuce)

The sunlight dish detergent should be close to free.

As always, this is the time of year there is a lot of progresso soup coupons and sales. What a great fast food alternative for lunch.

Let me know what deals you see.

great prices on boston butt

2009-10-07T09:07:00.000-07:00

Foodland has Boston Butt for 79C a pound! That is 20c a pound less than I have ever seen it and the last time I got one from them it was delicious. Put it in the crockpot and freeze some for BBQ sandwiches later on a night you feel like thawing, not cooking.

World Cardmaking Day

2009-10-03T00:00:00.000-07:00

Today is World Cardmaking Day and I am participating in a "blog hop"

Just follow the links below and see all the cards that fellow close to my heart consultants made to celebrate. You will be in for a creative treat.

My card was made with CTMH paper, Perfect Day, tulip brads,connection club pearl accents, THe priceless word puzzle stamp with tulip,and cocoa inks and my pazzles cutiing machine. It is a 4X5 card, so you can get three out of one sheet of paper!

To all of you out there celebrating World Cardmaking Day, remember..don't hoard your cards.. send them! Surely you know someone who could use a pick me up, an encouragement , a "hello".
So take your works of art and spread sunshine.

I f any of you have a hoard of cards, my husband, who is in Iraq says they could use blanks cards or ones with various sentiments for the soldiers to use to send home. They have a basket in their morale room full of Halloween cards, but he says he would like to get more variety for them to choose from and he knows that CTMH caardmakes can make some beautiful cards. Leave me a comment if interested in donating.

Now hop on over Laurie's blog

to keep hopping.

Double Dip on Dominos

2009-10-02T13:36:00.000-07:00

Hey since Bi-lo has a newspaper ad coupon for Dominos sugar and there is a 35c off one coupon available, the dominos will be 70c for 5 lbs. You can use a store coupon and a mfg coupon at the same time.

with christmas coming up, this is a good oppurtunity.

Favorite "take over" meal

2009-09-29T04:34:00.000-07:00

I am stumped! I am sitting here looking at my cookbook, but just can't come up with a meal to take over to a friend who just had surgery.

She is a little bit of a health nut, so I am not taking green onion casserole, but I am stumped.

Also, I always do the same meal over and over, so I need some inspiration. What is your favorite "take over" meal that can be eaten right away or frozen and eaten later?

One time when I had surgery I got so many meals it was overwhelming, but it was so much fun to have things in the freezer that I could take out and heat when I didn't feel like cooking or shopping. I remember a chicken casserole that I froze that was great. I will track down that recipe!

free at Ingles

2009-09-29T04:28:00.000-07:00

there are a few things that are free or near free at ingles this week. Many with printables, so you won't get quantity, but you will get free.

Post cereal, smithfield bacon, mccormick chili spice, green giant vegetables and the no yolks noodles are a double dip, cause there is coupons that make them free and you can get 75c back with a upromise "coupon". check these out and go just to get free stuff and the 78c/lb chicken.

With one of my chickens I am going to make chicken and dumplings with a side dish of cinnamon apples. How I make these is cinnamon heart candies and water, put peeled apples in this, bake at 350 for and hour and baste.

With another I am going to make roast chicken with herbs from our garden and root vegetables basted with sorghum and balsamic vinegar. bake them together and add home made rolls!

Rice coupons, crockpot recipes

2009-09-28T04:32:00.000-07:00

There are coupons available for 55c off any mahatma,watermaid any size rice. So at Bi-lo you can get two pounds for less than 20c. That makes for a cheap side dish. You can also put it in a foodsaver dry and it will last for 5 years in a stockpile.

Also, if you haven't checked out that crockpot365.blogspot.com site Haley recommended, check it out! What great recipes. I am definitely getting my crockpot back out.

Sunday Ingles sale, The economy of cooking

2009-09-26T04:24:00.000-07:00

This week, Ingles has tyson whole chickens for 78c a pound. This is an incredible price.

Of course since the P&G is coming out this weekend, Ingles has most of the items with coupons on sale.

I like eating out as much as the next person, but when I think about it, it blows my mind how much of a discrepancy there is in cost between eating out and cooking at home.

When you read $5 dinner meals, it becomes apparent how much you can do on a small amount.

When I first started couponing and doing a budget, one of the most glaring "extras" in our spending was how much we spent eating out, both lunch and dinner. I always justified this cause of working, but I could have cut back on working with the difference.

Lets take one meal for an example. Last week we went to Cobbs Mill. Hannah and I split a sandwich and fries and salad. Katie had a pasta dish. The ingredients for mine and Hannah's meal was easily under $4. Katie's pasta would have been under $2 (with coupons for the pasta).

But our bill was over $40. It was good, but what a difference for the convenience. With dollar menu items, studies have shown that is about the cost. But lets say you get a sausage biscuit with coffee for breakfast. I am assuming normal prices, with coupons..but you could do coffee and a sausage biscuit even using biscuit mix for less than 40c per serving.

The thing that helped me most in cutting done drastically on eating out was menu planning so I wasn't left with that "it's 5 o'clock and what's for dinner?" syndrome. I also have cook books and recipes from Cooking Light magazine's Superfast supper series. their new one Fresh Food Fast, I love. We have really loved the recipes we have made so far.

I should do more crock pot cooking, but I have never found a crock pot cook book I really liked, do you know of one?

Almost free soap

2009-09-21T04:50:00.000-07:00

I haven't seen a coupon for $1 off johnson products in a while, but Coupon Clippers has them. This means free or almost free bath buddies.

Ingles deals this week

2009-09-21T04:25:00.000-07:00

Check out Southern Savers Ingles ads...looks like I can use my honey bunches of oats printable there.

The Del monte vegetables and tomatos are 46c a can after coupons, which in my mind is cheaper than I can grow them and can them myself.

The Muellers noodles/pasta is a good deal, but since it is a 55c off coupon, it may be a better deal at bi-lo. The tuna is free. I am thinking tuna noodle casserole with vegetables for less than $2 for a family of 4, including the cream of mushroom soup.

They also have the green giant steamers on sale and for convenience 66c isn't bad.

Have you ever noticed that Ingles tends to have on sale what is in the inserts on the weekend?

That is especially true for the per food sales or when the p&g insert comes out.

The tracker is up

2009-09-17T16:47:00.000-07:00

The tracker is up and the coupons are not as plentiful and as good as last week, but there are some good ones. The del monte vegetables is $1 off 5 cans. Last year it was $1 off 12 cans. Every year about now the vegetables usually go on sale if not BOGO, usually close to half price. We still are not through the 5 cases i bought last year.

also, I see the campbells soup coupons are more frequent, as well as the sales and the quaker products. Ingles had a deal this week about so much off when you bought so many quaker products..combine that with a grits coupons. Of course progresso coupons are coming out and the sales will start for 10/10 or BOGO.

I have a computer again! Deals this week

2009-09-17T02:36:00.000-07:00

The new tracker has not posted yet, but some upcoming deals I saw for this week are the BOGO maxwell house coffee and BOGO on post cereals at CVS. I can't find any maxwell house coupons, but it is still a good deal. There are some post coupons on Ebay, but CVS usually runs out of cereal, so I may buy off ebay or hope for a raincheck and wait for coupons, cause my stash is getting low.

I noticed under coupons on the coupon clippers there are 50c off one steamfresh vegetables. Although Walmart does not double, the price on some varieties is $1/bag, so 50c a bag is not bad. I do have some left over BOGO rainchecks...so at 1/2 price with 50c doubling to $1 each that will be less than 50c. Those steamfresh vegetables are so good and so convenient.

I taught a coupon class last Saturday. There were 16 women and two men. This time I was able to access the internet and show people what I was talking about. Ithought the class went very well. It is always exciting to teach someone about saving money. I know it is overwhelming, though....so I hope they take it one step at a time...baby steps. Before you know it, it will be so easy. I know from some of you who have taken my classes before and now save big IT CAN BE DONE! It does seem overwhelming at first.

My power cord to my MAC caught fire a couple of weeks ago. This is the second time this has happened. I searched and found another brand that is supposed to be sturdier than the apple brand, so we will see.

Savings mailers from Bi-lo/Ingles

2009-09-05T12:48:00.000-07:00

Have you been getting those savings mailers $10/100 at Bi-lo and 5% off your visit at Ingles in the mail? I just got a new set for Bi-lo for the upcoming month.

If you didn't get one and want one, let me know. I won't be buying $100 worth of stuff every week.

I have also gotten a mailer from CVS for a 2 day sale 20% off everything I buy and an email for $5/30 next visit. ARRRGGGGH just when I don't really want/need anything, I think.

I have been so good of trying to live off my stash I still have $48 left in my budget envelope!

I may have to look and see if there are any good deals.

When you started using coupons

2009-09-05T12:39:00.000-07:00

This coming Saturday I am teaching a new class on couponing. It should be a bit different, cause everyone taking it is 50 or older. I am guessing most will have empty or almost empty nests and won't need to fill the carts as much as those of us with families.

There are 25 ladies and gents signed up.

Thinking back on it, what is it that you changed the most about your shopping habits when you first started using coupons? For me it was that name brands are cheaper than store brands most of the time. I was one who almost always bought the "value" or store brand. I think they are as good in quality most of the time, but I don't mind the name brand quality either.

It was also different to gearing my shopping around what was on sale and coupons rather than "what do I need" this week.

The cashiers tell me when this Ingles is finished it will be the largest in the state.

A surprising saving....Foodland! They have the Oscar Mayer bacon 2/$5 and take coupons, so their bacon will be 2/3.50, more than a 70% savings. That is a dollar better than Ingles sale. They said the sale would go on til they run out. You can freeze bacon.

Another..with the 50c off ANY size Duke's mayo, there are tiny bottles at Ingles for $1.18, for 4 oz..or 18c after coupons. Yes that seems like a ridicoulsy small amount, but it would be 36c for 8 oz, instead of $1.76 for the 8 oz jar after 50c coupon doubled. I am getting at least 10. Tell me where else you can get 40 oz of mayo for $1.80??

I went to Walmart!

2009-08-29T05:10:00.000-07:00

I went in the new Walmart store to get new workout clothes. I did not go to the grocery section. I only bought what I went in for and left, I was so proud of myself! It is so weird to think there is one here now. I was making my "Atlanta list" up this week and I realized I didn't have to do that, I can get cheap underwear any time I want!

If you have gone to the grocery section, I would like to hear what you think about the prices. Did you use coupons?

I also have not gone grocery shopping this week, following Pat's example and tried to live off my hoard. I will have to get bread and fruit, but I am going to try to further work down my pile before adding to it....unless my peanut butter coupons expire.

Good coupons and deals this weekend

2009-08-29T05:01:00.000-07:00

Three good deals I saw with coupons this weekend:

Marcal Toilet paper FREE rolls this weekend. Ingles carries this. If you are going to get a bunch it would be worthwhile to ask them to order it so you don't clear the shelves. I got some the last free go round. It gets the job done, but it is not Charmin...but it is FREE

Oscar Mayer Bacon $1.50/2. Starting tomorrow this is on sale at Ingles $2/6, so $4.50 or $2.25 for bacon that is normally $4.50 each. Who knows it could be BOGO at Bi-lo...That is an awesome coupon.

Also the A-1 sauce is On sale at Ingles, with the $2 coupon, it will make it 50c a bottle. My kids put this on everything.

All these coupons were avail at C Clippers as of this am.

Lunch menus

2009-08-25T13:22:00.000-07:00

Monday: turkey& avacado on french loaf, cheetos, plums, carrot stix

Tues: Bacon lettuce and tomato on french loaf bread, sunchips,peaches

Wed: Roast beef & cheese on Italian bread, grapes, watermelon balls, chips

Thurs: Cream cheese on date nut loaf, cuke stix, plums, popcorn mixed with trail mix

Friday: Buffalo Chicken wings, carrot & cuke stix, apple, ranch dressing dip

Along the line of what I said about having a gimmick last week, is also varying the type of bread you use. I use sub rolls, french bread, tortillas, italian,sourdough, wheat rolls, bagels, quick breads (like the date nut bread). When I was little we ate the date nut bread out of a can.. I couldn't find this, so I made my own. Did you know what makes it so sweet and dark is prune juice? If you see the date nut bread in a can, let me know where from, I would like some for nostalgia.

hoarders

2009-08-24T19:12:00.000-07:00

Oh my gosh! I am watching the A&E series "Hoarders" and I am worried about myself! The lady on here says she gets excited when she gets a good deal and she just can't pass stuff up when it's a good deal...that's me! I think right now I have enough stockpiled that I don't really need to shop other than meat and fruit and milk for over a month, but I see a good deal and coupons and off I go... I have 100 lbs of dog food, 60 lbs of cat food, 50 cans of soup,20 more 4 pks of TP, 50 lipton sides, 3 cases of vegetables, 45 bars of soap,12 razors,50 bags of cheese, 25 boxes dishwashing detergent,15 laundry detergents,10 boxes of cereal..it goes on and on and if there is a bogo this week and I have a coupon I might go...

I'm not even going into the shampoo and toothpaste!

I really need to take a break ...maybe I won't even look at the ads....

Does anybody else have a hard time resisting a deal?

Ingles sale and send a card

2009-08-24T05:08:00.000-07:00

I saw that Ingles has the cut up chicken for 98c a pound. I think this is a good deal. I will cut up my own, but I like it when I can get it cut up at a good price.

This is to my fellow scrapbookers, cardmakers...you know you are hoarding cards! Go through your pile and please send an encouraging word to my husband. To mail the letter, you just write this address on it and put a regular stamp on it.

He says it is really hot. I told him I was going to call the pentagon and tell them to turn off the air conditioning in the tents to save money.....

CDR. John K Quigley
CLB 46 (HSS Co STP Det, Ubaydi)
Unit 72022
FPO, AE 09509-2022

I have been trying to send him a card every day. Unfortunately (or fortunately) I have a very boring life and not much to say and I know there is email and all, but I love getting mail and I guess everyone does. That is if it is not bills.

I learned something new!

2009-08-19T19:04:00.000-07:00

I love learning new things and today when I was at nelson's ace I learned you can buy dog (cat)vaccines there! They are about the same price as the mail order place I use, but you will not have pay shipping! I am very excited since I have 7 who will need vaccines soon. You have to ask for them, though, cause they keep them in the fridge.

Pat, please post how your class went. Did you have a lot come?

This weeks CVS and Bi-lo ads didn't float my boat - did you see anything good?

Beagle Puppies

2009-08-18T15:45:00.000-07:00

Well the excitement this weekend was the 7 beagle puppie who came to live with us. We have 2 boys and 5 girls and they are cute as buttons! Maggie is such a good mom...I wish I could say Shadow was a good dad, but we haven't seen hide nor hair of him, although his female relatives came over to help with the babies. My blogger and scrappin friend Haley owns the Dad, Shadow, so now our two families are linked by marriage.

If you know anyone who would like a beagle for their very own, let me know.They are mostly black now, but will change to the traditional tricolor. Both parents are very good with children and have a calm disposition.

Weekly Lunch Menus

2009-08-18T03:37:00.000-07:00

One thing I have found (not really news) about packing kids lunches is that it is all about gimmicks. I know it is a rule for homemaking to make food visually appealing is half the battle, but I think it is even more so with school lunches. For instance, water melon balls and canteloupe balls, good.....put them on a skewer stick -- even better. sandwiches, good....wraps cut so you can see the layers and colors...even better. cereal for lunch! I have found some books and websites tha t have ways to decorate food....apple slices - put peanut butter inside two and minature marshmallows to make a smile. Anyway:

Monday: Tuna noodle salad, watermelon, chocolate covered grahams

Tues: Leftover roast chicken salad w/ almonds on kaiser roll, grapes, cupcake (all that near free boxtops stuff)

Weds: Turkey club sandwiches, citrus dole fruit cup, trail mix bars

Thursday: Cucumber,carrot,cream cheese, lettuce roll ups, chips, watermelon

Friday: Turkey on kaiser rolls w/ tomato, avacado,bean sprouts & cheese, fruit cup,

cupcake

Pat please post and tell us how your class went

2009-08-14T08:39:00.000-07:00

Pat- please tell us how your class went. Any new tips?
I always love learning something new.

Did everyone get the 5% off coupon from Ingles? I wonder if this is because of Walmart?
I still am very leary of Walmart and I am betting you can still get better deals at the other stores. I do not know Walmarts match price policy, but even if they do, they don't double coupons. I would love to hear about others feelings/experiences with Walmart.

I will go for cheap underwear, but for me in general it is better to stay out..it is like Micheals I end up spending way more than I want to or plan to.

Check out Southern Savers

2009-08-10T13:47:00.000-07:00

I added a tab for Southern Savers and you should check it out. What I like about it is the ease of finding things I want and need and the links. What a lot of people complain about on Hot Coupon World is how overwhelming and complicated it is and it is. But they have good information and forums. But on Southern savers if you want to look at Bi-lo or Ingles with matchups to coupons and printables, It is right there on the front bar --- how easy is that? And the look is cleaner.

I haven't used the forums yet, but I am now sold on looking there first for grocery store sales. HCW does not have as active boards for Ingles and Bi-lo.

Speaking of bi-lo, what a sale this week! I went today and It was $138 before coupons, $66 after and I am sending in the catalina for the $10 gift card from bi-lo and double dipping for the $10 Kelloggs. SO it will be $46 after that. that's a 66% savings! I found a peelie on the cookies I bought for the kelloggs deal for $1 off milk and milk was on sale for $2.79 and I had coupons for the cookies --- triple score! I also was able to use my $10 off coupons because my before coupon total was over $100.00. I got meat and fresh fruit..what a score. I was going to skip it this week until I hear about the hidden catalina for the double dip on the kelloggs. I ran into a girlfriend of mine and told her about it. The cashier forgot to give her the catalina with the form for the $10 rebate...so beware.

Lunch menu's for the week

2009-08-10T04:14:00.000-07:00

I have packed my kids lunches for over 5 years. If you look at the school menu it is mostly carbs, fat and sugar. It is full of fast food type food. I spoke with the dietician one year and she said this is what kids will eat. Considering a lot of kids eat two meals a day there, it seems to me to be a recipe for future problems. I am sure they are doing the best they can, but I wanted a more fiber filled, high protien meal. I don't always do the best, but I try. As someone who has battled weight all my life, I know that changing tastes and habits early is better than trying to do it in adulthood.

Anyway:

Monday: Burrito BLT wraps, brownies (made with pumpkin), peach, crystal light tube

The burrito blt wrap is from betty crocker.com ( substituted light mayo).

Brownies with pumpkin are made by mixing in 1 can pumpkin with brownie mix and baking. They are more cakey than fudgy and don't keep more than 2 days on the counter.

Tuesday: Ham and cheddar wraps (again BC.com), nature valley nut bars, melon balls.

Weds: Rainbow cupcakes, roast beef sandwiches, cucumber sticks, dole fruit cup

Thursday: Cold tuna/noodle salad ( a favorite), apple slices, more cupcakes

Friday: Homemade lunchables ( ham, turkey, salami meat cubes or slices, cheese cubes & ritz crackers and wheat thins) , oatmeal bars (homemade), cucumber sticks

Bi-lo mailer/CVS $5 off $25

2009-08-08T17:32:00.001-07:00

Did any of you get the Bi-lo mailer with the $10 off $100 good each week for the next 4 weeks or so? I will not use mine this week if someone wants it.

Also, go to the bottom of my blog and go to the jane4girls blog for the link to the $5 off $25 CVS coupon good after August 10th

Ingles sale tomorrew/coupons

2009-08-08T05:08:00.001-07:00

The sale at ingles, starting tomorrow, has a lot of good deals, especially when combined with the coupons coming out tomorrow. For instance, the Purina dog chow is $2.50 off most types and there is $2 off coupons in the paper - that is $4.50 off or 40% off. I have two hungry dogs, so I will definitely be taking advantage of this and stocking up.

There is the buy 10, get $10 Ingles gift card deal for Kelloggs. Remember you must buy all 10 products at once and mail in the form, but they have many of the items on sale and there are coupons available for most. I will have no problem getting 10 items with pop tarts and nut bars. With the coupons I have I could get 10 poptarts (for example- I will not be getting 10 pop tarts) for 17.50 - $5 in coupons ($1 off each 2) and get $10 back , so $2.50 for 10 boxes of poptarts.

They also have the box tops deals, which are great for the schools and there are tons of coupons in the paper tomorrow and online for all these products. What a nice way to give back to our schools, buy 10 products and get a $5 bonus (50 boxtops) to donate...and many of these products are great for lunch box items (yogurt, brownies, chex mix...)

This gets to something I would recommend for everyone, go to www.bettycrocker.com and sign up for their dinners made easy newsletter. I have gotten some great recipes from there. I will be posting my lunch menus later today or tomorrow ( for lunchboxes) and some of the new recipes are from there. They had the best recipe for peach crisp, using just a bag of oatmeal cookie mix and the fresh peaches I had...It was so easy and yummy. Their reicpes using the suddenly salad products have been great and you can adapt them to what you have.

Lastly, I want to know -- where have you gotten your best produce this summer and what?

I got tons of free blackberries from the sides of the road, but the blueberries, while good, did not produce like last year..where do you get yours? Know of a pick it yourself site? I need more. I also need some corn..any sources? Peaches? I need some more to put up. I have plenty of tomatoes and squash. You will notice that many of the recipes I am doing this week use tomatoes, If i could figure out a way to put them in muffins or pancakes that my kids would eat I would! I have a food dehydrator and when I am overwhelmed, I make my own Sun dried tomatoes and put them in a vacuum bag or freezer bag. They are not hard to do and are much better than paying the price they charge for sun dried tomatoes in the store. I put them in soups, sandwiches, chilis, spagetti sauce..in the winter. You do not have to store them in olive oil.