Go here to sign up for a free subscription to Baby Talk magazine. Don't forget that magazines often contain coupons. It's a great way to get a few more coupons!
Friday, September 16, 2011
Freebie: Baby Talk Magazine
Go here to sign up for a free subscription to Baby Talk magazine. Don't forget that magazines often contain coupons. It's a great way to get a few more coupons!
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
$20 Whole Foods Certificate for $10
Wow! I'm wishing I lived near a Whole Foods, but I don't. So maybe some of you can take advantage of this awesome deal from Living Social for me.Go here (search under Philadelphia if you don't see it) to get a certificate for $20 worth of groceries at Whole Foods for only $10.
Tasty Tuesday: Homemade Bisquick
I'm always looking for ways to save and also to eat healthier. So when I came across this recipe for Homemade Bisquick I was pretty excited. Not only is it cheaper than buying Bisquick it is also much healthier because the homemade version has no partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, which I really like to avoid. And you couldn't ask for an easier thing to make! It literally just takes minutes.
On top of all that, we actually liked how the things I made with this turned out better than when I made them with Bisquick mix! I've used it now for several different things and they all turned out more delicious than usual. Can you tell I'm sold? :)
Here are two of our favorite quiche recipes using Bisquick- Zucchini Quiche and Crustless Bacon and Egg Quiche,
Okay, so on to the recipe!
On top of all that, we actually liked how the things I made with this turned out better than when I made them with Bisquick mix! I've used it now for several different things and they all turned out more delicious than usual. Can you tell I'm sold? :)
Here are two of our favorite quiche recipes using Bisquick- Zucchini Quiche and Crustless Bacon and Egg Quiche,
Okay, so on to the recipe!
Homemade Bisquick
5 c. flour (you could use half whole wheat flour)
1/4 c. baking powder
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 c. shortening (I use butter)
Mix dry ingredients together then cut in butter until crumbly. Store in refrigerator** and use as you would Bisquick.
Yields: A little over 6 cups
** If you don't use butter or margarine for this recipe, but instead use vegetable shortening, you could store at room temperature.
For other recipe ideas, check out Balancing Beauty and Bedlam's Tasty Tuesday, Blessed with Grace's Tempt my Tummy Tuesday, Fudge Ripple's Tuesday Night Supper Club, 33 Shades of Green's Tasty Tuesday, and All the Small Stuff's Tuesday's at the Table.
1/4 c. baking powder
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 c. shortening (I use butter)
Mix dry ingredients together then cut in butter until crumbly. Store in refrigerator** and use as you would Bisquick.
Yields: A little over 6 cups
** If you don't use butter or margarine for this recipe, but instead use vegetable shortening, you could store at room temperature.
For other recipe ideas, check out Balancing Beauty and Bedlam's Tasty Tuesday, Blessed with Grace's Tempt my Tummy Tuesday, Fudge Ripple's Tuesday Night Supper Club, 33 Shades of Green's Tasty Tuesday, and All the Small Stuff's Tuesday's at the Table.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Weekly Spending Summary
Total Spent: $24.94
Total Saved with Coupons: $39.00
Total Saved with Sales: $33.20
Total Saved: $72.20
CVS: $0 (gift card)
Saved with Coupons: $24.47
Saved with Sales: $11.98
Had I not had a CVS gift card to pay for this purchase, my out of pocket would have been $5.06.
This was a pretty fun trip. I had two coupons from the CVS coupon machine- one for $3/$15 Baby Care purchase and one or $1/1 Pampers Jumbo pack. I also had a $5/$25 coupon that was emailed to me. I used manufacturer coupons for the Huggies and Pampers as well as the two coupons from the CVS coupon machine, which really helped bring my out of pocket down. And I ended up getting $6.99 back in Extra Bucks.
I bought the Bengay with a rain check.
On a side note, I've been waiting to do my CVS trips until Thurs. or Fri. since almost every week I get a coupon for $4/20, $3/$15 or $5/$25 emailed to me. Usually with what I planned to buy I can hit that amount so it makes it really worth it. And this is where my rain checks come in handy. If I'm a little short on hitting the out of pocket that I need to spend to be able to use my coupon, I simply use one of my rain checks to buy something to get my total up.
Rite Aid: $0
Saved with Coupons: $5.00
Saved with Sales: $12.86
I had a rain check for the Oxi-Clean making it free. I've never tried it before so I'm anxious to see what I think. I figured for free I couldn't go wrong!
Giant: $3.08
Saved with Coupons: $5.15
Saved with Sales: $2.44
I had a FREE product coupon for the Cottonelle wipes. Thanks to two Giant store coupons that printed out from the catalina machine a few weeks ago, the Ginger Ale was a $0.25 money maker and Dial soap cost me $0.19.
The Giant coupons I had were for $1.50 off any Health and Beauty purchase and $1 off any carbonated beverage purchase. I'm really hoping to get more of those kinds of coupons!
Darrenkamp's: $12.86
Saved with Coupons: $4.38
Saved with Sales: $5.92
Got eggs for $0.79- a great price any more around here! And just so you know I'm not always a total tightwad, I'll tell you about those chips you see. I was shopping and it was close to lunch time. I saw a display of $0.99 chips and they looked so good and suddenly I was craving them like crazy. We were going to have sandwiches for lunch, so I decided to splurge and buy a small bag of chips. Every now and then I get tired of always being so careful about what I spend and how and it's kind of fun to just buy something for the fun of it!
Expressly Local Food: $0 (used $0.85 spare change)
This was kind of a dud deal in some ways. I had seen a daily deal on Living Social for a voucher for $20 of food at this place for only $10. I had a $10 credit so I figured I might as well get it and I figured I'd use it to get a bunch of raw sugar and then maybe some produce etc. All that they sell is organic and all-natural so I figured I'd be eating healthy too. :)
Well, it turns out that I didn't read the fine print close enough. The voucher was for $20 of PRODUCE, not anything else. That's not all bad, but $20 buys a lot of produce even at a store where the prices are rather exorbitant! But what could I do but go ahead and get some produce. The annoying thing was I had just bought lettuce, apples and potatoes and my in-laws had given us a bunch of peaches too. So we have been eating lots and lots of fruit and potatoes around here! Oh well, at least it's rather healthy stuff. And yes, it was also a good reminder to read the fine print more closely!
Misc.: $9.00
I got cash out to pay for produce at market.
Total Saved with Coupons: $39.00
Total Saved with Sales: $33.20
Total Saved: $72.20
CVS: $0 (gift card)
Saved with Coupons: $24.47
Saved with Sales: $11.98
Had I not had a CVS gift card to pay for this purchase, my out of pocket would have been $5.06. This was a pretty fun trip. I had two coupons from the CVS coupon machine- one for $3/$15 Baby Care purchase and one or $1/1 Pampers Jumbo pack. I also had a $5/$25 coupon that was emailed to me. I used manufacturer coupons for the Huggies and Pampers as well as the two coupons from the CVS coupon machine, which really helped bring my out of pocket down. And I ended up getting $6.99 back in Extra Bucks.
I bought the Bengay with a rain check.
On a side note, I've been waiting to do my CVS trips until Thurs. or Fri. since almost every week I get a coupon for $4/20, $3/$15 or $5/$25 emailed to me. Usually with what I planned to buy I can hit that amount so it makes it really worth it. And this is where my rain checks come in handy. If I'm a little short on hitting the out of pocket that I need to spend to be able to use my coupon, I simply use one of my rain checks to buy something to get my total up.
Rite Aid: $0
Saved with Coupons: $5.00
Saved with Sales: $12.86
I had a rain check for the Oxi-Clean making it free. I've never tried it before so I'm anxious to see what I think. I figured for free I couldn't go wrong!Giant: $3.08
Saved with Coupons: $5.15
Saved with Sales: $2.44
I had a FREE product coupon for the Cottonelle wipes. Thanks to two Giant store coupons that printed out from the catalina machine a few weeks ago, the Ginger Ale was a $0.25 money maker and Dial soap cost me $0.19. The Giant coupons I had were for $1.50 off any Health and Beauty purchase and $1 off any carbonated beverage purchase. I'm really hoping to get more of those kinds of coupons!
Darrenkamp's: $12.86
Saved with Coupons: $4.38
Saved with Sales: $5.92
Got eggs for $0.79- a great price any more around here! And just so you know I'm not always a total tightwad, I'll tell you about those chips you see. I was shopping and it was close to lunch time. I saw a display of $0.99 chips and they looked so good and suddenly I was craving them like crazy. We were going to have sandwiches for lunch, so I decided to splurge and buy a small bag of chips. Every now and then I get tired of always being so careful about what I spend and how and it's kind of fun to just buy something for the fun of it! Expressly Local Food: $0 (used $0.85 spare change)
This was kind of a dud deal in some ways. I had seen a daily deal on Living Social for a voucher for $20 of food at this place for only $10. I had a $10 credit so I figured I might as well get it and I figured I'd use it to get a bunch of raw sugar and then maybe some produce etc. All that they sell is organic and all-natural so I figured I'd be eating healthy too. :) Well, it turns out that I didn't read the fine print close enough. The voucher was for $20 of PRODUCE, not anything else. That's not all bad, but $20 buys a lot of produce even at a store where the prices are rather exorbitant! But what could I do but go ahead and get some produce. The annoying thing was I had just bought lettuce, apples and potatoes and my in-laws had given us a bunch of peaches too. So we have been eating lots and lots of fruit and potatoes around here! Oh well, at least it's rather healthy stuff. And yes, it was also a good reminder to read the fine print more closely!
Misc.: $9.00
I got cash out to pay for produce at market.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Monthly Spending Summary (Aug.)
Whew! This was NOT a good month. I way overspent and nearly used up all of my cushion, which isn't too comforting since I still have apples to buy and I'd like to stock up on meat at a local meat sale in Sept. Seeing how much I spent this month really made me aware of how lax I've gotten with my spending. I've rather subconsciously slipped into the mode of just buying things that I kind of want even if it isn't the best price ever. When I could just do without it.
The upside to my overspending is that some of it was done on items that I submitted rebates for. So in the next month or two I should see a nice credit on here thanks to that.
Monthly Grocery/Household Budget: $190
Total Spent: $229.57
Total Saved with Coupons/Sales: $265.95
Week 1: $46.50
Week 2: $131.80
Week 3: $47.24
Week 4: $4.03
Other Expenses: $87.85
- This was for groceries at a bulk food store, tomatoes and 1 1/2 bu. peaches to can.
Credits: $12.99
- I have Rite Aid Sing;e Check Rebates to thank for this!
Ending Monthly Balance: - $114.43
Balance carried from Jan.-July: $141.29
Ending Annual Balance: $26.86
- In case you are confused, this is the amount I have left over for the year. This comes from being under budget in some previous months. So basically I am ahead by $26.86 for the year.
The upside to my overspending is that some of it was done on items that I submitted rebates for. So in the next month or two I should see a nice credit on here thanks to that.
Monthly Grocery/Household Budget: $190
Total Spent: $229.57
Total Saved with Coupons/Sales: $265.95
Week 1: $46.50
Week 2: $131.80
Week 3: $47.24
Week 4: $4.03
Other Expenses: $87.85
- This was for groceries at a bulk food store, tomatoes and 1 1/2 bu. peaches to can.
Credits: $12.99
- I have Rite Aid Sing;e Check Rebates to thank for this!
Ending Monthly Balance: - $114.43
Balance carried from Jan.-July: $141.29
Ending Annual Balance: $26.86
- In case you are confused, this is the amount I have left over for the year. This comes from being under budget in some previous months. So basically I am ahead by $26.86 for the year.
Obtaining Coupons: Manufacturer Websites
It's been a long time since I did any posts for my Obtaining Coupons series. With the busyness of this summer I just didn't get the series finished. But now that life has slowed down a bit (should I even say that?!) I intend to try to finish the series.
Manufacturer Websites are a great way to find coupons. Many manufacturers offer coupons directly on their website or if you sign up for their various clubs and email newsletters you can get access to printable coupons as well. There are some websites that I have learned pretty much always have coupons for their products linked on their site. So if I see one of their products on sale that I want, I'll visit their website to see if they have a coupon available.
I suggest that if there is a specific brand name product you want to buy, but don't have a coupon for, plug the name of the product into your Swagbucks search engine and that should direct you to the manufacturer website for the product. Then you can see if there are any links to coupons. Sometimes your search will be fruitless and you'll find nothing. Other times, you'll feel like you hit the jackpot when you spy a $1 coupon for that Wishbone dressing you love.
Just a quick side note. I've found that coupon databases don't even always have the coupons listed that I've found on manufacturer websites. So while those databases are helpful, they are not fool proof!
To get you started, here are a couple sites that I like to visit.
* Kelloggs
* Heluva Good
- Their 8 oz. blocks of cheese frequently go on sale at Giant and Weis for $2. If I use the $0.50/1 I can get the cheese for $1, since those stores double $0.50 coupons.
* Nestle Baking Products
- I can frequently find $0.50/1 Nestle chocolate chip coupons here. If I see them on sale, I simply visit the website to see if there's a coupon available. Of course there are always other coupons available as well.
Do you have a specific manufacturer website that you love? I'd love to hear about it in the comments!
Did you miss the other posts in this series? If so, here are links to them- Contacting Companies, Websites, Coupon Trading, Store Emails & Fliers, Newspaper Inserts- Part 1 and Newspaper Inserts- Part 2.
Manufacturer Websites are a great way to find coupons. Many manufacturers offer coupons directly on their website or if you sign up for their various clubs and email newsletters you can get access to printable coupons as well. There are some websites that I have learned pretty much always have coupons for their products linked on their site. So if I see one of their products on sale that I want, I'll visit their website to see if they have a coupon available.
I suggest that if there is a specific brand name product you want to buy, but don't have a coupon for, plug the name of the product into your Swagbucks search engine and that should direct you to the manufacturer website for the product. Then you can see if there are any links to coupons. Sometimes your search will be fruitless and you'll find nothing. Other times, you'll feel like you hit the jackpot when you spy a $1 coupon for that Wishbone dressing you love.
Just a quick side note. I've found that coupon databases don't even always have the coupons listed that I've found on manufacturer websites. So while those databases are helpful, they are not fool proof!
To get you started, here are a couple sites that I like to visit.
* Kelloggs
* Heluva Good
- Their 8 oz. blocks of cheese frequently go on sale at Giant and Weis for $2. If I use the $0.50/1 I can get the cheese for $1, since those stores double $0.50 coupons.
* Nestle Baking Products
- I can frequently find $0.50/1 Nestle chocolate chip coupons here. If I see them on sale, I simply visit the website to see if there's a coupon available. Of course there are always other coupons available as well.
Do you have a specific manufacturer website that you love? I'd love to hear about it in the comments!
Did you miss the other posts in this series? If so, here are links to them- Contacting Companies, Websites, Coupon Trading, Store Emails & Fliers, Newspaper Inserts- Part 1 and Newspaper Inserts- Part 2.
Sunday Coupon Preview
If I remember, I'm going to start posting this every week. I thought it might be helpful for those of you that purchase the Sunday paper to have a bit of an idea as to what coupons you'll be getting. Simply go here to preview the coupons for this Sunday, 9/11.
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