January Challenge

Join me over at Frugal Indy for the January Stay-at-Home Challenge.

Have You Stopped By Frugal Indy?

Have you stopped by my new blog "Frugal Indy"?  You may have noticed the posts have been scarce around here.  Stop on over and say Hi.  

You will find the same type of posts we had here with an added interest in the free and frugal happenings in Indianapolis, IN.

Turkey Noodle Soup

Turkey Noodle Soup is a tradition at our home.  We always look forward to this post- Thanksgiving treat!

Please visit Frugal Indy later today when I will be showing you step by step how to make some of this yummy soup for your family.

Mall Madness? Online Shopping Bliss!

Check out how you can get some of you Christmas Shopping back!  Read my post here.

Super Savings Saturday - Lots of Stops, Lots of Savings...

Check out my spending and savings at Frugal Indy.  I saved $254 this week!

Walgreen's Coupon $5 off $20

Yea!  Walgreens has released a $5 off $20 coupon for  Fri & Sat.  

Read more and get the link here.

Kmart Shopping $85 for $14

You can see what I got at Kmart for $14.  The total before coupons was $85.

Go to my new blog Frugal Indy.

Veteran's Day

Happy Veteran's Day!

Stop by Frugal Indy today and read about a free postcard you can send to a soldier.  It's easy and quick!  

Super Savings Saturday - Kroger, Aldi and More

Check out my  Super Savings Saturday Shopping on my new blog Frugal Indy!  Check it out here!

Visit My New Blog

Please come and visit my new blog Frugal Indy.  I would love to have you stop by and take a look.  It is still in the beginning stage but stop on by!  

Free Night at the Indianapolis Children's Museum

You can read here about the Free First Thursday nights at The Children's Museum of Indiana.

Becoming a Thrifty Shopper - Part 2

I've had several motivations along the way, for living frugally and especially concentrating on being a thrifty shopper. When Ron and I first married, we were very blessed to be able to purchase a nice old fixer-upper home - we joke that it was like the house on "It's a Wonderful Life". That house took quite a bit of my time (and everyone else in my family's too!) and I wanted to stay home and work on it as much as possible. Also, I was 27 and my husband was 28 when we married and it was our desire to have a family and for me to stay home with our children. It was almost 7 years before the Lord blessed us with our first child - but that's another story! Let's just say Motivation #1 was I wanted to stay at home.

My husband brought some credit card debt into our marriage (I'm sure it was a result of treating me so nicely while we dated and presenting me with a beautiful ring when we got engaged. So, I take as much of the responsibility as he had, for the debt!) Right away we decided (after listening to Larry Burkett) that we would get out of debt and not go back into it again. My husband took a second (part-time) job and I started working part-time a few days a week. It took us about 6 months to a year to pay off that credit card. From that point we decided it was just too much work digging out of debt and that we would always pay the credit cards off each month or stop using them if we could not pay them off. That was one of the best pieces of advice that we had learned from listening to Larry Burkett and one that has helped us immensely! So Motivation #2 was to pay off our credit card debt and keep it paid off.

These are a few of the reason that we were motivated to live frugally early in our marriage. I have other motivations at this point in my life, and I will post more on them next time.

Shopping Break

Do you ever need a break? I've decided that I will take a few weeks off from coupon shopping - unless I see some great deal on yogurt! (We use a lot of that!)

That is one of the great things about "Stockpile Shopping" - you have a stockpile! So I plan to use it for the next few weeks and just make an occasional trip to Aldi's for the bare essentials. I LOVE October - is that weird? It's one of my favorite months, with the crisp morning air and warm afternoons, (I even like the rainy days) and I plan to enjoy it as much as possible.

You know, it's OK to give yourself a break! The deals will be there when you are refreshed and ready to cut the coupons and look at the sales papers. And if you miss a deal - well it's not the end of the shopping world!

So, I challenge you - if your pantry looks like mine - (nicely supplied), take the month off! Maybe, use the time to make some Christmas gifts and you'll be saving money both by not shopping and by making gifts that you might otherwise buy.

I plan to do a yard sale this Saturday. I've been wanting to do it all summer. This Saturday is to be 80 and sunny so this is it! Hopefully I'll make some money to use for Christmas gifts etc.

So, what would you do with the time off from shopping and with the extra money you could save if you took a week off - how about a month off? I figure I can cut my normally $50 food bill to around $10 - $15 for a few weeks by just getting the necessities. ( Milk, salad, veggies, chicken), and I will have enough extra time in the week for a trip to the zoo with the kiddies!

Becoming a Thrifty Shopper- Part 1.

This was originally posted on 5/5/08. I thought with all the talk about money in the news this would be a good time to revisit this series.

I am starting a series today on "Becoming a Thrifty Shopper". I plan to talk about the motivation behind this goal, how to start, couponing, Internet resources and some of my favorite stores.

Motivation - Getting in touch with my Frugal Side.

It seems to me like every time I turn on the news, the radio or read the paper, the main topic of conversation is this economy! Just the rising price of gas has forced us to cut spending in other areas of our budget. 4 or 5 years ago we were only spending about $40 every 2 weeks for gas for our 2 cars. We are now spending $100 every 2 weeks and we only keep it to $100 by careful planning and cutting our as many unnecessary trips as possible. (My husband drives around 30 -45 min. to work)

Currently our income is around 15k less than it was a year ago. (My husband's job in the mortgage banking industry was a casualty of the housing slump.) I know I'm not alone in this situation. There were 900 other co-workers that lost their jobs, along with my husband, when HSBC shut down their mortgage operation last year in Carmel, IN. But thankfully, our situation was different than many of them because after we got married, my husband and I set as a goal, to live as debt free as possible. And because of that, he was able to take a position earning much less, with an excellent company, in a field he is much more interested in - 401K investments.

I have to admit, during the housing boom, when mortgages were selling well, and our income was increasing, I wasn't as in-touch with my frugal side. But the economics of this time have given me a great incentive to save all I can. Really, I've always been a good shopper. I do like to get the most for my money and I LOVE to get a good deal! My family actually jokes that I can smell a sale a mile away (and I sometimes wonder if they take me shopping for my company or for my sale sniffing nose!)

Seriously, however, I personally have several motivations for being a "Thrifty Shopper". And if you want to successfully join the ranks of the coupon cutting, super saver moms, it would be good to think about why you're going to spend some of your precious time engaged in this endeavor. You need a motivation a goal or maybe several, to encourage you that your effort and desire to cut your family's spending is worthwhile. Because it really is!

I will pick up next time with some of my motivations for frugality and a bit about how being frugal has helped us accomplish some of our financial goals. What are your motivations? Why do you feel the need to cut this are of spending. Feel free to comment below.

Free Museum Day - Saturday, 9-27-08

Here is a great FREE activity for this weekend!

Smithsonian Magazine is advertising a "Free Museum Day". It is THIS SATURDAY - September 27, 2008! That's not much time to plan - but it's worth checking out!

"Enjoy free general admission for you and a guest to hundreds of museums and cultural venues nationwide."

You can print a pass here that will get you and a guest into one of hundreds of museums participating in this program.

To see if there is a participating museum near you go here to check out the map.

We participated in this 2 years ago and had a great time going to Conner Prairie a local living history museum that we could not normally afford to visit. This museum would normally cost us $29.00 for the day.

Yummy Breakfast on the Cheap!

So here is my Very Yummy breakfast I made with my almost free stuff!

The Eggos are from Meijer - on sale + coupon for less than .75 a box.

The Yoplus yogurt has had tons of coupons and printables out there - I can usually get it for around $1.00 a 4-pack. Here is a coupon link.

The peaches were given to me by a church family that has peach trees!

And on top is a sprinkling of Honey Bunches of O's "Just Bunches" - that is the best yogurt topping! Walmart sells it for $2.50 and there were $1.00 off coupons out recently. I don't usually pay $1.50 a box for cereal - but I love it and can make a box stretch by just sprinkling a little on my yogurt!

Samantha has a post and giveaway here asking what do you do with all your extras! We've used up the Kool-aid. I bought lemon-aid flavored and took it on vacation with my husband's family!

Where Have We Been? - Fun Day!

To those of you who come to The Savings Swap on a regular basis, you have noticed I have been very negligent at my blogging lately!

So what have I been up to? Well, as you can see here I went bowling! Okay, that was just one afternoon! But, I have had my parents in visiting from out of town for 10 days.

Last week we expanded our "Fun Day" and included Grandpa and Grandma. Little Z earned enough passes from the summer reading program to take us all Mini-golfing and bowling! We had a great day and even rode the go-carts and played some arcade games.

It was really special because Little Z decided that is how he wanted to spend his library points and earned them for this special day. I think it meant a lot to Grandpa and Grandma. Thankfully we had a wonderful day and beautiful weather!

We ended the week with a trip to the State Fair! What a great evening! Here are pictures from this year and last year. I always take Little Z's picture at the corn field to see how he has grown in a year!

2007

2008

My blogging will be spotty for another week or two because I will be on vacation and don't know if I will have any Internet access! I hope to be back soon!

More Sunday Paper Coupons!

WAIT - don't throw out your Sunday papers yet. In this week's USA Weekend insert there were some really good coupons. 2 of my 4 papers had $11.00 in coupons, including $1.00 off Listerine and J &J Baby - which are an ECB deal at CVS this week. I plan to go and get 5 Listerine.

Here is my deal:

Buy 5 Listerine @ $4.00 ea (= $20.00)

Use $3/15 (My store should still accept this although expired)

Use 2 -$1.00 off coupons

Use 2 -$.50 off coupons

Total = $20.00

Coupons- 6.00

----------------

Pay 14.00 in ECBs

Receive back 10.00 ECBs

Final Cost 4.00 or .80 cents a bottle!

That is a great price! My husband is a dedicated mouthwash user!

So if you are like me and just take out the coupons and sale flyers - go check your papers for the insert and see if you scored some coupons! There were several $3.00 off coupons also!

Here's what I got:

$3.00 off John Frieda

$3.00 off Prilosec

$1.00 off Curel

$1.00 off Carefree

$1.00 Stayfree

$1.00 off J&J Baby

$1.00 off Listerine

I Love Chick-fil-a

Anyone that knows me already is quite aware of this fact! I love LOVE - Chick-fil-a! We have been there twice this month. Once for the "Dress like a Cow" free chicken day and again the other day for Kid's night and it was also Customer Appreciation Week.


Here are a few fun pictures from our Chick-fil-a trips!


Now - to make it even more tempting to stop for some chicken, our local Chick-fil-a has started a free sandwich program. Bring in a gas receipt for over $35.00 and get a free sandwich. That is a great deal for us because we can just get a kids meal along with that and we're good to go!























The first photo is from "Cow Appreciation Day" and the second photo is from "Customer Appreciation Week".

What's For Dinner Wednesday? Baked Fish.

Here is a super easy and good way to use that Tilapia Fish from Meijer! The croutons are so much better than bread crumbs - you'll never use them again!

Easy Breaded Fish

3/4 cup crushed croutons ( I put them through the food processor for a few seconds)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
2 tsp dried parsley flakes
1 egg
1 Tbs water
1 Tbs lemon juice (I've left this out when I don't have any and it's been fine)
1 lb fresh or frozen fish fillets - thawed, (pat dry with a paper towel.)

Preheat oven 350 degrees
Cover cookie sheet with foil - that non-stick foil works great. A stoneware sheet is fine too but might take a bit longer to cook.

In shallow dish, combine croutons, cheese and parsley flakes, blend well.

In another shallow dish combine egg, water and lemon juice, blend well.

Cut fish into 3 inch pieces ( I usually cut the fillets in half ) Try to make fish similar in size so they bake evenly.

Dip fish in egg mixture; coat with crouton mixture. Tuck thin ends of fish under to form pieces of uniform thickness.

Place on baking sheet. Bake in 350 over for 15 - 20 minutes, or until fish flakes easily and is not slimy looking. (Time varies due to fish size and thickness so I check by cutting one of the fillets open with a fork, when it looks done.)

Note: I just crush a whole bag of croutons in my food processor at a time and store what I don't use in a sealed container. It makes it easier and less work to make the fish the next time!

Let me know if you try this and how it comes out for you!

Meijer Fish Deal - last day!

Our sales change on Thursday, so today is the last day to pick up the Tilapia fish deal at Meijer. It is really a great deal. You buy 2 and get 2 free - also add 4 $2.00 off coupons from the Meijer Meal Box for a grand total of $4.00 for 4- 1 lb bags of individually frozen fish fillets. We love Tilapia it is a great fish to bake.

If your ads change on Sunday the deal might be past for you so check the Meijer website to make sure before you go.

I plan to go back today and get 4 more bags of fish. If you don't know what to do with the fish read my next post which will give you a great recipe for baking them. Even my fussy 5 year old loves them this way!

NOTE: To print the Meijer coupons go to the Meijer Mealbox and click on "Specials" you can the click on "Coupons".

ALSO: I have found out how to key in my own coupons using the Self check-out at Meijer. This is good because the coupons I print from the Mealbox never seem to scan! Push the button on the screen that says "Key in Item" and then just key in the bar code off the coupon - leaving off the last number - presto! I was able to use 4 coupons on the 4 bags I bought yesterday with no problem!

Monday Morning Messies

Here it is again another Monday morning! It seems like we always deal with the "Monday Morning Messies".
After the weekend it is time for a quick clean-up of the house. I like to clean up the Kitchen, make beds, straighten the rooms etc. before I do anything else.
















I really have a hard time thinking when there's too much mess in my house - it's like noise to me. I think that I must have ADDD (Attention Deficit Disorganization Disorder)















But, rather than just jump into the work this morning, I decided to take a few minutes to cut a few flowers from my garden to put on my kitchen window to enjoy while I clean up my kitchen!















Here are a few photo's of my flowers and my garden which is now blooming nicely!

TV Converter Box

Have you gotten your $40.00 TV Converter Box Coupon yet? If you do not have cable or satellite you will need this to receive TV signals next year. We do not have cable TV. We never got cable after we married and so we don't miss it too much. We figure that we are saving about $500.00 a year by not having cable and that's a grand total of $6000.00 over the 12 years of our marriage. Personally, I'd rather have the $6000.00 than HGTV - although I like to watch my fill when I go to my parents house!

Has anyone gotten their box yet? I'd like to go and get one soon. From my understanding we will get more channels and better reception than we have now. I would love to hear from anyone who has purchased one. Please let me know where you got one and if you were able to get a good deal when you throw in the $40.00 coupon. I'd like to find a good one that will enable us to get in more stations. We currently use an electric antenna that does pretty well.

If you have not gotten your coupon, you can apply to receive up to 2 coupons per home here. I would appreciate any suggestion for purchasing the converter box.

Two things to note: Your coupon will expire 90 days after it is mailed to you and you cannot re request another if it expires. You can request coupons until March 31, 2009.

Planters Deal Round-up

If you haven't gotten your share of free Planter's Peanuts, there are a lot of printable coupons out for $3.00 off Planter's Nuts with the purchase of 3 Kraft, Oscar Meyer, or Nabisco items. Freebies 4 Mom has a post here. Money Saving Mom has a post here. Sisterly Savings has a post here.

I was able to get 6 cans for very little by buying Kool-Aid packs for my Kraft purchase. I think we are set for peanuts for awhile! Thanks to Samantha for the Kool-Aid packs idea!

CVS $3.00 off $15.00 Coupon

Yea!!! There is a new $3 off $15 coupon out from CVS! Thanks so much to Money Saving Mom for letting us all know!

I plan to go today and buy some diapers. The Playskool diapers are on sale for 2/ $19.99. There are coupons here for $2.00 off Playskool diapers. I also received an email for $4.00 off Playskool diapers good this weekend so I hope to work out a good deal!

Wasn't it Just Friday?

Wow! today is Tuesday and I realized I haven't posted since Friday! It's been wild around here. I've been getting ready for our Church's VBS and preparing our home to go up for sale. Since #2 arrived in November we have been feeling the crunch for more space. This is not the best time to sell a house - but it is a great time to buy! If you have any home selling advice, I'd sure love it!

Planters Deal at Meijer

Have you gotten the $3.00 off Planters Nuts coupons? If not go here and check out Money Saving Mom's post and the coupon links. The coupons are for $3.00 off Planters Nuts if you buy 3 Kraft, Oscar Meijer or Nabisco items.

If you have a Meijer you can get an even better deal. If you buy 3 or more Planters Nut products before 7/13/08 you will get a coupon off your next shopping order.
Buy 3 get $4.00
Buy 4 get $5.00
Buy 5 or more get $6.50

Also, Meijer has coupons out for $1.00 off 2 Kraft dressing (1.69 at my Meijer) and $1.00 off 2 Kraft Shredded Cheese (3.09 on sale at my Meijer) Go here or go to the bottom of my blog page where I've added the Meijer coupon box, for those coupons. Click on the box that says specials and then on coupons. The current coupons expire 7/5 but there may be updated ones soon.
Note: 7/6/08 The Kraft coupons have been removed from the Meijer Mealbox, but there are updated ones for other Meijer brands ones there now.


Tomorrow I plan to go back and get another 3 peanuts. Here is the deal I will do.

10 bottles of Kraft Dressing (We use TONS of Ranch at our house!) (1.69 ea) =16.9
4 $1.00 off 2 Kraft Dressings = -$5.00
$4.00 coupon I earned today = -$4.00
3- 16 oz cans Planters Peanuts = $6.00
3 $3.00 off 1 Planters Nut (adjusted down to purchase price) =-$6.00

Total = $7.90
Receive $4.00 coupon
Total cost= $3.90 for 10 Dressings and 3 Cans Peanuts!

You can get a few other good deals at Meijer. There is a coupon for $1.00 off their chocolate chips (1.69 ea). Check out the Meijer Mealbox at the bottom of my blog!

According to Samantha this deal is also working at Kroger. You can check out her post here.

Joe's Crab Shack $5 off $20 Coupon

On Tuesdays you can get $2.00 kids meals all day and if you wear a Joe's Crab Shack T-shirt you get free ice-cream for dessert! The coupon below will expire 7/15/08. We will definitely be making a return trip before then. Hopefully we can combine $2.00 Kids meal, Free Appetizer (from last visits survey), 10% AAA discount and $5/20 coupon for a super cheap and yummy dinner out! (I highly recommend the Fish and Chips and the Crab Nachos!)

We love Joe's Crab Shack. It's become a family tradition that we go there when my parents visit - because my dad's name is Joe.

Here is a link to a $5 off $20 coupon.

Update: 6/20/08

We went to Joe's Crab Shack last night before my Dad left and found out that our Joe's has a playground next to the outdoor seating area! We were able to sit outside right next to it and watch our 5 year old play until the food came! It was great - he had a good time and we could talk with little interruption.

Also, when we went to pay our bill we gave them the coupon and our AAA MasterCard. We were told that they give a 10% AAA discount - so we saved another $5 + off our bill. Then our receipt also had a survey to do - so I will do that today and we will get a free appetizer on our next visit. We tried the new Crab Nachos appetizer last night and they were fabulous!

We will be going back again before the $5 off $20 expires (7/15/08) and be combining our free appetizer, $5 off $20 and AAA discount for a reasonable night out!

Fun Day

Okay, so yesterday I decided to just take off for the day. When Little Z woke up I told him this was Fun Day and we were going to have a good time. So, we hurried through our chores (making beds, emptying trash, breakfast clean-up etc) and headed out for the day.

We started out by heading to the $1.00 movie. If you haven't seen the free and $1.00 kids movies out this Summer read this. We saw the movie "Running Free". It was a wonderful family movie - I'll give you a review on it in a separate post. We actually got in free because another moviegoer had an extra punch card!

Next we headed over to the mall - I had a few things to pick up at Macy's! We also picked up our free Auntie Anne's Pretzel and I got a free Starbucks iced coffee! (With card from this weekend's paper)

Then after the mall we drove thru Chick-fil-a (our favorite!) I had a coupon for nuggets (from calendar) and Little Z got a kiddie meal.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool and came home for dinner (leftovers! yea - no cooking!) And then off to church.

It was a great day and now today I have to make up for it by doing laundry all day!!! Oh well, It was worth it.

More Summer Kids Movies

I have posted about Summer Movies from AMC and Kerasotes. I found 2 more programs.

Cinemark's Summer Movie Clubhouse

offers $1.00 movies for kids.

• 10 Weeks Of Fun Films For Kids •

• A Different Movie Every Week •

• Weekday Mornings This Summer •

Regal Cinema is offering Free Movies:

Here's some information from the Regal website:


"When school's out, kids around the country visit selected Regal theatres for the Free Family Film Festival. It's a fun-filled nine weeks of movies for kids and parents. Since 1991, Regal has provided this service to the community, and best of all it's FREE!


Selected G & PG movies start at 10AM each Tuesday and Wednesday during the festival. First-come, first-served seating is limited to theatre capacity. The Free Family Film Festival is safe, lots of fun and a great way for kids to spend a weekday morning in the summer."


We have a 5 year old and I'm very picky about what we watch - Regal is showing Charlotte's Web which was good. I'm also interested in March of the Penguins which is rated G.

Our Cinemark is showing Running Free - rated G tomorrow. I looks like a movie with real potential about a boy and a horse. You can check it out here. If anyone has seen this movie - I would love your opinion on it.

I saw SOMEWHERE???? That Thomas the Tank Engine has a new Movie Showing in July. Can anyone help me out? I forgot to bookmark the page. There is a program showing G Movies every Saturday in the Summer. There was a free coupon out for last week's movie. My little guy loves Thomas.


Thanks to Sisterly Savings for this info!

CVS Shopping 6/30/08

Here is this week's CVS Shopping trip. I spent $6.83 for $59.87 in items. I made a miscalculation when I was in the store. I moved an item and its coupon to another transaction and did not account for the coupon moving on my worksheet - so I thought I had another $3.00 off coupon for my last transaction. In the end, I spent a few more dollars than I planned but it was still a good night. If you leave off the milk on the last transaction you will only have a total OOP of around $1.00.


Transaction #1-------------------

Kashi Cereal (2.50)
2 Life Savers Bags B1G1 free (2.19)
1 CVS Aftershave (2.59)
1 Physicians Formula Mineral Mascara (7.99)

Coupons
2.00 off Kashi
1.00 off Physicians Formula
B1G1 Life Savers Bag (-2.19)
2.00 off CVS skincare

7.99 ECB
.28 Cash

Receive 8.99 ECB (7.99, 1.00)


Transaction #2 ----------------------
1 Rightguard Professional Deod. (6.99)
1 CVS Aftershave (2.59)
1 Coppertone Oil Free Faces (8.99)

Coupons
2.00 off CVS Skincare
1.00 off Rightguard Professional
3.00 off Facial Skincare CRT

12.99 ECB
.69 Cash

Receive 7.99 ECB (6.99, 1.00)


Transaction #3------------------
1 CVS Aftershave (2.59)
1 Coppertone Water Baby Stick (4.79)
Kashi (2.50)
2 Gallons milk (2.99 ea)

Coupons
2.00 off Kashi
2.00 off CVS Skincare
6.00 ECB

There are links to the Kashi coupons here and here.
Thanks to Money Saving Mom for the links to the Kashi and the CVS Skincare coupon!

Receive 11.00 ECB (The ECB for the Coppertone did not print so I actually wound up with 1 ECB and a 10.00 gift card)

Free Golf Digest Magazine

Finally! Here is a magazine for the guys! My hubby doesn't golf, but my Dad signed up for his free subscription.



Click here to sign up for a free year of Golf Digest magazine.

Free Tote Bag From Better Homes & Gardens with Qualifying Purchase.

I found this in my BHG Magazine! It also came with a $2.00 off coupon for the ameal bpTM products.


Better Homes & Gardens is giving away this limited-edition tote FREE, while supplies last.*

Be among the first 2,000 readers to purchase two or more of these specially selected products at your local Walgreens or on Walgreens.com and get a limited-edition tote FREE from Better Homes & Gardens!

Perfect 10™ by Nice ‘n Easy

Perfect 10TM by Nice ’n Easy gentle color crème formula

Available in 15 high-speed, high gloss colors Olay Regenerist’s Lifting Program

Olay Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Cream

New Olay Regenerist 14 Day Intervention

Olay Regenerist Eye Lifting Serum

ameal bpTM. A natural, over-the-counter blood pressure supplement
Available in ameal bpTM capsules
Available in ameal bpTM tablets

Send your Walgreens receipt, or a print-out of your online Walgreens.com order confirmation, along with a 3” x 5” paper or postcard that includes your name, address, city, state, zip code and daytime phone number, to:
Better Homes & Gardens Gift w/ Purchase
P.O. Box 771317
St. Louis, MO 63177-2317

Please be sure to circle your qualifying purchases on your receipt. Entries must be postmarked by August 31, 2008. Limit one entry per household.

Free Audio Book

Christian Audio gives you a free Audio book download each month. This month's book is Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan. You can check out their website here.

Remember that Monday is the last day of the month so get your download now! I did it and it was indeed free and easy! No credit card required. Just enter the code JUN2008 at checkout to get the download version for free.

Here is what the website states:

"Each month christianaudio.com gives away a premium audiobook download for free. The way our Free Audiobook of the Month program works is like this: we give away one audiobook download each month totally free. The audiobook we give away is available for free only once - ever.

Use the coupon code JUN2008 to redeem this month's free audiobook download from christianaudio.com"

If you haven't read Pilgrims Progress it is a wonderful book! Here is the synopsis from the website: "Embark on a perilous journey with Christian, the lead character, from the City of Destruction to the luminous safe haven of the Celestial City. The journey will encourage you to set your hope fully on the grace to be given you amidst the obstacles of life. "

Thanks to Candace at Garden of Blessings for this free item.

Also, while we're talking about audio books check out Librivox.

KMART General Mills Sale!

General Mills cereals, fruit snacks or breakfast bars

SALE $1.49
each when you buy 4*
thru Jul 5

8.7–18.25-oz. selected cereals,

4.5–9-oz. fruit snacks or

5–6-ct. breakfast bars.

*Sale price 2.49 each if purchased separately. Get $4 off when you buy 4 or more. Savings deducted instantly at checkout. No coupon required. Limit one $4 savings per transaction. No rain checks. See store for details.

You can view the store ad here.

There are quite a few General Mills coupons out there.

Here is a $1.00 off Honey Nut Cheerios

If you have any more links for coupons that will work with these please post them!

Sunday Meditations

Here is a verse to think on today from:
Proverbs 21:5

"The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness;
but of every one that is hasty only to want."

I know of several families that have spent large amounts of money on various "Get-Rich-Quick" type schemes, pyramid sales scams and the like. Generally, if you are hasty to become rich you will wind up with nothing. But, if you are diligent, over time you can get out of debt and save.

Coupon List

The Enjoy Printable Coupons blog has a brick list of 300 printable coupons. You can see them here.

If you haven't check out the Coupons Inc. brick list on my sidebar you can check that out here.

A brick list will link you to potential printable coupons. I have found that not all of the coupons on a brick list are always available, but it is a good place to check if you need a specific coupon.

Free Magazine! "Metropolitan Home"

Get a free subscription to Metropolitan Home here.

If you didn't see the free magazines posted earlier this week check here.

Wal-mart Free Samples Online!

Wal-mart offers several free samples on their website. Check them out here.
For more freebies check out the Freebies for Mom blog.

Coffee-mate coupons - reset!

I was able to print out 4 more Coffee-mate Coupons!! BINGO! I love this stuff - so I'm always glad to get more coupons! If you haven't printed these recently try here. Print once and then hit your back arrow once or twice to print again.

Yo Plus $1.00 Coupon

I love Yo-Plus yogurt, especially the peach. Here is a link to a $1.00 off coupon. You can print it twice. After it prints hit your left arrow once or twice and it will print again. (Thanks, Samantha)

Freebies

If you like freebies, Samantha has quite a few listed today on her blog. You can check them out here.

More Free Magazines!

Free "Living the Country Life" Magazine!

Thanks to Samantha and Money Saving Mom for another free magazine. I will have ton's of reading for the pool this summer!

Go here to get this magazine for free.

Note: When I signed up for it the receipt said - 3 years (18 magazines) for $0.00 - I like that kind of total!

Free "Woman's Day" Magazine

Get your free "Woman's Day" magazine.

Fill in a short survey here about your hair removal items (razors etc). I have found this to be a great program for receiving free magazines!

Walgreens 5/20 coupon

Of course - I went to Walgreens just this morning! UGH! Maybe I'll go tomorrow and pick up some of the Free-After-Rebate items I need. But here is a new $5 off $20 coupon for Friday 6/27/08! YEA!

You can click on the coupon or here for the link.

Free "Home" Magazine

Get your Free "Home" Magazine.

Complete a short survey here.
I have done several of these surveys from this company and have received the promised magazines for free!

What's For Dinner Wednesday?

Quick and Easy Pizza

(About $2.00 a Pizza)

This is one of my family's favorites and it is so easy and cheap!

It's rare that we ever order out for pizza because I can whip this up faster than the delivery man can get here! I try to keep the ingredients on had at all times!



Ingredients:


1 Package (Wal-Mart) Great Value Pizza Mix (.44 cents a bag!)


1/2 cup hot water


1-2 T flour (for dusting)


1- 8 oz can Hunts Tomato Sauce


1-2 T. Parmesan Cheese


1 Cup Mozzarella Cheese


Toppings as desired


(I was making 2 pizzas so there are
2 bags of dough and 2 cans sauce in my picture)




Directions:

Just mix together the pizza mix and the hot water.



Knead the dough on a floured surface about 10 seconds.



Place in bowl and let rest in warm spot for 5 minutes.



Prepare pizza pan: I cover with foil

and spray with cooking spray for easy clean-up.


Work the dough to the edges of the pizza pan.


Spread with the sauce.


Sprinkle with cheeses and toppings.


Bake at 425 for 12-15 minutes,


or until the cheese is brown and bubbly


in the middle of the pizza.



Note: If you add a lot of toppings you need to bake for longer. Also, if you like thick crust pizza use 2 packages of dough. You can use a cookie sheet with 2 packages also!

One more thing, you can find the packaged pizza mix in the aisle near the Parmesan Cheese.

AMC $1.00 Movies for Charity- Wednesdays at 10

AMC is doing a $1.00 summer movie special. All admission proceeds* from AMC Summer MovieCamp will benefit Variety – The Children's Charity and the Will Rogers Institute.






Families, schools and organizations alike are invited to see great kids’ movies during AMC Summer MovieCamp. Available at select AMC theatres, this fun-filled program brings you:

$1 movies from June 25 – August 6
Shows starting at 10:00 a.m. every Wednesday
Great field trip opportunities – groups can purchase tickets one week in advance starting June 18 at the box office or online at participating theatres.

If you haven't read about the Kerasotes free summer movies, you can do so here.

CVS Shopping 6/23/08

Here is this week's CVS Shopping trip. I did 3 transactions and spent $5.61 OOP for $59.37 of merchandise.

Transaction #1------------------------

2 Gallon Milk 2.79 ea.
2 Listerine Smart Rinse 3.49 ea.

1 CVS Plastic Band aids 1.99
1 CVS Aftershave 2.59
1 Brut Deodorant

Coupons

.55 Brut

2/1.00 off Smart Rinse

2.oo off CVS skincare (Thanks Crystal)
14.99 ECB

.99 Cash

Receive 12.97 EBCs (6.98, 1.99, 1.00, 3.00)

Transaction #2--------------------

Brut Deodorant 3.39

3.00 ECB

.42 Cash

Receive 3.00 ECBs

Transaction #3--------------------

2 Duracell 4pk D Batteries

1 Bounty Basic 8 roll

1 Charmin 12 roll

Coupons

.25 Bounty

.25 Charmin

.75 Duracell

4/20 CVS

12.97 ECBs

4.20 Cash

Receive 10.00 ECBs

Not a bad week - I got the things I could use this week for the price of 1 pack of batteries. I sure do miss those 3/15's though!

Free Kotex Sample

Sign up here to receive your FREE sample pack complete with a Kotex® Ultra Thin Pad with Wings, Kotex® Lightdays® Pantiliner (individually wrapped), and two Kotex® Security® Tampons.

I think this might be a great little emergency pack to keep in your purse or diapper bag!

Sunday Meditations

Here are a few verses to think on today from Proverbs 22:1 & 7

A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches....

The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.

I hope you will take some time to meditate on these verses today. If you have a favorite verse or a thought you'd like to share, post it below.

Free Summer Movies

Click on the picture it will take you to a list of participating theatres.

Back Home

I'm back from visiting my family. We had a great time and did a lot during our visit. Little Z really liked our time at the New Jersey Shore. We stayed a few blocks off the bay of Cape May.



We also spent some time on the Boardwalk in Wildwood. Little Z had a great time riding some of the rides on the pier - thanks to his Auntie!




I will be spending the rest of this week with my dad - who drove with me and the kids back home to Indiana, (my husband was only able to stay part of the time and returned home early) and I will be trying to get things unpacked and back to normal so we can resume or regular schedule here at home next week.

"The Savings Swap" in the News

"The Savings Swap - Saving Instead of Spending - Workshop", recently made the front page of the Community Courier of Elverson, Morgantown and Honey Brook, PA. You can read the article and see a picture here.

You can see more photos here.

You can read my first few posts about "Becoming a Thrifty Shopper" here.

Vacation - (My Bloggy Break)

I’ve been on a bloggy break, I am still out of state visiting family. We are currently at the New Jersey Shore. I do not have any Internet access so I will be posting very few posts this week and may be longer than usually in answering my emails. I thank you for your patience and should be resuming regular posts next week.

Here are a few ideas for saving money on your vacation.

1. Rent a condo or house.
We have often found that it is just as expensive or sometimes less expensive to rent a house or condo rather than a hotel room. It is much nicer to stay in a place that has a living area and a kitchen where you can cook some meals.

2. Bring your food.
We brought along a lot of our own food. This way we were able to shop our stash and pick out items that would be easy to fix for lunches and dinners. We also brought our own snack food (free Chex mix!) and bottled water. I would also suggest bringing food that dosen’t spoil - such as canned spaghetti sauce, pasta, tuna in a can or pouch. That way you can take home any food you don’t use and not have a lot of waste.

3. Be selective about your eating out.
It can be very expensive to eat out - so be selective and choose something special or your favorite restaurant when you eat out. If you eat every dinner out and grab lunch at the drive-thru it can add up quickly. I would suggest you only eat out one night - that way it is special!

4. Take your coupons!
You don’t know what you might run out of or forget. I somehow forgot to pack any sunscreen! UGH - I have a ton of it at home - but I had to buy some here! We found an Acme down the street that doubles coupons up to .99. We’ve been able to save on a few things that way.

5. Share a vacation.
Go in with a friend or family member to share a house or split a week. I was invited to come along with my sister’s family for a few days of their week at the shore.

6. Plan ahead
Use the Internet to find free things to do where you are vacationing. We hope to go to the Cape May Zoo for free this week.

7. Take rainy day / hot day activities.
It can be an expensive outing to take the whole family to the movies - because it is raining or 102 degrees! Plan ahead and have a few movies and games packed along, just in case! My sister brought along about 10 movies from the library - all kinds of stuff for us and the kids and the teens so everyone has something!

8. Remember that you’re on a vacation!
Plan times to do nothing - except relax! (It’s free) Watch the sunset - or sunrise, go for a walk, read a book, take a nap, enjoy yourself. Don’t stress out (and run up the credit card) by going from one activity to another.


Do you have any great money saving vacation ideas? Post them here or give us a link to a post on you blog!

Dollar General Rebates

Dollar General is now doing rebates. You can find out all the information and get a rebate form on their website here. You can save up to $100.00 with 37 mail in rebates available.

CVS Shopping 6/3/08

This week I am away visiting my family and will be watching my oldest nephew graduate from high school. I did however, stop at CVS yesterday to pick up the Pampers diaper deal. I also got a few of the monthly items. My OOP was $7.60. Which is a little higher than normal because I did not have my computer to print coupons - if I did I would have purchased a few things differently to lower my OOP. All things considered, I am happy with these deals and bought around $86 for $7.60, which is less than the cost of 1 package of diapers!
I started today with 8.69 in ECBs from last week.

See the photo in the previous post for a picture of this week's shopping items.

Transaction #1-------------------------
1 Dawn (1.00)
1 Gillette Fusion (9.99)
2 Listerine Smart Rinse (3.49 ea)

Coupons
3/15
.20 off Dawn
2/ 1.00 off Smart Rinse
4.00 off Gillette Fusion

8.69 ECB
.08 Cash
Receive 12.98 in ECBs (4 & 6.98)

Transaction #2-------------------------
2 Pampers Wipes (2.99 ea)
2 CVS Band-Aids (1.99 ea)
2 CVS Cotton Swabs (3.19 ea)

Coupons
3/15
3/10 CVS Brand
2.00 off 2 Pampers wipes

6.98 ECBs (from last transaction)
1.36 Cash
Receive 7.98 in ECBs (3.98 & 4)

Transaction #3---------------------------------
1 Pampers Diaper (7.99)
1 Glade
1 Oral B 2 pack

Coupons
3/15
1.00 off Glade
1.00 off Pampers

7.98 in ECB
2.88 Cash
Receive 6.99 in ECB

Transaction #4---------------------------------------
1 Dawn
1 Pampers Diaper
1 Oral B 2-pk
1 Huggies Baby Wash

Coupons
3/15
1.00 off Pampers
.20 off Dawn
1.00 off Glade

12.99 in ECB’s
3.28 cash

(Note: if I had my computer and printer I could have done 2 bags of Chex Mix instead of the Huggies wash and reduce my OOP to around 1.00 on this transaction)
Receive 14.99 in ECB for next week (5, 6.99, 1 & 2)

The Savings Swap - Saving Instead of Spending Workshop

A big thanks to everyone who came to the "Savings Swap - Saving Instead of Spending - Workshop". It was fun being able to share what I've learned about frugal shopping. If you'd like to learn more about "Becoming a Thrifty Shopper" read my posts here.

Thanks also to the Village Library and to their Librarian Andrea Berstler (she is standing in the second photo) for asking me to speak.

If you attended the workshop session and have any comments or questions I would love to hear from you. Please post below or email me at TheSavingsSwap@sbcglobal.net

Also, I will be posting my CVS deals pictured above in a day or so!

This Week!

I may not be posting too much the beginning of this week because I am preparing to hold "The Savings Swap - Saving Instead of Spending - Workshop" on Tuesday. I will do my best to resume regular posting later this week. And will try to include an update on how the workshop goes!

If you have any deals that you'd like to share feel free to post below.

$5.00 Lysol Reward

It's great to get money back for something you are going to do anyway. If your child has/had a doctors visit between 1/1/08 & 3/31/09 and you've bought/buy 2 Lysol products, here's $5 for you!

Have you gotten your Lysol Reward Yet? Here's how:

1. Purchase any TWO (2) different LYSOL® Products between 1/01/08 and 3/31/09.

2. Take your child to a doctor’s office for a check-up between 1/01/08 and 3/31/09.

3. Complete the LYSOL® Pediatrician $5 Reward Offer Form.

4. Mail in the Offer Form along with original receipts from your LYSOL® products’ purchase and a copy of your doctor’s office visit receipt or bill.

You can get the all the details and the form to fill out here.

Walgreen $10 off $30 Coupon for Friday 5/30/08

Walgreen's has just sent out another coupon. It is for $10 off $30. The coupon is good for Friday 5/30/08.

Last time there was a coupon out a friend of mine was told her Walgreen's did not accept printed coupons. She emailed Walgreen's about the situation and received both an apology from the store manager and a $10 gift card.

Stores should be accepting these coupons. It does seem that you will only be able to use one per store. Does anyone know if the new rebate books will be out tomorrow? That would be great if we had an overlap of last month's book, next month's book and the coupon.

If you have any great deals let us know!

And The Winner Is..........ME!

Thank you to Amy from Goo Goo Buy Buy for choosing me as the winner of this absolutely beautiful charm bracelet. I can't wait to wear it!

You can check Amy's blog out here.

Make sure you watch the video of her little boy dancing to "Snacktime"! here

Also, there is a great link to "100 Books Every Child Should Hear Before Kindergarten". Little Z and I will be checking out that list this Summer!