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Archive for January, 2009
Friday, January 16th, 2009
This post has nothing to do with coupons, but I wanted to share some exciting personal news with you – Jai and I got engaged at the beginning of the month! Click here to see our engagement announcement that ran in the local paper. So what kind of wedding does a coupon clipper have? As you may have guessed, I’m not the type to drop a huge amount of money on a ceremony, but I still plan on having my dream wedding. I am confident that I can find creative ways to save money without sacrificing style or fun on the big day. Fortunately, I have some time to plan!
As I continue to chronicle my journey in frugality on this blog, I will keep you updated on my wedding budget and share money-saving ideas for other brides-to-be. For anyone else who is beginning to plan a wedding, I recommend signing up for Bon-Ton Wedding Gift Registry. They offer several freebies for registering – you get a free wedding planning binder just for signing up, which I definitely need! They also offer incentives for adding specific items to your registry. Right now, you can get a free servall and spoon rest sent to you when you register for certain collections – check out their current offers here. This is yet another deal that I found on Hot Coupon World!
Heads-up: I got an error message when I tried to create my registry in Firefox. I called their support hotline and they told me that their website is only compatible with Internet Explorer; so, you may need to switch browsers before you can sign up.
Posted in Weddings | No Comments »
Thursday, January 15th, 2009
 Karen of Frugal Rhode Island Mama was sweet enough to nominate me for this Lemonade Award! Thank you, Karen!! She has all sorts of neat giveaways going on, so be sure to stop by her blog and check it out.
Update: Nancy at Raging Bear Ranch and Charlene at My Frugal Adventures kindly nominated me for this award, also! Thank you so much! In order to keep the fun going, I’ve been instructed to nominate 10 of my favorite blogs to receive this award also. It’s hard to choose, but here’s a few of my regular reads:
Not to mention all the fabulous sites on my blogroll!
Posted in Award | No Comments »
Monday, January 12th, 2009
First stop, Rite Aid, where I picked up some freebies:
Total spent: $2.00. But I will get $5.00 back in rebates, making it free plus $3.00 profit!
Total before coupons: $5.50
View receipt #1
View receipt #2
Got:
11 SoyJoy bars – used one coupon good for $3 off 10 bars, and one “Buy One, Get One Free” coupon, which gave me the 11th bar free. Both of these coupons came from the 1/4 Smart Source newspaper inserts. And since SoyJoy was a free after rebate item last week, my coupons turned this into a moneymaker!
The only problem was that the cashier only rang up 10 bars by accident, so I was undercharged by .50 cents the first time. I realized this after I got to my car, so I went back inside and explained what happened. They then re-rang one of the bars, and I paid the .50 cents. The cashier was very appreciative (and surprised!) that I would come back to fix a mistake that was in my favor.
Next stop, Walgreens, where I scored a few more freebies and used my gift card to pay for some items that I needed:
Total spent: $2.58 out of pocket, put $8.58 on my rebate gift card
Total before coupons: $14.35
View receipt
Got:
2 rolls of first aid gauze – I still need lots of this for my toe, and these were clearanced to $1.59 each, so I picked up two.
1 roll of Reynolds wrap – used one coupon from the Walgreens sales flier to bring the price down to .99 cents, stacked with one $1/1 coupon from the 11/16 Smart Source newspaper inserts. Free plus .01 cent overage!
4 foil roasting pans – these are handy to have around, and since they were on clearance for .25 cents each, I couldn’t pass it up!
2 Reeses’ Whips bars – used one coupon from the Walgreens sales flier to make them 2 for $1, stacked with one coupon for $1/2 from the 1/4 Smart Source newspaper inserts. Free after coupons!
1 bottle of store brand Midol – this is a good example of when buying the store brand can save you some cash. I had a coupon for $1 off Midol brand pain reliever, but even after the coupon, this generic was still cheaper – for the exact same ingredients and dose! Cost: $6.99.
Posted in Rite Aid, Walgreens | No Comments »
Sunday, January 11th, 2009
Burger King is sponsoring a very unique promotion for their customers with Facebook accounts. They have created a special Facebook app called Whopper Sacrifice, where you can earn a coupon for a free Whopper – if you delete 10 of your Facebook friends. I’m never one to turn down a free coupon, so if anyone would like to be my buddy on Facebook, we can delete each other to get a free burger. 😉
Posted in Free coupons | No Comments »
Sunday, January 11th, 2009
Costco:
Total spent: $21.89 – no coupons
View receipt
Got:
1 huge package of toilet paper
Since the TP stockpile was running low, I figured I should re-stock. Comparing the current sale prices on toilet paper, this seemed like the best deal to me, although it’s certainly not cheap.
Safeway:
Total spent: $25.34
Total before coupons: $36.34
View receipt #1
View receipt #2
Got:
2.25 pounds of organic, fair trade coffee – $9.99 a pound, used six $1/1 coupons that I found in the coffee aisle, which doubled – see more details below.
2 cans of Del Monte corn – on sale for $1, used two .50/1 coupons, which doubled. Free after coupons!
1 gallon of milk
1 pound of butter
1 bunch of green onions
1 head of red leaf lettuce
.42 pounds of mushrooms
.54 pounds of broccoli
1 carrot
1 head of garlic
I found coupons in the coffee aisle good for $1 off Millstone coffee. The coupon stated that it could be used on a half pound or more of bulk coffee. I filled two bags up to the half pound mark, and used two of the coupons, which doubled, taking off a total of $1.50 on each bag. This worked out to be a great deal, so I went back through the line and got four more bags! I filled each one up to the half pound mark, but since the weight is approximate, each bag came up at a slightly different weight and price.
This much coffee would normally cost $22.50, and I paid a total of $13.50. That’s like getting almost a pound of organic coffee free! Sure, I could get other types of coffee for less, but good coffee is a luxury that I don’t mind spending extra on.
After I got home, I used some of my purchases to make dinner:
Angel Hair pasta with mushrooms and green onions, salad, and homemade garlic bread. I used the rest of the whipping cream from Tuesday’s mushy peas to make the cream sauce for the pasta.
Posted in Costco, Coupon Menu Corner, Safeway | No Comments »
Friday, January 9th, 2009
There may be no such thing as a free lunch, but this comes close to it. Michael Angelo’s is offering a rebate on their frozen entrees, and will refund you the purchase price of up to six frozen dinners. These sell for $3.79 at Safeway, so getting six for the cost of a stamp seems like a pretty good deal to me. This would be perfect for big families!
Click here to access the rebate form – you will be prompted to sign up for their e-club if you are not already a member.
Posted in Free After Rebate | 1 Comment »
Thursday, January 8th, 2009
I decided to make fish and chips on Tuesday night, so I stopped by Safeway to pick up a few ingredients:
Total spent: $7.12
Total before coupons: $8.90
View receipt
Got:
1 bottle of malt vinegar – this is a non-negotiable ingredient when making fish and chips. Cost: $2.77, and worth every penny.
1 can of sweet peas – on sale for $1.15, used one .50/1 coupon that I received in the mail, which doubled. Final cost: .15 cents.
1 pint of whipping cream – marked down by .75 cents, due to the January 8th sell-by date. Fine by me, since I was buying it to use that night! Final cost: $1.54.
1 quart of half and half – I’m taking a break from Coffee-Mate to enjoy some half and half in my coffee. The Safeway brand is .40 cents cheaper, but the only cartons that they had were verging on expiration, so I had to pay more for this kind. Cost: $2.69.
Here’s how it turned out:
I made this as authentic as I could, although not having the same ingredients in the states makes it difficult to capture the taste. First, I took a piece of halibut that a friend gave us, and breaded it in homemade shake ‘n bake, inspired by this recipe. Normally the fish would be deep-fried, but since I don’t have a deep fryer, I just baked it. Then I cut up two small potatoes into chips, soaked them in cold water for about 5 minutes, and then drizzled them in olive oil and fried them in a pan for 10 minutes. I then stuck them on a baking sheet with the fish, and cooked until done.
This was served with a loaf of homemade bread and mushy peas. Most of you are probably thinking, “What on earth are mushy peas?!” This is a side dish traditionally served with fish and chips, and despite the somewhat dubious name, they are very good. You can buy canned mushy peas in England, but obviously I’ve never seen anything like that here. I did a Google search to see if I could find a recipe, and I came across this approximation using frozen/canned peas. The main problem is that mushy peas are always made from dried Marrowfat peas, which I have never seen over here. But I was feeling adventurous, so I figured I’d give the sweet peas a whirl and see how it turned out. Jai liked them, but I didn’t – the sweet flavor is just too strong for me. Guess I’ll be packing dried peas in my suitcase the next time I go back!
Posted in Coupon Menu Corner, Safeway | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, January 7th, 2009
If you live in Arizona, California, or Nevada, you may be able to get a free bag of dog or cat food by clicking here. Simply enter your location to find out if there are any participating retailers in your area, and print out a coupon good for either a free 5 lb bag of Canidae dog food or a free 4 lb bag of Felidae cat food. I know that I have readers in these states, so I hope that one of you will be able to use this!
A big thanks to The Freebie Blogger for this link!
Posted in Free coupons | No Comments »
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