We have two winners to announce today! First up, we have the winner of the Pocket Full of Posies Meal Planning System:

The winner is comment number 48, Mary Jacobowitz, who said: “GFC follower -Mary J. of Pocket Full of Posies”

And the winner of the Purina Cat Chow 24-Hour Giveaway is:

Comment number 22, Chelsea, who said: “We have two beautiful kittys Mike and Spike. They sure would like to win some food!” Looks like Mike and Spike are in luck! 🙂

Congratulations to the winners!

**** This giveaway is now closed.****

I have a fun giveaway to share with you today! Through midnight tonight, Purina is running a fundraising campaign for breast cancer awareness called Cat Nap for the Cause. For every Facebook fan who pledges to take a “Cat nap”, Purina will donate $2 to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. To help spread the word about this campaign, Purina have offered to give one lucky Super Coupon Girl a coupon for a free 7 lb. bag of Purina Cat Chow!

About Cat Nap for the Cause:

Cat Nap for the Cause invites breast cancer awareness supporters to take a 20-minute cat nap to benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure this October. For each “cat napper” that signs up on their Facebook page, Purina Cat Chow will donate $2 up to $150,000 – on top of their 2010 donation of $200,000! All donations go directly to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Actress Kate Walsh has teamed up with Purina Cat Chow as spokesperson for Cat Nap for the Cause! Kate Walsh is not only a breast cancer awareness supporter – her mother is a more than 10-year breast cancer survivor. Kate along with other celebrity supporters will donate personalized blankets, perfect for a cat nap, to raise awareness for the campaign. You can also register for a chance to win a celebrity Cat Nap for the Cause blanket at www.Facebook.com/PurinaCatChow.

Giveaway time!

One lucky Super Coupon Girl reader will win a coupon for a free 7 lb. bag of Purina Cat Chow! This giveaway will only run for 24 hours, so hurry! Here’s how to enter:

1. For your first entry, just leave a comment on this post! Anything goes – tell me about your cat, share a good deal that you got recently, or just say hello!

Want extra entries? Do any of the following, and leave a separate comment for each one:

2. Make a pledge by clicking here, “Liking” Purina on Facebook and clicking on the Cat Nap tab. Then come back here and leave a comment on this post with your Facebook username! Purina Cat Chow will donate $2 for each pledge, up to $150,000, through midnight tonight (11/02) – they’ve raised $35,596 so far, so if you would like to support Susan G. Komen for the Cure, this is a quick and easy way to make a donation with no cost to you.
3. Link to this post on your blog, then come back here and leave me the link!
4. Write about this on Twitter, then come back and leave me the link to your tweet! One Twitter entry per person. You can use the button at the bottom of this post to tweet with one click!
5. Post my button on your website – just copy and paste the following code, and let me know where you put it:

The winner of the $50 CardsDirect Gift Certificate is…

Comment number 74, Mickey Coutts, who said: “I would love Christmas cards!” Congratulations – looks like you’ll be set for your holiday greetings this year! 🙂

Can you believe it’s almost Halloween already? Summer whizzed right by, as it always seems to. Now it’s time to start thinking ahead to the holiday season; and what better way to get a frugal headstart on your festive preparations than to win free greeting cards? CardsDirect have offered to give one lucky Super Coupon Girl reader a $50 coupon code, which can be redeemed towards the greeting cards of your choice. CardsDirect offer everything from Holiday Cards and Christmas Cards to customizable Photo Cards and even Baby Announcements – so the winner will be able to stock up on whatever type of cards they need!

CardsDirect also sent me my own $50 gift code, and I had fun looking through their cards and deciding what to get. I considered getting a custom photo calendar card, and toyed with an idea for the design. I found the process of adding a photo to be a little confusing, but I didn’t spend much time on it because I soon spotted a section for value assortment packs! I decided to use my code on this Assorted Economy Birthday Cards pack, containing 40 birthday cards. This card pack sells for $36.00 with $5.00 shipping, so my total was zero after the code. This will be a great addition to my card box! I love to send greeting cards for every occasion, so it saves money and time to have a supply already on hand. Between this and the cards that paid for my groceries, I will be stocked up for some time!

And one Super Coupon Girl reader will win a $50 Cards Direct gift code of their own! You can use this to get a value pack, like I did, or make 25 custom cards. Here’s how to enter:

1. For your first entry, just leave a comment and tell me what kind of cards you might like to get! Birthday, Christmas, invitations, or something else?

Want extra entries? Do any of the following, and leave a separate comment for each one:

2. Link to this post on your blog, then come back here and leave me the link!
3. Write about this on Twitter, then come back and leave me the link to your tweet! One Twitter entry per person. You can use the button at the bottom of this post to tweet with one click!
4. Post my button on your website – just copy and paste the following code, and let me know where you put it:

And the winner of the $55 CSN Stores Gift Certificate is…

Comment number 44, Adrienne Gordon, who said: “Love CSN kitchen store.” Congratulations Adrienne, you’ll be able to have some fun shopping for kitchen items with this gift code!

Meal planning is an important aspect of preparing frugal meals. By working out a game plan ahead of time, you can streamline what you buy and avoid the take-out trap. So today, Super Coupon Girl and Pocket Full of Posies have teamed up to give away a meal planning system to one reader!

Pocket Full of Posies offer a unique pocket meal planning system. The purpose of the system is to combine your week’s menu with a shopping list, creating a plan for you with the goal of reducing your workload. You are provided with a stack of cards with ingredient lists and recipes, which fit into a magnetized pocket holder that you place on your fridge. Pocket Full of Posies sent me one of their planners to try out so that I could share my thoughts on the system.

I thought this handmade system was very cute! The basic idea is that you choose one ingredient list, then pull the corresponding 5 recipe cards that go with it. You then take the ingredient list to the store and buy all of the items you will need to make five meals – two days a week are left open to utilize leftovers or eat out. You put each ingredient list and matching recipe cards in one of the meal planner pockets; the planner fits a total of 4 weeks worth of recipes. The ingredients needed are also listed on the back of each recipe card, so if you prefer to customize the meal plan, you can refer to the individual cards for your shopping list.

I’ve tried various different approaches to menu planning over the years, so I was curious to see how this would compare to my current system. Since my household is just myself and Jai, I’ve found that our meal plans need to be very flexible: I’ve tried writing out detailed plans for each day of the week, but inevitably I find it needs to change as the week goes along because we end up with more leftovers than I anticipate, or a surplus of a certain ingredient. Also, since our schedules are so hectic, it makes it hard to anticipate what will work the best on any given night; a big pot roast on Thursday may sound like a great plan on Sunday night, but if I work late it may end up being more of a Quesadilla night. So now what I do is write up a big list of all possible meals that could be made with the ingredients I have on hand, separated by category – breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Then I can decide on the day what will be most practical, while still having a detailed plan to rely on.

The recipes in the Pocket Full of Posies Monthly Pocket Package 1 Meal Planner certainly look delicious and simple to prepare! I like that you can pick which recipe you want out of that week’s pocket – somewhat similar to how I pick and choose whichever meal works the best off my list – although obviously since the menu is pre-determined that does eliminate some flexibility. The downside to this type of system is that it would be more frugal to go through your weekly grocery ads and prepare a menu based on what is on sale, rather than using a pre-made list. However, for those who may be new to meal planning, something like this could be a great way to get started. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed, so this is one way you could reduce the workload and get into the rhythm of menu preparation. And if you’ve never made a meal plan before, then you will save money just by starting, since meal planning reduces waste, helps you streamline what you buy, frees up time, and reduces the temptation to call for a pizza when your family asks, “What’s for dinner?”. The most important thing is just starting, however you choose to do so – as you establish a routine and get the hang of meal planning, you will be able to make your menu more cost effective as you go along.

Reader Discount:

Pocket Full of Posies would like to offer my readers 10% off with discount code “SUPER10”.

Giveaway time!

One Super Coupon Girl reader will win a Pocket Full of Posies Monthly Pocket Package 1 with their choice of pocket design! Here’s how to enter:

1. For your first entry, just leave a comment on this post telling me how you plan your meals!

Want extra entries? Do any of the following, and leave a separate comment for each one:

2. Click here to visit the Pocket Full of Posies blog, and follow them on Google Friend Connect. Then come back here and leave a comment below letting me know that you did!
3. Link to this post on your blog, then come back here and leave me the link!
4. Write about this on Twitter, then come back and leave me the link to your tweet! One Twitter entry per person. You can use the button at the bottom of this post to tweet with one click!
5. Post my button on your website – just copy and paste the following code, and let me know where you put it:

I’ve talked recently about some of the great deals I’ve gotten using Amazon gift cards. So I thought it would be fun to give one of my readers a chance to snag a bargain by giving away a $5 Amazon gift code! I earned this code by redeeming Swagbucks, so it cost me nothing – and now I’m passing that savings on to you! I will email the gift code to one winner chosen at random. Here’s how to enter:

1. For your first entry, just leave a comment on this post! Anything goes – say hello, tell me about a good deal that you got, share your weekend plans, whatever!

Want extra entries? Do any of the following, and leave a separate comment for each one:

2. Link to this post on your blog, then come back here and leave me the link!
3. Write about this on Twitter, then come back and leave me the link to your tweet! One Twitter entry per person. You can use the button at the bottom of this post to tweet with one click!
4. Post my button on your website – just copy and paste the following code, and let me know where you put it:

I’m very excited to share today’s giveaway with you! I’ve reviewed items from CSN Stores many times on Contest Corner, and they recently emailed me to see if I’d like to work with them again. In addition to reviewing another item for Contest Corner, they asked if I would also like to give away a $55 gift code to one of my lucky Super Coupon Girl readers! If you’ve never heard of CSN before, they are a network of over 200 online stores. They carry almost anything you can think of, from upholstered dining chairs to baby accessories to kitchen items. Click here for a full list of all their stores!

I think this $55 gift certificate is a great prize for anyone, especially us coupon clippers! CSN have sent me several gift codes in the past for reviews on Contest Corner, and I’ve been able to use them to pick up items I needed for next to nothing. Using these gift codes, I’ve gotten a $90 chair and CD-Rs for $1.15, a $55 food processor and tongs for $9.95, as well as a free cutlery set and bird bath. You’ve already seen me use some of these items in my Coupon Funded Menu Corner posts!

One Super Coupon Girl reader will win a $55 one-time use gift code to CSN Stores! This gift code can be redeemed at any of their 200+ stores. Entire promotional amount must be used on first purchase. Please note, the gift code may not be applied to shipping, but CSN’s shipping rates are reasonable (Click here for detailed information), and they also offer free shipping on a great deal of products.

Here’s how to enter:

1. For your first entry, just leave a comment on this post! Anything goes – tell me your weekend plans, daydream about what you might buy if you’re the lucky winner, or just say hello!

Want extra entries? Do any of the following, and leave a separate comment for each one:

2. Link to this post on your blog, then come back here and leave me the link!
3. Write about this on Twitter, then come back and leave me the link to your tweet! One Twitter entry per person. You can use the button at the bottom of this post to tweet with one click!
4. Post my button on your website – just copy and paste the following code, and let me know where you put it:

And the winner of the family size pack YummyEarth Organic Lollipops is…

Comment number 20, Elizabeth I, who said: “I like sour gummy peaches.” Congratulations!

We have two winners to announce today! First up, we have the winner of the Pedia-Lax Fiber Gummies giveaway:

The winner is comment number 15, cherice, who said: “I love that you can get a dollar off coupon on their site! Thanks for the chance.”

Next, we have the winner of the PediaCare Cold Medicine giveaway:

The winner is comment number 29, Lisa G., who said: “I Tweeted this giveaway. http://twitter.com/lisalmg/status/25171584202“

Congratulations to the winners!