As we come to the end of both 2009 and the decade, I’d like to take a moment to wish you all a safe, happy New Year’s Eve. I hope this coming year brings much happiness to you and yours. See you in 2010!
Archive for December, 2009
Happy New Year!
Thursday, December 31st, 2009Merry Christmas!
Friday, December 25th, 2009
I want to wish all my readers a very Merry Christmas today! Have a wonderful day and a happy New Year!
Horizon Organic Eggs Winner!
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009
And the winner of the Horizon Organic Egg coupons is…
Comment #73, A Frugal Friend, who said: “I love to make pumpkin waffles….a huge batch to freeze and take them out one by one. Oh, the aroma!!” Can you say yum?! Thanks for the inspiration!
Happy Holidays!
Monday, December 21st, 2009
Hi everyone! Things have been quiet around here lately as I’ve been consumed with wrapping up some major work projects and preparing for the holidays. Posts will be sporadic over Christmas but we’ll be back to our regularly scheduled programming after a brief holiday break. I hope everyone is enjoying the season – best wishes to you and yours!
Horizon Organic Eggs – Giveaway
Monday, December 14th, 2009As you probably know, I run another blog called Contest Corner, where I often write product reviews. A few months ago, Horizon Organics had sent me a couple of free coupons for their organic eggs so that I could try them out and write about what I thought. But as it turned out, the eggs aren’t available in my area yet – I even checked a few stores in Portland the last time I was there, but couldn’t find them anywhere. Since I still have these coupons, I figured I would hold a giveaway and mail them on to a reader who will be able to put them to use!
Be warned that Horizon’s eggs can be harder to find than their other products, so even if your store carries Horizon butter or milk, they might not have the eggs yet. However, these coupons don’t expire until 12/31/2012, so you do have some time to use them!
One reader will win two coupons, each good for one free dozen of Horizon Organic Large or Omega Eggs! Here’s how to enter:
1. For your first entry, just leave a comment on this post and tell me your favorite thing to make with eggs. Do you like to bake? Or maybe you prefer omelettes? Let me know so I can be inspired!
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!
4. Post my button on your website – just copy and paste the following code, and let me know where you put it:
Rules, regulations, and other important stuff: Giveaway ends on December 21st at 11:59 PM, PST. Winners will be chosen via Random.org. Giveaway is open to US residents and APO/FPO addresses. Horizon Organics sent me two free product coupons, which I will mail to one reader as the prize. No compensation was received for this post.
Free Olay Quench Body Lotions After Rebate
Friday, December 11th, 2009
Click here to download a “Try-Me-Free” rebate form for Olay Quench Lotion. You can request up to two rebates, meaning two free bottles of lotion! Purchases must be made by January 29th, 2010 – void in Maine. See form for full details. Thanks, Common Sense With Money!
Free Macy’s Gift Card On 12/11 If Your Name Is Virginia
Thursday, December 10th, 2009
If your first or last name is Virginia, stop by Macy’s between 10 am to 6 pm on Friday, December 11th, and you will receive a free $10 gift card while supplies last – click here for all the details. Thanks, CheapCheapCheap!
Shopping Trip – December 4th
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009Friday night was my local Safeway’s grand re-opening party. They just finished remodeling the store, and celebrated by hosting an event from 4pm to 8pm. For those four hours only, you could receive 10% off your purchase of $50 or more; they also sent out a coupon booklet in the mail that included coupons for all kinds of freebies and great deals. Because of these deals, I decided to take advantage of the savings and stock up some things which I know we will need this month anyway. In all, I spent $58.71 for over a hundred dollars worth of groceries – according to the receipt, I saved $89.12, but that is slightly inflated because it’s including club card savings. I don’t count those, because I would never shop without my club card – then again, some people never bother with it. (I can’t imagine, because the prices are so steep without the club card savings!)
This was a little more than I usually like to spend out of pocket for one trip, but worthwhile since buying all at once allowed me to save more with the 10% discount. I bought 44 items, so that averages out to $1.33 per item.
Total spent: $58.71
Total before coupons: $107.32
View receipt
Got:
1 24-pack of water – on sale for $3.49, used a free water coupon from the “Grand Re-Opening” booklet. Final price: Free, with a $1.20 bottle deposit.
1 bottle of apple juice – on sale for $1.99, used a free apple juice coupon from the “Grand Re-Opening” booklet. Final price: Free
4 cans of refried beans – on sale for .89 cents each, final price: $3.56
12 oz bag of Hazelnut coffee – on sale for $7.49, used a coupon for $2 off from the “Grand Re-Opening” booklet. Final price: $5.49
1 jar of peanut butter – on sale for $2.00, used a free peanut butter coupon from the “Grand Re-Opening” booklet. Final price: Free
1 package of tortillas – price: $2.29
3 packages of Philadelphia cream cheese and two 8 oz bags of Kraft Natural shredded cheese – the cheese was on a sale for “Buy 5, save $5”. This brought the price of the cream cheese down to .99 cents each and the shredded cheese $1.49 each. I then used one $1/2 Kraft cheese printable and one $.55/2 Philadelphia cream cheese printable, which both doubled, making the final price .68 cents each – $3.40 for all five.
2 dozen eggs – this one is a little complicated. There was a coupon for a free dozen eggs in the “Grand Re-Opening” booklet, so I bought 2 dozen and paired it a “Buy One, Get One Free” printable egg coupon. The “Buy One, Get One Free” coupon came off, and there is a second “Egg Coupon” listed for .00 cents on the receipt, but I realized later that it didn’t actually deduct the price of the eggs – the coding on these particular Safeway coupons is a little odd, and a cashier mentioned yesterday that if you don’t hit “Enter”after scanning each one, it will show up on the receipt but not take anything off.
2 gallons of milk – on sale for $1.69 each, final price: $3.38. Lower shelf prices appear to be a part of this re-opening, so I hope these last – this is the cheapest I’ve seen milk for a while.
6 Banquet pot pies – on sale for .69 cents each, used a coupon for .60 cents off six, which I found inside a frozen dinner package; this also doubled, making the final price .50 cents each – $3.04 for all.
1 bottle of Peppermint Mocha Coffee-Mate – I’ve been waiting all year for this flavor! On sale for $3.49, used a $1/1 printable that I received after sending a “Cup of Confidence” on the Coffee-Mate site (they also donate $2 to “Dress for Success” in addition to giving you a coupon!). This also doubled, making the final price: $1.99 Never mind – just opened my coupon binder and saw the $1 off coupon still sitting there. I forgot to hand it to them! DOH! (In case you’re wondering why I didn’t use my free International Delight printable – Safeway no longer accept printables for “Free” items, so I’ll be taking those to Fred Meyer. Safeway do take printable “Buy One, Get One Free” however, which is why I used the egg coupon.)
1 lb of butter – price: $1.69
1 package of O Organics frozen enchiladas – on sale for $2.00, used one coupon good for $2.00 off any O Organics item from the “Grand Re-Opening” booklet. Final price: Free
1 bottle of Gillette Shaving Gel – I mentioned yesterday that there are few things I am brand loyal to. This happens to be another one of those items; many of the things I am loyal to are due to allergies – most other shaving gels give me an awful rash all over my legs. I had a great stockpile of this for a year that I got super cheap with coupons – time to stock up again, since that stash finally ran out! Price: $2.49
1 bottle of Bright Green Toilet Cleaner – on sale for $2.25, used a coupon for $2 off any Bright Green product from the “Grand Re-Opening” booklet. Final price: .25 cents. Not bad for toilet cleaner – for some reason, that seems to be a harder cleaning item to get deals on. I used to use bleach to clean the toilet, until I found out you’re not supposed to use it with septic systems – oops.
1 package of Dramamine – this was a last minute addition to my shopping list, and I didn’t think I had any coupons for it. However, the night before, I had gone on Safeway’s website and loaded a bunch of e-coupons onto my club card. Apparently, there was a $1.00 off coupon for Dramamine on there, so hooray! It pays to load all the e-coupons you can, even if you don’t think you’ll use them. Final price: $3.29
1 dozen bagels – regular price $5.99, used a coupon from the “Grand Re-Opening” booklet that brought the price down to $1.50.
1 loaf of French bread – regular price $1.59, used a coupon from the “Grand Re-Opening” booklet that brought the price down to .49 cents.
About two and a half pounds of steak – price:$10.82
Another two and half pounds or so of steak – price: $9.11
One and a half pound beef roast – price: $4.69
1 package of beef cube steak – price: $1.36
I then used a coupon from the “Grand Re-Opening” booklet for $5 off your $25 beef purchase, making the total for all beef $20.98.
A little over two pounds of natural boneless, skinless chicken breasts – need this for a recipe – price: $5.35
1.83 lbs of grapes – on sale for 1.28 per pound, final price: $2.34
3 avocados – on sale for 3 for .99 cents
1 pineapple – regularly priced at $4.99, used a coupon from the “Grand Re-Opening” booklet that brought the price down to $1.00.
1 package of O Organics salad – regularly priced at $3.49, used a coupon from the “Grand Re-Opening” booklet that brought the price down to $1.00.
1 package of O Organics basil – also need this for a recipe – on sale for $1.99, used a coupon for $1.00 off any O Organics product that I found at customer service – final price: .99 cents
1 24oz Signature Tomato & Basil soup – regularly $3.99, used a free soup coupon from the “Grand Re-Opening” booklet. Final price: Free
.55 lbs of deli pastrami – there was a coupon in the “Grand Re-Opening” booklet for a free half pound of deli meat. Half a pound of deli meat is $5, so that’s how much the coupon took off – since they gave me .55 lbs at the deli, I ended up paying .77 cents for it. We love pastrami, so that was OK with me.
The 10% coupon then deducted $10.81, making the final total $58.71. Although the coupon stipulates that you purchase $50 or more after all coupons, the 10% discount itself was calculated on the pre-coupon total. So the re-opening party made for a productive shopping trip – and they also handed out free samples of food as you shopped, so that was fun.
So here’s my basic meal plan – no set days for the meals, we’ll just eat whatever needs to be used up first and is most convenient at the time. I find that having a flexible list of easy dinner options works well for me, because then I can pick and choose what to have on any given night according to what we have and what we need to use, like leftovers or produce. Note the simplicity of the meal plan- I have some major work projects coming up this month, not to mention the holidays; so now is not the time for complicated dishes!
Breakfasts:
Bagels & cream cheese
Scrambled eggs, fruit
Stockpile Special: Oatmeal, cereal, or pancakes
Lunches:
Pastrami sandwiches on French bread
Peanut butter toast
Egg on toast
(We’ll do fruit, salad, and/or hardboiled eggs with the sandwiches)
Leftover buffet
Dinners:
Quesadillas with black beans & avocados
Grilled cheese sandwiches served with tomato & basil soup
Refried beans & rice (leftovers from this make great burritos the next day)
Red Curry Chicken
Steak & salad
Shepherd’s pie
Frozen dinners
Zucchini dish of some sort – I was given a huge home-grown zucchini that I need to use or freeze. Feel free to share your zucchini dishes in the comments!
Free Pita Chips – First 65,000
Tuesday, December 8th, 2009
There seem to be a rash of Facebook coupon offers recently! Click here to become a fan of Stacy’s Pita Chips on Facebook, and you will be able to register for a coupon good for one free bag of pita chips. This offer is available to the first 65,000.
Free Clementines at Safeway – 12/08 Only
Monday, December 7th, 2009
Click here to become a fan of Safeway on Facebook, and then click here to RSVP to their “Free Clementines” event page. The first 25,000 people will then be able to add an e-coupon to their club card good for a free 5-lb box of clementines. This offer is good for one day only, Tuesday the 8th, and it also requires a minimum purchase of $25. However, I know many of you will need to buy $25 in groceries at Safeway this week, so why not do it on Tuesday and get 5 lbs of complimentary clementines as well?
