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Archive for May, 2011
Wednesday, May 25th, 2011
Remember how I got an $88 pair of prescription eyeglasses at Coastal Contacts last week for $16? Well, the offer is back! Today, May 25th only, Coastal Contacts are offering a free pair of prescription eyeglasses to the first 10,000 people to register. This is for new customers only, and shipping is NOT included. Apparently, this started at 9 AM EST, but there still appear to be free coupons available. To participate, click here to become a fan of Coastal Contacts on Facebook, and you will be provided with a free coupon code. Not all frames are eligible, so be sure to click on the link they provide with the coupon to see the eligible frames.
From some of the discussion I saw on Money Saving Mom, it may actually be cheaper to order certain prescriptions through an inexpensive retailer like Zenni Optical. However, paying $16 shipping for a pair of specs at Coastal Contacts is still a great deal, so I wanted to be sure and share this with you since I don’t have to dash out the door this time! 😀
Thanks to Common Sense With Money for the heads-up!
Posted in Online deals | 12 Comments »
Monday, May 23rd, 2011
My Community Coffee order arrived on Saturday – it got here super fast. I’m drinking a cup as I write this, and I’m quite enjoying it!
Earlier in the week, I also received an order I placed at Coastal Contacts. Money Saving Mom had posted about a special offer they ran on May 11th, where the first 10,000 people who became a fan of Coastal Contacts on Facebook would receive a free pair of prescription eyeglasses (not including shipping). I ordered these Katayama K4126 C1 Black glasses for Jai, and the coupon deducted $88 dollars from the total; I just paid the shipping & handling of $16.07. I would have posted this deal, but I had to run out the door after I placed my order and the free coupons were gone when I got back!
I’ve previously gotten free glasses for Jai through a giveaway that I won and a review that I did for Contest Corner. I’ve also heard Zenni Optical recommended as a place to get inexpensive prescription glasses – I’ve never ordered from them, but it might be worth looking into if you need new specs.
Posted in Online deals | 10 Comments »
Friday, May 20th, 2011
With Memorial Day right around the corner, you can expect to start seeing more sales and coupons for “Summer” foods like hot dogs. I already snagged a free package of hot dogs last week, thanks to a free coupon that Hebrew National sent me so that I could review their product. And as I mentioned, we have a special giveaway for Super Coupon Girl readers: 8 lucky winners will each win one coupon good for a free package of hot dogs, so read on for your chance to win!
When I redeemed my free coupon, I decided to get a package of their 97% fat free dogs, since they were only 40 calories each. Jai really loved these hot dogs and was commenting on how tasty they were, and he was actually really shocked when I told them they were fat free and so low in calories. I thought they tasted pretty good, although I found them to be a bit gristly. I was going to take a picture for the Coupon Menu Corner, but we ate them all before I got a chance! 😀
Hebrew National also sent along a few recipes to share with you:
Lettuce-Wrapped Reuben Dog
PER SERVING (entire recipe): 131 calories, 4.5g fat,
Reuben sandwich – bread + lots of lettuce – corned beef + guilt-free hot dog = yum!
Ingredients:
1 hot dog with about 40 calories and 1g fat or less (like Hebrew National 97% Fat Free)
1 slice reduced-fat Swiss cheese
2 leaves butter, iceberg, or romaine lettuce
2 tbsp. sauerkraut
1 tbsp. fat-free Thousand Island dressing
Directions:
Carefully slice hot dog lengthwise without cutting all the way through. Place it flat on a microwave-safe plate, cut-side down. You can also grill it!
Break cheese into 6 thin strips and evenly place over the hot dog. Microwave for 30 seconds, or until hot dog is heated through and cheese has melted. Set aside.
On another plate, stack lettuce leaves and top with sauerkraut and dressing. Use a spatula to transfer your cheesy dog to the lettuce stack. Wrap & eat!
MAKES 1 SERVING
Hot Dog! Fajitas
PER SERVING (1/2 of recipe, 3 fajitas): 310 calories, 4g fat
Ingredients:
1/2 cup canned diced fire-roasted tomatoes, drained
2 tbsp. finely diced onion
1/4 tsp. chopped garlic
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1/4 cup fat-free sour cream
1 tbsp. Hellmann’s/Best Foods Dijonnaise (or another mild creamy Dijon mustard)
3 hot dogs with about 40 calories and 1g fat each (like Hebrew National 97% Fat Free)
1 cup sliced onion
1 cup sliced bell pepper
Six 6-inch corn tortillas
1/2 cup shredded lettuce
Optional toppings: relish, jarred sliced jalapeños
Directions:
In a small bowl, combine tomatoes, diced onion, garlic, and black pepper. Mix well and refrigerate until ready to serve.
In another small bowl, combine sour cream with Dijonnaise and mix well. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Cut hot dogs in half widthwise, leaving you with 6 pieces. Slice each piece in half lengthwise, and then slice each of those pieces in half lengthwise, yielding 4 even strips per piece, for a total of 24 strips. Set aside.
Bring a large skillet sprayed with nonstick spray to medium-high heat on the stove. Add sliced onion and bell pepper. Stirring occasionally, cook until partially softened, about 5 minutes.
Add hot dog strips to the skillet with the onion and bell pepper. Stirring occasionally, cook until strips are hot and slightly crispy, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
Place tortillas on a microwave-safe plate, and warm slightly in the microwave. Serve fajita mixture with tortillas, tomato mixture, sour cream mixture, shredded lettuce and, if you like, optional toppings.
Assemble and eat!
Makes 2 Servings;
Additional recipes can be found on Hebrew National’s website – click here to check it out! They also have a selection of Safe Grilling Tips that may come in helpful if you’re gearing up for a BBQ over the upcoming holiday weekend.
Giveaway time!
EIGHT lucky Super Coupon Girl readers will each win one (1) coupon good for a free package of Hebrew National Hot Dogs! Here’s how to enter:
1. For your first entry, just leave a comment on this post and tell me: What is your favorite hot dog topping?
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:
Rules, regulations, and other important stuff: Giveaway ends on June 5th at 11:59 PM, PST. Winners will be chosen the following day via Random.org. Giveaway is open to US residents. Hebrew National provided me with a free coupon for the purposes of this review, and will also be furnishing the coupons to the winners of this giveaway.
Posted in Giveaways | 157 Comments »
Wednesday, May 18th, 2011
We’ll be needing to re-stock on coffee soon, so I just ordered a three-pack of Community Coffee on Amazon for $9.95. These bags are 12 ounces each, which works out to .27 cents per ounce – the brand I was planning to buy at Safeway is .46 cents per ounce, so this was a better deal. Of course, you can get coffee cheaper than this if you buy big canisters rather than these type of “Specialty” roasts, but this type of coffee is my preferred indulgence. 🙂 Here’s how to get this deal:
1. Login to your Amazon account and click here to access their coupons page. Here you will find a coupon for $3 off any Community Coffee 12oz three-pack; if you don’t see it, keep refreshing the page to see new coupons until it pops up (I had to do this many times before it came up).
2. Click to add the coupon, and then select which coffee you want from this page. I chose Community Coffee Whole Bean Coffee, French Roast, 12-Ounce Bags (Pack of 3) because it was the least expensive at $15.23.
3. Select the “Subscribe and save” option to receive a 15% discount and free shipping. This reduced the cost of the French Roast to $12.95. The $3.00 off coupon then lowered the cost further, making my final price $9.95.
4. Cancel the subscription after your order ships, and you won’t be charged in the future. This part is important! 😀 I made a note to myself in my weekly planner to do this so that I won’t forget.
Thanks to SlickDeals.com for this deal!
Posted in Online deals | 3 Comments »
Tuesday, May 17th, 2011
Since I’ve been gone for almost four months, we’re a little low on food, so I’ve been re-stocking our supplies over the last week. I made a trip to Dollar Tree and Safeway yesterday – first up, Dollar Tree:
Total spent: $24.00
View receipt
Got:
1 package of napkins – Price: $1.00
2 bags of rice – Price: $2.00
2 bags of pinto beans – Price: $2.00
2 bags of kidney beans – Price: $2.00
2 two-packs of chandelier light bulbs – For the chandelier in my living room – great price! Price: $2.00
3 boxes of quart bags, 22-count – I will need these for freezing all the onions I bought last week! 😀 Price: $3.00
2 packages of gallon-size freezer bags, 12-count – Price: $2.00
1 phone coupler and 1 USB cable – Jai picked these items up for his computer business – Price: $2.00
1 roll of foil – Price: $1.00
3 packages of tortillas – Price: $3.00
1 large can of crushed tomatoes – Price: $1.00
1 package of ant traps – Good price, so I’m planning ahead with this purchase since we seem to need these every summer! Price: $1.00
1 bottle of dish soap – I actually received a gallon of dish soap for a review last month, and we needed a smaller bottle to keep by the sink since the gallon container is unwieldy. We decided that the best thing to do would be to grab a bottle of this inexpensive dish soap, and then re-use the bottle once it is empty! Price: $1.00
1 package of Jalapeno cheese slices – I thought these would be good to cut up and melt in burritos or chili – Price: $1.00
Next stop, Safeway, where I did two transactions and got the following items:
Transaction #1:
Total spent: $8.10
Total before coupons & promotions: $11.20
View receipt
Got:
Four boxes of General Mills cereal – on sale for $1.99 when you buy four boxes, and I used two coupons for $1.00/2 GM cereals that came from a coupon booklet that I found in the store. These coupons also doubled, making the final price $4.96 for all four, and I received a catalina for a free gallon of milk for purchasing the cereal. (Thanks for Frugal Living NW for this tip!)
1 Carefree sample – This sample is free with your Safeway club card (Or .10 without a club card) – you can find the display with it in the feminine care aisle. Price: Free!
1 bottle of wine – Price: $3.14
Remember the crazy receipt I received last time I was in Safeway? Well, unfortunately it looks like they are keeping that format. On this receipt, you will notice that one of my coupons is not even mentioned on the receipt, even though I saw it scan correctly, and I know it deducted from the total because the final price is correct. This is going to be a pain, since it will make it trickier to ensure that everything scans correctly at checkout going forward. Has anyone else noticed their Safeway receipts have changed format, or is it just this store?
Transaction #2:
Total spent: $2.50
Total before coupons: $5.39
View receipt
Got:
1 gallon of milk – Regularly $2.89, used the free milk catalina that I received during the first transaction. Final price: Free!
1 Sunday paper – I forgot to get one the day before, but I lucked out and got the very last one that they had! Price: $2.50
Posted in Dollar Tree, Safeway | 2 Comments »
Monday, May 16th, 2011
So how many of you took advantage of the “Half-Priced Frappuccino Happy Hour” last week? Jai and I stopped by Starbucks yesterday and used a gift card to pick up two frapps at no cost. It was a fun and frugal outing! 🙂
Posted in Life | 1 Comment »
Saturday, May 14th, 2011
I stopped by Safeway on Thursday to pick up a few things:
Total spent: $25.84
Total before coupons & club card: $60.17
View receipt
Got:
17.49 lbs of onions and one head of cilantro – the onions were on sale for .25 cents per pound, and the cilantro was .79 cents. I used a coupon good for $1.00 off your produce purchase of $5.00 or greater which I got through this offer (Both Jai and I were able to sign up for this offer, and it allowed two prints per person). This brought my final total to just $4.17 for 17 and a half pounds of onions and the cilantro. Now, I know what you’re thinking….17 pounds?! 😀 But .25 cents per pound is a fantastic price for onions – in fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen it so low. Onions are a staple in the dishes I make, and they freeze beautifully, so I will be chopping these and freezing them in ziploc bags. This will save us money and time, since having pre-chopped onion on hand is very handy!
1 bag of black beans – price: $1.49
1 bag of Great Northern beans – price: .99 cents
1 can of diced tomatoes – price: .69 cents. As you might have guessed from the other purchases, one of the dishes I plan to make this week is chili. I had originally planned to buy fresh tomatoes, but the prices were so high that it was significantly cheaper to buy a can instead; and this will actually work better for chili anyway, especially since it also has chopped green peppers mixed in!
2 boxes of Frosted Mini Wheats Touch of Fruit – on sale for $2.19 each through the “Buy 4, save $4” cereal promo, and I used two $1/1 coupons that I received through a sample from Vocalpoint. These coupons also doubled, making the final cost .69 cents per box.
2 boxes of Raisin Bran – I needed two more boxes of cereal to qualify for the “Buy 4” promo, and this was the cheapest option. Regularly $1.79 each, I used two .70/1 printables to bring the final total down to $2.18 for both.
1 box of Smart Start cereal – I had printed a coupon for this in case it was included in the “Buy 4” promo. It wasn’t, but I noticed that it had a “Try-Me-Free” rebate on the box, so this ended up being a bonus! Regularly $2.99, I used a $1/1 printable to bring the price down to $1.99. It will be free minus the cost of a stamp after rebate – possibly with a small profit if they refund me the pre-coupon amount.
12-pack of toilet paper (double rolls) – this was on sale for $5.49, which is a stock-up price for this area, so I bought one to take advantage of the price.
2 quarts of half & half – $1.50 each, final price: $3.00 for both
1 gallon of milk – price: $2.49
3 bottles of Pine-Sol – regularly $2.99 each. First, I used an in-store Safeway coupon to bring the price down to $1.49 each. I then stacked this with two manufacturer’s printable coupons for $1/1, and one .50/1 hangtag coupon that was on the product itself, which doubled. This brought the final price down to .49 cents each – $1.47 total for all three.
Thanks to Frugal Living NW for their Safeway coupon match-up! You can see all of their deal scenarios for this week here.
If you check out my scan of the receipt, you’ll notice that it’s one of the most convoluted receipts you’ve ever read. The coupon deductions are listed all over the receipt, and the product prices are inconsistent; some prices are displayed with the coupon savings factored in, some prices are displayed before coupon deductions, and some prices are totally random and don’t match up with the cost before OR after coupons! The final total that I paid was just a few cents higher than the total I had projected, so I’m going to assume that everything rang up correctly, because there’s really no way to tell. I’ve gotten a receipt that looked like this once before, so I’m going to hope that it’s a register quirk and not their new format!
Posted in Safeway | 5 Comments »
Thursday, May 12th, 2011
Now that I’m back home, I’ve been busy unpacking and getting caught up. I headed out to do some shopping last Saturday to stock up on some supplies and check out my new favorite store: Dollar Tree!
Total spent: $15.50
View receipt
Yes, Dollar Tree has opened a new location in my area! I can’t tell you how excited this makes me. We don’t have any other dollar stores in the area currently, so this will make a big difference in my budget – not to mention, I also consider Dollar Tree to be the best dollar store because of what they carry. So I was excited for my very first visit! Here’s what I picked up on my first trip:
1 bottle of Vanilla extract – Killer deal on this item, so I had to grab a bottle! Price: $1.00
1 tooth whitening kit – Just for fun, thought I’d give this a try! Price: $1.00
1 box of Crunch & Munch – Jai wanted this! 😉 Price: $1.00
1 package of fig bars – This was Jai’s also! Price: $1.00
1 box of sleep aid – Price: $1.00
1 package of lithium batteries – This item was another fabulous buy – Price: $1.00
1 balloon – Price: $1.00
1 box of Brillo pads with soap – Price: $1.00
1 package of scrubber sponges – Price: $1.00
1 package of regular sponges – Whenever I’ve visited Dollar Tree stores in the past, I’ve always stocked up on sponges because they have MUCH better prices than any other store around here! Price: $1.00
1 package of two drain stoppers – Another miscellaneous item we needed – Price: $1.00
1 package of coffee filters – Just in time, we were running low – Price: $1.00
1 package of produce bags – After reading Faylee’s guest post about produce bags, I was eager to try them myself! Price: $1.00
1 package of bread bags – Similar concept to the produce bags – this will be fantastic for my homemade bread! Price: $1.00
1 card – Price: .50 cents
1 package of frozen french fries – Price: $1.00
After Dollar Tree, we hit up Safeway for a few items:
Total spent: $7.99
Total before coupons: $32.14
View receipt
Got:
2 boxes of Frosted Mini Wheats: Touch of Fruit – normally $2.99 each, and I had one $1.00/1 coupon, which doubled, and one “Buy One, Get One Free” coupon, making the final price $1.49 for both. There is also a “Try-Me-Free” rebate on the box, which will make it free less the cost of a stamp – possibly with a small profit, if they decide to refund me the pre-coupon amount! Both of these coupons came with a free sample that I got from Vocalpoint. If you aren’t a Vocalpoint member, click here to read my article about it – I highly recommend it as a source for high-value coupons!
1 bag of Malt-o-Meal Fruity Dyno-Bites – normally $3.59, used one free product coupon that I won in a giveaway – final price: Free!
1 gallon of milk – price: $2.49
1 package of Hebrew National hot dogs – regularly $5.99, used one free product coupon – final price: Free! I received this coupon because I am working with Hebrew National on an upcoming giveaway – so stay tuned for that, because several Super Coupon Girl readers will win free hot dog coupons of their own in the near future!
1 package of hot dog buns – price: $1.49
5.52 lbs of bananas and 1.90 lbs of apples – I had a printable coupon for $1.00 off your produce purchase of $5.00 or more which I got through this offer, so I chose the cheapest produce – bananas were .64 cents per pound, apples were .78 cents per pound – and weighed it out until I had exactly $5.02 worth. After using my $1.00 off coupon, I paid only $4.02.
1 package of Earthbound Farm organic, pre-washed & peeled baby carrots – Regularly $3.59, used one free product coupon that I got thanks to an offer I participated in via their mailing list – final price: Free!
1 tub of Sabra garlic hummus – regularly $3.99, used one free product coupon that I received for a post I did on Contest Corner – final price: Free!
The cashier also doubled three of my “Free” coupons, deducting an extra $1.50 from my total. I’ve been told conflicting things regarding whether “Free” coupons can be doubled or not, and since Safeway seems to be changing its policy every month now, it’s getting hard to keep up!
Also, my “Buy one, get one free” cereal coupon deducted $4.19 initially, so the cashier adjusted it down by adding $1.20 to my total – just in case anyone gets confused deciphering my receipt! 🙂
Posted in Dollar Tree, Safeway | 4 Comments »
Thursday, May 5th, 2011
Today’s guest post comes to us courtesy Darcy of Tales From the Nursery!
Before getting pregnant I never worried so much about money. Money would be tight and I wasn’t the most responsible with it, but I didn’t have a child dependent on me. Quickly my husband and I started to take a closer look at our finances and work on them. No longer were we going to fly by the seat of our pants, spending willy nilly.
No, it was time to become financially mature. We had to get more frugal. Since that change, I have found saving to be fun! I can’t even begin to describe the feeling I get when I score a great find!
One thing I did was join my local Freecycle group (go to the main page and look for your area). It’s a great way to give away unused and unwanted items to those who could use them – and it’s all FREE! If you don’t end up liking what you got, or you only like some of the clothes, that’s okay. “Take what you want, Freecycle the rest” meaning you relist it. No selling of Freecycle goods.
Not only is it a frugal resource, it’s a green one too since a lot of the things listed would otherwise end up in a landfill.
I wasn’t sure if I’d receive many baby items, but I have been blessed with several finds: a stash of cloth diapers (still had some life left in them!), a diaper sprayer, baby clothes, and my latest gem – a free exersaucer!
Just when I needed it too!
Don’t worry, I give too. We’ve given away a chair, diaper coupons, formula samples, diapers (when I switched to cloth I still had a bunch of disposables), and baby clothes.
Are you a Freecycle member? What kinds of goodies have you discovered?
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 About this guest post blogger: Darcy is a part-time work-at-home mother of one entertaining baby girl. She’s been blogging on and off for several years. While the genre and topics may change, her passion has not. Her current passion is writing about parenting, breastfeeding, cloth diapering, and family-friendly products at Tales From the Nursery.
Posted in Guest Posts | 5 Comments »
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