Harris Teeter and Publix 11/5

I snagged alot of good deals at Harris Teeter and Publix this week!

Total for both stores: $159.87

Saved with coupons and sales: $118.51

Spent: $41.36

For coupon match-ups and more Friday Finals, go to Southern Savers.

-Robin

Publix Shopping Trip 10/29

This was another great week at Publix.

Total: $ 114.49

Sales and coupons: $ 66.38

Paid: $48.11

I hope you all had a great week shopping!

For coupon match-ups and more Friday Finals, go to Southern Savers!

-Robin

Friday Finals 10/22

It was another great week at Publix!

Total: $117.97

Saved with sales and coupons: $70.08

Paid: $47.89

Did you save money this week using coupons and sales?

For coupon match-ups and more Friday Finals go to Southern Savers!

-Robin

Friday Finals Bi-Lo 10/15

I grabbed some great deals at Bi-Lo on Monday!

Total: $80.88

Coupon Savings: $30.81

Paid: $18:70

Thanks Southern Savers for the coupon match-ups! For more Friday Finals click here.

Check out my Clipping for College success!

-Robin

Friday Finals 10/8

This was a good week at Publix!

Saved with sales and coupons: $46.33

Paid: $10.04

For more Friday Finals, go to Southern Savers! Thanks Southern Savers for the coupon match-ups!

-Robin

Friday Finals - 9/24

This was a great week at Publix!

Total before sales and coupons: $123.35

Paid: $44.24

I will send in for the Mayfield Ice Cream rebate for: $5.49

Coupons used: $37.78

Thanks to Southern Savers for the coupon match- ups. For more Friday Finals click here.

Check out my Clipping for College progress.

-Robin

Friday Finals- Food Lion

Okay, I am not a regular Food Lion shopper, but this week I had to stop by and get a great deal! Fresh boneless skinless chicken breasts were on sale for $1.77/ lb. I bought almost 34 lbs of chicken breasts.

Paid: $60.05

Saved: $74.24

I love getting a good deal on meat! I know it seems a little crazy to purchase that much meat at one time, but we have lots of uses for it. I need to make chicken and rice baby food, freezer chicken mix, and we are going to freeze uncooked breasts. When you buy fresh chicken that has never been frozen, there are so many ways to use and freeze it. Freezing chicken breasts purchased for $1.77/ lb is cheaper than buying a bag of frozen chicken breasts.

For more Friday Finals, go to Southern Savers.

Check out my Clipping for College progress.

-Robin

Baby Food- Chicken and Rice Recipe

Making baby food for our little ones has been a HUGE moneysaver for us. Baby food is easy to make and you can store it conveniently in your freezer. I learned most of the techniques I use from the Super Baby Food book and I have taken advice from our Pediatrican. Here is a recipe that my Pediatrician suggested to use after a baby is old enough for chicken. We have used this recipe with all three of our childern and they love it!

Chicken and Rice

1 boneless skinless chicken breast plus water for cooking

2 cups uncooked white rice

6 cups water

Bring 6 cups water to a boil. Decrease temperature to simmer and add rice. Cover and cook for twice as long as directed or about 40 minutes.

In a separate pot, cover chicken breast with water and cook for one hour or until it pulls apart easily with a fork.

In a large bowl, place chicken breast and pull apart with forks. Add rice to chicken breast and puree. Add water (not chicken stock) as needed to thin out.

When chicken and rice is to your desired consistency, spoon into ice cube trays. Cover ice cube trays with foil and freeze. When food cubes are frozen, pop out of tray and put into labeled and dated freezer bags. To heat, thaw completely and use.

I usually leave the chicken and rice a little thick. When I am ready to use a cube, I heat it in the microwave for 20 seconds or until thawed. Then, add water to thin out and cool as necessary.

Making your own baby food is easy and cheap! I hope that you will be encouraged to try making yummy meals for your baby. For more frugal recipes, go to $5 Dinners for the $5 Dinner Challenge!

-Robin

Giving Back

Since I started couponing on April 4, 2010, my stockpile has grown like crazy! I have been able to pick up lots of food and personal care items for cheap or in some cases free! So far, I have enough room to store it.

A few weeks ago, our neighborhood had a food drive. They brought paper bags around to each house to fill up. I was super excited to fill the bag with some of my stockpile. Since then, I have acquired more stockpile items to donate.

Couponing is a great way to save money for your family and give back to the community. Anytime I see a free or cheap deal, I grab it. If we don't use it, I keep it to donate.

Giving back Works for Me!

-Robin

Homemade Character Birthday Cake

My husband and I have always made our children homemade cakes for their birthdays. As they get older, we are finding that it is becoming increasingly challenging. When our middle child turned 2, we surprised her with a Swiper the Fox cake. Needless to say, she was thrilled. She went around saying, "Swiper no Swiping" and "oh, man." She had lots of fun!

Here is how we did it:

My husband drew a sketch of Swiper from one of our Dora books. Then, we cut the cake and added the icing.

Sour Cream Cake

1 c. butter softened

2 c. sugar

4 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

1 pint sour cream

3 c. flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

Pre- heat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla together. Then, add sour cream to mixture. In a separate bowl, mix together baking powder, flour, and baking soda. Add the dry mixure to the wet mixture and beat until smooth. Pour mixture into 2 nine inch round pans or one sheet cake pan that have been greased and floured. Bake on 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.

Birthday Icing

1 lb confectioners sugar or 3 3/4 cups

3/4 c. crisco

1/4 c. cream or liquid

1/2 tsp flavor (vanilla)

Beat until smooth.

*We usually double the recipe*

Making your child's birthday cake is fun. It doesn't have to look perfect. They will think it is special just because you made it especially for them.

For more great frugal recipes, go to $5 Dinners!

-Robin

Friday Finals 8/6

It was a great week at Bi-Lo. I bought several stockpile items for the pantry and freezer. I spent about double my budget, but it was worth it!

My total before savings was $174.40

I paid $87.05

The order included: 11 lbs of bananas, 23 oz of cheese, 3 gallons of milk, 4 lbs of rice, 3 lbs of beans, 7 lbs of beef, 5 lbs of chicken, mushrooms, almonds, grapes, eggs, applesauce, a ham shank, juice, soda, tea, butter, peanut butter, olive oil, and whipping cream.

Join me tomorrow for a Clipping for College update.

Thanks to Southern Savers for the coupon match-ups! For more Friday Finals click here!

-Robin

Freezing Tomato Paste

About a month ago, I made another batch of freezer pasta sauce. We have made that recipe about five times now and each time we make it a little different. We have thought that the sauce was sometimes a little too runny, so this time I made it with 3/4 of a #10 can of tomato paste. We have tasted it and the additional tomato paste has made the pasta sauce a little thinker and it still tastes wonderful.

I really didn't know what to do with the extra tomato paste, since we did not have enough leftover for another pasta sauce recipe. So, I froze the tomato paste in ice cube trays (like homemade baby food). It has worked out well! It is perfect for when you only need a few ounces of tomato paste... you don't have to buy an expense tube or waste most of a can for just a few ounces.

This method would also work well when you have to open a can but only need a few ounces. Don't throw out the remainder of the can, just feeze it!

Freezing tomato paste using the food cube method Works for Me!

-Robin

Vintage Baby Doll Bed for $5

It has been a long time since we have had time to do some thrifty shopping. So, over the weekend, we stopped in on an estate sale on it's last day.

My husband and I used to frequent auctions and estate sales, before we had kids. We used to have a friendly competition between him and me. We would see who could get the best bargain and make the most money off of it's resale..... just for the record, I was ahead when we quit!

My dad has always been interested in antiques, so I have been around antiques all of my life. Since I have had a house of my own, I've wanted to decorate with aniques and unusual finds. I have a few pieces, but not too much so far. I really like to go look, even though I don't buy alot. At the estate sale over the weekend, this baby doll bed caught my attention. I have no idea how old it is, but it is cute and in pretty good condition. It was marked for $15, but they gave it to me for the $5 that I offered them. I haven't decided what I am going to do with it, but it was fun to buy!

For more interresting finds, go to Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday!

-Robin

Friday Finals 7/30

I scored some good deals this week at Publix. Four of the items were FREE! And I got a 6 pack of water for a penny (not pictured.)

Total before savings: $88.80

Paid = $33.57

Coupons used= $26.03

Sales savings= $29.20

Another store had some great sales on produce. If you bought $10 worth then you could buy milk for $2.50, so of course I got my limit of 2 milks. My grocery total for this week was $50 for the 4 of us... not too bad considering all the produce and milk.

Check back tomorrow for a "Clipping for College" update.

This post is linked to Friday Finals . Thanks to Southern Savers for the coupon match-ups!

-Robin

Mystery Fruit Revealed

Since we used compost to plant our garden, we sometimes get "mystery plants." Several weeks ago, a plant started growing in our garden that we had no idea what it was going to turn out to be. We had several people guess what it was. The guesses included: watermelon, pumpkin, and acorn squash. Being the rookie gardeners that we are, it was not until the outside really started looking like a cantaloupe that we knew what it was.

We are really enjoying our garden. The compost has given us additional fun. Several times we have had to guess what was coming up. It has been great to get some FREE plants!

-Robin

Garden Tomatoes

A few weeks ago, we got the first tomato from our garden! Here is a picture of our little beauty! Yummy salsa!

-Robin

A Great Week at Rite Aid

This was a great week at Rite Aid! I bought everything pictured and made $2 after rebates. My purchase included $30 worth of Procter and Gamble products, so I will send in for a $10 rebate.

Some of the moneymakers were out-of-stock when I got there, so I asked for a raincheck. I have never had a raincheck from Rite Aid before, so I hope it works.

I also finished a Skin Care Rebate. We bought lots of sunscreen over the last few weeks and will receive $30 in gift cards to Rite Aid!





Check out Friday Finals for more great deals.





-Robin

Tips from the ALL YOU Grocery Challenge

I just finished the ALL YOU GROCERY Challenge $172.72 under budget! Yeah!

Saving money has become a way of life for me and my family. I once joked with my husband that I would pay for our children's college tutition with the money I save. As time moves on, I find that I get more and more frugal... it's almost like a game and it's fun!

Our budget for the month was $400 and we spent $227.28. We only counted groceries, but even with counting health and beauty aids, we would have had the same outcome. I get all of my health and beauty aids at the drugstore for free or for tax only.

Here is a recap of tips to help you spend less a the grocery store.

Make you own mixes

Find and use "free" coupons

Tips for couponing while shopping with kids

Make "serial meals"

Plant a garden and use the produce

Make your own laundry soap

Buy meat on sale and freeze it

BUY AT THE LOWEST PRICE

Compost to make a great garden

U-pick fruit and vegetables and freeze

Buy milk at the lowest price and freeze it

ALL YOU has some great recipes and tips for saving money. I also learned a lot from the ALL YOU blog. A few of my favorite tips from the ALL YOU Blog:

Ask your butcher to call you when they have meat that will be expiring soon. According to a fellow blogger, you can get meat at 75 % off. It will expire soon, so you just bring it home and freeze it!

Write the date of expiration on your stockpile items with a sharpie marker, so that you will be reminded to use it before it expires.

Check the clearance shelves

12 Tips to save more at the store

Thanks ALL YOU for the great challenge! I'm always interested in learning new ways to save!

-Robin

ALL YOU Grocery Challenge Totals

ALL YOU Grocery Challenge

Ok, the ALL YOU Grocery challenge is over! Here are my totals:

Week 4

Grocery: $68.29

My total included stocking up on 1 1/2 bushels of peaches that I froze, pureed for baby food, made pies, and made freezer jam.

Check out Week 1, Week 2, and Week 3 of the ALL YOU Grocery Challenge.

My grand total for all 4 weeks of the ALL YOU Grocery Challenge is

$227.28

The budget for our family of 4 eaters was $100/ week. We were under our budget by $172.72!

I have learned so much over the last four weeks. Thank you ALL YOU!

This post is linked to Friday Finals!

-Robin

"Free" Coupons

ALL YOU Grocery Challenge

Over the last few months, I have been able to obtain a number of great "free" coupons. "Free" coupons come in handy for a few different purposes. The first purpose for a free coupon is the obvious.... getting an item for free! I also, use "free" coupons to increase my order so that I can use a money off coupon. For example, I have a coupon for "free" Suave shampoo. I'm saving this coupon to use at Rite Aid. There is a number of available $5 off a $25 order for Rite Aid, but some weeks I don't see enough items that we use on sale. If I use my "free" Suave coupon when I have say $22 worth of sale items, then I can increase my order to $25 by purchasing a Suave shampoo. Then, I will use my $5 off $25 and my "free" Suave coupon. With all sales, coupons, free coupons, and money off coupon, I am sure to get a great deal.

I have also used "free" coupons at Piggly Wiggly. Piggly Wiggly often runs a special where you can get a greenbax for using a manufacturers coupon. This is a great deal! There are not a lot of coupon match- ups usually, but since the "free" coupons are manufacturers coupons, then you can get a greenbax for them. There are a few things that you can do with greenbaxes, like buy food, purchase movie tickets, or get park passes for parks in your town. A greenbax can be worth up to $1.50. So, not only do you get the free product, but you get a greenbax!

The question is... Where do you get "free" coupons? I have obtained several free coupons from Kraft. There website is Kraft First Taste. You need to register and check back to participate in surveys and activities. Every so often (I don't know how often) you will have "offers" for "free" coupons that they will send to you in the mail.

I have received free coupons from manufacturers after I "like" them on facebook, when they are running a free promotion.

Sometimes, Rite Aid will have rebates to get a free bag of Huggies after you have purchased a few bags of huggies.

Of note, any coupon that says "free" on it is only good if it comes directly from the manufacturer on their printed paper.

If you get "free" coupons on items that you do not use, I encourage you to pick up the item and donate it. I'm sure some would be happy to have the item.

I hope you find some "free" coupons!

Free coupons Work for Me!

-Robin