Bargain Meal of the Week - Price Chopper

Don't forget - if you're not a Price Chopper Shopper, you can click the link above to go to $5 Dinners and find a Bargain Meal of the Week for your grocery store!

Pork Spare Ribs with Green Beans & Noodles
Ingredients:
1 lb boneless pork spareribs $2.99/lb
1 lb fresh green beans $0.99/lb
2 packages of Top Ramen Pork Flavor $0.20 = $0.40
1 cup of Italian Salad Dressing $0.50 - hopefully you have some on hand from the sales from the previous weeks. You can also buy a bottle PC Italian dressing for about $1.50.
1 cup BBQ Sauce %0.50 - ditto the top - if you used your Kraft coupons, this would be free! Otherwise, your cost for a bottle of PC bbq sauce will be about $1.00.
Total Cost: ~$5.50
Instructions:
Marinate spareribs in Italian dressing for about 30 minutes. Let them sit on the counter and come to room temperature while they're marinating.
In the meantime, steam green beans and cook Top Ramen as instructed on package.
After marinating, pre-heat the grill with medium flame. Cover grill with foil and put ribs on to cook. Cook time is about 30 minutes. Brush with bbq sauce a few minutes before they're finished.

Frugal Family Fun for Summer

Some of you are already out of school for Summer but we've got about 4 more weeks to go! In the meantime, I'm gathering up some frugal family fun ideas for this summer to keep us busy. Here's a list of some ongoing Summer Fun deals to get you started:

Kids Bowl Free Summer Program - Click here to sign up. You choose from a bowling center in your area and your kids (15 & under) can bowl up to 2 free games per day all summer long! They are also offering a special Family Pass - after you sign up, you will have the option of adding a family pass for $23.95 which will allow up to 4 adults in your family (including kids over 15) also bowl 2 free games each, every day, all summer long. This is a fabulous deal! My family of 4 went bowling over Winter Break and it cost us nearly $40 to bowl and rent shoes and that was for only 6 games (I bowled with Ella). You do have to sign up at one bowling center and use that one all summer long. Locals: We have a pick of Spare Time Bowling in Clifton Park, Latham, South Glens Falls, and Lake George. I signed up for the bowling last night and I'm really excited for this one! I purchased the family pass so we can bowl with our kids and even take Grandma or Grandpa with us sometimes!
Free Movies from Regal Cinemas - Click here for participating theaters in your state. When school’s out, kids around the country visit selected Regal theatres for the Free Family Film Festival. It’s a fun-filled nine weeks of movies for kids and parents. Since 1991, Regal has provided this service to the community, and best of all it’s FREE!
Selected G & PG movies start at 10AM each Tuesday and Wednesday during the festival. First-come, first-served seating is limited to theatre capacity. The Free Family Film Festival is safe, lots of fun and a great way for kids to spend a weekday morning in the summer.
Some of the movies being shown this summers include Charlotte's Web, The Tale of Despereaux, Alvin and the Chipmunks, and Kung Fu Panda.
Free Movies from Rave Motion Pictures - Don't have Regal Cinemas in your area? Click here. Rave Motion Pictures is a different chain of theaters offering pretty much the same deal.
$1 Movies from AMC Theaters - Pretty much the same deal as the other theaters but they are charging $1 per person and giving the proceeds to charity. Click here for locations. Still a pretty good deal!

Barne's & Noble Summer Reading Program = Free Books - Get the scoop here. Kids (grades 1-6) read 8 books this summer and write about their favorite part of each book. When they turn in their journal they get to choose from a list of free books. You can download the journal from the site as well. On hot days, go to Barnes and Noble to do your reading in a cool, comfortable spot. A huge selection of books to read and another free outing!
B1G1 Free Minor League Baseball Ticket (courtesy of Kraft) - Click here to see if your local teams are participating. Bring a Kraft Singles Wrapper to the Ballpark box office for a Steal of a Deal! Buy 1 Ticket and Get 1 FREE from Kraft Singles! Ticket offer valid only on Tuesdays. May 12 through Sept 1, 2009at participating minor league home games.

Home Depot Kids Workshops - Click here for a schedule. These are held the first Saturday of the month for kids ages 5-12. On Saturday, June 6th they will build a hardware sorter and on Saturday, July 4th they will make a picnic caddy. In addition, kids get a free home depot kids' apron and an achievement pin.

Lowe's Build & Grow Clinics - Click here to sign up. Similar to Home Depot's program, Kids can build a putting green on Saturday, June 13th and a pirate ship on Saturday June 27th. Joey attended and built a #48 race car over the winter and he just loved it!

Apple Camp - All Apple stores are sponsoring free workshops for kids. Kids can take movie, music and photo workshops, learning how to use a Mac for fun projects. Click here for all the details and to find a store near you. (Thanks Hip2Save!) This looks like fun for grown-ups, too. I wouldn't mind being able to take one of these classes (though I'm not on a Mac).

This post is linked to Frugal Friday at Life As Mom here. Hop on over to see lots more great Frugal Friday ideas!

Frugal Gardening Tips + Free Organic Gardening Magazine

Raise your hand if you're planning a garden this year! Some of you may have already started because you're in a much warmer climate than us....but I did go purchase my starter plants on Memorial Day at Lowe's. Yes, not the most frugal way to start but I did use my $10/$50 Lowe's purchase coupon from the Lowe's insert 2 weeks ago. Last year we tried to start our plants from seed with very little success and ended up buying many of our plants anyway. So, as I wait for this hopefully LAST NY cold snap to pass, I have been gathering frugal gardening tips to help us along the way. Here are a few gathered from around the web and from my own experience. Please feel free to add your tips to comment section!

Get a free 12-month subscription to Organic Gardening when you become a My Stonyfield Community Member. Click here to sign up. Hurry! Offer expires 5/29!

Instead of purchasing compost and fertilizer from Garden stores, ask a local farm if they have any for sale. They usually have large piles and will allow you to take some for just a few dollars or for FREE! (http://www.tiphero.com/). I took this advice and told my mom about it. She has a friend who owns a farm and he said to bring some buckets and help ourselves!

The Happy Housewife has instructions for a DIY compost bin here. This is the simplest one I've come across and I can't wait to try it! Others are just starting a compost pile in the backyard with their eggshells, coffee grounds, shredded papers and newspapers, fruit rinds, etc. You can use anything that's not meaty or bony (they will attract animals).

Milk Jug Irrigation: Save your old milk jugs and juice containers (plastic, clear ones). Poke small holes in the bottom, fill them with water and set them next to your plants. They will slowly water your plants all day long.

Milk Jugs also act as mini greenhouses. Cut off the tops and use them to start your seeds.Put the tops back on (duct tape into place) and you have a great place to get your plants going. You can start several seeds in one milk jug.

Share plants. My neighbor has given me tons of flowers that she's dug up from her own garden. My dad has an over-abundance of daylilies in his yard and we just go dig up what we need and use them to border the sides of our house. Check Craigslist (http://www.craigslist.com/) for people giving away plants, flowers, wood chips, anything you might be able to use in your own garden.

Use newspaper and pine needles for mulch. Need pine needles? Stop by my house anytime! I never knew about this use for pine needles....I've got a never-ending supply of these!

Before you drain the kiddie pool, have the children use their buckets to water your garden with the water. Fun for them - since they usually hear, "No water out of the pool!"

Use vinegar to kill weeds. White vinegar is usually pretty inexpensive at Wal-mart and Aldi's. Spray it directly on the weeds, not the surrounding plants as it will kill all plants it comes into contact with. This might be a great solution for the area in between the stones for our front walkway!

Scarecrows really work in the garden! We tried everything last year to keep pests out of our garden (like a woodchuck, deer and rabbits that just loved eating our plants before the veggies even grew). We placed the small scarecrows that we decorate in the Fall with (and bought at the $1 store) into the garden and the animals stopped eating our plants!

On another note, deer do not like the smell of humans...they are trained to go the other way if they sense one. Use human hair clippings as a border around your gardens to keep deer from eating away at your plants. Ask a local barber shop or hair salon for their hair clippings.

Freebies from Landscape firms. Check out a great article here. You may be able to bargain with local Landscapers to get their clippings for free! They avoid dump fees and you gain free plants!

Have any other frugal gardening tips? Please leave a comment!

This post is linked to Frugal Friday at Life as Mom here. Hop on over to see more great Frugal Friday Ideas!

Local Price Chopper Rumor

I heard from a family member (who works for Price Chopper) that local Price Choppers will soon be implementing the Gas Rewards Program in the Albany-Saratoga region of NYS that they currently have in other parts of the state! Not sure exactly when it's going to be unveiled but employees are being trained on the program RIGHT NOW! She didn't have all the details but shopping at Price Chopper = discounts per gallon on gas at certain gas stations when you swipe your Advantedge card! I can't wait to hear more details!

Bargain Meal of the Week - Price Chopper

Well, Price Chopper never ceases to befuddle me (not that it's so hard to do lately). It appears that they have several great deals this week with B1G1 meat sales - but they haven't listed the actual prices in the flier. Nothing frustrates me more than trying to guesstimate the prices to figure out a bargain meal. So here goes -

Steak and Pasta Salad
Ingredients:
1 lb London Broil - $1.99/lb
1 package of grape tomatoes B1G1 - guesstimate - $1.50, use about 1/2 package $0.75
1 package of PC elbow macaroni - $0.88
1 green squash - $1.29 lb/ $0.60
1/2 bottle of PC Italian Salad Dressing - $0.75 (hopefully you picked up some Kraft dressing with a coupon at Wal-Mart and paid $0.08, thereby getting an even better deal)

Instructions: Marinate London Broil in 1/4 cup Italian salad dressing. Then grill as directed.
Cook pasta as directed. Add tomatoes and cubed green squash. Toss with salad dressing. Serve cold. (Grill green squash first if desired).
Cost: About $5

Lots of Fun Friday Freebies

But, hey let's post them on Thursday because...I've been sick and busy and my sister's been really busy...and you deserve a bonus day early post as a thank you for still visiting this blog! So here's a bunch of great freebies that I just signed up for and I thought you might be interested, too.....

Click here to sign up for a sample of Garnier's extra deep wrinkle lifter (or some such name...a name that sounds good to someone who recently crossed the line that sends her now closer to 40 than 30 and has been noticing single gray hairs and more lines on her face than ever....now, that's just an example. No one I know has recently turned 36 and started developing wrinkles and gray hair. Ahem.)

Click here for a free sample of Playtex Gentle Glide tampons.

Click here for a free sample of Hawiian Tropic After Sun bodybutter.

Click here for a free sample of Huggies Good-nites underpants.

Click here for a free sample of Aveeno Nourish hair products.

Click here for a free sample of Kotex Overnights.

Click here for a free sample of Bodycology handsoap, lotion and mist.

Click here for a free sample of Sun Crystals, a sweet sugar alternative.

Click here for a free sample of Degree for Men.

Price Chopper Deals 5/17

I've put together a few things I think are deals at Price Chopper this week. If you shop at any of the PC's that double coupons I think you will be finding quite a bit of stuff for free! I LOVE Free! Free with coupons-legally free... ok, back to the deals:

Kraft Bagel-fuls $1.99
Use $1 off printable here and at Kraft's website
99 cents after coupons

Kool-Aid or Crystal Light Drink Mix (including On- the-Go) $1.99
$1 off printable coupons here and here
99 cents after coupons

Lipton Iced Tea Mixes (includes on-the-go) B1G1F
Use 2 60 cents off coupons from 5/17 Red Plum

Knorr Pasta Sides 99 cents ea
Use 60 cents off 2 from 5/17 Red Plum
69 cents ea

Wish Bone Salad Dressing B1G1F -reported at $1.99 ea
Use 2 $1/1 Spritzer from 5/17 Red Plum
should make them free or under 50 cents ea
or
Use 1 $1/2 from 5/17 Red Plum
Also $1 off 1 Bountifuls from 5/10 SS

Betty Crocker Suddenly Salad Pasta Salad $1.19
$1/2 5/17 Smart Source
69 cents ea

Hefty One Zip Storage Bags $2.99 B1G1F
Use 2 $1/1 5/17 Red Plum
99 cents for 2

Philadelphia Cream Cheese 99 cents
Use $1/2 printable here and here
49 cents each

Jell-O Gelatin 79 cents
Use $1/3 here or here
46 cents ea

Oscar Mayer Hot Dogs B1G1F
Use $1/2 from 5/10 SS

Wheat Thins or Triscuits 2/$4
Use $1/ from Price Chopper I-Save Machine
Use 2 $1/1 printable here and here

Price Chopper Eggs 99 cents
No coupons needed

10/$1.98 sweet corn

Super Pretzels B1G1F prices areound $2.99 ea
Use 2 75 centss off 1 coupons from 5/17 SS

Aunt Jemima's Frozen Breakfast Items $1.29
Use (1) $1/2 from 05/03 SS
2/ $.79 each

5/24 Coupons Inserts

Just a little reminder-there will be no coupons in the paper this week due to the Holiday...

Free Oscar Meyer Hotdogs

Go on over here and register for a coupon for a free pack of Oscar Meyer hotdogs. No strings, they will mail you a coupon in 4-6 weeks! Kraft has been so generous these past few weeks! You can request up until midnight tonight!

Target Deals Week of May 17th

Some of the BEST Deals here in the Albany NY area are ones at Target-combine the Target coupons with the printable coupons from Kraft and get Wheat Thins, Triscuits, 100 calorie packs for next to nothing! Check out these deals:

Kraft Mayo - $1.99 each

Use $1/2 Target coupon in the Afullcup.com Target Coupon Generator

PLUS Use $1/1 here or in 4/26 Smart Source insert (use 2)

$0.49 each when you buy 2, after coupons

Oscar Mayer Deli Fresh Lunchmeat (7-9 oz) - $2.99 each

Use $1/2 Target coupon in the Afullcup.com Target Coupon Generator

PLUSUse $0.75/1 manufacturer's coupon here (print 2)

$1.74 each when you buy 2, after coupons

Knorr Pasta/Rice Sides - $1.00 each

Use $0.75/2 in 4/5 Unilever insert

Use $0.75/2 in 5/17 Red Plum insert

$0.63 each when you buy 2

Rice a Roni - $1.00 each

Use $1/4 in 3/8 Red Plum insert

$0.75 each when you buy 4

Check out Stretching A Buck for more deals!!!

Prices vary by region....

Free DiGiorno Flatbread Coupon Today Only

Today only you can go here and sign up for a coupon for a free Digiorno Flatbread. This is open to the first 100,000 people. I just signed up at 11:24am EST and it is still working!

Kashi Waffles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YUMMMMMM

I did not take a picture but I did get 6 Boxes of Kashi Waffles at Walmart for $4.70!

If you haven't signed up for Vocalpoint yet I hope this convinces you! I took a 2 minute tour on their website of Kashi Waffles and how they are made. I received 6 coupons in the mail! I for 1 ree Box and 5 for $1.50 off one box! They had been on sale at Price Chopper for $1.99 but are not now. I don't have them at my Target either. Walmart had them for $2.44 per box, so I bought 6, and I have 2 already from my last Price Chopper trip-now I have 8 boxes!!!

More Shopping....

What an awesome week!!! I love Target, but now I really love Target...and Kraft! WOW!!! My total at Target for all of this was $32.26! There are 4 boxes of Wheat Thins there and 2 boxes of Triscuits. I saved $53.96! $11.40 of the $32.26 was for items I did not have coupons for but needed to get. I did not include them because they were non food items that are not part of my grocery budget.

All in all I bought:

5 Hershey Bliss Bars

4 Kraft Naturals Shredded Cheese

8 Bottles of Kraft Salad Dressing

4 Boxes of Wheat Thins

2 Boxes Triscuits

3 Boxes of Ritz

4 100 Calorie Packs

1 Smartfood

Coupons:

5 Hershey Bliss Bars 99cents=free

2 $1 off 2 Kraft Cheese

2 $1 off Kraft Cheese Target coupons

4$1 off 2 Kraft Dressing Target coupons

4 $1.50 off 1 Kraft Dressing

4 $1 off Kraft Dressing

2 $1 off 2 Wheat Thins Target coupon

4 $1 off Wheat Thins coupons

1 $1 of 2 Triscuit Target coupons

2 $1 off Triscuit coupons

3 $1 off Ritz coupons

3 $1 off Ritz Target coupons

4 $1 off 100 Calorie coupons

4 $1 off 100 Calorie Target coupons

1 $1 off Smartfood Coupon

1 $1 off Smartfood Target coupon

My Shopping Trips-Back on the Wagon!

I am so excited and exhilarated after my trip to Bennington Price Chopper last week! 4 of these 9 bottles of Kraft Barbecue Sauce came from there and were free after double coupons. I earned a $2.00 Catalina off my next shopping order! Then the Kraft coupons came out and I was able to print 5, went to Price Chopper locally, and "bought" 5 more, free as they are on sale for 99 cents, and earned a $2.50 cent off Catalina!!! They paid me $4.50 to get nine bottles of barbecue sauce!!! This is my first time getting a catalina like this!!!!

Then, I ran out of toilet paper! Price Chopper had 12 packs of Cottonelle on sale for $9.99. I went in and bought that, and Crystal Light was on Sale 2/$5! I used my Kraft coupons and bought 2, and 2 coupons for free Skin Essentials! I paid $9.65 oop on a gift card from my Olay rebate!!!

I am sooo excited! I started using coupons, playing the drugstore game, and getting rebates exactly one year ago. After months of ho-hum deals they are starting to become incredible again and surpass the savings I was able to get last year! I feel a sense of hope....

Free Summer Fitness Jumpstarters

There are some free Fitness Jumpstarters out there you might want to take advantage of if you're feeling....like me. I would define that as not feeling...not my best....out-of-shape, overweight, and I'm starting to feel a little...old. I found 2 more gray hairs this morning and I screamed in the mirror! My SWM Sister has a personal trainer and a gym membership but I have neither. I thought I might take advantage of one or two of these offers and I thought I'd share them with you. I know it's a little too late to "get in shape" for summer but I thought it might jumpstart me.

33 cents for Wheat Thins and Ritz!

Check out Hip2Save here for an early coupon preview of Sunday's paper.

Update: Okay that was me getting excited and trying to use 3 coupons! It would be $1.66 for the Ritz and Wheat Thins together which makes them 80 cents each. You could also get the smaller boxes that are $2.04 and get them for $1.04 which would be 52 cents each. Still a very good deal.

Most notable coupon for me: Buy Ritz Crackers, Get Wheat Thins for Free (up to $3.49). Right now Ritz and Wheat Thins are on sale for $2.66 at Target. Use your $1/Ritz Kraft coupon stacked with your $1/Ritz Target Coupon to get your Ritz for 66cents. And get a free box of Wheat Thins (these boxes are both family-size!). Just 33 cents each!! I'm going to save the rest of my Ritz coupons....by the way, need more Ritz coupons? Or any of the Kraft coupons. Money Saving Mom has compiled a list of store sites that you can print many of the Kraft coupons from again! I checked out the first 2 so far and have been able to print more of the ones the Kraft site and Coupons.com told me my limit was reached!! Go here to see Money Saving Mom's list with links!! I'm so excited about all the summer snacks I'll be stocking up on at Target!

Another Do-It-Herself Workshop from Home Depot. I'm making an effort to try this ones. The kid ones have been really neat but it's hard for me to get out for the grown-up ones. I could really use this one, though, as it's going to be my 2nd summer with a vegetable garden...Girls' Night Out anyone? Maybe we can stop at TGIFriday's after and use one of those free appetizer coupons? Anyone, Bueller, Anyone?

Bargain Meal of the Week - Price Chopper

Apologies, Apologies! If you've been tuning in and I wasn't here, I'm deeply sorry! After 8 crazy days in Disney World, we returned home to a family illness, then I contracted a sinus infection this weekend! I've put together a new Bargain Meal of the Week for you and will start working on the Price Chopper Price Book soon!

London Broil and Grilled Veggies
Ingredients:
1 lb of London Broil $1.99/lb
Kraft BBQ sauce $0.99 (Use $1 off coupon from the Kraft website to get it free!)
Kraft Salad Dressing $1.69 (Use $1 off coupon from the Kraft website, get it for $0.69)
Green Squash $1.29/lb, get 1 = $0.75
Green Peppers $1.69/lb, get 2 = $1.00
1/2 Vidalia Onion $0.99/lb = $0.50
Loaf of Italian Bread $0.99

Instructions:
Marinate London Broil for about 30 minutes in Kraft Salad Dressing. Try Catalina, Italian, Tuscan House Italian or Sun-dried Tomato. Cut up onion, squash and green peppers and marinate those in dressing as well.
Put London Broil on the grill about 20 minutes before the veggies. Wrap veggies in foil and place foil pack on the grill. Cook until it's done the way you like it (if you like vegetables crisper, cook less time). About 10 minutes before removing London Broil, add bbq sauce and let warm through. Serve with Italian Bread and Butter.
Total cost with coupons should be about $6.00.

Here's a quickie meal for a Week-Night Rush Dinner:
French Bread Pizzas (with Italian Bread)
2 Loaves of Italian Bread $0.99 = $1.98
1 can of Furmano's Pizza Sauce $1.29
8 oz pack of Price Chopper Shredded Mozzarella $1.99
1 lb bag of baby carrots $1.50

Slice bread through the middle and across for 4 pieces in each loaf. Top with sauce and cheese and italian seasons/grated parmesan if you have some on hand. You can pop them in your toaster oven for about 7/8 minutes until cheese is melted. Or put them on a cookie sheet in the oven at 350 degrees for about the same amount of time. Serve with baby carrots.
Total cost = about $6.50

Snowflaking....

I am guessing you have figured out that it isn't going so well since I have not been blogging. You assumed right! Ugh! I am looking over my bank account and can find enough miscellaneous expenses like eating out and spur of the moment trips to the store to cover two months worth of snowflake payments! It is incredibly frustrating. Such is life, though. A friend of mine calls this "when your life gets in the way of your life." I agree. The only choice is too pick myself up, dust my checkbook off, and start again.

After the first week taking Financial Peace University, I did manage to put away my emergency fund, and an additional $800 is in the savings waiting for me to have time to get my car repaired, so I am tucking it away to gain interest and so I do not have easy access to it in the meantime. The car is drivable-someone backed into it and left a scratch and dent on my door when it was parked. With the recent sickness in the family and hectic time at work, I have not had the opportunity to shop, plan, or prepare for anything!

My goal for May will be to pay the remaining $85 on the first debt on the list, and then pay the bills, and see if I can scrape the rest of the snowflake together somehow to go toward debt 2. If not I will not beat myself up, I did after all, create the Emergency Fund.

I made my shopping trip with double coupons to Price Chopper and saved $99.00, and did some CVS shopping and paid only $4 out of pocket, and that was the momentum I needed.

What I want to leave you with is the importance of knowing that sometimes we get off of our routine, and it is OK, some things are more important than Extra Bucks, and we can always get back on track when all is well again.

Also, in my urgent need to pay off debt I forgot to create an emergency fund first. Let me encourage you now to stop paying the snowflakes on your debt, and to start building an emergency fund. We started with $1,000.00 EF, but you can start smaller and work toward $1,000. This is so that when you have a bump in the road, like taxes, or sickness, or tires for the car, you are not building up the debt by paying for those emergencies with plastic.

Keep going!!! You are doing great!

Target-Deals and Thoughts

Check out Stretching A Buck to get the best Target Deals this week. Also, I encourage you to sign up for A Full Cup where you can find out about deals and clearance sales, and also print coupons. On a recent trip to Target I was able to use the registry kiosk to print my coupons right in the store! I was so excited! I'd heard other people do this and I have also heard Target prefers that we do this, but I never could figure it out. So here is the deal:

Go to the Kiosk and navigate to the Home page- I think you just touch the screen and home. You touch shop online- and you are taken to the Target website home page. Scroll down to Grocery coupons, and then you will be taken to the list of coupons- select or deselect coupons by touching them on screen, touch print, and voila! The first few times I had to repeat the process to print multiples, until I realized if I touched print as many times I wanted to print, it would not navigate back to the home page until I stopped.

Some Hot Deals I took Advantage of this week:

Kraft Salad Dressing - $1.59 each

Use $1/2 Target coupon in the Afullcup.com Target Coupon Generator

PLUSUse $1.50/1 in 5/10 Smart Source insert (use 2)

FREE when you buy 2, after coupons

Hershey's Bliss Candy Bar $0.99 each (by the register)

Use $1.00/1 Target coupon in the Afullcup.com Target Coupon Generator

FREE after coupon

Pringles - $0.69 each (by the register)

Use $0.50/1 Target coupon in the Afullcup.com Target Coupon Generator

$0.19 each after coupon

Kraft Mayo - $1.99 each (price cut at some store)

Use $1/2 Target coupon in the Afullcup.com Target Coupon Generator

PLUSUse $1/1 in 4/26 Smart Source insert (use 2)

$0.49 each when you buy 2, after coupons

I was able to get these deals in a few albany NY area Target Stores. Yeah! I feel like we are finally getting somewhere in upstate NY!!!

Great Offer for Readers from Taste of Home

Go here to get a trial issue of Taste of Home for Free! I just received the issue above in the mail and it is really nice. It has some great healthy choices, with nutrition facts, and some budget friendly dinners too! My all time favorite recipe comes from Taste of Home- The Great Pumpkin Dessert. You have not lived until you have eaten it- Seriously! So, try one issue for free, and if you like it you can get a year's subscription for $10! the newstand price is $3.99 per issue, and it is released 6 times per year!

Wow!!! Exciting Opportunity from Kraft!

You can now sign up with Kraft for exciting recipes, coupons and activities with the Kraft Online Community. This is one online community you will definitely want to be a part of! I get so many great free samples- usually coupons for buying a Kraft product free. For example I have received free Jello Pudding Singles packs, coupons for free Nilla Cakesters, and high dollar value coupons off of Nilla Cakesters! This is one Online community you will not want to miss!! Sign up here!

Super Savings Saturday

I had an incredible shopping trip again today! I went to Bennington, VT to Price Chopper and was able to get $167.00 in groceries for $68.00!!! I saved almost $100.00!!!

On the left you can see Carolina Rice Mixes- they were on sale for $.99 ea, and I had coupons for $.75 off 2- so I bought 10 of them for 24 cents each!!! It is hard to see but I was able to buy 3 24 packs of Nestle Pure Life water, on sale for $3.49, with $1 off coupons-so $1.49 each! The 4 Ken's Spray Dressings were free with $1 off coupons from last week's paper that were doubled, The Ronzoni Smart Taste pasta was free also, and the 2 boxes of Kashi Go Lean Waffles were $.49 cents each after coupons!!! The Eggo Waffles were $1.39 each, all of the yogurt was free! Most of the money I spent was on Meat-I bought some steaks and some lean ground beef to bulk up my bill so that I did not reach the 50% coupon rule again- that is the rule where once you have saved 50% on your bill they no longer double them. Normally I would only buy what I had coupons for, but I decided to get the meat while I was there and it worked! I only had 4 coupons that did not get doubled, I think they were for the Soymilk, which is not pictured, they needed to go into the refrigerator fast!

Not Blogging....

Once again, I have to apologize for not blogging. My Sister has been on vacation and when she returned we have had an illness in our family to attend to. Thankfully all is well, and now we are back to blogging!!!

Free Samples from Unilever

Get a Free Sample of Hellmann's Light here

Free Sample of Degree Women Fine Fragrance here

Get $150.00 in coupons per year when you sign up for Pillsbury Cooking Newsletter! I love the coupons I get from Pillsbury. I use their products quite a bit, they have great recipes in the newsletter, and Box Tops!!!! Who does not love some Box Tops? Sign up here.

You can also sign up for the Bisquick Newsletter and gt more coupons and recipes. I never knew all things I coul duse Bisquick for! I get many printable coupons that when doubled, give me alot of free Bisquick. I feel like I can whip up almost anything because I have boxes of Bisquick! Sign up here.

Michael's has some great free craft projects starting May 2nd and running through May 10th for your child to make for Mother's day, including the keepsake ornament above.

Free Coupon Booklet

Go here to get a free coupon booklet for Alexia Foods. They have great fries taht I bake in the oven with flavors like sweet potato, and rosemary, garlic & olive oil. I have primarily sen them at WalMart.

Coupon Preview for May 3rd

Go here to see this week's coupon preview from Taylortown Preview. Also, this might be a good week to get extra papers/inserts as a P&G Brandsaver is available.

Dollar Store Deals & Duds

Check out this article on MSN.com about what the deals and duds are at dollar stores. After readng the article view the slide show which takes you through individual items, like shampoo, batteries, etc. You know I love my dollar store, but wherever you shop you need to know what the best deals are for your money!