Make $5 buying Frito-Lay

I love these kind of deals, and figured you would too, but you only have 'til Saturday to cash in on this one. Walgreens is currently offering a $10 Register Reward (to be used on your next purchase at Walgreens) for buying $20 worth of Frit0-Lay products. They have the Pepsi soda products 5/$15 and Doritos 2/$5. See their online ad here for more specifics.

Then you can print and fill out this form to receive $15 for purchasing the same Frito-Lay products. Read the fine print to determine your best purchase options.

So, $20 purchase at Walgreens - $10 Register Reward - $15 rebate = earning $5 to stock up for the SuperBowl!

What can make me smile on a gloomy winter day? $500 in gas cards, that's what!! Woohoo! That's what you're looking at. I took the plunge and entered this Consumer Rewards program in order to earn these gift cards. To put it in a nutshell, you sign up for "offers" from a long list of companies, making sure to keep thorough records of their cancellation policies, then you cancel those offers at the prescribed time.

I couldn't have done it without the help and advice from this blog. It is imperative that you follow her directions to the letter if you want to pull this off. I was intimidated at first, but it really wasn't difficult, and ended up costing me $76.77. All it requires is careful record and calendar keeping and just a little bit of time and hassle. My time spent was definitely worth $423.23!

Bertolli Coupon Match

Target has Bertolli dinners on sale this week 2/$12. Here is a $2 coupon you can print after a simple registration process. I don't typically buy prepackaged meals, but if you're like me you'll need a little returning home after holiday travel.

Culvers $1 Day

On Tuesday, October 7, 2008, Culver's is celebrating their 24th anniversary by offering their single ButterBurgers for $1 each. Limit 5. More details here.

And after your $1 ButterBurger, you can do your patriotic duty by voting for your favorite candidate:
· Republican Representative: Reese E. Buttercup – Vanilla Custard with the traditional
toppings of hot fudge and Reese’s® peanut butter cup chunks.
· Democratic Representative: Heath Toffeebits – Vanilla Custard with the alternative
toppings caramel and Heath® bar.

Culver’s guests can participate in the Custard Election by purchasing their favorite
candidate’s sundae in-store or by voting online at www.votecustard.com.

Walgreens Coupon

Here is a Walgreens coupon good only Friday and Saturday for $10 off a $40 purchase. I didn't consider using this at first, but there are a few good scenarios listed here. These two days happen to be the overlap between the August and September EasySaver booklet, so you can "double dip" into the coupons and rebates.

Walgreens Coupon

Here is a $5 Walgreens coupon good for Friday and Saturday only. Unfortunately, I've already done my Walgreens shopping for the week. But hopefully someone else can use it.

Bills IQ

See how financially fit you are with this Bills IQ test. It takes less than five minutes to do, and gives tips and suggestions at the end. No obligations.

Fun Travel Idea

We accidentally found a fun way to spend some time in the car today: a sound effects cd from the library. Noah is into filmmaking, so he borrowed the cd for his movie-making endeavors. We had fun on the drive home trying to identify what each sound was! It is much harder than you think! There are 400 sound effects on 4 cds--enough for a good, long trip.

Frugal Friday

Frugality is certainly a hot topic these days. The price of gas and our sluggish economy seems to be causing more people to look for ways to cut their costs, particularly those families like ours who live on one income in a two-income economy. I consider the time I spend in frugal shopping to be my "job," or financial contribution to our family. Here are some of the sites I have found most helpful in my search for frugality:

www.moneysavingmom.com
www.biblicalwomanhood.com
www.imommies.com
www.slickdeals.net
www.freebies4mom.blogspot.com
www.frugalupstate.blogspot.com
www.rocksinmydryer.typepad.com
www.tammysrecipes.com
www.mimisjewelbox.blogspot.com
www.freecycle.org
www.craigslist.org

Aldi

Aldi is an international food market that entered the U.S. in 1976. They carry approx. 1,300 of the most frequently used grocery products. It is a no-frills market, which means you have to bring a quarter to release your shopping cart (you get it back when you return the cart) and bring your own bags (or you can buy paper bags for $.05 a piece). You bag your own groceries as well.

The cost-savings at Aldi is significant, and the quality is equal to any other grocery store. There are no "sales" and they do not accept coupons--they truly do employ "everyday low prices." They do accept food stamps, debit cards, Discover card, and cash. In fact, they have a double money back guarantee--if you get a bad product, they will replace it, plus your money back.

The Aldi website has a page of recipes too! You may have to sign up on the site to access the page. They offer a meal planner, customized shopping list, and customized cookbook.

Here is the main Aldi USA home page, where you can view some really corny commercials. Or go here to choose to view the Aldi site in one of the 17 other countries where they exist.

Etsy

Have you heard of Etsy? I just visited there for the first time, and I am so excited to share it with you! Etsy is "Your Place to Buy and Sell All Things Homemade." If you've read my rant (below) about Wal-Mart, you know why this particularly excites me. It is incredibly encouraging to see this type of entrepreneurship happening in America and around the world.

You've got to check it out!

Stay-at-Home Moms Worth Nearly $117,000

It's about time someone put some figures to the worth of a stay-at-home Mom!

I personally think the figure is way too low because it does not include the amount of money saved by a Mom not working. By not working: I do not have to spend money on career attire; my income does not increase our tax burden; I do not have to eat my lunches out (or eat unhealthy, packaged foods); I can cook healthy meals from scratch, lowering our food costs and not being tempted to grab fast-food; I have no day-care expenses; I am not using fuel on a commute; and I have time to bargain shop, which "earns" our family a decent amount.

And, of course, there is no price tag that can be placed on being there for my boys with the love, time, and nurture only Mom can provide.

Asparagus

A great way to save money on groceries is to buy what is in season, and right now we are eating a lot of asparagus (much to the chagrin of my boys). Here is how I prepare and serve it:

First, hold the asparagus at both ends. Bend the asparagus in order to snap off the "woody" end. It will naturally snap in the right place. Soak and rinse the asparagus to get out any dirt. If your stalks are long and thick, cut them in half. (I haven't needed to do this step with the fresh ones I've bought from farmer's market recently.) Steam the bottom stalk portion for two minutes, then throw in the tops for another minute. Move to serving dish and dot with butter, sprinkle with salt, toss a bit, and eat right away! (Cold asparagus isn't that great.)

For more Frugal ideas, head over to Frugal Friday.

Vinegar as Fabric Softener

I've been making my own laundry detergent for several months and have been as happy with it as any manufactured laundry detergent. So, the next thing I decided to experiment with is using vinegar in place of fabric softener.

I had been using vinegar with success on our towels and washcloths to help rinse out soap residue, but was hesitant to use it on our clothing because I feared it would make them smell like vinegar. I'm happy to report that it does not; they actually smell quite fresh. I was also a bit sad to give up my Downy Lavender . . . until I found myself suddenly out of it one day and ran to Walgreens to buy some full-priced at $6.29. That was the day I decided to try the vinegar for $1.50!

I use about 1/4 cup vinegar in my fabric softener dispenser, and it works great; the clothes smell fresh and clean, and have no static. It may also help that we mainly wear cotton or cotton blend products; I have not tried this with polyester.

The added benefit will be that my washer will not get that nasty gunk build-up in it that is so difficult to clean.

For more tips on frugal living, check out Biblical Womanhood's Frugal Friday.

Food for Thought

Here is an interesting article describing how stocking the pantry is a better investment right now than a money market. Interesting perspective. Of course, I would suggest very careful and thrifty shopping to maximize your investment. Here is an excerpt:

Stocking up on food may not replace your long-term investments, but it may make a sensible home for some of your shorter-term cash. Do the math. If you keep your standby cash in a money-market fund you'll be lucky to get a 2.5% interest rate. Even the best one-year certificate of deposit you can find is only going to pay you about 4.1%, according to Bankrate.com. And those yields are before tax.

Frugal and Easy Compost Bin

I must preface this with the confession that I have not been a good compost-bin caretaker. I pretty much just throw whatever we have into the bin and ask my husband to turn it once or twice a year. Right now it is overflowing with all the perennials I pruned last week. It is, however, a great place to dump all the yard waste, prunings, spent garden plants, weeds, kitchen scraps, corn husks, etc. Any spilled dry dog food is also good, as it contains a high amount of nitrogen. You should not add sticks, eggs, meat, or kitchen grease.

To make a free compost bin, we used three pallets nailed together. You can typically find free pallets at warehouses. Sitting on their sides, they form a three-sided compost bin.

Garden Club at Home Depot

Go to Home Depot to sign up for their Garden Club and receive bi-weekly coupons sent to your inbox. I've not tried this before, but it may provide a frugal way to stock your garden or shed.

Creative Recycling

There are so many ways of recycling and reusing beyond separating your plastics from aluminum. Here are some ideas for recycling to not only help the environment, but live frugally:

Join your local Freecycle yahoo group to get rid of unwanted items, and find what you need hidden in someone's garage rather than buying it new.

Before you throw something out, even if it's broken, consider how else you or someone else could reuse it. Put it on Freecycle and you may be surprised.

Use washcloths as often as possible rather than paper towels or napkins.

Plastic grocery bags can be reused as trash bags and litter collection bags.

With the massive amount of paper we accumulate I keep a magazine-holder in a convenient location to stash paper that is used on only one side, then grab a piece when it's time to make the grocery list or take a phone message.

The weekend newspaper can be used as fire-starters in the winter, garden mulch in the summer, and as a "tablecloth" for art projects.

A wipe-off board in the kitchen allows me to keep to-do, chore, and grocery notes, thereby not having to use paper.

Join www.paperbackswap.com to recycle books you're done with, and receive others you want.

Buy or recycle glass containers to use for leftovers and storage rather than plastic ziploc-type bags. Recycle glass pickle jars, etc., when possible.

Create a compost pile for table scraps. Use only fresh vegetable peelings, no grease, meat, etc.

Don't write in workbooks if at all possible, so they can be reused by others.

I don't buy chemical cleaners, which not only saves money, but the environment. I use vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, and baking soda for most jobs.

Refill ink cartridges, if possible.

Use your library whenever possible.

Buy Nalgene water bottles and keep some filled in the freezer for summer outings. You can keep them in a hot car or bag at the pool and they'll be thawed and ready to drink by the time you need them.

Buy each family member a good, reusable water bottle that is easily portable to grab when you're on-the-go so you don't stop and buy water or other beverages in plastic containers.

I hope this has given you a few ideas, or at least got you thinking about simple ways you can recycle.

This Week's Walgreens Trip

This is a picture of my Walgreens purchase this week. The original total was $37.92. I used $3.20 worth of Walgreens coupons, $14.75 worth of manufacturer's coupons, and $11.54 of my remaining rebate from last month's purchases, along with sale prices, my total out-of-pocket was $13.62. I like saving more than I spend! But it gets better: I received $12 Register Rewards to spend like money on my next purchase, so that brings my total "spent" down to $1.62. I'll get a full-price rebate on the Aquafresh, Colgate toothbrush, and Jane makeup, totalling $12.97, so I actually earned $11.35! That is a satisfying shopping trip! If you want to learn more about how to shop like this, click on over to Money Saving Mom.

Kitchen Tip Tuesday

I am not a morning person, and do not necessarily enjoy cooking. However, I do not feel good about having my children eat cold cereal every morning. Even though I only allow a max of 10 grams of sugar per serving in the cereals we choose, "sugar" is usually the second ingredient listed, among a list of ingredients that I can barely read. That does not seem to me to be the way to get our day off right and enjoy maximum brain and body function.

I am attempting to remedy our cold cereal habit by instituting two baking days per week, where I can bake breads and muffins, as well as pre-assemble pancake and waffle dry ingredients that I can stash in the freezer for easy assembly in the morning. (I grind my own grain using a Vitamix.)

Today I baked Healthy Banana Bread, cornbread for our ham 'n bean supper, and assembled three waffle mixes for the freezer.

Here's the Healthy Banana Bread Recipe:

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp EACH cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves & ginger
1 Tbsp buttermilk powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup wager
1 cup ripe mashed bananas (about 3 medium)

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. In your mixing bowl, beat together eggs, oil, honey and water. Add dry ingredients and stir just until moistened. Fold in mashed bananas. Pour into a loaf pan and bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes. Cover the bread loosely with foil for the last ten minutes of baking so the top doesn't burn.

Tip 1: I add a cup of chocolate chips to the batter. What?!? I can't be good all the time!
Tip 2: If you measure the oil first, the honey will slide out of the measuring cup much easier.