Thursday, June 11, 2009

~Local Spot~ Price Cutter's Manger's Specials 6/11-6/20

Okay, since I am not using my computer there will be no cool pictures on my posts today. My mother's computer refuses to let me download them. So, imagine a grocery bag full of goodies!

THESE SPECIALS ARE ONLY AVAILABLE AT PRICE CUTTER ON GLENSTONE AND DIVISION IN SPRINGFIELD, MO. If it is out of the way, some of them are definitely worth the drive, especially if you have a freezer.

6/11 Van camps pork n beans 3/$1 limit 6

6/12 Ground round family pk $1.69 lb (GREAT PRICE!)

6/13 Family pack ice cream 56 oz .99 limit 1

6/14 dozen glazed donuts 2/$4 limit 2

6/15 Best Choice Sand Bread 2/$1. (GREAT PRICE!)

6/16 Fresh fried chicken 8pc $3.99

6/17 10lb potatoes .99 limit 1

6/18 Cap Crunch 2/$3 limit 4

6/19 Tyson Bnls Sknls chicken $1.79lb

6/20 Hiland OJ half gal .99 limit 2

(Thanks for sharing, Sherri!)

Technical Difficulties!

We are currently experiencing technical difficulties at our home. If you frequent this blog, you have probably noticed that I have not logged much since Friday. That is because, not one, but both of our computers has gone down... in the same week! I am at my Mom's right now using her's. So, anyway, please be patient with me and check back often, because I have some great stuff planned to post, I am just having trouble doing it. Thanks, for sticking it out!

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

More High Value Coupons

A lot of these coupons will probably snag you free if not close to free items when combined with a sale. As always, hit the back arrow to print two.

$1.50 off New Tide Stain Release

$1.50 off Kashi Go Lean Waffles

$1 off Orville Redenbacher (click on print now)

$5 off Boost Kid Essentials

Check out these great Smart Source Coupons

High Value ThermaCare Coupon!


Go here to fill out your info and print a $3 off ThermaCare coupon. I was only able to print one, but you should be able to print two if you hit the back arrow, I just went to far back and then it told me I had printed my limit. I have an email into them now, so I can make sure the limit is the usual two and not one. Nonetheless, this is a great high value coupon and will get you these for free with a good sale.

New Shortcuts.com Coupons for Huggies!


Go here to load your $2 off Pull-ups coupon and you $1.50 off any Huggies diaper coupon to your Dillon's card. This combined with a manufacturers coupon and a sale will be a GREAT DEAL.

If you get Huggies mailer's check yours for a $5 off Pull-ups and $1.50 off any diaper and $3.00 off Pure and Natural. I plan to wait for a sale and pair the pull-ups together for a $7.00 savings and the Shortcuts any diaper and $3 mailer for a $4.50 savings off a pack of diapers.

If you did not get the mailer, don't worry, you will get an awesome deal too. Have Firefox, go here for a $3 off Pull-ups printable coupon. Have IE, go here. Hit the back arrow to get two to print.

If you do not have a local store that you can load shortcuts coupons on their card, be sure to check out Target's sale coming up next week. They will have Pull-ups for $8.99 and will give you a $5 gift card when you buy three packs. So this combined with the Pull-ups coupons out now, should net you three packs for $4.32 each. If I use my $5 coupon and two $3 it will be $3.66 each.

$1 off Edge Shave Gel

Go here for a $1.00 off any Edge Shave Gel printable coupon. Be sure to hit the back arrow, to print two.

Free Samples of Crest Products


Want fresh breath and shiny white teeth? Well head over to Walmart.com fast for a free sample of Crest Pro Health Enamel Shield toothpaste and Crest White Strips Advanced Seal.

~Local Spot~ Peaches for $0.69 lb today only


Hurry to Price Cutter on Glenstone and Division for their Manager's Special, $0.69 lb for peaches. This is today only and only at this location. It is worth going, because they are about $0.30 cents a lb cheaper than all the other peaches around town. I see peach cobbler in my future. Yum...!

Free Resumes at Office Depot!


Office Depot will be offering 25 free resumes and free faxes for up to 5 domestic numbers (25 page limit). My hubby did this the last time they offered it. If you are looking for a job be sure to take advantage of this. The great news is that it will be going through the end of 2009!

Friday, June 5, 2009

Going Out For My Cheap Date!


Once a month our church hosts a Parent's Night Out. We are in a co-op, so we work one time and then get several months of free dates. It is a Godsend because when you have more than a couple kids, it starts getting super expensive for a sitter. (Thanks, Ms. Dannette!) So, on these nights, we usually get together with friends or I gather together all the great coupons I have and we go out and go shopping. Tonight's cheap date will be:

Going to see our friends Jon and Gail and meeting their new baby Vincent! This is our top priority, because at our last date night Vincent had not made the big move yet.

If we do anything else it will be:

Dinner:
BOGO dinner at T.G.I.Fridays

Shopping at:
Lane Bryant (I got a $15 off $15 coupon in the mail. I see free jewelry in my future!)
NYC Color Co. at Wal-Mart or Target (I have 2 $5 coupons and these are usually about $1.00 each)
Gymboree (20% off coupon, baby Vincent needs something cute!)

Desert:
Free Andy's Frozen Custard (We got free gift cards from our church for being small group leaders!)

So this is our night and it should be fun and cheap. My hubby likes a cheap date!

Free Doughnuts Reminder

Don't forget to get your free doughnuts today. We forgot ours this morning, but they will make a great afternoon snack!

Lessons Learned at Aunt Sheshe's



This week I took one of my girls to south Arkansas to visit my Grandmother and the rest of my family. My 4 yr old, got to meet Aunt Sheila, (Sheshe as she called her) for the first time. Aunt Sheshe is the best hostess ever! She bends over backwards to make sure her guests are comfortable.

Lesson #1 Keep frozen cookie dough in your freezer for that just in case guest. Frozen dough is usually really cheap with coupons and it just adds so much to your visit to pull hot cookies out of the oven for your guests. We visited Aunt Sheshe two times and both time she had cookies and coffee ready to go.



Aunt Sheshe, also has a beautiful home, think the pages of Southern Living Magazine. She loves silk flowers and greenery and she has such a great eye for decorating.


Lesson #2 use an air compressor to blow any dust off of your silk plants and then spray them with special spray made just for silk plants that will keep the dust off.



If Aunt Sheshe wants it, she gets it. What I mean by that is that Aunt Sheshe saves her money to improve each room of her house. She makes everything herself. She sews her curtains and slipcovers, she lays her own tile, she even built her own beautiful shop behind her house where a dilapidated one stood. In her front yard, she decided she wanted a fountain so she went and go the cement herself and made a beautiful fountain with landscaping and lights. I think she freaked Uncle David out when he came home and their was cement and supplies all over the front yard. Aunt Sheshe is just plain fearless.


Lesson#3 Don't be afraid to do it yourself. It saves a lot of money and you can do anything you put your mind to. I have to admit that when there are outside improvements to be made, I wait on my hubby to do it for me. Aunt Sheshe inspired me that I can do it all by myself if I need to. If you have a project you have been thinking of doing. Check out YouTube.com. I bet you will find step by step instructions there.



While at Aunt Sheshe's house I got to try out a great mosquito repelling trick I had read about somewhere. It worked! The further south you go, the bigger the mosquito's get. The ones at Aunt Sheshe's house were as big as cows. That's right, there are flying cows in Arkansas. When I did the trick, I did not get bitten. They did land on me and think about it but then they left. The next day, I forgot to do it and got bitten to pieces, so that is how I know it works.




Lesson#4 Rub a dryer sheet or half of one on your clothes before heading outside to keep the mosquito's from eating you. The thing I read, said to actually just put a sheet in your pocket. I did not trust that so, I rubbed it on my clothes and even my skin, just in case and it worked. One caution, if you have sensitive skin, you probably want to just use it on your clothes. It really works!



Lesson#5 When we travel we keep all of our toothbrushes together in a zip lock bag and they get oooty, which is not really a word, but it sums up their condition well. Did you know that you can run your toothbrushes through the dishwasher to kill germs? This also extends their life.


If you are reading this Aunt Sheshe, thanks so much for your hospitality. We are so lucky to have you in our lives!

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Free summer movies for kids!

Wehrenberg Theatres are offering free summer movies for kids. They are located in MO, IA, IL and MN.

The Family Summer Series is a FREE movie program designed for families, daycares, preschools, YMCA’s, Scouts & Summer Camps. Your group has an opportunity to attend FREE movies this summer for 10 ‘family’ films over the course of 10 weeks in June, July & August.

Movies will play every Wednesday and Thursday at 10:00 am from Wednesday 6/3/09 through Thursday 8/6/09. (Doors open at 9:00 am.) Please contact your local theatre (phone #’s are below) to make your group arrangements. Guarantee your ticket(s) with advance combo purchase(s). Remaining seats are available on a first-come, first-serve basis.

They will be showing Space Chimps, Open Season 2, Marley & Me, Madagascar 2: Escape 2 Africa, Kung Fu Panda, Hotel For Dogs, Coraline, Bee Movie, Stuart Little 3. Call your local theater for more info.

(Thanks for sharing, Kristin!)


Kohls 60-80% Off Plus Great Promo Codes!



Here is another good sale! Kohls.com is having a clearance sale with $4.99 shipping. Use promo code new4579 to save an extra 10% off your order and if you have a Kohls card use MVC5993 to get free shipping. On top of that, order through Ebates.com and get an extra 2% back! I got 2 pair of Princess pajamas, originally $30 each and 1 pair of Cupcake Pajamas, originally $20 for my girls and a really great pair of shoes, that was originally $39.99. My purchase paying original prices with tax and shipping would have been around $125.00 and I only spent $37.08, which would have been $5 cheaper if I had a Kohls card and I will get 2% back. Gotta love clearance sales and promo's!

$10/$10 purchase online code at JCPenney!

Go here and use this great $10.00 off a $10.00 purchase code GR8DAD to get something for cheap or free. I headed to the online outlet and snagged my daughter a Hannah Montana jewelry box that was originally $30.00 for $2.99 after the code. Shipping was $5.95 and I went through ebates.com and as a new user I received $5 from them, plus 4% back on my purchase! So, shipping was basically free and I snagged a super cheap Christmas gift!

(Thanks, Hip2save!)

Free Krispy Kreme Doughnuts June 5th!

Choose any doughnut you want! It is one per person. My kids LOVE free doughnut days, because it is the only time we eat them. Our two local Springfield, MO stores are participating. Call your local store to find out if they are participating.

(Thanks for sharing, Jennifer!)

A Great Gift for Dad!

Right now at Sephora, they are offering up some great samples for Dad with any purchase. In their sale area, they have items still in stock at $2 and up. They have tons of great items for $5. I bought a $2 item and then paid the $5.95 shipping. I then got to choose three more samples for me, because they offer that with every purchase. So for about 8 bucks, I got some stuff for me and all of these high end samples for hubby! Use the promo code HANDSOME.


Includes:

Giorgio Armani Emporio Armani Diamonds For Men
(0.05 oz)

Giorgio Armani Code
(0.05 oz)

Giorgio Armani Acqua di Gio Pour Homme
(0.05 oz)

Yves Saint Laurent L'Homme
(0.04 oz)

Sean John I Am King
(0.05 oz)

Hugo Boss Hugo
(0.06 oz)

John Varvatos Artisan

Carolina Herrera 212 Sexy Men
(0.05 oz)

Lab Series Multi-Action Face Wash and Daily Moisture Defense Lotion SPF 15
(2 x 0.06 oz)

Jack Black Beard Lube
(0.33 oz)

The Art of Shaving Shaving Cream
(0.27 oz)

Billy Jealousy Hydroplane Super Slick Shave Cream
(0.135 oz)

Zirh Protect
(0.1 oz)

Cartier Declaration
(0.05 oz)

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Great Deals at Hooked on Phonics!



Check out the deals here! I just bought hundreds of dollars of Phonics products for super cheap! This is the best sale I have seen and these prices are cheaper than most eBay prices with the promo code. I have had the Kindergarten reading set sitting in my house for a year and never broke it out, even while teaching my homeschooling kindergartner to read. Last month, I though I would see if it would work for my prek 5 yr old and it did. So, then on a whim, I thought I would try it on my 3 yr old and see if she could read. She already knew her letter sounds, so I thought it was worth a try even though it was a long shot. Well, guess what folks? The kid is reading and loving it! So, I am absolutely sold on the power of Hooked on Phonics! Go here to order and use the promo code slick50.

~Local Spot~ Savings Club for Kids

We are big Dave Ramsey fans. We attended Financial Peace University at our church and his classes changed our thinking and actually helped to start me on this frugal path. So, when I saw a local bank in Springfield, MO offering this program, I was super excited. I can not wait to have my kids start accounts here. It is called the Birth and Beyond Club. It offers monthly incentives for making deposits and then they have quarterly events and other cool stuff. It is all centered around teaching your child how to save. Birth and Beyond Club, here we come...

Family Fun Magazine

If you have kids, grand kids or babysit you really need to check this magazine out. You can currently get it for $0.89 a copy. Being the frugal person that I am, I probably would not have subscribed to it, since I did not know much about it, if I had not gotten it for free. Now, I will certainly subscribe again for whatever amount I need to pay when my free one is up. This deal is the best one I saw out there right now. I look forward to it every month to get more ideas. An added bonus this month was finding great coupons and offers in it:

$1 off Lil' Drums (snack size drumstick ice cream)

15% off your two night or more stay
at Country Inn and Suites

15% off your purchase at Company Kids with promo code FAMILY69 check their clearance out

20% off Gymboree coupon

$0.25 off Sunny D Smoothies

Try me free Swiss Tea rebate offer

$1 off Swiss Tea coupon (money maker combined with rebate)

20% off at Great Wolf Lodge with promo code FUN

On top of the great offers, there are tons of ideas for family fun. Did you guess I am in love with this magazine?

~Local Spot~ Jump Mania

Jump Mania in Springfield, Missouri is celebrating it's first birthday! Go in and celebrate during the week of June 14th-20th. It is $5 for open jump (don't forget your socks) and there will be presents, cake and door prizes EVERY DAY!

Also, go in to get the details on how to win Dad 4 tickets to the Springfield Cardinals game on Fri. July 24th located in the front row behind the dugout. Wow, that would be a great gift!

Free Glamour Shots!

Want a little pampering and a great picture to show for it? Get a free session and a free 8x10 with a free digital image of that pose. Your session will include: airbrush makeover (hallelujah!), hairstyling, 3-4 wardrobe changes, and a slide show presentation. Resist the urge to spend extra money and you could have yourself one smokin' hot picture and deal!

BOGO at T.G.I. FRIDAY's


Go here to print your buy one get one free coupon! Woohoo! Just in time for our Parent's night out at our church on Friday. Now I know where we are going for a cheap and yummy date night! Coupon is great through 6/22/09.

Go get your free Root Beer Float NOW!

Tonight 8:00pm to close All Sonics are giving away a free 10oz Root Beer Float per person to show customer appreciation. My kiddos will have a very happy ride home from church! Get there now!

~Local Spot~ Pottery for Dad!

Want a great gift for Dad? Head to Firehouse Pottery and Art Studio and make him a personalized gift from the kiddos! Look in the June addition of Ozarks Moms Like Me Magazine for a $5/$ 25 coupon or go here for a 1/2 off coupon for a painting session for two or more. I am thinking this one is a keeper. It's a good thing my hubby doesn't pay to much attention to my blog!

~Local Spot~ Dollar General Grand Opening


The Dollar General in Strafford, MO located just east of Springfield on I44 off exit 88 (475 E Old Rt 66) is having their Grand Opening on June 6th. The first 50 customers will receive a $10 gift card. If you are local, check your mail for a $5/$20 coupon to use. Pair the store coupon, gift card and manufacturer's coupons to get your purchase for free or super cheap!

Sunday, May 31, 2009

On the road again!

Well, things have been a little slower around here than usual. First, we went out of town Thursday and now I am headed out again. I get to go see my Grandma, who I have not seen in years and my brother and I are headed their together to celebrate my Dad's birthday. This is a big deal, because he lives in Texas and is often away, between serving in Iraq and Border Patrol. It's an eight hour trip and we are taking my 4 year old Shekinah. He will be here any minute to get us, so I am off!

Friday, May 29, 2009

Quick Frugal Recipe!



We eat this frugal meal every week. We eat it without meat most of the time, but we have added chicken before or even a little bacon that we buy in bulk for $1.49lb to mimic a recipe we once had at a Chinese buffet. The key to making great fried rice is to use cold rice. If you use hot rice your fried rice will stick together and be gummy. When I make rice for a meal, I just double it and save back half for making fried rice, so it will be cold. Go here to see how to make the perfect rice. This is open to interpretation based on your family preferences, but if you use the seasoning and technique it calls for, you can pretty much use whatever ingredients you want. This serves about four people and I double it for our family of six. It also takes less than ten minutes to cook this if you do your prep work ahead of time. Here is how we do it.

1/2 cup diced carrots

2 eggs

1-2 cloves of crushed garlic

1 cup of precooked, diced, meat of your choice (cooked pork is recommended, if you want meatless, just add more veggies)

2 1/2 cups of rice

1/2 cup of chopped celery

1/4 cup of green onion

2 T soy sauce

1 tsp salt

2 T sugar



Take a skillet or wok and heat a tablespoon of oil over medium high heat. Put your carrot and garlic in and stir fry for about 30 seconds, being sure not to burn your garlic. Then add your eggs and scramble them into your carrots. Stir fry them for about 30-40 seconds making sure to break up big pieces of eggs as you go. Add your meat. Stir fry that for about a minute. Add your rice, because it is cold it is best to separate it with a fork as you scrape it out of the bowl, that way you can eliminate clumps. Lower your heat to medium so your rice will not burn. Add about 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, more or less, depending on how salty you like it. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and two tablespoons of sugar. Turn your heat of to medium high and continue stir frying about two minutes. Put in your celery and green onion and stir fry for one more minute. Then enjoy!

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Heading out for some family fun!


Well, I am sad to tell you this, but I am off to The Grand Country Inn in Branson, MO with my family. If you are ever in Branson, this is a great deal, because they have both a indoor and outdoor water park and it is included in the price of the room. My room is only $99.95. That is actually a steal for water park entertainment for all six of us. If you break it down the water park costs $15.00 a day for each person, if we do not stay there, so our room is just $9.95 for the night! My friend Jessica loves taking her family there. So, for now I will not be posting, but I will let you know all about it when I get back.

$9.00 Flights from Jet Blue's New Airline


Jet Blue is opening up a new airline, Jet America, which will soon be offering flights for only $9.00! Yes, you read that right! The first 19 seats on each flight will be available for $9.00. They will have 34 nonstop passenger flights a week will start July 13 at Toledo, Ohio; South Bend, Ind.; Melbourne, Fla.; Newark, N.J.; Minneapolis and Lansing, Mich. Twenty-eight flights start or end at Newark Liberty International Airport. The carrier will add six more flights -- from Toledo to Minneapolis -- starting Aug. 14. For more info go here!

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Cordless Mouse $8.97

Dillyeo Deal of the Day (click on the mouse for more info)

$8.95 + $5 shipping

Refurbished mouse comes with a one year manufacturer's guarantee. Compare to...
ThriftyComputer.com: $20.95 after shipping Compare
Ecost.com: $19.98 after shipping Compare
Gearxs.com: $23.70 Compare

All You Magazine $0.83 Each!

Hurry here to get a year of All You Magazine for only $10.00! If are not familiar with All You it is available at Wal-Mart and I believe the shelf price is $2.24. It is chocked full of coupons and helpful articles. I already have a subscription but I bought another. The coupons in the magazine will more than pay for the subscription. My favorite coupon was in the April magazine, it was a free mascara! The instant discount will be applied at checkout and there is no charge for shipping. Woohoo! Go here now!

Seventh Generation Coupons

Go here for...
$2.00 off Seventh Generation Diapers
$1.00 off any dish washing product
$1.00 off any product

~Local Spot~ Children's Orchard (Save 50% on play clothes)


Wednesday is Play Day at Children's Orchard

Every Wednesday at your local Springfield, Missouri Children's Orchard we have Play Wear Day! For every $10.00 you spend on pink-tagged Play Wear, we will give you $5.00 back in store credit.

That's right! We are paying you to buy play wear. You must pay using cash, check or credit card. They can not accept store credit with this special.

It's the perfect time of the year for play clothes - just in time to send them out to the sandbox!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Free Sample!

Go here for your free sample of Kellogg's Special K

Monday, May 25, 2009

More on BOGO deals...

For every rule there is an exception, especially in the coupon world. For the beginning couponers out there, I apologize ahead of time, because this is going to get advanced. When I went to the store tonight I checked out the BOGO Wheat Thins deal that I had talked to Christine about. I had one BOGO coupon for Artisan wheat thins and a $1/1 triscuit coupon. The ad says Buy One Get One Free. That seems straight forward enough and it stands to reason, that you should be able to get two boxes free with the use of a manufacturers coupon. If I have already lost you, here is my last post. Anyway, when I got there I noticed an immediate problem. The boxes were marked 2/$3.49, not buy one get one free. They are regularly $3.49 a piece, so yes, you are getting one for free. However, all was not as it appeared when applying coupons. When they code the boxes that way, instead of paying $3.49 for one and nothing for the other, you actually pay $1.74 for each box, so if you apply a BOGO coupon to this deal, you pay $1.74 for two boxes. It's not free, but $0.87 per box is nothing to sneeze at. This kind of coding, actually makes it easier to use two coupons on two products. It would be much easier to use 2 $1.00 off coupons on each box in this case. Because theTriscuits were marked 2/$3.49 and I had a $1.00 off coupon, I bought one box at the $1.74 and used the coupon and it was $0.74. So, when looking at ads, they do notnecessarily tell the whole story. It is how the product is labeled that will tell you exactly how much you will be paying in the end. Have questions about this tricky concept? Leave me a comment or email me and I will do my best to answer it.

Using a BOGO coupon with a BOGO special




Julia,
Hello. Could you please explain store advertised BOGO's and using a BOGO coupon along with that? I have a BOGO coupon for Wheat Thins and would like to use it with Price Cutter's advertised BOGO deal. I didn't know if I had to buy one to get the two free or how this worked.
Thank you for all your help. Your blog is great and I loved the piece about the garage sales - definitely inspiring!
Christine

The answer is yes, you should be able to get both boxes for free. When the store has an advertised buy one get one free (BOGO) special, they are taking a loss to give you one box of crackers for free in order to get you to come in the store. It is called a loss leader. When the manufacturer puts out a manufacturer's coupon, they are taking a loss by agreeing to pay the store back for that free box. If your checker tells you that you can't get two boxes free, you can educate them, that the store is reimbursed full price for the box of crackers, plus $.08 shipping. So it is actually just the same as you doing the BOGO deal without the manufacturer's coupon, because they will make the same money in the end. They are two separate entity's. If you have an issue with the checker, just get the manager over and ask them. Sometimes it is up to us to educate.

Be aware...the only stores in town who absolutely do not understand this concept are Walgreens, they will most likely paint you out to be dishonest, because they are completely ignorant about it. They are not a very coupon friendly store and if there is ever a choice, CVS is much more coupon friendly. Walgreens lack of coupon understanding is a systemic problem handed down from their corporate office, to their managers, to the checkers, at least in our area. Never fear though, you are just a smart coupon shopper and you have every right to use coupons and specials to your advantage. Good thinking! Thanks, for asking this one Christine!
Also, if you have not already printed out your $1 off coupons Kraft.com and Coupons.com, there are $1 off coupons for wheat thins there. If you use two with the BOGO special, you should get both boxes for close to free.