Super Savings Saturday - Giant, CVS, Rite Aid

This week I used the last bit of my October food budget and just a little of the beginning of November's (I start it on pay day, October 31), getting some things for us to use now, and several nearly free items to add to the pantry. As I've mentioned before, my husband has asked me to work on stocking our pantry well - in part as an extra emergency fund in case of recession. I love figuring out how to get good deals, so it's fun for me.

This week Giant was running a double dollar coupons promotion. That meant I was able to get two dollars off of four items - a great opportunity. I also got paid to bring home some Breyer's yogurt, as Crystal mentioned.

Here are some highlights (I filled in with other things we needed and was able to use a $3 off of $30 coupon.)

Oreida Steam and Mash Sweet Potatoes - on sale for $3.00, minus $2 in doubled coupon = $1.

Breyers Yogurt - 79 cents, minus $1 in doubled coupon - negative 21 cents

Perdue Flavor Bites Chicken Nuggets - $3.99, minus $2 in doubled coupon = $1.99

Progresso Chicken Broth - $2.28, minus $2 in doubled coupon = 28 cents

Dannon Yogurt Drinks (4 pack) - $2.39, minus $2 in doubled coupon = 39 cents


I also got some good deals at CVS. I did two transactions.

First transaction:

4 Soy Joy bars for $4, minus a get one free coupon - paid $3, got $4 in ECBs (I think these bars are foul, and I only got them to make me some money. I will give them away.)

Colgate Toothpaste and Toothbrush - together these were $4.98. I had three coupons - a CVS coupon for $2 off the toothpaste, a CVS coupon for $2 off the toothbrush, and a manufacturer's coupon for 75 cents off the toothpaste. So I paid 23 cents for these.

I paid with $3.99 in ECBs I found I had not spent (oops), throwing in some shoe insoles my husband requested (on sale).

I took the ECBs and immediately bought other stuff we needed, including a few Atkins bars, which were on sale buy one get one 50% off. It was a good trip.



I also had a good Rite Aid trip earlier in the week, where they paid me to take stuff home.



For more stories of savings, head over to Money Saving Mom.

Frugal Friday - Free Fall Wreath

I don't do a whole lot of fall decorating - I save effort for Christmas - but I did want a new wreath on my front door. When I went shopping for one, though, I was really put off by the prices. The same thing had happened in the summer. Back then I decided to just buy a cheap vine wreath and add fake flowers I had purchased years ago for 90% off at Joann's. (Please excuse the bad photos - it was snowing! and the light was just awful.) So I started with the summer wreath...





... and this smaller fall door decoration. I picked this up two apartments ago, when all we had to decorate was an interior door. It's way too small for the front door of our house. So I used it for parts.




I snipped it up, removed the old flowers from the summer wreath, and added the fall leaves and berries to the bare vine wreath. The bow came from a bouquet of flowers my husband got me for our dating anniversary. He's happy to see me still enjoying it.

For about 15 minutes of effort, I got a wreath I'm happy with, and it looks nice on our front door. Using what you already have is often the most frugal choice, and in this case it was fun too.

For more frugal ideas head over to Biblical Womanhood.

Avoiding the Dryer

I am impressed by what I read of those who manage to get by without a dryer at all. They hang their clothes outside or develop ingenious indoor drying systems to accomodate the clothes of a large family. It probably does save a bunch of money for them.


For myself, though, I find this just doesn't work. My husband works in a fairly casual office, but must look presentable in a business casual way. I continue to try to improve my ironing skills, but it is one of the few homemaking tasks that I really don't enjoy. I would much rather put some easy care shirts and pants through the dryer and be done with it, or at least have an easy job of touching up with the iron. There is no question the results are superior to what I could do if I hung his clothes to dry.


I also don't have a big yard and drying back there would pretty much take up the whole thing. That might be fine if it produced the results I want, but, considering the wrinkling issues, it doesn't. I also enjoy my very small garden through the day, often taking breaks and meals outside when the weather is good. So I'm not too inclined to put the laundry out there. Others have expressed concerns about what the neighbors would think of hanging clothes to dry. With where we live, I really wouldn't be too concerned, but it's something you might want to think about.


For me the dryer is a luxury I can easily afford, and it's worth it. However, the cost of using it is not just financial, but also environmental - it does use energy I otherwise wouldn't consume. I'm not one to go crazy over this sort of thing, but I do want to mindful of what I am consuming.


My current solution is to think about what I can dry on an indoor drying rack. We don't produce tons of laundry, so this is perfectly adequate for the volume of clothes that doesn't need machine drying. I dry our workout clothes and underwear on the rack, as well as any delicate items.


For me, for now, this works. I'm not creating much more work for myself, and I'm not being wasteful. It took some experimentation, but I think we're currently at the optimal point for dryer usage.

Will your point be the same? I doubt it. But maybe seeing my current system will help you think about yours. Frugality is about efficient usage, not least usage. Considering all factors, this is the best for us

Rite Aid - Getting Paid to Take Things Home

Rite Aid has quite a few free after rebate items this week - be sure to check and see if you can use any of these items.

Because Rite Aid takes a while to get your money back (because you have to be sent a check, as opposed to the immediate ECB at CVS), I am more selective about what "free" things I pick up there.

This week I got two things I'm not desperately in need of, but know we will use. It was a great deal I didn't want to pass up - they will pay me two dollars for having taken these items home.

Here is what I bought:

Oral B toothbrush for $2.49 minus a $1 off coupon = $1.49

Kotex Lightdays Liners $3 minus a $1 off coupon = $2.00.

There is no tax on these items in PA.

Rite Aid will give me a rebate for the full purchase price of both of these, which is $5.49. I give them $3.49, they give me $5.49. I like this game!

It took me about two minutes in the store - I knew where I was going and I went at a quiet time of day. It was on my way, not a special trip. Add maybe three more minutes for looking at the add and finding the coupons. Two dollars pay for five minutes work is like $24 an hour - tax free. That's not bad. Now, obviously, my week is not made up of things like this for the most part, but when you add the value of this and other savings measures together, it really is a good contribution to our family's financial health.

Menu Plan Monday

Well, last week's plan of lots of Indian food didn't totally work out. While it was a good idea to make a new dish each night and add to it leftovers of previous dishes, I got a bit tired of Indian food. So we're taking a little break. The recipes we tried were delicious.

I also want to put as much of my remaining food budget into stocking up as possible. So we'll be using what we have.

A friend is coming from out of town this weekend, and I suspect we won't eat here much. So I'm only planning Monday through Friday.

Monday - Tomato feta salad (yes, we still have garden tomatoes - just inside to ripen now)

Tuesday - Chicken helper (bought with double coupons at Giant - we're trying it - the tuna helper was better than we expected, and it's nice and quick)

Wednesday - Spaghetti, maybe with meatballs (have some sauce in the fridge to use up)

Thursday - Thai curry with frozen vegetables (a nice mix with sugar snap peas)

Friday - Stir fry using frozen vegetables (purchased cheaply at Walmart)

Check out more menus over at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Stocking the Pantry at Giant and Walmart

My husband has requested that I work on building up the pantry as I can - it just makes him feel better with all of the financial craziness, as I mentioned in a recent post on recession preparation. So I'm aiming to do so when I see opportunities to get things for near free. Here are my best deals from shopping yesterday:

Giant

Chicken and Tuna Helper - 4 boxes at $1 each on sale minus doubled 75 cents off of three and 30 cents off of one coupons (total coupon savings of $2.10) = average price per box 47 cents. (I haven't eaten this stuff since I was a kid. I got it because it was so cheap - if we don't like it, I will give it away.)

Giant Brown Sugar - $1.29 minus a coupon for $1 = 29 cents (Holiday baking is coming up.)

Smuckers Natural Beanut butter - $2.05 minus a coupon for $1 = $1.05 (We eat a lot of peanut butter around here, so this is a good one.)

Walmart

Green Giant Steamers Asian Medley Vegetables - $1.50 minus a coupon for $1 = 50 cents (This looks great and with a protein will be a nice meal for us.)

Muir Glen organic tomatoes - 3 cans at $1.24 each minus three $1 off coupons = 24 cents each

This is not a ton of food, but by doing this gradually I am avoiding blowing my budget. There were other things I wanted at these stores, they are near each other, and the whole trip took me less than an hour on my way back from visiting my grandmother.

Taking the opportunity to get really good deals on foods that last a while generally gives a good "hourly wage" for your savings. If you are organized, as I was for this trip, it doesn't have to take a long time. Look at sales flyers and sites like Money Saving Mom to figure out what deals you want to look for in advance. (For those who shop Giant, check out next week's best promotion here. It will be another good opportunity to find free or near free items.)

I also had a good time at CVS this week - we have enough toothbrushes for at least a year now.

For more of Super Savings Saturday, head over to Money Saving Mom.

Double Dollar Coupons at Giant

Giant is running their Double $1 Coupon promotion again. This week's flyer came with four $1 Coupon Doubler coupons. This is a great opportunity to look through your $1 coupons and see what you might be able to get close to free.

You must spend $15 after all discounts and before sales tax, and it excludes tobacco, lottery tickets, milk and pharmacy items. A limit of four coupons per household is listed.

As with most Giant promotions, this may vary some by where you live. Be sure to check your ad.

CVS Fun

I haven't seen a fun opportunity like this at CVS for a while. This week 2 packs of GUM toothbrushes are $3.99 and generate a $3.99 ECB. So that made this string of transactions possible:

• Purchase a pack of toothbrushes for $3.99. Pay with a $1 coupon for GUM toothbrushes and $2.99 in cash.


• Pucrchase another pack of toothbrushes for $3.99. Pay with the $3.99 ECB and nothing out of pocket.


• Repeat up to a limit of five packs of toothbrushes


• Finish with an ECB for $3.99 to spend on anything.

If I hadn't had a flat tire (for the third time in two weeks!) yesterday, I'm sure I could have gotten the full limit amount of five packs - my CVS restocks on Thursdays. As it was, I managed to get four.

I love it - they paid me a dollar to bring home 8 toothbrushes. As I've said before, it's not just about the money for me - I really do think it is fun to do. :)

Because my life has been pretty crazy lately, I didn't save the ECBs to roll into another free deal - I spent them immediately on stuff I needed for my grandmother. I would hate for them to go to waste.

Nursing Home Advice?

Remember last month, when I asked for advice about walkers? Well, unfortunately, my grandmother has gotten past that point now. She had a mild heart attack and got much weaker, ended up in the hospital, and is now in rehab. It's looking like she'll probably end up in nursing home, because she needs 24 hour help. She's still generally with it - though getting a bit forgetful - and I want it to be as good an experience for her as possible. She's always been strong and independent - she's had to get by without my grandfather for almost 30 years.

That 30 year gap since he died is also part of why she has no resources, but thankfully some combination of Medicaid, state and Veterans benefits should make it all work out. It will actually probably be easier on my parents, and even us, financially, because more of her needs will be covered - she doesn't get enough Social Security to eat after rent and such. Her difficult situation has been a continuing reminder to me to make room in my budget for retirement preparation - whether paying off debt or actual savings. I'm sure they never expected her husband to die before she was 60, but you just never know.

So - any of you who have been through finding a nursing home and helping a person through that adjustment - any advice? Thanks in advance.

Samples

My sample pile has gotten too big again, so it's time for a list of what I've received recently:

Kashi TLC Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Cookie - at 18 net carbs for a little cookie, this may not be for me, but it sure looks good

Joffrey's Coffee

AirborneEffervescent in Zesty Orange and Power Pixie, plus a 55 cent coupon - I'm sure these will be useful this winter

Cottonelle Fresh wipes, 10 pack

Kotex sample pack - a pad, a liner, and two tampons, plus two $1.50 off coupons redeemable at Walgreens - These might be high enough value to get me some free or close to free stuff - often the high value coupons are the best part of the samples

John Frieda Full Splendor Shampoo and Conditioner - my curly hair doesn't really need help with volume, but I may try this anyway - Plus a $2 coupon good until May 2010 - I'll hang onto this and hope it will be a moneymaker at CVS or Rite Aid one of these days

Giant Coupons

I suspect that as with many things at Giant, these will vary by where you live, but I wanted to mention some good Giant coupons I received in the mail recently.

One was a set of $3 off of $30 coupons - one good right now, one good in two weeks. You could easily work this into a normal shopping trip. As usual with Giant, the $30 minimum spend must be after all discounts and before sales tax.

The other was a little booklet of coupons, recipes and tips. Among the best coupons in it:

• $3/$30 or $5/$50 or $8/$80, good through November 8th


• $1 off $5 in the meat department


• $1 off Giant Brown Sugar (this is probably very cheap after coupon)


• $1 off Smuckers Natural Peanut Butter (our favorite)

I'm planning to do a Giant trip later in the week, and I intend to take advantage of some good deals they are having right now in combination with double coupons along with some of the coupons listed above. I will fill in with basic needs (bread or milk perhaps) to get up to the $30 level, and use that coupon.

Menu Plan Monday

This week includes a lot of Indian food, for two reasons. I always enjoy learning new recipes, and this week (finally) looks like a calm week in which I'll have time to play around with stuff like this. But what prompted me to action was looking at several canisters of legumes purchased from the Indian supermarket several years ago that I didn't know what to do with. My husband got them for use in one particular dish with no other plans, but he got at least 5 pound bags of them. I also just learned to make paneer - it's really easy. So my mission is to work on using up my pantry. If anyone has any favorite channa dal or hulled and split urad dal recipes, let me know. All Indian recipes below are from The Indian Vegetarian, which I reviewed here.

For those eating lower-carb, like me, I suggest having low carb bread with these and not rice. I've been enjoying Pepperidge Farms' low carb bread - it's the best I've tried so far.

Monday - Mutter Paneer - my husband's favorite paneer dish, and I've got frozen peas to use up

Tuesday - Split Black Urad Beans with Spinich

Wednesday - Pizza with Pineapple and Banana Peppers

Thursday - Paneer Cheese with Onion and Tomatoes

Friday - Curried Garbanzo Beans with Onion and Garlic (I'm subbing channa dal)

Saturday - Garlic pasta, salad

Sunday - Leftovers

For more menus, head over to I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Online Cooking Videos

I've been enjoying some cooking videos from Jamie Oliver at this site. He is aiming to teach good, basic meals and have people share them - so these aren't too tricky for the most part. I don't have cable and seldom watch even the few channels I do get, but I enjoy this kind of thing sometimes. I love that these days you can see so many good things online. I can't justify the expense or time sink of cable, but a little bit of video here and there makes it not feel like I'm depriving myself.

The best frugal idea here is simply to learn to cook well at home. The better we are at cooking from scratch, the less appealing going out to restaurants becomes. Books are great, but videos can be helpful so you can actually see how the expert does it.

A good idea from these videos that I put into use last night was to make breadcrumbs from crackers and smash them up in a tea towel - I would usually have gone for a plastic baggie, but regretted the waste. The tea towel works even better and I can just throw it in the wash.

One last thing - I think Jamie Oliver is an acquired taste, and not my favorite in general. He can be a bit on the hyper side. Even if you don't love him, you may get something from these videos - they are short and to the point. I don't think I heard him say "easy-peasy" once - when I first encountered him on TV, it seemed that everything was "easy-peasy" and it drove me nuts! Perhaps he has quieted down a bit this days.

I'm curious if anyone has any other suggestions for good online videos about cooking. If so, please let me know.

If You Get Sinus Headaches...

and you live near a Rite Aid, be sure to check out this week's free after rebate items. You can see Money Saving Mom's overview here. There are tons of cough and cold items available for free after rebate.

I would encourage you not to go nuts on stuff you aren't sure you'll use. You could easily blow much of your grocery budget here, and it takes a while to get that cash back in the mail.

I have had sinus problems basically forever. I even had surgery to try to help with it about ten years ago. It really didn't. The best thing I have found for it sounds weird, but is really helpful - it's a neti pot. Basically, you pour water through your nose. It washes all the irritating allergens out and clears things up immediately. I discovered this about a year ago, and I have not had to use antibiotics for sinus infection since. I should do it regularly as maintenance, but I am always sure that whenever I feel something coming on to use it immediately. In case you are wondering, it's not like getting water up your nose in the pool - it's really not uncomfortable once you get the hang of it. So if you have sinus problems, and haven't tried this yet, take the opportunity to pick up the free one Rite Aid is offering this week.

A New Favorite for the Crockpot

Last week I tried the Moroccan Lentil Soup from A Year of CrockPotting. My husband decided it is the best thing that has come out of the crockpot yet. Now, that may not really be saying much, but if you like flavorful and slightly spicy soups, this is a winner. It's also fairly inexpensive. I thought it was especially nice on a cool fall evening.

If you haven't checkout out a Year of CrockPotting yet, I recommend it. Today I'm trying her Butternut Squash Soup recipe, substituting some canned pumpkin I picked up for cheap at Aldi a few weeks ago. We also liked her Crockpot Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole and her Indian Spinich and Tofu recipe (though I'll probably do it with paneer in the future). I've got a bunch of other recipes printed out that I'd like to try too. I could go buy a crockpot cookbook to inspire me to use mine more - but this free resource is at least as good.

Menu Plan Monday

We're kind of in recovery mode from our crazy last week, so I'm trying to keep it simple.

Breakfasts will be waffles and sausage, fried eggs and toast, peanut butter on toast.

Lunches for me will be leftovers or salad with beans and cheese. (DH gets lunch at work.)

Dinners:

Monday - Just me, so I'll eat leftovers.

Tuesday - Tomato/pepper/feta salad - we're still getting tomatoes from our yard

Wednesday - Butternut squash soup, which I had intended to make last week.

Thursday - Same soup with added cheese tortellini

Friday - Pizza with banana peppers and pineapple

Saturday - Salmon, chard from our yard

This is not the world's best low-carb menu, but it'll do, and I'll supplement with healthy salads and such. I just need to remember to keep the portions reasonable. It's always tricky to get back to normal after an unusual week with lots of eating away from home.

Head over to I'm an Organizing Junkie for more menu plans.

Giant - Free Turkey Deal

There are no special coupon deals next week at Giant, but they are starting their free turkey promotion. I won't spend enough to qualify, I'm sure, but some of you who have larger families might find this very helpful.

There are a couple of things I like about this promotion. First of all, you get a choice of a free turkey, or a free Stouffer's Party Size Lasagna. Not everyone likes turkey or does Thanksgiving at their house. A lasagna might be more practical for them. Also, there are three kinds of turkey for free - two brands of whole regular turkey, one brand of kosher turkey, and one brand of turkey breast. More and more people I know are not opting to do the whole turkey any more, so this is good. Also, if you don't like the brands of free turkey, you can get a steep discount on several other brands of turkey.

You have to earn 300 Rewards points for your free turkey, or you can get a 10% off savings certificate with 450 points. I believe you generally earn one point per dollar spent. The points must be earned between 10-12-08 and 11-15-08.

Commitment to Loveliness

Thanks to Emma for this great reminder.

As I mentioned here, we're having a tough week. I want to make our home life as peaceful and restorative as possible.

1. Make sure we both have funeral clothes that fit and are clean.

2. Plan something fun for Saturday - a pick-me-up after what is sure to be a long week.

3. DIY manicure.

4. Get fresh flowers for several rooms.

5. Take a hot bath.

I'm also going to keep asking my husband what I can do to help him too.

Menu Plan Monday - Food for a Tough Week

My husband's grandfather died peacefully yesterday evening. We spent several hours with family sharing happy memories of him last night. This week will include a viewing and funeral, plus we've got other stuff going on, so it's going to be a tough one. I fully expect to shift things around.

When the going gets tough, bring out the crockpot and use leftovers.

Monday - Low-carb pasta and homegrown basil pesto, brocolli and garlic, salad (our intended company meal yesterday didn't happen, but it's all ready to cook)

Tuesday - Crockpot Butternut Squash Soup, low-carb bread with cheese, salad

Wednesday - Leftover soup plus cheese ravioli, salad

Thursday - Moroccan Lentil Crockpot Soup, salad

Friday - Leftover soup, tomato salad

Saturday - Tomato/feta pasta, salad

I know there will be at least one family meal in here, so I'm just planning six meals. If we don't eat all of anything, I can just freeze it for later.

Shopping list - Salad, broth for soups, carrots, canned chickpeas, a good cheese to have with bread

Check out more menu plans over at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Short break

I'll be taking a blogging break for a few days. My husband's grandfather is dying. We are thankful that he had a long and productive life - he's 90. It's still just a very sad thing.

See you soon - have a good weekend.

Quotes for Today

"Tightwaddery without creativity is deprivation. When there is a lack of resourcefulness, inventiveness, and innovation, thrift means doing without. When creativity combines with thrift you may be doing it without money, but you are not doing without."

- Amy Dacyczyn of the Tightwad Gazette

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

- Gandhi

"You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot establish sound security on borrowed money. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn."

- Abraham Lincoln (quoted in the TG - I guess once upon a time politicians did know a thing or two about money.)

Worth Reading...

Catherine at Frugal Homemaker Plus has a new article over at Frugal Hacks, called, very appropriately, Don't Panic. Check it out. It's encouraging.

There is SO much we can all read about this stuff. I suggest, however, that if it starts to give you a headache, or in some other way you know it is wearing you out, just stop. Do something active. Read something encouraging. We all need all the energy we can get.

The Pantry Principle - for Recession Preparation too

One of the first things I thought about, when considering how I could be more prepared for a recession, was a stocked pantry. That way if food prices went up a lot, or food was harder to buy for a bit, or if I couldn't get at my money in the bank for a little while, it wouldn't be a problem.

I always keep some dry and canned food around, but hadn't really built up much of a supply since we moved almost a year ago. Fortunately, I managed to save a little extra from last month's food budget that I could use to stock up. There were also some great coupons and sales to take advantage of recently. I did a little advance shopping at Aldi yesterday too. So I'm feeling more prepared now. I'll add to it as I can, but I don't want to blow too much of my food budget there.

If you want to stock up on food, remember - don't panic and buy stuff you don't usually use. Buy stuff you know your family will enjoy eating. If you are going to experiment, make it something free or near free. We've all had the experience of buying something we're not really excited to eat and letting it sit in the back of the pantry for years.

Also, remember to use the stuff in your pantry and rotate through it. Don't put the new stuff in front and just eat that first.

This principle can apply to other things too. Is your car filled up with gas? Might be a good idea. Do you have some cash on hand? Also a good plan. (Though please, let's not create any more bank runs - things are bad enough without us making it harder for them to function.)

No matter what happens, it just feels good to be well-stocked when the world is looking scarier than usual.