If you need to do some basic painting around the house Menards has a fantastic deal this week. A gallon of interior flat paint is FREE after $11.00 mail-in rebate. Satin is $2.00 after the rebate, and Semi-Gloss is $3.00 after rebate. WoW! The colors are limited to white, antique white or ceiling white for the flat but if you've got an area in your house that just needs painting this is a big bargain. Maybe an old piece of furniture needs painting?
On Saturday, I received my rebate coupon for the insulation I purchased at the end of January so it takes about 6 weeks to get your rebate coupon back. I've decided to use my rebate coupon towards a really top quality garden hose. I'm still using the ones I bought 16 years ago and they were the cheap ones that kink all of the time. They are such a hassle so now I'm going to get a good one! Will be keeping my eye out for a sale in the next 2 months. Wish me luck!
There are lots of other FREE items after rebate in the sale circular this week. A lot of my fellow bloggers pick up these items throughout the year and then put them into a basket and give them as graduation presents. This is a great way to start a young guy or gal out with some handy tools for FREE!
Monday, March 8, 2010
Strawberries & Parmesan Cheese
When I was growing up mom and dad had a huge strawberry patch. I can still remember sitting in the garden eating them as fast as I picked them. Today, I still love them and they are considered one of the "extravagances" in my budget. In other words, if I want them, I will pay whatever price they charge, no matter what time of year. We all need those special items.
Happily, this week marks the time for cheap strawberries at Hy Vee. They are $1.38 for a 16 oz. container. Yay! They look beautiful and taste good, too. I bought 2 containers and still had some from my purchase last week so I'll be gorging all week! Yum.
Another of my "extravagances" is real parmesan cheese sold in the chunk. It is spendy but if you've never had it I suggest giving it a try. No shaking it from the Kraft shaker for me. Both Cub and Walmart carry the brand that I like but Walmart sells it for $2.00 less per 8 oz. so I try and always buy it there.
What are your little extravagances?
Happily, this week marks the time for cheap strawberries at Hy Vee. They are $1.38 for a 16 oz. container. Yay! They look beautiful and taste good, too. I bought 2 containers and still had some from my purchase last week so I'll be gorging all week! Yum.
Another of my "extravagances" is real parmesan cheese sold in the chunk. It is spendy but if you've never had it I suggest giving it a try. No shaking it from the Kraft shaker for me. Both Cub and Walmart carry the brand that I like but Walmart sells it for $2.00 less per 8 oz. so I try and always buy it there.
What are your little extravagances?
Friday, March 5, 2010
March starts off great!
I really found myself well supplied with groceries this week because my frig is so well stocked but I did pick up these bargains.
NOT pictured: Fresh Strawberries On sale $2.48
Creamettes $1.49
St. Patrick's Day Card $.99
Easter Card $.99
Bic Lighters $5.99
Revlon Eye Shadow $4.99
Revlon Eye Shadow $4.99
Total: 21.92 minus additional in-store discounts $9.69, minus coupon match ups $5.00 = $7.23 out of pocket! This is a lot of stuff for $7.23.
It all adds up!
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Laundry Detergent Experiment
I have always heard that we ALL use way to much laundry detergent to wash our clothes and that the excess detergent slowly damages our washing machines so in early January I thought that I would try to actually get 32 Loads of laundry from a bottle of detergent. (That is what the bottle said it had in it.)
I normally poured in 1/2 of a capful into a load of laundry. For the experiment I poured in 1/2 of that amount or about 1/4 of a capful. Over the next several weeks I noticed that my laundry was coming out just as clean as it always had - no exceptions. I also kept track of the amount of loads of laundry.
Believe it or not I did get 32 loads of laundry by using 1/2 the amount of detergent that I had normally used. Unbelieveable! Think about it, I now am using 50% less detergent per wash so my detergent expense is now 50% less and I am saving wear and tear on my washing machine as well.
It all adds up!
I normally poured in 1/2 of a capful into a load of laundry. For the experiment I poured in 1/2 of that amount or about 1/4 of a capful. Over the next several weeks I noticed that my laundry was coming out just as clean as it always had - no exceptions. I also kept track of the amount of loads of laundry.
Believe it or not I did get 32 loads of laundry by using 1/2 the amount of detergent that I had normally used. Unbelieveable! Think about it, I now am using 50% less detergent per wash so my detergent expense is now 50% less and I am saving wear and tear on my washing machine as well.
It all adds up!
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Cooking on Sundays
Many of the blogs that I follow include Freezer Cooking Days at the beginning of the month. The idea is to have one marathon cooking day each month so that you don't have to think about what's for dinner each day the rest of the month. It's a fabulous idea to have these meals on-hand. Some of the gals cook up an entire month's worth iof main courses AND desserts, cookies, muffins, pancakes, etc.
I shoot for almost a week's worth of meals and it seems to be working out quite well. Usually on Sunday, I'll cook up at least 2 different casseroles and portion them out into meals for the week. Some need freezing and some just need refrigeration. They aren't enough for an entire week but on the nights I can't bear to cook they're nice to grab! Sometimes I still forget to bring my lunch but now, most of the time, I bring it to work and have something homemade which is much healthier than fast food. It's easy to warm it in the microwave and much cheaper on the budget. I should really figure out how much cheaper it is to do meals this way.
A few weeks ago I made homemade 6 McMuffin's for breakfasts. It's a great idea but be sure to let everything cool before you put the sandwiches together to freeze. I didn't and they became a gloppy mess with cheese melted all over. They didn't taste the best because of not letting them cool first (I could no longer tell there was cheese on them!) but I'll try making them again sometime soon. I also want to try breakfast burritos.
It all adds up!
I shoot for almost a week's worth of meals and it seems to be working out quite well. Usually on Sunday, I'll cook up at least 2 different casseroles and portion them out into meals for the week. Some need freezing and some just need refrigeration. They aren't enough for an entire week but on the nights I can't bear to cook they're nice to grab! Sometimes I still forget to bring my lunch but now, most of the time, I bring it to work and have something homemade which is much healthier than fast food. It's easy to warm it in the microwave and much cheaper on the budget. I should really figure out how much cheaper it is to do meals this way.
A few weeks ago I made homemade 6 McMuffin's for breakfasts. It's a great idea but be sure to let everything cool before you put the sandwiches together to freeze. I didn't and they became a gloppy mess with cheese melted all over. They didn't taste the best because of not letting them cool first (I could no longer tell there was cheese on them!) but I'll try making them again sometime soon. I also want to try breakfast burritos.
It all adds up!
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Now this is a Good Deal!
Every week there is an opportunity to get some great deals on things and last week was particularly good. This is all stuff that I use.3 Olay Body Washes with 2 oz lotions $16.50
1 500 count Q-Tip pack with 250 facial pads $1.18
1 Crest Toothpaste $2.79
4 Stouffer's Mac & Cheese $6.00
1 Can of Cashews $1.99
1 Dr. Scholl's Boot Inserts $11.49
1 Trident Gum $.99
Total $39.94 minus coupons of $6.75, minus $5.00 Target Gift Card for buying the Olay Boddy Wash, minus $7.00 Walgreens Register Rewards, minus $15.00 Olay Rebate equals $6.19 out of pocket!
Yes, that's right! I paid $6.19 for all of this stuff. It's remarkable what you can save! Can you tell I love Stouffer's Mac & Cheese? It's a favorite of mine.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
A great example - Toilet Paper!
Well, we all have to buy it don't we! Here's just a simple example of how couponing can save you money on toilet paper this week. If you look at this week's Target ad they are offering Scott toilet paper at $7.49. for an 8 pk or 12 pk mega size But, if you've learned the ropes on couponing you have a manufacture's coupon for $1.00 off and a Target coupon for $1.00 off. So you can actually buy this for $5.49.
Part of the "secret" is that the Target $1.00 coupon was on the Target website about 2 weeks ago and no longer appears, BUT, it doesn't expire until 5/31/10. So, it's a good idea to print those target coupons for items that aren't listed in that week's sale circular because odds are it will be on sale sometime before the coupon expires.
This exact same scenario can be done for the Tide and Downy that's on sale this week for $5.99 in the Target ad. You could actually be buying them for $3.99 each. (A great "stock up" price for these items though I have gotten them cheaper in the past.)
That's just one week and your saving $6.00 that you can spend elsewhere in your budget for basic household items.
Yes, at first, "learning the ropes" of this coupon thing took me about 2 hours a week to figure out. Now, 3 months later it takes me about 20 minutes a week to plan my purchases.
Part of the "secret" is that the Target $1.00 coupon was on the Target website about 2 weeks ago and no longer appears, BUT, it doesn't expire until 5/31/10. So, it's a good idea to print those target coupons for items that aren't listed in that week's sale circular because odds are it will be on sale sometime before the coupon expires.
This exact same scenario can be done for the Tide and Downy that's on sale this week for $5.99 in the Target ad. You could actually be buying them for $3.99 each. (A great "stock up" price for these items though I have gotten them cheaper in the past.)
That's just one week and your saving $6.00 that you can spend elsewhere in your budget for basic household items.
Yes, at first, "learning the ropes" of this coupon thing took me about 2 hours a week to figure out. Now, 3 months later it takes me about 20 minutes a week to plan my purchases.
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