Bertolli Pasta Sauce freebie

Click here to get a free pouch of Bertolli microwavable pasta sauce

Another Target Deal Alert

I noticed yesterday that Carnation Instant Breakfast sells for around $3.49 for a multipack box.

Here's how you can score 2 boxes for less than $1...

Go to this website and sign in or sign up and print this $3 off 2 Target coupon

Then go to this website and print 2 $2 off coupons

You now have $7 off 2 boxes of this yummy on the go breakfast for free or nearly free!

Now if only we could find milk at that price.....

You can, however, get a really good deal on Horizon Organic Chocolate Milk though...

This milk sells in my Target for $3.99

You can use this $1 off Target coupon (it expires 9/27 so act fast on this one)
And print out 1 of these $1 off coupons

Final price will be $1.99 for a 1/2 gallon of organic milk

(You can freeze these if you plan to buy multiples, as long as you pour some out to leave room for expansion in the freezer)

Kroger Deals 9/24 - 9/30

Are you wondering where the Kroger deals are?

The part of Kroger's website that has the sale ads is not working. I called customer service and they said it could take up to a week to fix.

So until I receive a flier in the mail or go to the store to get one, you can go here and read the matchups. If you cannot see the deals, sign up for the forum, it's quick, easy, and free.

Target Deal Alert!

I went to Target last night to buy some Tyson bagged frozen chicken. I had a $1 off manufacturer coupon, and paired it with the $1 off coupon found here. The shelf price said it was $5.49, but when I scanned it at a price checker (you know, those red scanners attached to poles around the store) it said $4.50. What makes this a really good deal though is when I went to the register, they rang up as $3.50.



So after coupons 1 28.5 oz bag of Tyson chicken tenders was $1.50!!!



I bought 3 yesterday, and I'm going back today to use my last coupon. If you want to get it on this deal you will need to hurry because the Target coupon expires on the 27th.

I cannot remember which insert the coupon came from, but even if you just use the Target coupon $2.50 is still a good price for that.

Correction about free Smoothie

I need to make a correction about the free smoothie post I made.

It was brought to my attention that this text message promotion is only vaild for 1 store out of the 550 country-wide.

I apologize for the miscommunication, and hope that it didn't cause anyone any frustration!

-Amanda

Movie Night Monday

There is a new code valid for today only. You can use this code once per credit/check card.

CR654D

Be sure to return the movie before 9pm tomorrow night to avoid being charged.

Ham and Swiss Crescent Braid

Here's a recipe that's a huge hit in my house:

It's called a Ham and Swiss Crescent Braid, and I thought that this would be a perfect time to post this, since almost all the ingredients have been on sale recently.

Ingredients:
2 8oz cans crescent rolls
3/4 lb ham, chopped (I used 1 package Black Pepper Ham from Land O Frost I got for free)
1 and 1/2 cups shredded swiss cheese
1/2 cup Mayonnaise
1 tablespoon brown spicy mustard
1 4.5 oz jar of mushrooms
(You can add 1 cup of broccoli into the mix, but we eat it on the side)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roll out your Crescent rolls into one big sheet, you will want to do this over foil or wax paper since this will stick to counter tops and baking sheets and will be really hard to work with.

2. Chop the ham and put it in the bowl. Add the cheese, mayonnaise, mustard and mushrooms. Mix well.

3. Scoop the mixture from the bowl into the center of the dough. Try to leave about an inch from the ends to pinch the dough closed before baking


4. This is optional, Trim the edges of the dough as little as possible to create straight edges, being careful not to cut the foil beneath.

5. Using a knife, cut stripes into the dough 1 inch apart coming about 1/2 inch away from the mixture. Do this on the left and right sides (I added the black lines in so you could visualize this step better)


6. Alternate the stripes over the center of the mixture, and pinch the ends of the dough together to seal closed. (Optional - Brush the top with the beaten egg white, this gives more of a golden color, I don't usually do this step)


7. Bake in the oven 15-17 minutes, or until golden brown. (My oven takes 12 minutes, so make sure to pay attention or the bottom of this will burn)

Note: Since I was only cooking for my love and I last night when I made this, I only used 1 can of the crescent rolls, keeping everything else the same. It makes a meatier meal this way, and there was still half of it left over for today's lunch.

How I did at the grocery store

This weekend I went to two stores to do the the grocery shopping;

Here's how I did:

(Click image for larger view)

First at Kroger I bought:

•2 loaves of Sara Lee bread (on sale B1G1 free)

•2 Yoplait Kids yogurt (used 2 $1.50 off coupons + .80¢/2 loaded to card)

•2 DanActive yogurt (on sale 2/$4, found $1 off blinky at store)

•1 Dannon Activia yogurt (2/$4, used $1 off coupon from store sampling event last week)

•2 boxes Toaster Strudels (2/$4, used $1 off printable)

•1 can Organic Tomato Sauce ($1.19, used $1 off coupon loaded from shortcuts)

•2 cans of Pillsbury Crescent rolls ($1.19 ea, used .35¢ off coupon =.14¢ea)

•2 cans Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls ($1 ea, used .30¢ off coupon = .10¢ea)

•2 I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray (2/$3, used .50¢ off coupon, final cost =.50¢ea)

•2 Old El Paso Fajita seasonings (.89¢ ea, used $1.10 off coupon loaded to card)

•1 box Kix cereal ($2.29, used .75¢ printable, and .75¢ coupon loaded to card, final price = .80¢)

•1 bag of bakery rolls, marked down to $1.09

•1 bag of shredded Swiss cheese, $1.29

•4 cans of mushroons, .54¢ea

(click image for larger view)

Then I went to Wal-Mart and bought:

•1 bag Birds Eye Voila ($3.47, used $1 off coupon)

•1 case of water ($3.97, used $1 off coupon)

•1 Nesquik chocolate milk (free after coupon)

•8 boxes Ronzoni Smart Taste Pasta ($1.50, used $1 off coupon)

•2 (big) cans Pillsbury Crescent Rolls ($1.62, used $1 off coupon)

•2 cans Pillsbury Pizza Crust ($1.79, used $1 off coupon)

•2 Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls ($1.36, used $1 off coupon)

•2 Nestle Toll House Morsels ($2.36, used $1.50 off coupon)

•1 Crystal Light (Free after buying 3 Kool-aid)

•Kraft cheese slices (Free after buying 3 Kool-aid)

•2 Visine ($3.62, used $3 off coupon)

•1 Cream Cheese $1.07

• 1 loaf of Mrs. Bairds Bread**

Total spent $33.45

Total saved $60.89

I stayed just under the weekly budget with $1.55 left over :)
(**I replaced a loaf of bread we used from a friend after the hurricane, so if I did not have to buy this I would have been $4 under budget)

Saturday Sweeps

Try your luck at these contests:

Affresh Washer Cleaner by Whirlpool Giveaway from Woman's Day Magazine
(125 winners, aprox retail value $10.99, winners will be selected Nov. 28)

Win a year's worth of Organic Milk
(5 winners, prizes awarded in coupons, product is not available in all areas)

Disney Parks Instant Win Game
(15 winners will get a HP TouchSmart PC arv $1,448.99
6 winners will get a HP HDX16 laptop arv $1,249
145 winners will get a 3.5″ HP digital photo frame arv $59.99
3,000 winners will get a Limited edition Disney Parks Celebrations pin arv $5)

Purina’s Friskies Party Mix Sweepstakes
(696 winners, prize awarded in coupon, arv $6.92)

Free bag of Purina One

It must be free pet food season! You can get a free bag of Purina One for dogs or cats. I chose both, we'll see if I get one of each...

Anyway, click here and sign up. Even if you do not have a pet, consider signing up and donating the pet food to a local animal shelter.

Free night of Theatre

Here is an opportunity for some free entertainment! It's called Free Night of Theatre, and they will be performing all over the country starting October 16th.



Since this is a free show, you will need to reserve your tickets.



How do you do this?



•First you need to go here and see if there will be a performance near you.

•Second, you need to click on the link for the show in your area. That will take you to a website that should have instructions as to how to reserve your tickets.

•Last, make a note of when you need to go back to that website, so you can be sure to get your tickets.

Me and CVS just don't get along

Some of you may wonder why I don't publish the CVS deals on my blog...

Let me tell you why that is. First off, I personally do not like CVS anymore. The people that work in the stores around me are all rude, and have a serious attitude problem as soon as they see a coupon in your hand. The stores around where I live scrutinize the coupons and then try to make up reasons why I cannot do the deal I'm trying to do.

There was a sale a few weeks ago where the Covergirl foundation was on sale B1G1 free. I also had a B1G1 free coupon to pair up with the sale. Knowing good and well that the store I planned to go to would hassle me about this, I called the corporate office to confirm they would take the coupon with the sale. They told me that they would and if I had any problems to have the store call them.

After I go through the store, and picked out what I wanted, the games had begun. I went to the counter armed with my coupons and verbal ammo and the cashier fought back like I was trying to take her first born! Finally the manager came to the front and she told me that aside from "You cannot use a B1G1 free coupon with our sale", "You don't even have the right products".

I kid you not, I went back and forth picking out new foundation 3 times before it satisified the manager. Then she tells me again, "You cannot use your coupons when there is a B1G1 sale too". I told her I called corporate, and they said I could. She then looked me in the eye and said I was lying! She called corporate in front of me and told them what I was trying to do in a terrible tone of voice. After a couple minutes, I could see her facial expression change to a look of anger toward me. She hung up the phone, rang up my stuff, literally threw it in the bag, and sharply told me to have a nice day.

On a different note, I used to post the CVS deals. That was, until I received an email from them telling me that I had voilated their copyright terms.

Since those 2 incidents happened, I barely shop at CVS. The only time I do, is when I have extrabucks I need to use. You may wonder how I get them if I do not really shop there?

Well on occasion, I transfer a rx there and get a gift card, or I earn them by taking surveys for their Advisor Panel. Click here if you would like to sign up. I just completed a survey and after October 10th, I will have $10 ecb's available to use. On occasion I will redeem some of my MyPoints for a CVS gift card.

I am a Walgreen's gal these days, sorry CVS.

Do you have any horror stories to tell from a shopping trip you would like to share? Leave them as a comment below.

Pillsbury Coupon

There is a new coupon, it is for $1.10 off 1 Pillsbury Pizza Crust.

They are reported to be around $1.79 at Wal-mart, and I plan to check Kroger when I go shopping tonight. I will let you know what I find out!

Free cat food

Click here to sign up for a free 3.5lb bag of 9 Lives Cat Food.

You must be one of the first 50,000 to register.

Walmart Deals

Here are some deals to look for next time you go to Walmart:



4 pack Pillsbury Crescent Rolls $1.22
Use this $1 off coupon (print twice and get 8 rolls)
Final price = .22¢ ea

5 pack Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls $1.36
Use this $1 off coupon (print twice and get 10 rolls)
Final price = .36¢ ea

Ronzoni Smart Taste Pasta $1.50
Use the $1 off coupon from the 9/14 ss
Final price = .50¢

Kraft Mircale Whip reported to be $1.00
It is the 32 oz jar with the UPC of 0-21000-64511-4
Check the price scanners around the store to see if you can score this good deal too

Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers $1.22
Use this $1 off coupon
Final price = .22¢

Vlassic Pickles Ovals (in the big jar) $1.38
Use this $1 off coupon
Final price = .38¢

Vlassic Relish $1.12
Use this $1 off coupon
Final price = .12¢

South Beach Tide Me Over Drink Singles $2 (on rollback)
Use this $2 off coupon
Final price = Free
*These are located by the Kool-aid

Muir Glen Canned Tomatoes $1.14
Use this $1 off coupon
Final price = .14¢
*This coupon expires at the end of this month!
Kroger has the tomato paste for around $1.68 in the natural food section

Kroger Deals 9/17 - 9/23 - Houston Area

I'm going to try and make up for the lack of posts over the past week

Here is an extra long post about the Kroger deals this week, other coupon match-ups to check out while in the store, a couple of really good coupons and free samples of things you would find in the grocery store at the bottom of the post:

Suave Shampoo & Conditioner .88¢
Use the .50¢ off 1 coupon to get these for free
or use the $1 off 2 coupon and get these for .38¢ ea

Sara Lee Bread B1G1 Free
This is usually around $2.50ea
so you will get these for $1.25 ea

Dannon Activia Yogurt $2 for 4
Use one of the many $1 off coupons
Final price = $1

Yoplait Yo-Plus Yogurt is 2 for $5
Use the $1 off coupon from shortcuts.com
pair with a $1 off coupon from the paper
Final price = .50¢

I Can't Believe it's Not Butter 2 for $3
Use this .50¢ off coupon (should double to $1)
Final price = .50¢

Pillsbury Toaster Strudels 2 for $4
Use this $1 off coupon
or use the .35¢ off 1 coupon from the 9/7 GM insert
Final price = $1 or .95¢

Bar-s Hot Dogs are .99¢
Use this .25¢ off coupon
Final price = .24¢

Nature Valley Granola Bars $2.19
Use this $1 off 2 coupon
Final price = $1.69

(I also heard through the grapevine that there is a Catalina deal with these:
buy 3 - get $1.50
buy 4 - get $2.50
buy 5 - get $3.50)

Fiber One Cereal Bars $2.19
Use this $1 off 2 coupon
Final price = $1.69

Some other deals: (use your discretion whether these matchups are a good deal in your area)

Pop Secret Popcorn
Another Catalina deal I heard through the grapevine
buy 2 - get $1
buy 3 - get $2
buy 4 - get $3
Use the .50¢ off 2 coupon from the 8/10 insert to sweeten the deal

Kix Cereal (price unknown)
There is a .75¢ off coupon you can load to your card here
You can print a .75¢ off coupon from my side bar or here

Old El Paso Products
There is a $1.10 off coupon to load to your card here
You can combine this with the $1 off 2 coupon here or from the 8/10 GM insert
You should have a few options of things to choose from that will be free or close to free

Betty Crocker Boxed Potatoes (price unknown)
Use this $1 off 2 coupon
Load this .35¢ off coupon

Chex Mix Cereal Bars (price unknown)
Use this $1 off 2 coupon
Pair up with this .60¢ off coupon loaded to your card

Yoplait Kids Yogurt
Use this $1 off 2 coupon
load this .80¢ off 2 coupon to your card


Some good coupons:

Nestle Toll House
$1.50 off 1 bag of Toll House Morsels Click Here
*Note - you will either need to sign up or sign in to print this coupon

Johnson's Buddies
Use the $3 off 3 coupon from the 9/4 insert
Use this coupon at Kroger ONLY if they are .99¢ or less

Free Food and other Grocery Store Samples

Free Betty Crocker Potatoes
when you sign up for the Dinner Made Easy newsletter here

Free Betty Crocker Warm Delights Sample
Sign up for the newsletter here

Free Kashi Dark Chocolate Cookie
Click here to sign up yours (playing the game can get you another cookie, if you use a different email address)

Free Fruit and Nut Granola from Bear Naked
Click here to sign up

Free Gimbal's Gourmet Jelly Beans
Click here to sign up

Free Crest Whitening Expressions
Another great freebie from Walmart.com here

Benefiber Drink Mix Sticks
Click here to sign up

Try new Gain with Baking Soda Free
Click here for your sample

Free Sample of Tampax
Click here to sign up

Free Sample of Pledge Multi Surface Wipes
Click here for your sample

Free Fruit Roll Up Snack Sample
You will need to sign up for the Box Tops for Education Newsletter here

You will need to carry your groceries out in something..
Click here to sign up for a free reusable tote bag, and get a sample of Nature's Bounty Vitamins with it

Happy shopping and sampling!

Any advice?

Due to moving and the hurricane I have missed the opportunity to get the Sunday paper for 2 weeks in a row! I was already somewhat disappointed in myself for missing out for 2 weeks in a row, but I went to look at the Kroger ad and I realized that doing the match-ups this week will be really hard...

Do any of you know of a way to get those coupons I missed out on?

Couponizer Giveaway Winner

I am happy to announce the winner of the Couponizer. I am a couple days late for this because of reasons given in the previous blog entry.

The random Interger Generator picked entry #15, which corrosponds to:

Michelle

I have emailed you, please respond within 48 hours so I can get your address over to Amy.

I'm back in business

After a very long weekend dealing with hurricane issues, I am pleased to be back here blogging.

Hurricane Ike was only a category 2, but from the damage it caused, you probably would have thought a much worse storm had come through here. My love and I stayed with his father for the night of the hurricane. Early Saturday morning is when all the chaos started. Around 3:45 the winds picked up to about 80-90 mph in our neighborhood. The trees were nearly snapped in half with the high winds, but ended up only losing branches. A few shingles from our roof were torn off, and the entire back fence disappeared into the bayou behind the house. We lost power from 11:30ish Friday evening until Saturday afternoon.

After the curfew hours for that night expired we went back to our apartment to survey the damage. We had electricity, but no water. There was no flooding, or structure damage and our vehicles were unharmed. We were very concerned how the apartment was going to be since we just moved in and there is another complex being built next to ours. Almost all of the shingles were ripped from the roof, and many of the hardy plank boards were peeled from the walls leaving exposed wiring, insulation, and the interiors of the building visible. Thankfully though, the debris was not blown into our walls or windows, and it looked the same for the rest of the families that live around us.

We had no running water for 2 days (we had plenty of drinking water but we forgot to fill up our bathtub before we left, so there was a point where we were very concerned as how to flush the toilets and clean) and it was almost impossible to make a phone call. Although we had electricity, we had no cable or internet service. The gas station across the street as well as every other one with power has had a line of cars no less than 40 waiting to get gas for their cars and generators. Many gas stations actually had police directing traffic to the gas pumps.

We were very blessed during and after the storm. All the stocking up on groceries I had been doing paid off tremendously. We went out Sunday to the grocery stores that were open to get bread, milk, etc., but everything we needed was gone and the checkout lines were very long. Sunday we got up at 5am to get to Wal-Mart when they reopened the store. The store had been without power for a couple days by then, so all the dairy, meat, frozen foods and the produce department shelves were completely cleared off and it was all thrown away. We were told that our one location lost about $300,000 in food.

For those of you who are not in the area here are a few pictures of some of the damage:

Above: This is a statue on the Galveston Seawall in rememberance of the 6000 people who died from the stom in 1900. The Seawall is approx 17 feet tall, meaning that the storm surge came up our beaches, and up at least 12-17 feet high for the water to come up over this statue.

Above: This is a picture to show how the seawall normally looks. The wall doesn't look very tall here, but in person it's about 3x the average person's height.

Above: JP Morgan Chase Tower in downtown Houston, almost all the windows were blown out sounding like a million people breaking glass bottles on the ground at once.

Above: a huge tree that was uprooted in Houston

Hurricane Update

Hurricane Ike is approaching the Houston / Galveston coast, and that happens to be where I live. It is very likely that we will lose power for an undetermined amount of time.

I am still planning to do the drawing for the Couponizer on Saturday, but if I do not have power the drawing will be held as soon as I have power again.

Please pray for all those who will be affected by the hurricane.

Moving Update

Just wanted to quickly say that the move is going well despite a few rather large problems...

Some of those problems included:

•My love and I were sick with a severe cold. There was no time to rest this weekend, and I'm almost sure that is why we are still sick.

•No moving truck on moving day. This has been the first negative experience I've had with U-haul. We made our reservation for a 14' truck through their website and confirmed over the phone that the truck was guarenteed for that time/day. We went to pick it up, and guess what... no truck. They didn't have any smaller one's either. They wanted us to rent a 27' truck! The thing was a monster and most definately would not fit in the parking lot of the apartments. It's a great thing to have friends with trucks, we all worked together and got it done.

The only good thing that may come from U-haul this time would be $50 for not having a truck that they guarenteed to us. That probably won't come easy though as we will probably have to call the corporate office and complain. They claim they have the right to upgrade our reservation... we'll see about that. What good are reservations and guarentees for, if that location doesn't honor them.

•The garage we agreed to wasn't available (we are using that space as storage and for a place to put our deep freeze). We had the apartment for 2 days before they figured out what they were going to do about it and then we had to go through the hassle of having them program our gate openers with the garage door.

Hopefully tonight I will be able to get quite a few boxes out into the garage where they belong.

Those were only a few of the problems we had, but those were the ones that threw our schedule off completely.

Even though we had some problems, I still love our new home, and our friends dearly for helping all they could. I may or may not post a few pictures, it just depends on how fast things get unpacked.


Also, the cable and internet has not been installed yet. So I have no way of blogging, and checking email in the evening. The giveaway will still run as scheduled. Normal blogging should return next week.

It's time for my 2nd Giveaway!

Do all of you remember the last giveaway, where I gave away over 500 coupons? Well this time around I've teamed up with Amy Bergin to giveaway an amazing tool to organize all those coupons! We're giving away a Couponizer!





The Couponizer comes with:
•8" x 5 ¼” booklet with 18 grocery coupon pockets, 4 Non-grocery coupon pockets, 3 gift card/shopper loyalty sleeves, shopping pockets
•Shopping List – 20 page tear off list pad with cardboard backing
•CoupStacker – pre-sorting mat color coded to match the system pockets
•CoupTracker – 15 page spiral bound list pad with cardboard backing
•“Your Guide to Smart Savings” – instruction booklet with spending strategy and coupon tips
•Scissors – blunt tip
•Carrying Bag – clear vinyl zippered bag

The entry period will be from today until Friday, September 12th at midnight. The next day, I will use the Random Integer Generator from Random.org to choose the winner. I will post the winning number on the blog and send an email to the winner. He/She will have 48 hours to respond, or another number will be chosen.

Best of luck to all who enter!

If you cannot see the entry form above click here

Heads Up for Monday

I'm very excited to tell all of you that my second giveaway will be posted on Monday! Stay tuned to see what it will be, you will not be disappointed...

Yoplait Giveaway

Beth at Tea and Thee is Giving away this great Yoplait Gift Pack, all you have to do to enter to win is leave her a comment. Hurry though, this drawing ends Sept 8th at midnight.

Kroger Deals 9/3 - 9/9

Listed below are the best deals I see for this weeks Kroger ad.

There is a huge 10/$10 sale going on this week, included items are:

•Pringles, use the .30¢/3 coupon from the 8/31 PG insert, Final price = .70¢ per can wyb 3

•Kroger Tortilla Chips

•Chef Boyardee cans or microwaveable cups, use the .35¢/3 coupon from the 8/3 SS, Final price = .65¢ per can, or use the printable coupon here for $1 off 3, Final price = .66¢ per can

•Hunts pudding, use the .30/2 coupon from the 8/3 SS insert, Final price = .55¢ each

•Gatorade

•Kroger Hot dog or hamburger buns

•Private Selection Ice Cream

•Ice cream cones

•4oz cups of Haagan Daaz Ice Cream

•Kroger Microwave Pizza

•Hunts Ketchup

•French's Mustard, use this .50¢ off coupon here

•Little Debbie Snacks, there is a .75¢ off the Family pack muffins in the Sept issue of All You, Final price if this variety is included = .25¢

•Duncan Hines Brownie Mix

•McCormick Grinders

•Chicken of the Sea

•Kraft Easy Mac Cups, use the $1/2 coupon from the 8/24 SS insert, Final price = .50¢ea

•Clorox Bleach - load the .50¢ off coupon from Cellfire here, Final Price = .50¢

•Clorox Toilet Cleaner

•Bounty Basic Paper Towels - use the .25¢ off coupon from the 8/31 PG insert, Final price = .25¢

•Promised Land Milk 14oz

•Del Monte Fruit Cups

•Kroger Canned Pineapple

•Kroger Frozen Veggies

•French Bread (Baked in store)

•Pepsi, 7up and Dr. Pepper

•Armour Lunch Makers

•Rath or Jennie O Franks, use the .55¢ off Jennie O Scooby Doo Franks from the 6/8 SS insert, Final Price = .45¢

•Hormel Little Sizzlers

Other Deals I see are:

•Charmin (9 rolls) $3.99, use .25¢ off coupon and load the .50¢ off coupon here

Final Cost = $2.74 or .30¢ per roll

•Gorton's Frozen Seafood are 2/$8, use this .75¢/2 coupon

When you buy these 2 Gorton's Items, you also get 2 free Stouffer's Macaroni & Cheese (12oz) Dinners, Final Price = $7.25 for 2 Gorton's Items and 2 Mac n Cheese (or $1.81 for each item)

•Cocoa Puffs are 2/$4, use this .75¢ off coupon, Final cost = $1.25

•Healthy Choice Paninis are 4 for $10, buy 2 for $2.50ea and load this $1 off coupon to your Kroger Card and use this $1 off 2 coupon, Final Price = 2 for $3

•Tide laundry detergent is on sale for $5.99, pair up with the $1 off coupon from the 8/3 PG insert (it expires 8/31) and load the $1 off coupon from the Kroger website here, Final price = $3.99

•Downy Fabric Softener is also $5.99 use the $1 off coupon from the 8/24 RP insert and load the $1 off coupon here, Final price = $3.99

•Yoplait YoPlus yogurt is around $2.50, if you load this $2 off coupon to your plus card and use a $1 off coupon from the 8/10 GM insert, or the printable from this site, you will get it free plus overage

•You can load a $1.00 off any Private Selection Organic Item Coupon from ShortCuts.com. Last week I bought a can of P.S. Organic Black Beans for .69¢, and the loaded coupon still took $1 off.

•The $10 off a $50 purchase coupon from CellFire is still available until 9/8.

•Another really cool thing about CellFire is that the coupons can be used multiple times before they expire. Last week I loaded the $2 off Yo Plus coupon to my card and I used it, I logged in today and it is available for me to use again. The coupons I decided not to use are still loaded to my card.

Tips for moving inexpensively

I will be moving this weekend within the same city, and I decided I wanted to list some things that I have done or will be doing in order to cut down the expense of moving.

• Once you are certain that you will be moving, start asking friends and stores you shop at for boxes. Find out what days the store gets their truck, and see if they will save you boxes. Also, use Craigslist in the free section to find boxes.

Paying for boxes is one expense that can cost greatly, using free boxes is the easiest way to cut the cost.

• Before you pack everything you own, go through your clothes, shoes, closets etc. and see what you have that you don't want, need or use anymore. Have a garage sale, sell items on Craigslist, donate to friends, family or Goodwill, use freecycle or throw it away.

Having less stuff to move will lighten the load in the truck, using less gas and eliminating the need of multiple trips.

• Organize your boxes by labeling them. Write what room they belong in and which ones need to be opened first. Your time does equal money, and if your using a rental truck, every hour you have it is costing you also.

Pack things you will need right away into the boxes you open first. Having to go to the store for things you can't find right away adds to the expense. Pack things like toilet paper, your shower curtain AND hooks, toiletries, a change of clothes and pjs. The things you will need first will vary depending on your familys needs.

• Pack breakables the right way. Having to replace dishes and glassware are not inexpensive things to do. Use bubble wrap, packing peanuts or other items to pad breakable things. Greensheets are a good source of paper big enough to wrap fragile items in, and if you are like me, you should have a pretty big stack of newspaper. I buy 2 every week at the dollar store for the coupons and recycle the rest of the newspaper. You can even use clothes to wrap things if you run out of the other materials.

• Do you really need a moving company? See if friends and family can help you move instead of paying movers.

• If you don't have a truck or a friend willing to let you borrow one, you will need to rent a moving truck. There are a few companies to choose from. I have had very good experiences with U-Haul. The deck of the truck is the lowest to the ground vs. the other companies trucks, and have had the lowest rates. Consider moving during the week, the rates are lower and there are more trucks available then. Pack the truck as best as possible, utilizing all the room you have. You have to pay for the gas you use in these trucks so make as few trips as possible and try to rent one from a location close to you, and find out if you have to return it to the same location you rented from (most likely you will have to unless you are going across state lines)

Don't wait until the last minute to reserve a truck, or you might end up paying more than you wanted. Also, if for some reason you need to cancel your reservation, don't wait until the last minute or you will still get charged for something you didn't even use.

• Plan an easy dinner for your first night in your new place. Before you move from your old place to the new one pack a cooler with what you will have for dinner that night. More than likely, you will not want to make a complicated dish that involves a lot of time and need dishes that are still packed in boxes. Sandwiches or frozen pizza are easy and quick ideas for the first night.

You could always order pizza or get take out, but this post is about moving as inexpensively as possible. If your internet is working on the first night, consider ordering pizza online, and looking up coupon codes on Retailmenot.com

If you decide to eat out that night you might want to have a backup plan. As one of my friends found out when she moved into her apartment, the pizza places in that town stop delivering to all apartment complexes after 7pm.

• When setting up your electric, phone, cable etc. try using a website to compare prices. I used movehouston.com and now I will be getting a fantastic rate on my electricity, everything was done over the internet, and I am getting a $25 visa gift card for using that website.

Using a site like this, you can compare the rates of all the companies that serve that area, you can see the contract lenght, if there is one. You can see the cancellation fee, the price per Kwh, the company, and if it is a renewable source of energy all side by side to help you make the best choice.

These are just a few of the things that I do to make moving easier and less expensive.

Your turn: Do you have any tips for moving inexpensively? I want to hear your suggestions and stories from past experiences.

Free on Amazon this week:

Short list this week, but you can't complain when it's free...

Emancipated Minor by Ani Difranco

Being Here by The Stills

Angel Toes by Kristen Hall

Back from a long weekend!

I hope every one had a good holiday weekend! Through this coming week, I am not sure how much time I will be able to make for blogging. I'm moving this weekend, so the last of the packing and organizing will be done during every free minute I have.

Let's get into some goodies for the day:


Tomorrow FTD will be giving away FREE flowers in honor of Good Neighbor Day. This link will tell you more about this special day, and this link has the listing of all the participating locations.


There is a $2.25 off Silk soymilk coupon here. The chocolate variety is my favorite, and with it going on sale often, this will surely be a treat at .50¢ - .75¢ per quart!
**Update - As of this afternoon, it appears that this coupon is no longer available to print. Keep checking though as it might be a glitch.**


Free herb garden seeds here


Stuff a Cottonelle brand toy puppy to take home at Wal-mart on Sept 6th. Click here for more details


Get a free 5.3 oz cup of Oikos Greek Yogurt from StoneyField Farm here (refresh the page and it will print again)


Get a free sample of Cottonelle Moist Wipes here


Free Horizion Organic Milk Single Serve Sample


Free Tortured for Christ Book here