I have to keep telling myself that! If you're wondering where I've been....it's HERE:

This is what WAS our front porch! I'll spare you the details but, suffice it to say, one thing leads to another.

Anyhoo...since there are only so many warm days left, I'm getting a bit worried about getting this project done. I'm trying to work in the mornings and sand/paint in the afternoons.

Here we are with things getting even worse. Did I mention I'm the only one doing this? My husband is in harvest now, so the porch will remain that way until late August! lol Actually, I finally broke down and hired a young man to help sand, but he's working on the massive wall on the left side (that you can't see) This is all my "handiwork".

This is the nifty bench handy hubby made me so I can reach up to the corbels. Unfortunately, it is about six inches too short. I can reach everything except the front soffit board, which needs sanded as well. I'm just going to ignore it for now, though.  Oh!! And there are birds in that hole on the left, so we can't cover it up until the babies fly out. They freak me out because they rustle around when I'm working there and I always think they're going to come out and attack me - or Momma Bird is. She's not happy about this whole thing. But I'm not happy they're there, so we're even. lol We'd covered the rest of the holes w/fiberglass long ago and it held up well. This one still had a plug, which fell out.

 I painted the bottom front. Yay! I've decided that, for my mental stability as well as physical well-being (sanding is HARD, hot, dirty work!) I'll have to see progress and paint as I go.

Here are the colors. The body is Mochachino, trim is Chocolate Cupcake, Accents are Port and Porch rails and inside windows are Creamy White.

I actually got the body coat on the top front last night. Between MORE sanding, scrubbing the filthy corbels and moulding, priming and painting, I was on the porch from 2 - 8:30 pm!! I didn't take a pic yet, because it doesn't really look that good w/o the window trim done. Today is shot with activities, but I' hoping to get the rest of the top completely done this weekend. May be overambitious, but one can hope! lol Actually, my family was making fun of me last night because I wouldn't come in until I had the front painted.

There are times when a small house would be infitely more desirable. This is one of those times. :-) Still, I know that by doing this ourselves we are saving between $20,000 and $30,000. (Is that CRAZY or what??!! I think I'm in the wrong business. No. I wouldn't want to do this for a living)

Print off a coupon for free 22 oz Zout at www.trymefree-zout.com

~D

I will admit that I'm questioning my sanity a tad bit, but it looks like I'm now committed! I will be attending a homeschool conference in San Diego for our business, Trigger Memory Systems. But the "real" point of the trip is to sneak in a vacation that can be a partial business write-off. Unfortunately, hubby (who works in agriculture) can't get away in the Spring, which is when all the conventions are. This means that the three youngest and I will me making the trip. I roped my 18 year old into coming along for childcare and driving support as well.

In all honesty, I hate road trips and wanted to fly. I even found round trip tickets for $200! Three hours and we're there. Would you believe that ALL four kids want to DRIVE!!?? I made the mistake of mentioning that if we drove we could stop and see San Francisco and now they're not willing to pass up on that opportunity. (I thought the adventure of a plane ride would outweigh SF, but I guess not)

So....the trip will now be much longer than anticipated and I'm doing all kinds of searching for the best deals on hotels and entertainment. In the process of securing inexpensive lodging, I came across a new  hotels reservation site. TravelHERO.com helps you find hotels and make reservations for your next trip. If you’re looking for a service that provides discount hotel reservations as well as helping you reserve a car, check out TravelHERO.com. 

Another great bargain is the CityPass, available in most large cities. The one for San Diego saves you a bundle on admission to over five major attractions including the San Diego Zoo, Disneyland, Sea World and more. Better yet, I've since discovered that you can buy a discounted CityPass online for Costco.com Be sure and check it out if you'll be visiting a larger city this spring/summer.

I may, indeed, be biased, but the Schoolhouse Store is a great place to look for curriculum, games, home ec/homesteading items because of the FREE SHIPPING! That's right. No matter how much you buy (US only) you don't pay a dime in shipping. That's a deal that's hard to beat!

For more great online shops check out Rocks in My Dryer.

This looks like a nice one, too. These are the kinds of things I stock up on through the year and then use as stocking stuffers in Dec.  Free Schick Quattro Titanium Razor sample, while supplies last. If successful, you should get the message “Thank you for signing up! Your free razor is on its way!”. I just did it and it worked fine. Enjoy!

Your computer, that is. Last night I stumbled upon this site with really nice free computer wallpapers. I went with the daisy & clouds but have a feeling I'll be changing it soon since I like them all. Take a peek HERE. For some reason, when I paste in thumbnails they show in my preview pane but not on my actual blog. Therefore, you'll just have to trust me and go check them out. You won't be sorry. They are gorgeous!  See them HERE.

The last wallpaper I had was from Real Simple Magazine HERE. I like them as well. They all have a simple picture and daily thought. Here's the one I had.

And the one before that I had from HERE. They all have a scripture verse to go with the picture and some even have calendars. Some samples:

So there you go. Should give you lots of goodies to browse and help stave off the winter doldrums. I'm going to categorize this under Frugal Living. What's more frugal than free decorating?

And those Jamocha shakes are YUMMY!! Print coupon here.

http://www.arbysfinest.com/coupies/

Another I've used is the $5 off a Polly Pocket toy. Some sell for only $5 at Walmart. These are great for Operation Christmas Child or your gift closet.

http://www.mattel.com/PollyPromise/

Amazingly, both are good through Dec. 31

I was going to label this post "de-flowering the living room" but somehow that just didn't sound right.

When I first moved into our 1880's Victorian fixer-upper, 17 years ago, I went more with the traditional Victorian style, though it's really not me. (I left a modern kahki/black/white decor  with Ansel Adam photos and even a black laquer table) I love our home, and won't change the floral wallpapered (very Victorian) formal dining room, but I'm definitely ready for a (cheap!) change in our family room/eat-in kitchen. I have a long range plan in mind that, because of both time and finances will have to be implemented in increments. I got a good start this weekend and got rid of the flowers. Yay!!

Here is the before:

And here is the "in progress" . I took down both the valances. The wallpaper in the bookcases was painted over in yellow. (Looks brighter in the picture than it is) I exchanged the floral rug and "lost' the floral wing chair.

The valances I chose for the smaller windows won't work so I need to come up with something different. I'd love to use the fabric in the placemats (below) but that didn't work. I'll probably do some kind of roman or roller shade. I will paint the green moulding white to match the rest of the house.

The bookcases are to be a dark chocolate, but the hardware store mixed two gallons for me - both of which turned out like chocolate milk. Not what I'm wanting. Oh well, I'll do those later. Snafu's are just part of the experience. :-)  I am also going to paint the top of the coffee table dark chocolate.

The green in the bookcases is actually doable, but I'm trying to get away from the hunter green/burgundy thing. Moving more to a chili pepper red/sage green/creamy yellow with the dark brown. You can't really see them but there are now large, chocolate brown (SUPER cushy) pillows on the couches. Eventually, I'd like to switch out the painting above the fireplace for a large architectural detail. I'll have to wait until I find something I like, though.

Another before:

And here is the "in progress":  I do now have ONE brown panel hanging from the window. lol I bought very rich, chocolate brown super thin-wale courderoy panels but they were too short. I returned them and they only had ONE long enough panel in stock. I bought it and the other is on raincheck. The one does look nice, though. lol I really loved the curtains above when I made them. I'm just really ready for something more clean and modern.

The colors in the placemats are what I'm moving toward. I'd like dh to make a large oval mdf tabletop to fit over this one, making it larger than what it is. I'll paint the table, eventually, too.

I've still got a long way to go (and who knows when I'll next have a chance to do anything) but I do like it much better, already. I'll keep you updated as I make progress.

Check out the "Save the Farm, Bless the Preacher, Drought Sale", being offered by Penny Raine of Home Sweet Home. You can help out the Raine's and get a great bargain on homemaking resources at the same time. Penny refers to this as their Home~Sweet~Home package. 

Do at least look and see what is offered. It is a bargain price for the amount of resources and goes to a good cause. Plus, if you read through the description you'll find download links for Penny's holiday recipes, cookies, pies, etc. that you can take advantage of even without purchasing the set!

Included in this package is:

The Perfect Cure for Everything Chocolate Cookbook

37 Cookbook Set

Make-Ahead Batters from Crystal Paine

Bible Teacher's CD (SIX YEARS of Bible lessons)

Horse Picture Postcard downloads

Stories From the Funny Farm E-Book

50 States Unit Study Notebook

Cowboy 10 Commandments Coloring Book

My Favorite Horses Coloring Book

The Internet Scavenger Hunt

Keeping Young Ones Happy and Occupied During School Time audio mp3 download

Life in the Country Word Search Puzzles E-Book

50 My Home Sweet Home Repo Lists

Raine Family Recipes

With My Very Life, a novel by Lynda & Becky Coats

See details HERE

This is a re-post, but I'm not feeling creative and it was posted long ago. I thought I might be able to pull off sharing it again.

Here's a fun way to make inexpensive but cute house numbers using a platter. I got this platter at the Dollar Store for......$1.  It's blue/white and matches our house colors. We went forever without house numbers because I knew I wanted to do this but wanted it to be "just right". I wanted to paint light blue numbers to match the platter and be, oh so pretty. Granted, that WILL look much better but I finally realized I'd better do something to help out the UPS man until I finally get around to my "big plans". So I bought some of those cheap, rectangular stick-on house numbers at Walmart and then just cut around the numbers and stuck them on.

Doesn't look as nice as painted blue ones, but the reality is, who knows when and if I'll ever get to that. As it is, it's still more creative than regular old numbers. Quick & easy, too! Be creative in considering what kind of plate, platter....whatever to use. You could even change with the seasons. You can always find a nice seasonal dish or platter at the second hand store.

And, as I've learned in my old age:

Not everything worth doing is worth doing well!!

Sometimes it's best just to DO something. Come back later and fix it if you have time but don't let perfection stand in the way of progress. Learn what needs to be perfect and what doesn't!

To see more Works for Me Wednesday ideas visit Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer.

Well! I'm finally seeing some converts to frugal shopping! lol My partners were inspired by my last big deal and gave it a try. You can see Jennie in action HERE. Cracks me up that they thought to take pictures at the store! lol

I also belong to a message board of ladies that started when I was pregnant with my youngest (now six). Their comments (arguments/excuses) have really helped me think through what I do and whether or not it's worth it. (Now several of them are trying the "deals", by the way) This really helped me in my presentation last week for the local Christian Connection Women's Club through Stonecroft Ministries. I got to be the Special Feature. I hope to share some of my points in bits and pieces in future blog posts.

I was afraid most of the women wouldn't be interested as they tend to be older ladies who don't have families at home. However, I was pleasantly surprised. They were even taking notes and asking questions. I actually had to force a stop so we could have time for the main speaker. If I could find the time, I would love to give classes, but I don't see that happening any time soon.

However....there is a good freebie this week. Actually, today is the last day, so hurry! Albertson's has Scott toilet paper on sale for $1. There are coupons for $1 off from Sunday inserts but my store had coupons in a blinkie machine right in front of the TP. Well....I should say, 'where the TP should have been'. When I shopped on Sat they were sold out. No biggie! Go in today, grab some coupons and ask for a rain check if they're sold out. Then go back in later and get your toilet paper!

Happy Shopping!

When I had more time for couponing I did the full Coupon Binder thing. Cutting out all the coupons I might use and putting them, by category, in a binder with baseball-card type holders. This was a nice way to quickly and easily see what you had. I could take my binder with me and take advantage of clearance items or unanticipated specials.

Note: My binder was never this organized or fancy, but you get the idea. (Cool idea above, though) However, I did once lose my binder - PANIC! - and got a call from the store (my name/number were inside). When I went to retrieve it the manager laughingly bowed to me calling me the queen of coupons. At least she was impressed!  (You can find this fancy set-up here, however I just made my own) But I digress...

Since time is now a precious commodity, I no longer do the full-fledged coupon thing.  Now I simply put all my inserts for the week in a manila file folder and write the date in pencil at the top. I keep these folders stacked in a rolling cart drawer. When it's time to gather coupons I check the Grocery Game (please use wood7 & charter.net as the referral if you decide to join) website and Refundcents and just go to the week the coupon is mentioned, clip just the coupons I need and head to the store. Quick and easy and I still get the majority of the savings.

For more Works For Me Wednesday Tips be sure and visit Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer.

I think I just had my best shopping day ever. (Good thing because I have a cold and feel horrible - this made it worthwhile) I just spent $136 on $466 worth of groceries! I saved over $330!! Even the checker commented that he thought it was the best savings he'd ever seen.

First...I made a "mini" purchase to make sure the deals were working. I bought the below and went through the self-check.

I purchased 5 Post Cereals (any kind that are part of the 5/$10 sale) This will take $3 off, giving you the five  boxes for $7. I had two $1 off two coupons, bringing my total to $5. I then requested the free milk coupon (when you buy five boxes of cereal) I thought they would give me a coupon for my next purchase, but they just gave me a free gallon of milk. I then paid my $5 and the Catalina spit out two coupons for $6 off my next purchases. Yup, all the above for $1 profit!! If I lived in town, I'd use the $6 coupons and do the deal over, getting everything totally free. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

The majority of my purchases were the Quaker items on sale. They had granola bars, breakfast bars, oatmeal, granola bites, etc. for 10/$15. They take off $5 for every 10, making them $1 each. I had some coupons for $1 off, making the item free and others for 50 cents off, making the product 50 cents. Post and Quaker cereal is also on sale. My haul took two carts and included quite a bit of meat that was also on sale as well as several non-sale items. So...exactly what did I get for $136?

(3) 4 lb rump roasts

5.5 lbs Hamburger

Pork Ribs

Pork Chops

Lg Tray Chicken Drumsticks

Tide (30 use)

Gallon 1% Milk

Bread

Hamburger Buns

2 tubs Foster Farms deli turkey meat

13 boxes Quaker Instant Oatmal (including Weight Control)

27 boxes Quaker granola bars

4 boxes Quaker granola bites

3 boxes Quaker Muffin bars

3 boxes Quaker Breakfast cookies

5 boxes Honey Bunches of Oats cereal

5 Post shredded wheat cereal

2 liter Diet Pepsi

10 Yoplait yogurts

Quart Juicy Juice Apple Juice

2 Tony's Pouches

Instant Idahoan Potatoes (only cuz they were free)

Doritos

Coffee

Bagels

Oreos (on sale and $1 off with milk purchase - of course, the milk was free - Ha!)

Junior Mints

Gummi Worms

Cream Cheese

2lb block of Cheddar

2 pomegranates

4lbs bananas

iceberg lettuce

green leaf lettuce

bag spinach

2.5 lbs gala apples

2 onions

15 lbs potatoes

2.5 lbs green grapes

2 lbs red grapes

2 lb broccoli

This does not include the items in the "mini trip" mentioned above.

Are you convinced yet? It really IS worth the 30 minutes I spent online and the 30 minutes gathering coupons to save $330!!!  This is all stuff we will use. And I shouldn't have to pay full price before the next great deal when I'll get it all for cheap again. If you can get to the point when you are always buying the bulk of your food at sales prices you'll definitely notice the difference.

Whew! We had a wonderful vacation and I made it through the first week of catch-up at work. Even managed to clean house a bit today and FINALLY helped Paige sew up the dress fabric we'd purchased last month. Yes, I know it 's a summer dress. Still, she can wear a shirt under it. (And I was able to work on my laundry pile while she sewed it)

After we finished her dress I decided to whip one up for her doll. I'd chopped the top off a turtleneck T-shirt I was throwing away, knowing it would come in handy. We decided to attach the skirt to the ribbing top to make a dress. Took a total of 15 minutes. (or less) I even made another "top" for her doll to wear with other outfits.

It turned out pretty cute.

On day 2 I got started around 11, but then took a trip to Home Depot which knocked several hours out of the day. We had debated replacing the carpet, sanding & painting the floor or ....??? The floor was old wood, but had big gaps and holes. Fortunately, at Home Depot we found a plank vinyl that attaches to itself rather than the floor. (That would NEVER have worked on this floor) The stuff seems extremely durable and sticks like mad.

Day two got the walls painted and enough of the flooring down to put the shelves (purchased for $10 each at a yard sale, years ago) back in place before the kids got home. We had them perched unsafely at the top of the stairs.

See this hole??!! I took the grate out when I was rolling up the carpet and forgot about it only to fall in later! That'll wake ya right up. Fortunately, the paint on the wall I grabbed was wet enough to fix! lol

Whew!! Safely back in place!

End of Day 2. Not finished the way I'd envisioned. But it's starting to come together.  Did I mention it was HOT!!! Super hot - upstairs - no air conditioning. And did I mention I'm so sore! Crawling around on the floor is NOT a good thing to do at my age!

My kids came home thrilled and excited. However, they had to be totally in the middle of the goins-on today. It does make things more difficult, but I have to appreciate how excited they are. They were good for running for tools and hauling out  trash. My six year old said, "When people come to our house they are going to be amazed!" I love how excited they get. lol

I did wrap up the floor except for a few pieces I left for dh. I'm terrible w/measurements and we have some weird chimney angles and such. Still, I got it mostly down and did some more painting. I still have to paint our door and put a second coat of blue on a couple of walls. Then it's decorating fun. I have some old plates made into "couples" that my Grandma gave me. Then I'd found two more sets at yard sales. I think I can put a plate above each door. (Of course, I can't find them now!) I'll do some searching tomorrow and work on decor. Need to paint the handles on the dresser. I found a baby quilt of mine that perfectly covered the top of the "circuit breaker hole" then found dh's to add. I've since added my Kindergarten quilt on the other side. Good, cheap decor. Looks cute and very "vintage".

I can't believe I bought a whole gallon of the red/pink and then only did the dresser fronts. I'm going to paint the bench top red. I'd initially intended to do the door panels but now I think it'll look too "clowny". I'd like to do some words around the top of the wall. Probably in white, though.  Other ideas?  Whaddaya thnk? Other than the paint and flooring this is a "use what you have" project.

It's still not perfect. The ceiling needs done, the walls are in bad shape and there is no moulding. The shelves are cheap, etc. BUT, it looks neat and clean and fun and was well worth a weekend's work!

Every year my mil takes my kids for a week and I try to accomplish one of my home projects. This year, I was so busy with work, that I almost didn't get one done. However, come Friday I decided to get supplies to paint our upstairs hallway. I've put it off since the drywall is in poor shape, plus it needs cut out from around the doors so we can put up moulding. Makes total sense, right? Why fix it up just to have it ruined?

The problem is that I've lived with it this way for about 15 years. And it still doesn't look like it's a top priority. So...I decided to at least make it feel clean and to have some fun with it. Our main bathroom, laundry room and bedrooms are upstairs so no one but family (or kids' friends) go up there. I decided to play around a bit.

The before shots actually look a bit better than the hall  really looked. They don't show how dingy the carpeting was or how grungy the walls were. There's also a big hole in the wall behind the laundry hampers where the circuit breakers are. (Covered with a piece of fabric). AND this shot was after I cleaned it out several weeks ago. There was large industrial shelving on the left that was always full of junk (tools and such). The hall seemed so roomy (nearly 8' wide) that I decided to perk it up a bit more.

Here are the Before shots.

From Master Bedroom looking toward stairs.

Looking from stairs down hall

Coming up the stairs

Things didn't move along nearly as quickly as I'd hoped. By the end of Day 1 I'd only painted the dresser and bench (dresser took a lot of sanding and many coats of paint) and mudded/sanded a bit on the walls. I had to slap some blue up to keep me inspired for Day 2.

Each Magazine below is between $3 and $5 for a one year subscription at Amazon.com! There is a $5 instant rebate for all subs ordered in July that will show when you checkout. Can't beat that!! Enjoy!! (And think gifts, too!) Click on magazine to go to link.

Teen Magazine $4.95

Related Tags: cheap subscriptions, magazines, good housekeeping, harper's bazaar, seventeen, teen, redbook, discount subscriptions

Below is the type of info you'll receive in emails after signing up for RefundCents.com  From the below, you'll know what coupons to look for. FREE CHOCOLATE??!! I'm there!!

FAR means "Free After Rebate" .  If you buy the Excedrin, there will be a rebate form in the coupon insert to mail in to get your $$ back. You "might" even be able to find free pet food this week.

Refundcents really does save you a ton of time! (Not to mention - help you get free chocolate!)

"The coupon preview is up for this coming Sunday. There will be a Hershey’s Cacao Reserve Bar, Bag or Tin FREE up to $2.99 (7-29-07) in the SmartSource insert -- let's hope everyone gets it. There is also a FAR refund: Excedrin Back & Body Rebate Offer up to $4.99 (mail-in) (10-31-07) and Northern Quilted Bath Tissue Cosmetic Bag Set Offer (mail-in + $1.99 Shipping) (10-15-07)
There will also be a Purina Naturals Plus Vitamins & Minerals Dry Cat Food $1 (9-30-07) coupon. The small pouch goes on sale for $1.29, and sometimes even 10/$10 at Kroger stores. I'm not totally sure the $1 coupon will be good on any size but let's cross our fingers."

Related Tags: frugality, coupons, cheap groceries, grocery savings, refundcents  

I used to cut out all coupons, go through all the store ads and basically considered couponing/saving money my "job". I mean, really, I can go out and work for five hours, away from my home, or I can save $50 on my grocery bill. The amount of additional $$ is the same. Actually, there's a greater benefit to saving over earning as you aren't taxed on the income. :-)

Between grocery savings, yard saling (often to re-sell at a profit) and thrift shopping, I always considered it a challenge to see just how well we could live on very little. You'd be surprised! And really,  attitude is half (probably more!) the battle in saving money. If you can consider it your job, and an enjoyable challenge, you'll do much better than the person who is depressed and groaning about what they "can't afford".

Now that I homeschool, work full-time and have my own business, I just don't have the time to invest in couponing the way I used to. In fact, I quit completely for awhile. However, I started back up a few months ago and have already saved hundreds of $$ with minimal effort and time invested. There are a couple of  websites that are a great help when you're strapped for time. I'll share them below.

I also want to say that many folks think coupons aren't worth it because they are not using "multiples". That is the key. When an item goes on sale and has a corresponding coupon, making it 50% or more off, buy as many as you can. I generally have around 10 coupons for a given item. Then you don't need that item again until it's back on sale (there's a cycle). Eventually, you'll find yourself buying 80% or more of your groceries on sale. This translates into HUGE savings and is often called the Pantry Principle.

So, how do you get multiple coupons? There are several ways. First, ask friends to save the inserts from their Sunday papers. You should be able to get 4-5 that way, at least. If you belong to a Mom's group or Bible study, maybe you can ask the members to bring theirs in for you when you meet. You can also see if C-stores or groceries will let you take the inserts from the papers they throw out on Monday morning. Most will gladly oblige. If you're more daring, check the recycling dumpster. I get mine from a friend who cooks at our jail. They don't give the inmates ads, so she keeps the inserts for me. Every once in awhile I come across a deal where I get a bunch of freebies and I give her some as a "thank you".

So, what are these websites:

First is RefundCents This site is really a "must-have". Sign up for the paid online membership. A 3 month online subscription is only $4 and you'll make back more than that the first week. The magazine is inspiring and fun to read but not necessary (unless you need ongoing motivation).  Once you subscribe, you'll have access to the full site. Some places you'll want to use on the site:

-If you're new to couponing, check out the FAQ's and Learn the Lingo under the "Help" category. (lower right).  These will help you figure out what you're doing and get you started.

-The next stop is Michelle's Updates under "From the Editor" (upper left). Each day Michelle updates the good deals. Now, you'll want to watch out here. Many of these are good internet buys and can have you spending $$ you wouldn't have otherwise. While these can be a great way to get very inexpensive gifts, be careful that you don't end up buying things you don't need.

-Third is Centsible Chat under From the Readers. This is the "meat" though it can be a bit overwhelming. Here is where readers share the good deals they've found. Many of the posts don't apply to my area. We don't have many of the stores and our stores don't double coupons. However, the BEST bargains and freebies will be found here. Sometimes I will find someone posting about "the Albertson's deal" and not know what they are referring to. In that case I hit the "ctrl" and "f" key on my keyboard to bring up a search box. I think type the word "Albertsons" in the search and it takes me to all the posts containing that word. Before long, I've figured out what the deal is and, often, several variations. I generally read Centsible Chat with a Wordpad document open. I cut pertinent info and paste it into the document to print out later. That way, I can see if I have coupons and remember what to look for when I'm in the stores, later.

-Each week Rite Aid and Walgreens also have Free After Rebate items that are great deals. Rite Aid's can be done online and is a piece of cake. These can be found under the "Hot Deals" category, with their respective headings. Michelle prepares a list of all the combined rebate/coupon items so you can quickly scan through and find what you need. And don't forget - if they're out of the item when you go in, ge a raincheck for the sale price and pick it up later in the month. It'll still qualify for the monthly rebate and be free.

-Another great asset under Hot Deals is the View All Sunday Coupons link. Here, you can use the "find" feature mentioned above to search for a specific coupon. If Hot Pockets are on sale, you can quickly search to see if there is a coupon out for them. The list will tell you the date and source of the coupon. Here we only get SmartSource (SS) and often, don't have all the coupons listed, so it can be frustrating. However, at least I know where to look and it's worth it when we do!

This is probably more than a good start. lol Next time I'll share my other "cheat" website and discuss organizing coupons.

Visit RefundCents HERE. Oh, and DO sign up for their Hot Deals newsletter. That way you'll get the Hot Deals without even checking the site. The newsletter always reminds me that I need to check the site.

Happy Shopping!

Related Tags: frugality, frugal, coupon, grocery savings, saving money, refundcents, cheap groceries

I got groceries yesterday (at 8pm, since that's the only time I could get away - and this is 20 miles fromhome!) and noticed a few good Albertson's deals that should be good for another day or two. Thought I'd share.

First, Kraft Mac N' Cheese is on sale for 4 for $3. Then, there's a promotin going where $8 comes off your bill if you purchase 12 Kraft items. So, buy 12 Mac N' Cheeses and you'll be charged $9. Then, $8 will come off your bill. So....12 boxes of Kraft Mac N' Cheese (even the fancy spider man kind!) for only $1. Unbeatable!  Unfortunately, my kids don't care for Mac N' Cheese. Oh well. Still makes a nice food bank donation, if nothing else.

Secondly, the bags of shredded Kraft cheese are on sale 2/$4. These are normally about $3.99 each. (And I would never buy them! lol) There are coupons in a little red box (called a "blinkie") right by the cheese for $1 off 3. So...buy 12 cheeses.  You'll be charged $24. You'll use four $1 off coupons, leaving you at $20. Then, they $8 will come off automatically, leaving you with a final total of $12. So, $1 for each bag of cheese, which is really unbeatable. I got Mozarella, Swiss, Mexi, Colby/Cheddar, Parmesan. These freeze well and will be great to have on hand.

In fact, I may get another batch when I'm in town tomorrow. I'm guessing these go off sale Wednesday.

Note: Both $8 credits came off when I went through the register so no need to make more than one run. (Unless you want to make sure it's working in your area. They should have signs by the products, though)