Saving Myself Silly: July 2011

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Dash4Cash: Monday Night 9 Eastern/ 8 Central

Tomorrow night I will be teaming up with several other bloggers (56 as of last count) to bring you this week's Dash 4 Cash. This game will be played on facebook. The way it works is that you will have 1 hour, beginning at 9 PM Eastern (8 Central), to enter on each blogger's facebook page. If you played last time, there are a lot of new bloggers who have joined us, so that means even more prizes!

Most of us will have a "Dash 4 Cash" tab, but some were having trouble renaming theirs, and so the tab will say "Welcome".

You must like each blogger's facebook page to enter, but once you have liked them all, you may enter additional times through each person's facebook page, (this is where the "Dash" part comes in).

You may get a head start "liking" all of the pages by visiting the Dash 4 Cash tab on my page. This will not count as an entry, though, because it will not open until the pre-set time tomorrow evening.

This week there will be Mystery Prizes!

I will be posting reminders on my facebook page as the time approaches, so make sure you are following me!

Week 2: $25 CVS Gift Card Challenge Saved 99%

$25 CVS Gift Card Challenge

Last week I told you about Week 1 of my $25 CVS Gift Card Challenge sponsored by Cheryl at Simply CVS.

This morning I woke up FAR too early and I couldn't get back to sleep. I finally decided to get up and go grab my paper off the front lawn and see what coupons it contained.

I usually wait until Sunday to plan my CVS adventures because it seems to me (and today was certainly no exception) that drugs stores like to have their sales go along with the newly issued coupons. They even put little symbols in their ads to let you know that there is a coupon that you can use on that item.

When I flipped through my coupon inserts this morning, I quickly recognized several items that I had known would be on sale because of this weeks ad-scan preview at Simply CVS.

There are probably several items that previously had coupons available that I missed, but I decided that I wanted to hurry up and make my trip in the morning before we had to leave for church, so I clipped out a few just from this week's paper, and those were the only coupons I used this trip. That means that if you are new to drug store shopping, and want to get started, this is a good week to do it!

Here is what I bought this morning (I wanted to get the Bic Soliel Women's Razor, but they were none on the shelf. That change in my plan actually made me spend much less):

1 Gillette Fusion Proglide (These are my husband's favorite, so I pick up one whenever I can): $9.99

--Used $4.00/1 from 7/31 PG (Get $5 ECBs)

1 Colgate Sensitive Pro-Relief $4.99

--Used $1.50/1 from 7/31 SS (Get $3 ECBs)

2 Skinny Cow Bars @ $0.99 each

--Used BOGO from 7/31 RP (Get $0.99 ECBs -limit 1)

1 Kotex U Pantiliner $1.49 on my receipt

-Used FREE product coupon that printed from the scanner this morning (I notice $1.77 *the upper limit* was actually deducted)

Total Shelf Price: $21.25

Total Sale Price: $18.45

Price After Coupons listed Above: $10.19

Paid with $10 of my ECBs from last week: $0.19 + $0.09 tax = $0.28 OOP and I got back $8.99 in ECBs to use next time (plus $2 left from last week for $10.99 total). That's a 99% Savings!

If you are keeping track:

Simply CVS

Week 1: Spent $5.10 OOP on $39.61 worth w/ $12 ECBs remaining

Week 2: Spent $0.28 OOP on $ 21.25 worth w/ $10.99 ECBs remaining.

Total: $5.38 spent on $60.86 worth of products

Total remaining: $19.62 + $10.99 in ECBs.

If you are planning on shopping at CVS this week, Cheryl can help you get the most out of your trip. I tend to focus on her Extra Bucks deals (since those are the ones that pay you back to shop), but she also has great coupon match-ups for grocery items, household items, and even BOGO items and $1 or less items.

Look carefully through her lists if you have a supply of older coupons, because there are some I noticed that came out before this morning for the same items that were higher in value.

One Last Reminder: Get Your Coupons Printed

It's the last day of the month, so make sure you head over to these places and print any you will need because they may not be around tomorrow:

Coupon Network

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Dinner From This Weeks Deals: Pork.....Stir Fry??

Tonight my husband is working, and I don't usually attempt coming up with new meals while he is away, but since my freezer is empty, I kind of had no choice. That, and I've had both a pancake dinner and an egg dinner already this week. ;)

Plus, I had a pack of pork chops thawed in the fridge that really needed to be cooked. I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do with them, but they weren't very neatly chopped, so I decided to cut them up in chunks and cook them that way. I wasn't exactly sure where I was going with it, but I had something Asian-y in mind.

I had quite a few distractions while I was slicing up raw pork. My just barely 2 year old (her birthday was Tuesday) is ~~quiet~~ (typo, or wishful thinking??) quite the mischievous and opportunistic one. She can always tell when I cannot stop what I'm doing to stop what she's doing, so she takes full advantage of that. Luckily, I have a 5 year old...("Ugh, your sister has the mustard! Now's she's running off with the chili powder. Can you get that yogurt from her and close the refrigerator?....you get the idea).

Once I was finally able to get the meat into the pot, I seasoned it up and began looking around for things to add to it. I found half a bottle of Kikkoman stir fry sauce in my refrigerator, so I dumped that into the pot. I thought I had some frozen broccoli, but I didn't. I did find some baby carrots and a bell pepper that was about to go bad in the crisper, so I added those to the pot as well.

I made some rice to toss it over, and I think it came out pretty tasty!

Here is the cost break down:

1 lb pork (lowest price this week $0.99/lb at El Rancho) =$0.99

1/2 bottle of stir fry sauce (paid about $1 for it) = $0.50

1/2 bag of baby carrots ($0.69/bag at Aldi this week) = $0.35

1 bell pepper (Fiesta and Tom Thumb have them 2/ $1) = $0.50

2 cups rice ( 1/2 of the 1lb bag that I paid $0.19 for) =$0.10

Total: $2.44

What's the tastiest meal you've ever tossed together at the last minute?

Join Pampers Gifts To Grow And Earn Rewards

If you have not signed up for the Pampers Gifts to Grow program yet, you can do so my clicking on the image above. This is a great program for parents that rewards all of your Pampers purchases with points that can be redeemed for more pampers products or other great prizes.

You get 100 FREE points just for signing up!

My House Needs Me

Hello everyone! I just wanted to get up a quick post this morning to warn you that I might be pretty quiet this weekend. I've been putting a ton of time in my blog lately, and my house is certainly missing me. I'm not just talking about messes either.

All that freezer cooking I'm always talking about doing.....

Those top two shelves are usually filled, and I was cooking a week's worth about once a week so that there were at least a month's worth of meals in the freezer at any given point in time, but as you can see I'm down to a soup, a spaghetti sauce, and some taco meat.

I have some uncooked meat in there at the bottom, but I need to figure out what to make with it, which brings me to my second dilemma: I have no idea what is in here:

So, I need to go through the pantry, and organize and inventory it. Once I see what I have on hand I will be able to hopefully put together some meals that will not require me going out to buy more ingredients (I would be dipping into next week's grocery budget).

Then there is also the matter of needing a clean pot to cook in, so I should tackle the pile of them that is in my sink. And let's not even talk about the laundry...=/

You guys have a great weekend! Score lots of great deals and come back and tell me all about them. I'm off to get my life back together. See you on Monday! I hope to have a success story to tell you about and a menu plan to share. =)

Friday, July 29, 2011

$0.75/1 Philadelphia Cooking Creme

There is another great coupon tonight for $0.75/1 Philadelphia cooking creme.

This stuff is soo yummy, and it's on sale quite often, so grab this one now and keep your eyes peeled for a sale! It might be gone by Monday

Thanks, Pays 2 Save

New Coupon: $1/4 Libby's Canned Vegetables & End Of Month Reminder

Coupons.com has a great new coupon that just popped up for $1.00 off 4 Libby's canned vegetables.

Grab this one right away, as it may not still be available come August 1st. Be sure to print any others that are available to you still as well, because they may be disappearing with the start of the new month as well.

This Libby's coupon will be a great one to have as we go into the fall season. Fresh fruits and vegetables will be scare and they will begin putting canned good on sale, and that is a great time to stock up for the winter, so hurry and print this one while you still can.

Thanks, Nifty Thrifty Savings

Sunday Coupon Preview 7/31: 3-4 Inserts!!!

This is going to be the weekend to get extra newspapers! There will be at least 3, possibly 4 coupons inserts (I'm hearing differing reports). You should expect a Proctor & Gamble Insert, a SmartSource Insert, and at least 1 Red Plum Insert (maybe 2)!

It looks like there are beginning to be a lot of "getting ready for back to school" type coupons out there. And those do not include just school supplies. Everything from toothpaste, to snacks and cereal and bandaids!

Head over here and check out the details!

Introducing The Frugal Friday Recipe Hop

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Today I have joined up with a great group of bloggers to bring you the Frugal Friday Recipe Hop. For our first installment, we have decided to go with an Italian theme.

The idea for this series came from a progressive dinner. A progressive dinner is a party in which each successive course is prepared and eaten at the residence of a different host. It's a frugal and fun way to share meals with friends that has been around for decades, perhaps even centuries. Because each person is only responsible for preparing one course of the meal, it can be very frugal for everyone involved. The travel and company of sharing the meal at different residences makes it entertaining and fun. Plus, it's a great way to pick up new recipes, tips, and ideas.

With the help and expertise of some other fantastic women bloggers, we've decided to host a virtual progressive meal (ours will actually last all day, including breakfast, snacks, and beverages!). Hopefully, you will find this virtual progression to be fun, as well as a great resource for finding new bloggers to follow for frugal recipe ideas.

I am including the entire daily menu in this post (at the bottom), along with the links for each course. Each blogger has contributed a favorite recipe to share with you. I hope you'll enjoy this very special event. Feel free to leave your hostess feedback as we plan for our next progressive dinner.

Appetizer: Spinach and Italian Sausage Soup

The recipe I will be sharing with you is the appetizer. For this I've chosen one of my favorite Italian soup recipes. I actually first tasted this soup while shopping at Sam's Club. They were giving out samples and recipe cards. I thought it was delicious, so I took a recipe card, and recreated it at home that very same week! It was a hit with everyone, and I have been using this recipe to entertain guests for over two years now. My kids even love it. (Well, the 2 year old loved it once she removed every speck of green from her bowl).

Here is the recipe as it is written on the recipe card I received (I have made a few frugal changes to it):

--1lb Fresh Italian Sausage

--1lb. Spinach and Cheese Ravioli or Cheese Tortellini

--2 cups water

--3 cups baby Spinach

--1 can Del Monte Corn (yes it specified brands!)

--1/2 cup onion, diced

--1 1/2 tsp salt

--1 can Diced Tomatoes

--1 can Swanson Chicken Broth

--2 tbsp. Tone's Italian Seasoning

--1 cup Carrots, sliced

--1/2 cup Benefiber (yes, seriously, that was on there)

--1 tbsp. minced garlic

--1 tsp. pepper

Here are the changes I made:

--Scratch the Benefiber, of course (although, if you need more fiber, adding it to your food is not a bad idea!)

--Don't worry about brands. These recipes promote the brands that pay them, but they all taste the same in the end! Go with whatever is cheapest, or whatever is your personal favorite.

--Substitute another pasta for the filled ones. This does take the dairy aspect away (cheese filled pasta), but tonight I tossed in a package of whole wheat spirals that I had gotten for FREE. I saw no need to buy pasta, when I had a different form of pasta sitting in my pantry.

--I do not buy broth. I make my own! Whenever I cook poultry, when I'm done I boil down the bones, and either use the broth right away to make a soup, or I freeze it. Last time I made a Turkey (and turned it into 26 meals), I had some broth left over that I froze. I used that in this soup, so that cost me nothing as well.

--When I first made this, I thought there just totally was not enough broth in it, so I've since pretty much quadrupled the liquids in it. I leave the meat the same, and double the vegetables. There still seems to be plenty of meat in it, and it stretches much farther that way.

Here are my ingredients (minus the can of diced tomatoes).

Here are the directions:

1) Remove casing from the sausage. Crumble and brown in skillet over medium heat. (I crumbled and browned, in my soup pot because i did not wish to dirty an extra skillet ). ;)

2)In a large pot, combine browned sausage, diced tomatoes, corn, chicken broth, water, seasoning, spinach, carrots, garlic, onions, salt, and pepper. Over medium-high heat, bring to a boil.

This is before the pasta was added.

3) Add pasta to the pot and boil for 3 minutes. Then decrease heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.

This is the finished product.

This soup is delicious and hearty, and could be a dinner itself paired up with some breadsticks, or our favorite is buttered crackers.

Now for the price rundown:

--Broth: Homemade=FREE

--Pasta: Used what I had =FREE

--Sausage: On sale at Aldi =$2.69

--Spinach: $1.69 at Aldi

--Corn: 2 for $1 at Fiesta (I used both cans)= $1

--Carrots: 1 lb bag at Fiesta = $0.69 (had already used a few out of it).

--Diced Tomatoes: From Pantry = Maybe $0.50 after coupons (I think even less)

Total (assuming all needed seasonings are on hand): $6.57

The pot I made would easily feed 8-12 people.

I hope you enjoyed my Spinach and Italian Sausage Soup Appetizer.

For our next courses, please join us at:

---Side Dish: Visit Saving By Design for Roasted Garlic Green Beans

Her page will take you to the next course:

---Dinner at Mama's Money Tree for Lasagna

---Then Dessert at Thrifty Texas Penny for Tiramisu

---And we'll finish off the day with a Mint Iced Tea with Deals from MS Do.

If you have not already, you can visit these pages for the previous courses:

---Breakfast: Visit Dearly Domestic for Pat's Famous Breakfast Casserole

---Lunch: Visit Deals From MS Do for a perfect pizza pie recipe

---Snack: Visit 20SomethingSaver for Yogurt Parfait

Be sure to follow us so that you can keep up with our Frugal Friday Recipe Hops each week! We hope you had a great time, and we would truly love your feedback.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Survey Site: My View

I just shared a helpful money saving site with you. Now I wanted to share a fun money-making site with you.

I love taking online surveys. I do not have nearly as much time to take them now that I've been blogging, but I wish I did because they are so much fun.

My View is a site that I've been a member of for years. I get survey invites from them pretty often, so there are more earning opportunities with them than with some of the other survey sites who email maybe once or twice a week.

I've been asked to test out product in my home, and I've taken online surveys about product not yet on the market yet. It is always nice to give my opinions about something, and then see that item show up in stores later.

If you are interested, you can sign up here.

A New Kind Of Deal Site: Koopik

Koopik Daily Deals

I said on Thursdays I was going to tell you about a new site that I had found and like. Today I wanted to tell you about Koopik.

Do you use Groupon, or LivingSocial? You need to check out Koopik! It gathers all the best daily deals in your city from Groupon, LivingSocial, Tippr, and over 30 other sites. Stop filtering through emails to find the right deal for you, and let Koopik bring them all to you in one simple email. Click Here to learn more and register with Koopik!

Free Sample of Depends

You may not need this free sample personally, but if you know any one who does, go ahead and order one for them, and share the link with them as well. From the image, it looks like it has a few samples, and also a coupon. Anyone who has to buy these regularly will love that! Click the image to request yours now!

Paid Study For People Living With Type 2 Diabetes

This week I've told you about an Allergy Medication study, and a Rheumatoid Arthritis Study. Now I have another paid study to share with you. This one is for people living with Type 2 Diabetes and also High Blood Pressure, and still have trouble controlling both, even on medication.

Like the other studies, only certain zipcodes (near the testing facilities) will qualify.

If you qualify to participate, you may receive the following at no cost:

• Study medication or placebo

• Study health assessments

• Blood sugar testing supplies for use during the study

• Diet and exercise counseling during the study

• Compensation is available for completing all of the required study visits

If this sounds like you, fill in the screening questionnaire.

Fiesta Trip 7/28 And Guests For Lunch

We are having some friends over for lunch (our big meal these days, since my husband is working evenings lately), and we wanted to BBQ some chicken. Fiesta had leg quarters for just $0.47/lb with a $10 purchase. They also had a few awesome produce deals, and there were a couple items we had run out of, so I was able to get in the $10 purchase with no problems. Well, it would have been pretty close if I hadn't remembered we ran out of mayonnaise.

Here's what I got this morning:

8.43 lbs Chicken @ $0.47/lb = $3.97
4.1lbs white onions @ $0.39/lb = $1.60
4.63 lbs White potatoes @ $0.59/lb = $2.58
5 Small Naval Oranges @ 5 for $1 = $1
Green Tip Lettuce = $0.99
Red Tip Lettuce = $0.99
Iceburg Lettuce = $0.69
2 1lb Carrots @ $0.69 each = $1.38
2 Can Corn @ 2 for $1 = $1
Bread = $0.89
Mayo = $2.49 *cringe*

Total = $17.58 (no food taxes in Texas)

To a coupon shopping that seems like a lot to pay for such a small amount, but I used no coupons and this trip was entirely fresh meat and produce, and the prices of the individual items were great!

For lunch we are making half of the chicken ($1.99 worth) and I will make a mixed salad with the lettuce I bought. The three whole heads cost just as much total as a small bag of pre-torn and washed salad would cost, and will make at least 3-4 times as much salad. (And seriously, how hard is it to wash and tear lettuce?? I let my 5 year old do it!) If I use 1/3 of each lettuce while our guests are here, that is $0.89 worth. That plus half the chicken adds up to $2.88 plus a little salad dressing and free BBQ sauce to entertain guests. Not too bad, huh?

The corn and carrots are for a something special that will be coming your way tomorrow! ;)

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Albertsons Deals: 7/27-8/2

Here are the best deals I see at Albertsons this week:

Meat:
Pork Spare Ribs $1.77/lb

BOGO: Boneless skinless chicken breast/tenders, Pork Loin/Rib Chops, Beef Chuck/ Eye Of Round Roast, Beef Bottom Round/Eye Of Round/Chuck Steak
*Prices of BOGO items seemed to be elevated from my experience.

Produce:
Cherries $1.99/lb.
Fuji Apples $0.99/lb
Red/Green Leaf Lettuce $0.99 each
Eggplant 2 for $3

Other: *There is a Mega Sale Going On. Save $5 for every 10 participating items.
Note: There are some great prices, but not a lot of coupons to match with them. Maybe Sunday will bring us some to match up with this sale!

All Prices Assume Buying In Multiples Of 10 Participating Items.
--Pop Secret 3ct Popcorn $0.88 Use $0.50/2 from 6/19 RP.
--Planters Peanut Butter $0.99 (I didn't know they made this!)
--Smuckers Strawberry Jam $1.49 Use Coupon from 5/22 RP (value varies)
--Smuckers Uncrustables $0.99
--Kraft Salad Dressing $1.39
--Kraft BBQ Sauce $0.79
--Jimmy Dean Roll Sausage $2.49
--Hillshire Farm Sausage (smoked/links) $2.49
--Hillshire Farm Ultra Thin Lunch Meats $2.49 Use Coupon from 7/10 RP (value varies)
--Pillsbury Cake/Brownie Mixes $0.69 Use $0.40/1 Frosting/Brownie from 6/12 RP I= FREE
--Pillsbury Frosting $0.99 Use $0.40/1 Frosting/Brownie from 6/12 RP = $0.19
--Velveeta Cheese $3.99
--Dannon Greek Yogurt $0.79
--Colgate Toothpaste/Brush $0.99 Use Coupons from 7/24 SS
--HomeLife 12 Double Roll Bath Tissue $3.99
--HomeLife 8 Roll Paper Towels $3.99

Kroger Deals: 7/27-8/2

Here are the best deals I see at Kroger right now:

Meat:

Boneless Pork Loin Center Cut Chops $1.97/lb

Chicken Leg Quarters $0.59/lb sold in 10 lb bags for $5.90

Boneless Pork Loin $1.99/lb

Pork Spare Ribs $2.49/lb

Produce:

Driscoll's Strawberries $1.77/lb Use $0.50/1 printable (doubles) = $0.77 each

Mini Peeled Carrots 1 lb $1

Driscoll's Raspberries/Blackberries/Blueberries $2.50 Use $0.50/1 printable = $1.50 each

Zucchini/Yellow Squash $1.00/lb

Yellow Onions $1.99 for 3 lb bag

Okra $1.00/lb

Green Beans $1.25/lb

Other:

2 FREE Gallons of Milk wyb 4 Participating Products:

--Select General Mills Cereals Use $1/2 from 6/19 or 7/10 SS or $0.50/1 Cheerios from 6/26 SS (doubles)

--Nature Valley Granola Thins Use coupon from 6/26 SS (Value varies)

Dannon Yogurt (Activia, kids, etc)

--Use $0.50/1 from 6/5 SS *exp. 7/31 = $0.88 each

Kroger Frozen Vegetables $0.88 each

French's Yellow Mustard

--Use $0.50/1 Printable = FREE *note: It actually shows me a $0.30/1 printable. My store will triple that, so I would pay $0.10.

Ivory/Safeguard Soap/Body Wash $1

--Use $0.50/1 from PG (doubles) = FREE

Beggin Strips BOGO

--Use BOGO from 5/8 SS = 2 FREE

Tom Thumb Deals 7/27-8/2

Here are the best deals I see at Tom Thumb this week:

Meat:
Boneless Beef Top Round London Broil $1.99/lb
Boneless Pork Sirloin Chops $1.79/lb
Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast $1.99/lb
Catfish Fillets $3.99/lb

Produce:
Cherries $1.97/lb
Mangos 2 for $1
Green Bell Peppers 2 for $1
Corn 3 for $1

Other:
--409/Pine-Sol $1.49 each with in-ad coupon (limit 3)
--Use $1/1 Pine-sol printable = $0.49
--Dole Fruit Bowls $1.59 each with in-ad coupon (limit 4)
--Use $0.50/1 printable (first one doubles) = $0.59-$1.09 each
--Reese's Puffs/Cookie Crisp/Honey Nut Cheerios $1.88 each with in-ad coupon (limit 4)
--Use $1.00/1 Honey Nut Cheerios from Que Rica Vida mailer
--Use $0.50/1 Honey Nut Cheerios printable from Coupon Network (no longer available)
--Use $0.50/1 Honey Nut Cheerios Printable from coupons.com (no longer available)
--Use $0.50/1 Honey Nut Cheeries ShortCuts e-coupon
--Use $0.50/1 Reese's Puffs Cellfire e-Coupon
--HoneyMaid Grahams/Ritz Toasted Chips $1.99 with in-ad coupon (limit 4)
--Use $1.00/2 Honey Maid from 6/26 SS
--Use $1.00/2 Nabisco cookies/crackers from 6/19 SS (don't think will work on chips, but honey maid it will)
--Hot/Lean Pockets $1.59 with in-ad coupon (limit 3)
--Use $1.00/1 Snackers from 6/26 SS if included
--Wish Bone Dressing $1.19 with in-ad coupon (limit 3)
--Classico Pasta Sauce $1.49 with in-ad coupon (limit 6)
--Use $1.00/2 from 5/15 SS = $0.99 each
--Silk Soy or Almond $2.49 with in-ad coupon (limit 3)
--Use $1.00/1 from 7/10 SS (just got the dark chocolate almond from Kroger...sooo good)
--Tostitos $1.88 with in-ad coupon (limit 4)
--Participating Items $0.99 each with in-ad coupon (no limit)
--Pizza Rolls --Use $0.50/4 from 5/15 SS (doubles) = $0.74 each wyb 4

Fiesta Deals 7/27-8/2

Here are the best deals I see this week at Fiesta:

Meat:
Beef Sirloin Tip Steak $2.39/lb (Limit 2 w/$10 purchase)
Chicken Leg Quarters $0.47/lb (Jumbo bag. Limit 2 w/$10 purchase)
Tilapia Fillets $3.69/lb
Beef Chuck Steak $2.99/lb
Beef Bottom Round Steak $2.99/lb
Country Style Pork Ribs $1.39/lb (Limit 2 w/$10 purchase)
Pork Steak $1.99/lb

Produce:
White Onions $0.39/lb
Roma Tomatoes $0.59/lb
White Potatoes $0.59/lb
Lettuce $0.69 each
Baby Carrots $0.99 1lb package
Green Bell Peppers 2 for $1
Broccoli Crowns $0.99/lb
Papayas $0.69/lb
Peaches/Plums $0.99/lb

Other:
64 oz Sweet Leaf Tea $0.99 each
2lb Rice $0.79 each
Fiesta Canned Corn 2 for $1

See If You Qualify For This Paid Rheumatoid Arthritis Study

A couple days ago I told you about an allergy medicine study (still recruiting), and today I've got another one to share. This one is specifically looking for people suffering from Rheumatoid Arthritis.

The sites can never share all of the qualifying details of these studies, but here is what they said:

"Local research doctors are evaluating the effectiveness and safety of an investigational drug in pill form that can be taken along with methotrexate, a common medication for rheumatoid arthritis. If you or a loved one has rheumatoid arthritis and take methotrexate as one of your medications, we’d like to share information with you about this study. See if you may qualify. Click here.

Qualified participants may receive the following at no cost:

• Study-related medication in pill form

• Study-related care from a local study doctor

• Study-related health assessments

• Compensation of up to $650 may be available for your time and travel. Specific compensation amounts will vary by research site.

After completing this study, you may also be able to take part in a long-term continuation study offering study medication and ongoing monitoring.

This is only available in specific zip codes near the testing facilities ad doctors participating in the testing. If you think you may qualify, fill out the screener, and let me know if you get in!

El Rio Grande Deals 7/27-8/2

Here are the best deals I see at El Rio Grande:

Meat:
Marinated Chicken Leg Quarters $0.59/lb
Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast $1.19/lb
Pork Stew Meat $1.29 *TODAY ONLY (wednesday)*

Produce:
White Onions 5 lbs. for $1
Tomatoes 3 lbs for $1
Green Cabbage 5lbs for $1 *THURSDAY ONLY*
1 lb Carrots 2 for $1 *THURSDAY ONLY*
Papaya 2 lbs. for $1 *THURSDAY ONLY*
Kiwi 4 for $1
Cilantro 3 for $1
Cucumbers 3 for $1
Grapefruit 3 for $1
Lettuce $0.89 each
White Potatoes 2 lbs. for $1

Other:
Parade Sugar 4lbs $1.50
Bounty Basic single roll $0.79 each

El Rancho Deals 7/27-8/2

Here are the best prices I see at El Rancho this week:

Meat:
Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast $0.98/lb
Bottom Round Beef Steak $1.99/lb
End Cut Sirloin Pork Chops $0.99/lb
Imitation Crab Meat $1.79/lb
Center Cut Pork Ribs $1.00/lb
Marinated Chicken Leg Quarters $0.89/lb

Produce:
Tomatoes 3 lbs. for $1
Watermelon 12 lbs. for $1
White Onions 3 lbs for $0.99
Key Limes 30 for $1
Cilantro 3 bunches for $0.99
Papaya $0.58/lb
Plums/Peaches $0.68/lb
Large Mangos 2 for $1
Red or Green Grapes $1.50/lb
Grapefruit 4 for $1

Other:
30 ct. Medium Eggs $0.98 *limit 2 w/ $10 purchase*
4lbs Rice $1.88
Parade Shredded Cheese 8oz. 3 for $5

Aldi Deals 7/27-8/2

Meat:

Italian Sausage $2.79

Produce:

Red Grapes $0.89/lb (sold in 2 lb package for $1.78)

Washington Cherries $1.49/lb (sold in 1 lb package)

Baby Carrots $0.69 each 1lb package

Broccoli $0.99/lb (sold in 1lb package)

Other:

Milk $1.89/gal.

Eggs $0.89/dz. *Note: while this is the price that has been advertised for a few weeks now, they are still charging only $0.49/dz at the store I shop at on NW HWY in Garland.

Many of their Fit&Active line are also advertised, but the prices listed are normal prices, not sales. Still great prices though. =)

Going To Try Something Different, Please Give Me Your Feedback

I was working on the meat deals for this week, and I decided that instead of grouping all of the best meat prices at all stores together in a single post, that I was going to give it a try posting all the deals at a single store again. I liked seeing all the best meat and produce deals together, but it got a little bit awkward trying to hop from meat post to produce post to best deals post to try to remember everything I wanted to get.

So at least for this week, I am going to do a post for each store. If you've been reading for a while, please let me know which way is most helpful for you.

Tuesday Night Shopping: Part 3--Kroger 73% Savings

Last night after dinner, I went shopping at three different stores. I've already told you about Tom Thumb, and CVS. The last stop I made was Kroger. It was the last night of their Mega Sale, and there were a few items I had missed last week that I wanted to pick up. I also took along several soon to expire coupons that I knew would double or that might be a good deal, just to check the items price.

Here is what I came home with (click to enlarge):

Total Shelf Price: $59.46
Total Sale Price: $49.26 - $5 Mega Sale Savings = $44.26
Price Paid After Coupons: $16.17 73% Savings

I won't list all the coupons I used last night, because most of the sales prices have now ended, but there are a few things that I bought at shelf price that were still a great price after coupons:

--Purpose facial bar $2.59 Used $2/1 from June All You = $0.59 each
--Nescafe Stick Packs $1.29 Used $0.45/1 printable (doubled) = $0.39 each
--Dannonino/Dannimals $1.88 (sale priced, but advertised this price again) Used $0.50/1 from 6/5 SS (doubled) *Expire 7/31 = $0.88 each

Let us know if you know of anymore great coupon deals at Kroger.

Groupon National Deal: $6 For Two Subs/Salads At Quiznos

Groupon has a great National deal available today: $6 for 2 subs or salads at Quiznos!

This is an awesome deal, and I do love Quiznos. I've bought so many Groupons lately, but I just may have to get another. ;)

Over 90% of their locations will accept this Groupon. To see if there is one near you, check the store locator for the Groupon logo.

If you haven't sign up for Groupon yet (to get these great deals delivered to your inbox), go HERE first.

Week 1: $25 CVS Gift Card Challenge 87% Savings

$25 CVS Gift Card Challenge

Last week, I told you how Cheryl at Simply CVS had asked me to participate in her $25 CVS Gift Card Challenge. I was very excited to begin my challenge this week, but things did not go exactly as I intended.

To begin with, I usually try to get to CVS on Sunday evening, but I had a very good friend from college visiting me this weekend, so I did not get out on Sunday. I also did not spend very much time on the computer this weekend in general, and because of that, I missed out on a few printable coupons that could have made my trip tonight even better, and one of the coupons I had planned on using expired.

I had to redo my plan, so I went back through Cheryl's ECB Deals post, and I also checked out some of the posts that had already been linked up on her Share Your CVS Shopping Trip post for this week. I found the one at Thrifty Texas Penny to be especially helpful.

My store was also out of a few items that I intended to purchase. I had to leave a few things off, and substitute a couple of items that I did not have a coupon for.

My original plan was this (I had $9 ECBs to begin with from my last trip):

Transaction 1:
--Buy Papermate Pens $1.99 (Get $1.99 ECBs)
--Buy Renu Sensentive $7.89 Use $2/1 Printable (no longer available). (Get $6 ECBs)
Total: $7.88 +tax
I intended to pay with $7 ECB, and Get back $7.99 to add to my $2 remaining for $9.99 total ECBs, and only owe $0.88 + a very small amount of tax.

Transaction 2: *means I did not know what the price would be until I reached the store.
Bengay (Get Back $2 ECBs) * Use $5/1 printable.
Schick Disposable Razors * Use $1/1 from 6/19 SS.
Schick Disposable Razors* Use BOGO from 6/26 SS.
Skintimate Moisturizing Shave Cream $2.19 Use $1.50/1 printable (no longer available).
Skintimate Moisturizing Shave Cream $2.19 (if needed to reach $20) Use $1/1 printable. Also in 7/24 SS. (Get $10 ECBs for spending $20 on Schick/Skintimate)

Well, here's how it actually went down....Transaction 1 they were completely out of, so I decided to just skip it and only do Transaction 2. If my calculations were correct, it should have only cost me about $1 more in the end. However, they were also all out of the Moisturizing Shave Cream that I had coupons for. I didn't want my trip to be a total waste, so I decided to substitute the Skintimate Shave Gel, which was the same price, only I did not have coupons for those (there are $0.55/1 in the 7/24 SS, but I did not bring them along). That ended up costing me $2.50 extra right there. Also, I decided to grab an extra Bengay, since they were only $5.89, and I had two $5/1 coupons. I did not receive ECBs for the second, but I thought it was a great price anyway. =) I also found they had the single cans of Seatle's Best Coffee in the refrigerated section. I had not been able to find these anywhere, and had 3 FREE coupons, so I grabbed three of those as well.

Here's what I came home with:

3 Seattles Best Single Serve Coffee

2 Bengay

2 Skintimate Shave Gel

20 Schick Disposable Women's Razors (2 Bonus packs with 8 + 2 free)

WEEK 1 Totals:

Total Shelf Price: $39.61

Total Sale Price: $37.21

Total After Manufacturer Coupons: $13.45

Price Paid After $9 ECBs: $4.45 + $0.65 tax = $5.10 87% Savings

I have $19.90 left on my gift card, and $12 in ECBs to start with on my next trip (which I can already begin planning, because Cheryl has the 7/31 Ad Scan Preview already posted)!

Part of me is a little bit bummed that things did not work out as I would have liked, and that I ended up paying a little bit extra because of that, but the sane part of me is somewhere in the back of my mind telling me that $5.10 is an amazing price to pay for 20 razors, 2 shave gels, 2 Bengay, and 3 single serve coffees.

I am also kind of glad that it happened this way, because it shows that even couponers are human. Life gets in the way (we do have lives!), we slack off, we miss printable coupons, we let coupons expire, we miss out on items being in stock. But I like to think that saving money with coupons, especially at CVS, is like a game. I didn't want to "bench myself" this week because things didn't go exactly as I planned, so I changed it up, and I think I still came out a winner!

I'd love to hear how your trip to CVS this week went!

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Tuesday Night Shopping: Part 1--Tom Thumb 78% Savings

This evening, I wen tout to do some last minute shopping (before the new ads begin tomorrow) after dinner, and left my husband home to get the kids to bed. I love shopping at night because I can be alone, and because the stores aren't busy.

The first place I stopped was Tom Thumb. This was actually my second trip to Tom Thumb during this ad week. I stopped by on my way to Aldi last Friday, but they were completely out of the Suddenly Salad I had gone in to get, so I left. I should have gone ahead and gotten the two cereals I had wanted, because they were out of one (the Brownie Crunch) tonight. They were also still out of the Italian flavor suddenly salad, so I got only 4 instead of 6, and their $0.99 cantaloupes did not look appetizing, so I left them off, too.

Here is what I got:

Shelf Price: $13.65

Total Sale Price (After In-Ad Coupons): $5.75 Already 58% Savings

--Used $1/2 Suddenly Salad from Coca Cola Coupon booklet (my Aunt gave me this)

--Used $0.50/2 Suddenly Salad from 6/5 SS (doubled)

--Used $0.75/1 Kix Cellfire e-coupon

Price Paid: $3.00 78% Savings

NOTE: I did learn an important fact tonight. The in-ad coupons at one point said that a $10 minimum purchase was required to use them. They've not stated that for weeks now, so I had been wondering if that $10 purchase was still needed. Tonight, the sale prices of my items did not reach the $10 mark, but the coupons went through without any problems. Well, one of them just wouldn't read at the self-check out, but the cashier came over before I even called to help me out with it. He stood there and took care of all my coupons for me (that would have never happened earlier in the day).

I used to never shop at Tom Thumb because they were soooo expensive, but I've been finding them great to grab a handful of items with coupons.

Is there a Tom Thumb near you?

140 FREE Shipping Address Labels

Vistaprint has a great free offer going on right now through July 29th. You can order 140 fully customizable address labels for FREE (pay only $3.03 shipping).

There are over 7,000 designs to choose from, so you are certain to find one that fits your style. You can even upload your own image.

If you will have a big event this year, such as a wedding, graduation, etc. or you just want to get a head start for your Christmas cards, this would be a great time to order!

See If You Qualify For This Paid Allergy Medicine Trial

A national company is looking for individuals to participate in a research study for an investigational allergy medication. This offer is not available in all areas (only areas where they have participating testing facilities).

Individuals who qualify will attend doctor visits, and receive examinations and medications at no charge, and even be compensated for their time.

The links will take you to a screening questionaire. You will be asked a few initial questions to determine if you are a good fit for this study. I am always fighting allergies, but I was not a good fit. I am not sure if that was because of my allergies or my location.

If you wish to participate, take the screener and see if you qualify.

Monday, July 25, 2011

Printable Coupon Round-Up

Today Coupons.com has released a bunch of new Glade Coupons:

$2.00 off Glade Sense & Spray starter kit
$0.55 off any Glade Premium Room Spray
$0.75 off 2 Glade Glade 4-oz. Jar Candles
$0.55 off Glade Carpet & Room Odor Eliminator
$3.00 off Glade PlugIns Lasting Impression
$1.00 off Glade Scented Oil Candle holder
$1.00 off Glade PlugIns Scented Oil refill
$1.00 off TWO Glade Scented Oil Candle refill
$1.00 off Glade Fabric & Air Odor Eliminator

There is also $1.00 off any Flintstones™ Multivitamin Product

I noticed the following new coupons available on Redplum:

$0.55 off one Land O Frost Premium 1lb.

$0.75 off one Best Life Buttery Spread

$0.50 off one Luigi's Real Italian Ice

On Coupon Network I noticed the following:

Save up to $5.00 on Pampers® Swaddlers or Cruisers Diapers
$1.00 off when you buy any EIGHT Stonyfield Oikos 5.3oz cups
Save $1.50 when you buy 2 or more Pedialyte® Products
Save up to $2.00 on Hamburger Helper® Skillet Meals
$1.00 off when you buy ONE box of POST Shredded Wheat Cereal
50¢ off when you buy EIGHT CUPS any variety Yoplait® Yogurt
75¢ off when you buy TWO any flavor select Yoplait® Yogurts
50¢ off Bisquick® Baking Mix/Complete Pancake & Waffle Mix
40¢ off Fiber One® 90 Calorie Chewy Bars or Brownies
Save 75¢ when you buy four or more Dole® Mandarin Oranges
50¢ off when you buy any TWO Gold 'n Soft® 15oz Tubs
$1.25 off when you buy any two Marie's® Dressing

I also like coupon network because it shows you several of the Catalina deals available in your area (the ones that will print at the register if you buy the necessary products), so be sure to check those out while you are there.

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