Party City Coupon

If you sign up for Party City's newsletter, they will email you a coupon for $5 off a $25 purchase. In addition to the coupon, they will periodically send you party tips and other coupons. Go there now.

Seven Dollars to Sanity!

I must admit, I hate picking my clothes out in the mornings. It never fails, I can never find the certain pair of pants I'm looking for or the hem has fallen out of a pair of pants...you name it, It never goes right. So, the obvious answer is to pick out your clothes at night, right? Well, kinda. I'm not a huge fan of that either. I'd rather chill on the couch at night or take a walk after dinner. So, how did I resolve my dilemma? I found this "sweater organizer" at Ross over the weekend and a light bulb went off in my head. Why not pick everything out while I'm folding laundry and have it all done in one swoop? Genius! The organizer is mesh and has 6 compartments. While I'm putting laundry away anyway, I go ahead and stick everything in there that I'm going to need for the week. All 5 days of clothes plus the undergarments, jewelry, socks, hosiery...you get the picture. This way, if I do it on the weekend, it gives me time to fix something that needs to be hemmed or better yet, shop for an item that might update an outfit for the season. Oh, and the best part? It only cost me $7!!! I'm only two days into it and I can already say its a huge time saver and a luxury to have it in one grasp!

$1.47 - Thats It!

I took advantage of the Pert/Sure deal at CVS this week. I also thought the toothpaste you see was a great deal as well. Here is the breakdown:

Colgate Max Fresh $1.65 minus $1.00 off of Colgate Max Fresh coupon - $.65

Pert Plus 2 in 1 3.99 minus $2.00 off Any size Pert coupon - $1.99

2 Sure Aerosol $4.49 each minus (2) $1.00 Sure Deo. - $6.98

Minus $10.27 in ECB's I had from last week's purchases

Total $1.47 Out of Pocket!

Additionally, I earned $5.00 ECB for the Pert/Sure and $2.00 ECB for the Colgate toothpaste. I thought the toothpaste was supposed to be $2.99 but it looks like I got lucky and it range up $1.65.

Walgreens Coupon

Go here to print a $5 off a $25 purchase at Walgreens. This coupon is good only for Fri. Oct. 17 and Saturday Oct. 18 and your $25 total must be before taxes and after all Walgreens and manufacturer's coupons and discounts. You could use this coupon to purchase the items that are free after rebate this month. You can take a look at them here.

Also, some Publix stores will accept this coupon as a competitors coupon but PLEASE clear it with customer service and/or management when you go in; this will avoid any embarassing hold ups at checkout time.

Whole Foods Coupon

If your like me, you've probably had the longing to eat all organic non-processed food for a while now but just didn't have the extra room in your budget to make the big leap. Organic products can cost a lot more than regular stuff. Well, this morning I got an email from Whole Foods with a $5 off a $25 purchase and they even have a newsletter called Whole Deal. Here is an excerpt from the site:

Pick up The Whole Deal value guide at your local store for over $40 in coupons, 15 budget recipes, money saving tips and more.
We admit it. We're just learning that people really do want to know how hard we work to bring you the best available products at the best possible prices. There's no denying that quality costs, but when we get a deal, you do, too. And when something is worth a few extra cents, we can tell you exactly why. "The Whole Deal" is all about giving you the whole story, so you'll know just how to get the most bang for your buck without sacrificing the benefits of natural and organic foods.

You can read more about this program and sign up for their newsletter here.

All This for $3.90

On Sunday, I received an email from Rite Aid claiming I could save $144 on 30 products. Being the cheapskate, I mean frugalite that I am, I was all ears or eyes, as the case may be. Turns out, Rite Aid is having a huge Free After Rebate sale. I am a fairly frequent Rite Aid shopper and I normally participate in the rebate program so I was excited! You can check out the items that are free after rebate here.

So now your probably wondering, how did I pay so little for all of these products? The trick is, I had $12.99 in rebate money in hand to spend so I rolled that money into more free after rebate products - ha! Genius! But heres the breakdown:

Chapstick True Shimmer - $1.99
Lizard Lips Chapstick - $.99
Soft Lips Vanilla Mint (2pk) - $2.99
Chloraseptic Max Strength - $2.99
LypSyl Moisturizer - $1.99
Bee M.D. Honey Cough Drops (Organic) - $2.49
Excedrin Express Gels - $3.99 minus $2.00 coupon here

Now, subtract my $12.99 in rebate money that I had from previous purchases and my grand total was $3.90. Oh, AND I'll recieve $17.48 back in rebates!!!

Rite Aid has an awesome Single Check Rebate program that makes it real easy to get your dough. You just sign up online and enter your reciept information then submit it at the end of the month and they'll send you a check to use in their store in about two weeks. It may sound like a lot but it takes a very small amount of time. Read all the details here. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Awesome Chili

This is by far the best recipe for chili - ever! Enough said.

1-1/2 lbs ground beef (or turkey, which is what I use)
1-1/2 lbs lean pork breakfast sausage (or turkey)
2 large onions
1 green pepper
3 cloves garlic
3 (14 oz.) cans whole tomatoes
1 (18 oz.) can tomato paste
1 (14 oz.) can beef broth
1/2 c. ketchup
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 (14 oz.) can pinto beans
1 (14oz.) can dark red kidney beans
2 cups water
4 Tbsp chili powder (or to taste)
1 Tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp. red pepper

Combine beef and sausage. Cook well. Drain and rinse. Add all other ingredients except beans; stir well. Cover and simmer on low 2-1/2 hours. Stir in beans and cook 30 minutes longer.

I serve this with sour cream, shredded cheese, corn chips and saltine crackers for toppings.

How to Organize Those Coupons

For me, this has been the best way to organize my coupons. It puts everything where I can see it at a quick glance without having to thumb through them one by one. I purchased a cloth zipper binder and added baseball card holders to divide the coupons. You can find baseball card holders at Wal-Mart at the front of the store with the registers. I say this because if you don't know where to look then you'll never find them.

The card holders are organized based on how a typical grocery store is laid out. Produce, Condiments, Canned and Non Perishables, Household, Frozen, Meat, Dairy and Health & Beauty.

My zipper binder came with an accordion style file on the left and I use that to hold sales papers and the CVS Extra Care booklet for the month along with the Walgreens Easy Saver Catalog for the month. I'll post more on that later, I have a lot to say about those two gems!

Finally, I added ziploc bags labeled with my favorite store names on them. That way, when I'm making my shopping list, I can put the coupons for that store in the ziploc bag and when I get to the store I pull out the ziploc bag and I'm ready to go. I just poked two holes at the end of the ziploc bags and hooked them on the clasps.

So there you have it, the famous coupon binder! If you have any thoughts or questions, please post a comment or email me at savingscafe@gmail.com

A Cheap Way to Clean Your Microwave

Here is a cheap, easy and environmentally friendly way to clean your microwave. Fill a micrwave safe bowl about 2/3 of the way full with water and add 1/8 c. of lemon juice. Microwave for about 4 minutes. Let it sit in the microwave for another 4 minutes. The combo of the steam and the lemon juice will eat the crud off of your microwave walls. Once it has had time to do its job, carefully remove the hot water and wipe out the microwave. All the splatters will easily come off and your microwave will be sparkling clean!

Pumpkin Bread Recipe

This recipe is actually my sister, Tina's. It is soooo good. We eat it for dessert, snack and breakfast.

5 eggs
1-1/4 c. vegetable oil
1 (15oz.) can solid pack pumpkin
2 c. all purpose flour
2 c. sugar
2 (3oz.) pkgs. cook and serve vanilla pudding mix
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt

In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs. Add oil and pumpkin; beat until smooth. In a seperate bowl combine remaining ingredients. Gradually beat into pumpkin mixture. Pour batter into 2 greased 8 x 4 x 2-inch loaf pans. Bake at 325 degrees for 75-80 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool on wire racks.

Ebates

Have you heard of Ebates? Ebates offers cash back on purchases to over 1000 stores. This is a great idea for the Christmas shopping season that is rapidly approaching. You can earn anywhere from 1% - 10% on your purchases when you shop through ebates. They will then send you these savings in the form of a big fat check. Check out the site and see what you think. If you do sign up, please give them my email address - willangel21@yahoo.com - as a referral and we'll both earn $5 in our account. If you have more questions, you can check out the "how it works" page here or you can check out the terms and conditions here. Overall it seems pretty simple and straightforward. I'm new to Ebates as well so we'll be on this little journey together. ;-)

New Free Samples

Free Sample of Sundance Organic Tea.

Free Sample of Warm Delights Minis from Betty Crocker. This sample requires you to sign up for a email newsletter that offers recipes and coupons.

Free Sample of Quaker Simple Harvest Granola Bars.

Free BOTTLE of Country Bob's Sauce. I have recieved this previously and it is very good. You can use it on chicken, hamburgers, steaks and ribs. You can find it at Wal-Mart.

Free sample of Bertolli's Premium Pasta Sauce.

Free sample of Calvin Klein Secret Obsession.

Register for $1 off coupon for Snausages Snawsome Dog Treats. These are Mr. Hoover approved!

Free Sample of Carefree Pantiliners.

These offers are courtesy of Freeflys.

How to Use Coupons

I'm sure your wondering what the big deal with coupons is anyway. A lot of people wonder if its worth all the time spent clipping and organizing them. Some people also say that buying generic store brands is cheaper than buying a name brand with a coupon. I'm here to tell you, its soooo worth it. The trick with coupons is to match coupons to sale items listed in the grocery and drug store sale papers. For example: This week at Publix they have several items that are buy one get one free and here is an example of why I suggest buying two copies of the paper. One of the items is Betty Crocker Au Gratin Potatoes. You can get two boxes for $1.73. But, if you use two .40 coupons from last week's paper, which Publix will then double to .80 each, you can get two boxes of Au Gratin potatoes for .13. I doubt Publix has generic Au Gratin potatoes for .07 or .06 cents a box. Another example is Ragu Pasta Sauce. Its also buy one get one free at $3.25 for 2 - 45oz. jars. If you used 2 - .25 coupons that were in the paper about three weeks ago then once the coupon is doubled, you would get the pasta sauce for about $1.12 each for the big jars of Ragu. There are all kinds of deals like this at Publix this week.

Another way I think of clipping coupons is this; last week I spent $30 at Publix but I saved $48, so if I spent 2 hours clipping, organizing and matching coupons, I made $24 an hour and created a nice little stockpile of the groceries I bought.

Check this out.....

I saw a commercial on TV this morning for a new site called dealtaker.com. From what I can tell, it scours the internet in search of sales, discounts and coupon codes. Check it out and let me know what you find.

Enter to Win...

A FREE Ziploc Brand Vacuum Freezer System Starter Kit from Right at Home - wow! thats a mouthful! Hurry! The first 20,000 entries will recieve this new product! Click Here. In addition, you'll recieve $14.10 in coupons for things like: Glade Candles, Glade Scented Oil Candles, Oust Surface Disinfectant, Ziploc Brand Vacuum Bags and Windex.

Free Samples From Walmart

Check out this site for free samples from Wal-mart. They include:

Goodnites, Benefiber, Cascade, Huggies, Nicorette and Crest.

And here's an idea - place your free samples in a basket in a guest bathroom for guests to use if they forget something. They'll appreciate the extra thought!