Good Deal on Colgate Toothbrushes at CVS

Look in the travel size section of CVS and you'll find Colgate toothbrushes on sale for .99 cents. Purchase this toothbrush and receive $1.00 Extra Care Buck. Its like getting them free after Extra Care Buck.

Consignment Shop Deal

As part of my recent birthday suprise, my hubby took me clothes shopping. Of course my penny pinching self had to figure out how to score a good deal. I can't bring myself to pay full price on my birthday! For a while now, I have been wanting to visit this new consignment shop called Renaissance that recently opened up in the Lee Branch area of Birmingham. When hubs asked me if there were any new shops I wanted to try, I immediately thought of this place. The atmosphere of the shop feels really upscale and boutique-y however, their prices are so great!

I looked around for a while and found several things that I loved. They have casual and formal clothes and they also sale accessories and bridal gowns. But imagine my shock when I spotted this J. Crew seersucker suit for $19. Its in excellent condition and it fits perfectly. I kept telling my hubby, "can you believe this?" After I tried the suit on I was so excited that I didn't look for anything else to purchase but I will definitely be back very soon to update my wardrobe.



Renaissance is not only a fun place to shop but charitable. On the first Friday of every month, they donate 5% of total sales to a charitable organization. If your in the Birmingham area, you should definitely check them out.

E-Mealz

In my quest to save time and money with menu planning, I have recently started using E-Mealz. I saw the menu on a friend's refrigerator while I was visiting her one day. Needless to say, it peaked my curiosity. She started telling me how it cut her monthly grocery budget almost in half. I was hooked by this point, then she tells me how E-Mealz will plan menus based on whats on sale at Publix this week. I could have squealed, this is the answer to menu planning.

As soon as I got home, I looked up E-Mealz and started reading about all the benefits. Here is the breakdown:

• $15 for 3 months
• Plans a menu for seven days
• Organized shopping list is printed for you
• Meals are numbered so you can eliminate meals you don't need that week.
• Meals are developed based on what is on sale at several stores including Publix, Wal-Mart, Aldi & Kroger
• Choose from Low Fat, Low Carb & Points System Menus

So what are you waiting for? I've been doing this for about three weeks and it has saved us so much time and money. And did I mention the food is delicious as well?! The recipes are printed on the side of the menu and they are real simple and easy to follow. The food is quick to prepare as well.

If I've peaked your interest, just click on the button on the right to save time & money for your family!

Blogger Giveaway

Head on over to Trina's blog at Fabulously Frugalicious. She is giving away TWO cute handmade key fobs. These things are sooo cute, the would make great gifts ideas plus they are perfectly practical. They come in all kinds of stylish fabrics that are sure to suit your taste. Let me know if you win!

Free Christian Music Downloads

One of my favorite sites to check out new Christian music is iTickets. Every Tuesday they offer a free download of a new Christian artist or a well known artist's new song. They promise one every week but usually there is two or sometimes three. I have discovered so many new artists this way such as Kari Jobe, Since October, Deluge, Dizmas, House of Heroes, Fiction Family, Starfield, I could go on and on. When you open the page, look to your lower left to see who the download of the week is. This week its Mercy Me and Future of Forestry. By the way, Future of Forestry has an awesome Euro-rock sound!

In addition to free music, you can stay up to date on Christian concerts and events that are going on in your area. You will have to create a log in with your email address and a password and then you'll be on your way to tons of positive, upbeat free music!

Coupon Roundup

Horizon Organic - Sign up here to print coupons for Horizon Organic products, currently you can print $.55 off of their Tuberz products but usually you can find $1.00 off of their milk.

Artscow.com is offering their custom cushion case for $5.99. These would make great Mother's Day gifts...just have her favorite picture of her children or grandchildren printed on them. Use coupon code CUSHIONCASE599 at checkout.

Click here to print a $10 off a $30 purchase from Party City.

Bath & Body Works is having a buy 3 get three free promotion on their Signature Collection. Check out this awesome sale here. They offer free shipping for orders over $65. Use code FREESHIP65 at checkout.

Saving for Christmas Shopping

Recently, it dawned on me that if I was patient, I could have a very frugal Christmas. "How?" do you ask?

Swagbucks - I've been using Swagbucks for about 3 weeks now and already I've got enough to get a $5 Amazon gift card and then some. All you do is sign up, log in and use their search engine for your internet searches. Their search engine is powered by Google, so you'll find what your looking for. You can click on my Swagbucks button on the right and sign up and be on your way to some awesome gift cards. I'm going to let mine accumulate until I get ready to Christmas shop so I can get some good gifts for practically nothing.

Inbox Dollars - Get paid to read emails! Its as simple as that. Everyday I get an average of three emails and I open them, scan them and then go on about my business. You can also get paid to shop, play games and take surveys. I currently have about $17 in my account, but by Christmas I'll be ready to shop 'til I drop! You can also click on the link to the right and start earning some cash for Christmas.

E-Rewards - This is a survery site that rewards you in e-currency. You can redeem your e-currency for various rewards such as gift cards, airline miles, magazine subcriptions, clothing, food and dining.

Coupon Roundup

Print $10.50 in coupons from Arm & Hammer. Publix currently has the 120 0z. bottle of Arm & Hammer detergent on Advantage Buy for $8.49.

You might have already heard about this but check out Old Navy Weekly for awesome coupons at Old Navy! You'll have to search around the site by clicking on various objects. I've heard rumors of a $75 off of a $100 purchase but I have not had such luck with finding one. However, I did score a 30% off a single item. Also, word is they reload coupons on Thursdays.

Print $9 in coupons from Betty Crocker's Dinner Made Easy Site.

Cheap Glade Candles at Walgreens

I'm a candle freak so naturally, I got pretty excited about this deal. This week at Walgreens, Glade Jar Candles are $2.99 each with a mail in rebate of $1 each. So I worked out this little scenario:

Buy 4 Glade Jar Candles @ $2.99
Print two $1.50 / 2 Glade Candles here
Submit receipt online here for $4.00 rebate

Total price = $4.96 final price for 4 Glade Candles...and in case you wanted to know, I'll be getting the Crisp Linen scent. Don't forget to have your rebate added to a gift card and they'll add an extra 10% which would give you a rebate of $4.40.

Free Aveeno Sample

Hurry and be one of the first 1,000 people to sign up here to try a full size Aveeno Nourish+ shampoo and conditioner for free. Don't worry, if your not one of the first 1,000 to sign up, you will still have the opportunity to receive a free sample. Hurry and good luck!!

Walgreens $5 off $20 Online Purchase

Today through April 3rd you can get $5 off your online purchase of $20 or more at Walgreens. Enter code ACHOO at checkout. Also, don't forget to order through a site such as Ebates, so you can get cash back on your purchase.

Coupon Matchups and Previews

If your looking for the best deals at Publix or Winn-Dixie this week, check out http://www.fiddledeedeemom.com, Sarah has all the printable and non-printable coupon matchups.

For a preview of what will be on sale at CVS and Walgreens in the coming week check out Andrea @ Mommy Snacks. She has an advance copy of the sales ad along with coupon matchups.

Also, if you see an item you want to stock up on, don't forget you can order extra coupons from The Coupon Clippers. You can search by brand and they understand that coupons are time sensitive so you will get your coupons quickly.

Lastly, sign up with The Coupon Mom to search for coupon matchups by state. She lists matchups by date and insert name, such as Red Plum, Smartsource or P&G and will also tell you where to find additional printable coupons. I have switched to Coupon Mom's method of organization and it has saved me tons of time because I'm not clipping and organizing coupons that I don't use.

Walgreens Savings

I like to shop at Walgreens as much as I like to shop at CVS. Walgreens always has good deals and offers monthly rebates in addition to Register Rewards which are similar to CVS' Extra Bucks.

This week they have a rockin' deal on the Schick Quattro razor - as a side note, the Walgreens lady was so sweet to make sure I got the one with the "pretty handle." The Quattro is on sale for $8.99 this week, use the $4.00 off coupon from the 3/22 Smartsource and the $4.00 off coupon from Walgreen's Easy Saver catalog (at the front of the store) and you'll pay $.99 for this razor.

The garbage bags are on sale for 2 for $7 but they are offering a $3.00 rebate with the purcase of two boxes that will then bring the cost down to $4.00 for two boxes. I have been using these garbage bags for about a year and I've always had good luck with them.

The AXE hair care is free after rebate of $5.99 and I was suprised to see they were so well stocked on this item so late in the month.

Finally, the storage bags (ziploc bags) are on sale for $.99 with the coupon from the sales ad and the same goes for the softsoap hand wash. The doggy treats were on clearance at $2.19.

My out of pocket total came to $23.83 but I will receive $8.99 back in rebates on my gift card that I can use for next month's purchases.

For more info on the Easy Saver Rebates go here. In addition to that you can check out From Wags to Riches which is a great blog about all the good deals at Walgreens.

CVS Savings

A free razor is always nice but when that free razor comes with a travel size shampoo and conditioner, thats even better! If you go to CVS this week for the Intuition Razor deal, look for the ones with the sample size Cool Moisture Dove Shampoo and Conditioner.

The Razor is on sale for $8.99 this week and it offers $3.00 Extra Bucks...combine that with the $4.00 off coupon from the 3/22 Smartsource and the total is $1.99. Also, I never pass up on a St. Ives deal because hubby uses the face wash. So I bought $11.97 in face scrub and earned $5.00 ECB's. I used $14.00 in ECB's to purchase these products because some of them were going to expire soon so my total came to $3.52 Out of Pocket an I earned $8.00 in ECB's. Even thought I *lost* ECB's I still consider it a success.

CVS $5 Challenge

This week I decided to participate in the CVS $5 Challenge, hosted by Alyssa at Kingdom First Mom.com. The challenge is to come up with a scenario to purchase items you need at CVS with a budget of $5.00 out of pocket.

Transaction #1

Crest Pro-Health Toothpaste $3.49

Use .50 off coupon from the 3/15 P&G insert - or $1.00 any crest toothpaste from Publix

$2.99 (or $2.49) Out of pocket

Receive $3.49 in ECB's

Transaction #2

Schick Intuition Razor - $8.99

Use $4.00 off coupon from 3/22 Smartsource

Use $3.49 in ECB's from transaction #1

Pay $1.50 Out of Pocket

Receive $3.00 ECB's for next week!

Total out of pocket is $4.49 for $12.48 in products. - I have to give Alyssa credit for this scenario - its the best one this week for newbies.

Also, Check out this post from Coupon Cravings for the scoop on What's Free at CVS this week.

Party City Coupon

Party City is offering a coupon for $10 off your next purchase of $30 or more. Click here to print yours! Don't forget that party city also offers wedding supplies if your currently planning one!

Whole Foods Coupon Matchups

The following coupon matchups are good for the Birmingham, AL location of Whole Foods. You will need to pick up a copy of the Whole Deal booklet at the front of the store for the non-printable coupons. Also, you can download their specials in .pdf format here.

Organic Valley Vermont Cheddar Cheese 16oz. $5.99 - $1.00 off any Organic Valley Cheese

Tazo Packaged Tea 20 count - 2 for $6 - $1.00 off one box of Tazo in the Whole Deal booklet

Lifeway Lowfat Kefirs 32oz. - 2 for $6 - $1.00 off any Lifeway Product

Think Organic Fruit Bars Assorted Flavors 1.76 oz. - 4 for $5 - $.50 off one Think Organic Bar in the Whole Deal Booklet

Also included in the Whole Deal booklet is a coupon for $3 off a $12 produce purchase

Navel Oranges - $.79 / lb.

Strawberries - 2 for $5 for a 1lb. package

Organic Bartlett Pears - $1.49 / lb.

Meat Specials

Ground Chuck is $3.39 / lb. use it to make their Mexican Taco Stew that will feed a crowd for around $3.11 a serving

Bone-in Chicken Thighs $1.99 / lb use them to make their Chicken Millet and Mushroom One-Skillet Meal

Have fun at Whole Foods...I know I do!

Awesome Party!

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to meet a fellow blogger! Her name is Trina and she writes, Fabulously Frugalicious. I have been reading her blog for a while and she invited her readers to join her for a South Beach Foods party. She is the nicest person! She greeted me with a hug and made me feel so welcome, even though I didn't know anyone there. Her family and are so nice and they all introduced themselves to me. Thanks again, Trina, for having me at your house! Check out her post on the party and read about all the fun we had!

Also, she can give you the scoop on a company called houseparty.com. They give you free products to host a party for your friends and family!

Friday Coupons

Restaurant.com is again offering their 80% off sale. You can purchase a $25 gift certificate for $2. Use code DINE at checkout. This will work out well since we are taking my little brother in law out to eat tonight for his birthday - Happy Birthday Paul - he's the big 16 today!!!

Aveeno is offering a $2 off coupon for next Aveeno purchase. This month CVS is offering $2 Extra Bucks with the purchase of Aveeno shaving cream. $4.99 shaving cream - $2 coupon - $2 ECB = is like paying $.99!

Proctor & Gamble has a site set up for sampling their products and printing coupons. Go here to check it out. Sign up is required.

WholeMeals is offering a $3 coupon off of their dog food. You can purchase their dog food at specialty stores. From what I can tell from their web site, the whole meal comes in the form of a bone.

CVS Savings

This week I did not follow my own advice and went to CVS today instead of Sunday when I would have had a better chance of scoring some deals. But, I lucked out and I was still able to get everything on my list. The Maybelline/Garnier deal was too good to pass up. Here is the play by play:

(2) Palmolive - $1.49 ea. - earned $2.00 ECB's
Vaseline Total Moisture Lotion - $3.69 - earned $2.00 ECB's - used $.55 off coupon
Maybelline Foundation - $8.00 - used $2.00 off coupon
Maybelline Mascara - $4.00 - $1.00 off coupon - earned $5 ECB's for the Maybelline products
Edge Shave Gel - $2.00
CVS Cotton Swabs - $1.99
Used $11 in ECB's from a previous transaction

Total - $6.48 Out Of Pocket!!!!

I orderd my coupons from The Coupon Clippers. The cost for $43 in coupons was only $4.38! Stay tuned for more on that later!

Swagbucks Code

Theres a new Swagbucks code available on their blog. You can enter this code and receive one Swagbuck. - Thanks Sarah @ Fiddledeedee! Hurry because it won't last much longer!!!

Swagbucks

Ok, so I'm not normally the first person to try something. I normally like to see what the general consensus is before I dive in. Enter Swagbucks. As I've been reading blogs, I've been noticing people saying the same thing...Swagbucks is awesome.

Heres the deal...you create an account at Swagbucks and then any time you need to search the web, you log in and search the web using their Google powered search engine. As you search you are periodically rewarded with Swagbucks. You can then redeem those Swagbucks for merchandise and gifts cards. There are also several other ways to earn Swagbucks...such as shopping through their site. You will be awarded one Swagbuck for every $5 spent. Also, you can trade in cell phones and video games, invite your friends to join, comment on their blog and interact on their facebook page.

You can use the link to the right of this post to check it out. Let me know what you think!

Coupons & Sales

Estee Lauder is offering a free eye duo with any $50 purchase. Offer expires March 31st. Use code EYESTYLE at checkout.

Artscow.com is have their Crazy $.99 dog tag promotion. These dog tags are cute, you personalize the dog tag with your own photos. These would make cute Mother's Day Gifts. Dads, you could have your child's picture printed on them for mom! Use code COWTAG99 at checkout.

Kohl's is offering 30-35% off of their swimwear. It includes the new Speedo collection from Michael Phelps. They are also offering free shipping on orders of $75 or more. Go here to check it out.

Save 50% on Restaurant.com gift certificates. Pay $5 for a $25 gift certificate. Use code CHEF at checkout.

CVS Savings

I had a great week at CVS this week. Mostly because I went on Sunday instead of waiting until the end of the week when all the good stuff was gone. Also because I've discovered that to really get the most benefit, you need to keep your tranactions small. Anytime I've ever tried to do one big transaction, it always backfires on me.

This week all of the products I wanted were in stock so I didn't have to try to adjust my transaction in my head. It went as follows:

Carnation Instant Breakfast - $4.99 - earns $4.99 ECB's

(2) Act Mouthwash - $1.98 - earns $1.98 in ECB's

Aveeno Shaving Cream - $4.99 - earns $2.00 ECB's used $2.00 off coupon here

Dawn Dish Liquid - $.97 - used $.50 off coupon from this Sunday's paper

Johnson's Buddies Soap - $1.19 - used $1.00 off coupon

CVS Vitamin D - $2.99 - earns $2.99 in ECB's

I used $12 in ECB's that I had earned from last week's transactions and paid a total of $2.10 out of pocket. For this transaction I earned $11.96 in ECB's.

Olay Professional Deal

There are a couple of options to get a good deal on the Olay Pro-X products this week. They are as follows:

Walgreens is offering the Starter Kit for $61.99. Use the $5 off coupon from this Sunday's paper and pay $56.99 out of pocket at Walgreens then download this form for a $25 rebate from Olay.

CVS is offering $5 Extra Bucks back with your purchase of the lotion, cream, wrinkle treatment, eye restoration, discoloration complex or starter kit. Use the $5 coupon from this Sunday's paper and dowload the form mentioned above for a $25 rebate. CVS does not list prices for each product in their ad, however it does say that prices start at $47.00, so I don't know what your final out of pocket will be.

The rebate from Olay says you must purchase $50 worth of Pro-X products by March 8, 2009. Happy Shopping!

It's Snowing!!!

I know some of you are sick of the snow by now but in the south, we don't get it that much. I took this photo this morning from my apartment balcony. We're so excited to see some snow! Most of the church services have been cancelled and they've closed a few roads around town. Like I said, we don't get that much snow so when we do get it, people start closing everything. Oh well, its a good excuse to build a fire and curl up on the sofa! Have a great Sunday!

Coupon Friday

Keep an eye out in your mailbox. I almost threw the coupons on top away because they were wrapped up with some other advertisements. Something told me to look before I tossed it and I'm glad I did because I would have missed out on the following coupons:

$1.00 / Dannon 4-pack fruit smoothie

$1.00 / Dannon La Creme 4-pack

$1.00 / Irish Spring Body Wash

$ .50 / Irish Spring Soap Bars

$1.50 / Colgate Advanced Toothpaste

$1.00 / Softsoap Body Wash

$1.00 / Softsoap Ensembles Liquid Hand Soap

$1.00 / Dannon DanActive 4-pack

$1.00 / Any (Two) Dannon DanActive 4-packs or (One) Eight Pack

These coupons are a little bit higher value than you see in the Sunday paper.

The other booklet you see is a coupon booklet that my hubby purchased from a dad at his office. It was a fundraiser that the school is doing. It is loaded with restaurant and rereational activities coupons. Its like a mini Entertainment book.

After I made a post about the Try Me Free Rebate for the Sure deodorant, I received a coupon in my email. Click here to print yours.

Free Sure Deodorant

While surfing Freeflys for the latest free samples, I found a Try Me Free Rebate offer for Sure Deodorant. They are offering full rebates for Sure for Men, Sure with Natural Extracts and Sure MAX FREE. Just click on each of their names to download the .pdf form. Only one rebate per household.

You could sweeten this deal by purchasing your deodorant on sale and combining it with a coupon. I have always had good luck with getting rebates from Sure. The checks come in a timely manner and they normally include $1.00 off coupons for Pert and Sure.

Frugal Invitations

One of my many hobbies is to make invitations for people. As soon as someone makes an announcement, I usually jump up and say, "I'll make the invitations!" The invitation on the left was for my sister-in-law's wedding and yes, she wanted camoflauge for her colors. The invitation on the right was one I made for my college graduation. I could not bring myself to pay the hundreds of dollars on the invites from the university. These invitations will fit in a standard greeting card envelope which you can usually find a 50-count box for around $3. Also, to bring your costs down further, you can purchase the card stock from Hobby Lobby when they mark it down to 50% off.

Each invitation is one piece of 8 x 5.25 piece of cardstock on the bottom then a 7 x 3.75 piece of carstock, with the information printed on it, glued on top of that and finally a 4.5 x 7.5 piece of vellum on top. Punch two holes through the vellum and bottom piece of cardstock and tie it with a 16" long ribbon. Voila! Custom invitations! If you have any questions about the process you can email me at savingscafe@gmail.com or post a comment.

Free Kashi Entree & Free Samples

Kashi is offering coupons for a free entree. This works out well with my new eat better plan, plus I already like their cereal and oatmeal. Click here to print your coupon. Thanks, Erin at Coupon Cravings.

Go here to Wal-Mart's site to see their latest offering of free samples.

Another Coupon Roundup

Get a free trial of the new Good Housekeeping magazine by clicking here.

Check out drugstore.com's big clearance sale here.

Kohls is having a 2-day stock up sale. They are offering 40-50% off of spring styles. Check it out here.

Friday Coupon Roundup

I'm back again with another coupon roundup...check out some of these great deals..

Restaurant.com is offering 80% off of restaurant gift certificates!! Get a $25 gift certificate for $2. Use code DINE at checkout.

Artscow.com has just upgraded their photo collage program. To celebrate this, they have decided to let their mouse pads be their pilot product. Right now you can get custom photo mouse pads for $2.98 each. Uses code MOUSPD298 at checkout. These would make great gifts for someone who has a birthday coming up or you could get started on those Mother's day and Father's day gifts.

Kohls is having a 2-day sale. Take 20% off your entire order PLUS get free shipping when you spend $100 or more. Use code SAVE2DAY at checkout.

Walgreens is offer 20 free 4x6 prints today only! Use code ONEDAY at checkout.

Estee Lauder is offering free shipping with a $25 purchase. Use code FEBFREE at checkout.

Restoration Hardware Baby & Child is having a clearance event. You can get up to 75% off of their merchandise. For an extra 10% off, use code BXTRA10 at checkout. I love the look of their nursery and kids room decor!

Dear Gain,

I know its been a while since you and I teamed up to fight the forces of dirty laundry but you see, lately I've been on this frugal kick. With the downturn of the economy, I've been trying to save a little money here and there. One way I thought I could save a little money was to make my own laundry detergent. The laundry detergent I made has no scent. I can understand how this suprises you because I'm all about smell! Anyway, I've been using the homemade detergent since November and I've come to realize that it pales in comparison to you. I've missed your fresh clean smell. Not to mention, my sweet hubby spends quite a lot of time in the mornings lint rolling his clothes because that homemade stuff leaves some kind of weird residue behind.

But, oh happy day, our favorite store, Publix, recently put you on their list of essentials at $4.99 a bottle AND I had a $1.00 off coupon to purchase you. Now you happily reside back on my laundry room shelf where you belong and I'm back to sneaking sniffs of my shirt at work! Can you ever forgive me for my extended absence?

Love,
Angel

A Midweek Song

I've recently discovered Brooke Fraser while listening to "The Message" on XM. After purchasing her cd, I have absolutely fallen in love with the C.S. Lewis Song. I thought I would share it with you. In case your wondering, her latest cd is called "Albertine." Go out and buy it!!!

Friday Coupon Roundup

Right at Home is offering $31.50 in coupons to give you a cleaner, cozier home. If you have not already signed up for their newsletter, you will most likely have to do so.

Sign up with Red Plum to receive over $98 in grocery coupons, recipes and online shopping coupons. Also, they have tips on decorating for your Super Bowl party this week.

Join Club Olay to receive special money saving offers. Their current promotion is to receive a $25 rebate when you purchase $50 in Olay Professional Pro-X products.

Artscow.com is offering a free 10pc. photo book when you use the code FREE10BKS. This offer expires on 2/28/09 - FYI - the wording I received was a little hard to understand, you'll want to verify this offer for yourself...let me know how it works for you. This would be a great idea for those digital scrapbooking pages you've been making on Scrapblog.

Print a coupon here for $2 off the new Bertolli Oven Bake meals.

Betty Crocker is offering $20 in printable coupons. You will have to sign up for their website, if you haven't already.

Sign up here to print coupons for Horizon Organic Milk. This stuff taste so good, we freak out a little if we run out at our house. It tastes like milk should taste...you'll see what I'm talking about when you try it!

If you have not tried Seventh Generation cleaning products, you can log in here to print coupons for them. They are a little pricier than other cleaners but they are amazing. My hubby said they clean too good to be environmentally friendly. These products and the Horizon Organic Milk are my two household splurges.

Go here to print $1.00 off coupon for Coffee-Mate's new Caramel Apple Flavor.

As always, you can print additional coupons from my widget on the right.

Happy Friday!!!

Scrapblog

While cruising through the blogosphere today, I came across the most awesomest digital scrapbooking site. (yes, you can use my new word!) I read about it on Trina's blog Fabulously Frugalicious. I'm a big time scrapbooker but I haven't gotten into digital scrapbooking. Mainly because of my fascination with cutting paper.

The site is called Scrapblog and they have pre-made layouts that you can upload your photos to or you can start from scratch. From that point, you have several options...you can save it as a .jpg on your computer or you can upload it to a photo printing site. You can also make digital scrapbooks and have Scrapblog print them for you.

I made the picture you see here in about 10 minutes and it was the first time I had been to the site. Thats my Mr. Hoover and one of his many friends. Mr. Hoover is half dachshund, half love!

Help with AutoCAD 3D

As you know, I'm an interior designer...the largest part of my job is creating construction documents. In an effort to broaden my skills and grow, I am trying to learn how to use 3D in AutoCAD Architecture 2008. If you know of a good web site where I can find tutorials or you know of an inexpensive class going on here in the south, would please leave a comment? Your help is greatly appreciated!

Decorating Tip

This look came together over the course of a year. Not that I'm proud of that but hey, some things take time. I got the 11x14 frames on clearance at Target for $12 each. The prints were purchased from Art.com.

The finials were bought at Hobby Lobby on clearance for around $15 for all of them. The big scroll iron thingy was bought at Kirkland's on clearance and with an extra 25% off and I estimate I paid about $6 for it. Finally, the star in the middle is actually our Christmas tree topper but we keep it up year round because it gives us that warm fuzzy feeling.

When it comes to decorating your space, don't get rushed or feel like you have to immediately live in a show house. As you pick up things here and there, it will all come together. It takes time to make your house feel like home.

Publix Savings

So how much do I love coupons? The regular price of the groceries you see in this picture was $96.65 but after coupons and advertised sales my total was only $54.96 - a savings of $41.69!!

One of the highlights was being able to use my $2.00 off of Vaseline Lotion that printed on the bottom of a CVS receipt. I scored a bottle of Vaseline Cocoa Butter lotion that normally retails for $8.00 for $1.50 because it was also on sale at Publix this week. I also got some Head & Shoulders shampoo on clearance for $2.00!

Another key to my savings success is reading http://www.fiddledeedeeblog.blogspot.com/ weekly Publix post with coupon matchups. Every Thursday she posts the latest and greatest Publix sale with printable and non-printable coupon matchups.

Also, you can check out my post here on keeping those coupons organized.

Take Menu Planning to the Next Level!

Lots of people would agree that planning a menu is a great way to save money. How else do you know what to buy at the grocery store? The greatest advantage to me is stress free weeknights. No more wondering whats for dinner on the drive home from work.

While I was Christmas shopping this year, I popped into the calendar store and low and behold, they had a calendar exclusively for menu planning! And of course, it was 50% off! It has large squares for writing in menu items and it has post it note style tabs for marking recipes in cookbooks and it has stickers for keeping track of special events like birthdays and dinner parties. And best of all, it has magnets on the back so you can keep it on your fridge.

Don't worry, I found one for you on the web for 50% off too. Click here to order your own.

Here is a useful tip for your menu planning - throughout the month, make a double match of a recipe and then freeze the leftovers. Write down those leftovers on a day during the last week of the month. Continue until you have the last week of the month filled up. Now you have built in an entire week off from cooking and grocery shopping every month!! Who wouldn't love that?

Money Saving Resources for Groceries

Hello again!

Sign up at Betty Crocker for tons of recipes and print $29 in coupons!

Check out the Whole Deal from Whole Foods to see whats on sale and check out their money saving recipes. Also, if you have a Whole Foods in your area, stop by and pick up their new coupon booklet with $30 in coupons for organic and natural foods.

Take a look at this money saving recipe for Three Cheese Chicken Penne Pasta Bake from Kraft Foods. Also sign up for their free Kraft Food and Family Magazine while your there. They are loaded with quick and easy recipes. Its my go-to magazine when I'm menu planning.

As always, you can print coupons from my widget to the right. Each month they are re-loaded with brand new coupons. Give a try and let me know what you think.

Buttermilk Biscuits!!

Living in Alabama, I'm no stranger to eating buttermilk biscuits. However, up until recently I never was very good at making my own. That is until I found this recipe from Southern Plate. This recipe is foolproof. They are so light and fluffy, you will be making them every weekend just like I have been. Now if only I could find a way to remove the calories...oh, who am I kidding, thats what makes them good!

Buttermilk Biscuits

1/2 c. cold butter
2-1/4 c. self rising soft wheat flour (she recommends White Lilly)
1-1/4 c. buttermilk (or whole milk with a tablespoon of lemon juice added)
flour for dusting

1. Cut butter with a sharp knife or pastry blender into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Sprinkle butter slices over flour in large bowl. Toss butter with flour. Cut butter into flour with a pastry blender until crumbly and mixture resembles small peas. Cover and chill 10 minutes. Add buttermilk, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened.

2. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface; knead 3 or 4 times, gradually adding additional flour as needed. With floured hands, press or pat dough into a 3/4 inch thick rectangle (about 9x5 inches). Sprinkle top of dough with additional flour. Fold dough over onto itself in 3 sections, starting with 1 short end. (Fold dough rectangle as if folding a letter size piece of paper.) Repeat entire process 2 more times, beginning with pressing into a 3/4 inch thick dough rectangle (about 9x5 inches).

3. Press or pat dough to 1/2 inch thickness on a lightly floured surface; cut with a 2-inch round cutter, and place, side by side, on a parchement paper-lined or lightly greased jelly roll pan. (Dough rounds should touch)

4. Bake at 450 degrees for 13 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven; brush with 2 Tbsp. melted butter.

Enjoy!!!!

I like to try to make a few extra on weekends. This saves us from going through the drive-thru on weekday mornings.