Super Saver Sales - Sale on Powerade

There are some terrific sales at Super Saver this week. They have 32 ounce Powerade on sale for 46 cents each when you buy 15 bottles. If you printed off the coupons that I mentioned here on June 14th, you'll have two coupons for $1.00 each to apply to your order. Each bottle will end up costing 32 cents, which I think is a pretty good deal. Other great sales this week include 8 ounce bags of shredded cheese for $1.00, which is a stock up item for me. The also have Dole Cole slaw mix for 88 cents.

Ball Park Frank Hot Dogs and Bun Coupons

More Hot Dog and Bun Coupons...

Try New Ball Park^® Deli Style Beef Franks!

Save $.75 on any TWO (2) Ball Park Deli Style Beef Franks

Pick up the only bun worthy of the Ball Park^® name!

Save $.55 on any ONE (1) Package of Ball Park Buns

Pasta Price May Jump as North Dakota Durum Floods Boost Campbell’s Costs

Bloomberg News is reporting a price jump in pasta. Think now would be a good time to stock up on pasta?

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-24/pasta-price-may-surge-as-swamped-north-dakota-cuts-durum-supply.html

Interesting article from the Grand Rapids Press this morning about an author who finds living on less easier than her old lifestyle, and learned many of those lessons from the Amish community. She has even written a book on the topic titled, Money Secrets of the Amish. Be sure to see if your library carries a copy of it. Here is a link to the article:  

Local author finds Amish-style thrift saves her big Bucks

"The old Lorilee Craker would have picked up a couple of $16 children’s shirts without a second thought, ordered a $20 pizza without checking what’s in the fridge, and sent out her bills a few days late. The Amish-makeover Lorilee makes pizza-chili with ingredients on hand and is sure to send her payments on time to avoid late fees."

Another article on Lorilee Craker from the Chicago Tribune uses on of my favorite quotes:

"Use it up, wear it out, make do or do without." Craker heard this rhyming adage repeated among the Amish. It describes their reluctance to replace anything before it's fully used. And when it seems kaput, they look for ways to fix it or repurpose it. That's very different than the way many Americans live.

Here is a link to her blog:  Shoefly Pie

Here in a link to her Facebook page: Lorilee Cracker

 

The Recession that Saved a Generation

Michael Nolan, who writes the Budget Meal Examiner for Examiner.com has several interesting articles and recipes that I wanted to share. This one titled, The Recession that saved a Generation, is an article about how cooking at home saves money. Here is a tidbit from the article:

Contrary to what the modern generation has been raised to believe, good food can be made at home, and it can be done on a budget.

Click here to see a list of all of his budget friendly recipes: Michael Nolan Budget Meals

You can also find him on Facebook:  Budget Meal Guy

Taco Seasoning Mix

Dinner tonight will be a choice of Tacos or Taco Salad since we have planned over Taco Meat from Sunday's Taco Dinner. (We usually have Tacos once a week at our house).

One thing I like to add to my Taco meat is a can of potatoes, which I dice up into small pieces. Potatoes can be a good filler and stretch the meat a little bit further, which helps me to save money.

Everyone in my family likes the potatoes added to the taco meat and actually request that I include them.

Taco seasoning is one of those things I don't buy unless I can get it for free or close to free with a coupon.

The reason for that is because when you add up the cost of the ingredients in one of those packets you realize how expensive they really are, and how much you can save by making your own.

So, another thing that I add to my taco meat is this combination of spices:

Taco Seasoning Mix

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground oregano

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together.

Store in an airtight container.

To Use:

For tacos add 2 Tablespoons (or to taste) to 1 pound of cooked ground beef.

Add ½ cup water and simmer until most of the water has evaporated.

I mix this up in a double batch since I use 2 pounds of ground beef when I make tacos.

To make the tacos, I brown my ground beef and then add this mixture with a little bit of water and let that cook until most of the water has evaporated. 

That is how we make Tacos in our home.

Belinda

Regina Vinegar Coupon

Lucky me...just as I used the last of my red wine vinegar in a pasta salad last week, along comes a coupon for $1.00 off. Click here to get your coupon:  Regina Vinegar $1.00 coupon

WFD: Meatless Meal ~ Loaded Baked Potatoes

Tonight’s dinner is a meatless meal as we are having loaded baked potatoes. 

This was one Amy Dacyczyn’s (author of the Tightwad Gazette) meatless meals she served to her family of six.  She would top them with chopped, steamed broccoli, cheese sauce and a sprinkle of bacon bits. 

Ours were topped with butter, sour cream, broccoli, and cheddar cheese.

BelindaMortgage & Debt Free~ Living within our Means ~My Linktree
~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~Proverbs 31:27

Tetley Tea Coupons in the Mail

Head on over to Tetley Tea and send your friend a coupon for $1 off and you will receive a coupon booklet from Tetley in the mail.

McKay Used Books, CDs, Movies, and More.

We made a trip to Chattanooga today, and visited McKay Used Books in Chattanooga. McKay is one of our favorite places to visit and the reason why is because we can take any of our old books, cds, dvds, or video games and trade them for ones that are new to us. 

We took several books and movies with us today to trade and came back with the 4th season of 90210, two cds for dd, and a pile of books for my daughter's summer reading.

My favorite sections to visit are the cookbook section, and especially the budget cookbooks, where I can always find cookbooks from the 1970s, which are great to look for frugal recipes, and the financial book section. 

I've found many money saving books in that section over the years. We received $55.17 in trade credit today, and spent $55. 37 on our new items, so we paid .20 cents out of pocket. 

Sure can't beat a deal like that. :)

WFD: Tuesday - Sam's Club Rotisserie Chicken

Dinner tonight will be a rotisserie chicken, which I picked up at Sam's Club this afternoon for $4.99. Sides will be choice of pasta salad, potato salad, cole slaw, or mashed potatoes. Sweet iced tea as well. Afterwards I will be making some chicken stock with the leftovers.

Lunch: Pasta Salad

Lunch today is a homemade pasta salad using up ingredients from the refrigerator. I used a box of rotini spiral pasta bought on clearance for 50 cents, black olives from the big can from Sam's club, garlic and onion, Parmesan cheese, marked down red pepper and cucumber, the last of the mozzarella cheese and pepperoni left from the pizza I made last week, the last little bit of balsamic and red wine vinegars, and some olive oil.

Homemade Baking verses Storebought Sweets

Recently I priced matched some Pillsbury brownies that were on sale for 99 cents a box.  I made a batch this morning to have something sweet to eat on hand. There is one variety of Little Debbie snack cake that I enjoy, but didn't buy very often. Maybe once every three months or so, and when I went to purchase a box recently, I noticed the price had increased to $1.79 for 5 small cakes. That is a budget buster for me and I decided to not buy them and find a different alternative, which is why the brownies came into play. 

In the past I have made brownies from scratch, but the price of cocoa has went up recently too and rather than pay $6 for a small box of cocoa, I am waiting to find a good deal on it. My sale bought brownies ended up making fifteen generous sized brownies, which even with eggs and oil added in, is definitely cheaper than the box of Little Debbies. 

Pictured above are the 6-19-11 Sunday editions of the Chattanooga Times Free Press and Cleveland Daily Banner. We are unable to get home delivery of the Chattanooga Times Free Press, so I go to the Dollar General store on Sundays where they sell for $1.50, which saves me $1.00 (I buy 2 copies) since they sell for $2.00 each at the gas stations/mini marts in the area. 

Both newspapers had one copy each of the Smart Source and Red Plum coupon insert books today. So, today I ended up with 3 copies of each coupon book and cut and sorted them into 2 piles. Ones I will use and put into my coupon binder and the other I will share with friends. You may also see my baggie of expired coupons, which I save and donate for the military who can use expired coupons that are up to 6 months out of date.

My coupon binder is nothing fancy, but an old Day Planner that I bought at a yard sale for $1.00, and even had several page protectors and zip lock style page protectors included. The turquoise colored dividers came from a 3M/Avery freebie in the mail.

Used to I would just cut out all my coupons and put them in a zippered pouch and put them in my purse, but I never really used them when I did that. Once I started this binder system, I began using the coupons more and as a result saving more money at the grocery store. So this system has really worked for me and I hope that everyone finds what system works for them and use it to his or her benefit.

There were several really good coupons in the papers today. One of them was for the Carolina meat products, which is a meat product that I have avoided in the past because it was so cheap. In fact, they are on sale this week. The Carolina sausage is on sale for $1.00 and there is a 50 cents off coupon, so I think I have going to have to bite the bullet and try one of them.

Father's Day Dinner

Tacos are a tried and true family favorite around here, and especially for my Dad, so I made them for him today for Father's Day. I used 5 pounds of ground beef, so I would have plenty of meat leftover for Taco Salads tomorrow. After I bought everything I needed for the Tacos I had spent less than $10.00  and I ended up making over 20 tacos and still have plenty leftover. 20 tacos at a Mexican restaurant would cost considerably more than $20, which just goes to show cooking at home can save you a great deal of money.

WFD: Homemade Chicken Tenders

Dinner tonight is homemade Chicken Tenders with ranch dressing or honey mustard for dipping, potato salad, and cole slaw, and sweet iced tea. I made enough of the chicken to have for tomorrow night's dinner as well. I'll make everyone a garden salad and top it with the chicken tenders. I used one 2.5 pound bag of chicken from Aldi's that I paid $3.99 for during their grand opening sales last winter.

Hillbilly Housewife

If you are interested in reading the old version of the Hillbilly Housewife website, you can use the Internet Wayback machine to read the website like it was originally created by Miss Maggy. 

Here is a link:  Hillbilly Housewife

I hope you enjoy!

Belinda

Sunday Saver Sale Circulars

Sunday Saver Sale Circular is a place to go when you want to look at ALL the major grocery store sale ads that are currently available. This link does not include local grocery stores. It's nice to find the major ones all in one place. Some of the stores I would use include:

Powerade Coupon

There is a Powerade coupon for $1 off 5 drinks available to print right now. These would be great to combine with the Super Saver sale for 46 cents each. We've been seeing a lot of Powerade sales lately.

Banana Pancakes with Peanut Butter Syrup

Breakfast this morning was homemade Banana Pancakes with Peanut Butter Syrup.The recipe below calls for biscuit mix like Bisquick, but this recipe is very versatile. I've used it with Bisquick, regular pancake mix, and pancake batter made from scratch. In fact, I don't even follow the recipe anymore. I just mash up two bananas and add some cinnamon to the batter. 

Sometimes when I have bananas that are going bad I use that as an excuse to make a batch of these pancakes.They are a tried and true family favorite and my family loves them. They are always a hit with my daughter's friends too when they've had a sleepover at our house.

I like to serve these with the peanut butter syrup because there is a small amount of protein from the peanut butter and I do like to use sugar free syrup to save on the calories. If you have any leftovers, put them in a single layer on a wax paper-lined baking sheet and freeze them. When they are frozen, place in an airtight container, and return to the freezer (they will keep for a month). 

Banana Pancakes with Peanut Butter & Jelly Syrups

Ingredients:

2 cups biscuit mix
1 cup mashed banana (2 to 3 ripe bananas)
1 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 Tablespoons butter or margarine
3/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup peanut butter

Directions:

Whisk together first 5 ingredients in a large bowl just until moistened.
Melt 1 tablespoon butter on a hot griddle.
Pour 1/4 cup batter for each pancake onto griddle.
Cook pancakes until tops are covered with bubbles and edges look cooked.
Turn and cook the other side of pancakes.
Repeat procedure with remaining butter and pancake batter.

Peanut Butter Syrup

Ingredients:

3/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup peanut butter

Directions: 

Whisk together maple syrup and peanut butter until smooth.
Serve pancakes with peanut butter mixture and strawberry syrup.

Oil Change for $9.99

Tire Kingdom, Merchants, and NTB are offering a coupon for an oil change for $9.99, which is a great deal! The closest participating dealer to me would be the NTB located in Hixson, TN:

NTB Store #662
5327 Highway 153
Hixson, TN 37343
(423) 870-4094

Gulden's Spicy Brown Mustard

Super saver has the Gulden's spicy brown mustard on sale this week for $1.00, and I combined the sale with the coupon recently offered at Coupons.com for 35 cents off. I was able to pick up this bottle for 65 cents, which will be added to my pantry. 

By adding to my pantry with food bought on sale and combining that with coupons, along with my frugal shopping on a continuous basis, I am able to pick and choose from the best deals available and as a result, fill my pantry with food bought at the lowest possible price. This helps me to save money and feed my family within a reasonable budget.

Kings Hawaiian bread coupon

Recently I joined the e-mail club from the King's Hawaiian bread website and received a coupon good for $2.00 off one of their original sweet round bread. 

This is not one of those coupons from a website such as Coupons.com where they might run out of coupons, but rather signing up for an email club directly from the company and receiving a coupon in my email box. 

This is another example of ways to get coupons for the products my family enjoys. 

Belinda

Free Entertainment

We visited the library yesterday as my daughter wanted to spend some time on the computer there. Our high speed Internet at home is not unlimited, so I don't allow her to watch You Tube videos, and she wanted to watch Harry Potter videos. 

I didn't want to spend my time online, so I was checking out the video section. I brought my own headphones (They charge $1.50 for headphones) and watched a video on Appalachian music, a cooking video and had started watching the Heloise video when dd was ready to leave, so I checked that one out along with one by the Frugal Gourmet. 

We don't have any television service in our home, so we depend on videos or DVDs for TV entertainment. Borrowing videos from the library, or trading for some at the used book store, or finding some while shopping yard sales have all been good ways to find free or inexpensive entertainment.

31 Days to a Better Grocery Budget

Head on over to Money Saving Mom for a series on 31 days to a better grocery budget.

Pop-Tarts ~ A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Several posters were discussing Pop-Tarts on a message board that I frequent. I made the argument that oatmeal, eggs, and whole grain bread were cheaper than a box of Pop-Tarts. One poster's counter argument was this:

Oatmeal...not much. The last time I bought oatmeal it was $3.89 for the small container.
Eggs...MAYBE one dozen on sale. (A dozen eggs is normally $2.69 a dozen)
Whole Grain bread...can't touch it. (I don't even bother looking at the price anymore because I stopped buying it when it got to $3.29 a loaf)
Pop-tarts are regularly $2.00 a box here. With a coupon, I can get them for $1.25 a box.

I thought about what she said, and this morning while I was at the grocery store I decided to take some pictures. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words. :)

Oatmeal - $1.00 

Eggs - $1.12

100% Whole Grain Bread - 88 cents

Pop-Tarts - $2.17 (On Sale!)

And while I'm at it, I might as well throw in some peanut butter. I can buy two jars this week and still spend less than the box of Pop-Tarts. In fact, I could buy the bread and peanut butter and make about a dozen peanut butter sandwiches for less than the box of 8 Pop-Tarts and the sandwiches would not only be cheaper, but also more filling because of the protein in the peanut butter.

I am not against Pop-Tarts and I do believe that parents should use the tools that work for them. And I know how busy school and work mornings can be. I just believe that there are cheaper alternatives for breakfast. And, breakfasts with a little protein in them will help satisfy those hungry tummies until lunchtime.

Strawberries!

The old Walmart on Keith street had strawberries for 99 cents a pound today, so we picked up 3 pounds. They are delicious too!

Dollar General Store $5 off $25

Click on the link for a coupon good at the Dollar General store for $5 OFF a purchase of $25 or more purchase today only!

Here is a link to their sale ad for the week: 

Dollar General Store Ad

Free Rice at Bi-Lo

Every month Bi-Lo is offering a Try Our Brands Challenge. When you buy the national brand you will be able to get the Bi-Lo brand for free with the printable coupons on the Bi-Lo web site.  You'll need to create an account or log in here to see/print these coupons. This month the coupons are for free Southern Home rice:

• Buy Knorr Spanish Fiesta Sides ~ Get FREE SH Spanish Rice & Sauce
• Buy Knorr Broccoli & Cheddar Rice Sides ~ Get FREE SH Broccoli & Cheddar Rice & Sauce
• Buy Knorr Herb & Butter Rice Sides ~ Get FREE SH Herb & Butter Rice & Sauce

Use $1/3 Knorr Sides from the 5/22 Red Plum Insert to get all 3 of these at the same time (and all 3 Bi-Lo brands FREE!)

Peter Pan Peanut Butter

Added two jars of Peter Pan peanut butter to my pantry today from the Bi-Lo sale. Both jars were on sale for 99 cents, and I had a coupon for $1.00 off 2 jars, so I paid 98 cents for both jars, or 49 cents each. 

 Update: I stopped in Bi-Lo today with my Mom and daughter and we all picked up two jars of the Peanut Butter, so I now have about 10 jars to add to my stash in the pantry. This has been a BIG sale in town because not only is Bi-Lo on Keith street wiped out of the creamy peanut butter, and so is Walmart from all the price matching. 

WFD: Soup Beans

In my efforts to use the food in my kitchen and not let it go to waste, dinner tonight was the last of the soup beans (Great Northern beans) I made earlier in the week. They were served with cornbread, sliced tomatoes, sliced pears and peaches. Simple, delicious, and very filling.

Good Deals on Health & Beauty Products

Health and Beauty items bought with coupons doubled at Bi-Lo today. Lady Speed Stick was 2.13, minus 75 cents off coupon, so I paid 63 cents. Toothbrushes were B1G1 Free minus three 75 cent off coupons, so I paid 60 cents each.  

Basic Crest toothpaste was on sale for 1.88, had 75 off coupon, so I paid 38 cents. (Dentist wants dd to use basic toothpaste & says Pro Health is not for children). Pro Health Crest toothpaste was $2.99 on sale,  had 75 cent off  coupon, so I paid $1.50. This is my favorite toothpaste that I have paid $4.00 a tube for in the past, so anytime I can add one to my stockpile for $1.50 I will jump at that price. 

Total Spent: $4.91.

Bi-Lo: Marked Down Produce

The Bi-Lo on the Bypass in Cleveland sells marked down produce in pre-priced bags for $1.49. I picked up four bags today for $5.96 and now have 1 bag of pears (8 in all), 1 bag with 4 giant red peppers, 1 bag of a variety of tomatoes, and one bag of peaches. The other Bi-Lo in town does not do that, so it really pay to shop at both of them if possible.

Stocked up on Canned Tomatoes

I mentioned yesterday that Bi-Lo has the 28 ounce  cans of Southern Home tomatoes on sale this week and are B1G1 Free (save $1.73 on 2).This worked out to 86 cents per can. I went today and stocked up and bought 24 cans for my pantry. Total Spent: $20.64.

Bi-Lo Trip 6-10-11

 Bi-Lo had an error printed in their sale ad for this week. The store normally doubles coupons up to 60 cents, but the ad printed double coupons up to 99 cents, and Bi-Lo made good on the ad and decided to honor it. So today, I made a trip to Bi-Lo today and bought $156.27 worth of groceries, minus my coupons and bonus card savings, my total came to $89.61, which included $21.62 worth of coupons. The 99 cent double coupons run through Tuesday, June 14, 2011.

My up to date total spent on food in June 2011 so far is $157.80.

Bi-Lo Sale 6-8-11

Bi-Lo is having a great sale this week and they are doubling manufacturer coupons up to 99 cents. The first thing that leaped out at me was Peter Pan peanut butter for 99 cents! There is a limit of two, but such a great deal. Some of the other good deals I noted include Clorox Bleach (82 to 96 oz) 99 cents, Chickens 69 cents a pound, Beef Cube Steak $1.99 a pound, Pork Chops $1.79 pound, South Home canned vegetables 2 for $1.00, and Southern Home canned tomatoes are B1G1 Free (save $1.73 on 2).

Use It Up

One of the ways I save money in my kitchen is by keeping an inventory of items in my pantry. I try to be mindful of the items located there and use them up before they become outdated. Tossing items that are no longer useful because I’ve let them go bad is a waste of my money, and something I strive to avoid. 

Last summer I came across a great sale at a local store for various crash and burn items. Everything was 5 for $1.00 and I happened to find 3 boxes of Lipton tea bags in the 16 count box. 

I’ve had these in my pantry since then and haven’t used them because they are not decaffeinated. My daughter and I do not sleep well when we drink caffeine, so I avoid it at all costs during the school year when sleep is essential. 

Since school is out now and sleeping in is an option I am now in a position to use these tea bags. And so, this week I've made 3 gallons of tea using these tea bags.