Thursday, April 30, 2009

Pace Salsa

Target has Pace Salsa's on sale for $1.99 thru May 11th.

There is a $2/1 mfg insert coupon out there.

I just ordered my cpns from the coupon clippers. There should be a link under My Favorites. I also order the .60/1 Daisy Sour Cream and the $1/1 Kraft Mayo as there is a TQ printable to pair up with.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Target Week of April 25

Oretga Taco Sauce: $1 each - $1/2 mfg cpn (Ebay) = .50 each

Special K Cereals and Bars: $2.39 each x 5 = $11.95 - .70/1 mfg cpn x 5 = $8.45 for the 1st set. Plus a $5 gift card wyb 5. Second round, $3.45 OOP + a $5 gift card.

Market Pantry 8inch Pie: $2.99 (cherry) - $1/1 TQ = $1.99

Granny Smith or Sonya Apples: .99/lb - $1/1 TQ for bulk apples = Free apples!!!!!!

New Coupons:
$1 off With purchase of two 16-oz. Kraft dressings
$1 off With purchase of two 18-oz. or larger Kraft Mayo or Miracle Whip Dressing
$1 off With purchase of two 12-oz. or larger Triscuit or Wheat Thins
$1 off With purchase of two 7-oz. or larger Kraft natural cheese Shred or Chunks
$1 off With purchase of two 31-oz. or larger Maxwell House coffee products
$1 off 14-ct. or larger Crystal Light powdered drink mix
$1 off With purchase of two Kool Aid or Country Time 8-qt. or larger powdered drink mix
$1 off 14.5-oz. or larger Nabisco Ritz crackers
$1 off With purchase of two Oscar Mayer deli fresh shaved lunch meat
$1 off 4-oz. or larger Nabisco 100 Calorie Packs
$1 off With purchase of two 4.8- to 8-oz. Pup-peroni dog treats
$1 off 1-lb. or more Bulk apples
$1 off Quaker snacks
$1 off Gold'n Plump fresh chicken
50¢ off Pringles potato chips
75¢ off Target Brand body wash
75¢ off Target Brand cleaning product
$1 off Cottonelle bath tissue

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Free Dry Idea Roll-On

Target has Dry Idea Roll-on's TPC'd to $2 each.

There is a printable $2/1 cpn on the following sites:
www.coupons.com
www.couponbug.com

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Chicken Pot Pie

1/2 Chicken ($4.25 each at Sams/2 = $2.12)
4 Potatoes ($3.99/20 spuds = .20 each x 4 = .80)
1 Can Cream Mushroom soup .52 (store brand)
2 Cups Frozen Veggies ($3.88 at Sams/17 cups per bag = .23/cup x 2 = .46)
1 Onion .10 (BOGO 5lb bag deal at Cub a few wks ago)
1 Cup Milk ($1.69/gallon. $1.69/16 = .11)

6) 3 Cheese Garlic Breadsticks (Sam's Club) $4.24/32 = .13 each x 6 = .78

Total: $4.89

*The chicken came in a 2 ct bag and was sold by the pound. I put one in the rotissierie yesterday for dinner and frozen the 2nd one.

Directions:
Peel, dice, boik, and mash potatoes.
Dice Chicken and layer in bottom of glass baking dish.
Dice Onion and place on top of chicken.
Pour Frozen veggies on top of the onion.
Mix can of soup and milk together. Pour over the top.
Spread mashed potatoes over the top of the dish.
Bake at 350 until potatoes are golden brown.

*You can add a few slabs of butter to the top of the potatoes before putting the dish in the oven. I had no room though!!

Free Purex Laundry Detergent

1) Go to www.coupons.com
2) In the upper left hand corner, enter zip code 45201
3) Print 2 BOGO Purex cpns per computer

1) Go to www.couponbug.com
2) Click on Register
3) Use a junk email addy that you have to register
4) Enter zip code 44514
3) Print 2 BOGO Purex cpns per computer

CVS has an instore special on these this week. They are running a BOGO sale. With CVS, you can take advantage of the BOGO store sale, and use the BOGO mfg cpns, thus, you will get 2 free Purex per coupon. Get 2 jugs, hand over 1 cpn, both are free. Simple.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Coupon usage

Often, while I am checking out at the store, I am talking with the cashier. A question that generally comes up is if they have seen an increase in coupon usage in the last few months.

Some cashiers will say yes. Some will say no, they have always seen a lot of coupons come thru, and some are just dense when it comes to coupons.

Typically, the person behind me in line starts asking about where I get all my coupons. I refer them to Ebay and to clipping sites. It amazes me that most people don't know that you can buy coupons.

I was reading an article online this morning about how different stores compared in prices and service. It was an interesting read, but I didn't agree with all the info stated.

My stores would rate more like this:
Target: Very in line, if not cheaper, than the groceries and SWM (super walmart) here in the metro. With the combination of store coupons and mfg coupons, many items can be free. Super Targets are always clean, and rarely do I have an issue with an item being out of stock. Produce and meat are always fresh and in good condition. The employees are helpful and pleasant and there are always enough lanes open. They are testing Price Matching in a few districts, and hopefully it will become the norm.

SWM: I don't shop here often, but I am pleased with the prices. I am a ways away from the nearest one, but there is talk of building on closer. I hope that they do. Their system does freeze up and require a CSM Override if you use more than $50 in coupons, which can be a pain, but it only takes a short amount of time for the CSM to come over and do their thing. They will price match with a stores ad.

Cub: I admit, I don't shop there often. Most of my shopping is at Target. Cub does run some good sales though. However, they are high priced on certain items. Take Ocean Spray Juice. A few weeks ago, Target had the juice at a regular price of $1.99 + there was a store cpn out for it. Exact same jug of juice was regular price $3.99 at Cub. I do like that they have an inhouse butcher and fresh meat counter. Typically, they have enough cashiers working.

Sams Club: Even with the $40/yr membership, I love this store. Bulk works for me, esp in the baking ingrediant area. Eggs, milk, flour, sugar, cereal, etc is far cheaper than other stores. Yes, you may have to have some extra room to store the packages in your house, but it is worth it. Not only do you go to the store less, but by buying in bulk, you cut down on individual packaging waste. The downfall to this store is that there are never ever enough cashiers working. Ever. You can't use coupons either. But their produce and meat are outstanding in quality. If you upgrade your membership to the $100/yr one, you are given a complentary health card. It is a health discount program that is free to you with your membership at Sams. It covers a lot of services that typical insurance doesn't. For example, my father in law needed a crown done on a tooth. His insurance covered none of it, but thru the discount program, he saved $400+ on that one crown. Totally worth his $100/yr membership. Oh, and their pizza, YUM!!!

Bottom line: Know your stores. Know their prices. If you need to, take a notebook to the stores and make a list of the items you use on a regular basis and their prices. Keep it as a reference. After all, it is your money!!!

Here is the quote that prompted this post:
"In 2008, 281 billion manufacturers' coupons were distributed, and 2.6 billion were redeemed"

Under 10% of all coupons printed are redeemed. Mfg's know what they are doing. They know that they can put out higher amount coupons and still be ok, b/c most of those cpns won't be redeemed.....................unless I get ahold of them!!!!

With that, I hope everyone has a good afternoon. I am headed to ship a few items and then to Sam's. All this talk of pizza! We haven't eaten lunch yet! From there we will come home and work outside. I need to whip up a garage sale here sometime soon!

This and that

This past summer we took a week long vacation with my family and headed out west. We saw Devils Tower.

And Mt. Rushmore
This Feburary, my brother and I had the privlage of seeing Stone Mountain with our dad, who had been there long ago while in the service.


Gas last summer, while we were in South Dakota was $4.00/gallon. A $2/gallon difference from right now.
We will go back to South Dakota in a few years when the girls can understand the history behind it all.
One day, I will go back to Stone Mountain. It was beautiful. It was too windy for us to take the tram to the top of the mountain, so we need to go back. Plus, I want my kids to see that. It was amazing.
If you have never seen these places, Go.
If your kids have never seen these places, Go.
There is so much history out there.
Why wait? I read a little tid-bit of info about different countries and how much time people spend on vacations. In the USA, it is 14 days a year. In Italy, it is 56 days a year. Of course, these are averages. Why spend your entire life working your tail off, only to die and not be able to take anything with you? Why not adopt the moto: "Make a living..............living." ?
If you would like informatin on how to do just that, I would love the opportunity to sit down and show you a short presentation.

Free Roll of Reynolds Foil

Sign up here

They will send you a reminder on Earth Day (April 22nd) and you will be able to print out a cpn for a free roll.

M&M's

Sam's Club has their bags of Easter (pastel colored) M&M's clearanced.

Current price is $4.81 for 56 oz. Both peanut and regular.

Link

You can check the inventory at any store on their website.

I would say in about 10 days or so, these will be down to $2.41, if you can find them. At that price, they don't last long at all.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Today's Plantings

Today we planted the carrots, lettuce, radish's, and some peas. It went fairly quickly as the carrots, lettuce, and radish's came on strips of paper.

The peas, are nice big seeds, so easy.

I will need to get the fence up on the outside of the boxes now. The salad bar for rabbits has been planted!!

Monday, April 13, 2009

Free Tide

Free Sample of TIDE

FREE PACE!!!!!!!!!

Click HERE

Then click the link in that post.
A new tab will pop up and will print 1 cpn.
Close the PACE screen, click on the link in the post again and another will print.
Repeat until it tells you that you can print no more. I was able to get 10 cpns.

All 10 have different PIN numbers, so it is all good.

*The Pin number ties the coupon to your IP Addy, thus, slapping them on the copier is considered fraud and can land you in the slammer.

I should also mention that the coupon is for $4/1. Pace is on sale at Target this week for $2.50, so you would get $1.50 in overage for every jar.

Painting Tiles

Has anyone ever done this? I am thinking that instead of tearing out the tile in the bathroom, I am going to paint it. After reading up on it, it seems fairly straight forward. Clean, sand, clean, prime, paint.

Here is my trouble though. The tile around the top of the shower (from the ceiling to the top of the shower/tub unit) are white. The floor is a light beige. The sink and counter are an off white and the woodwork is oak. So what do I do with the tile? Do I paint it white to match the tile above the shower? I am thinking if I do that, it will be too bright for the counter top. I would love to paint it a color, but I just don't think that will work with the white tile above the shower. I don't care to paint that. It is just the mauve nonsense that I want to get rid of.

Suggestions?

WalMart

Olay Bar Soap (2 ct pack): $1.97 - $2/1 mfg coupon (ebay) = .03 overage on soap
Kraft Dressing: $1.58 - $1.50/1 mfg coupon (ebay) = .08
Kelloggs Poptarts: $1.68 - $1/1 mfg cpn (ebay) = .68
Beech Nut's Lets Grow products: $1.16 - $1/1 mfg cpn = .16
No Nonsense Panty Hose: $1 - $1/1 mfg coupon (ebay) = free
Renuzit Triscents: $4 - $4/1 mfg cpn (ebay) = free
Johnson's baby swabs: $1.38 - $1/1 mfg cpn (ebay) = $0.38
Halls: $1.38 - $1/1 mfg cpn (ebay) = .38
Benefiber Drink Mixes: $2.50 - $2/1 mfg cpn (ebay) = .50
Meow Mix Treats: .97 - $1/1 mfg cpn (ebay) = .03 overage

Hy-Vee Week of 4/12

Dole Head of Lettuce: .66
Digiorno Frozen Pizza: $5 each - $1/1 mfg coupon (ebay) = $4 each
KC Masterpiece BBQ Sauce $1.48 - $1/1 mfg coupon (ebay) = .48 each
Birdseye Frozen Veggies $1.88 x 2 = $3.76 - $1/2 mfg coupon (ebay) = $2.76 for 2 ($1.38 each)
YoPlus yogurt: $2.50 each - $1/1 mfg coupon (www.coupons.com) = $1.50

The KC BBQ Sauce is a great price after coupons. This is an item that you can stockpile at this price.

Cub Foods Week of 4/12

Lots of buy 1, get 2 coupons in the ad this week!!

My favorites :
Buy Simek's Meatballs for $8.99, get Pilgrims Pride Chicken (6.99) and Simeks Garlic Toast (2.99) FREE.

Buy 1 lb strawberries (2.99), get dessert shells (1.69) and cub whipped topping (1.29) FREE

Buy Classico Pasta Sauce (2.79), get Cub Pasta (.99) and cub frozen veggies (1.66) FREE

Let's use these 3 groups and break down some meals!! Meals will be based on 4 people tonight!

Meal #1:
Pasta (FREE)
Simeks Meatballs (8.99)
Sauce (2.79)
Garlic Toast (FREE (only use 4 of the 8 slices)
Total: 11.78 + $3 salad = $14.78 or $3.70/person. This assumes that you use the whole 24oz box of meatballs. I would probably only use 1/2 the box, thus bringing my total to $10.29.

Meal #2:
Pasta (FREE)
Chicken Breasts (FREE)
Garlic Toast (FREE)
Diced Tomatoes ($1)
Salad ($3)
Total: $4 or $1/person. The chicken is a 2.5 lb bag, so I would divide it into at least 2 meals. Even if you needed to buy the pasta for this dish, it would only be $1 extra in your bill.

Dessert:
Dessert Cups (FREE)
Strawberries (2.99)
Whipped Topping (FREE)
Total: 2.99
The dessert cups come 6 to a pack.

Vista Print Freebies

Items are free, but you do pay shipping.

100 Standard Postcards

1 Regular Lawn Sign

1 Car Magnet

1 T-Shirt

140 Address Labels

1 Rubber Stamp

25 Brochures

1 Pen

The girls latest love ...........


A new baby was born at the farm last week. We were expecting a birth, but weren't sure when it would happen.

This little fella was born on Tuesday. By the time we got there, he was about 2 hrs old and was still figuring out the whole walking thing.

He has been named Dually and is doing well.

Machinery Website

I will add this to the favorite links as well, but thought I would mention it here.

A new website for farmers has been brought to my attention.
Click HERE

Garden Boxes



These are the boxes that we built. We put them right up against the back of our chain link fence. I did this for a few reasons. 1) it was fairly level 2) it is one less side that I have to fence in 3) the chain link will be great for the peas and cucumbers to climb up.

The 2 farthest ones are already planted. The first is solid onions. It is a variety. Reds, Yellows, and Whites.

The 2nd one is 1/2 beets and 1/2 asparagus. The asparagus won't produce this year, and won't be very much even next year, but they will be established. I hadn't planned on planting asparagus, but it was added in by Dan.

So this leaves me with 6 boxes to plant yet.
1 will be cucumbers
1 will be pumpkins
1 will be peppers
1 will be herbs
1 will be carrots and lettuce
1 will be tomatoes
And that takes care of it all!! I need to sneak some peas in one or two of them as well. I feel like I need a few more boxes!!

The cucumbers and pumpkins are going to be fenced in seperate from the rest in an effort to contain them a bit.

I did pick up some dried blood today to spread along the outside of the fence. It helps to keep the rabbits and deer out. If it doesn't work, we may end up having rabbit stew one night!!!!!

Saturday, April 11, 2009

How does your garden grow?

What a beautiful day!!

We had a busy day here yesterday. I left my dad and father in law to build 6 garden boxes while I went and got a load of horse poop. When I got back, they were finished. We quick ate lunch and then started for the afternoon. They leveled the boxes, while I hauled wheelbarrows of poop back to the boxes. The neighbor attacked the 16 cubic yard pile of dirt in the driveway. He was leveling out a spot in his yard for garden boxes.

Once his spot was leveled, he started hauling cart loads of dirt back to our beds with his 4 wheeler and cart. My dad and I wheelbarrowed it while my father in law went to Home Depot to get a few 2 x 4's. We quickly filled all of our beds, but we still had a lot of dirt left to move.

We quickly built our neighbors 2 beds and then leveled and filled those. Within 26 hrs, we had moved a truckload of poop and all that dirt. The driveway was cleaned up. A total of 8 beds measuring 4 ft x 8 ft x 1 ft were done in our yard, 2 beds measuring 4 ft x 10 ft x 1 ft were done in our neighbors yard, Dan leveled out a low spot in our front yard, and we had graded around the neighbors shed.

How wonderful to have great neighbors and family to help out! I knew that I had to get it done before field work starts or I wouldn't have my dad's help.

Today, we put in our onion sets, beets, and asparagus. I hadn't planned on asparagus, but Dan requested it. I have one full bed of onions, and 1/2 bed of asparagus and beets. I need to get my peas in for an early crop, along with the carrots, but I had to run in and make a cake.

A cake? Why yes!! Our neighbors became US Citizens this week!! We are meeting in the cul da sac tonight for cake.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Dirt

I spent this afternoon calling around for prices of dirt. Yes, who would buy dirt? Well, when you live in town and your yard is on a clay hill, you buy dirt.

I learned that my garden boxes hold 1.2 cubic yards of dirt. 4ft x 8 ft = 32 square feet divided by 27 (b/c they are 12 inches deep). So, if I plan on having 7 boxes, I am looking at 8+ yds of dirt. One cubic yard is approx 2 scoops with the bobcat. This is a lot of dirt.

My first call was to Pahls Greenhouse, thinking they are nice and close (< a mile away). Their price for a garden blend: $32.99/yd + $55 delivery per truck load. Ah, no thanks.

Next, I sent some emails to places that I found on Craigslist.

While waiting for responses to those emails, I called no fewer than 5 more places for dirt. The cheapest was coming in at $22/yd + delivery. This was not looking good.

Finally an email came. $10/yd for black dirt and black peat. $75 for delivery, and they can deliver 14 cubic yds at a time. Bingo. This works out to a much better price. Esp considering our neighbors need dirt as well. They may not need as much as I do, but they need it for around a building and a few garden boxes as well. So we decided to order up a full 14 yds.

14 x $10 = $140 for dirt + $75 delivery = $215
$214/14 = $15.36 delivered per yard.

Now, even though this price is much better than the others, it still makes me a little sick. Good thing my dinner only cost me $1.91 tonight!!!

I will order dirt tomorrow to be delivered on Friday. Friday's plan is to build the rest of the beds and get a start on the dirt. Between Friday and Saturday, we should get it all done. I just want the dirt in the beds for a while before I plant so that it can warm up in the sun.

Tomorrow morning? We are picking up poop.

Tonights Meal

Roast with Mashed Potatoes
Pudding

.34 Roast ($2.32 sale price at Target - $2 target cpn)
.50 Potatoes (it is a guess, but it was a BOGO deal at Cub)
.06 Butter ($.99/lb divided by 32 tablespoons x 2)
.69 Box of Pudding
.32 Milk for pudding ($1.69/gallon divided by 16 x 3)
-------------
$1.91 for dinner tonight.

There are potatoes and pudding left for tomorrow. The roast looks like it is just about gone.

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Coupon inserts this weekend

There are a total of 5 inserts in the paper this weekend.

Lots of good coupons coming out!