Make time for Alice!

Hi readers, Happy New Year. I have been scanning my brain trying to think of all the ways I know of to help you make money this year. I would love to pay for Christmas next year exclusively with gift cards earned online....wouldn't you? That is why I have decided to review a couple things I do to earn them!

1. Swagbucks: This is a search engine online that rewards you with "bucks" for doing searches for websites. I do tons of searches everyday and regularly earn at least 2-3 bucks a day. The easiest way to do this is to download their toolbar like I did. You can then redeem your bucks for gift cards. I have already redeemed one and it really works...not a scam. Truthfully, I had heard of swagbucks at least a year ago and did not sign up right away thinking it was a scam, but it isn't. If you haven't already signed up, click here to sign up for free and start earning your bucks. Save them up and you could pay for next Christmas.

2. Mypoints: Mypoints is another site where you can earn giftcards. It is different from swagbucks. At mypoints you sign up and they send you emails where you click them open to view an ad or website. Each ad you view will earn you at least 5 points. You redeem your points for giftcards. You can earn more points by participating in surveys and making purchases through their 'partner' sites. I never do the surveys (because I don't make time for it), but anytime I buy from ebay I go through mypoints and I get at least 2 points per dollar I spend. I have been using mypoints for at least 2 years and make about $40-$50 in giftcards each year.

To join mypoints, email me at kendralacrosse@verizon.net. They have a referral program where I can get a few points for referring more people. That would be awesome thanks.

3. Alice.com: Have you heard about this yet? Alice.com is this awesome website where you can buy a bunch of food and toiletry items for your home and have it shipped to your house for FREE. Yes, shipping is always free. Even better, they also have a clipless coupon system where you get the amount of the coupon for that item taken off your total. All items that have a coupon available for it will show in the description. They also have an automatic ordering system you could use if you are uber-organized and want them to ship certain items automatically each month. I am not that organized :) Their prices are pretty comparable to the stores, but it is the free shipping that sold me! I have ordered from the site and the box was here in 1-2 days, very prompt. If you want to sign up for Alice.com, go here. By signing up through my link, you will automatically get a $10 credit on your account once you have spent $50. Super cool!

Those are a few of the sites I use to try and save money for my family. Another trick I have....if you are worried about your email being spammed by doing surveys, etc., set up a gmail for google email and use that account for that purpose. That is what I do and it keeps my regular email clear!

The Year in Review...Financially Speaking

Boy, 2009 has been a busy year for our family. We started a 'crazy new' budgeting plan in order to pay off bills and get our financial house in order. (You can go back and read about our goals here. )

Again, in order to stay accountable to myself I plan to review our goals and update our status. This is pretty easy to do since we started this program January 1 2009! It has been nearly 1 year exactly on our new plan.

Paramount to our new plan was the creation of using the envelope system for budgeting money. We have never been cash people prior to this, always using debit cards and paying them off. Using cash only has made us very accountable about where our money is going. When the envelope money is gone, it is gone! We are much better about what we spend our money on, keeping in mind that it will 4 weeks until the money is replenished. Here are the categories I currently use for our envelopes:

• grocery
• out to eat
• Walgreen's
• van gas
• car gas
• prescriptions
• clothes/garage sales

Hubby and I also get a biweekly "mad money" allowance to spend as we wish and I take out money for the kids' allowance (when they actually do their chores...still a work in progress). I still use the checkbook to pay our monthly bills; mortgage, van, student loan, water, electricity and phone.

So where do we stand? Let's take a look.

1. Family Loan: PAID

2. Visa Bill: PAID

3. Car: PAID

4. Van: in progress, we owe less than 1/2 of the original amount. Goal: pay by March 2010

5. Studen Loan: in progress. Goal: pay by March 2011

During this time of paying off these bills, we also bought a new snowblower and a laptop. I include these items in our total since we were able to pay these off as well and they are what I consider a major dollar amount purchase.

I will not use the exact dollar amounts paid, but if you pay attention to my blog regularly you will be able to ballpark it. Considering all of the above debt, during 2009 we were able to pay off an astounding 40% of our debt. That is not a typo.

40%

This makes me think only one thing....why didn't I do this years ago? Seriously, we did more in one year than in all the million years of our marriage. And we did it with 3 kids in tow. Plus, I don't feel like we "did without" this year. Yes, we didn't take any far away vacations. But people that know us also know that Dave and I didn't take many vacations before we had kids. We still did a ton of fun stuff. We had 3 overnight stays at waterpark hotels, visited family often, went out to eat semi-frequently, swam nearly daily over the summer, still had the kids in swimming lessons, and played outside a ton!

This year I realized how many fun and FREE things there are to do with your family in our area. I clipped coupons, cut our monthly grocery budget by at least 1/2 to 1/3 AND brought home at least 3X as much food. We have a huge stockpile of food and non-food items in the house. We were able to collect and donate to the food pantry, and bless many in-need moms in my mom's group. Again, with less money.

My husband and I were reflecting on this past year and all the progress we have made. He made a good point. This year we restricted our budget more but felt like we had more money than ever before. I truly believe that the reason is using cash. Since we are physically touching cash more often by paying with it, it feels like we have a lot of it. Not once have we felt deprived this year with this budget.

Another benefit of this past year was figuring out what we NEED versus what we WANT. In June we gave up cable tv. We have a converter box that in theory should pull in the local channels. On a good day we can maybe get two channels. But we have found that we have little time for tv. In fact, I prefer to not have it on. I'm not going to lie, I do watch several shows online- but around my schedule. But overall, I do not miss the 'noise' of the tv. The kids don't even ask for it, they only missed it for the first week or two. Happily, they spend a lot more time playing in the toy room and reading.

But I am human, there are things I wish I had too.

For example, there are times when I wish I had a bigger house. But then I realize that our budget would be drastically different with a larger mortgage. It would be more expensive to maintain, more to clean etc. I love our little house, can barely keep it clean even! If my hubby or I lost our job, I find comfort that we could easily keep up our house without a blip on the radar. Plus I feel like it keeps us closer as well. My kids must learn to share and play together because there aren't many places to hide. They each have their own room to escape to as well. That being said, our house is perfect.

I wish my hubby didn't have to commute so far to work. But to change that would involve moving to a new house and increasing my commute as well. It would be nice if the hubby was home earlier to play with the kids too.

I would also feel more comfortable with more money in our savings account. This is incorporated into our new goals for 2010....more on that soon.

Most of all, I would like to encourage everyone out there to take stock of your money and figure out where you stand. Even on a small budget, everyone can save money for the things you really want. If I can accomplish 40% of debt payoff in one year, think of what you can do!!

Email me at kendralacrosse@verizon.net if you have any questions or would like more info. I am always more than happy to meet with you, shop with you, or give you the information you need. Remember I am not a professional, I only know what worked for me.

Just like the blog says "I'm keeping my Cash". That money is mine, and I will decide how to spend it. Here's to keeping more of your cash.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Pierce's Highlights

Here are the deals I see for this week.

Make note: this ad is good from Saturday 1/2 through Wednesday 1/6 which is a little different than usual

Page one

• Ground Chuck $1.88/lb in family packs (good stock up price)
• Red Delicious apples 5# $2.98
• Farmland sausage $1, use $1/2 MQ
• Kemps milk 1/2 gallon $1
• Old Orchard frozen juice $1
• Surefine Vegie blends $1
• TJ Farms frozen berries $1 (great for smoothies)
• Creamette pasta $1

Page two

• Hormel Quarter Loin pork chops $1.68/lb
• Jennio Ground Turkey $1.25 in 1lb pack
• Jimmy Dean Breakfast Bowls $2, use $1 IP from last week
• Surefresh biscuits 2/$0.88

Page three

• Peter Pan peanut butter $1.58, use $1 from All You Magazine
• Hungry Jack pancake/waffle mix $1.50

Page four

• Roma tomatoes $0.98/lb
• Cantaloupe $1.98
• Dole salad $2.28 select varieties, use $1/2 IP
  

That is all I see for this week. Have a safe and happy New Year!

Kmart Rewards update

I stopped by Kmart the other day and was able to get an answer to the whole 'are they going to double coupons with the reward card' issue.

According to the manager of the store, the information that was available on the web when their reward program started was in error on the part of one of the major coupon websites. Kmart corporate did not state they would be doubling any coupons in their program.

Someone reported the program would do it, and that thread was picked up by other blogs/sites and spread virally from there.

So, Kmart will not double coupons as a part of their reward program per the store manager. I only hope they have a store wide doubling soon....I miss them!

Deal on Snuggle

Ok, not so sure why this picture is so big, but here goes.

I was in Walmart to check out the after Christmas sales (dud, only wrapping paper was a deal), and found a deal on Snuggle to share with everyone.

A manufacture coupon was out recently (from the Red Plum ad I believe) for $2 off any Snuggle product. I found a small box of snuggle dryer sheets for $1.87 in the laundry aisle. Plus they gave me the overage on the coupon.

I think the coupon expires in early January so hurry to get your FREE dryer sheets:)

Merry Christmas

Wishing all of my readers a Merry Christmas and Happy New Years.

If you are traveling, be safe. Enjoy your family and friends and have fun!!

Postings will be light for the next week as I celebrate with family.

Pierce's highlights

The deals are sort of ho-ho-hum this week, nothing to write home about. Be sure to check it out for yourself here.

Page one
--------
Look at the prices for the shrimp, lobster and steaks. I don't think any of these prices are very spectacular, but they sure sound good.

Pepsi 2 Liters $1 each, use $1/4 MQ
Kraft sauces $1
Broccoli $0.78/lb
Surefresh cream cheese blocks $0.68

Page two
--------
Buddig thin lunch meat 10/$2, use $1/5 MQ (buy five for only $1 after coupon)
Surefresh string cheese $2.38 each

Page three
----------
Surefine pancake/waffle mix $1.50
Surefine syrup $2
Pace salsa or picante sauce $2
Rotel canned tomatoes $1, use buy 2 get 1 free MQ
7up 2 liter $0.88
Totino's party pizza 8/$10, also use in-ad coupon for $2 off a 12 or 24 pack of soda when you buy 8 of these pizzas.

Page four
---------
Avocados $0.98

That is all folks.

Looking for.....

Hey all. Reader Kristin sent me the following..

I am looking for a $1 off Chinet Paper Plates coupon and the $2 off Viva Paper Towel coupons if you know of anyone who has extras!
Thank you!

Let me know if you can help Kristin out. Kristin, shoot me your email so I can forward any responses to you.

Best Buy TV deal

Here is a deal sent in by a reader (and friend)....

A one tip for those looking to get rid of an old tv…
You will have to pay the dump $20 to dispose of it.

Best buy will charge you only $10 then give you a $10 gift card.

Yes, it works, we just did it this weekend!


Plus, I have a Bath & Body works coupon: Free item of your choice with any purchase of $10 or more up to $13 value good thru Dec. 24 if you know anyone interested. (abednego9@verizon.net)


Thank you to Gayle for giving us the info! Getting rid of an old TV is the pits, but at least this way you break even!

If you are getting to the mall in the next two days, that Bath & Body works coupon is a good one!

Walgreen's order

First of all, sorry my posts have been a little late. My connection has been a little spotty the last couple days. Maybe the weather?

Now on to the fun stuff. I got all four boxes of Kleenex seen above for $0.33 after coupons and tax! Yes, I only had to dig in the bottom of my purse to pay for them!

Kleenex on sale for $0.79 with ad coupon, used $0.75 IP from Kmart website. So each box cost me 4 cents and the tax.

You can print the coupon 2 times on each computer. Makes it good for stocking up on tissue!

Target goodies

I made a quick run to Target when I was in Sun Prairie last week and found a couple good deals I thought I would share with you. I got the following items for $4.73!

2 Method natural all purpose cleaner $2.99, used $2 IP
1 Pepperidge farm cookies $2.54, used $1 IP
1 Poptart $1.99, used $1 IP off any keebler or kellogg product
4 Swiss Miss hot cocoa $0.97, used (2) $1 target Q and (2) $0.50/2 MQ
6 Ocean Spray craisins $0.99, used $1 MQ on each

The total for all after coupons was $4.73. I also got $0.05 discount for each of my reusable bags as well. Be sure to remember your bags whenever you shop at Target and you can get it too. You may have to remind them!

My Frugal Overnight

Way back in March or April, I won an essay contest at work. Part of the prize was a gift card to the Kalahari spa up in the Dells. I haven't had (or made) the time to go up there for a day of pampering.

Fast forward a few months. Gift card is still in my purse, burning a hole in my pocket.

The hospital where I work has their holiday party this weekend...At the Kalahari hotel! Need I mention the huge waterpark at the hotel?

Normally, my husband and I attend the party and go right back home. But this time I called the hotel to see if my gift card is good anywhere in the hotel vs just the spa. And guess what? I can use it for a hotel stay. Plus we got a special rate because of the party!

So, we are packing up the kids and spending a night at the hotel and plan on utilizing the waterpark until the kids are exhausted and ready to bed. What a great activity to do right before Christmas. We told the kids only today and they are so excited!

I am so glad I entered that essay contest!

Pierce's highlights

It's another week and another extra large ad as well. As always, be sure to check their ad directly. It is also posted here on Thursday morning.

Page one
--------
It's the "12 Roasts of Christmas" here. They are all well above my target range for meat, so none are a great deal to me. They might be nice as a treat though.

Cook's shank portion ham $0.98/lb
Surefresh butter $1.68/lb
Pictsweet frozen veggies $0.98

Page two
--------
More roast.....the Pork sirloin roast is $1.88/lb
Surefine young turkey $0.78/lb

Page three
----------
DelMonte canned veggies 2/$1 with ad coupon- also use $1/4 IP to make them $0.25 each
Kraft stuffing mix $0.98
Betty Crocker potatoes $0.98, used $0.35 MQ
Kraft salad dressing 2/$3
Swiss Miss hot cocoa $1, use $0.50/2 MQ
Kraft marshmallows $1, use $1/2 MQ
Surefine sugar $1.78
Surefine flour $0.88
Surefine pwd sugar or brown sugar $0.98
Nestle choc chips $2, use $1 IP

Page four
---------
Kraft block cheese 2/$3, use ad coupn for $1 and stack with $1/2 MQ (buy 4, use ad coupon and (2) MQ to equal $3 for 4 blocks!)

Kraft cream cheese $0.88, use $1.25/3 MQ from tearpad in store
Daisy sour cream $1.50, use $0.50 MQ
Dole frozen fruit $2.50, use $0.75 MQ (great for smoothies in the winter)

Page five
---------
Dole pineapple $0.88, use $0.50 IP
Wheat thins or Triscuts $2, use $1/2 MQ
Chinet napkins $1.50, use $1 MQ

Page six
--------
Pineapple $2.98
T Marzetti dip $2.98, use $1 MQ

I guess that is it folks. Have a great weekend everyone!

My Walgreen's stash

First of all, a word of warning: Do Not Let Your Register Rewards EXPIRE like I did. Such a total downer. Hate it when that happens. At least it was only $1 but it is like throwing away money.

I got a couple deals today, nothing spectacular but good enough for me.

2 box Lucky Charms $1.99 each, used $1 IP
2 cans Black Olives $0.99 with ad coupon, used $1/2 IP
2 Raisins 2/$4, used $1/2 MQ
6 Hunts tomato sauce 3/$1 after ad coupon, used $1/3 IP (free)
1 Pantene conditioner $5.99, used $1 MQ and got $2 in RR back (net $2.99)
3 Progresso soups $0.99 each, used $1.10/3 IP
1 Child water bottle $2.99 (needed for a child at school)

My total after out of pocket was $16.30 with a coupon and ad savings of $25.82! Don't forget I also got $2 back in Register Rewards towards my next purchase. Overall, it was a little higher than I like for the bottom line, but I did get a bunch of good stuff!

Join Swagbucks to earn prizes!

Does everyone out there know about Swagbucks? I discovered Swagbucks awhile back and have been furiously earning my bucks to purchase gift cards and other items.

It is very easy to use. Swagbucks is a search engine (think Google) that you use and it awards 'bucks' periodically when you use it. Sometimes you earn 1, 2 or 3 swagbucks ~ sometimes even more!

To make it even easier to use, you can download the swagbucks toolbar so you remember to use it more often. That is what I have done, without any problems on my laptop.

So far I have redeemed my swagbucks only once, for a $5 gift card to Alice.com. The gift card code came the next day via email and I ordered merchandise without difficulty. It is super easy to use.

Join today if you are interested in an easy, no brainer way to earn free gift cards! You could save them for Christmas shopping for next year! You can click here for a direct link to the site. (it may also give me a swagbuck for referring you, although I'm not sure how this works!)

Happy Swagging!

A frugal Christmas

I come from a family of 4 girls. We are all grown up now, three are married, we all have kids. It's hard to get all of us together in one spot, but we have a Christmas tradition that spans a weekend.

We pick a weekend in December , but not on Christmas. We all stay together in a hotel or condo rental that is big enough for us all and has a full kitchen layout. Keep in mind there are about 17 of us. The only money we spend is our portion of the rental. When it comes to food, we do something different.

Each family is assigned a meal. You are responsible for bringing the food, cooking, and clean up for one meal. After that you can sit back, relax and not worry about food! This is such a great idea and a way to make a whole weekend very frugal for the family. Everyone signs up for the meal of their choice and can cook whatever they want.

This year we are 'frugalizing' the tradition even more. We are holding the get together at my sister's house! It will be a very relaxing affair for the adults involved. We have activities planned to keep the kiddos busy like cookie decorating and sledding.

My meal is breakfast the first morning. I have french toast, bacon and sausage planned. Since my kids are usually the first ones awake, I will get it all done early and will bask in the meal prep relaxation during all the other meals.

Soooo looking forward to the holiday this year!

Magazine subscription deal

Hi, thought I'd let you and everyone know about a very good magazine deal.

1 Year Magazine Subscriptions for $4.69 at BestDealMagazines.com and then use a coupon code to get an additional 15% off to make the subscriptions just $3.99.

even better deal for ESPN magazine:
coupon code "ESPN" for extra $1.41 off makes it just $3.28 for 26 issues per year with up to 4 years total.
deals on guy gifts can be tough to find....they just aren't very thrilled with lotions and candles :)

15% off codes:
CPNCABIN15 until Dec 31
PXCJ1213 until Dec 13

Vicki

Thanks Vicki!

Pierce's highlights of the week

As always, be sure to check out the Pierce's website or ad directly to be sure I didn't miss anything you might need. I post only the items I feel are a good deal. It looks like there will be another 3 day sale as well. Check it out here on Thursday.

Page one
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Cook's ham portion $0.98/lb, gonna get me a big one!
Broccoli $0.78/lb
Pillsbury rolls $1.48, $0.25 MQ on crescent rolls, $0.30/2 MQ on Grands
Old Dutch tortilla chips or salsa $2.88
Minute Maid orange juice $1.88

Page two
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Kraft chunk or shredded cheese 2/$3, use $1/2 MQ
Bagels Forever $1

Page three
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Surefine frozen veggies $0.88
Surefine frozen potatoes $1.88
Surefine canned vegetables 2/$1
Valutime aluminum foil $0.58

Page four
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Betty Crocker brownies $0.88
Surefine flour 5lb $0.88

Page five
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Hidden Valley Ranch 2/$5
Minute Rice $1.88, $0.50 MQ
Arnold soft bread 2/$3, $0.55 MQ

Page six
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Pears $0.88/lb
Baby cut carrots 2lb $1.98

Overall, it doesn't feel like a great week for deals or stocking up. Oh well, those weeks will come another time. Have a great week everyone!

First Walgreen's run of the week

This is only the first run of the week for two reasons...

1. I forgot my register rewards at home (gasp) and I need to use them.

2. They were running low on cereal, I need to get more!

Other than that, it was a good trip. Here's the lowdown...

2 Helmann's mayo $2.99 with ad coupon, used $0.60 MQ
2 Skippy pb 2/$3 with ad coupon, used $0.75/2 MQ
4 Kellogg's cereal $1.99 each, used $5/4 IP from Target website (it is a manufacture coupon that can be used anywhere) (this made cereal $0.75- below my price point!)

My total was $9.99 after all the coupons. My total savings was $21.37. I will be going back for cereal, save me some.

Triaminic coupon and Redbox codes

The suggestions are rolling in from everyone today. Thanks:)

I am looking for the $2 Triaminic coupon out of the Walgreens Healthy Living Coupon Book. If anyone has this, please email me at przybyl@verizon.net.

- this is Kendra...I believe these are actually in the kids activity book. They are located in the kids toy aisle by the coloring books. Usually cost $0.99 but has a whole bunch of coupons.


Vicki told me about if you google free Monday redbox you can and go to their site(was about 3rd down) and sign up by either e-mail or cell phone to get free rentals. Theres all kinds of different codes when you google redbox.
Thanks Rachal

Thank you everyone!

Hallmark Link

Here is the link for the Hallmark coupon.

Be sure to arrow back in order to print it out twice!

Hallmark deal- go get it!!

Remember seeing Hallmark coupons in magazines this month? Well, now Hallmark has a $5/$5 purchase coupon you can print online. Press the "back" button and you can print two per computer. Luckily, I have 2 computers, so I went off to Hallmark today to get a ton of free stuff. They let me do 4 separate transactions and were sooo nice about it. (you go Portage Hallmark store!)

Transaction one---------------
2 Christmas wrapping paper buy one at $4.99, get one for $0.99.

I used the $5 IP and my total was then $1.31!

Transaction two---------------
2 Christmas wrapping paper, buy one at $4.99, get one for $0.99.
1 1/2 price wrapping paper solid color $1.49.

I used the $5 IP and my total was $2.88!

Transaction three
-----------------
1 Scooby Doo for gift $6.99

I used the $5 IP and my total was $2.37!

Transaction four
----------------
1 Body Butter jar $5.50 on clearance
1 roll of solid wrapping paper on clearance

I used the $5 IP and my total was $2.36!

Let's run down the totals: I used $20 in coupons and my ending out of pocket was $8.92. I've now got tons of wrapping paper and two Christmas gifts out of the way. My ending bonus was on my final receipt, I can call a number and complete a survey to get an addition $2 off a future purchase.

Definitely a winning trip. It is worth your while. If you only do the wrapping paper deal it will be cheaper than going out the day after Christmas to get paper at 1/2 price at the other stores.

Extra coupon inserts

Thanks to Rachel......

Hi I have about 45 extra coupons from this Sundays paper anyone interested?? e-mail me at babyjacob34@yahoo.com
I also have some from previous weeks. Or if there is any particular coupons your looking for just let me know.
Thanks
Rachal

Thanks for helping us all out! Be sure to email her if interested!

December Monthly Menu

Yes folks, I finally finished my menu for the month. It feels so great to have it done and down on paper. It wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be. Give it a try sometime. We tend to eat pretty similar from week to week so it went smooth!

DECEMBER
--------
1. out to eat
2. pork in the crockpot, fries, veggie
3. Pizza
4. Chili
5. Sandwiches, fruit
6. cheeseburgers, baked beans, cooked carrots
7. Chicken legs, rice, raw veggies and dip
8. Steak, green beans, fries
9. Taco Salads
10. Pizza Papa Murphy's
11. Christmas celebration
12. French toast, bacon, juice
13. sandwiches and fruit, chips
14. Steamfresh bagged meals in freezer
15. Pork tenderloins, fries, veggie
16. Fish, rice, peas
17. Pizza
18. Christmas party
19. out to eat
20. leftover chili from freezer
21. chicken, rice, veggies
22. steak, fries, veggies
23. out to eat
24. pizza
25. Ham, corn casserole, rolls, tators
26. taco salad
27. Christmas leftovers
28. Chicken, rice, veggie
29. Pork chops, baked beans, veggies
30. Spaghetti
31. Pizza

There you go, my whole month at a glance. I am busily trying to clean out the freezer for the beef we are getting. I think we may make it!

Frugal Friday

It's been a little while since I looked around at what I've been doing to be frugal around the house. Let me make a little list for you.

1. I'm running the dishwasher only 4-5 times a week. Sometimes we just don't have a lot of dishes except for cups. For example, on pizza night we use paper plates so I rarely have enough to run the washer.

2.When I use paper plates, we tend to reuse them if it's just crumbs on them. Of course if it is soiled at all I toss them. Rest assured I only buy paper plates that are almost free.

3. I continue to use cloth bags when shopping. I *mostly* remember to keep them in the van which helps. It burns me when I forget them. I really don't like using the plastic bags at all, what a nuisance. Although I do recycle the bags to sort my recyclables for pick up on garbage day.

4.I am currently wearing two pairs of socks and a sweatshirt on my day off. Yep, the days are getting colder, but I just don't want to turn up the heat. I think our bills will be better this Christmas as no one is home 3 days during the week. Last year we had a sitter that came to the house so I kept it programmed warmer. I also keep blankets on the couch for snuggling up which we have all been using the last couple days.

5. I have also been focused on eating out of the freezer for the next two weeks. We're buying a 1/2 grass fed beef which will be awesome. Of course the problem is my freezer is packed from deal shopping! As hard as it has been, I have forgone several deals and can finally see part of a shelf in the freezer, but I have a long way to go. Another side benefit from this is that I went shopping today and I have $48 left in my grocery budget for the month! Pretty impressive considering it is only $280 for the month. Now I can take that money and use it to buy some goodies for my family Christmas next weekend, and I won't have to take it from the budget for the next 4 weeks. I'm excited! That's a significant amount to me!

Now let me list a couple frugal goals that I have.

1. I need to post an update on my financial progress for October and November.

2. I need to finalize my December monthly meal plan. Regular readers have heard me talk about doing this and I finally started it. It honestly felt very overwhelming, but I find it is kinds fun to plan, especially as I am doing most of it from the freezer and pantry. I will finish it this weekend and post in time for Monday's edition.

I think that is enough for now. What are your frugal ideas? What are your frugal goals? Let me know by leaving a comment or emailing me. I'd like to compile them and share with everyone.

Happy weekend!

Pierce's Highlights

I don't see a ton of good deals this week. As always, check them out for yourself in the ad or online.

Page one
--------
Farmland sausage rolls or links $1
Surefresh cheese $1
Old Orchard juice concentrate $1, use $1/10 MQ out there
Surefine canned tomato $1
Betty Crocker boxed potatoes $1, use $0.35 or $0.40 MQ out there

Page two
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Nestle coffee mate $2.98, use $1 IP
Country Crock $1.98, $0.50 MQ
Surefine frozen veggies $0.88
Healthy choice entrees $2, use $2 IP from their website

Page three
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Betty Crocker mixes 3/$0.99
Surefine mandarin oranges 2/$1

Page four
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Cauliflower $0.98/lb
Mann's precut veggies $1.98, use $0.55 IP from coupons.com

That is all I see for now, it will be a good week to eat from your stockpile!

Tuesday Traders and UPDATES

Reminder to everyone, the end of November has passed so be sure to go through your coupons and pulled the expired ones! I apologize for not reminding you sooner.

On to the trading. Shoot me an email at kendralacrosse@verizon.net or leave a comment on this post about what coupons you have to trade, or to let everyone know what you are looking for.

I have the following coupons available for anyone, no trade required.

(8) 50 cents off any HandiWipes product, expires 6-30-2010

(7) Save $5 off any Brita pitcher or Faucet filtration system

Happy Trading!

from Laci at bandljamison@hotmail.com: Coupon to give: $5 off of the Pictureka! Flipper ... expires 12-31-09)

Would like coupons for: GoodNites brand underpants