Can you say BRILLANT

I just found this website.  I am amazed.  I am delighted!  This is a brillant idea!

This is a couponing site and more:  Commonkindness.com

You clip coupons and designate a charity to contribute to, and commonkindness.com contributes $ to that charity.  I believe the site says they donate 20% of the advertising generated by your coupon clipping.

Genius! 
They do seem to expire a bit sooner, and I am not sure I know what all the brand are that are listed, but there are several categories and galleries.  You can even get Coupon Network coupons here.  It's like a one stop shopping place for coupons.

I'll say it again:  Brillant!

Plus they have links to donate to your local foodbanks. 

I'm so excited.  I'll be coming to the site at least weekly for coupons, it just feels so darn good to use this site. 

Speaking of frugal....and easy....

I've heard this for ages, but hadn't really paid much attention to it, because the cans of chicken broth are SO cheap.  Right?

Nope.  This is even cheaper:

Take a roast chicken carcass after you've eaten your fill and gotten all the meat off for future meals
Put it in a big crock pot (I used my 6 qt one)
Fill the crock pot up with water
Throw in some veggies, just wash 'em, they don't have to be pretty (I used carrots, celery, and onion)
If you want, add some spices.  I threw in some dried rosemary and some garlic powder 
Turn to Low and cook for 6 to 8 hours (overnight is do-able too)
Turn off crock pot, toss chicken bones, and cool broth.
Pour broth through strainer into something large to catch it
Finish cooling
Package into quart sized Ziploc freezer bags
Label and toss into the freezer

I just did this today and packaged 4 qts of chicken broth plus a little extra (disclaimer:  I would've had about two cups more if I hadn't spilled one bag of broth).  So for very little work, I have homemade broth for 4 chicken based soups.  And it smells SOOOO wonderful.

Plus, I used to always just toss the leftover chicken bones (didn't want the dog to get to 'em) and this makes me feel much better about buying whole chickens.

I'm sure you can use any chicken bones.  I actually froze the chicken bones about a month ago as I didn't have time to experiment just then.  You can do the same with veggies, any leftover celery or carrots or anything else you want to use can go into a freezer bag until you're ready to make broth.

Can't wait to cook something with this bounty! 

A Frugal ESSENTIAL

One of my friends sent me a message today saying that she has followed my advice at long last and created a monthly menu.
Creating a menu is probably the most essential first step for saving money at the grocery store.  I am tickled pink that my friend has taken this step. 
Now, a month long menu is very intimidating at first, so I suggest that people try a week's worth at a time.  It just makes sense:  figure out what you're wanting to eat for the week, then go by those groceries for the week.
I do monthly menus because it is far less work.  It used to take me a half hour or so to make a weekly menu and the grocery list.  Then I added a second week (when I was doing cooking for a day), which took me about an hour to do menu and list.
Once I figured out a few menus, I made a list of dinners my kids and husband will eat.  I was gratified to see that it was 32 meals.  And thus the monthly menu was born.  I read websites and magazines for ideas, so I probably have closer to 50 tried and true dinners and room for new things.

So, time savings, you say?  I made the January menu today.  It took about 45 minutes.  I also jotted down grocery items that I'll need over the next month.  I have a pad of paper on the fridge for this purpose, and I use four consecutive sheets dated the next four Saturdays.  I trust that my pantry stock is sufficient to have say, chicken broth, so that doesn't go on the list.  But the green peppers I need for a stir fry does.  So I have the grocery list started for the next month.

I also have a list up on the side of the fridge for the next Costco/stock up visit, which will be the next payday.  I put a list up as soon as I use the old one.  If we need something before the stock up visit, it goes on the weekly list.  I go to Costco once a month and just get what we need for stock up (generally, cleaning things, cat food and dog food and kitty litter) or what we can get with Costco coupons.

Along the way, I have a running list of things that I keep stocked up.  I will only buy more pasta if a) I have a really good coupon for it and b)know it's time to donate to the food bank. 

I only make the menu for dinners.  Breakfasts are either eggs, bacon, pancakes, or cereal.  Lunch is almost always leftovers (especially easy to take to work things).   I get things like boxed macaroni and cheese from time to time, especially if my daughter is about to come home from college.

One of the big challenges for my menu planning over the past year has definitely been going from feeding 3 people to feeding 2 people.  I am thankful that I have a nice chest freezer and a Foodsaver.The Foodsaver means I can make a crock pot full of chili or soup and save it in lunch sized bags.  Ditto for leftovers.  Or for doing a little meal making ahead (one package of chicken and four different sauces makes eight meals). 

My meals are almost always very plain:  meat, starch, veggies. 

Here's a sample of the next seven days:

Thursday, Dec. 17: Fried rice
Fri Dec 28, 2012			Lasagna
Sat Dec 29, 2012			Leftover prime rib and fresh bread
Sun Dec 30, 2012			Tacos
Mon Dec 31, 2012			pizza/leftovers
Tue Jan 1, 2013			Coq au vin
Wed Jan 2, 2013			Shrimp and feta radiatore

Links, links, links

It has taken me a bit to figure out how to put links onto my blog.  But in the interest of sharing all the little I know about frugal living and couponing, I really wanted to have a spot to refer people to.  For instance, my all time favorite go to couponing/frugal living website is FabulesslyFrugal.  I am delighted to be able to show a link on my sidebar.  Same with Amazon.  I shop a lot at Amazon and I save money there with their Subscribe and Save and have gotten every penny worth out of their Prime two day shipping.
At Thanksgiving, I splurged big time and got a Keurig.  Keurig Elite 40 Brewing System - 00480 (Google Affiliate Ad)

I got one because we had one in the house, but it went to college when my daughter did.  Now, I am not a big coffee fan.  But the hot chocolate that this thing makes....yummy!  And the tea is equally good.  I can caffeinate every day.
I got this for a splendid price.  It was on mega sale at Albertsons.  I also got a coupon book worth $70, mostly in buy one get one free things.  But the coupon book has a LOT of coupons for things I send to my daughter in care packages.  So it's a score.
Anyway, back to the Keurig.  I love this thing.  I'm not exactly in love with the little cups.  So my one Merry Christmas to me thing is an E cup that I just ordered from Amazon.  It's re-usable and doesn't contain any coffee, tea, or hot cocoa.  I'll be able to put that in myself. 

Honestly, life is much simpler for the couponer now, with websites to check and coupons to print directly off the computer.  It's a good time to be clipping.

Burt's Bees

My Burt's Bees holiday package came yesterday!  It is AWESOME. 

There's a whole bunch of things in here that I can't wait to try.  I did get a lot of the things pictured here.  My daughter took the lip stuff, and I used the hand salve already for my poor, dried out winter hands.  Can't wait to use the shampoo!  This was half price.  Check out Burt's Bees! 

I am REALLY excited about this!  I was skeptical at first, I mean, why would someone offer me money for shopping?  But this looks like the real deal.  Sign up for Endorse.com, scan for offers before you shop, and if you buy something, scan the receipt.  I'm also very excited about being able to donate to my local schools.

Tell 'em I sent you:  https://www.endorse.com/referral/Dixie/YZmdqFNxSUzRa7SS8t1cJz7g==AB

Great Gift Idea!

This is an AMAZING gift idea!  Wish I hadn't done all my shopping already.  Click on the link to see:

https://www.livingsocial.com/deals/508690?ref=conf-jp&rpi=97643270

Burt's Bees

I read a lot of blogs about savings, and just scored a Burt's Bees grab bag! Regularly priced at $50, I got it for $20.
Here's how:
Read my email this morning, which included an email from KeepingtheKingdomFirst Mom.  She posted about the grab bag for half price.

Since I love Burt's Bees and so does my daughter, I clicked on her link and checked out the bag.  While it looks like an amazing value, I wondered if I could do better.

So I went to ebates.com  to see if Burt's Bees was one of their stores that I could save money on...and sure enough it is!  PLUS they have a coupon on Ebates for $5 off a $20 order.  AND 3.5% cash back.

Since I started this blog, I have wanted to be very clear about how much I'm spending out of pocket at that moment.  I have fallen into that trap at other websites, with things for free (after you get a register rewards which you can't use until the next visit....or the next day) without realizing that I had to get some money out of pocket to get the savings.

So, full disclosure:  I paid $26.20 for this grab bag. (Can't wait to see what's in it!).  The grab bag was $25, used the $5 off coupon, paid $5 in basic shipping, and tax.

I will get 70 cents back from Ebates, so Ebates saved me a total of $5.70 today. 

If I'd paid full price, it would've been $45.  That's a $50 grab bag, free shipping for orders over $40, and the $5 coupon. I would've gotten $1.57 back from Ebates also.

So..strictly speaking, this was a 58% savings.  Not bad for checking my email...in my bathrobe.

Now to get dressed and do some shopping in real life.  Happy Savings to you all!

One thing not to overlook as you are couponing, living frugally, and ordering on line, is Ebates.  I have been a member for a while, but have been good about clicking through Ebates.com on my way to ordering on line.  I have gotten checks for $100 total so far with more to come, just for shopping the way I always do.  It's amazing!


Sign up, use me as a referral, and get some money back for you too!  Click here:   ebates

I'm still here

I haven't totally abandoned my frugal resolution and couponing ways, but they did get put aside for the job, the family, the taking my baby to college, and adjusting to an empty nest.

I let things slide.  I did not restart my newspaper subscription, so no more 5 Sunday papers a week.  Actually, I think that's a good thing.  I was getting quite overwhelmed. 

I kept up enough with coupons to mostly meet my goal of not shopping without at least one coupon, but I have not done any really great deals.  I have kept the grocery budget mostly in shape, but mainly because the budget now feeds just two people. 

But hey, it's still something I do.  Not anywhere near the scale of this time last year, but still something that gets done.

I had a year of emotional upheaval, but I am happy to say I always came back to this project.  I didn't get my coupon notebook sorted very well until last month (watching a Fringe marathon and cutting coupons). 

For the most part, I abandoned coupon inserts for printed coupons. 

When I use my coupons, I still routinely am saving about 30%, and regularly save 50% at Albertsons.  Winco, not so much, but the savings are so good there that I still spend less than other stores. 

So my regular grocery shopping takes place at Albertsons, Winco, and Costco.  I like Albertsons because with coupons and sales, you can really save big.  I like Winco because there prices are so low.  And Costco still remains the best place to stock up.

So my resolution for 2013 is to keep working on the savings, and also to routinely buy things for food banks with as many coupons as I can manage.  Just takes a little planning.

My favorite website:  Fabulesslyfrugal.com.  They got the lists, the coupons, the database, and all.  Plus they are really nice people.

Onward!

New Year's resolutions

It's been quite a while since I posted, but I did a really good job in October and November doing the couponing thing. Not spectacular, which is why I didn't post.
In December, I quit clipping coupons and keeping track of what I spent. Needless to say, much more money was spent than necessary.

But I am now back. Coupons are clipped and sorted. I haven't yet restarted my newspaper subscription but that's on the to do list.

This weekend I am doing the major grocery shop. We've already spent about a third of the grocery budget: some to Boise Milk for yesterday's delivery (so awesome), some to Zaycon foods for their amazing chicken (I'll have to think about how to classify this, although I bought it today, I don't pick the chicken up until the end of the month), and Albertsons for roasts and misc.

My New Year's resolution for couponing is simple: no shopping without at least one coupon. I managed to save 33% using the coupons in the Albertsons ad and a couple of coupons I had. The coupon binder is bare, but still workable.

My other New Year's resolution is equally simple: throw less food away. Package up the leftovers and freeze them, use up what we have in more ways.

And of course, meet the budget and then cut it down some more. Maintain the stock pile, and eat wonderful, yummy, fresh food. I got a couple of new cookbooks for Christmas and they have really vitalized my meal planning. I'm making more crock pot meals, and hope to cut down the amount we have eaten out by providing dinners each night of the week. Crock pot dinners on Tuesdays, for instance, means my family can eat at a ridiculously early time and then go to their two martial arts classes. And they can eat early on judo night, the next night. My crock pot will be humming away.

I feel really positive about this upcoming year. Here's to a happy, healthy, and frugal 2012.