Love V8? Try making your own in 5 minutes for pennies on the dollar!

Around here, someone (*cough*cough* Alpha Man!) likes to drink V8 juice. It's pretty expensive in my opinion and has some stuff in it that I don't think should be in food. This is the stuff they call "Natural Flavorings" which could really be anything, but is often MSG.

Instead, I make him my very own knockoff with a few simple ingredients from the kitchen.

I take these:

One can no sodium tomato paste
4 cans water
Mix well
1 teaspoon celery salt
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
pinch pepper
6 teaspoons sugar or splenda
3 shakes of worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon horseradish

Several shakes of hot sauce (optional)

I didn't have any garlic powder this time so I threw some in the grinder and powdered it, myself.

So you take all of the ingredients and mix them up (a whisk works best, trust me!) and they will look like this.

Chill and pour and you have a refreshing drink! I made a fancy umbrella for this one out of a cupcake liner and a piece of my hat.

So, there you have it. The can of tomato paste was 35 cents and there are just a few cents worth of other stuff in there. try it! You might find that it tastes a lot better than the stuff in the bottle.

How She Got 12 Bottles of Miracle Whip for 1 Dollar

Alpha Man LOVES Miracle Whip. He goes through about 1 22 ounce bottle a week if it is a week with a high sandwich-to-hot meal ratio. These things are really expensive and, of course, in my neverending search to provide him with everything he loves, I try to buy them. Buying the cheap stuff doesn't work though I have slipped it into his MW jar before and tricked him! When he reads this, he'll tell me that he wasn't fooled hahaha

This week, I started shopping at CVS. While I was browsing their ad, I noticed there was a deal that had Miracle Whip for $2.50. That was an OK deal, I guess. Then I noticed there was a $10 gas card if you bought $30 in select items and the MW was included. I started doing math in my head. 12 bottles would be $30, but there was a problem. CVS doesn't carry 12 of...well...anything, really.

This evening, we ran a bunch of unexpected errands. In a city the size of Birmingham, there is a CVS every few blocks. So, as we moseyed towards home, we stopped at CVS stores. Yep. I was whipping up miracles. At each store, I would buy a few bottles and use a $1 off coupon on each one. 12 bottles = $12 in coupons, thus my bill magically became $18 after coupon. Then, there was the matter of the gift card. As soon as I bought the 12th bottle, the register printed out a coupon for a free $10 gas card. I needed gas anyway, but instead of paying for it, I chose to pay for sandwich spread. After gift card, my bill was now $8, which is where the real magic begins. I have this rebate for $7 back when you buy $14 or more in condiments. I'll send it off tomorrow and, in 4-6 weeks, will get back 7 of the 8 bucks. I just couldn't resist the math on 12 bottles for 8.3 cents each.
And now we're stocked up for sandwich season.

And I would have never gotten to see what the little one calls "The Whipmobile"

Using Rebates to Your Advantage

Today, we're going to talk about rebates. I know, I know, I said it would be chicken breasts but we ate the ones I bought and I didn't get any pics. I LOVE rebates. They are a great incentive to try new products, to BUY products, and to recoup some of your out of pocket expenses. Today is Monday. I went to Food Giant to take advantage of their double coupon policy. Here is what I bought.

2 bricks of coffee
6 bags of sunflower seeds

2 small Sunny D
1 box of cereal
3 French fried onions (snacks!)
3 BBQ sauce
3 canned tomatoes
1 worcestershire
3 packs of napkins
1 large cabbage
1 cucumber
1 bell pepper
1 bag of salad
1 thing of ground pepper
1 salad dressing
1 roast beef spread
1 bottle of spicy brown mustard
3 packs of hot dogs
3 packs of bologna

I spent $9.96 after coupons and tax. I know bologna and hot dogs aren't the healthiest things, but the autistic boy will only eat certain things and certain brands. I don't believe in forcing my kids to eat food they don't like just because it was the best deal. Instead, I stock up when I can get their preferred items for the lowest price.

Now, we will talk about rebates. The box of cereal has a Try Me Free rebate on it. That means that after spending my $9.96, I will get back $4.14 of that. I usually sink about $40 a month into rebates.

A month ago, I bought some really great Johnsonville bratwurst patties for $7.99. As I was loading them into the car, I noticed a sticker advertising an opinion poll on the side of the box. I came home and cooked the patties for dinner and then took the poll. For doing the survey, in Friday's mail, I got a $20 cash card. I will take that card and turn it into $100 worth of stuff. Thanks, Johnsonville! And those patties were fab!

 

I know, not everyone has the time or the inclination to use coupons and rebates and look for the best deals. But just remember when you see that coupon person in the store that they're not necessarily a crazy hoarder with a garage full of diapers and no babies. Maybe they're just an average person who wants to save money in a crappy economy. We've recently started a new homeschooling class that we're calling "Philanthropy". This was our first round of things that we took to the food bank. I don't mind buying things we won't use just so that we can donate them. Even in better times, we weren't able to do this, and here we are now, one downsized job later and high gas prices and we're doing a small part to make the world a better place. And that's huge.

 
Alpha Man says "I'm pretty sure that this means you're the devil."  Hahahah
 
Oh, and if you guys see any rebates in your stores, grab one and gimme a holler!

Why I Love Mondays ... Know Your Stores!!!

We have a small store here, locally owned since the 50s, called Food Giant.
When we moved here, they doubled coupons on Monday only, up to 90 cents. They recently changed this to $1 which is absolutely phenomenal to a coupon shopper. Mondays in there are CRAZY! Everywhere you look, there are men and women with coupon binders and shopping carts full of groceries. Here is what I got today and I promise this will be my last coupon post for a few times or at least until the ads come out on Wednesday.

This is a picture of today's foodstuffs. I bought
3 1 pound bags of tilapia fillets (1.59 each)
1 package of split chicken breasts (1.97)
3 Diet Mt Dew
3 bricks of coffee (1.00 each)
3 assorted Hidden Valley Ranch dressings (1.00 each)
3 bottles of worcestershire sauce (2 free, one I paid $1.18 for so that I could use a $1 off meat coupon)
2 bags of sunflower seeds
3 small Sunny Delight (free)
1 head of cauliflower (.59)
2 cans of canned tomatoes (.08 each)
2 pounds of hot dogs
4 things of  ravioli (free)
3 things of Tic Tac (free)
4 100 Grand bars (free) (which are already safely tucked away in my desk drawer where I will not tell the fam that they even exist and I will instead hoard them and relish them bite by incredibly tasty bite...

I spent $20.71 and the bill should have been about $6 less but when your coupon says "Buy 2 and save $1" and one is $1.19, the computers are set to only double up to the price of one because they don't do overage. However, I've been told that I can hand those over and they will double them manually so knowledge is power!
I will now take my receipt and use it with a rebate offer and get back $10.
My favorite deal? Probably the tilapia fillets. I love those things! I would fill up a freezer with them, but alas...they limit you to 3 like coupons per trip.

So, know your stores! We have a different store where I shop for almost all of our produce because they are LOTS cheaper than anywhere else and the veggies are fresher. They also do occasional tent sales and markdowns but they do not double coupons. One time, though, I did get a bunch of toilet paper there for free, on sale for $1 per pack and I used $1 coupons. It actually lasted us through Alpha Man's job change. I miss that toilet paper. 
Next up? Saving money on boneless, skinless chicken breasts. 

Round 2 of Couponing for Normal People...+ a breakdown!

I think that today, I will be doing a round 2 of coupon shopping detail. Again, part of my reasoning is because I want to show how that tv show is unrealistic. Some of them, as you may have noticed, get very defensive when others use the words "hoarder" or "OCD" ... This just in! If you need to be defensive about your actions, it is probably something you need to scale back on and/or not do.

Yesterday I went into Birmingham to get a few groceries. Last week, there was a coupon for free milk when you buy 4 packs of yogurt. Coupons for the yogurt came out on Sunday. I already had a few so for the past week, we've enjoyed free milk and cheap yogurt. Then, I decided that it was too good of a deal to pass up on the milk because the boys and I have been wanting to make fresh mozzarella for our ongoing class called "Cheese". So, yesterday, we went to 3 stores and above is a picture of what we bought.

 At the first store, I picked up 7 Diet Mt Dew and took advantage of a coupon that the bottles had on them for 50 cents off one bottle. This doubled to $1 and the Dews were part of a 10 for 10 sale so the drinks were free. I only bought 7 and left at least that many on the shelf for the other shoppers. I also bought 2 bags of salad and used another coupon from in the store on the salad display. The salads were 2 for 2.99 and the coupon was for 1.50 off 2, thus my 2 bags of salad and 7 drinks were $1.49 plus tax.

My next stop was another store where I made my bulk purchase. At this store, I had a coupon for $5 off when you buy $30. You can use those together with other coupons to make your bill even lower. At this store, I bought 2 bricks of coffee, 2 boxes of tea bags, 8 yogurts and 2 milks for a total of $31.54.
2 coffees @ 2.99 each plus 2 $1.00 off coupons
2 tea bags @ 1.09 each plus 2 .40 coupons, doubled to .80 each
8 yogurt @ 2.00 each + 8 1.00 coupons
2 milk @ 3.69 each + 2 free milk when you buy 4 yogurt coupons

$5 off when you buy $30

My total coupons for this trip totaled $23.98. and my out of pocket expense was 7.56 plus tax.

After we left, we went down to the next block to the last store. This was not a long trip that used a lot of gas, it was something we would have done anyway. It's hot out, so we use our AC but if we get thirsty, we have a cup that has free refills at the gas station fountain. However, I always pack a big jug of ice water before we leave, there is nothing that quenches thirst like ice water. According to Alpha Man, I am wrong about this and maybe even crazy. Anyway! On to the next store.

This store had Crunch bars on sale for .50. We had one coupon for $1.00 off 2 crunch bars. Here, I decided to grab one more gallon of milk and 4 more packs of yogurt. How do I get so many coupons? I SAVE them, just like saving coins in a bucket. There are always coupons available for products, manufacturers WANT you to try their stuff. Nobody is required to use a coupon as soon as they get it so when mine come out in the paper or from a promo or from a printable site, I SAVE them until a store puts the item on sale. No sale? No problem! They expire and more coupons arrive. Sometimes, I do buy more than one newspaper. This week was one of those weeks. I ended up buying 8 because the coupons were good and I needed the newsprint to mulch my garden with. Several people give me their coupons and in return, I give them random free groceries. This is another one of those couponing no brainers. This week's newspapers have already paid for themselves. I was taught that a good rule of thumb is 2 newspapers per family member.

SO! At the last stop, I picked up
2 Crunch bars for $1 (and we get a nice treat)
8 packs of Nesquik on sale $10 for 10
4 yogurts for $2 per pack
1 gallon of milk for $3.85
1 box of Shells and Cheese for $1.66

I used a $1 off 2 coupon on the candy, 8 50 cents off any Nesquik item coupons, doubled to $1, $1 off each yogurt, a free milk when you buy 4 yogurts and a 50 cents off the Velveeta, doubled. My total after coupons was 4.76 plus tax.

So my total yesterday for everything in the picture was about 15 bucks. I did it all legally and I did it all ethically. I didn't do anything that will hurt other shoppers' budgets. It's not hard to save money on your food, it just takes thought (math!) and planning and you have to eat what's on sale. And respect other humans. There is too much of a me me me mentality out there and other people want to save money on their bills, too.
Respect your cashiers, respect your stores, and respect the other shoppers.

Not So Extreme Couponing ... We'll Call it "Normal People Couponing"

I love coupons and great deals. Being a stay at home mom and a homeschooler, I think that I often sacrifice a little bit more than average just so I can stay home with my kids and provide them with an education.

My little one loves the TLC show "Extreme Couponing". I like it, too, but in a sense that I would rubberneck a train wreck. He wants me to fill our house up with groceries for 35 cents. This is not realistic. Here are some reasons why.

If you watch the show, you will see the shoppers buying entire pallets of Powerade and/or Vitamin Water. This is a trick they're doing to get their numbers up for the show. Most stores offer regular deals on both of those items. Pair them with a coupon and you get free product. Sometimes you can even use a coupon for "Free Stuff  when you buy Vitamin Water" and get more free stuff.  This is really a no brainer. So, they buy 200 bottles and use 200 coupons. What they DON'T say is the amount of work they put into acquiring those coupons. They've literally spent weeks gathering them together.

These people apparently live in areas where they don't have a grocery tax. We have that here in Alabama. My grocery bill will never be zero.

Pay attention to their baskets. Do you really want to feed your family Yakisoba noodles, barbecue sauce and candy every day?

I recently got back into couponing after a 3 year hiatus. When I learned, I was taught strong ethics by my coach and the phrase "Fly under the radar" was used often. To this day I am thankful for that. Sometimes, some of these people on TV are dipping their feet into the grey area of couponing that we will call fraud. They will justify it however they feel like they need to, but I stand by the statement "Just because you can does not mean you should." Exercise impulse control. It is good for kids to see the parent controlling themselves.

Now, here is the part where I will detail a normal shopping trip for a normal person.
Yesterday, I went to a store here that is called Food Giant. They double coupons up to $1.
Pairing up ads with sales, I bought
2 bags of cat litter for .38 each
4 jars of spaghetti sauce for .75 each
1 package of cat treats = free
3 boxes of microwave popcorn for 1.24 each
6 packages of hot dogs for .19 each
1 can of French fried onions for .68
6 dish scrubbies for .43 each
2 bottles of L&P worcestershire sauce for 1.18 each
A small package of beef ribs .50
A pound of ground turkey .50
2 small steaks for appx 1.25 each


Now, because I don't have a goal of getting my number down to zero, I am perfectly happy with what I spent. I can take some of the money saved and put it in a jar for a weekend trip to the beach which we keep promising the kids and not delivering on.
Today I am making a run to another store for drinks, milk, yogurt, and coffee. I have a specific plan and a list with coupon matchups. However, the store is often sold out because there are people who will buy ALL of a deal because they don't care if anyone else gets to save money as long as they're getting theirs. We'll see what happens, because I don't go to multiple stores, looking for the same deal. Gas is too expensive for that.

And I WON'T be spending 4 hours in line at the checkout.

Yard Sale Tupperware! WOOT!

I was raised in a yard saling family. I remember going on weekends when I was a kid, my mom would fill up the station wagon with me, my sister, my brother and whichever of my cousins that wanted to go. There were always so many of us that someone or two had to ride in the hatch area. So we would take our allowances and go out town to the yard sales.

When I was a teenager, this became a little embarassing when she would shop sales that were in my home town but I outgrew that. In the last few years o her life, we would often hop in my car and go together, looking for treasures. It's one of those things I am glad about.

Lately, I've been teaching my little one about yard sales. He loves them and wants to go with me whenever we find one. The oldest will slink down in the car and pretend he isn't there, but not the youngest. Today, we were on our way shopping and stopped at one. We strolled past the usual boxes of dusty shoes, VHS tapes and used lipsticks, half-full bottles of lotion, etc waded through the racks of too-small clothing when I spied this in amongst the  tattered, self-help books on a bookshelf. In a split second, I knew I must have it.

One of the things I love about the doctor's office is that they always have some cool gadgets to play with, like model bones and body part posters. I handed it to the little one and told him to go ask the lady how much it was. Being an obedient child, he did, and she said "50 cents!" it will be a great item when we do our anatomy class! It has a little pull-out drawer with a piece of paper inside that details how to use the model. As we were headed to pay, I noticed a box on the end of a table....

I love pricey kitchen stuff. I DON'T love paying for pricey kitchen stuff. One of what I call my hobbies is upgrading my kitchen items via thrift stores and yard sales. I have a weakness for Tupperware but it's so expensive! Every piece I own has come from a thrift store or a yard sale, and I have never paid more than $3 for one, that one being a giant green mixing bowl with a lid, my mom used hers for many things and I do, too.

I rummaged around in the box and removed some recycled sandwich meat containers and some partially melted rubbermaid bowls and several lids that didn't have bowls to go with them, then I carried this up to the lady at the desk and set the bones down with the box.

The veggies and dip server was $1 and I'll use that thing a LOT
I needed some airtight canisters and there are 1 large, 5 medium, and 1 small of the ones with red lids. There are 2 small ones with beige lids. I'm not sure what the orange thing is but I'll use it for something, probably spaghetti.
She charged me $3 for everything in that box, including the dip server. They're dirty where they've been in the garage, but half are running through the dishwasher tonight and the other half will be tomorrow. What a great deal for only having to wash them! I spent all day being happy about that box of Tupper.

And that was our day. Yard sales rock!