Albertsons Jackpot

I wanted to take advantage of the last day of Albertson's Kraft sale. I was procrastinating this week but, I'm really glad I did because I saved a ton!

I spent $37.01 and saved $116.27!

Schedule a class with me (callmestacy@yahoo.com , 801-589-3946) or come see me at WSU West Center (5627 S 3500 W, Roy, UT) on 6/24 @ 2:30 pm to see how you can do this too!

2 pkgs Angel Soft TP

5 Bayer Asprin (10 ct - FREE)

3 boxes of Bagelfuls

2 bottles of Country Time Raspberry Lemonade

2 boxes of Planters peanut bars

2 boxes of Maple & Brown Sugar cereal

5 California pizza's (individual size)

4 boxes of Mini Wheats

8 bags of Kraft cheese

1 8pk Coke

Most of this will be put into the pantry as a "Stock Up" item. I love being able to add variety to my pantry and not have to spend a lot for it. I used my double coupons and took advantage of the $3.00 back for every $10 I spent on Kraft products.

A new Geo Trax DVD - free

Click on this link to order Steamer and Samuel Save the Day. My kids absolutely love these and best of all they are free!

Want a little free Coldplay?

Tonya, sent me this great tip. She sent me this link to Coldplay's website where they will let you download some of their music for free. You need to provide them with your email and that's it. It looks like some of their best of stuff. Who doesn't enjoy a little free Coldplay?

Thanks Tonya, for hooking us up with some great free music for the summer.

Kents Anniversary Sale

I don't get the Kents ad, so I decided to go there today. I saw some postings about their Anniversary sale on Pinching Your Pennies and just had to check it out. So for those of you in my same boat (don't get the Kents ad) you can follow the directions below to pull it up.

Check this out, http://www.benewsjournal.com/. Along the top (just under the header) there are tabs, one being Kents Market. Click on that tab and it will take you to the ads. Warning....it does take a while to pull up. They are trying to change it from a pdf to a jpg so it will load faster.

Anywho.... I wanted to mention a few of their specials this week. Their anniversary sale will go for two weeks. These sale prices go from June 3-9, with some of these same deals spilling over into the following week.

*Full Flat of Raspberries $11.95
*Strawberries $.99
*Kellogs Cereal (Asst. Mini Wheats, Apple Jacks, Corn Pops, Froot Loops and other select varieties) 6 for $8 with in-ad coupon (pick up an ad as you go in the store)
*General Mills cereal (variety) 4 for $10 - this was not in their ad, but I saw it walking through the store (for you couponers - don't forget your coupons SS 5/3 and SS 5/31)
*Doritos Tortilla chips B1G1 free
*Cream O' Weber (COW) Cottage Cheese $.88
*Yoplait Yogurt 10 for $4
*Cantaloupe & Watermelon $.19/lb
*1lb COW butter 2 for $4
*Country Farms Gallon milk skim, 1% or 2% are 3 for $5
*20lb box of Boneless skinless chicken breasts $29.80 ($1.49/lb)
*Top Round Steaks or London Broil $1.79/lb (this is about as low as I've seen this in a while)
*10lb bag of extra, extra, extra diet lean or extra lean ground beef $1.79/lb

I just listed a few specials, check out the ad link (above) or this link to Pinching Your Pennies for more specials.

Lastly, on both Friday 6/5 and Saturday 6/6, from 11 am to 6 pm they will have a bunch of fun activities for kids.

*$1.00 hotdogs
*free samples and giveaways
*Keebler cracker stacker contest (noon to 3 on Sat)
*free Pepsi drinks
*Chester Cheetah, Trix Rabbit, The Pillsbury Doughboy and Mr. Milk Chug will be there giving away treats
*free balloons
*free fudge brownies on Friday
*free Jumbo cake donuts on Saturday
*free Meadow Gold ice cream (mini cone)
*free bag of groceries given away to lucky winners
*free Twinkies, 1/2 pints of COW chocolate milk, Frito Lay Chips, Kelloggs rice krispie treats, Little Debbie oatmeal cream pies and Pace Frozen Juice Bars will also be given away those two days

When Kents has a good sale, they really have a good sale. Who knows, maybe I'll see you there this weekend!

National Doughnut day @ Krispy Kreme

Drop into your local Krispy Kreme for National Doughnut Day on June 5th. This year, Krispy Kreme will once again be giving away a free doughnut of your choosing on that most delicious of days to every customer that visits a participating Krispy Kreme store.

Grocery Smarts News and a free class on 6/24/09

Grocery Smarts is expanding our services. Yes, we're growing!!!! If you've got friends or relatives interested in saving big bucks and they live in Southern California, Eastern Washington, Nevada or Idaho click on the links below to get started.

Southern California

Eastern Washington

Nevada

Idaho

I will also be teaching a FREE coupon class on June 24th at 2:30 pm. It will be held at the Weber State University West Center (5627 S 3500, Roy, UT) and is open to the community. Come and let me teach you how to save between 40% and 60% on every shopping trip. I will introduce you to the FREE Grocery Smarts website and how to keep your coupons organized. It will be a good time! I hope to see you there.

Free Ice Cream Day at Walmart (today 5/30/09)

Stop by your local Walmart for a free ice cream treat between 11-4. Check out this link to see if your Walmart is participating. Featured brands will include Ben & Jerry's, Blue Bunny, Breyers, Edy's slow churned, Haagen Daas, Hershey's, Keebler, Klondike, Popsicle and Reddi Whip.

Lowe's Build & Grow Clinics

Check out this link for some fun Father's Day ideas that your kids can put together for free at your local Lowe's.

My shopping trip (a few days ago)

I don't know about you, but I had a great Memorial Day weekend. It was busy and I just haven't had a chance to post what I bought last Friday. It was a pretty good sale (still is - through tonight).

(Sorry it's kinda fuzzy - I've been having some issues with the camera lately)

1 DiGiorno Flatbread Melt (free)

1 Kashi meal (free)

3 boxes Keebler Graham Crackers

3 bags Kraft marshmallows

3 pkgs Hershey's chocolate

4 Kraft dressings (free)

1 pkg Albertson's hot dog buns

1 bottle Planters Dry Roasted nuts

5 Gatorades

5 Kraft BBQ sauce

3 pkgs Bar S Hot dogs

1 pkg Bar S bologna

1 bag Cheetos

2 Juicy Juice

4 Darigold milk

4 bags Pepperidge Farms goldfish

6 cups Kraft Easy Mac

4 tubes Colgate toothpaste

5 Skintimate shaving gel

1 8pk Coke (missing in picture)

Spent $57.78

Saved $102.23

58 items - spent about $1.00 each

I have to say that I also shopped at a different Albertson's this week. I was very impressed with the Layton store! I talked with the store mgr and she was very nice. I even found a few extra coupons that I could use in the store on the items I was going to purchase that night!!!! I'll definately be back.

A quick coupon reminder

Due to the holiday weekend, you won't get any coupons in this Sunday's paper. They should pick up again next week.

Have a great 3 day Memorial Holiday!

Free Baby Welcome Kit from Target

I saw this posted on another blog. It sounds like a bunch of really fun stuff. This is the season for babies. I'm sure most people know someone who is pregnant right now.

Thanks - wantitall4free! Congratulations and enjoy your new little one.

Hosting a class

I haven't blogged about hosting a class in a while, so I thought I'd take the opportunity.

I honestly save between 40 and 60% every time I go to the grocery store. I would love to show you how I do this.

I'm currently booking classes for June and July. If you'd like to pull a group together (co-workers, friends, family, neighbors, church groups, mom's groups, couples - whatever), I would love to teach you this. I'll come to you.

• The class is free
• The website I use is free
• And who couldn't use a fun night out? (I promise to make it fun).

You can email me at callmestacy@yahoo.com or call me at 801-589-3946 to set up a date and time.

Things I do to save and for the convenience

If you've looked at some of the shopping trips I've made, you will notice that I don't usually pick up milk or beef. Here's what I do, do though.

1 - Every fall, we get 1/4 of a beef. It is enough meat to last my family of 5 for a year. We get lots of steaks and hamburger with a few roasts. I've never sat down to compare the costs at the store, I mostly do this for the convenience of being able to run to the freezer for something. As a time saver, I will pull about 5 lbs of hamburger out at a time, brown in and re-freeze it for those quick meals. I also bottled some of the hamburger to put into food storage. I also just canned a bunch of chicken - I don't want to look at raw chicken again, but it sure tastes good.

2 - I get milk delivered by a local dairy. The price is pretty close to what we'd pay at the grocery store. I get it delivered twice a week, so we're never out. Plus, this milk does not have any weird preservatives added and it tastes ssssoooooooooo much better! We drink skim milk and it's as creamy as the store 2% milk. My husband is a huge milk drinker and I often tease him that we just need to park Bessie in the back yard with as much milk as he can consume.

3 - I've joined a co-op to add more fruits and veggies to our diet. Needless to say this is something that has positively impacted our family.

4 - I'm committed to gardening this summer. I read the Square Foot Garden book, by Mel Bartholomew and loved it. I have not been the best gardener in the past, but this looks easy and managable. I will post pictures of the different stages of my garden in a future post. I'm almost ready to plant (hopefully this weekend).

5- Whenever I find butter, bread or marshmallows on sale - I stock up and throw those into the freezer to use at a later date. Yes, I freeze marshmallows. I read about doing this on Pinching Your Pennies. I tried it and it works. You just need to allow about an hour for the marshmallows to thaw. They are as soft as if you just bought them from the store. I've even heard that you can freeze milk (always allow plenty of time for it to thaw though). I've not personally tried this only because we never have any excess milk at our house.

6 - I bought a FoodSaver earlier this year. I've mostly used it to seal bottles, containing items that I've bought in bulk (chocolate chips, left over holiday candy, spices etc....). This method gives those foods with shorter shelf lives a longer shelf life if you can remove the air.

7 - As my bananas go black because no one ate them, I peel them and add them to my plastic bag in the freezer. It's nice to have some very ripe bananas in case I need to whip up a quick loaf of banana bread.

These are just some of the things I do. I would love to hear what you do to save time, $$ or just out of convenience.

Look what Mother Nature brought this week.

As you know, I've kinda gotten into this fun Co-op thing. I think I'm addicted. I truly love the idea that I have almost all the things in my fridge to make a salad now. Before doing this, I never had all the ingredients.

I also love the element of surprise. I love not knowing what I'm getting each time. It challenges me to try and incoporate new fruits and veggies into what we're eating. My family has also enjoyed trying things I would not normally buy at the store.

I decided to get the bread this time (can't wait to try it)

5 loaves 9 grain bread

6 tomatos

6 mangos (yep - those funny shaped things are mangos)

1 honeydew melon

9 bananas

8 oranges

2 red peppers

7 red potatoes

10 pears

2 bunch's of broccoli (I got an extra for helping this morning)

1 spaghetti squash

3 cucumbers

1 head romaine lettuce

I joined Bountiful Baskets co-op. They deliver every 2 weeks. There are currently 5 delivery sites with several more coming (Provo/Orem and another one in West Valley). If you'd like to see one in your neck of the woods and are willing to manage a site, contact Bountiful Baskets to see about getting a site set up.

Kraft online printable coupons, Jennie-O and Bountiful Baskets

Here are a couple of great offers to take advantage of.

The first one is from Kraft. Click on this link to take you to the page where you can print up to $50 worth of Kraft coupons. There are a limited number available, so I would take advantage of this soon. Remember you can print these twice. Once you've selected them and printed them the first time, hit the back button and refresh your page and they should print a second time.

The second offer is by Jennie-O. If your a Biggest Loser fan - the finale is tonight and Jennie-O has been a big sponsor of the show. They will be offering a $5 coupon on their website tonight when the show airs. There are only $25,000 available. Click on this link to take you to their site. Thanks PYP for the info....

Lastly, if you're interested in signing up for a fruit/veggie basket from Bountiful Baskets Co-op, the ordering starts today, and pickup is 5/16/09 (every 2 weeks). Slots go quickly so run - don't walk. If you'd like more information about this co-op, click on this link for additional details. (Update - I've always ordered on Tuesday's. I tried at about 10:00 am this morning and was unable to register. I will keep you posted as to when I can get in. I've sent the website a note requesting information.)

(2nd update - I was finally able to get in (about 1:00 pm) and it looks like they have a few more pick up sites available. There is still Brigham City, Clearfield, Roy and now they've added a site in Pleasant View and one in West Point. )

Mars Real Chocolate Relief Act (free chocolate)

Visit this site every Friday through September for a chance to get a Free* Real Chocolate coupon for your favorite Mars product below. If it’s Mars, you know it’s Real Chocolate.

Sounds good to me. I missed it yesterday (I'm obviously blogging about it a little too late), but it gave me a spot to fill out my email and they will remind me to go in and register next Friday.

Hey - I'm all about free chocolate!

Grocery Shopping and Dumb Mistakes

I'll admit, I made not 1, not 2, but 3 stupid mistakes shopping yesterday. I have no idea where my head was, but it certainly wasn't on shopping.

First - here's what I got and then I'll point out my mistakes.

1 bag Albertsons pretzels

1 bag Santitas corn chips

1 bag Albertsons potato chips

8 cans Hunts Spaghetti sauces (mistake #1)

2 pkg of Mission tortilla's (mistake #2)

4 pkgs Albertsons Au Jus mix

4 pkgs Albertsons brown gravy mix

1 pkg Chocolate/Banana mix

1 pkg Orange mix

1 gallon Albertsons orange juice

2 loaves Grandma Sycamore bread

1 pkg Albertsons hamburger buns

2 Betty Crocker cake mixes

2 cans Betty Crocker frosting (birthday season at my house)

1 pkg Twizzlers

1 pkg Gummy Lifesavers

2 Oscar Mayer Deli Creations sandwiches

6 boxes Kellogs Poptarts (mistake #3)

6 Glaceau Vitamin waters

6 Yoplait yogurts

1 pkg Sushi (California rolls)

1 pkg Oreos

2 Chef Boyardee meals

1, 8 pk of Coke

2 pkgs Albertsons 1lb bacon

I still did pretty well on price. I paid $80.47 and saved $57.72. I had 2 $5 off coupons from my last shopping trip to Albertsons and I had another $5 off the purchase of $30 coupon that was mailed to me. So right there, that was a good chunk of savings.

Here's where I went wrong.

Mistake #1 - I failed to cut the coupon out of the paper making the Hunts Spaghetti Sauce $.88 rather than the $1.00 each that I paid for them.

Mistake #2 - Again, I failed to cut the coupon out of the paper for the Mission Tortilla's. On top of that, I only half read the coupon. I saw the word Medium on the coupon and on the ad and automatically picked up two packages. When I got home, I realized I purchased some very large quantities of tortilla's - see for yourself.....I'm glad these freeze well.

Mistake #3 - Again, it was not cutting out the coupon from the paper.

I could blame this on the cashiers (they usually know me and just ring them up with a coupon they have on hand), but that wouldn't be fair. It was my fault and I failed to catch it before leaving the store at midnight last night. I probably could have saved another $5-$7 if I had done what I should've and cut out the coupons.

Oh well - we all live and learn, I just wanted to show that even I make mistakes when I grocery shop. Lets chalk this up to a learning experience.

Free Arby's Iced FruiTea on May 6th (National Beverage Day)

I've mentioned this before that I signed up with Arbys to get special deals. I got one today. All you have to do is say "I'm parched. FruiTea me," on May 6th and you'll get to pick from Passion Fruit, Mandarin Peach, Diet Peach and Diet Blackberry.

Personally, I'm not much of a tea drinker, but I may just swing by for a yummy combo meal and cola drink. Gotta love the Arby's!

My newest pick of fresh fruits and veggies (Co-op)

I have to admit, this is so fun to do. I wasn't sure I would "love" all this fresh produce, but let me tell ya - I do. I love knowing that I have this stuff around to make side dishes or to add to the main dish that I'm preparing for dinner on any given night. It used to be "work" for me to try and come up with a healthy side dish and now it's so easy. I would never go to the grocery store and just buy all the stuff I got today. But now that I have it, it makes cooking for my family a lot more fun.

So here's a picture of what I got today.

7 pink lady apples

8 plums

3 red onions

9 tomatoes on a vine

1 container of blackberries

1 cantaloupe

1 mini watermelon

1 bunch of bananas (7 total)

1 head Romaine lettuce

2 bunches of spinach

2 heads broccoflower

1 bunch of green grapes (above the lettuce and spinach)

11 carrots

(My extras for showing up early to help were 1 extra broccoflower, several extra carrots and an 1 extra bunch of spinach)

I was very pleased with my last pickup, I can't wait to dig into my new produce. I remembered my gloves this time, I also picked up a sturdy basket to carry all my yummy stuff and I arrived a little earlier this time to add some additional help. Again, I benefitted for arriving early with a couple of extras in my basket.

Okay - now for the really exciting news. Bountiful Baskets will be adding a few new sites. One for sure is Syracuse, UT and the other I think was Orem/Provo area. I was not given the exact dates on these new sites opening, but will keep my blog updated as I get information. Remember, if you want a site to open in your area, you need to be willing to volunteer and have a decent number of people who would be interested. Bountiful Baskets is listening - contact them and let them know you want to see this in your area.

Black Island Farms CSA (Community Supported Agriculture)

My friend Kamri tipped me off to this. Black Island Farms is starting a CSA. Since I did not know what one was, I pulled this information off of their website. You can also see it by clicking on this link and going to the bottom and choosing CSA offerings. Make sure to go to their website to print off the form if you're interested in doing this. Even though Black Island Farms is located in Syracuse, it looks like there will be pick up locations from Salt Lake to Eden. This program will run for 18 weeks and be $200 for a half share ($11.11 per week) and $400 for a full share ($22.22 per week) plus all the extra's.

What?
A CSA is a partnership - between us and you, the
consumer. CSA members pledge support to a local
farm operation so that growers and consumers
provide mutual support, sharing the risks and
benefits of food production.

Why?
The farmer benefits by knowing in advance how
much food to grow, which reduces waste, costs and
time. An upfront payment in the spring will help the
farmer when most needed. The farmer in return
provides, to the best of it’s ability, a healthy supply
of of seasonal fresh produce throughout the
growing season.

Members receive a weekly share of the farm’s
harvest. They also receive only the freshest produce
for the best value. Members of CSA’s also enjoy the
satisfaction of knowing the methods used to grow
their food and that they are supporting their local
farmer.

How?
Members purchase “farm shares” in the spring.
during the harvest, the food is delivered weekly to a
location within the community to be picked up by the
members.

About our 2009 CSA Program
Our program this year will be 18 weeks. We will start
late June and run through October. (Weather
permitting it could be earlier or later) Members will
receive a weekly assortment of produce and fruits that
are ready for harvest throughout the season.We will be
using other local growers we know and trust for some
of these items. To ensure the best quality possible, the
produce will be harvested the same morning as
delivery.

Monthly special events
This is the exciting part! We will offer monthly special
events held at Black Island Farms. They will include,
but are not limited to:
Work days- come help transplant cabbage or work a
field.

Educational seminars, concerts, or magic show. Each
will be hosted in our pole barn with, cow train rides,
pumpkin bounce house, farm animals, and hay rides
through out the farm. A dutch oven dinner will be
offered at an additional fee.

How to become a member
Read and sign the application on the back of this
brochure and return, along with payment. As soon as
your payment is recorded, you will get an e-mail
notifying you that your account has been activated,
and give you more information about your first
delivery/ pickup.

What do we offer?
Carrots
Cabbage
Summer Squashes
Cucumbers
Sweet Corn
Cantaloupe
Honeydew
Watermelon
Potatoes
Potted Flowers
Ornamental red peppers, Dwarf Sum
Flowers, Zinnias
Potted Herbs
Tomatoes
And a opportunity to purchase additional
tomatoes for canning.
Chili Peppers
Green Peppers
Roasted Chili Peppers
Fall Squash
25# Bag Storage Carrots
25# Bag Storage Onions
25# Bag Storage Potatoes
Weekly Newsletter
Fall Decoration Package:
Mini straw bale, corn stalks, assorted
pumpkins and gourds.
Family Pass To Black Island Farms Harvest Festival for
up to 6 people. Opportunity to purchase tickets for
Nightmare Acres.
Monthly Special Events

2009 Black Island Farms CSA Sign Up Sheet
Name ________________________________________
Address_______________________________________
City____________________ Zip____________
Daytime Phone __________________ Evening Phone
______________________
E-mail________________________
Half Share $200 ______ Full Share $400______

A letter with the exact address and start dates will be
mailed out at a later date. Please
choose from one of the following approximate pick up
locations: (Check One)

(We are looking for volunteers for each pickup site.
Volunteers will be compensated.)
Tuesday (Pickup after 4:00 p.m.)
____Woods Cross ____Centerville ____South Ogden
____Eden
____ 12th 14th E Ogden ____Syracuse

Thursday (Pickup after 4:00 p.m.)
___Avenues ___1700 S & 1700 E ___3900 S & 3200 E
___Murray ___Draper
___3500 S & 850 E ___West Jordan ___Parleys Way
___9th S and 10th East

Friday & Saturday Special events: Special events will
be announced in the newsletter, along with sign up
information.

We cannot be responsible for missed pickups.
Arrangements can be made to double your full or half
share for the following week with at least one-day
notice.

Any questions or comments please feel free to give us a
call.: Dorathy Law: 540-7932 Brandon Law: 940-2817

Please fill out the above form and mail along with
payment to:

Black Island Farms
P.O. Box 100
Layton, Utah 84040

Bountiful Baskets Co-op taking orders for 5/2/09

I believe today was the first day you could get in and order your fruit/veggie basket. It's a little confusing to navigate their website so follow this link for more help. I just ordered mine about 2:00 pm on Tuesday and there were 67 slots left. I'm sure these will go fast. Here's the website link. Maybe I'll see you there on Saturday morning.....bright and early

Free KFC on Monday 4/27/09

Yep - The colonel is changing things up a bit and now he has a new grilled chicken. Stop by any participating KFC for a free piece of grilled chicken (managers choice). Yum.....

Now this is a sweet deal - I love couponing!

The one thing I absolutely hate about grocery shopping is taking my kids. I kind of got railroaded this week and guess what - I ended up at the store today with all three kids. Yes, I was that woman shooting daggers at my kids as they played hopscotch up and down the aisles.

Having said that - I hit the jackpot today! My jaw just about dropped to the floor when the Albertson's cashier told me how much I just saved. Here's what I got (you'll have to wait to see how much I saved.....)


Purchase #1

19 boxes of General Mills cereal

5 Betty Crocker cookie mixes

2 boxes of Bagelfuls

6 boxes of Betty Crocker fruit snacks

1 can of Pam (I should have purchased this in purchase #2 below)

3 artichokes

1 pkg of Chips Ahoy cookies

4 boxes of Fiber One toaster pastries

3 cups of mini Chips Ahoy cookies

1 8pk of Coke (it's in the next picture)

Because I had so many boxes of cereal and nothing else would fit in the cart, I paid for this and took it to my car and came back in for more. In total I paid $49.46 and saved $111.68. If you're familiar with this sale you'll know that for every $10 you spend on Kraft items, you save $4 at the register. I saved $32 plus all my coupons.

Purchase #2

1 box Ritz crackers

6 boxes Orville Redenbacher popcorn

3, 4pks of Hunts pudding

10 Marie Callendars pot pies

5 Frozen Healthy Choice meals

2 bottles Hunts Ketchup

2 boxes of Betty Crocker Stickerz (these should have been purchased with purchase #1 above)

2 bags David's Sunflower seeds

As you can see, I made a few mistakes in the sales - that's another reason I don't like bringing my kids. I get easily distracted. My second purchase was $45.12 and I saved $63.39. I also earned $10 towards my next shopping trip. In total I spent $94.58 and saved $175.37. I walked out with a little spring in my step and a smile on my face.

I had a few extra coupons especially for the ConAgra sale. If you receive the Salt Lake papers, there was an insert for Smith's a few weeks back. These were manufacturer's coupons and a lot of them were on this weeks Albertson's sale. Also, if you happened to pick up the May edition of All You magazine from WalMart, there were a few coupons in there as well (it's not too late to get one from WalMart).

Albertson's sale starting 4/21

If you haven't already looked through your ad, I would certainly recommend doing so. There are quite a few 4 and 5 ***** items this week. Especially cereal. That's what I'll be there for.

If you haven't checked out the lists yet - here's a link to PYP and Grocery Smarts.

Happy shopping - if you get some great deals, I'd love to hear about it or send me some pictures and we'll brag about it!

The Future of Food - it will scare you

I saw this posted on a blog that I watch and I sat down to watch it tonight and it really frightens me. This movie is really thought provoking. It takes about and hour and a half, but really worth the watch. It will certainly make you think.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/67878/the-future-of-food

After you watch it, I would love your feedback - What do you think?

Utah Co-op resources

I thought it would be nice to link up a few other co-op resources available in Utah. I mentioned in my previous post that I had wanted to try one of these but had never done one and I think it was because I didn't feel like I knew a lot about them and they weren't convenient for me. Even though there is not a co-op location for all of Utah, there are still quite a few pick up locations.

I'm definately no expert at co-op's, but the last post seemed to generate a lot of interest. So I thought I would post some resources for Utah co-op's.

Utah Co-op
1899 S Redwood Rd, A4
Salt Lake City, Utah
http://www.utahcoop.org/

Crossroads Co-op
*has many different food pick up locations (Ogden to Provo)
http://www.crossroads-u-c.org/cfc/index.html

Bountiful Baskets Food Co-op
*follow the directions in the previous post
http://02b8ce3.netsolstores.com/

If you don't see a convenient location - it's definately worth contacting the website to see what you can do about getting one where you live. I know the people from Bountiful Baskets (the one I tried) said that they are opening up new locations depending on the demand.

This ranks right up there with winning the lottery, but better for you

I read a blog on Pinching Your Pennies about a new co-op that was currently working in Brigham City and Clearfield. Since I'm a Davis County girl, I decided to try this out and I was amazed!

(quick explanation of what a co-op is: It's a group of people who choose to purchase food as a group to save money)

So I'm going to start from the very beginning (just so you know what I went through).

*Alarm goes off at 6:15 am - almost turn it off, because in that sleep filled mind of mine, did not remember I was going to the co-op.

*Laid there for several minutes trying to gather my senses and leaped out of bed to pull on my clothes, brushed my hair and teeth and jumped in the car and was off.

*Found the park (Which I had never been to before - I went to Kiwana's park in Clearfield. If you need directions let me know, callmestacy@yahoo.com or leave a comment)

*Talked to a few people, they immediately put me to work breaking down produce boxes (note to self, gloves would be helpful next time) so it was fun to talk with others who had done this before.

*After breaking down boxes, they allowed the volunteers to take a few extra fruits and veggies that were above and beyond what was in the baskets (I got 2 mango's, a bag of grapes and a bunch of broccoli)

*They had us line up (those that came early and volunteered, got to go first - Yea!!! I was glad I got somewhere early for once)

*The lady with the clipboard was checking us in and I was told to pick up the produce from the two baskets.

*I brought 2 recycleable grocery bags with me, but wished I had brought something more sturdy, like a laundry basket (note to self - for next time)

*I loaded the contents of the two baskets into my bags (easily 20lbs each) and took them back to the lady with the clipboard and signed the form stating I had picked up my "share"

*We were asked to help cart off the boxes that we had broken down, this is purely a volunteer program so I grabbed several loads and took them to the elementary and dropped them off in the recycle boxes on my way home.

*Got home at 7:20 am and wanted to call everyone to tell them what a great experience I had, but quickly realized it was a little too early so therefore, I am blogging about it.

Here's a few pictures of what I got and some additional details for anyone who wants to try it out.

This was everything I got, below are some closer pictures.

2 bags of green grapes

1 lb of strawberries

1bunch of bananas + 2 extra (I love them green, so they last longer)

1 pineapple (a little green so I can let it sit for a few days while we work on the other fruits and veggies)

10 tomatoes

8 Fuji and pink lady apples

7 mangos

2 large cucumbers

2 bunches of broccoli

3 heads of Romaine lettuce (I will need to use these fast - they won't last very long)

3 yellow squash

8 red potatoes

So here are the details - I am so glad I did this. I've been wanting to try out a co-op for a long time. I will definatley do this again, until my garden grows.

I went to http://www.bountifulbaskets.org/. Once there, the site is a little confusing - they mostly serve Arizona right now and are just opening up in Utah. (A little background: the people who provide the produce also deliver to restaurants so they are selling restaurant grade produce)

Look down the left hand column until you find Co-op Offerings.

Click on the picture and it will take you to another page where you choose your pick-up location, and what you'd like to order.

Submit that information with your credit card number and print your confirmation page (also good to bring with you in case they ask you for it)

Here's a couple of additional things to note:

1- This co-op is only every other week. So the next delivery will be on May 2nd.

2 - On May 2nd, they will open another site in Roy, Utah (North Park - I can give you directions if you need - email me at callmestacy@yahoo.com or leave a comment). Currently they only have 3 sites, Brigham City, Clearfield and Roy (next time).

3 - You are not committed to anything, if you want to participate, you sign up each week.

4 - The first time you participate you are charged and additional $3.00 for the baskets they use to seperate the orders for everyone - these baskets are not to keep, they are for the organizers of the co-op to use each time.

5 - I also paid a $1.50 handling fee and I'm not sure if that is everytime or not.

6 - I paid $15.00 for the produce I picked up (with the addition of the basket charge and handling fee, $19.50 total)

7 - I had the option to also purchase a 40lb box of Washington Pink Lady apples, an Italian Food pack (which was more veggies - I saw mushrooms, but didn't see what else this package had), a 5 pack of Honey Wheat Sandwich bread, a 3 pack of Raisin Cinnamon Round loafs, and a 4 pack of European Rye Oval loafs.

8- I was also told not to be late. Even if you've paid, they will leave if you don't show up on time. Arriving early definatley had it's advantages of being one of the first to pick and being allowed to get a few extra's. It's purely volunteer and some had been there since 5:00 am setting up. My pickup was at 7:00 am.

Each week will bring new and different produce. You never know what you will get and how much - I guess that's why it's fun. I get to try new things or things I would not have picked up at the store.

I hope you found the details of my experience helpful. I had always wondered how these got put together and now I know. Hopefully I'll see you there next time!

Smith's is serving up some good deals this week

It feels like I haven't been grocery shopping in weeks. I guess I've picked up a few of the perishables and that's all. As I looked over the grocery lists this week, Smiths' seemed to have a lot of the things I was looking for. Here's a couple of pictures of what I picked up.





1 8 pk of Coke

1 loaf of Country Oven bread

5 bottles of Softsoap (these were $.64 each w/coupons from SS 3/29 - expires 4/18/09)

2 bottles of Kroger Alcohol

1 bottle of Kroger Hydrogen Peroxide

1 gallon of Minute Maid orange juice

1 box Kellogs Apple Jacks (each box of Kellogs cereal was $.68 w/coupons from RP 4/5 - expires 5/17/09)

1 box Kellogs Pops ($.68)

1 box Kellogs Fruit Loops (.$68)

4 bottles Suave shampoo/conditioner (3 bottles were $.30 each w/coupon from RP 3/1 and one bottle was $.88 - expires 5/24/09)

10 cups of Yoplait yogurt

6 Totino's pizzas

5 Grill Mates seasonings (FREE w/coupon RP 3/15 -expires 5/31/09)

1 head of broccoli

1 box Kellogs Raisin Bran Crunch ($.68)

1 box Kellogs Special K blueberry ($.68)

3 oranges

1 bunch of bananas

2 bags Don Julio corn chips

1 Pillsbury cresent rolls

1 bag of grapes

I paid $48.14 and saved $22.14 (that's 45%). I purchased 48 items, so that was about $1.00 per item. For not having gone shopping in a while - this was a pretty good trip to the store.

Want to share your great deals? Email me at callmestacy@yahoo.com and I'll post it!


*** Stay tuned, I signed up with a co-op and am getting my first delivery of fruits and vegetables on Saturday morning. I will post pictures and details when I get it. ***

Printing your blog

My friend Tonya sent me a great tip for printing your "Blogger" blog. I know this is a way of journaling for a lot of people. What a great way to keep those memories, pictures and precious moments.

Check out "In the Trenches of Mommyhood." Tonya found the information she was looking for on this blog. Tonya ended up printing her blog and was very happy with the results!

So for all of you that are interested, the deal gets even better. Check out "In the Trenches of Mommyhood" for all the sweet deals she's offering as well a chance to win a Target gift card.

Thanks Tonya - this is a great deal, especially for everyone wanting to preserve all their hard work they've put into their blog!

Walgreen's has 10 cent prints through 4/18/09

This is a great deal - especially if you have a bunch of pictures from Easter to print. Click on this link to take you to Walgreens.

Cute Townhome for sale....

I have some friends that are trying to sell their townhome. It's located in West Haven, UT (Weber County)- a nice quiet community. It has 3 bedrooms, 1.5 bath, central air, no yard to maintain and was built in 2006. This complex has a pool and clubhouse. They are willing to include kitchen appliances (fridge, oven, microwave & dishwasher) and even their washer and dryer if you're interested.

They are asking $133,900.

If you'd like more details, take a look at this link.

Free Precious Places DVD - Mattel

If any of you ordered the Planet Hero's DVD, Mattel has come up with a new series for girls called Precious Places. You can get these DVD's for free at this link. It takes about 12-14 weeks for delivery, but very fun for your kids to get in the mail.

I know every time we've gotten a new free DVD, my kids have to watch it about 3 times before they will let me turn it off. You can also preview the DVD online at the link above.

Babies R Us one day sale (Friday, April 10th)

Friday, April 10th

*92 ct or higher

*Gift card available after purchase at checkout

My peep, Tracie sent me this great deal - Thanks a bunch!

Easter Walgreens Coupons

My friend Tracie sent me a link for some great Easter coupons at Walgreens. The E.B. is coming soon.....take advantage of these great deals.

http://www.walgreens.com/dmi/instorespecials/default.jsp?ec=hn1009_getcoupons

Thanks Tracie for the great link!

A special offer for anyone living in the Layton, Syracuse area

I have a friend that lives in Syracuse, UT that is putting together an order for 40 lbs of chicken (4, 10lb bags - per box). He can get it for $1.39/lb. That's a fabulous price!!!!

If you're interested, here are a few details:

Orders need to be placed no later than April 13th (next Monday). You can call Doug at 801-773-5219 to order and get pickup information. The chicken will be delivered on April 20th about 7:30 pm. This means you would need to pick it up shortly thereafter (probably no later than about 8:00 pm). He will not have room to store any chicken that is not picked up. This offer is open to anyone that is interested (you don't need to live in just Layton/Syracuse area, you just need to make sure you can pick up the chicken before it spoils).

Below are some information from the woman he is placing the order with.

"I run a small local food storage Co-op in Idaho. I have brought in Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts several times for our local wards for canning and freezing. This time my sources went from $1.39 lb to $1.69 lb. So, I spent the last month calling poultry farms all over the USA. Everyone said the wholesale prices went up to $1.69 lb. I told them I could buy it retail for less than that. They said, that was because the stores are selling previously processed chicken bought months ago at the lower price. And all the freshly processed ones are now $1.69 lb. So, the prices will be hitting the stores soon.I finally found an Oregon farm that still had some frozen breasts for $1.39 lb. I need a min. order of 100 cases. I have 61 ordered so far. So, I need 39 more to go. If anyone is interested here is the info:
This is 10 oz or larger Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast for $1.39 lb.(These are not injected with water or broth before freezing like most chicken breasts. So they won't shrink to half size when you cook them. You get true weight.)They are packaged in 4 – 10 lb bags per case. (40 lbs per case.)That will be $55.60 a case, plus 6% Idaho Tax = $58.94 a caseOrder deadline: April 15th.Delivery is April 20th evening in Lehi, Ut and April 21st morning in Preston, Id. (Other drop off locations can be added of 10 cases or more)(To store: refreeze in smaller qualities: Thaw out, place individually on non-stick lined cookie sheets, freeze, and put into freezer bags. Or can with chicken broth.)
Current Local Retail pricing (As of April 3rd, 2009):

Maceys - $1.59 lb (broth injected)

Smith's - $1.69 lb

Albertson's – Buy one, get one free $4.99 lb ($2.50 lb)

Stokes – $3.49 lb

Theurer's - $1.69 lb"

This would make some great food storage or chicken for canning. You definately can't beat the price. Remember to contact Doug to order 801-773-5219.

Kents Early Bird Sale - Saturday April 4th, 6am to noon

There's a few things you need to know before going....

1- The store will be packed!
2 - It will be hard to find a parking spot
3 - Grocery carts will be hard to find - if you see one in the parking lot - snag it.
4 - Please bring your patience.....the lines will be long
5 - The lady at the customer service desk also advised getting there at 5:45 am.

With these things in mind, here are some great deals!

Golden Ripe Dole Bananas 3lb/$.99 per lb
WF 24 Pack Drinking Water $2.88
Quart Strawberries $.99
Family Pack Boneless Extra Lean Beef Stew Meat $2.49/lb
Meadow Gold Fudge or Orange Dream Bars 4/$5.00
8-9.5oz Cheetos, Crunchy Cheetos, or Fritos Corn Chips 3/$5.00
Family Pack Bone in Pork Shoulder Roast $.99/lb
White or Wheat Farm Bread 24oz 4/$5.00
C&B Maddox Turkey Steaks $7.99
WF 15 Roll Towels or 36 Roll Bath Tissue $6.77
Asst Tony's Pizza's 6/$10.00
Rogers One Dozen Large Eggs $.99
Boneless Beef Whole Rump Roast $1.89/lb
Assorted Armour Sizzle 'n' Serve Sausage $.79
Kent's Bakery One Dozen Asst Jumbo Muffins $3.99
Family Pack Boneless Beef Swiss Steaks $2.29/lb
10lb Bag Extra Extra Extra Diet Lean Ground Beef $1.99/lb
6oz Asst Meadow Gold Yogurt 3/$1.00
Kent's Deli Black Forest Ham $2.99/lb
Nabisco Asst Oreos 2/$5.00
One Dozen Fresh Glazed Donuts $2.49
WF 2lb Medium Cheddar Cheese $3.99
Kent's Deli Honey Roasted Turkey Breast $2.99/lb
Asst 24oz Don Julio Tortilla Chips $1.79
Armour 2.6oz Asst Lunch Makers $.79
Family Pack Bone in Pork Shoulder Steaks $1.29/lb
Farr's Asst 1 Gal Ice Cream $4.99
Asparagus $.99/lb
Cow 16oz Butter Quarters 2/$3.00
Kent's Deli Italian Roast Beef $3.99/lb
Boneless Beef Rump Roast $1.99/lb
Kent's Deli 5lb Bag Shredded Cheddar Cheese $10.99 each
20lb Box Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts or Tenders $35.80
Pepsi Asst 6 Pack 24oz Bottles 4/$10.00

(I went to this sale last year and while I was working my way through the store, they were marking things down even further than the published price).

What are you doing for April Fools Day?

So what are your plans for April Fools Day? I'm certainly not creative enough to come up with something on my own, so I read a few things on the internet to come up with the following:

I'm going to start by serving my family banana splits for breakfast (check out my previous post - I bought some supplies for breakfast).

I also want to get my kids involved. Because they are young I wanted them to have some fun. I am going to help them switch around my husbands clothes in his dresser drawers. My kids will think that's pretty funny.

And lastly, for dinner (I'm not sure what we'll be having yet), but I'm going to serve it in a non-traditional manner. They will not be allowed to eat off of regular plates and use silverware. We will be eating off of frisbees, pie tins, cookie sheets or whatever is handy and I will allow them to pick a utensil from the drawer that is not a fork, knife or spoon. It should be fun - I might need to provide bibs too. I think my kids will like this.

So what fun ideas do you have in store? I would love to hear your ideas.

Check out these sites for more fun ideas.
http://familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts/season/specialfeature/aprilfools-pranks-ms/

http://www.kidzworld.com/article/1939-april-fools-practical-jokes-and-pranks

http://www.guy-sports.com/humor/urban_myth/index_april_fool.htm

http://www.pinchingyourpennies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=116004&highlight=april+fools

http://www.pinchingyourpennies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33214&highlight=april+fools

http://www.pinchingyourpennies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60392&highlight=april+fools

http://www.pinchingyourpennies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34289&highlight=april+fools

http://www.pinchingyourpennies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33213&highlight=april+fools

Pretty good deals at Albertson's this week

Because I've been couponing for such a long time - you get to a point that you don't need to go to every sale. Right now my food storage is pretty good and what I'm working on is just filling the holes. Trust me, I love the thrill of a good sale, but I don't always need the items that are on sale. So once you get to this point, don't worry if you don't hit all the sales. Just go for the things you need.

These are the deals I got at Albertson's last night.


6 boxes of Post Honey Bunches of Oats (different flavors)

*I made this my first purchase. You can buy either 5 or 6 boxes and get a $5.00 catalina (register coupon) back. I chose to buy 6 boxes because the coupon associated with it was for the purchase of 2 boxes). I paid $6.70 for these 6 boxes and got a $5.00 catalina back, which I applied to the rest of my purchases)*

1 loaf of Grandma Sycamore bread

1 bag Chips Ahoy

2 bottles of Taco Bell Salsa

1 box of Ritz crackers

1 box of Chicken in a bisket crackers

2 cans of Campbell's vegetable soup

2 bags of Hershey's Easter candy

1 dozen eggs

2 plastic bowls (red/blue)

1 gallon of Albertson's OJ

1 bottle of Coke

1 container of Albertson's sour cream

1 bag of Santita's corn chips

3 bottles of Snuggle fabric softner (I had 3, $2.00 coupons - printables are online at this link)

5 boxes of Nabisco 100 calorie treats

2 half gallons of Breyer's ice cream (vanilla bean and waffle cone - my new favorite flavor!)

1 bottle of Smuckers magic shell

1 bunch of banana's

I paid a total of $51.96 for my groceries. I saved $72.03. I paid about $1.29 per item (total items 35).

If you haven't already heard or read somewhere, Albertson's is no longer taking competitor's coupons. I'm very sad because of this, but am pleased to see more double coupon offers as well as discounts on gas purchases when I shop there. I guess these other benefits are still pretty good.

Please remember if you'd like to share some of your shopping successes, I'd love to post them!

Questar - Energy Audit - Thermwise

After having more insulation installed in my attic (earlier blog), I decided to look into getting an Energy Audit done on my house by Questar. I'm glad I did. I kind of assumed that because my house was built in 2002, we were okay. After the auditor left, I was really impressed by the amount of things we could do to improve our home.

Below are some of the less expensive things we can do:

1- Fill in the cracks/holes in our furnace. If the fan or furnace is running you can feel air coming out of the seams or holes in the furnace, plug them with caulking or tape (stuff you can get from your local hardware store).

2 - Check the seals around your doors. If you can feel a breeze or see any light - you need to fix that.

3 - He showed us some pliable/bendable plug and light switch covers. These are actually designed to be added between the wall and the actual cover to provide insulation. He said they were inexpensive and could be picked up at most hardware stores.

He covered quite a bit and looked in our attic to view the insulation, checked our unfinished basement and gave some suggestions for that as well. He also went around and checked the shower heads and bathroom sinks to make sure they were slow flow. Before he left he gave us with some information on rebates, websites and where our own personal energy usage was. He also talked about appliances that use less energy and the rebates associated with those items.

Even though my house was built in 2002, there are definately some things I can do now to reduce the cost of my heating and cooling bill. I can't wait to get started. The best part of this audit was that he left us with some insulation for our pipes coming in and out of the water heater and he also left us a blanket for the water heater (he even gave us some directions on how to install it correctly). The items he left with us were free!

It cost $25 to have him come out (this will show up on my Questar bill), but if we do the recommendations he suggested, the $25 gets reimbursed. If you'd like to schedule an energy audit you can visit Thermwise or call 800-695-7375. The website will also give you more information in what is included in an energy audit. My appointment was scheduled for 2 hours.

In my opinion - every penny counts!

My double coupon purchase's @ Albertson's

I took advantage of the double coupons today. I checked with my store before purchasing anything to see if they would or would not allow me to use more than one set of double coupons in my stop today. They advised me that they would only allow me to use one set (coupons 1-4 or one sheet) and that if I wanted to use more, I would need to come back.

Anyway - here's what I got.

(Sorry the picture is fuzzy)

1 Stouffer's Lasagna $9.99

2 Hershey's Bliss chocolate easter eggs $1.00 each

1 pkg of Dentyne gum $1.59

(not pictured 3 Bug Juices - for the kids) $.89 each

I paid a total of $16.86 and saved $15.88 - almost a 50% savings.

Albertson's/PYP grocery offer - worth over $20 in savings

I ran across this, this morning. Check out this link on Pinching Your Pennies. Read through the directions and send your info to Albertson's! I can't wait for the discounts. Don't wait - it's only available to the first 5,000 PYP members. The offer is good for Utah and Idaho only and will close on March 31st, 2009.

Great deals at Smiths

I went shopping late on Saturday night. I thought for sure that all the great deals would be gone. To my pleasant surprise - I found almost everything I wanted.

2 boxes of Betty Crocker fruit snacks

2 Freschetta frozen pizza's

3 bags of Hershey's Easter candy

3 boxes of Nature Valley granola bars

7 boxes of Kellog's Little Bites (Honey Nut and 1 Chocolate)

6 Yoplait yogurt

1 Daisy sour cream

1 pkg of Kroger butter

1 pkg of Oscar Mayer bologna

1 bag Dole lettuce

2 bundles of asparagus (YUM - one of my favorites)

2 pkgs of Q-tips (unfortunatley, this was the wrong size on the ad - I should have read it better)

3 Colgate toothpastes

2 pkgs of Stayfree pads

2 Johnson & Johnson Buddie bars (love to get these free - I don't think I've ever paid for one)

3 boxes of Eggo Waffles

1 bag of Cheetos

2 bags of Doritos

2 loaves of Grandma Sycamore's bread

2 pkgs of Kroger Chipmate cookies

1 bag of Kroger english muffins

I paid $82.62 (I thought I had 30 items in order to save $15, but only had 26 items, so I saved $10 instead) and saved $46.23 (THAT'S A 45% SAVINGS!!!!)

The best part of this trip was because I went so late, the Smith's only had their self checkouts open. As I was waiting for help with my coupons at the end, I noticed dozens of catalina coupons that had not been taken. Several people (while I was scanning my items) just checked out and left the coupons hanging from the machine. I asked the attendant if it was okay to take them and he said yes. So now I have a bunch of catalina coupons I can use in the future. SWEET!

Shauntell and her trip to the grocery store with Channel 4 - video clip

Shauntell is another Grocery Smarts teacher and she was finally able to get the video clip of her shopping trip with Nicea on Channel 4. This is her blog with the story - take a look.

I'm a novice at canning anything....

Disclaimer: I have never canned by myself before - this was the first time I've ever done some thing like this. My mom used to bottle fruit all the time when I was a kid - so I was a little nervous for the first time, especially where this was meat and not fruit.

I got ambitious and decided that last Saturday, I was going to can chicken. I've been purchasing chicken over the past several weeks and my freezer was stuffed. I seriously could not fit one more thing in the freezer until I canned this chicken. So with my husbands help - we tackled this not so fun job.

We decided to just do the 20lb box I got from Macey's a couple of weeks ago. I also had 2 additional pounds in the fridge from a larger package I had used for dinner the night before. So I canned 22 lbs of chicken in total.

I used pints because they will hold approximately 1 lb of chicken which is what most recipes call for. It took a long time to trim the chicken. I'm pretty picky when it comes to what my chicken looks like and I didn't want to have to deal with trimming chicken after I had it bottled.

Once we got the chicken in the bottles we put it in the pressure cooker. We had a few hiccups along the way. We got the water boiling, but steam was coming out of the lid, so I touched a small black rubber stopper that was on top of the lid and it fell into the pot. We had to stop everything and fish it out. So then we got started again and again steam was escaping from the lid. As we unfastened the lid we realized the gasket/seal had torn - meaning that we needed a new gasket in order to proceed. So we called Kitchen Kneads (it was 3:45 pm on Saturday) praying that they were still open so we could run and get one. Luckily they were open until 5:00 pm so I rushed back to finish the job. As we took the lid off the second time the lids on the bottles began to seal. We had to unseal all the bottles and start over.

So the third time was the charm. We finally had a tight seal and we able to get the pressure to 15 lbs. We fit 16 bottles in the first batch and cooked it for an hour and 15 minutes. We did a second batch with an additional 7 bottles. If you decide to use quart bottles (will hold 2 lbs of chicken - each, you need to cook them for 90 minutes at 15 lbs of pressure).

Here's the finished product. Once they've cooked for 75 minutes you have to let the pressure cooker release the pressure on it's own. You can't speed the process, needless to say we were finally pulling the last batch out at about 10:30 pm.

Okay - I have to admit, this doesn't really look yummy to eat right out of the jar, but I am pretty excited to have this on hand. It will certainly come in handy in an emergency and make certain chicken recipes (enchilada's, taco's etc....) much more convenient to make. I did not add any juice to the chicken. I did add a dash of salt and a little poultry seasoning - but you don't even have to do that.

Now that I've done chicken - I'm going to try some hamburger and other meats.

Wow! What an honor and a surprise.

I was given an award today, by The Mom at Babes In Hairland. What a treat - I can't believe it. By the way, if you haven't checked out her blog - it is way cute. I have a daughter that seriously needs a mom who can do hair. I will definatley be checking out her site more often.

Thanks - Mom, you made me feel very special today :) And thanks for checking my blog out!

Okay, so here's what I have to do now. I'm supposed to list 7 things I love and then pass this on to 7 other bloggers out there.

1 - Tulips - oh I can't wait - they're almost here.

2 - My family - especially on days when we get to do something fun

3 - My Heavenly Father

4 - Chocolate Molten cake from Chili's

5 - The smell of spearmint

6 - Coupons and good sales

7 - My DVR

The 7 bloggers that I'm passing this onto are:

1 - Tracie over at Memories in Moments. She comes up with so many cute and creative ideas with her digital scrapbooking. She's also starting a new little business called "Scrap for Hire" where she will help design your blog. She is the magic fairy that always makes my blog look so cute and festive!

2 - I wish I could meet Mindi, who makes me LMAO when I read her blog. Word to your mother is one of the funniest blogs I've ever read. She is a kindred spirit (an 80's throwback) and I love it. Thank you for making me laugh over and over again!

3 - I get some of my best information from Making Life Sweet...One Deal At A Time. She always has great money saving ideas and tips. I usually check her blog daily to make sure I'm not missing a great sale or anything.

4 - For any of you who watch Studio 5 on Wednesday's, you will see Janet. She is so awesome. She's always showing the best deals at Macey's and then she does a food demo. I know she uses Grocery Smarts (just like I do). She has a great blog called Living on Less...means not living without. I always check her blog for the latest and greatest on sales as well.

5 - I love to read blogs and Everyday Food Storage is one of my favorites. She has really done a lot to show the basics of how easy and simple it is to use and rotate your food storage. What I really like is the video clips she posts. I'm a visual learner, so this really helps me (I'm a little challenged when it comes to using food storage and rotating it). She really makes it simple and easy to follow - plus the recipes she posts are really yummy. I've tried several.

6 - I really appreciate Shauntell at the Obsessive Shopper. She did a segment the other day with Nicea Degering on Channel 4. She showed Nicea how to shop and save money using coupons. She has a great blog where she shows a lot of valuable information. She also uses Grocery Smarts.

7 - And lastly - I enjoy reading Safely Gathered In. The person behind this blog has invested a lot of time and energy. This blog is jam packed with step by step information on how to start preparing for an emergency. There are great recipes, spiritual thoughts, new and inventive ideas, how to prepare 72 hour kits and the list goes on and on. You really ought to check out this blog for more information on how to get started.

This has been really fun! I nominated blogs that I have truly enjoyed and learned from. Thanks for all the work you put into your blog!

For all you that I've nominated it is now your turn to return the favor to your favorite bloggers out there. You can copy the award and paste it into your blog.

Great news clip on how to save $$

I saw this on the CBS Early show this morning. It's a great news clip on how to save $$, where to get coupons both for groceries and online buying and how to load coupons on to your grocery discount cards. It's short, but very informative and worth watching. Check out this link to view it.

Some more good freebies comin' your way.....

Febreze Sport spray

Decal of your favorite Chevy NASCAR driver

NuTone Hat

Dellalo Tote Bag (Eat Olives)

Flexitol Therapeutics (Laderma)

Bone Health Challenge Kit (Sally Fields)

Hylands Leg Cramps sample with Quinine

California Pizza Kitchen - Kids Birthday club signup (free meal)

Free Total Cranberry Crunch sample

Natural Persimmon Tea sample

Free Diet Dr. Pepper (20 oz or 2 ltr bottle - still good)

Cream of Wheat sample

Free Spot Remover from Steam-A-Way

The Hinckley (2 DVD's Journey to the Promised Land and Trek West - Living Scriptures)

Some more fun samples and freebies. I always like getting fun packages in the mail and they're even better when they come with coupons. I hope you like them too.

I could be the next Sego Lily Blogger - could you?

As you know - I try to share the best deals possible with anyone who will listen. My sister shared this great contest with me, so I'm going to enter - What have I got to lose? Besides - here I am now, sharing this opportunity with you.

I have personally only had a couple of massages in my whole life, but truly did enjoy every minute of them.


There are a couple of reasons that I don't get massages very often - so here goes:


1 - The massages I've recieved in the past have always been given to me as gifts (yeah - where did those friends and relatives go?????)


2 - I decided 2 years ago to quit my full time job and be a SAHM (stay at home mom) - finding time for myself has not been my biggest priority - even though I would like to find that time and my sanity again. (I could definatley fit a massage in sometime between picking up and dropping off at school, laundry, cleaning house, napping children, blogging, doing dishes and making three meals a day....I would make the time - trust me =8 )


3 - I guess now that I'm trying to find ways to cut back and I usually have a coupon for everything - I've just been too frugal to pamper myself like this (do they have these kind of coupons in the Sunday paper LOL!!!)


4 - Okay ladies (and gents - if there are any reading this) - lets be honest......it's a little weird to get undressed to have a massage. I'm only speaking from my point of view, but when you have a little weight issue (like I do), exposing any part of my body does not build my confidence. Don't get me wrong - the massages I've had have totally been worth it and I've never felt compromised, but lets face it.....the initial undressing part is a little akward - ya'all know what I mean.....


Based off of what my current blog represents - I think I would be the greatest blogger for Sego Lily - I guess we'll see.......




So.....if any of you are interested in:


1 spa treatment a month


24 of Sego Lily Day Spa's most luxurious treatments (valued at $3000)


Royalty treatment


Here's what you've got to do:


Blog about why you should be the the Sego Lily blogger of the year.


Enter by April 6th


Reply to their email


Make sure to check our their link (Sego Lily Day Spa) for all the details.


Wish me luck....I think anyone that would win this kind of spa treatment will be one lucky blogger.

My purchases at Albertson's this week

2 bottles of Dawn

4 canning lids (2 regular, 2 large - I'm going to try bottling chicken this week - wish me luck, no coupon)

2 boxes Fruit Loops

3 boxes of Rice Krispies

1 box Cheerios (Free)

1 bottle of Tide

4 bags of Russell Stovers chocolates (this worked out that I bought one bag and got the other 3 free)

1 pkg of croutons (no coupon)

1 quart of Darigold half and half

1 bottle of Baco's (no coupon)

2 pkgs of mini Butterfingers (in-store coupons $.88 each)

2 bags of Albertson's parmesan cheese

1 block of Albertson's swiss cheese

1 pkg of mushrooms

1 coke (my treat - no coupon)

1 pkg eggs (no coupon)

5 cans Pringles

2 pkgs of Bar J hot dogs (no coupon)

5 boxes of Band-Aids

8 boxes of Kellog's Fruit Snacks

6 Yoplait Yogurts

1 Gillette body wash

1, 2 ltr Diet Dr. Pepper (Free)

2 Minute Maid orange juices

2 Loreal Kids shampoo/conditioner

5 bags Quaker Quakes

1 box Progresso Panko bread crumbs (no coupon)

5 boxes of Crest toothpaste

1 pkg of shallots (no coupon)

1 bag Cadbury eggs (I wish they had these all year - no coupon)

I had $23.50 from a previous sale to use towards my shopping trip. In total I paid $108.92 for 77 items. This made each item approximately $1.41. I SAVED $131.17 - I even impressed myself, that's more than a 50% savings.

I also got some rainchecks for Frosted Flakes and more Gillette body wash.

When I teach classes I like to play a game at the end. Many of the items you see me buy, often come with me as giveaways for the game. Just remember - it's a free class (about an hour long), common sense organization of coupons, introduction to a free website that helps you use your coupons, games and a hostess gift. If this sounds like something you'd like to do, call me at 801-589-3946 (you host the class and I'll come to you).

One last thing - I bought the bread crumbs, shallots, half and half, swiss cheese, parmesan cheese and mushrooms for a soup that I wanted to make tonight. I saw it on Studio 5 - click on this link for the recipe for Chicken Artichoke soup. I'll let you know how it turned out.

UPDATE on Soup: The soup was really good in my opinion. If you watched the video clip, I probably wouldn't add too many bread crumbs at a time - they turn mushy before I could finish my soup. I would just keep adding bread crumbs as you need them. Also, I could not find the cremini mushrooms at the Albertson's I went to. I just used regular white mushrooms - not sure if that would have changed the taste or not. I would give this soup 4 out of 5 stars.