TotallyTarget.com

It has occurred to me that not everyone is aware of the site TotallyTarget.com, because not long ago I had no idea it existed. I love checking it for good deals, clearance items, and coupon help.

Don’t have a Target in your area? I still use it for coupon ideas, and I have actually found better deals at Cashwise, EconoFoods, or Walmart with the same coupons/product saving ideas.

Just today I got tons of free and nearly free items, including all the Rolaids our family could possibly use in a long time, lotion, shampoo, and deodorant. I was bummed that the clearance Jello that would have cost about 11 cents were gone when we got there, but we still got some great deals.

Do you have a site you absolutely love that helps you save money and find good deals? Please share it with us.

 

photo credit: dno1967

Wordless Wednesday: South Dakota

 

Lions (roaring in the Badlands),and Tigers (hiding in the Rushmore caves) and Bears (in Bear Country). Oh my!

Couponing 101: Local is Key

I promised to blog about a recent couponing class I took in my own town, Hutchinson, MN. I have been very interested in learning more about how those “crazy” women do it that I see on the news. You know the stories; $200 of groceries for $1.57 or some amazingly small amount.

I have also been watching other moms who blog about coupons and savings, but it all seemed overwhelming and quite frankly, incoherent for me.

I am happy to say that the couponing class was amazing, and I learned a ton. This is MY version of what I learned and what I feel is key to saving massive amounts on groceries.

1. It’s not about shopping sales or using coupons. It’s about finding as many “match-ups” as possible. This means that you look for sales or price cuts of items, find store coupons, and manufacturing coupons for the same product. Then buy as many products as possible.

• For Example, this week Cashwise had cereal on sale 4 boxes for $10. They then offered an “in store” coupon for 4 boxes for $6. Then I found manufacturers coupons for each of the four boxes I had to buy to meet the requirements, and I paid less than $3 for 4 boxes.

2. It is really important to get to know your local options rather than focus on what you don’t have in town. In my town, my options are Cashwise, Econo Foods, Target, Walmart, and Shopko. I have found very good deals at each one. I use the weekly ad/sale, as well as websites that announce sales. I then work to find manufacturer coupons for those deals, and again stock up on as many as I can.

• For Example, this week Target had a temporary price cut on band-aids. They also offered Target Coupons, and I found manufacturer coupons, so that when I left the store with $14 worth of stuff, I paid $1.98. If you factor in that I used a gift card that I earned on a previous shopping match-up, I paid nothing.

3. Buy more than one Sunday newspaper on Saturday. The inserts are in there, the newspaper is cheaper when it’s an early edition, and the more coupons you have the better the deals later.

4. Find some other people willing to do this with you and share their “finds”. We started a local couponing group and now I get an email or Facebook post about a local find.

• For Example, a friend told me about a recently clearance cart of salad dressing at Cashwise and pointed out that we all have multiple $1 coupons that make it free, after purchase.

5. Use Facebook and follow blogs for immediate notice of offers. This week I was online when two great offers came through. Many have a time limit or a print limit, so you have to use the tools available to you to get in on the deals.

6. Organizing is key. I have chosen to organize my coupons by subject. I have been able to do very fast match-ups this way, but most couponing sites like TotallyTarget.com will reference publish dates (i.e. Sunday paper they came out in)

Do you have some additional tips you can share? Maybe something doesn’t make sense. Please share your thoughts. I’ll help if I can. I am new at this and have plenty to learn.

photo credit: MissMessie

Saving Money with Coupons

I consider myself a fairly frugal person. I like to save money and be as practical as possible. If there’s a coupon available, I’ll use it. However, I have never gone out of my way to locate coupons for specific products, nor have I strategized about using multiple coupons (web, in-store, and manufacturing) for the same product. I guess I have just never taken the time to learn how to do this; thinking it was probably too complicated for me.

Then two things happened. First, I was invited to attend a “couponing class” where I learn more about using coupons and saving money. I am really looking forward to this class next week, as I have a friend who already took the class and loved it. Not only is she saving money, but she’s practically making money. Really?

The other thing that happened is that I connected with a couponing site online called CouponChief.com They were featured a while back by Mashable.com , a social marketing site I trust very much. I figured they would make a great “first” online couponing site that I could go through and discover what I’ve been missing.

I’ll admit that when I have gone to any coupon-type site, CouponChief.com included, I have been a bit overwhelmed. I liked the fact that they included a tab in the upper-right corner titled “How It Works”.

The instructional video guided me through the process, and I realized that the site is heavily focused on coupon codes. I already knew about coupon codes and was using them; however, I didn’t know there was an organized place to find them. My method of madness usually included searching Google, and then wading through results.

CouponChief.com is devoted to helping people save money with codes prior to checking out online. I love the ease at which they make this available, but from what I can tell, they don’t have coupons for offline transactions or groceries. The vast number of online stores and codes they index is amazing though, and I was able to search and find dozens of opportunities I’m sure I’ve missed on recent purchases.

I have added this site to my Delicious account and will return each and every time before I make an online purchase to see if I can save money before I check out.

I will blog again after my couponing class next week to let you know how that goes as well.

I was asked by CouponChief.com to review their site, and compensated for my time

photo credit: Matt McGee

Bulk Cooking and OAMC

I have posted before about freezer cooking and OAMC (Once a Month Cooking) which I continue to do. I always field questions about how I do things or for more ideas. Today I was inspired to post a couple pictures of the dish I was making for our upcoming freezer trade.

I found a recipe for Savory Pork Chops, which is pork chops dredged in a flour and dried mustard mixture, slightly browned, and then marinaded in a sauce (mustard, orange marmalade, soy sauce, onion). Since we have four families in our club, I wanted to average about eight smaller portions per family. Pricing out pre-cut pork chops was spendy. I decided to buy a very large pork loin on sale for $12.00 and cut my own. I ended up with eight, good sized-fairly thick chops per family. This means there maybe leftovers and more than one meal out of this one dish. When you break that down, it’s $3.00 for a family meal. Most of the ingredients for the sauce I had, but I bought a jar of orange marmalade and then used part of it for a different recipe (Orange Ginger Chicken).

Not only is the meal inexpensive and tasty, all that is left to be done is dump it from a bag into the oven or crockpot!

Help for Allergies When Medicine Isn’t Enough

I have a daughter who suffers from asthma and allergies. I believe her correct diagnosis is allergy induced asthma. Anyway, she is on the medication Singular, and it works really well for her. The problem is that during certain times of the year, it simply isn’t enough.

In the spring, her nose starts to cause her problems which leads to coughing (drainage down the throat) especially while laying down. If she misses a dose of Singular, she is quite sick within a day. She’ll often run a fever (odd I know, but it’s a major indicator), develop a stomach ache or headache (probably from all the coughing, etc), and her breathing gets labored.

Even if we don’t miss a dose of Singular, all of the above can happen. Since I don’t want to add more medicine to the mix, we’ve set out to find more solutions that will help. After talking to friends, posting on Facebook and Twitter, and chatting with my mom who is a nurse, I think we’ve developed a plan that is having a tremendous impact on helping my daughter with her allergies. I thought I would share what we are doing, in case it can help any of you.

1. Be particularily careful about not missing a dose of Singular. I know this is a no-brainer, but we have to do what it takes to make sure she gets her daily dose, even if we drive a pill to school, etc.
2. A teaspoon a day of locally collected honey. We are just starting this, but I’ve had lots of people suggest this and claim that it helps. The idea is that the honey is made from the same local pollen that causes allergies to flare up. The honey builds a resistance, of sorts.
3. Saline spray to flush her nose. Some people use a neti-pot, but I’ve found this simple, cheap, and most of all, safe for my daughter. It is very effective, but I won’t claim to understand why. Flushes allergens out? Reduces mucus?
4. Washing her hair daily. Apparently pollen settles in your hair, which you don’t take off at night like clothes. If you lay down on your pillow, then you breath in everything that makes you ill, all night long. It makes sense, doesn’t it?
5. Changing the pillowcase more frequently, which is related to reducing the pollen that makes its way to your bed and eventually your face.
6. Don’t wait to use the nebulizer until she’s sick. We were waiting too long to use the nebulizer if she was having problems breathing. We now use it when we see things coming, and head it off. It seems to work better and faster, as well as require far fewer treatments.

Is there something else that has worked for you? Please share your ideas. I would love to hear them, and I know others do too!

photo credit: gmajsicmtc

Easy and Safe Bookshelves for Kids

We love books, and so do our kids. However, I was tired of trying to keep them on regular bookshelves. The kids had trouble replacing them, so they would pile them up. I also don’t like the idea of kids climbing or pulling on bookcases. I wanted an easy, inexpensive solution, and we found one.

We created easy bookshelves that face the books toward the kids. Now they can easily see the fronts of the books, as well as return them to the shelves by themselves.

We went to Menards, bought plastic rain gutters, end caps, and brackets. We cut them in even lengths, and attached them to the wall!

Picky Eater Therapy

Do you have picky eaters? Maybe you simply have kids who aren’t picky, but are afraid of trying new things. I have an interesting activity you can try that is really fun, teaches your kids all kinds of skills, and encourages them to willingly try new foods. It’s best explained in what I did.

I told my kids we were going to have a special supper made up entirely of foods they selected. I told them I would take them to the grocery store and they could make all the decisions, but nothing could be familiar to them. Everything they selected had to be something they didn’t recognize.

When we arrived at the store, we headed to the produce department. They took their time, read names of items and asked me about them. They finally settled on some tiny Russian potatoes that looked long and skinny. They also picked brussel sprouts and mangos (none of which I had bothered to introduce yet, in fear of what would happen). Next they went to the meat department and chose spicy beef and pepper skewers. Last, they chose a funny shaped bread from the bakery.

When we got home, they helped clean and cook all the items. They were very excited to help me figure out how we were going to cut, cook, and serve some of the things. They were so proud of the meal and tried everything. Nobody wanted to be left out of getting her chance of voicing an opinion.

The result? It was a hit. The kids discovered they love brussel sprouts. They ask for them all the time, and we planted a large garden of them this year. The kids continually ask when we can do it again.

Low Cost Halloween Party for Kids

My 10 year old daughter decided she wanted to host a HalloTween party this year. We decided the garage would be the best place, since it’s big and we wouldn’t have to worry about spills, make-up smears, etc. To make it more fun, we decided to decorate the garage to make it creepy (not gross). We dug through the Halloween tote and took out all the saved decorations, lights, and masks that we could use. Then we got creative.

First, we took some black garbage bags and cut them into strips width-wise to create long black streamers which we taped up. We also put blankets up on a clothes wire to separate the “excess garage stuff” in the third stall.

We also used fake spider webbing all over the garage walls. It sticks great to rough plywood, and there’s plenty of nails and other stuff to wrap it around. I also replaced the ceiling light bulbs with red colored bulbs for a creepier look ($4 spent thus far).

We also used white sidewalk chalk to draw spiral patterns all over the garage floor for a really funky-fun look on the dance floor. We borrowed a disco ball from friends so that there will be colored lights twirling by the dance floor. We strung streamers and decorations across the ceiling, right above the dance floor for a festive look.

Next, we brought in all the patio furniture and created a seating area. I found an old white plastic patio table that the kids can all sign and write on during the night.

I moved our electric fireplace out for heat, as it is expected to be very chilly this week. Plus, the flames add extra “creepiness” and the top of the fireplace is a great place to set up the music and speakers. Our friends have another fireplace, which we are going to borrow for a second source of heat and place on the other side of the garage.

I brought in our wood sculpted bear, gave him a cape and a mask, and we have an instant monster by the fire place.

You can’t escape having a large garbage can for plates and candy wrappers, but who wants a plain one? I found an old pair of green tights, stuffed them with plastic bags, and then tied them to the garbage can so it looks like a pair of legs are sticking out. I know the kids are going to get a kick out of this one.

I contemplated putting ruby red slippers on and crushing the legs under our giant bird house with a “wicked witch of the west” sign. I opted for practical, since we needed the garbage can in there and I was running out of room.

Then we raided the adult winter snowsuits, stuffed them with stuffed animals, duct taped some gloves on and we had some more creepy monsters for the garage. Oh, need something to fill out the masks? Use your soccer and volleyballs. They work great!

 

Next I built a mummy. My daughter and I visited one of those fun, but very expensive Halloween stores for ideas. We loved the mummy, so I decided to make one. I used two giant stuffed dolls my girls had and wrapped them in a white table cloth. I used a rubber band to define the neck/head. Then I wrapped it in toilet paper and used some medical gauze to wrap the head. I used some white spider webbing and added a black spider to the body. I bought a  styrofoam headstone at the dollar store ($1 dollar spent). Then we laid it by the entrance to the garage, which we decorated in a wall of glittery streamers.

Next, we moved the patio table inside, gave it a new table cloth that my friend picked up at a second hand store and donated to the cause! We replaced batteries in the “monster hand” bowl and strobe light which will add extra fun to the dark space. The batteries are definately an expense!

I moved my card table and chairs out, along with a light for a game table area. We put a black lightbulb in the lamp so the cards will glow. (another $4 spent)

We are going to serve decorated cupcakes we made and froze ahead of time, pizza, nachos/dip, and of course, candy. I am going to make a green sherbet and ginger ale punch in my large punch bowl, which we will call chilled slime.

I know these pictures don’t do the space justice. It is much scarier without the light that I needed to take these pictures. So without further adu, here’s the rest of the pictures.

  

 

Recipe: Ginger Chicken

I have grown to love the taste of fresh ginger.

Whether I’m eating Chinese food or Sushi topped with pickled ginger, I LOVE ginger.

My kids love ginger too. Therefore, I’ve created this tasty recipe for Ginger Chicken, but really you could use it on pork, shrimp, or beef.

 

 

Ginger Chicken Recipe:

1 pack of preferred chicken pieces

1 small jar of orange marmalade

2 TBLS of honey mustard (or use 1 TBLS honey and 1 TBLS yellow mustard)

1 tsp red pepper flakes

2 TBLS soy sauce

1/8 to 1/4 cup of fresh grated ginger root

Mix ingredients together, and divide in half. Use half to coat/marinade your meat for a few hours in the refrigerator. Save the rest to brush on while cooking and dip while eating. You can grill this slowly for a really great taste. Too high of heat might burn the sugar in the marmalade.I like to add fresh peapods and sweet peppers and serve over white rice. Enjoy!

Next Page »