So as the resident coupon queen here in town, everyone knows to come to me for coupon advice. LOL
One of the questions I'm asked most often is, "Where do you get all those coupons?" I'm gonna break it down for ya!
Of course the easiest place to get coupons is your Sunday paper. There are several different scenarios to getting those. Firstly, if you would rather not pay for a paper, you can just get the Sunday edition. And if you don't want to do that, sometimes you can get the paper on Monday at a discount, if the store happens to have some leftover. If you would rather not do that, you can just ask people to save theirs for you if they don't use them.
You can also 'like' some facebook pages for your favorite product. Alot of times coupons are released on their pages and you can print them right from there. This is a good way to get coupons for items you don't ordinarily see elsewhere, such as coffeemate.
If you want to print coupons, these are my favorite sites to check.
Coupons.com
Smartsource.com
redplum.com
boxtopsforeducation.com
Target.com
The thing about Target.com is, you can print Target store coupons, but they also have Manufacturer coupons on there too. And at Target, you can stack a Store coupon with a Manufacturer coupon for maximum savings.
If you are signed up for Swagbucks, you can also print via coupons.com through Swagbucks, and you get 1 swagbuck for each coupon you print and redeem. Win/Win. LOL
And because I'm frugal, LOL I only print my coupons in black ink. I save my color ink since its more expensive, and its gets wasted more often with coupon printing. And save a tree! Print your coupons on the blank backsides of papers you don't need! The stores don't care, as long as it has a bar code and scans, you are good to go.
After you spend all that time clipping and printing your coupons, you will want to organize them. Read this post here about some organization methods and the best way to maximize your coupon savings.
My advice, start out small. Coupon clipping can get overwhelming if you are new at it. The next time you shop, pick out a few items that you know you will buy and make sure you have a coupon for it. Once you get into this more and more, you'll see your grocery bill go down and that will be more incentive to keep it up as often as you can. Coupon clipping becomes a lifestyle, not a habit.
ETA: As pointed out to me by one of my friends, I forgot one of the best coupon sites, the ones you don't have to clip. Cellfire.com. Simple; all you do is put in your store card number, and the coupons load right onto your card. They come off after you buy the item and scan your store card. What could be easier???
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Monday, January 3, 2011
Broccoli Bacon Quiche
As promised, here is a recipe for the Quiche I made on Christmas Morning. It was delicious! And I did get compliments from my guests. You CAN make this up ahead as I did, and then reheat it, it came out fine.
Happy New Year!
Hope everyone had a great New Year's eve and Day. I have lots of hopes for this new year, and my biggest resolution is to get out of debt! Pay off as much as we can and live more comfortably this year. My second of course, is to lose another 10-20 lbs. We'll see!
Every year we say we are gonna do some work on our house, we never get to it. Well, this year I'm going to do it! LOL We have some bedroom furniture down in our basement I bought on Craig's List last summer that we never did anything with. First we need to paint our bedroom before we can bring it up. Here is the dilemma, what color should we paint it??? The furniture is dark, like a cherry wood, so we need a light color on the walls. Not pink or white. The walls are currently light blue. My husband wants yellow, ick! I like yellow, but not for this room.
What ideas do you have for me??
Every year we say we are gonna do some work on our house, we never get to it. Well, this year I'm going to do it! LOL We have some bedroom furniture down in our basement I bought on Craig's List last summer that we never did anything with. First we need to paint our bedroom before we can bring it up. Here is the dilemma, what color should we paint it??? The furniture is dark, like a cherry wood, so we need a light color on the walls. Not pink or white. The walls are currently light blue. My husband wants yellow, ick! I like yellow, but not for this room.
What ideas do you have for me??
Monday, December 27, 2010
Sending the Holiday Season of 2010 into the history books
I'm hoping everyone had a fantastic Christmas! I know I did! I had such a lovely holiday, and I'm thankful every day.
I got the job I applied for! I am the new chef for an assisted living facility. I will only be working weekends, which is great so I don't have to worry about a babysitter. It only pays $10 an hour, but its $10 an hour more than I had before! I have big plans for the budget of 2011 and I'm looking forward to saving money and getting life back to 'normal' around here. It will be nice not to stress about money.
My kids had a great Christmas! We had to cut way back this year due to money restraints. I thought the kids would notice and say something, and they surprised me. They were thrilled with the things they did get. We opted for quality over quantity this year. My mother in law helped me get them a Wii and they were so excited, they havn't stopped playing with it. I had earned about $80 with Amazon this year through Swagbucks, and was able to get a lot of shopping done that way too. I had saved a little bit of money from my husband's paycheck, and so I was able to get what I needed.
Our first snow storm of the season ended up being a blizzard, so we are snowed in currently. We need to do some shoveling, but otherwise, its been a great weekend. I've been stuffed for 2 days, and eating a ton of leftovers from my Christmas breakfast feast. I made a delicious broccolli Bacon Quiche that I'll be sharing the recipe for, as well as a French Toast casserole that everyone loved as well. I made TOO much food and have been eating it for days! LOL I was so full on Christmas, I didn't eat for the rest of the day.
And so, I'm sending 2010 into the history books, and looking back fondly this year as the year I cut back. I was happy to see that my kids didn't need all that extra junk and they were happy. I'm thankful I have them to hold, and cuddle and they haven't stopped sneaking me hugs and kisses since Christmas day. I have great kids and I'm thankful to God.
Have a great day!
I got the job I applied for! I am the new chef for an assisted living facility. I will only be working weekends, which is great so I don't have to worry about a babysitter. It only pays $10 an hour, but its $10 an hour more than I had before! I have big plans for the budget of 2011 and I'm looking forward to saving money and getting life back to 'normal' around here. It will be nice not to stress about money.
My kids had a great Christmas! We had to cut way back this year due to money restraints. I thought the kids would notice and say something, and they surprised me. They were thrilled with the things they did get. We opted for quality over quantity this year. My mother in law helped me get them a Wii and they were so excited, they havn't stopped playing with it. I had earned about $80 with Amazon this year through Swagbucks, and was able to get a lot of shopping done that way too. I had saved a little bit of money from my husband's paycheck, and so I was able to get what I needed.
Our first snow storm of the season ended up being a blizzard, so we are snowed in currently. We need to do some shoveling, but otherwise, its been a great weekend. I've been stuffed for 2 days, and eating a ton of leftovers from my Christmas breakfast feast. I made a delicious broccolli Bacon Quiche that I'll be sharing the recipe for, as well as a French Toast casserole that everyone loved as well. I made TOO much food and have been eating it for days! LOL I was so full on Christmas, I didn't eat for the rest of the day.
And so, I'm sending 2010 into the history books, and looking back fondly this year as the year I cut back. I was happy to see that my kids didn't need all that extra junk and they were happy. I'm thankful I have them to hold, and cuddle and they haven't stopped sneaking me hugs and kisses since Christmas day. I have great kids and I'm thankful to God.
Have a great day!
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Merry Christmas Eve EVE!
Is everyone ready? Christmas is only 2 days away! I'm SO NOT ready! I have so much to do, plus I'm still waiting for some boxes from Amazon and Oriental Trading company to arrive. I wish I didn't cut it so close, but I didn't have much of a choice.
I think above all, things are going to go better than I thought this Christmas. I did have some money to spend on my own, I had swagbucks to help me out, but I also got help from my MIL and my Mom. My kids are getting what they want, and we did it almost totally credit free. I got the kids a Wii, they have wanted it forever, and my MIL bought it for me at Target and put it on her Target charge. SO I do have to pay that back. But everything else I got was either from Amazon with AGCs or with cash I had saved up.
Now I just have to get my house cleaned, get organized, finish wrapping, bake my ham, make my dishes for Saturday morning, and get ready for tomorrow night. ACK! So much to do, so little time left to do it! LOL Guess I getter get going!
Have a great day!
Merry Christmas from the Stuyniskis!
I think above all, things are going to go better than I thought this Christmas. I did have some money to spend on my own, I had swagbucks to help me out, but I also got help from my MIL and my Mom. My kids are getting what they want, and we did it almost totally credit free. I got the kids a Wii, they have wanted it forever, and my MIL bought it for me at Target and put it on her Target charge. SO I do have to pay that back. But everything else I got was either from Amazon with AGCs or with cash I had saved up.
Now I just have to get my house cleaned, get organized, finish wrapping, bake my ham, make my dishes for Saturday morning, and get ready for tomorrow night. ACK! So much to do, so little time left to do it! LOL Guess I getter get going!
Have a great day!
Merry Christmas from the Stuyniskis!
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
I got a job interview
And so an era ends. The one where I thought I was done with working and I would be staying home and raising my children and taking care of my house. Its a tad dissapointing, but its reality.
The economy stinks. Oil and gas prices are up. So are Grocery prices. So when you get to a point when no amount of coupon clipping, re purposing, and reducing isn't helping, its time to do something.
I'm going to interview today for a chef's position at an assisted living facility. The position is only part time, and its only weekends. But its something. And I don't have to do it forever, I only have to do it for the next 6 months or so, or unless I find something better. The guy on the phone assure me there is always room for advancement, so its possible I might move forward and get a full time position, IF I want to.
Have a great day everyone!
The economy stinks. Oil and gas prices are up. So are Grocery prices. So when you get to a point when no amount of coupon clipping, re purposing, and reducing isn't helping, its time to do something.
I'm going to interview today for a chef's position at an assisted living facility. The position is only part time, and its only weekends. But its something. And I don't have to do it forever, I only have to do it for the next 6 months or so, or unless I find something better. The guy on the phone assure me there is always room for advancement, so its possible I might move forward and get a full time position, IF I want to.
Have a great day everyone!
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Christmas Menu
We used to have a huge family dinner back in the day, but as things evolved, it turned into a very informal breakfast/brunch type deal. And much cheaper than serving a formal dinner with all the fixin's.
This started when I was still working. I was supposed to cover the 11-7:30 shift, but I worked it out with my coworker so we could split the day. She would work 11-3, and I came in to cover the rest of it. This way she would leave to have dinner with her family, and I was able to enjoy most of the day with mine. This way, I didn't have to worry about a big meal, and all the clean up that I know no one else will do.
SO for our breakfast, we'll have a french toast casserole, a broccoli bacon quiche, roasted potatoes, fruit, muffins, cinnamon rolls, coffee and orange juice. Later on in the day I put out some cheese and crackers to munch on, and my husband like shrimp cocktail. Last year I put out a meat platter I picked up cheap, and some rolls for sandwiches, but no one even touched it. Not gonna do that this year. If I do, I'll just make my own.
I'd love to hear what others do for this day. How do you celebrate with your family while keeping it on the cheap?
This started when I was still working. I was supposed to cover the 11-7:30 shift, but I worked it out with my coworker so we could split the day. She would work 11-3, and I came in to cover the rest of it. This way she would leave to have dinner with her family, and I was able to enjoy most of the day with mine. This way, I didn't have to worry about a big meal, and all the clean up that I know no one else will do.
SO for our breakfast, we'll have a french toast casserole, a broccoli bacon quiche, roasted potatoes, fruit, muffins, cinnamon rolls, coffee and orange juice. Later on in the day I put out some cheese and crackers to munch on, and my husband like shrimp cocktail. Last year I put out a meat platter I picked up cheap, and some rolls for sandwiches, but no one even touched it. Not gonna do that this year. If I do, I'll just make my own.
I'd love to hear what others do for this day. How do you celebrate with your family while keeping it on the cheap?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)