Free Uncle Ben's Ready Rice



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Click here to receive a free pouch of Uncle Ben's Ready Rice. You will have to give them your mailing address and wait for it by snail mail but it only takes about 30 seconds to complete the "form"! (A third of the time it takes to cook the rice!)

This is for you Allison!

Transfer your Prescription and Get a Gift Card



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 I'll briefly explain the opportunity and let you ask your local retailers about their specific programs. Many drug stores encourage you to transfer your prescription to their shop in return for a gift card to their store. I am looking at a Kroger weekly sales circular right now that reads "Transfer a prescription, get $25 in Free Groceries." All of the drugstores I frequent have offered this type of opportunity at one time or another, so check your stores for details. This summer I had to get four prescriptions filled to go overseas and when it was all said and done, I made a profit!  Even if your store isn't offering the deal this week, it doesn't mean they won't again soon.

Quizno's Sub and Cookie for $2.99



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Print this printable coupon and receive a small Quizno's sub for $2.99 Join their Q-Club and upgrade your coupon immediately to include a free cookie!

What other cultures can teach Americans



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This summer I spent a week in Nicaragua with a team of people. We got around the city by piling into two very old vans. One day, a Nicaraguan pastor asked if he could have a ride into town from a local village we were visiting and our leader graciously said yes. What our leader didn't know is that he was agreeing to take the man 30 minutes out of the way. Our team was squished in that van like a bunch of sardines and were pretty miserable. This pastor was not trying to be selfish. It was clearly their culture. He needed a car, we had one. Thirty minutes to an American was a huge inconvenience but not to this man. Thirty minutes seems like nothing in Nicaragua.

It got me thinking about how different cultures operate and how the idea of sharing is not a way of life for many Americans. Sharing our resources is genius really and we should do it more. Here are some ideas of things that you and a neighbor might share. Feel free to post more ideas:

•  A Vegetable Garden.  My dad has shared a garden with a neighbor for years.  The man had a large piece of land but was getting a little old to tend to a garden. My dad, who lives on a shady hill, could do the work but needed his property.  Every year there is enough harvest for both families and many more.
• A magazine subscription
• A newspaper
• A ride to work
• A meal.  Even if once a week your neighbor cooked enough for their family and your family and then you returned the favor...the convenience and cost savings would add up. You don't have to eat together.
• Babysitting
• Lawnmower
• Contracted trash pick up (if your city/county doesn't pick up)
• A load of mulch
• Lawn aerator
• Firewood delivery
• Power washer
• Snow blower
• Leaf blower

What else?

Sub at Jersey Mike's on March 28th: Expires March 28, 2011



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On March 28th, 2011 Jersey Mike's is having their nationwide event, "Make A Difference Day". By contributing at least a dollar to the local charity designated by that store, you will receive a special offer from Jersey Mike's. Here is a list of participating Jersey Mike's and what they are offering. All offer a free sub by "a buy one get one free" option and others are offering a free sub with no purchase necessary. Check the link because the time day the subs are offered varied amoong stores.

Never Throw Out Food Again and Save $1200 Annually: Part 2

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I promised you  a few more tips to help you avoid wastefulness in your kitchen. Remember that, according to Timothy Jones*, food expert, the average american family fhrows away at least $1200 in food each year.*cite: CBSnew.com

Plan Your Meals: Taking inventory of what you have before you head off to the store and plan meals around these items will eliminate most waste.  I love this site for meal planning: http://www.readyseteat.com . If you tell the site the grocery store where you shop, it will actually tell you if any of the ingredients in their recipes are on sale!

Strange meal combinations: Nobody said that you can’t eat a bowl of cereal (because the milk will expires soon) with  a garden salad (to avoid tossing the lettuce). The result is the same…getting full! Kids will love  "Silly Supper".

Summer Herbs: Every summer make sure you have herbs growing in some pots out back. You may have a few ingredients you need to eat quickly and fresh herbs will often round out the meal.

Unpacking the Grocery Bags: Separate chicken, ground beef, etc as soon as you get home from the store into portion sizes that you typically use. Freeze portion sizes and write the expiration dates on them with a sharpie.

Challenge Yourself: Eat what you have for as long as you can. How many days can  you to without going to the store? Tell us how the challenge work by commenting to this post. As one of my clients said, “I thought it was good enough to eat when I bought it!”

Free Bruegger's Bagel and Cream Cheese Sandwich: Expires 3/24/11



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Sorry Richmonders, this is a no go for us, but I wanted to offer this to everyone else since I had an exclusive Richmond deal yesterday. Use this printable coupon and receive a free bagel and cream cheese sandwich! No purchase necessary!

Linen Closet Redo

I ran across this quote as a checked out a beautiful website, Simplicity.  The site quotes a statistic from the National Association of Professional Organizers and says that 15 to 20% of the average American's household budget is spent on buying duplicates of items that were misplaced as a result of disorganization.

Where is that space in your house? Everyone has one.  Start there.  Here is a linen closet that needed a little product organization. I hope it inspires you. Top pic is the "before". Scroll down for the "after"!





Before



After



 

Here is a close up:











A few stackable bins, a closet light and labels make this easier for family and guests to access. Labels are simple. "Teeth" houses toothpaste, floss, toothbrushes, mouthwash. "Hair" houses shampoo and conditioner. Don't be tempted to overcomplicated your organizational systems. 

$1.00 Margherita Pizza on Mondays at Stuzzi's (in Richmond VA)



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Stuzzi is located in the Museum District, Richmond Virginia and offers $1.00 Margherita Pizzas on Mondays to their customers who don't mind sitting at the bar to eat. Offer is for dinner only (5pm to close).

Never Throw Out Food Again and Save $1200 Annually: Part 1



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A friend asked me to speak to this. I am not an expert in the kitchen, but I rarely throw out food. The longer I’ve thought about it, the more I realize that food is just another thing that needs to stay organized. According to Timothy Jones*, food expert, the average american family throws away at least $1200 in food each year. *cite: CBSnew.com

There are some people who have really done some work on this topic, so I will refer you to  http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/ first and then tell you what I find to be helpful in my own refrigerator.

(Note: When I use the word refrigerator that does not include your freezer.)

Sort:  Remember the show Cribs on MTV andhow the refrigerators were meticulously organized?  Keeping a tidy refrigerator  helps you see what you have. Organize items like grocery stores do:

1. Sort like items together
2. Put items that expire soon in the front and older expiration dates in the back.  

Minimize:  Don’t keep a lot in the refrigerator. My friends have looked in my refrigerator several times and thought I had little to nothing. I look at it and know that  same food will last a week!

Use What You Have: There are lots of ingredient finder sites that let you type in items you have in your home and leads you to recipes with these ingredients. http://www.supercook.com is one of these.

Blend it:  Soft/dark bananas and the like are sometimes better in smoothies. Look online for fruit and even vegetable, yes vegetable smoothies.

More ideas to come in the next few days on this topic...

Free 8.5X 11 Photo Album at Picaboo: Expires 3/22/11

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Picaboo is offering a free photo album to first time customers. Go to this link and get started asap since it expires tomorrow: http://www.picaboo.com/promo/freecc?siteID=wZ_Jbq7E.ak-UDFsgtjPY1LJ3tc_uZB6kw  Offer details are in the lower left hand corner on the page AFTER you enter your email address.

Free Iced Coffee at Dunkin' Donuts: Expires 3/21/11



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Dunkin' Donuts is welcoming the first day of Spring by offering "Free Iced Coffee Day" on March 21, 2011. My friend in Richmond confirmed this but as always, it is good to check your local store to ensure they are offering the deal. Here is their store locator link.

Lunch Savings Calculator



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Packing your lunch is cheaper than eating out.


This is not rocket science.


What you may not have considered is how much you are saving. Click on this handy lunch savings calculator to see. You can enter the data according to your habits. It will show your savings for packing 250 days/year or if you just want to take baby steps and pack 2 days a week, 100 days a year. Any number you choose.

Group Activity:  What do you pack that is quick and easy and won’t discourage you from standing in the kitchen for 5 minutes every morning/evening? Please post your comments!

For me:

-Turkey burgers individually wrapped—just pop them in the microwave at work

-apples/oranges/bananas/pears

-yogurts/pudding/cottage cheese

-left-overs: Plan on cooking more for dinner and before you put the meal on the table, containerize a portion for tomorrow’s lunch.

-chips/pretzels/nuts

-string cheese

-baby carrots/celery sticks

-a couple of slices of frozen pizza you cooked at home and plan on re-heating twice that week

-make a bunch of spaghetti and divide into a few containers to last you 2-3 days

-soup

Remember to post your comments!

Coupons 102: Taking it to the next level

                                            

I bought all this for $23.14! ($26.39 savings)

Some of you have asked how to “do coupons". I recently saw a show on TLC where someone bought more than $600 in groceries and actually paid about $2.60. There was another who bought $5,000 in groceries (in one day) and spent  about $250.00! They each have enormous 3 ring binders to house their coupons and  spend hours combing the Internet for coupons and deals.

This is NOT what we are going to talk about.

You can spend about 15-20 minutes planning your trip and typically save at least  1/3 on your grocery bill. This picture of food resulted in a 53% savings.  Below I will tell you how I do it but I welcome your comments if you have different/better ideas.

Getting Started (at Kroger): Things you only have to do one time

1.  Make sure you have a Kroger card.

2.  Stash or coupons in some sort of container or buy a coupon organizer like this one.

3.  Go to kroger.com and create an account.  (From there, you can load coupons onto your Kroger card automatically….no cutting involved! Just click and load.)

4.  Subscribe to the Sunday paper or ask a neighbor who already gets the paper but doesn't use coupons to set them aside for you.

Before every shopping trip:

1. Go to Kroger.com and click "coupons".
2. “Add coupons” of things you might buy, then “load coupons to card”. Next, “View Coupons” and lastly “Print List".  Click away! You don’t have to use the coupons. Eventually they expire and “leave” your card. No sweat.
3. Now that your “Your Kroger Coupon List” is printed you will notice how nice Kroger separates those items into categories for easy shopping.
4. Look at the circular (online and/or in the newspaper) and write “S” or “Sale” next to any items on "Your Kroger Coupon List".  Highlight the items you plan on buying.
5. Jot down any additional items on your "Your Kroger Coupon List” that you want to buy and are on sale, according to the circular. This is your grocery list!
6. Look in your coupon organizer and see if you have additional coupons for the items.  Kroger lets you “stack” coupons. You you could conceivably have an online coupon, a manufacturer’s coupon, and a store coupon for the same item. That’s really fun because then most things end up being free. Kroger doubles manufacturers coupons up to 50 cent, so a 50 cent coupon is actually $1.00 savings!
7. Paper clip your manufacturer’s coupons to “Your Kroger Coupon List” and go shopping!  

Free Rita's Italian House on Sunday March 20th: Expires 3/20/11



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Rita's  is offering a free regular-size Italian Ice to celebrate the first day of Spring on March 20th from 12pm-9pm.  No coupon necessary but you should call ahead and make sure your store is participating. Click here to find a location near you.

Facebook Like=Free Pretzel Crisps: Expires 5/31/11

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Click here and go to Facebook to receive a printable buy-one-get one free coupon for Pretzel Crisps . You must click "like" first but then the printable coupons appears. I looked at their website and they sell to a ton of grocery stores, so the product should be easy to find in stores.   This coupon is good through 5/31/11. I saw this last night but didn't get a chance to blog about it. Should have known that reader Audrey was already there "liking it"!  Hopefully this is new news to the rest of you.



Thanks Coupon Cravings!

Summer Vacation-Free Reads

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Are you thinking about Summer Vacation right about now? Are you like many and go to the Piggly Wiggly that first night at the beach to buy a bunch of food and load up on magazines for the week? Try loading up on free magazines now and putting them aside to read during your vacation. Most magazines offer free trials like these from Southern Living and US Weekly.
You just need to remember to CANCEL these before the trial offer ends. Use your outlook calender to send yourself a reminder as soon as you sign up.

Happy Beach Reading!

Price Matching with Smart Phones

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Some of you have smart phones. Some of us have flip phones. Save the comments, I've heard them all. Moving on...

If you must have a smart phone, then you must have a price matching app.
1. While in the store, take a picture of the bar code of the item you want.
2. The app searches competitors prices and lists them for you.
3. Ask a sales clerk, "Do you price match?" (Walmart, Best Buy, Lowes, Staples, Target do....just to name a few)
4. If they say "yes", show them your phone.

My friends, Eman and Ruben, did this this the other day at Best Buy and saved $24.00 on two Blue Ray DVDs. They were really pumped and one said to the other, "If I do this long enough, I will pay for my phone."

Now, THAT is smart.

P.S. Some places don't match their own website prices. Here is a tip from The Consumerist on a way to get around that. Great story.

Free Chips and Queso at Chili's: Expiration depends on when you sign up

  

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Before we go too far, everybody should have a secondary email address that they just use for offers, so that they don't jam up their primary email account. Forgive me if that is stating the obvious.
Join the Chili’s Email Club and recieve a FREE Order of Chips and Queso.The description says: cheese dip with seasoned beef, served with warm tostado chips and our home-made salsa. Purchase of at least one entree is required and there is a limit -one per table.

Free Movie at a Blockbuster Kiosk: Expires 3/14/11

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Get a free rental at a Blockbuster Kiosk near you. At check out, enter promo code MONDAYFREE.
Today (3/14/11) only.

Thanks Southern Savers!

Saving money and loving the earth

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Paper towels and napkins are so easy. They make spills and oil changes easier. They are convenient. I do love a good paper towel. However, they cost money, they are a lot to store, and they are not so green. Since this blog is about baby steps, let's say we just change up meal time. Let me introduce you to the cloth napkin.

Cloth napkins feel good. They make the meal feel special, like you might want to light a candle. They are bigger and some of you need a bigger napkin. Nobody said you had to wash them after every meal. You decide that based on your germaphobia-ness.

If you don't want to wash them after each meal but you can't imagine the stress of keeping up with whose napkin is whose,  here are some ideas:
 a. Everyone has a white napkin but you can stitch a different coordinating ribbon to distinguish Johnny's from Susie's.          
b. Go to the fabric store and buy enough fabric to make 5-6 napkins of the same kind for each family member of something they would enjoy. Wouldn't 6 year old Johnny love the napkin in the picture? He might even be more excited to set the table.  
c.  Have someone sew the first initial of each family member on napkins to designate whose napkin it is.
d.  Use coordinating colors that match your kitchen or dining room. Johnny is always light blue, Susie is always beige etc.  Napkins don't have to match!

You'll invest a little money on the front end, but save on the back end. Again, fabric stores, Target, Kohl's, yardsales are your friends. How about that scrap fabric in the basement? Put it to good use!

Chick-fil-A Sandwich: Expires 3/14/11



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 March 14, 2011 is the 90th birthday of the the founder of Chick-fil-A, Truett Cathy. Visit a participating Chick-fil-A and say "Happy Birthday Truett" to receive a FREE Original Chicken Sandwich. Again, make sure it is a participating Chick-fil-A.

Sticking To It



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There is a lot of sophisticated software out there to help people track their spending. I don't use it but I understand that they link up to your credit and debit cards and categorize expenditures. Apparently, they are very fancy. With a few exceptions, I don't believe in spending a lot of money to save a lot of money. I use this receipt stick. I think it cost $4.99.

Every time I buy something I just punch the receipt through my handy stick and there is no chance of the receipt getting lost. Once a week, I enter the expenditures into a simple excel spreadsheet that I created so I can see how much I spent that week, in total and also categorically. Depending on how many receipts I have it takes about 5-10 minutes. If you are married, this is a simple way to track your spending as a family. You both use the receipt stick.

Living consciously.  Easy peezy.

Saving $7660 This Year

3 Easy Steps:

1. Make a list of all the places that regularly get your money.
2. Critically consider if you can eliminate any of those or any portion of those costs.
3. Make some phone calls and inquire.

I did this in January and here is what happened!

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1. I called a car insurance competitor and read them my current policy. I didn't tell them how much I pay for that current policy. They quoted me $25 less/month for the same policy.
Savings: $300 in 2011

2. I called my cell phone company and asked if I was getting the best deal. The kind woman said "You currently pay for the plan that offers unlimited minutes but your average usage is about 400 minutes a month. We should change your plan so you pay $30.00 less a month."
Savings: $360 in 2011

3. I went to Capcenter.com and looked at their interest rates. I was able to lock in at 4%.
Savings: $7,000 in 2011

Some other ideas that won't work for me but may for you:
1. Are you using your gym membership?  If not, post it on Craigslist and  the rest of your contract can be transferred to someone else.
2. Do you have a mac daddy cable plan but only watch a few channels? Call your carrier and see if there is a plan that better fits you.
3.  If you pay for a health insurance plan out of pocket, shop around. My friend did and she is now saving $100/month.
4. Do you enjoy cable in the winter because of great football and new shows but are bored with summer reruns? Call your company and inquire about their vacation hold program. It is often free and/or costs just a few dollars to keep your account open. People who travel to the Hamptons for the summer do it, so can you!

Let me know how it goes!

Unwanted Mail 101

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One of my clients asked, "Do you think if I take my mailbox down, the mail will stop coming?" The mail will come...rain/snow/sleet or hail (except for government holidays). However, you can simplify that too.

Someone once told me, "Clutter is a post-poned decision".  A credit card offer or a postcard about house cleaning services arrives at your home and you are tempted to keep it just in case. Remember the old saying "Ignorance is bliss". Consider what it would mean if you NEVER KNEW IT EXISTED. If the mail doesn't come into your house, then you don't have to make a decision about it. If 6 months from now you need a housekeeper, google it!

You can significantly reduce the mail with a little work on the front end, but I guarantee it will save you an enormous amount of time on the back-end.   Don't you also feel better about saving a tree? :)

You will see your mail significantly reduce in a matter of weeks if you do some/all of these.

1. Send a  letter to Mail Preference Service, Direct Marketing Association, PO Box 643, Carmel NY 15012-0643.  Request to "activate the preference service" and provide your complete name and address. This association suggests that by doing this 75% of national mailings will stop for 5 years.  Click here for the simple mail in form.  You must include $1.00 for the service.  You can avoid the fee and do it online here.
2. Dial 1-888-567-8688 to opt out of credit card offers for 5 years or forever, you choose.
3. For first class mail and some bulk mail of former residents of your home:  YOU can fill out a change of address FOR THEM at the Post Office.  When you sign this form, you must write: "form completed by current resident of the home, (your name), agent of the above."
4. Each time you get unwanted mail, call the company and ask to be removed from their list. If you can't do it on the spot, collect the junk mail in a bag and work through the bag while you are sitting at the car pool or waiting on soccer practice to end.

Free Candy/Beverage at CVS: Expires 3/10/11

Go to your facebook page and  "like" CVS. You will get a free printable coupon sent to your email account.  It is a $2 value and you can purchase a free candy item or beverage! No purchase necessary. 

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Making twenty dollars in twenty minutes

I bought $37.55 worth of items at Kroger the other day. I only paid Kroger $16.85. It took about 20 minutes at home, planning my trip. That means I saved $1.00/minute, while I was watching TV. My employer doesn't pay me that.


Coupons: you love 'em or you hate 'em.


Some argue that if you just buy the store brand, you'll save as much money with a lot less hassle. In some cases that is absolutely true. However, I got two containers of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls for 5 cent (2.5 cent for each of them). I got a frozen pizza for 63 cent and a box of General Mills Honey Nut Cheerios for 64 cent. I got 5 Fiber One protein bars and paid 28 cent for each of them. Store brands can't offer that kind of savings so sometimes coupons are a valuable tool.


I will expand more on couponing in a later blog, but if you can start with these two simple changes today, you will see some cost savings:

1. Shop the circular.
2. Load your bonus card with electronic coupons by going to your grocer's website and clicking a few buttons.