For the month of March, I've been doing some super serious hounding - and it shows. I'm currently stocked up beyond belief on cheese, popcorn, crackers, Cheetos, canned soup, and beef stew meat....but, I'm still looking for the next big FREE!

The good news - I've finished up all the shopping needed for our family's Easter baskets (my sister's family, too!).

Total Retail Value: $2,127.51
OOP = $264.89
Savings = $1,862.62
Coupon Savings: $823.87
Quantity of Items: 712
Number of FREEs: 272
Savings Percentage: 88% (I'm new to calculating percentage saved totals, so if I didn't calculate it right, please let me know.)

Thanks to Fantabulously Frugal for the shout-out. Check out her post Baskin Robbins 31 cent scoop night!

Fantabulously Frugal: More Ice Cream! 31 Cent Night at Baskin Robbins#links

I bet each one of us conjures a different image when we read the word cheap. What does this mean to me? I’ll feature some highlights from last week:

My family & I utilized 2 FREE Redbox Movie Rental Codes: Savings over going to the movie theater = $45.00 – ate some free popcorn at home, too!

Lunch out at Subway ($12.05) vs. Applebees (25.00, minimum) Savings = $12.95

Mom’s Birthday party total cost to feed 10 people $13.94 vs. restaurant (I can’t even imagine). I love those freebies from Target (like 5 lbs. of FREE beef stew meat!)

Tank of gas – $12.33 (used fuel rewards from Jewel) vs. nearest gas station $19.45. Savings = $7.12

Birthday gift for Mom (pearl and goldstone necklace with handcrafted copper spacers) $3.05 because I made it myself. Savings…..I can’t even imagine buying something like that in the stores, the sticker shock would kill me!

All these little things we do to save a buck (or 2, hahaha) really add up. Whether you make your own greeting cards, say no to takeout just once, use a fistful of coupons, or find a cheaper means of entertainment – all these little things we do really add up. So my challenge for the month of April, keep a running tally of how I save, from gifts to entertaining, from clothing to groceries. I want to see how my little sacrifices add up! Anyone up for a challenge?

At Meijer:

Classico Pasta Sauce 2/$4 -$.50 Manufacturer coupons -$1/2 Mealbox coupons = $1 a jar!
Peter Pan Peanut Butter 3/$5 -$1/3 Mealbox coupon = 3/$4

Target:

Cheetos (4 oz. bag) $1.29 -$1 SuperTarget coupon = $.29
Artisan Breads $.99 -$1 SuperTarget coupon – FREE

I’ve heard rumor of a big sale coming up at Jewel on Wednesday/Thursday, so if anyone still has some lingering catalinas, waiting until Wednesday might be a good choice.

Also at Jewel:

Post cereal: If you buy 5 boxes (10 oz. or larger) of Post cereals tagged 2/$5, you'll get a $5 Catalina back for your next order. To sweeten the deal, if you buy the next cereal (in groups of 2), you’re price for cereal is 2/$3. Check your coupons, there were some matchups from the 3/1 inserts!

Honey Bunches of Oats
Honey Bunches Just Bunches
Grape Nuts
Shredded Wheat
Post Raisin Bran

Cereals also triggering this deal, for $2 a box:
Cinnamon Grahams
Fruity Pebbles
HoneyCombs
Post Selects
Alpha Bits

At Ultra-Foods:

$.68 lb. Green Grapes
$.99 Rinaldi Pasta Sauce - Limit 2

Butera:

$1.69 gallon of milk (Country Delight) Limit 3
$1.49 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast
$1.99 Xtra laundry detergent - Limit 2

Dominicks:

Still running their buy 10 save $5 deals from last week.
Match a $.75 printable halls coupon for FREE cough drops.

I tried this recipe for some full-flavored ranch dip using a light sour cream base - I did add 2 T. finely chopped red bell pepper and 2 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled. Let me know what you think!

Living Easy: Recession Buster Blasts #8-Homemade Ranch Dressing

After DaMama's birthday party, I was too pooped to do my typical batch cooking, so our meals will be on the lighter side this week. I have plenty of bread, mushrooms, and cheese to work with, so those will be my building blocks for the week.

Monday - Hickory Chicken and Ham Panini's with Havarti, dill spears, baked chips, and tomato soup
Tuesday - Hamburger Helper, corn, and roasted red tomato filone bread.
Wednesday - Swiss & Mushroom Omelets, bacon, toast, green grapes, strawberry smoothies
Thursday - Onion Brats, loaded baked potatoes, side salad, cream corn
Friday - Triple Cheese Pizza, stuffed mushrooms (minus the turkey bacon)

With so much of my shopping done using coupons, it's bound to happen that some of the service I receive is either far above or below the standard expectations. What does that mean for me? I mentally grade each store on the following criteria, from a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being dissatisfied, 10 being highly satisfied):

Efficiency: If I ask a sales clerk to help me find an item, see if an item is in stock, or to ask to see a current sales flyer, their response time is almost as important as them answering the question I have asked.

Service/attitude: Many stores treat couponers differently than other customers - liek we are less entitled to customer service simply because we use coupons. Some stores/clerks even treat you like you're taking money out of their pocket, while other stores and their associates are more than willign to offer you a coupon, a free sample, an instore magazine, etc.

Training: If I know more about the store's policies (pricing, what to do when an item rings up incorrectly, coupon policy, competitor price match, etc.) than the staff does, we have a problem. If the staff is properly trained and willing to help - I'm more likely to be a return shopper at that location.

There are differences from one store to another in any given chain, just like there are some chain stores that perpetually exceed or fail to meet the standards.

Each week I'm going to single out 2-3 stores I have visited and let them know how I liked their service - even if there is no survey on my receipt. The stores that are less likely to give a survey are the ones that really should!

For this week, I've selected the following stores/restaurants for review:

Kohl's - receives a 9 out of 10. Reason: An additional discount was offered when the coupon I wanted to use had expired. This was offered quickly, and the clerk, Janet, was very friendly.

Jo-Ann Fabrics: receives a 3 out of 10. Reason: I had forgotten my flyer at home (naturally I notice this when I reach Jo-Ann's and I'm not close enough to run home for it. The sales clerk promptly tells me there is no flyer. The next clerk, cannot help me find the item I came in for (I found it myself), and the 3rd checkout clerk wasn't able to tell me my total when she rang it up. The store was clean and instock, which is the most I can say for them.

All you hostesses (and hosts), here's the challenge: spend no more than $5 out of pocket for your Easter dinner. How can anyone do that? Ransack your pantry and use stuff that's already on hand, use gift cards, coupons, do a potluck, whatever keeps your $$ in your pocket!

How do I plan on doing that? Here's the skinny (on keeping my wallet fat). Know your menu, know the number of guests, know where the coupons/sales are.

Here's my planned menu for Easter, to feed my family of 3, my sister's family of 4, and any inlaws that want to stop by (which can easily number 15-30).

14 lb. ham - bought for free with giftcard (Meijer)
Mashed potatoes & Gravy (2 - 5 lb. sacks potatoes at Target $.49 each) & gravy mix I have on hand
Spanish Rice - Love this stuff with anything
Green Bean casserole ($.75 Q's for Del Monte veggies used at Dominicks with their current promo = FREE and cream of mushroom soup at Target $.27 each)
Salad - Must wait until the week of Easter - what's on sale determines what kind of salad I'll be making
Cheese & Crackers - use FREE cheese from Kraft deal 2 weeks ago and $.60 a box crackers from same deal
Deviled eggs - Egg's have been on sale left & right, last time I bought 18 count large for $.97 at Dominicks.
Bread/rolls: Artisan bread at Target $.99 -$1 printable Q = FREE (I'll freeze 2-3 of these to use for Easter) & tortillas
Dessert: Apple Crisp (I have all ingredients on hand)
Dessert: Cinnamon Roll Brownies - I have all ingredients on hand.

For all those Target printables, go here.
If I can score a deal on baked beans or pork 'n' beans, I'll try in some baked bean casserole. If there's no sale, I'll use refried beans instead - I have those already on hand - organic and FREE, too!

I'm so excited for my sister & family to come for the holiday, I still can't believe she's making the drive from Minnesota! I have been hounding a bit more vigorously this past month in the hopes she'd make the drive and come shopping with me. She wants to learn more about hounding, so I am praying for some good sales so I can show her the ropes. I wonder if she'll need a trailer to take back all the goodies? She did last time! Good thing I'm stocked on FREE boxes...

10. I sign up for any emailing list that promises coupons on your birthday
9. I took a couponing class and thought I could have taught it
8. I have 90+ boxes of FREE popcorn
7. The most exciting thing to happen to me this week was the $4 Pace salsa coupon
6. I have envied someone else's coupons
5. Once I "bought" 46 boxes in one transaction because it was FREE
4. I get more than one Sunday paper delivered
3. I complain if any coupons are missing from the above mentioned papers
2. I shudder when I have to spend actual money on food
1. I know the coupon policy for the stores in my area and have had them faxed to me.

How do you know you're addicted to couponing? Let me see your list!

Party planning madness! My mother's birthday is tomorrow and I'm just going to wrap up her gift today, which is very last minute for me. I have a small start on gifts for next Christmas, but for her birthday, as I am the only one that will be hosting, planning, etc. I really go out of my way to make sure it’s special.

This year, I’m trying to do it on a tighter budget than ever before. My plan is tomorrow is a girl’s day out. Lunch, shopping, maybe a movie – you know, all the things girls love to do. Saturday, we’ll follow that with pedicures. And Sunday’s the big party.

By big party, we’ve invited 25-30 guests, as they are all family, there is no idea how many may show up. The low numbers will bring us about 8-12, the high numbers – well, the largest get-together DH & I have ever hosted was around 20-25. Since 8 and 25 are quite a distance apart, I’m concerned about the menu. I want to offer a few choices, without getting stuck with more leftovers than my family of 3 can eat in a week! I try to keep the menu simple as it is served buffet-style, and I want to spend zero time in the kitchen cooking. I try to keep everything oven or crockpot prepared or I lean toward simple salads and party trays.

For a colder weather party, I usually have some nice bread, a pasta dish, salad, and a veggie platter set up, but I still want this to feel special, so I have 2 loaves of filone artisan bread with roasted tomato, my classic spinach salad, cheese cubes aplenty, baby carrots, but I’m trying to come up with a classy pasta dish that feeds a crowd and is pretty good leftover. If it can include beef, all the better, those deals at Target keep calling my name!

If I have the time (and the inclination), I may even throw in a potato dish, since the sales are too good not to use them! If only the weather would have been in the 60’s instead of the 40’s I could have done a BBQ with potato salad, burgers, brats, baked bean casserole, chips and dip, and salad/veggie tray.

I will admit at my last job, I made a point of going out for lunch each day. Granted this was 2 ½ years ago, I was earning 25% less than I do now, and I only worked 3 ½ days a week, which meant I ate at McDonald’s, Subway, Wendy’s, and Taco Bell often. Though I always ordered from the dollar/value menu, it was $2-4 dollars a day for my lunch habit. Over the course of the year, that lunch habit cost me approximately $430. That’s nearly 2 months worth of grocery budget now!!

Now I eat out for lunch once a month, twice if I forget or didn’t have enough leftovers planned. My eating out budget for lunch each month is $10. I can break it down any way I like, but I’m not allowed more than that. And it is so gratifying. As I sit here eating my homemade sandwich of an English muffin ($.17), 2 slices of ham (free), and an egg scrambled ($.05), banana ($.16), and some Cheetos ($.10), it hits me. I’m depending on me.

Before I started getting serious about meal-planning, I was stressing about what to make for dinner, I called my DH once to ask what he thought of grilled cheese sammies for dinner. He responded that he wasn’t really excited about that idea, why not pick up a rotisserie chicken on the way home? Why not, I sputtered. We have a house full of food, healthy, well-balanced meals shouldn’t be all that difficult to come up with, could they? And I hate paying $5-$7 for a small, sometimes overcooked, chicken that doesn’t even come with any side dishes! I’d still end up cooking.

While my reaction was instantaneous (the voice in my head screaming, Uh, no or something a tad more colorful along those lines), the solution took a little more work than that. I admit I now cook enough meat (or entrees) for 2 dinners plus lunch leftovers for each meal I prepare. Right now I have 5+ lbs. beef stew meat in the fridge for tomorrow’s dinner. Looks like a huge batch of beef stroganoff. I have a chicken to roast for tonight. And you can bet I didn’t spend $5 for it. I only spent $3.07. With all that leftover money, my chicken will taste even better and I can afford a side dish. And hello, leftovers – here I come!

A huge, huge thank you to my friend, Amanda, over at The Martha Initiative, for the amazing deal I pulled off at Target yesterday! I had been redeeming only one of each coupon per transaction - until Amanda told me that it was one coupon stack per transaction, not one like Target coupon per transaction. This will save me sooo much time and energy, which is a complete godsend!

I walked out of that store with:
8 cans cream of mushroom soup: $.52 each - (4) $.50/2 Q's
2 bags Green Giant potatoes (5 lb.) $1.49 - (2) $1 Q's
3 pkgs. beef stew meat - $1.99 lb. (3) $2 Q's
2 bags (4 oz.) Cheetos $1.29 - $1 Q's

Savings: $19.87
OOP: $4.09 (that includes tax)

After seeing how cheap the Market Pantry soups are ($.52) here, I will go back today for another dozen. I use this stuff like it's going out of style!

There's a great giveaway over at Frugal & Fabulous, courtesy of M. Avery Designs. Thanks to I Am A Money Magnet for putting up this post! I love an adorable handbag as much as the next girl, don't you? And one that is made using fabric remnants - even better! Good for the environment as well as fashion. What could be better?! So go over there, and leave a post - there's nothing better than cute and free.

I'm still yammering away about the great deals I'm finding at Target. The ladies at HCW gave me this deal:
$1.49 5 lb. bag Green Giant potatoes -$1 Target coupon = $.49

Pairs well with:
$1.29 Cheetos (4 oz. bag) -$1 Target coupon = $.29
$1.99 lb. beef stew meat -$2 Target coupon - $.13-$.48
$1.67 Mott's 6-pk. applesauce -$1 Target coupon -$.55 manufacturer coupon = $.12

I just love hounding!!

At Target yesterday, I found Try Me Free stickers on some Hillshire Farms Deli Meat: Here's what you have to do: Purchase (1 per receipt) Hillshire Farm Deli Select Ultra Thin Hickory Smoked Chicken Breast Lunchmeat and send in:

1. UPC symbol from package
2. 3x5" index card with name, address, city, state, zip, and email
3. Original receipt with Hillshire product circled

Purchase product by 6/30/09 and send in request postmarked no later than 7/31/09.
Please allow 6-8 weeks for processing

Send to:
Hillshire Farm Try Me Free Offer
P.O. Box 6154, Dept. A
Douglas, AZ 85655-6154

So naturally, I bought one of these and am sending out my request today. If I don't do it right away, it may get lost, filed, or forgotten. Besides, that's one more thing off my kitchen table, which is currently being populated by the coupon fairy.

With all this cheap beef stew meat from Target, this will make meal planning this week a snap!

Monday - Cheeseburgers with potatoes julienne and spinach salad
Tuesday - Pulled Pork sammies, green bean casserole
Wednesday - Garlic Beef & Mushroom Stroganoff, garden salad, french bread
Thursday - Ground Turkey Tacos, Spanish Rice, refried beans
Friday - Taking Mom out to lunch/dinner for her Birthday!
Saturday - Leftovers
Sunday - Birthday party for Mom - BBQ time (weather permitting).

Dessert of the week: Almond Cookies

Target is where it's at today! I've printed out 6 more Mott's coupons from hotcouponworld.com (I love their Target coupon generator), you get to select how many of each your print! Pair this with the $.55 off coupon at Mott's website for some $.12 snackpack (6 ct.) of Mott's Applesauce. Great for kids and adults, a healthy snack on the go, and at $.02 per servings, pretty affordable too!

Don't hit that print button yet, keep reading!

Staying at Target's coupon generator, you can snag some Cheetos for $.29 a bag (small size, please) and grab some Sutton & Dodge beef stew meat - just use the $2 off coupon through the coupon generator from Target.

Here's how it worked for me yesterday:

1 Mott's applesauce 6 pack - $1.67
1 grab bag of Cheetos - $1.29
1 Sutton & Dodge beef stew meat $2.48
-$.55 Mott's manufacturer Q
-$1 Mott's Target coupon
-$1 Cheetos Target coupon
-$2 Sutton & Dodge beef Target coupon
OOP: $.94 - and $.05 of that was tax!
I saved $4.55.

The only down side is that Target coupons specifically are limited to one each per transaction. So, bring a friend!

And from 4 Hats & Frugal - Target just keeps getting better! Combine it with her deal on Quaker oatmeal & granola bars. Yum! And don't forget your Quaker Printable Q's!

All the stars are in alignment, the internet is working at home, the batteries are charged, and the Market has recently been spruced up. Here are a few pictures of Annie's Market:



I've got two large shelves that hold most of the items in the Market, though next week, I'll try to get pictures of the collections taken. It never fails to amaze me what bounty I yield from hounding.