Reflections and New Beginnings

Well, today is officially the last day of 2009. Time to reflect on the past year and the changes that took place as well as the ones that you think should have.
This past year for our family has been interesting with the usual ups and downs of life. In May we purchased our first home in St Augustine, FL. In late June my husband's pay was cut in order for the company he works for to survive (everyone's pay was cut not just his). So, we had a brand-new mortgage, a seven month old baby and less money than we had before either of them came along. But God is ALWAYS faithful and with a little creativity and some unexpected blessings we have made it through the year!

This coming year I KNOW that God will show Himself even more awesome to us as we "Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness". I am looking for a part-time job to help out a little and we are believing for a dramatic change in Liam's work situation.

Call me crazy but I am confident that at the end of next year I will be posting about some MAJOR blessings that we have experienced in 2010!

To start off the New Year our Pastor has challenged us to a church-wide fast for 21 days. Liam and I had already talked about doing the Daniel Fast which is also 21 days and so, because of budgeting, we will do it with a twist; simply cutting out meat and sweets. I am racking my brain with what to send him for lunch as he eats ham and turkey sandwiches EVERY day!

Have a Happy New Year and join me in changing your thinking about finances in 2010!
-Dessy

Sunday Savings

For those of you that are new to CVS and Walgreen's Register Rewards Programs, visit CouponingtoDisney.com for her video tutorials. Watch them several times, write down anything you need to remember and then start saving!

Here is my first "Sunday Savings" post!
CVS was kind of exciting although I didn't get any new ECB's (Extra Care Bucks) to roll over this time.

My favorite deal will EXPIRE SOON so do it before the 31st! It is for Olay Regenerist Facial Cleanser. CVS has them on sale for $6.99 (at my CVS) and I had two coupons for $3/1 from the 11/30 Proctor and Gamble (P&G) insert. This is the part that expires on the 31st. On top of that, Olay.com has a printable rebate form to receive a $15 rebate with the purchase of TWO Olay Regenerist products!

So, I paid $7.98 after the coupons for both products and will be receiving $15 in rebate to make a total of $7.02 in profit!
This is so great because I NEEDED face wash anyway and now I got them for free and MADE money!
I also got Cascade dish soap for $3.99 plus a $.50 coupon; not the GREATEST deal but I also needed it.

On to Walgreens. I got two rolls of Tuf paper towel for $.50 each with the coupon from the weekly flyer. Pampers were on sale for 2/$20 but you received a $3.50 Register Reward back so it was like 2/$16.50. PLUS I had two coupons for $2.00 off one from the 11/30 P&G insert (exp 12/31) and one from the 12/27 P&G insert so I paid $12.50 for two packs of Pampers making them $6.25 per pack. This is only about .30 to .40 cents more than the cheap Wal-Mart brand but the quality is so much better that my husband and I agreed that it is still the better deal for us!

I also got a Venus Embrace razor on sale for $8.99 with a three dollar Register Reward back. Again, this might not be the BEST deal out there but I needed a new razor and after using a different name brand that I had gotten for free, I realized that Venus is the only one for me!

This week I only got things that I needed but there are more great deals to be had! For more info visit CouponingtoDisney.com and click on the CVS and Walgreen's tabs for ALL the details!

Happy Savings! Dessy

Back to Business

Hello again! I haven't written anything new for a while for several reasons. One is that it was easy to be lazy because I am aware that right now no one is really following the blog. But I am wanting that to change so I need to get disciplined about my posting!

The second reason is that I am trying to find someone to teach me how to make the website links appear more professional. Right now I only know how to put the whole address down and then you would have to type it in or cut and paste to your toolbar. What I want to do is figure out how to say go "here" to access such and such information and you would click on "here" and be instantly linked.

I have somewhat limited computer knowledge because of homeschooling (one of the ONLY downfalls of homeschooling). I am very bright and can learn this stuff, it's just finding a teacher/friend that has time to help me on this.
Anyway, my idea is to make this blog easier to use for my friends and family that want to follow my savings adventures.

In January, our Women's group at church has booked a local couponing expert and we are sooo excited to learn more tips and tricks to save money and increase our cupboards!

One of my endeavors will be to post every Monday about the savings I have found at CVS and Walgreen's. I will also post other ideas for savings that I have heard about but I know from experience that some of the deals that are posted on sites don't always work the way they are supposed to. So I will tell you the deals that I actually GOT and WORKED for me!

I am excited to make 2010 the best year of savings yet!

-Dessy

New Coupons at Coupon.com and Wal-Mart Deals

I found some great coupons at coupon.com thanks to Couponing to Disney! They are for College Inn Chicken or Beef Broth which tends to go on sale for the holidays so I will get the broth for very little money or free! One is for $1/1 32oz. size and the other is $1/2 of the 14.5oz ones.

Right now Wal-Mart has their Betty Crocker Instant Potatoes and Stovetop Dressing for $.78! I had four coupons for Betty Crocker Potatoes, 3 for $.40 off and one for $.50 off so I got three boxes at $.38 and one box at $.28! What a steal!
They also are offering a FULL Thanksgiving dinner for $20! This includes a 12lb turkey, 5lb bag of potatoes, 3 boxes of Stuffing mix and several other things. Their off-brand turkey is only $.40 a pound which is awesome! If you have the freezer space I highly recommend buying a few for the holidays and a few for later.

You can do ALOT with a turkey; turkey pot pie, turkey noodle soup, turkey casserole (using the cheap Stovetop Dressing that you are going to stock up on. You are going to stock up right? :)), turkey tetrazzini, and on and on.

So, now is the time to save big! I am buying one or two boxes of potatoes or stuffing every visit to stay within my budget.
--Dessy

Restaurant.com Review

I receive email updates from couponmom.com; this is a great website for coupons and where to find great deals. She also often has a promotional code for 80% off at Restaurant.com so this last time I decided to give it a try.

Essentially I received a $25.00 gift certificate to a local restaurant for $2.00. The gift certificate is printed off the computer not mailed to you. It looks very unimpressive.


This one of the two reasons why I would never choose to give these as gifts. The other reason is that there is always a "special instruction" with it. This one said I could only use with a $35.00 minimum purchase. Some of the "special instructions" were a $50.00 minimum purchase so read VERY CAREFULLY before purchasing.
I actually didn't buy several because of the conditions listed.
I chose a local restaurant on the beach called appropriately enough, The Beachcomber.

Not thinking that my husband Liam and I could eat $35.00 ourselves, we recruited our friend Justin to join us for a meal Sunday evening.

We ordered: 3 Dr Peppers@ $2.12
2 Schomburger Platters @ $9.25
1 Chicken Sandwich Platter @ $7.25
1 Hushpuppies @ $1.00 (for the baby, and they were awful!)
1 BBQ Sauce @ $.50 (did not KNOW it was extra)
1 Gator Tail Appetizer @ $6.75
Total $40.36
-$25.00 Gift Certificate
Equals $15.36
+ $9.00 Tip
Adj Total $24.36

Was this a great deal? I really don't know. But if we were to have gone out and had the same meal for fun, it would have been $25.00 more, so I guess it's sort of a good deal...
Will I try it again? Yes, especially when things start to improve in our budget; because no matter how much money you have, the more you save, the more you can give!

--Dessy

Weekend Round-up; my Walgreens Steals

I am SOOO excited! I was able to get $35.12 in product for a PROFIT of $.19 at Walgreens on Sunday!

Here is the breakdown:
2 Glade Sense and Spray Starters for $4.99 (on sale)
3 Hunt's Tomato Sauce 8 oz for .99
4 Campbell's Tomato Soups for .50 (on sale)
1 Glade Soy Candle for 3.99 (on sale)
Total $16.96
(My receipt states that I saved 17.31 on the sale items
Coupons I used;
$1/3 Hunt's products
2 $4/1 Glade Sense and Spray
2 $1/2 Campbell's Soups
1 $1/1 Glade product (in the November Coupon Book @ Walgreen's)

This brought my total to $5.81 and got me $1.00 register rewards (good towards next visit) which brought me to $4.81
I will be sending in a $5.00 rebate from SC Johnson found at this address http://couponingtodisney.blogspot.com/search/label/walgreens
So I will be making $.19 which isn't a ton but it's something! Find alot of deals at the above web address. Couponing to Disney is a great website!

I will be giving the Tomato Soups and Tomato Sauces to my church's food pantry as we don't need them; I love to be able to use coupons to give!

--Dessy

Gas Grill Maintenance Checklist

Gas Grill Maintenance Checklist

the Last of Indian Summer

Here in Northern KY it's a warm, sunny day--a perfect day to finish up all those outside duties that have fallen by the wayside. Knowing that taking care of things helps them last longer, I cleaned out my new grill. Not knowing where to start, I found that the real simple website had the one that fit me the most (see previous post for link). It was a little messy but worth it, hoping that this prolongs the life of my grill (a wonderful gift from the hubby)! Happy Winterizing!

Coupon Deals and Steals

It is about 2:15 am right now and I cannot sleep! So...I went to Wal-Mart! I realized that some of my "steals" may be ending tomorrow so I grabbed my coupons and away I went.

Now, it is a little harder for me to find "excellent" deals here in Florida. None of the stores in my area double coupons, ever. As far as I can tell from searching the net the whole state of Florida seems pretty much this way; I really don't know why but hope to find an answer. When I lived in Michigan there were often sales for Buy One Get Two Free or Buy Two Get Three Free! Here the best I can do is Buy One Get One.

That being said, I realize that in other states the deals that I will post may not be the "best" you can do, but it's pretty much the "best" I can do!

So here is the breakdown:
2 Suave deodorants @ .97 - 2 coupons @ .50/1 = .47 per deodorant
2 Suave Men deodorant @ .97 - 2 coupons @ .75/1 = .22 per deodorant
1 Progresso High Fiber Soup @ 1.50 - 1 coupon @ 1.00/1 = .50 can
1 Midol @ 4.96 - 1 coupon @ 2.00/1 = 2.96 box

I am giving the deodorants to my outreach group at church; we are feeding the homeless and giving them personal hygiene bags the first weekend in December.
I would highly recommend that when you find excellent deals that you pick them up even if it is not your brand of choice; there are so many organizations that could make use of them and at .22 cents a piece you will never feel it in your pocket!

The Midol was probably not the best deal I can get, but I needed it. If I need something that I haven't stocked up on and it isn't on sale, I always check for coupons on the manufacturer's website; 2.00 off is pretty decent!

Now, where did I find the coupons? As I mentioned the Midol one I got from their website, the Suave coupons were in the Red Plum inserts for 10/25, and the Progresso one I printed off of an online ad.

I subscribe to couponmom.com and moneysavingmom.com newsletters. I also check out allyou.com as they have some really high coupons on their site. Their are alot of different places on the internet to get free printable coupons and tons of blogs dedicated to couponing and all the intrigue involved (seriously there are some super sneaky tricks to learn).

Bottom line is that every family has different ideals for their budgets. Sherrie's family has a different level of need vs. effort than mine does. She can really only shop one store, maybe two on occasion, per week due to her schedule and family size. My family only has one vehicle and one child so depending on the work schedule for my husband I may only get to shop after nine in the evening or I may have the car for the whole day and shop three or four stores.

Also it varies from week to week how "good" the deals are. If they seem really good to me I will make a bigger effort to get out and stock up.

Couponing can be fun or tedious depending on your mindset and level of devotion to saving money; to me it is a great little game to play and I currently have the time to play it! Come play with me! :)
--Dessy

So here is the roast chicken I made for dinner that night. My husband actually came home kind of late so it wasn't quite as juicy as I wanted but the meat still fell right off the bone.

A Baking Kind of Day

Today is rather overcast in Florida though still warm but overcast always makes me feel like baking!
I had four VERY ripe bananas that were screaming to be made into banana bread but as of today I am on a month long dessert-free period. (But it is criminal to waste anything LOL) So I wanted a healthier version of bread and turned to my go-to recipe site recipezaar.com
I found an interesting looking recipe that actually included wheat bran which I currently have in abundance. It turned out great! I actually made it in muffin cups filling about a third of the way with batter and putting a dollop of All Fruit Strawberry Jam in and covering up with more batter. So yummy! Just the right amount of sweet and relatively guilt free as banana bread goes.
Here is the recipe

WEIGHT WATCHER FRIENDLY BANANA BREAD (LOW FAT)

4 medium bananas, very ripe
1 tablespoon canola oil
3 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white all-purpose flour
1/4 cup wheat bran
1/4 cup rolled oat
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 and prepare muffin tins with liners or grease 2 loaf pans.
In a large bowl, mash the bananas with the baking powder. Set aside.
In another bowl, combine the flours, wheat bran, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside.
Stir the egg, applesauce and canola oil into the banana mixture.
Add dry ingredients to wet in three batches. Folding to combine.
Stir in oats.
For muffins- measure out 1/4 c of batter for each muffin- bake for 25-30 minutes.
For loaves, split between w loaf pans- bake for 40-50 mins or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Allow to cool for 10 mins on a wire rack.

I also plan to roast a whole chicken for dinner tonight. I got them on sale at Food Lion for .59 a pound and Liam LOVES roast chicken!
I'll give you that recipe as well. I buy McCormick Rotisserie seasoning and it tastes just like the ones you buy at the deli! I think it costs somewhere between $2.00 and $2.50 but if you have a coupon better yet; it lasts for ALOT of chickens so it's worth it for my household.

ROAST CHICKEN

Take thawed chicken and sprinkle Rotisserie seasoning in cavity. Sprinkle over outside of chicken to coat. Place in greased casserole dish (at least 8 1/2 x 11).
Roast at 425 degrees for 1 1/4-1 1/2 hours. There will be sizzling sounds but this is very normal.
When the chicken pulls easily away from the bone it is done. Serve with mashed potatoes or rice and a veggie or salad. (Note: serving size and cooking time will depend on the size of chicken.)

-Dessy

Remember Grandma's home remedies?

So the flu hit our house over the past few days and babies cannot take cough suppressant, what to do? The nurse at our pediatrician's office suggested 'warm apple juice with honey'. It's great! My 3-year-old is sleeping without coughing! I am going to try this myself! --S.

Getting Started: Assessing the Frugal "Frantry"

To me one of the most important aspects of living frugally is to find out where you are right now. Most of us have way more lurking in our cupboards, fridges and freezers than we know. How many times have you gone out and bought an ingredient only to find a few days later that it was there hidden in the back of your cupboard the entire time?
I have not yet mastered the self discipline of making a weekly menu (it is one of my goals in life) and so I rely a great deal on what I call "frantry" cooking. That is simply taking ingredients that are already in my fridge, freezer and pantry and assembling a meal; therefore the term "frantry". This works well for me only when I keep an idea of what I HAVE!
My husband was gone on a business trip this week and I took the opportunity to completely assess my pantry; removing EVERYTHING from the cupboards I use for food, lining it up on the table and counters and documenting what I have. Next week, I will do the same to my fridge and freezer.
It is not enough to simply look at the boxes, cans and jars; you also need to open them up and see how FULL they are! There is nothing worse than thinking you have plenty of baking soda, cocoa powder or some other ingredient and finding out at the last minute you were wrong!
After you know what you have and how much, see if you have duplicates that can be combined. I purchased cheap plastic containers that were stackable and placed dry ingredients like rice, beans, oatmeal and the like in them and labeled them with my lovely label gun. My pantry has so much more room and I can now easily find the ingredients I need.
The next step will also be to type up the ingredients on the computer and have a master list. This way I will know what ingredients that I use and when a sale comes up I can stock up on the appropriate items.
I also had to weed out a few things that were taking up valuable real estate in my pantry. There were about five things that I realized had been in my pantry for awhile and I had no plans to use them anytime soon (or ever). I lined them up and had a couple of my friends take their pick; everything was taken and I now have more room for things I use.
Once you know what you have in YOUR frantry, check out a site called supercook.com
This site allows you to enter the ingredients you have and searches the web for recipes that utilize them! It is great for last minute meals or when you want to make a dish to use up meats and produce before they go bad.
After using the site for awhile, you will be able to pull your own meals together with ease. Some of my husbands favorite meals are the result of my "experiments" from the frantry. I like the challenge of taking one meals leftovers and turning it into a completely different meal.
Frugal living doesn't have to be a drag, it can be an adventure if you have the right attitude. Our grandmothers were champion thrifty chicks many years ago and they had way less to work with! We can do this!
-D

Welcome to Sister Cents!

Being life long learners, we want to know more and share what we have learned about living frugally. Married with young children, we have felt the tangible obstacles to living within our means; but we still strive to do it! We will share with you things that work for us and things that don't, hoping that you will join the discussion and share your triumphs and failures. --Sherrie and Hadessa