Grocery Deals May 5/5-5/11

I slept in til 8:30 this morning. Wa-hoo! So in case I don't get to these until later today, I'm at least posting the grocery ads and matchups by my favorite bloggers.

UPDATE: Made this video for you Thursday. Enjoy the deal highlights!

Barnes (I'll add more later.)
$1.99 onions, 3lb bag

$0.99/lb roma tomatoes

$0.89/lb yellow squash

$0.89/lb green beans
$1.99 red delicious or rome apples, 3lb bag

$0.25 each, kiwi

Greer's grocery ad.



Publix grocery ad and coupon match-ups from I Heart Publix.

Winn-Dixie grocery ad and coupon match-ups from Southern Savers.


Food World grocery ad and coupon matchups from Coupon Chix (wait until Thrusday, it's not up yet)



Save A Lot grocery ad (deals for May) and coupon matchups from Coupon Savings Game (not up yet).

Asparagus Omelet

Sometimes asparagus goes on sale for $1.99/lb at Publix and Winn-Dixie. It turns out, you can even freeze them without blanching! When you have extras, make sure you try this recipe. It's really delicious!

I was inspired to try it when I saw Ms Connie post it on Home Cooking Rocks. (She's a Filipino blogger, lawyer, writer and plain awesome!) Her husband actually made it for her. I happened to have all the ingredients but sauteed the asparagus and added half an onion.


Ingredients:
3 to 4 eggs, beaten
asparagus, cut into thirds
half an onion, diced
1/3 cup of cheddar cheese
2 tbsp oil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Heat 2 tbsp oil in a skillet.
Saute onions then add asparagus. Set aside.
Beat eggs in a small dish. (I add about 2tbsp water.)
With heat set on medium high, pour into the same skillet.
Push it around as the omelet cooks , so it cooks faster.
Then add some cheese and add the asparagus and onions so they stick on the cheese (on one side of the omelet only).
Now the fun part, flip the plain half over.
This makes a hearty brunch served with salad, too!

Love to cook? Link your recipes to Tasty Tuesday and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.

Thrifty Tip Tuesday- DIY Spices

I have a friend who is an awesome gardener. She is such a blessing to me and a wealth of knowledge. From her herb garden, she gave me a few branches of rosemary to dry.

Then she told me to check for any bugs (her garden is pesticide free) then hang them upside down for a few days. I used some yarn to keep them together.

It was a bit tedious getting them off the stalks. But rosemary smells so good I didn't mind.
I had an empty spice bottle. I covered the old label with some scrapbook paper and glued it on. Voila! I had enough to fill one and share with another friend. Free dried rosemary!

Herbs are easy to grow (so they say!) and do well in containers. Even Target sells them. It's very thrifty to dry some to save for later.

This post is linked to Thrifty Tuesday Tips. Share your great ideas!

Freezer Cooking May Edition

Haphazard freezer cooking, that's what I did. I pretty much thought of what I wanted to make and made it. No plan, really. I cooked a little last weekend too. My photo software is acting up so I pulled these old pics for a visual.

From a roll of ground beef I made meatballs (bbq and spaghetti) and breakfast apple sausages. I mixed in half a pound of sausage for a boost of flavor. The meatballs cooked in the crockpot on low for 4 hours. And the sausages grilled in the George Foreman, then I added cheese singles and an omelet to each. Perfect breakfast sandwiches. I'm freezing the bread separately this time though. I wish I had pics to show you because they looked really good.

Two batches of muffins: apple cheddar and bacon cornbread. Makes easy snack and breakfast additions. I also made granola last week.

Thanks to my friend Misty for showing me how to make homemade tortillas. They're not as pretty as these but yummy, even for the whole wheat tortilla version. I used canola oil in place of lard or shortening with great success. Then I made scrambled eggs, onions, and ground beef for the filling for breakfast burritos.

Lots of breakfast items. I also cooked 5 lbs of chicken leg quarters in the crockpot and picked through the bones. But those will mostly be used for meals this week and lots and lots of salad. I love that my friend Carolyn is an awesome gardener and blesses us with delicious Romaine and butternut lettuce. I couldn't afford salad otherwise!

Do you freezer cook too? It really helps me a lot! I get my ideas from Crystal on Money Saving Mom!

Menu Plan Monday 5.3.10

New month, new menu plan... I've completely avoided doing this in April. Might be why my stress level is a wee bit higher. So this time, try and try again. On the bright side, I cooked a few dishes this weekend that gave me a little headstart.

Crustless quiche, quick and easy, lots of protein!
Cinco de Mayo, Americanized version. Hubs grabbed all the stuff for me at Publix:
BOGO Old El Paso Dinner Kits, $3.03
BOGO Breakstones sourcream 8 oz, $1.09
BOGO Pace Salsa, $2.79 (Minus $2 Qs, only $0.40 each)
Couscous, used really good homemade chicken broth.

Here's the dinner menu plan:
Tuesday: Quiche and Salad
Wedsnesday: Taco Night (Cinco de Mayo!)
Thursday: Pizza Night (Tombstone, only $1.50)
Friday: Soup and Sandwiches
Saturday: Tuna Casserole ($0.30 each from CVS)
Sunday: Crockpot Tetrazzini ($0.10 pasta from Publix)

What's on your table this week? Get inspired from the hundred plans posted at OrgJunkie!

Grocery and Drugstore Deals

I should have known better... kids and blogging are a disasterous pair! Weds and Saturdays are my deal blogging days. If I don't get time to get to them, then I usually can't get around to it at all. So, I thought, I'm on a roll. Two weeks in a row, I've posted grocery deals on Weds morning. This week, I made the error of letting my kids hang out with me while I work the deals. My husband was sleeping in and I wanted to do him the favor of a quiet morning. 7:30 am comes along and both my children are AWAKE playing next to me while I worked. I got as far as writing my own grocery list before I turned of the computer.

In case you still want to do some shopping by Tuesday:
Publix grocery ad and best deals by I Heart Publix
Food World grocery ad and best deals by Coupon Chix
Winn-Dixie grocery ad and best deals by Southern Savers
Greer's grocery ad

Looking for drugstore deals:
I Heart CVS has the ad scan and I Heart Saving Money for deals
I Heart Wags has the ad scan and Hip2Save for deals
Target ad and deals at Totally Target

Printable coupons: many have reset!
Redplum
Smartsource
Coupons.com
Target coupons

One year later, the 500th post!

This is the 500th post at Frugal For You! I started this blog a year ago at the end of April. Boy, has a lot happened since then. I knew nothing about blogs and I am still humbled to the point that I want to crawl in a hole everytime my husband shares this blog with strangers at the store. You see, I am a champion cheerleader to everyone else but myself. As much as I love talking about deals, I really love to write (my thoughts come out clearer that way). As with a lot of things, wifey and mommy life seem to take every bit of my identity away. I needed this blog to carve out time for myself and realize that even with my "regular" duties I can still be "me". Can I hear an "Amen!"

Of course, the more you share information and teach others what you've learned, the more proficient you become. I relate to that parable of the minas (Luke 19:11-27). The little we started out with grew to much more that I could imagine. Not so much monetarily, but more with our mindset. Ever feel trapped where you are? I learned to be content because I assumed things were staying pretty much the same for a while. But with each minuscule bargain deal, I felt success. Compound that every week and the evidence of a storehouse, now I no longer feel trapped.

Last summer, we took our first family to see my parents, Disneyland, and martial arts training. My husband gets really revved up about couponing because he credits that to fulfilling his childhood dream. He'll tell you straight, "I got to go train with the grandmasters of Escrima, because my wife saved us so much money." He made so many new friends at the House of Champions and even got train with Bruce Lee's student, Richard Bustillo.


My simple point is this: Don't lose sight of your goal! It's awesome to get freebies but it's got to be about more than that to keep you going, especially when clipping coupons is the last thing you want to do. Going on vacation, getting out of debt, financing missionaries, whatever it may be, shoot for something beyond yourself. Then pray and thank God for everything, even the mishaps. Because for some deals, you'd need the heavens to open up and bless you. Miracles still happen today. Sometimes, we just need to look at things differently to see them.

Thanks for coming along this journey with me! I know that I'm not the best blogger. But I hope to give you at least a few laughs along the way. Because if saving money doesn't make your smile a little, then we're in big trouble!

CVS Super Shopping May 1, 2010

I ran into a good friend of mine at CVS today, so we got to do a little shopping together. We even took turns at the price scanner scanning our CVS cards for coupons. It's like hanging out by the water cooler! Alas, no great coupons printed. We did get a couple of rain checks for Irish Spring and Softsoap bodywash. Both have $1 off Q in the Reinventing Beauty Magazine. I also tried to make the DVD in the Kodak Picture Maker but the machine malfunctioned so I got a rain check for that BOGO deal. My BOGO coupon should give me 2 FREE DVDs, perfect for Mother's Day.

My CVS still has Easter clearance for 90% off! For next year's stash, I got stickers and pencils for $0.05 each (24 items total). Plus there was a Care Bears toothbrush for $0.50 that sings "I've Got Sunshine" and a WallE toothbrush for $0.35 for my kids. Because of overage from the Depends (yes I bought it for the $2 overage) I was able to get all the clearance items for $0.55! Yay! There are still Easter baskets and even big rabbit chocolate left for the taking.

I am enjoying shopping Saturday evenings because I can do two weeks worth of deals at once. They have the deals starting Sunday already posted plus, all the sales that end Saturday are still in effect. Since this week's not that exciting for deals, I'll just stop by sometime to redeem the DVD raincheck and maybe succumb to buying any 90% Easter clearance left.

My total: $0.55 (I rollovered $9.22 ECBs)
I got $8.99 ECBs!

Here's a few deals:
Depends $6.99 get $6.99 ECBs (Use $2 PRINT)
Colgate Total $2.99 get $2 ECBs (Use $1 from March All You)

More from Hip2Save!

Grocery Deals Aril 21-27

I am having one of those housework ADD days... um, make it week! Trying hard to catch-up on everything plus kids underfoot and talking non-stop makes for bad headaches. At least today is Wednesday. And time for new grocery deals!


Winn-Dixie Ad. Thanks to Southern Savers for match-ups!
I generally ignore deals at Winn-Dixie because their deals are sometimes more expensive than Wal-Mart. But here are the best deals I see:

Half Price Super Sale
$0.74/lb whole chicken
$1.25 broccoli bunch
$2.65 Hebrew National
$1.40 Smucker's Grape Jelly or Squeeze (Use $1/2 Q from 3-28 RP)
$2.49 Eight O'Clock Coffee (Use $1.50/2 Q from 3-14 SS)
$0.79 Barilla Pasta (Use $0.75 Whole Grain from 3-07 SS- regional Q)
$0.99 Betty Crocker Fudge Brownies, 18.3 oz
$0.89 7-Up (Use $1 PRINT- limit reached)
$1.34 Sara Lee White Bread (Use $1/2 Tearpad Q)
$0.99 Old El Paso Taco Shells (Use $1/2 Tearpad Q)
$0.65 Old El Paso Seasoning (Use $1/2 Tearpad Q)
$0.75 Old El Paso Refried Beans (Use $1/2 Tearpad Q or $1 off Beans wyb 2- peelie?)
$1.25 Old El Paso Salsa (Use $1/2 Tearpad Q)
*I do hope our store has this $1/2 Tearpad!

$2.15 Purex 2x 32 loads (Use $1 PRINT)
$1.55 Lysol Toilet Bowl Cleaner (Use $0.55 or $0.75 from 3-14 SS or PRINT)

BOGO Deals
Tysons Anytizer 2/$3.99 (Use two $1 Q from 3/7 SS = $1 each!)
Kellogg's Cereal: Special K, Raisin Bran, Kids Cereal
*(PRINT or PRINT $1 off Low Fat Granola)
Healthy Choice Soup 2/$2

Other Deals
$1.99/lb ground beef
$0.99 each mangoes
$0.99/lb red delicious apples
$1.99/lb green peppers
$0.49/lb cabbage
$2.50 whole or stuffer mushrooms 14-16 oz
$1.99 Oral B Advantage Toothbrush
(Use both BOGO Q from 3-07 PG & $2 from 4-04 PG to get 2 FREE!)


Publix Ad. Thanks to I Heart Publix for match-ups!
Last week was a fun one for me at Publix. Except for the Shout and Windex getting wiped out at both 9th Ave and Mobile Hwy stores. I'm not sad because they're BOGO again this week!

BOGO Deals
Pillsbury Toaster Strudels 2/$2.19 ($1 PRINT)
Post Cereal Selects, Great Grains, Trail Mix Crunch 2/$3.99 (register for $2 PRINT)
Ronzoni Healthy Harves Pasta 2/$1.79 (Use $0.75 from 4-11 SS or $1/2 PRINT)
Cheez-It 2/$3.29 (Use $2/2 from Wags April Booklet & 2 $0.75 PRINT or tearpad)
Yoplait YoPlus 2/$2.50 ($1 PRINT or PRINT or from 3-21 SS)
Edwards Pie 2/$2.50 ($1 PRINT if a la mode is included)

Shout Trigger Spray* 2/$2.99 ($0.55 Q + $1 Publix Q)
Windex Multi Surface Cleaner* ($1 Q + $1/2 Publix Q)
Scrubbing Bubbles Bathroom Cleaner* ($0.75 Q + $2/2 Publix Q)

*(Manuf qs in 3-21 SS & Publix Qs in There's Value in Family booklet)

$1.99 Cascadian Farm Frozen Fruit, Veg, Potatoes or Cereal or Cereal Bars
($1 PRINT or PRINT plus $2/3 Publix PRINT)
3/$5 Del Monte Fruit Chillers ($1 PRINT or PRINT)

Food World Ad. They are having Crazy 8 Sale and don't forget up to $0.50 double coupons!
$0.88 Marcal 1 roll paper towel, 4count TP, napkins (register for $1 PRINT- Thanks Julie!)
$0.88 Dole Classic Iceberg Salad
$1.78/lb ground beef
$0.88 Hunts Spaghetti Sauce
$0.88/lb d'anjou pears
$0.88 power bars or clif bars
2/$0.88 Yoplait yogurt
$0.88/lb Carolina Pride smoked picnics
$0.88/lb chicken fryers
$1.88/lb boneless skinless chicken breasts

$1.48/lb porkchops, bone-in sirloin
BOGO JennieO Turkey franks 2/$1.99
$2.19 Jennie-O Turkey Bacon
$2.50 Jennie-O Turkey Smoked Sausage
$2.99/lb Salmon, frozen fillet
$2.50 Sargento deli style cheese ($0.75 PRINT if rduced soium included)
$2.50 Moore's Marinade ($1Wing Sauce if included from 3-21 SS)
$3 Cascade dishwasher detergent, powder or liquid (1/2 from 3-07 PG)

Greer's Food Tiger Ad.
$2.48/lb boneless bottom round or rump roast
$1.18/lb porkchops
$4.98 Fast Fixin' Breaded Chicken 26 oz nuggets or 36 oz strips
$1 Always Save long grain rice, 2lbs*
$1.50 Always Save white flour, all purp or self-rising 5lb*
*(price-match with Great Value at Wal-Mart)
$1.50 broccoli bunch


Barnes. Last week was not good at all. I was going to buy the paper just to get the Barnes Ad but there was nothing worth reporting that I didn't buy it and saved myself the $0.75!

Drugstore Deals Heads Up! April 18-24

It's Saturday and time to get ready for our CVS, Walgreens and Target shopping. New ads come out tomorrow but the deals are drawn up Friday or Saturday by eager-beaver bloggers everywhere.

CVS Ad Scans from IHeartCVS and Match-Ups from Coupon Saving Game.
Here are my favorite deals:

Easy Freebies
Green Bag Tag: Buy at $0.99; Get $0.99 ECB
Thermacare Neckwrap, 1 count, $2.49; Get $2.49 ECBs
Colgate Total, $2.99; Get $2 ECBs (Use $1 Q from 3/28 SS)

$5.99 Method Laudry Detergent ($2 PRINT= only $4)
*Also, submit for Method Laundry money-back challenge.

$1.50 Starbucks single frappucino ($1 PRINT= only $0.50)

Buy $10 in Hershey's Candy, Get $5 ECBs
Buy 4 H. Kisses, $3 each
Pay $12, Get $5 ECBs
Then, submit for a FREE Movie Ticket!
Walgreens Ad Scans from IHeartWags & Match-Ups from Coupon Saving Game.

Here are my favorite deals:
Easy Freebies
Kotex U Tampons $3.49; Get $2.50 RR (Use $1 PRINT= FREE!)
Colgate Total $2.99; Get $2 RRs (Use $1 Q from 3/28 SS)
Dawn $0.99 w/ in-ad Q (Use $0.50 Q from 4-4 PG= $0.50!)
3/$1 Reusable bags w/ in-ad Q

THURSDAY ONLY: $1 Printer Cartridge Ink Refill w/ in-ad Q


Target Gift Card Deals and Sneak Peak Match-Ups from Totally Target.




Sunday Coupon Preview has SmartSource and RedPlum inserts. Some coupons are regional.

You can also print other Smart Source coupons.

You can also print other RedPlum coupons.

Health Expo at PJC Saturday 4/17

Around this time of the year in April, I attend the Women's Expo, mainly to get samples from the Apple Market. But they won't have it again until next year! To make up for it, they will host a health expo instead. And Apple Market will be there. If you have never visited this place downtown (next to the Angus Steakhouse), it's a true Pensacola Gem. At the Expo, they will have local vendors that sell products at their store. I've had the pleasure of tasting Boar's Head hot dogs and deli meats, blueberry rootbeer, Pirate's Booty snacks, Apple Market's apple dumplings and more. We didn't have to buy lunch after that because we were so full.

But the Gulf Coast Health Source Expo will be more than that. The Dietitian in the Kitchen, Diane Hendricks, will have cooking demos. Baptist will have lots of FREE Health Screenings. You could also pledge to lose weight for the Pound For Pound Challenge. How many pounds you pledge (not lose!) will be how many pounds of food donated to the Bay Area Food Bank. A donation of canned food is appreciated.
When: April 17 from 9am-3pm
Where:Pensacola Junior College Lou Ross Center, 1000 College Blvd.
Read more about it from Bella Magazine's article.

Super Shopping Recap for the Week

Life is full of surprises. Like when I uploaded these pictures I was sure they would get all jumbled up and here they are just in the order I wanted them to be. Sometimes, I sure wish ALL of life is like that.

This post is linked to IHP, MSM, TTM, CSG, FF & TFF. Cryptic, I know. Seeing how other people saved sometimes brings attention to deals I've overlooked. I hope you too will be encouraged!

Sunday and Weds were my shopping days, plus a small trip Thursday. I missed out on Walgreens again this week, but we have shaving cream out the wazoo, so it's ok.

Here is the store breakdown of what I spent:

$7.22 at CVS not $39, saving 82%, plus got $10 ECBs!
$46 at Target not $95, saving 52%, plus got $10 GCs
$5.88 at Winn-Dixie & Wal-Mart not $13, saving 69%
$26 at Publix not $139, saving $82%
Total spent this week: $84, with $10 GC + $10 ECBs
*You can see Sunday's shopping recap by clicking the store name.

It's higher than I hoped to have but considering we stocked up on toilet paper, pasta, popcorn, bathroom cleaner, it's pretty good. The Target Gift Cards also paid for our long distance phone card which I'm not including the grocery total.

Here are some highlights of my Weds shopping:

I ran in to Target to get more onions, $1.49 each and vinegar, $0.18 each after $0.50 Q and brown rice, $0.72, that's pretty cheap!

At another trip, I used $1 Special K crackers & granola cereal Qs to get these for $5.35. I got a $5 GC. Using this with another $5 GC from Sunday's Target trip, hubs bought a 600 minute ATT phone card for only $5. So that's only 1 penny per minute!

Publix has Campbell's soups for $1. BUT Wal-Mart has cream of chicken and mushroom for $0.72, so only $0.22 each after the $1/2 Campbell's Q. I got a gallon of milk too and paid $3.86 total.

My big Publix trip below was only $7.46, although I got quite harassed by my use of coupons and buying too much pasta. Apparently, the Publix ad often states "Quantity rights reserved" for certain BOGO items. I found out that the store I visited has a limit of 4, so with BOGO, you get 8 items max.

I wish they would let people know what their store limit is on the shelf tag instead of telling you at checkout, because it is quite embarrassing when the cashier yells out, "Isn't there a limit for this spaghetti." What if I was throwing a Pasta Party?I called later and spoke to the store manager, not realizing how upset I really was. Or maybe it's PMS. He assured me that the dignity of the customer is very important to him and he was sorry that I was embarrassed and will speak with the cashier. I also reminded him that this was the only Publix I frequent and I do spend a lot of money (before coupons!) at his store.

My husband "encouraged" me to voice a complaint. I think he knew that this would bubble up inside of me later if I just blew it off now. Of course, the cashier was doing her best to abide by the rules and do her job. I'm reminded of this proverb:

"A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." Proverbs 15:1

In the midst of "doing our job" we all have at one time made the mistake of saying harsh words, however unintentionally. Better if she informed me discreetly of company policy. I could have reacted the same, given the ear of her store manager. But his gentle answer did help me feel vindicated. Life lessons at the checkout lane... I love it!