Great Deals at Disneyshopping.com and go thru Ebates

Disney Shopping is having a Spring Sale with up to 60% off many items and a $4.99 graphic t-shirt sale. Today you can use code: bonus25 for an additional 25% off and code: shipfive for $5 flat rate shipping.

If you are already a member of ebates, shop thru them and earn 4% back. If you are signed up for ebates but haven't made a purchase thru them yet, today is an excellent day to earn your first bonus of $10. The $10 bonus offer expires tomorrow, March 31st.

If you are new to ebates, click here to join. You will get 4% of your purchase price back from your Disney Order and earn a $10 bonus on your first purchase thru ebates thru March 31st only. Once at ebates type in "disney shopping" into the search box on the left side of their page.

This cute Easter basket was $14.99, now $2.99, after code: $2.24. It is listed under Home and Decor.I ordered 2 of these High School Musical Beach towels for my girls. They are personalized free with their first name. They were $19.50, on sale for $14.99, after code $11.24! Search for item #92829P

There are other cute things to pick up for Easter next year under "plush" and perhaps a few gifts for kids' birthday parties or Christmas under "toys".

I so excited to have a good deal to share today!

Ebates survey for $1

I went to Ebates.com this morning to check my balance and found a screeen that read "Down for Maintenance" but if you complete our quick survey we will credit your account with $1. Survey took about 2 minutes. So if you are reading this early in the morning and you have an ebates account head there now to see if you can get in on the survey.

Ebates

Free Word Swatter Gift for Teachers from Learning Resources

In recognition of Teacher Appreciation Week, May 4-10, we would like to offer you a free Word & Number Swatter™ as a small token of our thanks. Word and Number Swatters™ isolate letters, words, parts of speech and punctuation, as well as numbers and operation symbols on pocket charts, whiteboards, chalkboards and more

sign up here

Requesting Prayers for a fellow frugal blogger

Krissy at Living Frugal and Loving It needs our prayers. Her mother is in ICU following cardiac arrest which follows months of battling breast cancer. Krissy, I am praying for you, your mom, and step-dad and ask that God heal your mom either through a miracle here on Earth or through taking her home to heaven. I hope that she doesn't suffer anymore either way. You can read her post about her mom here.

Hugs and Prayers,

Angie

Free Money when you open a TD Ameritrade Account

If you are like me you like free things! What can beat free money? Free money especially good if you are living on a tight budget and working the Dave Ramsey plan for financial freedom.

Suze Orman, another famous financial guru, has partnered with TD Ameritrade to help you get started saving money. All you have to do is deposit $50 each month for 12 months and after a year, you will receive a $100 bonus deposit! You will earn 4.5% interest on your money too. There are no fees for opening the account. But hurry because this offer expires on Monday, March 31st!

I opened my account this morning. It was an easy application and took about 15 minutes. I set up automatic deposits of $50 for each month. By April 2009 I will have $600 of my own money in there, get an additional $100 bonus, and earn 4.5% on the money each month. I figure I will have at least $725, just in time for Spring Break 2009.

The bonus of $100 is like a 16% return on your money! I haven't found that kind of return anywhere else.

To open your account follow this link and enter code "701" for the Suze Orman Save Yourself Account. (I don't get any money from you doing this, I just want to see others get a great deal too!)

You can read more about others who have done this at
Be Thrifty Like Us
The Money Kings

First Quarter Financial Review Exercise

I'm not sure where March went. It doesn't even seem real that 1/4 of the year is gone already. This weekend I'm going to review not only our family's spending and accomplishments for March but also for the first quarter of the year. If you would like to join me, this is what you need to do:
(Even if you use a money program like Quicken or MS Money, doing this exercise on paper is very educational, eye-opening, and motivational)

1. Gather or print your January-March bank statements.
2. Get a highlighter, a piece of paper, and a calculator.
3. Glance through your statements and make a category for each type of spending (mortgage, utilities, groceries, etc.)
4. As you go through your statements add the amount of each transaction to each category.
5. After you have done all 3 months, add up the totals and divide by 3 to get your monthly average.
6. Compare the spending in each category with your total income to get a percentage of your money going to that category.
7. Behold your accomplishments and areas that need to be reworked.

I hope to complete this exercise by Sunday evening. I will post my findings! I hope you will join me in reviewing your first quarter spending and saving.

A good deal. At Winn-Dixie. On cereal. Sigh.

Okay, after my depressing post on Wednesday about not having any good deals lately I have found one at Winn-Dixie on General Mills cereals, fruit snacks, and granola bars. If it weren't for cereal lately I would hardly get excited about grocery shopping. Luckily (unluckily??) my kids are content to eat cereal at anytime of day for a meal or snack.

Here's the deal:

These products are on sale 4 for $10. At checkout you get an automatic $4 off your order when you buy 4 so really they are 4 for $6. You can then add in coupons to make it an even better deal.

The products are:

Milk N Cereal Bars, Curves Granola Bars, Fiber One chewy bars, Nature Valley Granola Bars, Caribou Coffee Bars, Betty Crocker fruit snacks, Cheerios 14 oz, Honey Nut Cheerios 12.25 oz, Lucky Charms 11.5 oz, Frosted Cheerios 17.2 oz, and Cookie Crisp 12.25 oz

Coupons available:

Printables at Betty Crocker

Inserts from 3/09

Other good deals:

15 Count Totino's Pizza Rolls are $1.00, use the $.50 off coupon at Betty Crocker (above) and get them for $.50 a box.

Chef Boyardee $1.00 each, use $1 off 3 here and get them for $.67 a can

Hamburger Helper, et al $1.00, use coupons from 03/09

Pillsbury Crescent Rolls $1.00, use coupon from 2/10

40% off Chicken Sale

My Plan for Winn-Dixie:

16 box combination of the cereals that are on sale $40

4 boxes Nature Valley Granola Bars $10

5 boxes Pizza Rolls $5.00

9 Chef Boyardee $9.00

$6 in chicken

Total: $70

Minus instant savings from General Mills -20

New total- $50

Minus $10 off $50 order that I got in the mail from Winn-Dixie-10

Minus 4 free Nature Vally Granola Bars -$10

Minus 5 $1 off 3 cereals -$5

Minus 2 $.80 off 2 granola bars -$1.60

Minus 5 $.50 off Totinos Pizza Rolls- $2.50

Minus 3 $1 off 3 Chef Boyardee -$3

New total: $17.90

A Savings of 74%

I'm beginning to think that this is the best it is gonna be :(

Well, it's Wednesday again. A day I used to look forward to for the great grocery deals. Well, I'm not excited anymore. I think I'm either in a shopping funk or I need to realize that these are the best prices that there is going to be for awhile. I'm just bummed about it and I don't even want to go shopping. I have only been to CVS once in the past 4 weeks, Walgreens twice and Target-not once!!!! Maybe it is because my life has changed with the new little one but going to the store with a newborn for less than stellar prices makes me depressed! Is anyone else feeling this way?

Of course, there are still some great deals but they seem to not come along as often or as plentiful. It is just sad to me. There aren't even that many good online deals. Last year at this time I was finding great deals every day now it's like there is a good deal once a month or so. I have nothing in my gift closet, nothing ready for upcoming Mother's and Father's Day, nothing in my kids' stockings in the trunk for next Christmas. Ugggg!

Please tell me I'm not the only one feeling this way! What are you doing to overcome the rising prices? What do you consider a great deal these days? What's a Thrifty Mama suffering from good deal withdrawl to do?

Cartoon Network Ben 10 Alien Force Party! We Won!

My son Caleb was selected as a House Party recipient for Cartoon Network's show "Ben10 Alien Force". Over 7,000 people entered to host this house party and we were one of 1000 households across the United States to be selected as a host. We are all super excited as this is one of all of the kids' favorite shows. House Party is a free site that allows anyone interested in hosting to apply and if selected they send you all the party goods as long as you agree to take photos and post information about how the party went for marketing purposes.

We don't know all of the details yet but on Sunday, April 13th we will host the Cartoon Network party and according to HouseParty.com we will receive a box with party goodies and a DVD of the premiere showing of the new "Ben 10 Alien Force". The kids at the party will get to see the premiere 1 week before the new show actually airs on Cartoon Network. The party box will also include Ben 10 party favors for the guests.

As we get more information about the party I will post more details.

If you are interested in being selected as a host for a fabulous party just go to www.houseparty.com and click events. You can register to receive an application for their upcoming parties. They are currently accepting applications for Aveeno Beauty Party, Ford's Big Give Party, Kenmore Kitchen Makeover Party, Hershey's Chocolate Bliss Party, and one that looks really cool- the History Channel Ice Road Trucker's Party.

I hope some Thrifty Florida Mama readers get picked for upcoming parties! Wouldn't that be cool. Just make sure I'm on the invite list! Just kidding. Wishing you all luck in this great, new, frugal world of get-togethers!

Introducing the Hunting and Recreation Business Mall Online

Do you have a hunter or fisherman in your life? Do they love browsing and finding the latest and best hunting and fishing gear? or do you wish you could surprise them with a gift related to their favorite hobby? Look no further than the Hunting and Recreation Business Mall Online.

Specializing in providing quality products straight from the factory so you never get old, shop worn or outdated products - you receive only the latest versions of the products they sell.
The owner of the company, Larry Jones is a hunter too and only sells and endorses products he personally uses. Check out their great selection of Texas Hunter brand hunting blinds and feeders. Look here for some excellent Fish Feeders.

Once you see their quality products you will be equally impressed with their customer service. The customer service line is open 7 days a week from 8 am to 9 pm central time. After reading the testimonies from previous and repeat customers you will know that you have made the right choice for purchasing your hunting and recreation needs.

As one customer wrote, "Hi Larry, Thanks for the note and the excellent communication. My son and I put the blind together yesterday and it's a quality setup that should see his kids using it far down the road. I have already directed some folks to your website."

Quality products, personalized service, and excellence in getting your order to you promptly, what more could you ask for?! Visit Larry's online store today.

Menu Plan Monday

Breakfast choices for the week:
Pancakes
Grits
Cereal
Oatmeal
Toast

Lunch choices for the week: (Pack a lunch)
Chocolate Pudding
Pretzels
Cheese cubes
apples
mini carrots
ham and cheese roll-ups
peanut butter and jelly
quesadilla
mandarin orange cup
Easter Candy
Boiled Eggs
Egg Salad sandwiches
leftovers

Dinners:
Marlboro Man sandwiches with baked potatoes (recipe at The Pioneer Woman Cooks)
Thai Noodles with cooked cabbage
Fancy bacon-wrapped chicken with brocolli and cheese, crescent rolls
Hamburger Helper, green beans
Rachel Ray Pork Chops, corn casserole, cucumber and tomato slices

Thai Noodles- great for leftover cooked noodles
8 oz pkg of noodles, spaghetti or angel hair, cooked and drained (but reserve 5 tbsp. of the water)
1 cup cooked diced chicken (can leave out for vegetarian style)
1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 - 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes
1/2 cup shredded carrots
2 green onions, thinly sliced.
While the pasta is cooking, combine the peanut butter, soy sauce, and red pepper flakes until smooth. Set aside. After the pasta is cooked, drain and reserve 5 tbsp. of the water. Mix the water with the peanut butter, soy sauce & red pepper flakes mixture and blend until smooth. In a med. bowl, combine the pasta and peanut butter mixture and toss. Stir in the carrots and onions and serve.

Reader's Questions: Grocery Budget; Breakfasts and Lunches

Jennifer from Georgia, who happens to be my wonderful sister-in-law and author of the website Keepers of the Home, wrote to ask what my $100 weekly food budget included. Specifically she wants to know if it includes breakfasts and lunches since we are out of the home during lunchtime. Here's my round-about answer.

My $100 budget includes all food and household products. It does include all breakfasts but not all lunches. Lunch is tough so I'll address it a little while later in this post.

Breakfasts:
We eat a variety of breakfast foods but they have to be quick since we are usually head out the door for school by 7:20 a.m.

I stock up on cereal when I can get it for $1-$1.50 per box. We are still eating Honey Bunches of Oats with chocolate clusters which were free with the recent $2 printable coupons.

Christin and I eat a lot of oatmeal. Right now we are making our way through 12 boxes of Quaker Whole Grain Apples and Cinnamon. We also have a tub of Quaker quick oats. I've been told that oatmeal is a good milk booster for nursing moms so I've been eating it every day.

Caleb and Ciarra love to eat instant grits. I stock up on the Quaker variety, usually in January each year, when it is BOGO.

We also eat toast with jelly, bagels when they are on sale, and of course our pancakes from the freezer.

None of these take more than 1 minute to make and the kids do it themselves. I keep all of these items on the bottom shelves of the pantry with a measuring cup so they can measure the water for the grits and oatmeal. As we walk out the door the kids and I grab either some fruit or a cheese stick for a mid-morning snack.

LUNCHES:
The kids have 3 options for lunches. First, they can choose to eat a school lunch and pay for it with their allowance. Our allowances are very generous for the very reason that we want them to pay for all of their own stuff, including lunches. The second option is to pack a lunch with items that I've bought on sale at the grocery store. I have a stock right now of sugar-free pudding cups, mandarin orange cups, pretzels, cheese cubes, and fruit snacks. They usually eat a ham and cheese or peanut butter and jelly sandwich with these things. Their third option is to buy their own stuff for packing a lunch with their allowance. Christin usually buys her own beef jerky for her lunches and Caleb likes to buy lunchables. So probably about 50% of the money for the kids' lunches comes from my grocery budget, the rest comes from their allowance.

My husband 's lunches are from the grocery budget. He likes to eat frozen foods and junky snacks for lunch and he usually balances that out by taking leftovers a couple of times per week. In the past I've gotten really mean over his lunch foods because a Healthy Choice dinner is usually at least $2.50 even on sale and Little Debbies never have coupons! I actually resented buying theses things with the grocery budget. So now I just give him $20 a week out of the grocery budget to buy his own stuff. It works for us because he gets to buy what he wants and I never see it. He takes it straight to school where he has his own small refrigerator.

My lunches. While I was pregnant I was spending a hefty amount of money on take-out. It didn't help that my friends at school asked me everyday what I wanted to eat. Thanks ya'll! But I was sooo sick every morning for the entire 9 months that I could not even think about food that early in the morning and when I went to the grocery store I got sick even looking at the frozen dinners. So I ate out. A lot. Like everyday a lot!

But I think my friends and I have came to our senses. We were spending way too much! Now I either take leftovers from my suppers, pack a sandwich, or bring part of a meal to share with my friends. Sometimes we have baked potato lunches were we all bring our own potato and a topping to share. We do salads the same way. Now we are even getting to the point that we switch off days to bring an entire crockpot full of goodies. In the past 2 weeks we've had crockpot soup with chunks of pork chop, potato soup with ham, chicken and dumplings, chicken tetrazinni, and baked spaghetti. We are cooking these things for supper anyway so we make an extra pan or pot of stuff to bring to work. It is so yummy and inexpensive! We are still ordering out on Fridays but I take that money from either my allowance or my pay per post money so it doesn't come out of the food budget.

I hope this helps Jennifer and maybe some others too!

My Egg Salad Recipe

This is one that all of us actually eat:

5-6 boiled eggs, chopped
1-2 Tablespoons of Mayo, just enough to wet the ingredients, not to make soggy bread
generous salt and pepper
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
celery chopped
either chopped green onions or chives to taste

We eat this on toasted bread or crackers.

For a twist you can add a little curry powder.

Using up Easter Eggs

If you are like us you may find yourself with many leftover boiled eggs from the Easter holiday. Each of my kids dyed their own dozen eggs and then we acquired more at our family egg hunt. Of course, a few of them are already eaten but I'd say we have at least 24 eggs in the refrigerator. Here are a few ways we plan to use ours this week:

1. As a snack in the kids' lunchboxes.
2. We will be having a lot of sandwiches this week: tuna salad and of course egg salad
3. Potato Salad
4. Cobb Salad
5. Deviled eggs

For Bloggers using Google Adsense- Adding a Privacy Policy

If you are running Google Adsense on any of your personal websites or blogs you need to now include a "privacy policy" for your readers. It basically states that Google or other advertising programs are running on your site and if a reader clicks on a link from Google ads or any other type of advertisement (like my link to ING Direct) that the reader's ip address will be seen and recorded by the advertiser. This is now part of the Google adsense Terms of Service that we agreed to when signing up for adsense. I recently clicked to accept the new terms but didn't really know what it meant. This privacy policy is what it means.

Nothing is new or different for your readers or advertisers. It doesn't mean anything other than to let your readers know there are advertisements on your blog and if they are interested in clicking the links then the advertiser will know they have been to their site. Well, duh! All websites record who visits them.

So, for all my Thrifty Florida Mama readers you can find my privacy policy at the very bottom of the page. I do not record your visits, nor do I know who you are or anything about you other than what you choose to tell me in your wonderful comments and emails.

If you need a privacy policy for your site you can get a free one here.

Hope this helps my fellow bloggers!

Reader's Questions: Homemade Freezer Pancakes

Melissa from South Florida asked two great questions:

1. How do I keep food cool in the car ride home from the grocery store in the Florida heat? and
2. She would like the recipe, freezing and reheating method for my freezer pancakes

Florida heat can be sooo, well hot! Today it was 85 degrees on the first day of Spring. For keeping food cool I suggest these things: First, make sure the cashier bags all of the frozen food together without other products. I put all of the frozen food onto the belt first and then the other stuff. If I have popsicles or ice cream I ask the cashier to double bag it. Next, I tie the frozen food bags shut with the flaps at the top. When I put the groceries into the back of the car I put all of the frozen food on one side and pile them on top of each other, rather than spreading them out on the bottom. Being close together keeps them cooler. Some people like to keep a cheap styrofoam cooler in the back of the car but if I'm stockpiling items the cooler isn't usually large enough for my stuff so I just do the above things and then put them away immediately after I get home.

Freezer Pancakes:

This makes a lot of pancakes. I make these usually on a Saturday morning for us to eat for breakfast and then just keep making the rest of the batter for the freezer pancakes. If you don't want to make this many just use your regular recipe or even a box of ready made pancake mix and just cook extra for the freezer.

6 1/4 cup flour
5 eggs
6 cups milk plus vinegar below or 6 1/4 cups buttermilk without the vinegar
6 TBS vinegar
5 teaspoons baking powder
5 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon salt

If using milk and vinegar pour the 6 cups of milk and 6 tablespoons of vinegar into a mixing bowl and let sit for 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and cook pancakes as usual.
If using buttermilk combine all ingredients and cook pancakes as usual.

Freezing Method:

I use the flash freeze method. I have done it 2 ways. First way is to line some baking sheets with wax paper or aluminum foil. Fill the sheet with a single layer of the pancakes, loosely cover and stick into the freezer for about 30 minutes. Then take them out and place inside either gallon or quart size freezer bags. Doing it this way ensure that the pancakes don't stick together and you can reheat as many as you like in the microwave.

The second way I have frozen them is to put 3 pancakes inside a sandwich bag and then put straight into the freezer. These 3 pancakes stick together but we just put the pancakes onto a plate, microwave for about 45 seconds and they come right apart. I put 3 into a bag because that is the usual serving size for my kids for breakfast.

Reheating method:

45 seconds in the microwave! My kids are able to do this themselves so they have a hot breakfast in a quick way.

Winn-Dixie Deals thru March 25th

Welcome to the Winn-Dixie edition of the Grocery Gathering! I hope you find some great deals for stocking your pantry and lowering your food budget. Here are my best deals at Winn-Dixie this week:

Mahatma Rice 5 oz. BOGO, use 2 coupons from 1/30 and get it for only $.15 each

Betty Crocker Specialty Potatoes $1.00, use coupon from 3/16 and get it for only $.65 each

Pepperidge Farm garlic bread 10oz BOGO, use coupon from 2/24 and get it for $.85 each

Kraft salad dressing 16oz BOGO, use coupon from 3/02 and get it for $.97 each

Green Giant Frozen boxed vegetables $1.00, use coupon from 3/16 and get it for $.75 each

Pepperidge Farm 3-Layer Cakes BOGO, use 2 coupons from 2/24 and get it for $1.70 each

Spiral Ham $1.79 per pound

Fresh Asparagus $1.79 per pound

40% off beef steaks (I saw packages of 4 pieces of cubed steak for around $3.25 each! A great deal!)

BEST DEAL OF THE WEEK:

Buy 3 of the $1 Pillsbury 4 count crescent or cinnamon rolls and get a free dozen eggs. It automatically takes off $2.19. So you get 12 rolls and a dozen eggs for $3! I tried it myself and it does work on the $1.00 packages of rolls.

Phone Call Solicitors! Ugh!

I love Caller ID! If it is an 800, 888, 866, 877, etc. I don't usually answer the phone. I hate solicitors. I'm on the "Do Not Call" List, for heaven's sakes but you'd never know that by the number of junk calls we get daily.

So today, while I'm running a fever and suffering from a sore throat I answered the phone even though the ID said, "No data". Sometimes "no data" actually means my sister is calling. Here is the conversation:

Me-"Yes, this is Angie Hopkins"
Them-"Ma'am, I'm calling to see how much you are enjoying your current magazine subscriptions with our company."
Me- "I'm sorry, I don't have any magazine subscriptions. I don't subscribe to magazines."
Them-"Well our records indicate that you are receiving several magazines from us and I'm calling to see how you like receiving them."
Me- "Not very much since I do not receive magazines. I do not subscribe to magazines."
Them- "our records go back several years and "
Me- "I DO NOT Subscribe, have not subscribed, and will not subscribe to magazines. But could you tell me which magazines you think I am susposedly getting from your company."
Them- "Well, no. We don't have a record of the titles that you subscribe to but I
can tell you that because of how well you handled your last subscription service. . ."
Me- "Wait. Are you offering me a good deal. . . on magazines. . . that I already susposedly get and have already paid for but that I don't get and have never subsribed to and never paid for?"
Them- "Yes, we can extend. . ."
Me- "I don't subscribe to magazines! Please remove my name at once from your calling list."
Them- "ma'am we can't remove your name because you are an active customer."
me- "Can I please speak to your supervisor?"
them- click

They were about to offer me a great deal of my choice of 8 popular magazines from a list of 50 titles for only $8.33 a week for the next 48 months. Are you kidding me? That's $1732.64!! Who falls for this stuff?

I know because they called and offered this to my long gone dog last week! Seriously!

Menu Plan for the Week

Monday- Hamburgers on buns, oven fries, lettuce, tomato, and pickles

Tuesday- Crockpot barbecued chicken breasts, corn on the cob, green beans

Wednesday- Taco salad

Thursday- Pork Tenderloin, new red potatoes, cream corn

Friday- Homemade pizzas on French bread, ice cream

Reader's Questions and Answers

Do you have any questions for me? I'd love to try a round of reader's questions and answers. It could be about something you are curious about or a question about how to do something more frugally or something technical about blogging. I will try to answer the questions over the next week on my blog. Please email me at adh913 at yahoo dot com and put "question" in your subject. I look forward to it!

Is the time right to refinance your home?

With the Fed lowering interest rates lately it might be a good time to refinance your Mortgage. My husband and I are looking into this ourselves. Although our current rate is not high we might could lower it a tad and have more money toward our debt snowball each month. Our estimated Refinance Rates are 1 to 1.5 percentage than our current rate.

If you are in the process of buying your own home it is certainly a buyer's market. In my neighborhood you can have your pick of great homes at pretty reasonable prices. If you are new to this process make sure you do your homework and learn as much as you can about the buying process and the mortgage brokering process. This is one area of our finances that my husband and I did it right the first time. Check Florida Mortgage for more information for rates and reputable mortgage businesses in our state.

PersonalHomeLoanMortgages.com provides consumers with a comprehensive directory of mortgage lenders and real estate professional throughout the country along with expert advice and up-to-date industry news. Visit their site for more information about your specific situation.

When will you receive your IRS Economic Stimulus Check?

I know the answer! Here's a handy table direct from the IRS:

Stimulus Payment Schedule for Tax Returns Received and Processed by April 15

Direct Deposit Payments
If the last two digits of your Social Security number are:
Your economic stimulus payment deposit should be sent to your bank account by:
00 – 20
May 2
21 – 75
May 9
76 – 99
May 16

Paper Check
If the last two digits of your Social Security number are:
Your check should be in the mail by:
00 – 09
May 16
10 – 18
May 23
19 – 25
May 30
26 – 38
June 6
39 – 51
June 13
52 – 63
June 20
64 – 75
June 27
76 – 87
July 4
88 – 99
July 11

This assumes that you filed your taxes by the April 15th deadline. If you received your 2007 rebate via direct deposit you will get your stimulus check by direct deposit. If you received a paper check or you had to pay the IRS then you will receive a paper check.

We haven't filed our taxes yet but we will file with my name listed first since the last 2 digits of my social are 0X. So we will be getting ours in early May!

Weekend in Review

I had grand plans for this weekend. We were going to dig out the dead grass and make a beautiful flower bed in the front yard. We were going to head to Home Depot to get materials to build some square foot garden spots in the backyard. Together as a family we were going to go to an annual plant nursery sale and buy a truck load of colorful flowers and fresh vegetable plants. Then as a happy family we were going to spend the weekend building, planting, and having a celebratory barbecue. Those were the plans. But . . .

On Friday my dear husband was diagnosed with the flu. The actual flu! We've never had the flu in our house. We have pretty much stayed away from him all weekend while he rests and takes his Tamiflu and other medicines. Thankfully I had a stockpile of clorox wipes, Oust, and soup. He is up and vertical today so I know he is getting better. The doctor's visit and medicines cost $65. No digging or planting for him, so of course the rest of us didn't do any either.

On Saturday I did go to the plant sale. I took my son Caleb with me and we walked up and down aisle after aisle of greenery and flowers. It was very muddy at the nursery but we had a great time. Unfortunately I didn't know what I wanted to buy. I got totally overwhelmed looking at everything. The lady at the nursery asked me several questions about our soil, like if we had acidic soil or if we ever put lime on our lawn. I had no idea how to answer the questions! My husband takes care of all of that!

Then I found the fruit tree section. I love fresh fruit and I've always wanted to have fruit trees like my grandparents have. So Caleb and I bought an apple tree, pear tree, and a peach tree. They were $15 each and are all over 6 ft. tall already. The peach tree has little peach buds and the apple tree is beginning to blossom. These are all Florida native species. We are planning where to put them and will get them in the ground this week.

Hopefully, next weekend we can get the flower and garden beds ready. Hopefully no one will have the flu!

Discover Card is Gone!

My last payment of $2352 to Discover Card cleared the bank and we are officially credit card free for the first time in our marriage! Discover Card has been around so long it was like a first child. It is the first credit card that my husband opened as a college student in 1992. I cannot even begin to fathom how much interest we paid to Discover Card over the past 16 years. Oh my goodness I just said 16 years!! Of course, there were periods of time that Discover Card had a zero balance but I would venture to say that Discover card made a killing from us. They are going to be so sad to see us go!

Let's see if I can remember some of the things I bought with Discover Card:
** dinners out that are long gone**
**clothes that are too small**
**stuff that is broken and gone to the landfill**
**toys my kids had to have that they probably didn't play with much**
**Christmases before we converted to cash-only Christmases**
**Doctor's bills**
**Our entire vacation of 2005**

Nothing that has any appreciated value!

Nothing that we couldn't have done without!

Nothing that I can hold in my hands and say it was worth it!

They say is "pays to Discover". All I can say is lesson learned and paid in full!

Great Deals on Small Kitchen Appliances at Linens N Things

Edited: The 25% off code is dead but there is a 20% off code. I listed it below. This is also going on in the brick and mortar stores if you have one near you.

Thanks to GuavaTooo who posted these great deals at Slickdeals.net!

Here are the details:
Buy 1 or more of the following appliances and receive a $20 Visa Card as a rebate. This Visa card can be used anywhere Visa is accepted. You can also stack a 20% off code and go through ebates for an additional 3% back. These would make great gifts for upcoming college graduates or wedding showers.

$40 - 20% - $20 card-3% from ebates = $9 total price for each of these:

*Farberware Electric Griddle

*Farberware 10 Cup Rice Cooker

*Farberware Millennium 48oz. Blender
*Farberware Millennium 4 Slice Toaster Oven
*Euro Pro Stainless Steel Deep Fryer
*Farberware 12 Cup Coffee Maker
*Euro Pro 6 Qt Slow Cooker

Here's how to do it:
1. Click on the links above to see which product or products you are interested in purchasing.
2. Write down the item number for each.
3. Go to ebates.com. If you are already a member just sign in and search for Linens N Things in the store search box on the left side of the page. If you are new to ebates you can sign up through clicking this link.
4. Put the items you want into your cart.
5. At check out enter code: 26620000008 for 20% off your entire order. You can also choose store pickup to avoid shipping charges if you have a nearby store.
6. Print out the rebate forms and mail with your receipt.
7. You just got a great deal!

Good Deals at Winn-Dixie thru March 18th

Welcome Grocery Gatherers! I have highlighted what I see as the best deals at Winn-Dixie this week. Please visit the Grocery Gathering at Be Centsable for other stores good deal info! If you see a deal I've left out please leave a comment so we can be sure we get all the possible deals. It honestly doesn't look like a good week! I usually spend about $50-$60 per week at Winn-Dixie and use coupons to bring that number down. Here are my best deals this week:

Land O' Lakes Butter $2.00 per pound (A good price for real butter around here)Use 2 $.30/1 coupons from 3/25 ss insert or 2 $.55/1 printable

Maxwell House Coffee 33-39 oz. $5.99
Use $1.00 off coupon from inserts 3/09 or print $1 off here

Betty Crocker Family Size Brownies BOGO $2.20 Use $.50 off 2 coupon from General Mills insert 2/10/08

Spiral Sliced Ham $1.79 per pound

SeaPak Popcorn Shrimp BOGO $5.00 Use coupon from inserts 2/24/08

Good deals on Sketchers Shoes @ Sketchers.com

Sketchers.com is having a clearance sale where many of their shoes and sandals are 60% off and free shipping. You enter code: SALE60 at checkout. Plus Sketchers.com is an ebates store where you get 4% of your purchase back. There are many shoes for women, men, girls and boys. The sandals above were $42 and are now $16.80 shipped to your door.

First, go thru ebates.com if you are a registered ebates user. If you haven't signed up for ebates yet click here to get signed up and then search for Sketchers in the left hand store search area. Ebates will take you to the sketchers site where you can then shop the clearance sale.

Turkey Chronicles Day Four

I had one of those days on Tuesday. You know the kind where you just think you should go back to bed and start over because nothing is going right. Well, Tuesday was my day! Actually everything was okay until I got home from work. Then it all went downhill fast. I won't go into all the details but here's one of the events that kind of sum up how the day went:

Caleb and I were sitting on my back porch because it was a gorgeous day. I had the baby outside in her stroller and we were enjoying the warmth and sunshine. Suddenly Caleb spots a beautiful red robin in our backyard. We watched it for a few minutes. It was hopping from spot to spot doing what I thought was eating worms or bugs or something. I turned to my son in this perfect mother-son time and said, "Wow, Caleb that is a robin! Seeing a robin is one of the first signs of Spring." Then the bird stopped moving around. Caleb asked me what it was doing now. I didn't know so we went into the yard to see the bird. It was dead!!!! It just fell over and died. Caleb being so wise and everything at the age of 8 turned and looked at me, not with dismay or sadness, but asked, "Can I go get my pellet gun and shoot it?" Ummm, no it is dead already. "Well, can I take the bird to school tomorrow. I bet Mrs. N has never seen a dead bird!" Ummm, we'll see. And that ladies and gentlemen was just part of my horrible day. Now onto the turkey!

For Supper on Tuesday and our 5th meal from the free UPS Turkey I kind of made something up. I had half of a large onion left from a previous meal and had 2 green bell peppers that needed using up. I took my Pillsbury French loaf dough and split it down the middle on a baking pan. I sprayed it with olive oil and added some salt, pepper, and Italian seasonings. On top of the dough I spread the chopped onion and bell peppers, really piling them up. I put this in the oven until the dough was about done. I then spread turkey and cubed cheese on top. Put it back into the oven and let the dough finish cooking. I then put it on low broil so the cheese could melt and make everything a little brown on top. I then cut it into 6 large pieces. Along with this we had baked potatoes (made in the microwave) with toppings. It was a great quick meal and the turkey thing turned out to be really good.

Price of the meal:
2 bell peppers $.75
onion $0 (leftover from another recipe)
cheese $0 free from winn-dixie
turkey $0 free
dough $.60 bought on sale with coupon
4 baking potatoes $1.00 from the clearance section at the local fruit stand
Total for the meal: $2.35

The Turkey Chronicles Days 1-3

We are still eating out of the pantry and I haven't bought many groceries since the big pantry clean out and straighten up. (Well, except for my trip to Wal-mart when I was extremely hungry and stressed. I'll write about that later. It's is shameful!)


So, Saturday I decided to finally cook our Free UPS turkey that my husband received back in December. This particular turkey didn't come with an attached price tag, therefore I could not determine its exact weight. Judging from how long it took to cook, I figure it to be about 10 pounds. My goal was to get at least 5 meals out of this turkey. That means that we would eat virtually free for a week of dinners.


So, Saturday evening we had:
Roasted Turkey (free from UPS)
Stove Top Stuffing ($.29 from Target)
Field peas with snaps ($.50 from Walmart)
Homemade biscuits (~$.30)
I used 2 sticks of butter for the meal so that was another $1 (Walgreens)
Total for meal #1: $2.09


Sunday lunch- leftovers for free

Sunday evening-
Bacon and Turkey club sandwiches (onion rolls from walmart clearance breads $.30, turkey free, bacon $1.25, lettuce $.30)
homemade fries from 5 red potatoes $.80
Total for meal $2.35


Monday lunch-
turkey subs
turkey Free, french bread from walmart clearance $.30, lettuce free from school
1 sliced cucumber $.20 from clearance bag at fruit stand
mini carrots $.50
2 sugar cookies $.20
Total for my meal- $1.20


Monday dinner-
Turkey Tetrazinni- $2.20 (recipe below)
Brocolli (free from Target awhile back and put up) $0

I just love Turkey Tetrazinni. As my friend Sheila says, "It looks like someone threw up in a bowl but it tastes like heaven." I should have made 2 and put one in the freezer but I didn't think of it soon enough. This dish was gone within the hour!

Here's my recipe:

1 onion, diced $.30
1 stalk celery, chopped $.10
1 stick butter, $.50
1/2 cup flour
1/2 large box of spaghetti noodles, $.30, cooked and drained
2 cups diced turkey free
1/2 cup milk $.50
3/4 cup water free
poultry seasoning
salt
pepper
dry mustard
1 1/2 cups cheese (mine was free liveactive)
1/2 sleeve crackers $.25
Total cost: $1.95

Directions:
Melt butter in a skillet, add diced onion and chopped celery. Cook until tender.
Add flour and stir until blended. Slowly add the milk and water mixture, stirring constantly.
Add the seasonings to your taste. Add most of the cheese, reserving some for on top.
In a greased casserole dish, add a layer of spaghetti, top with turkey, then with sauce. Repeat until you run out of ingredients. Sprinkly more cheese on top and then sprinkle with the crush crackers. I use Club or Ritz usually. Bake at 400 until bubbly hot. Yum!

The recipe actually calls for 2 cups of milk but I use the above combination and have found no taste difference. It is much cheaper this way.

Announcing: The Grocery Gathering