Great Deals this Week....

I just wanted to let you know that there are some GREAT deals this week at Smith's. 

2 Free Gallons of Milk with the purchase of 4 Kellogg items

American Beauty Pasta .49 or Free with Coupon

Ronzoni Garden Delight Pasta, Healthy Harvest, Smart Taste Pasta .49 or FREE with Coupon

Use Grocery Smarts to make your list and get your printable coupons.
Click on the link, then click START to highlight the spreadsheet, simply select the items you want to add to your list and when you are finished click SHRINK and PRINT. You will have your own PERSONALIZED grocery list. Remember to get your coupons from Sundays paper and use the links from Grocery Smarts for printable coupons.

If you have any questions email me at: magenkeller@Hotmail.com

Reusable Shopping Bags....

I think most of you can tell that I LOVE TO SAVE MONEY! (who doesn't?) I also really LOVE recycling, upcycling, and using things I already have. This tutorial does both. Did you know that some stores will take money off your order when you use your own shopping bags? Some stores will take 5 cents off per bag or offer other rewards (like Smith's offers points that turn into money quarterly).

I'm sure you all have a huge stash of grocery bags under your kitchen sink or stuffed in your laundry room, right? Well, this tutorial will use A LOT of them!

MATERIALS:

A LOT of plastic grocery bags.

Parchment Paper

Iron

Sewing Machine and Thread

Scissors

FUSING GROCERY BAGS:

Preheat Iron. My first tip is start with a LOW heat on your iron, like the SILK setting. If your iron is TOO HOT it will melt the bags into a crazy lump.

Take your plastic grocery bags and cut off the bottom of the bag and the handles. This will give you a plastic loop, now slide your scissors up one side and make a large rectanlge. If you really wanted to be precise you could cut each bag the exact same so that the print match up exactly, I don't really care that much.

Once you have 8 bags cut into large rectangles, sandwich them between two sheets of parchment paper. Place on your ironing board and begin to iron. ALWAYS KEEP YOUR IRON MOVING! or the sheets will melt. and make sure to get the edges. Once the bags begin to fuse it goes rather quickly. Once you notice that bags fusing (not melting), flip the whole thing over and iron the other side.

Remember it is HOT, so let it cool before you handle it too much. Once it is all fused you can sew it on your sewing machine and make your own reusuable shopping bags. I like to straight stitch and then zig-zag stitch my seams so that they can handle some abuse.

This first one I made I patterned after another fabric shopping bad I already had. I am working on a couple of other designs and when I get them finished I will post them. I hope you enjoy trying this out!

Free Coupon Class....

Because of the response I have gotten about couponing and saving money....

I have decided to start teaching FREE COUPON CLASSES! If you are interested in hosting a class for your friends, family, neighbors, as a bridal shower, church group etc. Please email me: magenkeller@hotmail.com

The classes will be totally FREE, I will show you exactly how I get, file, and use coupons and answer any questions you may have.

(Remember when I posted about this....and I paid only $37. 53?!?)

I hope you all have a safe and wonderful Christmas!

Couponing 101... FAQ

I appologize for not  making this post earlier, our family has been plagued by some HORRIBLE stomach bug, I will spare you the details, but know that I am sorry and we are doing better.

I received a few questions after my last post on couponing:

What newspapers do I get?
 It doesn't really matter WHAT paper it is, as long as they deliver the sunday coupons. I live in Utah and I get the Deseret Morning News and the Salt Lake Tribune. I know that some local papers offer the Sunday coupons, so I would contact your them and ask.

Do I need to get the paper everyday?

No, the only newspaper we really care about (at least for couponing) is the Sunday paper. Most newspaper companies offer a SUNDAY ONLY or WEEKEND ONLY. Ask for it and I would ask for a deal, you can probably talk them down on a newspaper subscription.

How many papers should I get?

For Couponing, it is best to get ONE paper for each person in your household. So, if there are 4 people in your house, it would be ideal to get 4 papers. Most newspapers won't let you subscribe to more the 4 or 5 papers, but the more papers you get the more coupons you have. Remember, you can use one coupon per item. So, if you have 4 coupons you can buy 4 items.

What if the store brand is cheaper?

Then BUY it! I personally don't get caught up on the brand. I buy what I can get for the least amount of money. For example: I had a coupon to buy Fleischman's Yeast, with the sale and coupon is made the yeast about .76 per strip. Which is a good deal, but when I got the store the Kroger brand yeast was on sale for .52 per strip. So I bought that kind instead. No big deal, I saved even more money.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Happy Couponing and Saving $$$

Couponing 101...

This is a really LONG post, but I needed to explain a little bit so hang in there with me.

I would LOVE to answer any specific questions you may have, so please leave a comment if you have a question.

A few weeks ago I posted about how I have been shopping with coupons on our family's blog and I had a lot of comments asking how I do it. So I decided that may be a great topic to blog about here. First let me show you the end result:

Here is a shopping trip from about the first week on November.

This is everything purchased: 2 Gallons of Milk, 2 Liters 7up, 2 Liter A&w's, 4 Bags of Ricola Cough Drops, 1 bunch of bananas, 12 Yoplait Yogurt Cups, 4 Microwavable Soup Bowls, 18 cans Chunky Soup, 1 Sour Cream, 4 lbs. Cheese, 3 boxes of Noodles, 4 boxes of Jello, 2 Boxes of Granola Bars, 10 Cans Swanson Broth, 8 cans Crm of Chicken soup, 3 colgate toothpaste, 1 (75ct) Clorox Wipes, 2 Loaves of Bread, 2 refill packs Pampers Wipes...... My total before my coupons was over $150 (gulp, that is over budget)....But after my coupons I paid......

$37.53! (WOW! I know!)

This week I bought:

2 Gallons of Milk, 2 (3qts. each) Clorox Bleach, 1 roll Bounty Paper Towels, 3 Bottles French's Worsechire Sauce, 2 big boxes Rice Chex, 2 boxes Honey Nut Chex, 1 box Mom's Best honey Nut Toasty O's, 1 box American Beauty Pasta, 2 pkgs. Hershey Chocolate Chips, 2 pkgs. Heath Bits, 4 Pkg Betty Crocker Cookie mix, 2 pkg. yeast, 2 boxes Huggies wipes, 1 box Chamomile Tea, 1 box Ronzoni Pasta, 2 boxes Christmas Lights, 1 blistex, 6 Cartons Greek Yogurt, 3 pkg. Bumblebee Tuna, 2 boxes Kleenex Tissues, 4 Yakisoba Japanese Noodles, 3 pack Wilton Cookie Cutters, 1 pkg Rubber Gloves....

and the total before coupons and fresh values $115......

After Coupons and Fresh Values: $46.85

So, How did I do it?

The first step is SAVE your Coupon Packets.

There are coupon packets that come in the Sunday Newspapers. There are Smart Source (SS) Packets, General Mills (GM) Packets, Proctor & Gamble (PG) Packets....

Then there are the Red Plum (RP) Packets that come in the mail.

When a coupon packet arrives take a Magic Marker and write the date on the front. That's all you do right now and put it in your file.

I file my coupons by type of packet and by month. I label my files like this:

SS (Smart Source) NOVEMBER

SS DECEMBER

SS JANUARY

etc.

PG (Proctor & Gamble) NOVEMBER

PG DECEMBER

etc.

How easy is that?

How about we get to making our list and going to the store....

the real trick to all this is this site:

www.grocerysmarts.com

When you go to this site you first choose the State you are in. Then you choose the store you want to shop at. It will bring up that store's current ad. Along the top of the spreadsheet your will see a START button. Click start.

Now look through the spreadsheet, when you see something that your family is in need of you click on it and it will be highlighted. Once you have made it all the way through the spreadsheet your go back to the top and click the SHRINK button. The spreadsheet will shrink to only the items you have selected.

Now hit PRINT.

Now you have your grocery list. I usually hand write the few things at the bottom, like Milk if it isn't in the ad or anything extra we need that week, like Christmas Lights.

The with your grocery list in hand you can clip your coupons.

There are multiple columns on the list the first one shows you STARS. Everything listed in the ad is rated by stars, letting you know how great of a deal it is.

The next column tells you exactly what the item and what size is on sale. The next column show you the price it is on sale for.

The FOURTH column tells you exactly which coupon to clip.

It will tell you: exactly what item the coupon is good for, how much it is good for, expiration date in ( ), then where to find it.

For example:

Nestle Tollhouse Refridgerated Cookie Dough, $1/1 (12-31-10) RP-10/3

So to find this coupon I would go to my October Red Plum File. Find the packet labeled 10/3 and then clip my coupon.

When I have clipped my coupon, I then will write on my shopping list how many items I need to purchase. (Because some coupons require you to purchase more than 1 item).

Now simply go to the store and purchase what is on your list.

***The real trick to couponing is knowing this: YOU CAN USE ONE COUPON PER ITEM PURCHASED.***

Homemade Cleaning Products

Lately I have been concernced about how many things my family comes in contact with that may not be the best for them. My boys tend to be a bit sensitive to things with a lot of scent, dyes, and a lot of chemicals.

I am also concerned about how EXPENSIVE cleaning products are and I often wonder if they are really worth it.

But I also want to make sure that our home is CLEAN. I've been making and using my own cleaners for awhile and I will actually be making some more this weekend and thought I would share my recipes.

I write my recipe on the outside of my spray bottle with a magic marker, that way I always know what is in the bottle and I know where my recipe is at :)

Window Cleaner:

1/4 Cup White Vinegar

2 Cups Water

1 1/2 tsp. Cornstarch

Lemon Juice for Scent (Optional)

**Mix together and store in spray bottle**

Multi-Purpose Cleaner:

1 tsp. Borax

1/2 tsp WASHING SODA (not baking)

2 tsp. white vinegar

1/4 tsp. dish soap

2 Cups Hot Water

**Mix all together and put in a spray bottle**

Laundry Soap:

2 Cups Grated/Dried/Blended Fels Naptha Soap or Castile Soap or Plain Ivory Soap

1/2 Cup Borax

1/2 Cup Washing Soda

1/2 Baking Soda

1/2 Oxy-Clean (smith's carries a store brand for A LOT less!)

2 Tbsp. Essential Oil (optional)

Use 1 to 2 Tblsp. per Load

**It is important to grate your soap and let it completely dry out. Fels Naptha soap is really hard and dry anyways and I found it easier to shave it with a sharp knife. Ivory soap is soft and grates really easily but you will need to let it dry. I spread out my shavings on a large jelly roll pan and let it sit on my counter for a couple days, then I put it in my blender until it is the right consistency. ***LET YOUR BLENDER SIT WITH THE LID ON FOR A MINUTE OR TWO, YOU SHOULD NOT BREATH THE DUST***

After your soap is dry just mix everything together and store in an airtight container.

Here's a little tid-bit I found about Vinegar:
Vinegar is a natural organic bi-product of fruits, vegetables and grains. It is therefore edible and biodegradable. It is 'The Perfect Household Cleaner'™ for your family because it is very safe for the environment, for family members, especially those with asthma, and around young children. It is also a very effective and amazingly versatile household cleaner that is inexpensive to use.


Vinegar is a safe, all-natural cleaning product. It doesn't contain harmful toxic chemicals, so if in the course of normal household cleaning you 'pour it down the drain' its impact on municipal sewer and water treatment systems is just like any food product.

Regular store bought white vinegar has no real affect on the environment.

http://www.vinegarworkswonders.com/faqs.asp

Bountiful Baskets

Have you heard of Bountiful Baskets? My mom and sister have been getting fruits and veggies through this Co-Op for quite awhile and there are many drop off sites around Utah, but until just a little while ago there wasn't one close enough to Price. What you do is sign up on their website www.bountifulbaskets.org

and you make your contribution $15.00 (+tax) for a conventional basket and then you can select any add-on's you might like. You make this contribution on Monday and then you pick up your basket on Saturday at the sight you selected.

Last week I tried it... the closest pick up site was in Ferron which is about 40 minutes away, but that was closer than Provo. I bought a conventional basket for $15, 5 loaves of 9-grain bread, and 7 dozen tortillas.

Last week my basket included:

1 Cantelope

1 Honey Dew Melon

8 Kiwis

3 Pkg. Blackberries

12 Cameo Apples

8 Bananas

1 head Romaine Lettuce

2 big bunches of spinach

2 cucumbers

12 radishes

8 Tomatoes

4 Artichokes

I was way impressed with the quality and quantity of what we received and I thought that I might buy a basket every other week, but we have eaten everything! And I will be picking up another basket (minus the bread and tortillas, we haven't eaten all of that yet) on Saturday.

Lately I have been really trying to save $$$ when it comes to groceries and food, so I wanted to make sure that I was getting a good deal, I figure that purchasing all that produce would have cost me about $35 at our grocery store. But what about the time and gas? Some other ladies in our neighborhood are going too so we are carpooling and as for the time---it is my time out.

I love that I don't get to choose what comes in the basket---it has made us try new things and helped me learn how to cook new things. It has also helped us eat healthier---today my 2 year old had spinach in his smoothie, asked for 2 tomatoes for his snack and he ate both of them with no dip, had an apple with peanut butter for another snack, ate another tomato with his lunch....and this is just today!

I didn't think to take a picture of my basket last week, but I will this week and post it with what we got. Check out their site, I love it!

What I got Today, May 8th:
2 Watermelons
2 heads Romaine Lettuce
1 Bunch Spinach
9 Tangelos
3 lbs. Pink Lady Apples
9 Bananas
4 Green Peppers
6 Mangos
6 Ears Corn
4 Tomatoes

YUMM! I am SO excited!