Friday, June 26, 2009

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Printable coupons powered by Smart Source

I understand why but this has be a bit irritated none the less. Smart Source and all of the other products that use their coupon software are cracking down or coupon fraud. Many of the newer printers are not supported anymore. Here is the message they sent me.

Subject: Printers

Dear Customer,

Thank you for contacting us.

We do not allow printing to certain types of printers, primarily those that can capture an image of the coupon.

Our latest software is more rigorous in defining what printers are allowed and some users that previously were allowed to print are now seeing this error. Our sytem produces an automated report of any printer that is not allowed and our engineers then investigate to see if it indeed should not be blocked.

If you have multiple printers (such as in a corporate setting) you could try switching to another printer on your network. If you are trying to use a "virtual printer" (such as a PDF writer) you must pick a "real" printer.

Please feel free to reply if you have any additional questions.

Sincerely,
SmartSource Coupons Support

Free tube of toothpaste

Here is a link to a printable for a free tube of Aquafresh Extreme Clean Toothpaste. There are also some other great printables on the same page. This link is kind of screwy, occasionally the page will not open, if that is the case try typing in www.aquafresh.com and go to the coupons page from there. If that doesn't work try it again later.

www.aquafresh.com/Savings.aspx

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

It's been a while

Sorry All,

I know it's been a while since I've posted. Three Birthdays, Two Fathers, One Anniversary (ours), the 4th of July, and a Family Reunion all within the next five weeks! Oh yeah, I'm hostessing a Baby Shower for a good friend of mine in two weeks, right in the middle of everything else. I think I may loose my mind!

Being that this is a blog about saving money, here's a look at how I control the financial chaos that could potentially descend upon us.

1. Our Anniversary - This is the only one I'm not sure about...my hubby has made plans and I'm affearded.

2. My Father-in-laws Birthday - Back when our youngest was a newborn my Father-in-law bought him a Tulane t-shirt, Tulane being my FIL's Alma Matter. This year what I'm going to do is take that same shirt, embroider the baby's name and birth date on the back and make a small throw pillow out of it. The pillow will be stuffed with other baby clothes that were too stained to go to the thrift store or freecycle.

3. Father's Day - Dad's are getting their vehicles washed by their son's. My hubby and his brothers are washing my FIL's car and my children and I are washing, cleaning, and vacuuming my husbands truck.

4. The soon to be 12 year old's birthday - The only thing he wants for his birthday this year is a guitar. He made the Honor Roll for more than half the school year so we are getting him a guitar and lessons. This is where Freecycle comes in really handy. We got him are really nice guitar for free although we did have to buy him a case for it which ran us $100.00.

I'm making the cake this year and we're just having a few friends over for a little get together.

5. The 4th of July - We're headed over to a friends house to party this year. I'm bringing a frozen Strawberry dessert that is cheap easy and tastes wonderful. (I'll post that recipe later)In the past we just pack up a picnic dinner and go sit out on the levee and watch the fireworks. It's a lot of fun and if the wind is blowing we bring kites to fly while we wait for the sun to go down and the show to begin.

6. The Family Reunion - I'm making a big ole pot of Gumbo for the family...we're talking probably 4 chickens and a whole box of sausage 3 lbs of onions, a boat load of garlic, and a whole bunch of celery, red & green bell peppers. Are you hungry? I'm getting there.

7. The Baby Shower - I'm pretty proud of my ingenuity on this one. The decorations are going to be Baby Clothes hanging up on a clothes line. I got the idea while in the local party store looking a decorations. They sell for $10 a strand garland that looks like baby clothes only really really small (and of no practical value). What I've done is gotten real clothes line and real baby clothes (freecycle) and we are decorating all the walls with the super cute baby clothes. I picked up some fake flowers, butterfly's and bumble bees which I'm going to hot glue to the clothes pins. I'll make sure to post up some pictures from the shower.

That pretty much sum's up the majority of my summer!

For those that might not know Freecycle is a yahoo group that has branches all over the country. If you're not on Freecycle I would highly suggest you sign up, I have both received lots of things that I've needed and given lots of stuff that I didn't need to good homes.

That's about all I can put up right now, the baby just woke up.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Food Stamp Challenge Day 7

Being a day of rest and the end of our week...

Breakfast
Frosted Mini Wheats
Milk

Lunch
Left over Chicken
Cool Aide - $0.15

Dinner
Left over Butter Beans
Iced Tea

Total for the entire week $89.78! We came in $39.72 under! But better yet, I didn't alter my menu hardly at all. The only thing I did differently than normal was that I usually buy two 12 paks of Coke and one Sprite for the week (which runs me an extra $12.00 per week)

Anybody can learn how to do this, it's easy and fun! See how I save on my groceries every week by checking out www.becentsable.net You can find an educator near you.

Food Stamp Challenge Day 6

Breakfast
Milk
Eggs
Bacon - $3.00 (WD 2 for 6)

Lunch
Peanut Butter
Jelly
Bread
Apples
Cool Aide $0.15

Snack
Mac & Cheese - $1.00

Dinner
Chicken - $3.59 (WD BOGOF)
Mashed Potatoes - $1.50 (WD Managers Special)
Corn on the Cob - $1.00 (WD)
Iced Tea

Total so far $89.63

Food Stamp Challenge Day 5

Breakfast
Frosted Mini Wheats
Milk

Lunch
Hot Dogs
Bread
Sliced Cheese
Mac & Cheese - $1.00 (WD)
Cool Aide - $0.15

Snacks
Left over pancakes

Dinner
Butter Beans
White Lima Beans- $0.99 (Save A Lot)
Shallot - $0.48 (Hong Kong Market)
Garlic - $0.50 (Hong Kong Market)
Andouille Sausage
Pickled Pork - $3.95 (WD)
Ham Soup Base - $0.97 (Hong Kong Market)
Corn Bread - $0.50 (Sav A Lot)
Iced Tea

Total so far $79.39

Food Stamp Challenge Day 4

Breakfast
Chocolate Chip Pancakes
Self Rising Flour - $2.75 (WD)
Eggs - $2.59 (WD Organic on sale)
Milk - $3.49 (WD)
Chocolate Chips - $1.25 (Sav A Lot)
Whipped Cream - $2.00 (WD 2 for 5 with two 0.50 coupons)

Lunch
Peanut Butter
Jelly - $1.50 (WD)
Bread
Cool Aide - $0.15

Snack
Fruit

Dinner
Vietnamese Summer Rolls
Shrimp
Lettuce
Cucumber - $0.50 (Hong Kong Market)
Carrots
Rice Vermicelli - $1.25 (Hong Kong Market)
Rice Wrappers - $1.57 (Hong Kong Market)
Peanut Butter
Milk
Soy Sauce - $0.95 (Hong Kong Market)
Iced Tea

Total so far $70.85

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Food Stamp Challenge Day 3

Breakfast
Frosted Mini Wheats
Milk

Lunch
Leftover Gumbo
Rice
Cool Aide - $0.15

Snack
Mixed Fruit
Strawberries
Banana
Apple Slices

Dinner
Chicken Quesadillias
Tortillias - $0.50 (WD Managers special)
Chicken
Salsa - $2.99 (WD)
Shredded Cheese - $1.66 (WD Sale 3 for $5.00)
Corn on the Cob - $1.00 (WD Sale 6 for $1.00)
Salad
Dressing
Iced Tea

Total so far $52.85

Food Stamp Challenge Day 2

Breakfast
Kashi Waffles - Free ( www.vocalpoint.com coupon to try Kashi Waffles)
Strawberries - 2.50 (WD on sale)
Milk

Lunch
Grilled Cheese
Bread - Free ( used a coupon from Sav A Lot where I answered a survey about my last purchase and got a free loaf of bread)
Sliced Cheese
Baby Carrots - $1.50 (WD on sale)
Boccolli - $1.50 (WD)
Ranch Dressing
Cool Aide - $0.15

Snack
Apple Slices
Peanut Butter

Dinner
Chicken & Andouille Gumbo
Whole Chicken - $7.17 (WD will be used in two meals)
Andouille Sausage - $4.85 (WD will be used in two meals)
Bell Pepper - $1.38 (WD $0.69 ea)
Onion - $0.00 (I chop and freeze bulk onions to use in soups, stocks, and stews)
Celery - $0.00 (I chop and freeze my celery when it's on sale to use in soups and stews)
Rice - $2.00 (WD 2 for $4.00)


Total so far $46.55, again a few of these items will be used in other meals

Monday, June 1, 2009

Food Stamp Challenge Day 1

Breakfast
Frosted Mini Wheats - Free (Winn Dixie had BOGOF and I had a BOGOF coupon from being a member of http://www.vocalpoint.com/ )
Milk - $3.49 1 gal (Winn Dixie)
Banana - $1.97 (Winn Dixie $0.69 lb)

Lunch
Hot Dogs - $0.99 (Winn Dixie BOGOF @ $2.99 with $1.00 off 2 pks)
Hot Dog Buns - $0.98 (Save A Lot)
Sliced Cheese - $1.00 (Winn Dixie on Sale for $2.00 with $1.00 off coupon)
Mac & Cheese - $1.00 ( Winn Dixie 10 for 10 sale)
Cool Aide - $0.15 (Winn Dixie 10 @ $0.25 with $1.00)
Sugar - $1.79 (Walgreens $2.29 with $0.50 coupon 5lb bag)

Snack
Apple Slices - $2.50 (Winn Dixie 3lb bag)
Peanut Butter - $1.64 (Walgreens BOGOF $3.29)

Dinner
Shrimp Fettuccine
Shrimp - $3.99 (Winn Dixie on sale reg $6.99)
Alfredo Sauce in Jar - $2.95 (Winn Dixie $3.95 with $1.00 off coupon)
Fettuccine Pasta - $1.24 (Winn Dixie $1.79 with $0.55)
Salad - $1.99 (Winn Dixie BOGOF $3.99)
Salad Dressing - $0.27 (Winn Dixie $1.77 with $1.50 Coupon)
Iced Tea - $2.50 (Walgreens 2 for $5.00 100ct box)

Total so far is $28.00, however several of these items will be used in more than one meal
milk, bananas, hot dogs, buns, sugar, apples, peanut butter, shrimp (used 1/2 pack), salad, tea.