Home Mailers

(I've been trying to get this posted for two weeks now - maybe this is finally the day!)

I love checking my mail. Seriously. Prior to couponing and budgeting, I hated the mail. Bills, bills, bills - yuck! Now when I check my mail I usually find coupons, samples, and magazine issues from the many free subscriptions I've found.


Home mailer coupons are awesome. In the past couple of weeks, my mailbox has featured:


Free Cheerios coupon from Kroger

Free Kashi Go Lean Waffles coupon and 5 $1.50/1 coupons from Kashi

Free Kashi Go Lean Waffles coupon and 5 $1.50/1 coupons from Vocalpoint - same coupons different source

Huggies samples and coupons for $3/1 on their new Naturals line - Kira's been using the size 1 samples on her baby dolls!

Shopping bag from Earthbound Farms

If you have store cards (Kroger, Tom Thumb, etc) call the 800 number on the back of your card and make sure that they have your mailing address. Kroger periodically sends packets of coupons tailored to what you've been purchasing. They usually send a free and some $/$$ off of produce, meat, or HBA.



Vocalpoint is a great source for home mailers. They also have opportunities to do focus groups - I was accepted to one last year and made $100.

Earthbound Farms and Kashi send great coupons - definitely get on their mailing lists.

Signing up for samples also nets some great mailbox treasure. Dove sends HUGE samples. Sometimes samples also come with coupons, frequently higher $$ amounts than you'll find in the paper. I like to use the sample size HBA items to put together hospital kits for expectant moms.

And, again, if there are products you love, email the companies and let them know!

$500 challenge - update

Busy day today! I'm still getting over a cold, so I'm actually amazed at what we've accomplished.

The kids and I went to our local rec center for their play time. $1 per kid for an hour and a half of running around in the gym, getting completely worn out, and practically guaranteeing nap synchronicity later. Totally worth it. Spent: $2

Then we went to the library and checked out a whole stack of books, kits, and cds. Free

Stopped at Tom Thumb. I cannot find my receipt to save my life. I can recreate the prices, but have no idea on my savings. Dang it.

Purchased:
1 cantaloupe .88
1 onion @ .88/lb - so about $1
1 gallon organic milk marked down - $2 (expire date of 5/31 - we can kill a gallon of milk in 4 days easy)
1 rotisserie chicken - $4.99 (more on this in a moment)
1 7 oz package of Kraft shredded cheese - $1.99 and used .50/1 (doubled) tearpad coupon that was hanging right in front of it - so .99
1 organic herb salad mix
1 organic spinach salad - these were BOGO, so $3.99 for both

Spent $14 (rounding up, it was just under $14. I'll change if I find the receipt.)
Saved: $1 with the coupon and $3 off of the milk for sure - so $4 savings, again I'll update if I find that @#%%$# receipt!

$500 Challenge Totals:
food & eating out (includes HBA): $80.06 ($85.03 savings)
gas: 35.01
clothing
coffee & beer making supplies: $52.05
household necessities (like air filters, etc)
entertainment:
- Derek allowance: $15.46
- Wendy allowance: $18.85
- Kids' allowance: $5
crafting supplies: $45.38
gifts: $12.88

Total spent: $264.69
Remaining: $235.31

Now, about the chicken. I love to get rotisserie chickens when I know I need a quick meal. I frequently get them at Whole Foods, as well - usually $8.99 there.

We usually eat chicken with whatever quick veggies/fruits/grains I have. So, today's lunch was nosh plates of chicken, cheddar cheese cubes, raw carrots, and fresh cherries (Thanks Kam and Teri for the cherries!)

The next day I pull more chicken off and usually make a casserole-esque thing with it - chicken, cheese, veggie, pasta/rice. Finally, I pull off whatever chicken remains and boil the bones. I strain it and freeze a couple of bags of broth and add the remaining chicken to one more bag of broth and freeze it. That way I have broth for rice, a quick soup, or mashed potatoes and a broth/chicken ready to mix with frozen veggies and egg noodles for a quick chicken noodle soup.

So, 3-5 meals out of the $4.99-$8.99 chicken. We do the same thing when I buy fresh whole chickens, too. It seems like kind of a pain, with the boiling, straining and everything. But really, it's a minimal amount of work for several quick easy meals that keep us from going out.

This really illustrates how most of our meals come together - they're usually made up of fresh produce, what needs to be eaten, and stockpiled freezer items.

Another example (if you're not bored to tears, yet!): We had yummy grilled pork loin at my in-laws this weekend. Derek made it with whole garlic cloves pushed into the pork - it was so good! We had a couple of slices that we brought home. The kids were with the in-laws yesterday (God bless them) and I needed a quick dinner for Derek's dinner break. So I sliced up the leftover pork, chopped up the garlic that it was cooked with and added it to frozen broccoli and rice from the pantry for a quick stir-fry. Easy, delicious, and healthy! I just wish I had stockpiled lo mein noodles.

Prior to couponing/budgeting, I guarantee you I would have found that bag of leftovers pushed to the back of the fridge sometime in mid-July.

My goal with this blog is to show that you really can eat well and have fun on a budget. Hopefully, I'm illustrating that. I'd love to hear your tips, too!

Just so thrilled for y'all!

I can't even tell you how much joy I get out of hearing things like this:

Beth said: Also, thought I'd let you know that I set a new record at Kroger today: $128 and some change for a week's worth of groceries for this family of 6! Remember, that's down from about $250 just about a month ago! Not to be too dramatic, but you have changed my life! I organized all my coupons about a week ago and now my kids make fun of me. We start to go somewhere or buy something, and I'll say, "Wait! I think I have a coupon for that!" and they'll say, "Well, of course you do Mom," all playfully disgusted. It's great:)

Beth - you rock!! Hopefully your kids will take some of that couponing knowledge with them to college - if I'd only know then.

Karly said: And I will have you know that I found a store brand of organic PB that is the same as the WF one. It is a whole dollar cheaper. I was so excited and immediately thought "Wendy would be proud" LOL! Yeah, not huge, but baby steps, right? At least I am trying to come up with the best deals on my basics and see where I can save.

Karly - it is huge!! WTG!!!

And look at what my friend Kam did:


She bought:
11 pkgs. of solo cups
2 pkgs. chinette dessert plates
2 wishbone dressings
4 pkgs. butter
1 block Kraft cheese
2 pkgs. hot dogs
2 pkgs. lunch meat
2 pkgs. bacon
2 chorizo
1 dozen eggs
2 snapple drinks
1 liter coke
1 wasp & bee spray
3 pkgs.crackers
6 Kraft mayonnaise
2 pkgs. easy mac
3 Kraft dressings
2 cans Bush beans
4 pkgs. bandaids
4 neosporin
1 lipstick
1 chapstick
1 - 3 pack razor
6 - scotch tape dispensers
Total Spent: 60.55
Total Saved: 160.86

And she checked in with me by phone throughout that shopping trip - so I got to coupon vicariously! I was thrilled!!

AND Kam's wife Teri bought her The Creative Family AND used a 40% off coupon to do it!!!

I am so dang proud of y'all for taking control of your $$$ like that!!!

It never hurts to ask + 1 Q & A

I had to unexpectedly have a prescription filled for my daughter yesterday. (No big deal, just antibiotics.) I knew that Target had a prescription coupon in the paper on Sunday. I usually clip those just in case. However, there were no coupons this weekend, so I didn't even buy a paper.

Driving back from the dr's office I was debating with myself - Should I stop and try to buy a paper? Should I go to CVS and ask if they have a prescription coupon? Should I just stop at Target and see if they have an extra?

It was nap time and I didn't want to load/unload the kids anymore than I had to, so just stopping at Target won. I asked if they had any extra ads/coupons at the Pharmacy counter. The clerk said no, but that I might try at the service desk. We hiked over there and YES!! They did have one!

So, I used the $10 giftcard to buy:

32 Stonyfield Farm organic vanilla yogurt - used $1/1 manu coupon from a booklet I found at Kroger last month.
1 lb Earthbound Farms organic celery - used .75/1 manu coupon home mailer
1 lb organic carrots
2.34 lbs of bananas (my kids are inhaling bananas lately!)
5.5 oz bag of organic raisins

spent: $.00
saved: $10.37 (by using the gift card and $1.75 in coupons)

One quick Q&A for Chrystal - HBA = Health and Beauty Aids

$500 challenge - update

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday weekend! We spent the weekend with my in-laws and were treated to a wonderful meal and swimming with friends, today. As a result, I'm cramming the past three days' receipts into this post.

Y'all remember when I said that I was giving myself permission to adjust the amounts from week to week? Yes, well, that takes effect right now.

We apparently decided to enjoy this lovely holiday weekend by spending like crazy people. Let's see how my receipts break down. I'll list details when I think it's info that will be helpful - lmk if there's anything else you're wondering about. I'm not going into too much detail on the Walgreens and CVS deals, because Walgreens was last week and the CVS deals were only good yesterday and today (Sun-Mon).

First, the semi-normal spending:


Walgreens - I had several Walgreens runs throughout the day on Friday. I took advantage of the MM (moneymaker) that I mentioned in my last post. I was able to do it 4 times on Fri. I tried once more on Sat, but the deal was dead.

The deal was: buy one particular kind of Right Guard for $2.99 - I used a $1/1 coupon and paid $1.99 and received a $5 RR. So, basically I made $3 on each of the 4 that I was able to purchase on Friday.

I used one $5 RR to buy 3 packages of coffee filters, Skintimate shave gel, and a candy bar (because I was under) - I spent another .41 and received a $1 RR.

I used one $5RR to purchase saline spray that Kira needed while we were at my in-laws, another package of coffee filters, and another Skintimate - I spent .10 and received another $1 RR

Totals for Walgreens:
Spent $10.46
Saved $31.85
I have $12 in RR left - I'll either "roll" these on other RR deals this week, or use them to purchase baby wipes at the end of the month.

Kroger - I hit Kroger yesterday evening for the Huggies Pull-ups deal I mentioned in my previous post.

2 jumbo packages of Huggies Pull-ups - $9.99 ea - used 2 $2/1 manufacturers coupons, $2/1 shortcuts.com coupon (this is loaded on your shoppers card and comes off when you checkout) - $3 came off because I purchased $15 worth of Huggies
1 Mahatma Brown Rice - used .50/1 manu coupon (doubled)
1 Cheerios 14 oz - used FREE coupon - home mailer from Kroger
2.78 lbs of bananas

Kroger totals
Spent: 12.25
Saved: 17.36
I will send my receipt in to the Caregiver's Marketplace to get an additional .75 back on each package of Huggies.

Tom Thumb - just a quick check of the markdowns in the dairy dept.
1 dozen Eat Smart w/omega 3's eggs - marked down to .95
Tropicana OJ - marked down to $1.70

Spent: $2.65
Saved: $2.75

CVS - went on a fruitless hunt for this week's moneymakers. I had no ECB's to start with, but thought that the $3.99 tampons with $3 ECB back was a good way to get back in the game.

trip #1
18 ct Playtex tampons - $3.99 - used $1/1 manu coupon

spent: $3.23
saved: $2.30
rec'd: $3 ECB

trip #2 - again, a little high for me at CVS, but we use band-aids like crazy around here - .49 per box ain't bad.
2 boxes of band-aids: $2.99 ea - used 2 - $1/1 manu coupons
used previous $3 ECB

spent: $.98
saved: $8.00
rec'd: $4 ECB

Whole Foods - I hit Whole Foods on Friday to take advantage of the $2.49/lb ground beef (of course my friend, Kam, got a WAY better deal at a local natural foods grocery store - lucky!)

3 family packages of ground beef - about 7 lbs altogether
Agave Nectar - bulk foods - $1.36
Maple Syrup organic - bulk foods - $5.99
Southern Star Blonde Bombshell beer - for the weekend, of course! $7.49
cut watermelon for the kids to munch on in the store - $2.00

spent: $36.49
saved: $8.40 (based on the normal cost of the beef)

Gas: $35.01 - filled up for the weekend

Now for the unusual spending:

Dr. Jeckyll's - $8.58 - gift for Derek's dad

Half-Price Books - $27.06 - my book club book, books for the kids and Derek, and a gift for Derek's brother

Tom Thumb - $14.55 (saved $6.01) - grown-up bevs for today's cook-out - I'm breaking this down into 1/2 Derek allowance and 1/2 Wendy allowance in my totals below.

Joann's Fabrics - $45.38. I was really, really bummed about this trip. I spent almost $20 more than I had planned, because of some very poor signage that gave the impression that something was on sale that wasn't. I don't want to go into too much detail, because about 2/3 of my trip was for some gifts. I usually let this kind of thing roll right off my back, but this had me so upset that I actually emailed the company. We'll see how they respond.

So, for now, grand totals:

food & eating out (includes HBA): $66.06 ($70.66 savings)
gas: 35.01
clothing
coffee & beer making supplies: $52.05
household necessities (like air filters, etc)
entertainment:
- Derek allowance: $15.46
- Wendy allowance: $18.85
- Kids' allowance: $3
crafting supplies: $45.38
gifts: $12.88

yep. that's half the $500 already. But, we're set on diapers, coffee, coffee filters, and ground beef. We shouldn't need gas again until the end of next week. I'm not expecting to buy any more gifts this month. Y'all are about to see some crazy budgeting!

Sorry for the long post - please let me know if you have any questions!

$500 challenge - on your mark

Pay check hit the account this morning, so here we go. I think I'm going to do stream-of-consciousness style posts, so you can see how I go about grocery shopping in a month. LMK if it gets confusing, or if you need more explanation.

A reminder - my $500 for the month includes:
food & eating out
gas
clothing
coffee & beer making supplies
household necessities
entertainment
crafting supplies
gifts

I've spent the past couple of days going over what we have currently. I need to restock diapers/pull-ups for Kira. Kroger has a deal this week on Huggies that I may take advantage of. I also have a back-up raincheck from a sale at Walgreens from a couple of months ago - for $4.50 per pack on the Walgreens' brand diapers. I had the cashier write the raincheck for 4 packs. Rainchecks are a great way to guarantee yourself a sale for later.

We've also used almost all of our canned organic tomatoes stash, so I'll be keeping an eye out for a chance to restock those.

We're good on pasta, but getting low on brown rice.

Whole Foods has ground beef for $2.49/lb this week - I need to get there by Wed.

Derek ordered coffee this morning - $52.05 for 10 lbs including shipping. We'll be drinking this and this this month, if you're interested.

There's a moneymaker at Walgreens right now that I may try to take advantage of. I'll do a separate post on that - if I end up making it over there today.

Just read back over this and realized that I should start at the beginning! Before I shop, I look at the current ads. I check for organic produce sales and any obvious freebies. I then check the blogs over in my blogroll for any deals they've mentioned. I check the individual forums at Hot Coupon World and then I click on "new posts" to see what people are talking about - that's how I found the moneymaker deal mentioned above. I usually do all of this checking in little bits of time a couple of days before I actually plan on shopping.

I have an envelope for each store. I note the sales I want to hit on the outside of the envelope and then put any relevant coupons inside. I try to list things in the aisle order of the store. It cuts down on my time in the store, since I rarely have to back track. I do take my coupon binder in the store, too, but I rarely use it.

Kind of a random post here, but hopefully you find a nugget of useful info!

Now for the math:
I'm taking the $52.05 from the coffee off the top and adjusting my weekly amounts. That leaves me $111 per week to work with.

$500 Challenge running totals.
$52.05 - coffee

And finally - I changed the format of the blog - I didn't like how the last template ran the top and bottom of each new post together. What do you think?

I'd love questions! Ask away!

Organic Valley - new printables

Organic Valley just released a new set of printables - Go here to print two of each.

Thanks Money Saving Mom!

Walgreens' $5/$25 for 5/20 and 5/21

Walgreens has finally released another $/$$ coupon.

Go here to print your $5 off of a $25 purchase coupon. It's good 5/20 and 5/21 only. Remember your $25 total is AFTER all store and manufacturer coupons - so you are looking at a minimum oop (out of pocket) cost of $20. I usually try to combine Free after RR deals with things I need, when these are available.

Mercedes at Common Sense with Money has a break even scenario worked out. Even if you're not planning on going to Walgreens, you might want to look the scenario over to see how it's done.

Thanks Mercedes!

Free pack of Oscar Mayer Beef Franks

Go here to sign up to have a coupon for a free pack of Oscar Mayer Beef Franks sent to you. Hurry - these usually go fast.

Thanks - Money Saving Mom!

So jealous

Check this out:

In my good friend Kam's neighborhood, they throw a Spanish language edition of the sunday paper WITH inserts FREE to every house. Even to vacant houses. So, when Kam and Vin are out for their evening stroll, she very kindly picks up the papers that are littering the street.

14 sets of inserts y'all. For free. I think I might cry.

Bread Machine Recipe - update

I've made this recipe three times now using 1/2 cup of whole wheat and 2 1/2 cups of all-purpose. Just wanted to update, since I hadn't figured out how much whole wheat flour it could take when I posted it the first time.

ExpressBake Traditional-Style White Bread(makes a 1.5 lb loaf)
1 cup + 2 Tbsp hot water
2 Tbsp canola or vegetable oil
2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tsp salt
3 cups of bread flour - I use 2 1/2 cups of all-purpose and 1/2 cup whole wheat
5 tsp bread machine yeast (I use 2 packets of Fleishmann's Active Dry Yeast.)

Place the ingredients in the pan in the order listed. Make a little well in the flour and pour the yeast into it - making sure that the yeast doesn't touch any of the wet ingredients.

Select expressbake and press start.

This Month - 5/22 - 6/18

I read this post about a Family No Spend Month the other day. Their goal is to limit their family spending to $250 for a month.

The $250 includes:

• food & eating out
• gas
• clothing
• coffee
• household necessities
• entertainment

Not included:

• tithes and other gifts
• house payment, insurance, bills
• health expenses
• work expenses
• savings
• investment

For several months now, I've been beating myself up about our spending. We are loosely following Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover, but I'm not doing a great job with maintaining our envelopes. I also have a hard time making myself budget for eating out. As I've said before, I have a hard time admitting to the fact that we do it. I try to make myself believe that if I don't plan for it, we won't do it. And that's just ridiculous. Grow up, Wendy!

SO, here's what I'm planning. I need to get a handle on exactly where our non-grocery/HBA dollars are going. I don't want to cut my usual $250 for groceries/HBA (although I would like to try the $250 for everything challenge eventually). I'm going to give us a budget of $500 for a month and break it down into $125 per week.

$125 per week for:

• food & eating out
• gas
• clothing
• coffee & beer making supplies
• household necessities
• entertainment
• crafting supplies
• gifts

My plan is to stick to that budget and track my spending in those categories. That way, I'll have a better idea of how to distribute our money in the envelope system. However, if this system works for us, I might just stick with this. Working = living comfortably within these limits while finding ways to cut expenses further.

I'm leaving myself the option of redistributing the amounts - rolling any extra forward to the next week. $500 is set in stone, though.

Here's where you come in. I'm going to track our spending here. In a perfect world, I'll update daily. At the very least, I'll update our spending once a week.

This is a great month to follow along if you're just getting started couponing. We've been hitting the stockpile hard this past month, so I'm in a rebuilding phase. I'm out of RRs and ECBS, so I'll be working on slowly building those back up.

I'm not a big menu planner, so I think I'll try to post "after the fact" menus every couple of days or so.

I'm having a garage sale next weekend. The garage sale money is going straight into savings. We have some upcoming expenses. Derek's in a wedding in June - I'm not sure what our expenses will be with that. I'd like to get a toddler bed for Kira - I'm thinking from Craigslist. I'm still deciding on what I'd like for the kids' schooling in the Fall - again, not sure exactly what our budget will be, yet.

So, what do you think? What am I missing? If anyone would like to join us in the $500 Challenge - I'd love to have you!

p.s. If you know me IRL (which I think is like 5 of my 7 readers), please don't think we're going into hermit mode. I can't track our entertainment budget if we don't get entertained!

Summer Kids' Movies - update

My friend, Mary Elizabeth, was concerned that the theaters listed aren't currently showing G movies. The summer series are actually previously run films (Curious George, Horton Hears a Who, etc) - they're rated G or PG. I added start dates for my area to my original post - check your local theaters for participation, start dates, and schedules.

One of the theaters is showing Coraline. I really want to see that, but think it might be too scary for my kids. I think I'm actually going to try to sneak out and see it by myself!

Let's go to the movies!

If you have kids, or if you just enjoy kids' films, summer is a great time for the movies.

ETA: I'm adding the start dates for the theaters in my area - check your locations for dates and to see what's showing. Most offer a mix of G and PG through the summer.

Regal Entertainment Group (UA theaters around here) offers their Free Family Film Festival - Tuesday and Wednesday mornings at 10:00. starts 6/9

Cinemark offers their Summer Movie Clubhouse - 10 movies for $5 punch cards that you buy in advance - or pay $1 at the box office on the day of the show - Weekdays at 10:00 am. starts 6/3

Studio Movie Grill (in Texas) has the Summer Children's Series - $1 for kids, $2 for adults M-Th at 11:00 am. starts 6/8

AMC hosts the Summer Movie Camp (benefiting Variety The Children's Charity and The Will Rogers Institute) - $1 movies Wednesdays at 10:00 am. They also offer a $3 Kids pack - kid size popcorn, drink, and snack. starts 6/17

Check for locations and start dates.

Please share any cheap summertime entertainment you know about!

Y'all bear with me

I'm getting ready for a garage sale next weekend - sorry I haven't been posting much.

My new budget month begins on the 22nd. I'm planning something a little bit new and I'd like to take y'all along for the ride.

More later!

diapers.com and ebates

My friend, Tara, had a great experience with diapers.com. I'll let her tell you about it:

I looked online for "coupon codes" and there were TONS, but all of them, you had to actually buy diapers...well...I use cloth diapers. I feel this is rather unfair. There's a lot I can buy off this site but not actual diapers.

So I picked up the phone and called them and told them this. They immediately asked for my email address, which I gave them, and they said "hit refresh on your page" and when I did, the $10 off was applied (which is what the coupon code was for). They did ask me what coupon code I was trying to use and it was BABY10.

Just goes to show that it is worth it to take the time to call! Sometimes you do get good customer service. I highly recommend this site--and their free shipping looks way faster than Amazon.

They also gave her a referral code good for $10 off your first order. Here's how it works:

your Referral Code is TARA4029. Any new customers who enter your code (or your email address) when placing their first order at Diapers.com will get $10 off their first diaper order. You will get a $5 credit for referring them, plus another $1 credit for every additional order they place.

Also, if you order through ebates, you'll get an additional 1% back - not a lot, but every little bit helps.

I love ebates, I've used it for about 2 years now and have earned $173 with them. The link above is a referral link - we'll each make $5 when you sign up and place your first order. Honestly, I just think it's awesome, so if you'd rather not use the referral link, this will take you there without it.

Tara also did a great job of searching for a code before purchasing online. You can just google the name of a store and coupon code or discount code. Retailmenot is also a great source for coupon codes.

Thanks Tara!

I love my bread machine

Jocelyn asked: ...will you post some of your more common bread machine recipes? I'm considering using our machine more and buying less bread. Thanks!

Jocelyn - I couldn't post on your blog - but I wanted to tell you that your son is gorgeous!

Now for the bread machine. I love, love, love my bread machine. My mother bought it for me for Christmas a couple of years ago. It sat in its box for a year before we ever tried it. Now I use it 2-3 times a week.

If you've never used a bread machine before, here's how it works: You put the ingredients in the machine - wet ingredients first, dry ingredients second, yeast last. You turn it on. You enjoy hot, fresh bread. Seriously, it's that easy.

I have two recipes that I use frequently. Both are from the recipe book that came with the machine. One is a quick loaf that is ready in an hour, from start to finish. It takes quite a bit of yeast and so far, I've only been successful using white flour for it. The other takes 3 hours and I usually make it with a mix of white and wheat flour.

ExpressBake Traditional-Style White Bread
(makes a 1.5 lb loaf)

1 cup + 2 Tbsp hot water
2 Tbsp canola or vegetable oil
2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tsp salt
3 cups of bread flour (I just use unbleached all-purpose flour.)
5 tsp bread machine yeast (I use 2 packets of Fleishmann's Active Dry Yeast.)

Place the ingredients in the pan in the order listed. Make a little well in the flour and pour the yeast into it - making sure that the yeast doesn't touch any of the wet ingredients.

Select expressbake and press start.

I've only used this machine, but I'm sure others have an "expressbake" type option.


Homestyle White Bread (My version is more like Homestyle Kind-of Wheat Bread)
(makes a 1.5 lb loaf)

1 cup warm water
1 Tbsp butter or margarine, softened (I've used spreadable butter and it works fine.)
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp milk (I warm it up a little before putting it in.)
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 cups of flour (I use half whole wheat flour and half all-purpose flour. I mix them together before putting them in the pan.)
2 1/2 tsp of bread machine yeast (I use one packet of Flieschmann's Active Dry Yeast.)

Add the ingredients to the pan in the order that they're listed above. Make a little well in the flour and pour the yeast into it - making sure that the yeast doesn't touch any of the wet ingredients.

Select 1 1/2 lb loaf. Select crust color. Use the Basic program. Press Start.

I've tried some other recipes as well. I usually just google whatever ingredients I have + bread machine (Like "sweet potato bread machine" or "vanilla yogurt raisin bread machine"). Be sure that the recipe is for a size of loaf that your machine can handle. I made a sweet potato bread the other day. The recipe was for a 2 lb loaf - I was thinking my machine could do that, but it's largest size is 1.5 lb. Luckily I used wheat flour in place of some of the white flour, so it didn't rise nearly as high as it could have. Crisis averted and the bread was delicious! Could have ended up really nasty and messy, though.

Here are some sources for recipes:

http://www.qis.net/~champion/bread/main.html
http://fp.enter.net/~rburk/breads/breadmachine/breadmachine.htm
http://busycooks.about.com/od/breadmachinerecipes/Bread_Machine_Recipes.htm


And some useful info:
http://www.breadmachinedigest.com/beginners/the-basic-bread-machine-ingredients.php


Saving $$$ with your bread machine
If you buy your various ingredients at regular price, the cost of making bread is around the same cost as store bought. However, you know that you aren't using HFCS or trans fats, or anything else funky in your bread.

I watched and waited for baking season sales to start up this year - usually happens in early November. I traded for yeast coupons and ended up getting paid to buy the yeast I'll use until next year. I stocked up on unbleached, all-purpose flour during the same sale. I buy whole wheat flour from Whole Foods as I need it. I'm planning on watching for it to go on sale next year during baking season and I'll buy whatever amount makes a case to save an additional 10%.

I have no idea what my cost per loaf is now. I have the money-maker yeast, the cheap flour. Sometimes I use free-after-coupon butter, sometimes I use marked-down milk. Sometimes I use marked-down yogurt. The sweet potato bread was made with canned organic sweet potatoes that I found for .33 a can. So, obviously, there's no way for me to say how much each loaf costs. I'm sure it's way less than what I would be paying in the store and I know it's healthier.

A word of warning: be prepared to gain a little weight when you start using your machine. It's hard to resist fresh bread. And it just smells so good.

Q&A - part 2

Linda asked: Would you ever consider posting recipes?

Sure, if you want to see them! Derek and I usually work with modified versions of things we find in cookbooks or online. We're also prone to just dumping a bunch of different stuff into the crockpot.

Lots of questions about the coffee roasting. Tara asked: I know you can buy a hot air popcorn thingy at Walgreens but would like to know what brand, what to look for, instructions, and where to go from there.Do you have to store them any certain way? Different ways to roast to get different types (we prefer DARK beer and coffee...espresso, french roast, you get the picture).

Derek started here. Tara - the popper we got from Walgreens was Kitchen Gourmet brand. The main thing on the popper is that the air vents are on the bottom inside part of where you put the popcorn - like this. We have also used a Chefmate that we bought at Target and a couple of different ones that we found at thrift stores. Again, the vents on the bottom is the key.

When he was roasting with the popper, he usually roasted every morning for that day's coffee. Now that we have the Behmor 1600 roaster, he roasts a pound at a time. We store the roasted beans in a jar with a sealed top. We store the green coffee beans in the bags that they're shipped in.

I'll have to get Derek to answer the actual roasting questions.

(and Lourdes - I loved the making labels for coffee gifts idea!)

Lourdes asked: I have a stockpile question: when do you stop stockpiling?

When I started couponing, it wasn't long before we were swimming in toothpaste and shampoo. I wasn't sure how often those deals came around, so I wanted to get while the getting was good. Now I know that those deals are ALWAYS around.

Any product that needs to be newer, better, faster, have more blades, get your teeth brighter, whiter, hair shinier, fuller, softer, etc, etc, etc will always be cheap or free several times a month. The highest dollar coupons are for those products and those are the things that are free after RR (Walgreens) and ECB (Cvs).

So, when do you stop? For me, I stop when the drawer/shelf/box is full. I then either send things with Derek for the ladies he works with, give to the Mission, or start planning my next garage sale.

I do try to take advantage of every free toothbrush or floss offer, though. Those don't seem to come around quite as often.

Our food stockpile is obviously a continuing work. Dang family keeps eating. Again, though, I'm limited by the spot where I store whatever it is.

I'm thinking about a stockpiling post - so let me know any stockpile questions you may have.



Keep the questions coming!

aisle by aisle - produce, dairy, meat/fish

Produce
Produce is the area where my percentage of savings is the lowest. I'm just fine with that. The kids snack on fresh fruit and veggies throughout the day. Derek really enjoys making soups and stews, so I need to keep potatoes, carrots, and onions on hand.

I use 4 main strategies in saving on produce.

1. I check the sales circulars of Kroger and Tom Thumb before I head to Whole Foods. I buy the bulk of our produce at WF. However, organic carrots, apples, and pre-packaged organic salads are frequently loss leaders at the other two stores. If I check before I leave, I know not to buy any of those specials at WF.

2. We eat seasonally. For the most part, seasonal produce is what's on sale. I usually buy potatoes, carrots, onions, apples, and oranges every other week. I then add to those with whatever is in season and on sale - like organic strawberries for $2.99/lb at WF this week.

3. Eat what we buy. I used to throw away huge amounts of produce that went bad because I just plain forgot it was in the drawer. I try to keep the fruits on a shelf in the fridge in plain sight - that way I don't forget about it AND the kids notice it right away and ask for it as a snack before anything else. Derek does the bulk of our dinner cooking, so I usually give him reminders of what veggies we have every other day or so. We also try to eat the fruits that may spoil more quickly first. So, strawberries get eaten right away and then we eat the apples. Of course, if the kids ask for a specific fruit, I give it to them.

4. If I have the opportunity to get frozen veggies for free or very cheap, I stock up. This is where The Dirty Dozen comes into play. I can frequently get frozen broccoli and peas free, because they are very low on the list, I'm ok with getting conventional.

Dairy
Organic milk is crazy expensive, isn't it? My best tip on saving money on dairy is to find out if any of your stores mark down dairy that's getting close to the expire date. If they do, ask them when they do it.

My Tom Thumb marks down milk when it's 7 days from the expire date. We can kill a gallon of milk in 7 days easy. Depending on if the milk is store brand organic or Horizon, I can usually get it for $2-$3 a gallon. Way better than the $5.50-$7 a gallon regular price.

Butter - I prefer organic, but butter is very often FREE with coupons and sales. If I can get it free, I stock up and freeze it if necessary.

Cheese - Again, I'd love organic, but can rarely afford it. I figure my prices on cheese based on 8 oz, because that's the smallest package of cheese. Sometimes the best deal is on the 8 oz size, sometimes it's on the 16 oz or 32 oz. Remembering my 8 oz price and then doing the math, is the easiest way for me.
- My buy price is $1.50/8 oz - if we need cheese, I'll buy a couple of packs. My stock-up price is $1.25/8 oz or less. If I can get it at that price, I'll buy as much as I have room in the budget for.
-For organic cheese, I generally add $1.00 to the above prices. However, if I see organic cheese marked down and I have room in the budget - I'll generally buy all that they have and freeze it.

Whole Foods often has tearpad coupons for dairy hanging off of the shelves. Organic Valley and Stonyfield Farm usually have printables on their sites or through coupon sites like eatingwell.com (thanks Lourdes!). You'll also frequently see coupons in the circulars off of the store brand dairy products - that's another great way to save.

Meat/Fish
We don't eat a lot of fish - I supplement with flax seed to get omega-3s into the kids. When we eat fish, it's generally tilapia when it's on sale at WF. We also eat tuna - frequently free or cheap after coupons.

Meat - I prefer to buy our meat at WF. My buy price is $4.99/lb or less. I usually have a set amount I'm going to pay for meat, before I hit the store. It's generally $20-$30 every other week. What I buy depends on what's on sale, what we have in the freezer, what new recipe Derek may want to try, and so on. I always check the ad on-line to see what meat is on sale that week. If I shop on Wednesday, I have the luxury of shopping from the old and the new sales.

I also check the marked-down meat at Tom Thumb when I'm there. Every now and then there will be a great deal I can't resist. I once sent Derek to buy chicken when it was .99/lb there. He came back with two packages and the receipt was WAY lower than it should have been. He said that all of the chicken was marked .99/PER PACKAGE not per lb. I sent him back with $25 and told him to buy all that he could. We ate on that chicken for almost a year.

If you buy your meat from a traditional grocery store, you can save big $$. Watch for the loss leaders and stock-up when you can. The days right after an "eating" holiday (Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, etc) or big weekend are a great time to find BIG markdowns on pricey cuts of meat. I have several packages of Italian sausage that usually sell for $8 that I picked up for $1.99 per pack after Christmas last year.

Another option for saving $$ on meat is to look into purchasing all or part of a cow or pig. If you have the money to invest at the beginning and space to freeze the meat, you can get a really great per pound cost. Check http://www.localharvest.org/ for farmers near you.



Grocery shopping is actually pretty personal. My "stock-up" price on something might not be the same as yours. If you're not sure what a good price is, I'd suggest making a list of the top 2 or 3 things you buy from each category. Then just watch the prices for about a month. I think you'll be surprised by how widely the costs can fluctuate. Once you get a feel for what a good price is, you'll know when to stock up.

The main thing to remember is that even if something is an outrageously good price - you are limited by your budget. If you don't have the money, it's not worth whipping out a credit card. Ever.

(My non-napping son is making me crazy at this point - sorry for any spelling errors I didn't catch!)

getting started - doubling/tripling

Beth asked: Could you please explain sometime the double and triple coupon phenomenon? Do you have to have 2 or 3 identical coupons or does the store give you double or triple value for one? Also, do some stores do that all the time or only on certain days?

Doubling and tripling coupons is something I never appreciated until I started couponing. The basic principle is that a store will double or triple the face value of an individual coupon up to a certain amount.

So, you may see that a store's policy is to triple coupons up to .35. That means that if you have a .35 coupon - the store will "triple" the value of it to $1.05.

If you have a .25 coupon - the store will triple the value to .75.

My stores triple coupons up to .35 and double coupons up to .50. So, if the coupon's face value is between .36 and .50 - it gets doubled.

A .45 coupon will double to .90. A .50 coupon will double to $1.00.

Policies vary by store. My Kroger will double or triple up to 3 like coupons at any time. That means I can use 3 Angel Soft .50/1 coupons and all three will triple to $1.00. I could use a 4th coupon, but it's value would just be the .50 - it won't triple.

The limit is only on "like" coupons - so I could use 3 .50/1 Angel Soft, 3 .50/1 Mahatama Rice, 3 .50/1 Eggland's Best eggs and so on.

My Tom Thumb will only double/triple one like coupon per transaction. So, I could use one .50/1 Angel Soft and it would double to $1.00. If I use a second one, it's value will only be .50. Again, I can double/triple one coupon for each different individual product I'm purchasing.

In some areas, the grocery stores only double/triple during certain times - like Harris Teeter in some areas. The store will usually limit how many coupons you can double/triple at a time - so many couponers will make several trips into the store.

Your store's ad may have their coupon policy printed in teeny tiny print somewhere in their ad. You can also check their website. Policies may change from store to store within the same chain - your best bet is to call your store and ask what their doubling/tripling policy is.

The beauty of doubling/tripling is when you are able to combine it with a great sale to get products Free or really cheap.

Hopefully that answers some questions - please let me know if you have more!

(Next up - shopping for produce, dairy, and meat)