This week has been a tiring one, in that my partner’s father died unexpectedly Monday. Today is the viewing and Monday is the service. While I iron, make meals and prep for the next two days, Coupon Belle offered to do a guest post. Thank you! She is one of my favorites on learning new saving strategies. Belle teaches classes on saving strategies, so she knows her stuff. Today, she is offering this post about how to add e-coupons to your grocery store card *and* these can be combined with paper ones. I used this strategy twice in the last two weeks, getting Hamburger Helper for 41 cents a box, and free bags of granola Nut Clusters. Thank you Traci for offering, and here is her great information.)

It’s the first of the month, so tonight I sat down and went through the 3 online programs that download coupons automatically onto my Kroger Plus card. These are fairly new programs and I’ve had success most of the time and failure a couple of times. I only choose items that I need or know I’ll have a paper coupon to pair it with plus only purchase these items when they are on sale and at their lowest price of the sale cycle. So, until they work out all the kinks- I see these coupons as bonuses. You can dispute and I’ve done that before. There is information under “Contact Us” how to do so. It was resolved fairly quickly and I was credited the amount of the coupons and a little bonus for the hassle.

www.cellfire.com: When you register, it will allow you to choose to have coupons downloaded to your cell phone or your Kroger (or your affiliate store) card. Choose what you want and they are usually downloaded within the hour. This site also has restaurant, coffee and retail offers to places like Arby’s, Caribou Coffee and Hollywood Video.

www.pgsavers.com: This is Proctor and Gamble’s site for coupons. Again, register then choose what coupons you want uploaded to your card. Again, takes about an hour. I usually play it safe and choose my coupons at least 24 hours before I’m ready to shop.

www.shortcuts.com: I usually go through Kroger.com to access these coupons. Same concept.

If you go through Kroger.com, click on In Store then Coupons. All three sites have links on the Coupon page.

I mentioned before, the way these coupons really help is they can be combined with paper coupons. I don’t keep track of what I download, just choose what I know I’m likely to purchase then check CouponMom.com for deals where I clip coupons. Just another way to save and it’s super easy plus only takes a couple of clicks sitting at the computer!

(Be sure and check out Coupon Belle’s great blog — just click here. She is the queen of working the drugstore deals!)

Last night, our A/C decided to die (thankfully a $250 repair should do it tomorrow), but I still need to make dinner tonight — and I am all prepared!

I won’t have to turn on the oven at all, because I had some cubed, cooked chicken from this suggestion about roasting all the chicken breasts in advance. *Then* I had stocked up on some Pasta Roni using this grocery shopping skill, and finally, I had snagged some broccoli crowns for 88 cents a pound and froze them cut up for such an emergency, as suggested in this tip. (What a great idea and it froze beautifully!)

So now, I willl have a hot dinner on the table tonight without ever turning on the oven or stove (because I will do all the prep in the microwave).

Thinking ahead will save you so many times! I’m so proud of myself!

Ever since I got into cooking, I love to watch Food Network, mainly to find recipes that I think are delicious and relatively simple to do. That’s why I was thrilled last night at 2:30 a.m. as I watched a DVR’ed episode of “Party Line” with Dan Smith and Steve McDonagh.

They were the first people to win the Food Network’s “Next Food Network Star” contest. But sadly, their show never took off. I don’t know why, because their recipes are very approachable and I love Steve’s tips on how to throw a party (they are professional caterers).

Perhaps the U.S. was not ready for a gay couple hosting a cooking show, but I choose not to believe that. Thankfully, you can still catch their shows late, late at night on Food Network. Honestly, set your DVR and see if you don’t at least pick up one good recipe or tip from the show!

I did last night — this fantastic, easy recipe for Truffle Brownies! They looked delicious and it was rated 5 stars on the Food Network site. The recipe says it makes 8 bars, but Dan says (and I concur) to cut them in small bite-size pieces because they are so rich. This is a perfect dessert for when the weather is hot, and also one you can make it far in advance. Gotta love that!

Try it, and check out “Party Line” — perhaps Steve and Dan might just come back to TV!

Truffle Brownies

Recipe courtesy Dan Smith and Steve McDonagh

Ingredients
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 stick margarine
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate chopped
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Chocolate ganache for topping, recipe follows
Special equipment: 9-inch round foil cake pan

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Using a hand held electric mixer, beat the eggs and salt together in a large mixing bowl until frothy. Add the sugar and beat until the eggs are thick and pale yellow, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the vanilla extract and beat an additional 30 seconds.

Put the margarine and chocolate in a microwave safe container and microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir to insure that the chocolate has melted. Microwave an additional 30 seconds, if needed.

With the mixer running, pour the melted chocolate into the egg mixture. Add the flour and beat 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat an additional 30 seconds.

Spray the cake pan with a pan release spray and pour in the brownie batter. Place the pan on the top rack of the oven and bake 15 to 20 minutes until the center is barely set.* Remove the pan from the oven and let cool. Top with the ganache and place in the freezer for at least 1 hour.

To serve, remove from freezer and slice immediately. Allow to come to room temperature before serving.

*Cook’s Note: If tested with a toothpick the center will still be gooey. If tested by touch, the center will be soft. It will set once frozen.

Chocolate Ganache:

1/2 cup (4 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup heavy cream

Put the chocolate chips and cream into a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Remove the bowl and stir with a whisk or fork until well mixed. Use immediately. If using the ganache later it will need to be reheated.

Yield: 3/4 cup

I tell ya, I hit the motherlode of deals this month — August has been very, very good to me. Rite-Aid racked up number of deals this month, and I hit the jackpot when grocery shopping at Ralphs (Kroger Back East) this afternoon. Believe it or not, I got $25.98 in sale-priced groceries for (drum roll please) 48 cents!

With all the back to school specials, this is the time to pick up breakfast and lunch products. It’s time to stockpile! Sure, you’re not going to eat it all in one month, but I would hazard to say you are going to be set for three to six months instead. Everything will keep, and it’s much better than paying so much more every time you run out.

OK, so how did I do it?

Kelloggs/Keebler brands were having a special — buy four products and get $4 off. You could do this deal twice. I then matched up all those items with Internet coupons I got from www.coupons.com. (I used Internet ones because I did not get the Kelloggs coupon section that came out August 2. But you can do the same with other products if you have the booklet.) Then I read on a blog that Kelloggs is having a rebate special that if you buy 10 products in a single transaction, you get a $10 rebate. Get the official form here — must be purchased before Sept. 30.

Do you see how important it is to know how to play the game? If I had just got the eight items for the $8 total in savings offered by the store, I would have missed out totally on the $10 rebate. But by adding just two items, I more than doubled my savings. Add in the $7.50 coupons, and I was nearly paid to buy the products. Even if you don’t use the items, donate them to a food bank — someone will be happy to benefit from your windfall.

I was talking with my real estate client Erika about coupon shopping. She is just starting to become more aware of how she can save, and I explained that it’s a learning curve. The skills build on each other. But you, too, can do this! And for a family of two, we are saving $3,500 or more a year just by being an even smarter shopper. That’s good money!

I hope this example gives you the encouragement to try. Read the Ebook at www.couponmom.com (it’s free) to learn how I did it, too! Just 48 cents for all this!

“You’ve got to be kidding me?” That’s what the woman behind me in line said when she heard the amount I paid when I checked out of Rite Aid today. Is that music to a bargain-shopper’s ears, or what?

This month I have bought $52.08 in sale priced merchandise for a grand total of $1.03!

How? Just using three easy strategies — shopping sale items, matching them with coupons, and matching those with Rite Aid’s Single Check Rebates. It’s easy with the deals noted at Couponmom.com.

I lucked out this afternoon and got a Swiffer Wet Jet starter kit on clearance for $5.99. Great price for an item that is normally $21.99 there and about $17 at Target. But I also had a $5 coupon, so with it on clearance, I walked out with the whole thing for just 99 cents!

That was a stroke of luck, but the rest of the deals were matching up Rite Aid’s Single Check Rebate program with coupons. You can get numerous items free, and if you match them with coupons, some you get paid to buy!

I find you get the best Single Check Rebate deals at the beginning of the month, but a quick stop throughout the month at the store will still net you a few freebie items. To get the rebates, all you do is go to the Rite Aid site, enter your receipt, transaction and cashier numbers, and then at the end of the month, request your rebate. The store sends you a check, and the money is all yours to spend elsewhere, and your pantry and medicine cabinet are stocked.

Sure, some of the items I wouldn’t normally buy, but for free, I’ll take them, like the Air Wick auto air fresheners I got for $1 (50 percent off at $7 and then used a $6 coupon) and 50 cents today (50 percent off at $4.50 and then used a $4 coupon). But when I combined them with a tape dispenser that was free with a Single Check Rebate and used a $2 coupon for the tape, I got those air fresheners for free … well actually, I got paid 50 cents to buy all three! Is that cool, or what?

CVS and Walgreens use a Catalina system, where they give you the rebates via a printout at check out. But that must be spent at the store. You can roll these into deals later, but I prefer the Rite Aid system where I get a rebate at the end of the month and can spend it anywhere.

I always say, “free is free,” and I have walked out of Rite Aid this month with the items pictured for $1.03. (Of course, I did have to pay tax on the items, so in reality I spent $5.02 total, but look at this photos and tell me that it’s not a deal when I paid $5 for $52 in sale priced merchandise — of course, that’s only 90 percent off including tax!)

Look at the items pictured — would you pay $5 to get all of these items? I hazard to guess that many of you pay that for just two of the items! Try hitting the deals at the drugstores, and you can reap the rewards — and stuff — too!

Cool deal going on now at Walgreens. Use the in-ad coupon to get five cans of Campbells cooking soups (cream of chickem, mushroom, etc.) for 79 cents each. But if you combine it with the $1 off two cans coupon from Campbellkitchen.com, you can get them for 29 cents apiece. Now if you were sneaky, you could print the coupon from two different computers with two different email addresses, and you can maximize the savings — not that anyone would do that.

I am also going to pick up a free bottle of Ecotrin and two free packs of Bic pens while I am there. Learn the coupons you can use to net these deals, too, by going to Couponmom.com and click “Deals by State.” Then click the hot link for Walgreens on the opening screen.

More on saving bigtime at drugstores hopefully later this afternoon!

My good blogging pal, Farmer’s Wife posted a great new giveaway today for a $100 free pair of frames from eyebuydirect.com.

The cool thing on the site is you can upload your photo and try on the frames before you buy. Prices are also excellent — starting at $7.95 and lots for $24.95

All you need to do is input your prescription — and did you know, your optometrist by law must give the prescription to you? You are not obligated to buy through the office directly!

But instead of paying for the frames, why not enter for a chance to win a free pair of frames up to $100? Just visit Farmer’s Wife at Glass Half Full. She always has the best giveaways — and is fun to boot!

Hot, hot deal to share today!

Schwan’s — the high-end food delivery service — is offering $10 in free food for the first 500,000 new customers and free delivery. Free, free, free!

Honestly, I just ordered six tamales (three easy dinners for us) and there is absolutely no cost! Other items in the $10 range include chicken nuggets, pre-cooked sausage and several other items.

Tip: The item must be $10 or less, so you cannot order something for $10.50 and pay the difference. Schwan’s does have limited delivery areas, so you will be asked your ZIP code to begin, but the service is available in most urban/suburban areas. Just register and get your free stuff! The offer just began four days ago, so it’s early on to ensure you are one of the first 500,000, but I wouldn’t dawdle.

Click this link and snag this deal!