Friday afternoon is going to be fun! I convinced my sister-in-law and husband to go on a grocery shop with me. The goal — they spend less than $25 for a week’s-plus worth of groceries (with no coupons!)!

Now they are far from bargain shoppers. I think they fall into common traps — no plan, impulse buys (husband’s downfall), not thinking down the road for menu ideas, stopping by the store to get what they want for that night’s dinner, not using coupons, not being conscious of that week’s deals, and eating out far too much (because they failed to have food on hand).

Sound familiar?

But I am going to whip them into shape in one hour today — and not use any coupons!

How are we going to do it? Very simple, by using some easy tactics:

If I bump them up to $30, we could easily do breakfast and lunch. We’ll see how that goes. But for now, I think it’s important just to see how smart shopping can fill their fridge and freezer. They also hope to pay off credit cards, and I want to show them by just handling this part of their lives, they can! A little — and a lot of — savings goes a long way! I will let you know how it goes.

Curious what we are buying — look at everything I have on the list:

Four Avocados - $1
Sour Cream – 99 cents
10 lb potatoes – 99 cents
Three Corn on the cobs – 30 cents
5 lb Blue Ribbon rice - $1.99
Cilantro – 25 cents
Carrots – 1 pound 33 cents
Garden Express Salad – 89 cents
Bananas –$1 (4 pounds)
Chicken leg quarters – $2 (4 pounds)
Yellow Onion – 50 cents (3 pounds)
Bone in Chicken Breast – $1.78 (2 pounds)
Springfield corn – $1.20 (three cans)
Red/White potatoes – 66 cents (2 pounds)
London Broil - $5 (3 pounds)
Ham Steak - $2.50 (1.5 pounds)
2 liter Diet Pepsi – 99 cents

Total - $22.37

Not bad for less than $25, huh? More to come …

I hope you know by now that you can reap so much more in savings at the grocery and drug store when you combine savings — sale prices+coupons+rebates=great steals.

But the same thing applies when ordering online.

A week ago, there was a great deal where you could get $15 free in merchandise at the Kodak Gallery site. I got the code by signing up, but it looks like it is still available. Anyway, before I ordered, I searched Retailmenot.com for any additional savings. Lo and behold, by just entering a coupon code, I saved another 20 percent!

It gets better!

I then went to my link at Ebates.com and I got another 20 percent in cash back there!

So here is how it figured out:

So I will end up getting paid to buy the set!

Of course, I did pay shipping and tax for a total of $7, but with the Ebates rebate, it will end up being $3 total!

By just taking a few minutes, I got a great Christmas gift for nearly nothing! Remember these tips when you begin your online shopping — especially as the holidays quickly approach. This is free money!

Kraft issued very quietly a great $10 rebate on its crackers and nuts, but it only runs through Nov. 30! Save those grocery store receipts!

All you need to do is buy 10 qualifying items, include the store receipt(s) with the products and prices circled, and mail it in. Combine it with coupons and you can get some good deals on Wheat Thins, Ritz Crackers, Premium saltines and Planters Nuts.

The best part? On the link, they also have $1 off two boxes of crackers, and Vons has ‘em on a two-day special this week, so I will get Triscuits for 92 cents a box (the lowest they get in these parts). You can print the coupon twice, so I am halfway there (and I also need crackers).

Watch for deals — and coupons — over the next couple of weeks and stock up for the holidays (and save your receipts!)! I used a similar $10 rebate offer from Kelloggs to stock up on cereal in September, paying less than 50 cents a box.

Here is the link for the rebate form and qualifying items.

P.S. Reminder to self - save grocery receipts. I just bought Ritz crackers last week for $1.89 — I could have got them for 89 cents with the rebate!

This week, the specials at the grocery store suck — and even with coupons! I tell you, unless it’s at least 50 percent off, it’s not a deal in my mind. So this week, I am buying the basics — milk — and taking advantage of a couple good coupon deals, but that’s it! I might spend $20 tops for two people.

That makes me see how valuable stockpiling is when you grocery shop.

What’s stockpiling? When you see an item hit its absolutely lowest price, you buy more than you immediately need. I usually think in terms of three to six months. because most grocery items hit their lowest price every 12 weeks.

For example, Farmer John wieners were 49 cents last week at Stater Bros. I had Art buy four packages (they are his favorite). We are easily set for the next four months on wieners, when normally these would cost upwards of $2 a pack. So, for the $2 we spent then, I am not spending $8 down the road — a $6 savings. (The extras went in the freezer.)

Another example? Right before school started, the stores had great deals on cereal, and when combined with coupons and rebates, it made ‘em steals! I am talking 25-50 cents a box. I just counted, and I have 14 boxes of cereal. We are easily set for six months. So instead of paying let’s say $2.50 a box for a total of $35, I paid less than $7 — 80 percent off a sales price! (And they are good for more than a year!)

Now, let me counter some objections:

The biggest learning curve on stockpiling is knowing when something hits its absolutely lowest price, and then combining with a coupon, if you can, for a steal. But like the wiener deal I cited, that was with no coupon.

So keep an eye on the bottom, bottom priced deals. They are usually advertised on the front of your grocery store flyers. (These are loss leaders — learn more in this post.) When you see ‘em, hit ‘em hard! If they are out, ask for a raincheck, as I recommended in this post of grocery store secrets (I got one last week for Kraft mac n cheese for 33 cents a box and asked for the maximum — four boxes.)

Oh and want to know the savings on the items I mentioned? I could have spent $49 on the mayo, wieners and cereal. Instead, by stockpiling, I paid less than $10 — a $39 savings (or 80 percent off)!

I will admit it, I am not a Halloween person … just never could get much into it. But I am lucky, Art’s sister and husband love it, so they come over, decorate the outside with tons of ghoulish items — we are talking zombies, skeletons, fog machines, cauldrons, you name it — and all I have to do is make dinner, buy a load of candy and pray that 9 p.m. comes.

But having them over means about two-and-a-half days of entertaining for me. The day before setup is a dinner, then Halloween dinner, and then breakfast the next day (because they stay up late to de-Halloween the whole house afterward and stay overnight).

I already have the strategy, though — a homey chicken casserole Friday night with biscuits, beef stew with homemade bread on Halloween, and a quiche the next day with fresh fruit and banana muffins. How can I do it all? ‘Cause I prep and make days in advance.

The chicken is already roasted and diced in the freezer. I will make the beef part of the stew either in the next day or two and freeze, or a day in advance and let the flavors meld. The banana muffins will be done this week and frozen, and I already bought the eggs and pie shell for the quiche. Going to pre-cook the bacon and just freeze it till next week. A little planning and some cooking each day, and I will have the whole thing covered.

Now just gotta go buy the candy! (By the way, the dollar store here in town has bags for — surprise — a dollar. I think that’s going to be the stop tomorrow.)

Anyway, I guess the moral behind this post is by planning and doing a little every day, such special events as Halloween (or whenever you know people are coming) doesn’t have to be so stressful … or ghoulish.

OK, grab your chestnuts — there are only 68 days left till Christmas! I can hear the “Oh geez!” “Not already!” and “Oh crap!” comments now. But I thought you needed a reminder.

It’s time to draft that Christmas list now, before all the holiday hubbaloo begins. Practicing what I preach, I did mine for this year tonight — 22 people (we have a big family), but I already have 10 gifts out of the way. Yea!

By drafting the list now, you will have a set guideline not only for whom you are buying gifts, but also an opportunity to set a budget per person. This will keep you from spending too much on one person and feeling you need to make it up with the next, as well as spread the bill-paying out over time. The first half of my spending should be paid off this month. My goal is to finish to it all before Thanksgiving this year so that I may devote the holidays to decorating, entertaining, enjoying my friends and family, and generally being relaxed.

But this takes planning. So I am recommending this week you list everyone for whom you wish to buy presents and set a realistic budget. The best part about this is it will allow you to hit those clearance sales, and other online deals before everyone wakes up December 1st and realizes Christmas is 24 days away.

So, ho! ho! ho! Let’s begin the holiday planning early this year and vow to enjoy all that the season brings!

There must be a group for people like me — I am a recovering paper towel junkie.

Every month, I thrilled as I picked up a new 8-pack of Brawny, ready to keep the house, hands and more clean and sanitary.
But then the recession hit home in 2007, and I had to find a way to save money — any money. So I finally looked long and deep at my paper towel habit.

And that’s really what it is.

Sure, I still indulge every once in awhile, but our house has switched to using dish towels nearly 80 percent of the time. First, it saves money — I am spending about 66 percent less on paper towels, usually only picking up an 8-pack every three months. Second, it’s better for the environment — fine with me. Third, did I mention I am saving money?

We go through about 12-14 dish towels a week, but they are just tossed in that week’s laundry. Normally, I would have gone through about two rolls of paper towels in the same time. Now, I go through a roll about every three weeks.

I still use paper towels for the bathrooms — can’t get past that. And I use them when I am drying chicken (for obvious reasons) and cleaning up greasy messes. But for every day wiping down kitchen counters, etc., it’s the dish towel now. I usually even maximize it by either cleaning the bannisters, a quick wipe of the bathroom counters or even the molded doors before the towel gets the final toss into the laundry basket.

In an even more cost-cutting measure, we re-use paper towels to pick up the “deposits” Andy the puppy leaves on a much-too-regular basis on the back patio. I just toss the half-used towels in a drawer and pull ‘em out to do my business after Andy does his.

So, this week, try to be more conscious of when you use a paper towel. Perhaps you could just use a kitchen towel instead — and you’ll save money!

I love this recipe for so many reasons. It’s for those tortilla pin wheel wraps that everyone buys at the store for parties. You know, those tortillas filled with different items and then sliced. But they are so easy to make for your own party, and at a fraction of the cost!

This recipe is great because:

A) It’s easy
B) You can make it a day in advance
C) It’s cheap to make
D) It’s vegetarian
E) It uses standard ingredients
F) They’re good!

I made ‘em yesterday for Art’s 50th birthday get-together this evening, and there were only two that were left. Now that’s a good appetizer! P.S. From reading the reviews on allrecipes.com (as I highly recommend), it’s best to cut the Ranch dressing in half. Just take that as a recommendation. I also added a smidge of the prepared dressing, itself, to soften the cheese up, but just a smidgen. Oh and the recipe is easy to cut in half for smaller gatherings (as I did for tonight).

Hope you enjoy them, too. This is one of my go-to recipes for a larger gathering.

Party Pinwheels (serves 15 plus)

Ingredients:

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 (1 ounce) package ranch dressing mix (use half at first and use to taste)
2 green onions, minced
4 (12 inch) flour tortillas
1/2 cup red bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup diced celery
1 (2 ounce) can sliced black olives
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions:

In a medium-size mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, ranch dressing mix, and green onions. Spread this mixture on each tortilla. Sprinkle red pepper, celery, black olives, and cheese (if you’d like) over the cream cheese mixture. Roll up the tortillas, then wrap them tightly in aluminum foil.
Chill 2 hours or overnight. Cut off ends of the rolls, and slice the chilled rolls into 1/2 inch slices.

Who says lightening doesn’t strike twice? I got paid again today to buy merchandise, and this time the total was $43.66 — and free!

I used the Single Check Rebate program at Rite Aid to score these great deals this afternoon, and let me tell you, I am ready for cold season — and at no cost.

This week, Rite Aid has a number of cold and flu medicines for free after its rebate program. I detailed the Single Check Rebates before in this post when I got more than $50 in products for $1, and I have to say again it is so easy! All you do is buy the merchandise offering a rebate for that week (of course, I usually only buy the free stuff). For example, this week Comtrex cold pills were on special for $3.99 and there is a Single Check Rebate for $3.99. That equals free!

When I got home from the store, all I did was enter my store, transaction and register numbers at the Rite Aid web site, and at the end of the month, I request a check for all the rebates. I get one check in the mail, and I walk away with a ton of free merchandise. (You can request the rebate immediately, but I like to wait through the month in case some other free rebate items come available.)

Today, I walked out with what will be a free couple lip balms, cold medicine, cough drops, sinus sprays, Sucrets, cold prevention tablets, heated muscle pads and even a tube of Poligrip denture adhesive. Now that may seem an odd purchase, but I actually made money on it. It was $1.99, with a $1.99 rebate, but I also had a coupon for a free tube, so I made $2 on the deal. I am just going to give it to my friend Annamarie’s mom, but that $2 paid for the four bags of Chex Mix I bought. Those were 99 cents a bag. I had four 50 cents off coupons from Coupons.com, so they were 45 cents a bag, but then the Poligrip overage paid for those — and I even made 19 cents. If I hadn’t bought the Chex, I would have been paid $1.99 to buy everything. Is that cool, or what?

Bottom line? Today, I got paid 19 cents to buy $43.66 in merchandise!

Yes, I did have to pay tax on all the products, totalling $3.47, but that’s less than if I just went in and bought the four bags of Chex Mix on sale (and now I am set for the holidays for quick snacks — not to mention any cold!).

The best part — you can do this deal tomorrow. The rebates on these items run for the next 5-6 days. You can do the matchups at www.Couponmom.com, but I did them today on my own just from the flyer. Oh and at Couponmom, she will tell you coupons you can use for the products so you can get them even cheaper, or get paid to buy them!

I love the Rite Aid rebate program. The other drug stores offer receipt credits on future purchases, but I like that Rite Aid gives me cold, hard cash to let me spend whereever I choose (and with no expiration dates).

I may not need the cold medicine today, but I know from experience that I am happy it’s in the medicine cabinet when I do — and that I am not paying a dime for any of it! That alone will make you feel better!

Oh, and I almost forgot, Rite Aid has a program going through Oct. 17 in which if you buy $25-$50 in products, you get a free $5 gift card! So, in the end, I will make $5.19 buying all these items!

It gets better! Just found this coupon for $5 off any purchase of $25 or more through Making Cents with Sense blog! Kaka — I could have done even better today if I had just stopped by her great blog, but you can use it now. And it’s good through December, so print ‘em out!