Ghosts of Halloween Past

I have just returned from the grocery store where I was in the checkout line with Harry Potter and Buzz Lightyear.
Yes, all the little kids were dressed up today in the grocery store!lol

 As I begin to spend the day preparing for the onslaught of miniature ghosts and goblins this evening, I harken back to memories of Halloweens past.
I found these couple of photos in my family albums from when my kids were wee little ones.

From 1995......

My almost 3 yr. old daughter as Tigger and my 4+ yr. old son as Casper the Friendly Ghost.

And from 1999.....

My 3.5 yr. old son.  He's the one in the middle in the shot.....dressed as Kimberly, the PINK Power Ranger.  That was just one of quite a few years he decided to be the Pink Ranger.  

Oh, the laughter & the looks he was responsible for the other moms giving me at his preschool.

Who says parents can only be the ones to embarrass their kids?
It's a two-way street!lolol


I am not one to stifle my kids' creativity and personalities, unlike my own parents.  The Pink Ranger now lives on in our family lore.


This will be the first year since 1990 I do not have a child dressing up to Trick or Treat for Halloween. 
The #2 son has hit the age when it's 'not cool' to Trick or Treat.
That may have something to do with the fact that he was invited to a Boy/Girl Party this evening.
I guess when you are 13, GIRLS trump CANDY! lol


It marks the end of a phase of my life I suppose.
And it has me feeling a bit blue today.


Here's hoping you get more Treats than Tricks tonight....


Sluggy

It's Almost Time for the End of Month Totals....

There's one more day in October and that means 2 things.
1-Get all your online coupons printed off now before they go away, or are reset for November.
2-Time to get the old calculator and spreadsheet out to see how you did financially in October.

I've started running some numbers here and it's looking mighty fine at Chez Sluggy!
After the disaster September turned out to be, we can sure use a Good Month here.

So, how about you?  Are you looking forward to seeing how you did overall for the month?
Or are you going to go hide under the covers and wish the month's outcome will just go away??

Sluggy

What Do You Do.....

...when it's less than a week until Halloween, you have 53 jars of  FREE peanut butter from Acme and still have 2 bags of Candy Corn(ok, "Autumn Mix")that was cheap from CVS and you are sick of eating it?

You make Candy Corn Fudge!

So I grabbed what looked like a quick and easy recipe from online and gave it a go.


Here's what you need.....

2 Tablespoons Butter + enough Butter to butter your pan
3 Cups Miniature Marshmallows
1 Cup Peanut Butter
1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar
20 ounces Candy Corn(I had to bags totaling 18 ounces)
2 Cups Roasted Peanuts(I didn't add this)

Butter a 9x9 pan.  I only had a 9x13 pan available.

In a skillet over LOW heat, melt butter and marshmallows, until marshmallows melt.
(You can also do this in a Double Boiler.  It would probably turn out better in one.)

Stir it until your hand wants to fall off, or it looks like this....

Add the peanut butter.

Stir until it's mixed in.

Then add the powdered sugar....

Stir until smooth.

Then fold in candy corn and peanuts...

In my case, I overheated the marshmallows so once I added the peanut butter AND sugar, the mixture had tightened up a lot to the firmness of taffy!  Folding in became "using my hands and kneeding in the candy corn".  It's a good thing I wasn't putting peanuts in because they never would have folded in.lolol
And I had LESS candy corn than the recipe called for and it was waaaay too much for the amount of 'batter'.
At this point, once you have 'folded' in your candy corn and peanuts, you are suppose to POUR the mixture into your buttered pan.
'Pouring' became ' placing solid lump of fudge into the buttered pan and pressing it down flat and evenly into pan'. lolol  This was difficult to do, as the fudge was very HOT!  I'd suggest you wear rubber gloves.

Let the fudge cool, then cut and serve.

Here's my finished product....

The family says it's tasty though it doesn't seem very sweet to me...until you bite into some candy corn.lol

Next time I'll do this differently....
1. Turn off the heat once the marshmallows melt.  There should be enough residual heat in the mix to melt the peanut butter in.   My heat setting was low enough but it didn't need the continual heating once the marshmallows got to the melting point.  The heat tightened up the mix too much after that.
2.  Use more peanut butter and marshmallows to the amount of candy corn.  The ratio of mix to candy was off.
3. And make sure the peanut butter is chunky, not creamy.  The chunky thing is just a personal preference. 
4. Work quicker once the marshmallows melt.  Hard to do when following a recipe for the first time AND you have to stop every few minutes to take a photo for your blog. 8-))

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Sluggy

Rebate Information Page is now UP!....Check it out!

Per popular request, I have started a REBATE PAGE.
To get to it, look on the right hand side of the blog.  Right under my amazing Followers is a clickable Link titled, "REBATE CENTRAL".  Just click on that and it will take you to the List of Currently Available Rebates out in Rebateland.  There isn't alot there now as it's new, but I'll be adding to it as time goes on.  You may want to bookmark that page for easy access in the future.

This REBATE PAGE will list current rebates. If there is a downloadable form or a website for the offer, I'll make the Link clickable.  I'll also list the major points, like what you need to buy, what you get & any deadline or expiration dates.   I'll be concentrating on food and toiletry rebates but may throw in other good offers as I find them.  I am only one woman though, so if you find a current rebate that I haven't posted, I'd appreciate an email(slugmamaATyahooDOTCOM)with the information so I can add it to the Rebate List.  If you also see anything that needs correction on the list, please let me know that too.
I will clean the list up each month and remove any rebate offers that have expired.

In addition, if anyone does send for any rebate on the list and experiences a problem or has a tip on how to make  the submission process go smoother, let me know and I can post a "hint" with the rebate.

Please feel free to spread the word about the Rebate Central Page.  The more Couponers and Hounders we can help, the better! ;-)

Sluggy

Apples for Days....

So what do you do when you go to the farmstand and there's a half bushel of homely apples priced at only $5.00 calling your name?

You buy them!
And that is just what I did.
I brought home a huge sack of Ugly Apples last week.
These are the less than perfect looking apples that nobody wants in their Peck or half Peck Bag of apples.  You know....scarred skins, not quite the perfect color, not quite the perfect shape &/or bruised.  The kid working at the stand said that after you picked over them and got rid of the bad ones,  at least they would be good for one pot of applesauce.
Ha!....little did he know!!

So I set to peeling and coring these babies to make some applesauce.  Making homemade applesauce it so easy too!
First thing is to select your apples and wash them thoroughly. I chose enough apples to fill my crockpot...about 17 apples.

Next you peel(if you want to peel them)and core them.

Since my ugly apples might have been riddled with bad spots, bruises, I chose to peel them first.
After about half I realized that my ugly babies did NOT have any bad spots. They were just "skin challenged" with ugly scarred peels. So I didn't peel the last part of the batch.  It's better if you leave the skins on, as most of the vitamins and "stuff that is good for you" is just under the peel.  Your applesauce will pack a bigger nutritional punch this way.

Then came the coring...

I LOVE my little apple corer. It cost me $1.00 at the discount outlet.  It makes this job go so quickly too!

After coring/peeling, put your apple slices in a bowl in which you've put some water and lemon juice(you can used bottle juice, it doesn't have to be fresh squeezed).  The lemon water helps them not to brown while waiting to go into the crockpot.  Actually, since it really doesn't matter if the slices brown, you don't have to put lemon on them.  It's just a force of habit for me to lemon the apples. lol

Spray your crockpot with a spray oil.  This helps with cleaning up later.
Then drain the lemon water off and put your apples in the crockpot, put on the lid and turn it on.
Don't add water!
That's it.....just walk away!

Now you can cook them down on LOW or HIGH.  Low will take about 5 hours, while High will cook them into sauce in about 2-3 hours.

You'll know when they are done when the house smells heavenly and they look like this....

(The large pieces in the photo are peel, not apple.)

When your apples are finished cooking, turn off the crockpot, stir it up and taste for sweetness.  If it's a bit tart for your taste, you can add some sugar or other sweetner at this point.  Also add cinnamon now if you want some in your batch.

If you didn't peel your apples and don't want the peels in the finished product, just fish them out after your applesauce cools.  Your applesauce at this point will be a bit chunky.
If you want it fine and smooth, get out a food mill.

Pour the sauce in and start milling into a bowl or pan.  If you are going to mill, don't bother fishing out your peels beforehand.  The mill will keep your peels from winding up in your finished product.
And speaking of finished product, here it is....

Ready for eating!
If you make a lot you can water bath can applesauce or put into freezer-safe containers and freeze any excess for later.
It will keep in the refrigerator for about a month.

My 17 medium-sized apples made a 6 Cup container(48 oz.)of applesauce.

I'll get out both Crockpots & do another 2 batches tomorrow of Chunky Applesauce.  That should keep us in applesauce for a couple of months.
The rest of the apples will be made into Apple Pie Filling later this week.

Sluggy

Saturday's Shopping....a little good, a little bad, alot of savings

I ran out Saturday to do errands and got a good bit of shopping done.

First to Rite-Aid.  I hadn't been in to do the rest of the week's FAR items yet.

2 x Cornflakes BOGO =$4.49
1 x Single Pop-Tart Pack=$.79
1 x Eos Lip Balm=$1.99
1 x Chloraseptic Sore Throat Strips=$4.49
1 x Little Allergies Allergen Block=$9.99
SubTotal=$21.75

Coupons Used
1 x $5 off $20 Rite-Aid Q(from watching AdPerks videos)
1 x $5 any Kellogg's purchase at Rite-Aid(from a previous month's SCR deals)
Coupons Total  $10.00

$21.75-$10=$11.75+.12tax=$11.87 OOP

Will receive $16.47 back from SCRebates(Little Allergies/Eos/Chloraspetic), making this trip a $4.60 Moneymaker!

None of the Rite-Aids around here had the FAR Blink Tears last week.  This was an item I had a $3 Q for so it would have given me a $3 overage on this 1 item.
They also ran out of the Sambucol Lozenges before I got a chance to use my $3 Q on that, so I missed out on adding $6 overage onto my SCR total for October. Ugh

Then I stopped at another Rite-Aid to pick up a few more FAR things on BIL's tab.

1 x NeilMed Nasal Mist  =$9.99
1 x Coldcalm Children's=$7.99
1 x Zucol Tablets=$5.99
SubTotal=$23.97

Coupons Used
$5 off $20 Rite-Aid Q(from watching AdPerks videos)
$2/1 NeilMed
$1/1 Coldcalm
Coupon Total=$8.00

$23.97-$8=$15.97 OOP

I will receive $23.97 back in SCRs.
**WRONG**
I will receive $15.98 back in SCRs!  Why?  Because I already bought the Coldcalm/Chestal stuff on a receipt I have to submit for BIL and not for me, because of the other stuff I bought on that receipt.
This is what happens when you are working 2 different Rebate names/addresses and you get mixed up and buy the wrong thing on the wrong receipt.  LOLOL  So I "stupided" myself out of $7.99 in rebates....ok, make that $6.99 in rebates because I got $1 off of the purchase using the coupon.

So in the end, I spent $15.97 OOP and I'll get SCRs of $15.98 back, so I "made" .01¢ on these items.lolololol

That's ok, I'll be able to send for the NeilMed rebate on the nasal mist thing, so I'll make up a buck or two there.

Then I ran to  Walgreen's because I had $14 in expiring RRs.  I did the following....

Transaction #1
2 x Benefiber(for hubby)@$10=$20
2 x Gas-X @$5=$10
2 x Tuna Fish@$.55=$1.10 *substituted the "good" tuna b/c they were out of the cheap stuff*
SubTotal=$31.10

Coupons Used
4 x Wag's Booklet $2/1=$8.00
2 x $2/1 Benefiber=$4.00
2 x $1/1 Gas-X=$2.00
1 x $6 RR=$6.00
1 x $5 RR=$5.00
Coupon Total=$25.00

$31.10-$25.00=$6.10 OOP
Received $10RR (Benefiber/Gas-X)

Transaction #2

1 x Glade Candleholder=$2.50
1 x Glade Refill=$2.50
1 x Theraflu=$4.99
2 x Triaminic=$9.98
1 x Snickers Bar=$.50
SubTotal=$20.47

Coupons Used

1 x $3/2 Glade products=$3.00
1 x $2/1 Theraflu=$2.00
2 x $1.50/1 Triaminic=$3.00
1 x $2/1 Wags Booklet=$2.00
1 x $10RR(Benefiber/Gas-X)=$10.00
Coupon Total=$20.00

$20.47-$20.00=$.47+$.30tax=$.77 OOP
Received $9 in RRs($1Glade/$8Theraflu, Triaminic)

Transaction #3

1 x Airwick I-Motion Mini on sale $3.99
1 x Tuna Fish $.55
1 x Candy $.44
SubTotal=$4.98+$.24=$5.22

Coupons Used
1 x $4/1 Airwick Q=$4.00
1 x $1RR(Glade)=$1.00

$5.22-$5.00=$.22 OOP
I received NO RRs for this transaction.
And I still had a $3RR to roll, so I did this...

 Transaction #4
1 x Gillette Razor=$8.99
1 x Candy $.44
SubTotal=$9.43

Coupons Used
$4/1 Razor=$4.00
$3RR=$3.00
Coupon Total=$7.00

$9.43-$7=$2.43+$.54tax=$2.97 OOP
I received a $6RR(Razor).

Value of items=$85.55
Total spent OOP=$10.06  Ouch!
RRs Used=$25
RRs Received=$25
RRs left=$14
Savings of 88.25%

Then it was off to CVS for a Free After ECBs Glade Candle and some Halloween Candy and using expiring ECBs.

1 x Glade Candle on sale $6.99
2 x Nestle Chocolate Candy Bars Bag $6.99=$13.98
2 x Willy Wonka Candy Bag $5.99=$11.98
SubTotal=$32.95

Coupons Used
1 x $5 off $25 CVS Purchase Q(from the flu shot video)=$5.00
1 x $3/1 Glade Candle=$3.00
2 x $2/1 Nestle Candy=$4.00
2 x $2/1 Wonka Candy=$4.00
$10 in ECBs=$10.00
Coupon Total=$26.00

$32.95-$26=$6.95+$.12tax=$7.07 OOP  put on CVS Gift Card
I received $11.95 in ECBs($5 for buying $20 or more of Halloween candy/$6.99 for the Glade Candle).
Value of items=$35.95

You may have noticed that there is NO CANDLE in the photo above.
That's because the cashier didn't put the candle in my bag!
The bags were so heavy from the huge candy bars that I didn't even notice there was no candle in one of the bags until TODAY, when I went out to the car to retrieve the bags and photo and put the stuff away!
ARGH!!
So I called the store manager a bit ago and if I take my receipt in and ask for him I can go get my candle.  Seems nobody put the candle aside(as far as he knows) or told him there was a candle that a customer didn't  get.  I have a feeling that my cashier took herself home a free candle on me that night!

I finished up my shopping trip at KMart, to pick up the last 2 packs of Kool-Aid Jammers for the Kraft Back-to-School rebate.  I bought a pair of pants on clearance for $1.99 with the $4 I spent on Kool-Aid for a total of $5.99.  I used one of my $5 off OYNO KMart Qs I received for buying the Clorox products earlier in the week.  I spent OOP $.99 on that Transaction.

Then I went back into KMart and bought 6 Canisters of Clorox Wipes...$2.99 ea. x 6=$17.94+.78tax=$18.72.
I used 2 B2G1 Free coupons and the other $5 OYNO KMart Q(from the earlier Clorox purchase that week), for a total of $10.98 in Coupons.
My total OOP was $7.74 for the Clorox which I put on a KMart GiftCard so zero money spent.
Then the 2 $5 OYNO Qs didn't print!  The one that spits out after the register tape did but the Cat machine one didn't. 
Bleh!

Saturday was a mixed bag of the good with the bad in couponing.

Sluggy

New PROGRESSO High Fiber Soup REVIEW & GIVEAWAY

Ok, let's face it.  Most of us could use more fiber in our diets.
My hubby is all about using the fiber supplements.  You know, the kind you spoon into a glass of liquid and stir like a madman and chug it down.
Yumm....not!


I'd much rather get my fiber in something I eat as a regular part of my diet.  Progresso has come out with a new line of "High Fiber" soups.

  MyBlogSpark sent me a can of the Tuscany Chicken Variety of their new soup to try, along with a set of cobalt blue soup mugs and 2 nice shiny flatware soup spoons.  Each item sporting a "Progresso" logo on it....see?

Today is a rainy damp Fall day, the perfect day for a hot soup lunch!  So I gave the soup a try just a little while ago.

There are 4 new Progresso soups that have 28% of the recommended Daily Value of fiber per serving(7 grams) and have no added MSG or artificial flavors. The new flavors are Creamy Tomato Basil, Hearty Vegetable and Noodles, Homestyle Minestrone, and the flavor I received-Tuscany Chicken.

Doesn't that look yummy?

Progresso says in the info I received from My Blog Spark that these new soups are delicious.  Well, I'll be the judge of that!lol
It's easy to see right away with the Tuscany Chicken soup, why this is a high fiber soup.  It's loaded with white northern beans.  As you all know by now, I am NOT a big bean fan, except for Boston baked beans.  I'll eat them but I don't go out of my way to get them.  The flavor of this soup is so nice that the beans didn't put me off at all.  I smushed some of the beans up(as it's the eating a whole bean thing I don't care for) and that made the soup even better.....gave it a creamier texture.

I've been a fan of Progresso soups since my hubby's parents turned me on to them many years ago.  Their Cream of Mushroom is the best!  This Tuscany Chicken Soup could have stood to have a bit more chicken and some more chunks of vegetables in it but all in all, I would probably purchase this particular variety again.  It had good flavor and it wasn't a salt lick like some soups.

If you are wanting to add more fiber to your diet, I'd recommend you give these new Progresso soups a try.

Progresso & MyBlogSpark have provided me with a second prize pack-a set of soup bowls & spoons and a can of soup-to giveaway to one of my lucky readers.  Here's what you have to do to enter to win it!

*Leave your name and an email address along with a comment on this post about how you try to incorporate more fiber into your diet.

You can earn an additional entry in the following ways....

*Become a follower or if you already follow say so in a separate comment.
*Subscribe or if you are already a subscriber say so in a separate comment.
*Add my blog to your blog roll or if you have already have added my blog say so in a separate comment.
*Blog about my giveaway and leave a separate comment with the URL to the post.

This Giveaway will close at midnight, friday Nov. 6th EST.

Good Luck!

Sluggy

Meal Plan Monday....October 26th Edition Just need a Bag o' Beans!

Last Week's Menu Postmortem...

Everything was served as planned except when I went to make the Ham & Bean Soup I discovered I was out of the appropriate beans!lol 

So we had leftovers instead.  I got some Domino's take-out pizza on Saturday while I was out running errands.  That got us through a meal plus some of us had it on leftover night Sunday.
The Pork Cutlets in the Pork Parmesan were very good.  They tasted sort of like veal to me...with all that sauce and cheese on top, who can tell the difference?lol  It was also my least expensive dinners last week, as the pork was so cheap. 

Here's what I will be serving our family of 4 this Week....


MONDAY--Cheese Ravioli(freezer), Garlic Bread(hubby made rolls instead)
TUESDAY--Fried Catfish(freezer), Sweet Potato Fries(farm), Carrots(farm)
WEDNESDAY--Ham and Bean Soup(freezer), assorted sandwiches(Cheese, Turkey)
THURSDAY--Sloppy Joes(freezer/make my own sauce), Corn(freezer)
FRIDAY--Cheesy Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole(freezer/stockpile)
SATURDAY--Tacos(freezer/stockpile)
SUNDAY--Leftovers or Breakfast for Dinner(if I make the brioche this week)
SNACKS/DESSERTS--Zucchini Bread,homemade Applesauce, Candy Corn Fudge

Be sure and check out the Ham and Bean Soup recipe link above.  I am NOT a fan of bean soups but with this one, even I want to lick the bowl clean!  It should be called the "Bean Soup for Bean Soup Haters" Soup.lol

Last week I spent $73.64.  That doesn't include the 2 trips to Rite-Aid(that was mostly HBA tho).  Yes, I was a "Spendy Spendington" last week!lol   $29+ of that was oreos, fruit and ketchup stocking up.  $26.50 of that was stocking up on a half bushel of apples and a peck of onions for the root cellar, plus some squash and a big pumpkin for carving. Though the farm stand is cheaper than the produce at the grocery store, I have seen a definite hike in prices there as well. 8-((

This week's menu shopping list.....weekly milk purchase but otherwise there is nothing we need to buy for this menu except a bag of northern beans.  I don't need to stock-up on much of anything so I'll think about where to allocate my food budget this week.  Maybe I'll lay in some baking supplies(flour and spices) or powdered milk and some dairy that's on sale this week.  I am good on sugars, nuts, chips but the spices are getting low with the baking season coming up.  After shelling out $1.50 for the beans, I'll have $33.50 left for fresh milk and whatever I want to stock up on.  Oh decisions, decisions about what to buy...lol

Food Waste Report....my last green pepper salvaged from the garden after the frost last week.  I forgot to put it in the fridge and by the time I remembered(2 days later...ugh!), it had started liquifying...not a pretty sight.lol  Pepper now resides in the compost pile out back.

Check out ORGANIZING JUNKIE to see what other Home Cooks are serving this week!

Sluggy

Almost Noon on a Monday....

Hubby is FINALLY back to work after taking last week off.....yay!lol
 Love having him around but geez, it sure puts a crimp into my schedule and throws me off of my routine.

(Not our band.)

I spent 8+ hours yesterday working a Band Tournament.  Our school hosted the event so as a Band Parent....ehem....I got to work the gig.  I was the assistant Gate Keeper for the field.  I got to wield the Power on whom could come on the field to prep and who had to wait.  I was more like a traffic cop at times, as the exit path for the bands intersected with the entrance and we had spectators walking through too to get to their seats.
Then you had the band directors who didn't listen to you and were trying to leave the field in the wrong directions and the one prop guy who drove the ATV onto the FIELD EEK!!! and didn't stay on the track. 
All the teams did well and they all seemed to enjoy themselves.  I got to see my son's band perform(although from a weird angle lol)for the first time with all the costumes and props.  Their program this year is the "Gotham Chronicles", an original arrangement using various BATMAN movies & tv series music.

I got up bright and early today(SO UNLIKE ME!lol)and have been super productive(also So UNLIKE ME!hehehe).

Here's what I've done this morning already....
*Fixed son's alarm clock
*Put towels away
*Folded 2 loads of laundry
*Put another load into the washer
*Finished loading the dishwasher and have run it
*Made tea
*Prepped apples
*Filled crockpot w/apples & started the applesauce
*Mixed & baked 4 loaves of Zuke Bread
*Took compost out to pile
*Cleaned Kitchen
*Took pics of shopping from Sat.
*Played Mafia Wars on Facebook lol
*Cleaned out part of the fridge
*Moved frozen food around
*Got mail/opened mail
*Dealt with the doggies(as always)

Time to get the Bread out of the oven and make some lunch now, then get a package out to the PO.

The one thing I haven't done is deal with my Meal Plan....after all, it is Meal Plan Monday. ;-)

So, what have you done today? ;-)

I'll have another GIVEAWAY posted TOMORROW! 
Here's a hint, it's something blue and something good for you and yummy in the Fall when the weather gets chilly.

Stayed tune until then.....same Bat Time, same Bat Channel.


Sluggy

To KMart for some Almost Free Cleaning Supplies and Rebate Products

I heard that KMart had a Catalina OYNO Coupon Deal going on this week for Clorox products.  When you Buy $15 worth of Clorox products you get 2 $5 OYNO Coupons....one prints out after your receipt and the other prints out from the Catalina machine.

I also had a $12 OYNO Catalina Q and a $5 OYNO Catalina Q left from the last round of Double Coupons at KMart that were expiring next week.  And I needed to buy some Capri Sun Drinks (5 boxes to be exact)to finish off the purchases I needed to make to send for the KRAFT Back-To-School $20 Rebate.

The plan was to use the $5 OYNO Cat to purchase some Capri Sun boxes(which had been on sale for $2 ea.).  Then buy $15 worth of Clorox and use coupons and the $12 OYNO Cat to get almost free cleaning supplies AND 2 $5 OYNO Cats, then use one of those Cats to buy the rest of the 5 Capri Suns I needed for the Rebate.

I get to KMart and the Capri Sun are now $2.99, no longer on sale and I didn't have any coupons for these items either.
Drat!

BUT....the Kool-Aid Jammers ARE now on sale for $2.00.  These are also qualifying drinks for the Rebate.
Yay!!

So hubby buys 3 boxes of Kool-Aid and uses the $5 OYNO Cat, paying $1.04 out of pocket for all 3 boxes of drinks.

Then I bought $15.68 worth of Clorox.

2 x Wipes @$2.99=$5.98
2 x Toilet Cleaner on sale @$2.00=$4.00
2 x Bleach @$2.05=$4.10
1 x small Bleach=$1.38

I used 3 $1/2 Clorox coupons, which brought my total down to $12.68.
Apply the $12 OYNO Cat Coupon and I paid .68¢ OOP.
I received 2 $5 OYNO Cats for this order.

We ran out of time to get 2 more Kool-Aid Jammers for the rebate, so I'll drop back into KMart on Saturday when I go out to run errands and use one of the $5 Cats to get free drinks.

So in the end the Kraft Back-To-School Rebate cost me.....
* $1.04 for 5 Drink Products
* $.00 for the 5 Easy Mac Cups.  I bought them earlier in the year and used .55/1 Qs that doubled to   $1.   They were .50¢ each, so free after coupons.
* $2.50 for 5 Cakesters.  I bought them at KMart during double coupons & used 5 $1/1 Qs.
* $6.00 for 5 packages of Oreos. I bought those earlier this week using a Cat OYNO Deal at Weis.

Add in the 45¢ stamp and this $20 Rebate will be a $10 Moneymaker after the cost of the products!

I think I'll donate the Kool-Aid boxes to the Band Camp next summer.  This stuff has the halflife of plutonium so should still be 'fresh' by then and after marching in the hot sun for a few hours in August the kids will need that extra sugar to burn off.  ;-)

Sluggy

Rebates.....To Do or Not to Do? And How to Stay Organized

Since it is coming up on the end of October I sat down yesterday and got a boatload of rebates finished before some of the rebate periods ended.

This is a chore I don't enjoy....you know, the filling out forms, gathering receipts, circling purchase prices, taking UPCs off of packages, photocopying the submissions & addressing all those envelopes.
Though I don't enjoy the hoops companies make you jump through to qualify for a rebate, I DO enjoy receiving those checks and freebies in the mail!
Oh, what I endure for a buck..... 8-))

So I finished up yesterday and sent off for 13 separate rebates this morning.  I have 2 more all ready to mail and 2 more to finish and my October submissions will be complete.  17 Rebates(not counting the Rite-Aid ones done online)that I am hopeful I'll see fullfilled and in my hand before the year is out.
Not like that Natural Dentist no show!  DO NOT send for any Natural Dentist Rebate!! ugh

My October submissions(besides the Rite-Aid online SCR) break down to $100 in cash & $45 in coupons and premiums.  Once I get the last 4 finished that makes 28 outstanding MIRs I am waiting on to arrive.

Rebates coupled with using coupons to purchase the items with rebates are a nice little moneymaker if you have the time and patience to fill out all the forms, etc. to qualify for them.

Be cautious however because some rebates are worth the time involved and some are not.  A high value rebate like the recent Pantene/Olay one is worth the time & expense to get back $20 on your purchase.

Even better than the high value Rebates are the items that qualify you for more than one Rebate, the double dips or triple dips!  Recently, that Pantene/Olay purchase, when completed during a certain week at Rite-Aid and paired with another $5 Proctor & Gamble purchase at Rite-Aid that week, got you a $10 Gift Card to Rite-Aid besides the $20 rebate from the company.  In addition, making a copy of that Pantene/Olay receipt before sending it off for the $20 MIR and pairing it with a certain form could qualify you for another MIR for a $40 valued set of Pink Cookware.  A very fine Triple Dip Rebate situation!

On the other hand, a rebate like the $1 on the BeeMD Cough Drops that Rite-Aid recently had on sale may not be worth your time and effort.  Rite-Aid had a SCRebate for the full purchase price of $2.49 for these Drops, which was awesome. You could do the rebate online by just entering your receipt information on the SCR website.  The company that makes the Drops also has a $1 mail-in rebate on them.  After paying the .44¢, the stamp will cost you to mail away for the $1, plus the time invested in submitting this rebate, you are about breaking even on that rebate.

For me, rebate money that comes in each month is added to the Food/Toiletries Budget.  Last month, I "spent" $456.49 cash on these budgeted items.  But I had rebates come in totaling $285.56 that month.  Therefore, my "spending" for the month was only $170.93.
Using the Rebate money this way helps offset spending whenever I have an expensive month.

The key to successful Rebating is organization.  There is nothing worse than buying something that has a rebate available only to miss out on it because you didn't save a receipt/a qualifier/a UPC/a form &/or ran out of time to submit it.
I have a pretty simple, lowkey system.  I keep 2 folders & a ledger for my rebating.
The first folder holds the materials I need to do the rebate....the forms, the receipts, and the UPCs/qualifiers.  I also have a list in that folder of the rebates I am actively working on.  Next to each item on the list is the date is has to be postmarked/mailed so I don't let any deadlines get past me.
As I gather everything I need to submit the particular rebate, I address the envelope, stamp and return address it and put all the paperwork inside the envelope and I cross that item off my list in the folder.

At this point, I take the envelope upstairs to hubby's printer, which is also a copier, and copy the paperwork.  I can't stress enough how important it is to keep a copy of your paperwork for every rebate!  If the company claims they did not receive your submission or it was not complete, you can copy your copy and resend it to them.  It's your proof that you did submit for a rebate &/or you did send all the asked for paperwork.

After the rebate paperwork is copied, the information for the rebate goes into my ledger.  I have two sections in this ledger.

I keep a log of every rebate that leaves the house.  It's just a list of each rebate, the mailing address it was sent to, the date it was mailed, who it was mailed from(some rebates I'll have one sent to me and one sent to another family member) and what form of payment is expected back(cash, coupons, freebies, etc.).

The other place in my ledger is were I record the rebates as they arrive.  I just list the date it came and what it was.  I will also put a check mark next to a rebate that has arrived on the Outgoing Rebate List section.  This check mark on the Outgoing List just let's me quickly see which Rebates I am still waiting on and if they seem late I can then check with the company on whether they are "in process" or if they were lost in the mail.

This system is enough to keep me organized.  Do you have a Rebate System?  Please leave a comment and let us know what works for you.

I was considering setting up a MIR page that lists worthwhile Rebates....sort of a REBATE CENTRAL to consult for possible rebate opportunities that are currently available.  This page would be accessible from my main page sidebar and each rebate listed would be hyperlinked to the online information for it.  What do you dear readers think about this?  Would it be something useful for your needs?  Let me know in the comment section.

Do you do rebates?  Which kind--mail in ones, online submission ones or both?  What do you do with the rebate money when it comes in?  Do you have a dollar amount threshold where you won't do a rebate?  Are you organized with your rebate work?  Tell us! ;-)

Sluggy

Win a Hamburger Timer or Cents-Off Ground Beef Coupons

Cargill is holding a giveaway/contest called Dinner in 20.  You can win a Hamburger shaped timer like the one pictured above OR a coupon for $.50 off a Ground Beef purchase.
Check it out HERE.
You need a code off of a specially marked package of Ground Beef.
Or use this one to play-- A23568. You can also play via mail. Follow the instructions on the website.

I played this morning and won a coupon for .50¢ off ground beef. The coupon is a PDF. Save it and print as many coupons off as you want to use until the expiration date.
I see lots of teeny tiny packages of ground moo cow in our futures!LOL

The coupon will print for a specific grocery store, whichever one you indicate when you fill out the form when you play, so pick the store YOU want to shop at.  I'll play again from our second computer later and pick a different local grocery store(one that doubles coupons for it's worth $1!) and then I'm covered with coupons for whoever puts ground beef on sale in the next 4 weeks.   ;-)

Sluggy

Target Today, Hunting for Holiday Glade Deal

Quick run to Target today while I was out with hubby.

What I went there specifically for, was the Glade "Buy 5 holiday scented products, Get a $5 Gift Card" Deal that has reportedly started this week at Target.  It runs until the end of the year.
Well, the only store here has NOT put out the display or even any of the holiday scented products on the regular shelves.  Bleh.
So it's a good thing I brought along some other coupons to use.....

2 x Kashi Go Lean Crunch! Cereal temp. markdown @$2.75=$5.50
3 x Purell Hand Sanitizer @$1.37=$4.11
4 x Campbell's Tomato Soup on sale @.60ea.=$2.40
2 x Rimmel Mascara on sale $2.24=$4.48  FINALLY had some!lol
2 x Chef Michael Dog Food temp. markdown@ $.84=$1.68
1 x Degree Deo $3.29
1 x Degree Body Mist  $3.29
2 x Mr. Clean Eraser @$2.24=$4.48
1 x Mr. Clean Cleaner  $2.99
1 x Mr. Clean Cleaner  $2.59
SubTotal   $33.81

Coupons Used

2 x $3/1 VocalPoint Q Kashi Go Lean Crunch! Cereal adjusted down to $2.75=$5.50
3 x $1/1 Manu. Q Purell Hand Sanitizer=$3.00
2 x $1/2 IP Q Campbell's Soup=$2.00
2 x $2/1 Manu. Q Rimmel Mascara=$4.00
1 x BOGO TARGET Q Chef Michael Dog Food=$.84
1 x $1.50/1 IP Q Degree Deo=$1.50
1 x $1.50/1 IP Q Degree Body Mist=$1.50
1 x $3/2 TARGET Degree Deo & Mist=$3.00
1 x BOGO Manu. Q Mr. Clean Eraser=$2.24
1 x $.75/1 Homemailer Q Mr. Clean Eraser=$.75
1 x $.75/1 TARGET Q Mr. Clean Eraser=$.75
1 x BOGO Manu Q Mr. Clean Cleaner=$2.59
1 x $.75/1 Home Mailer Q Mr. Clean Cleaner=$.75
1 x $.75/1 TARGET Q Mr. Clean Cleaner=$.75
 Coupon Total   $29.17

$33.81-$29.17=$4.64 OOP

I had another BOGO Chef Michael Q from a package insert to pair with the Target Chef Michael Q but the cashier won't take it....yes, using 2 BOGO Qs can be a YMMV situation.  Though I could have argued about that, I didn't.  My total should have been $3.80 if I had been able to use both Qs.

I was able to use 6 coupons on the 4 Mr. Clean products.  This was my favorite play today!

2 x Mr. Clean Eraser @$2.24=$4.48
1 x Mr. Clean Cleaner=$2.99
1 x Mr. Clean Cleaner=$2.59
Subtotal of $10.06

Use the BOGO Q(sunday inserts)for the Erasers, takes off  $2.24.
Use the BOGO Q(sunday inserts)Buy Big bottle for $2.99, get Sprayer bottle free, takes off $2.59.
Use the .75/1 Q(from Right@Home mailer)on the Eraser that wasn't free and stack the Target .75/1 Q found around the neck of the Big Bottle , takes off $1.50.
Use the .75/1 Q(from Right@Home mailer)on the Cleaner bottle that wasn't free and stack the Target .75/1 Q found around the neck of the Big Bottle, takes off $1.50.
Coupon Total of $7.83.

$10.06-$7.83=$2.23 for all 4 Mr. Clean Products.

I've got another coupon hangtag with the 2 Target Qs so I'll go back later in the week to check if the Holiday Glade stuff is out yet and I can do the Mr. Clean Products Deal again.

Have any of you dear readers found the Holiday Glade products at your local Target yet?

Sluggy

Playing "Ketchup" with Weis Cat Deals this Week and I Veer Off into a Rant

I don't know about you, but we seem to go through an inordinate amount of ketchup(or catsup)at our house.  Shhh, don't tell the food police.lol
Not only is it de rigeur for burgers and fries around here, but I find it handy and helpful in a pinch as an add-in ingredient when I am cooking.  It can add a touch of tastiness(tomatoey and salty) to so many dishes in cooking.  I used it in place of tomato paste when I made my Beef Bourguignon recently.  It is also part of my recipe for Beef Stroganoff, as well as Chili, homemade Sloppy Joe's, etc. etc. etc.
You get the picture.....

So when I saw that Weis Markets was having a catalina deal going involving Heinz Products, including Ketchup, I had to head over and get me a piece of that!  It's similar to the Shaw's/Albertson's deal--spend $XX, get $XX OYNO Cat coupon.  The Weis deal is Spend $12/Get $3 OYNO Q or Spend $20/Get $7 OYNO Q.
The Ketchup is regular shelf price of $2.85, on sale for $1.99.
The Heinz Gravy is regular shelf price of $1.79, on sale for $1.25.

I bought 7 Ketchups (reg. shelf price $19.95).  5 Cents short!!....so I bought 1 Gravy(reg. shelf price $1.79), so I had $21.74 RSS.  Sale price was (7 x $1.99=$13.93+$1.25)$15.18.
I used a $6 OYNO Cat so the OOP was $9.18.
And I got a $7 OYNO Cat Q for next time.
That's 7 40 oz. bottles of red ambrosia & a nasty jar of gravy(headed for the food bank) for $9.18.
And that's without coupons.

Then I used that $7 OYNO Cat to buy Oreos.
I needed 5 bags of Oreos for the Kraft/Nabisco Back-to-School Rebate.
Yes, I buy junk.....but it's not just any old junk....it's OREOS!  The royalty of cookie junk.lol

There was a similar Cat deal on Oreos at Weis....Buy $12 Get $3/Buy $20 Get $6.  Regular shelf on Oreos is $4.19 here, on sale for $3.  I bought 5 bags of cookies(reg. shelf of $20.95)for $15.00  I used 2 x $1/2 Nabisco Qs from the BTS Rebate Booklet and the $7 OYNO Cat from the Ketchup($2+$7=$9 off).  5 Bags of Oreos cost me $6 OOP and I got another $6 OYNO Cat to spend later.  It sure would have been nice if the Coupon gods had given us, in this part of PA, that Heinz ketchup Q in the SS insert.  I guess marketing dept. at Heinz thinks that since we live in PA we automatically buy Heinz(over Hunt's or Del Monte, etc.)just because of the long history of Heinz in our state.  Personally, I avoid Heinz whenever possible....it's a PA political thing....

All things being equal, I am tempted to roll this Cat into more Ketchup.  Is 7 bottles enough??lol

If you are going to take part in these Cat Deals, they run through Wednesday evening at Weis.

If you don't get a chance to get to Weis for this sale, there should be another one coming up Oct. 22-28.
At least that is what the Catalina I got last week said...."October 22-October 28 You can earn up to $7 off your next shopping order...just purchase the qualifying items on your favorite participating brands and receive dollars off your next shopping trip.  Look for details in next week's circular."

I just hope these next batch of Cat Deals are something other than Junk Food and Frozen Stuff.  Seems anytime we do get Catalina OYNO Deals at Weis it's for highly processed junk.
This week's Cat Deal Qualifying Items....
#1  Pretzels, Water, Bottled Tea & Starbucks, Doritos and Lay's chips
#2  Jello, Pudding, Lunchmeat, Pizza, Cookies, String Cheese, Kraft Mac&Cheez
#3  MORE Pizza, TV Dinners, Frozen Bagels, Frozen Waffles/PAncakes/French Toast Sticks
#4  Hormel Chili Master, Compleats, Dinty Moore, SPAM, Salsa, Hormel Entrees, Shredded Chicken or Pork in Sauce, Pepperoni, MORE Lunchmeat
#5  Bagel Bites, Pasta Sauce, Ketchup, Gravy, MORE TV Dinners, TGI Friday's, Frozen French Fries/Onion Rings
#6  Paper Towels, Paper Plates, Toilet Paper
Most of it's Junk food....nitrate laden meats....pizza and tv dinners, sugary sauced up shredded meat, and some paper products.

I do have a freestanding large Freezer but I have NO Room in that thing for loads of boxed up pizzas and tv dinners and highly processed frozen junk food.  If I filled it up with stuff like that, I'd have no room for the fresh meat and veggies in there instead!

And looking at this ad, I am just amazed that people actually buy frozen pancakes and french fries.

How difficult is it to cut up a Potato folks....or make a pancake without resorting to buying frozen??

How much of a time savings is buying frozen pancakes over making pancakes from scratch?  I'll guess that not only is making them from scratch waaaay cheaper but it would take you about the same amount of time to make fresh pancakes as 1-taking out the box, 2-opening it up, 3-taking out a pancake, 4-pulling the toaster in, 5-putting it in the toaster, 6-waiting for it to heat up enough, 7-taking it out of the toaster, 8-putting syrup or whatever you put on your 'cakes, 9-eating it.
Dumping an egg, milk, flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a bowl, stirring it and pouring it out onto a griddle or frying pan is NOT rocket science. 8-))

I know, it's nice to be able to get some convenience foods but we are turning into a nation of lazy cooks or even worse, people who can't cook.  Do you know how much MORE you are paying for that box of frozen pancakes compared to buying the ingredients to make them fresh?  Even with a coupon, things like frozen pancakes are a rip-off.  And we wonder why people don't have money to pay their bills!?

Ok,  this is turning into a rant and I try real hard not to rant.....no, really!  I do!!lolol

Just say a little prayer that thursday's Cat Deals at Weis have some things I can use please instead of just cardboard pizzas and chips....


Sluggy

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

Was sitting in the family room Monday morning and hubby yelled to me to quick turn around and look out the back door, quick before it left or the hounds started yelping at it.
"IT" turned out to be a Pheasant!
Yep, there was a female pheasant walking across our back deck.

I tried to get a photo but there are those blind-thingies inside the glass of our french doors....they louver open or close but you can't pull them up out of the way.
So the big white 'stripes' in these shots are the blinds.

Pheasant with it's head down pecking at something on the deck.

Pheasant sticking it's head through the railing and about to hop off the deck into the yard...

Right after I snapped that shot, the beagles caught a whiff of the pheasant and it was instant chaos and bedlam in the house.lolol

That's the first pheasant I've ever seen around here.  Use to see them lots around our old house in the Poconos, along with the deer, bear, turkeys, raccoons, possums, etc.  The old house was in a largely undeveloped gated summer community bordered by a state forest and a state gamelands.  We were lousy with critters!lol
Not so much lousy with 'em in the rural suburban area here on the mountain.

Sluggy

Meal Plan Monday....October 19th Edition Nothing Much to Buy

Last Week's Menu Postmortem...

Everything was served as planned except we never got to the Ham & Bean Soup so that transfers to this week.
I changed up my Meatloaf recipe when I made it on Sunday.  I usually grate veggies(squash, zuke, carrots)and throw that in along with onion and garlic.  I halved the ground beef this time and substituted ground turkey, plus I threw in some steak sauce(finished the bottle) and some ketchup.  I also subbed half of the bread crumbs I put in with panko this time.  Between the panko and the ground turkey, this meatloaf was not as heavy and dense as a regular meatloaf.
I also grated a little hunk of cheddar cheese I had left and then free formed the loaf on a foil lined small baking sheet instead of the loaf pan.  As I was forming the loaf shape, I made a channel in the loaf and put grated cheese in the center of the hunk of meatloaf.  Halfway through baking I topped the loaf with tomato paste.  When I cut into the meatloaf to serve, you got a cheesy center in each slice. Yum!

I never did get around to that Baking Day and this week isn't looking too promising as hubby is home all week.  I'll at least get some Zucchini Bread baked but beyond that I am not making any promises.lol

Here's what I will be serving our family of 4 this Week....it's a lot of comfort type foods & using up some leftovers and fresh local produce I picked up while selling my stockpile items at the flea market yesterday and the last of the garden greens.  I picked up some very inexpensive pork cutlets(very thin ones)a couple of weeks ago.  I am going to be making Pork Parmesan with them.  This will be a first time for me making this dish with pork.


MONDAY--Pork Spareribs w/Chinese Sauce(freezer/stockpile), Rice(stockpile), Veggie Melange(freezer)
TUESDAY--Homemade Pizza(stockpile), Salad(garden)
WEDNESDAY--Ham and Bean Soup(freezer/stockpile), Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
THURSDAY--Pork Parmesan(freezer/stockpile),Swiss Chard(garden), Pasta
FRIDAY--Meatloaf(Sunday leftover), Garlic Mashed Potatoes(stockpile), Honey Carrots(freezer)
SATURDAY--Leftovers
SUNDAY--more Leftovers or Breakfast for Lunch(Band Competition that night)
SNACKS/DESSERTS--fresh seasonal Fruit,Zucchini Bread, something made with Apples

Be sure and check out the Ham and Bean Soup recipe link above.  I am NOT a fan of bean soups but with this one, even I want to lick the bowl clean!  It should be called the "Bean Soup for Bean Soup Haters" Soup.lol

Last week I spent $39.24($22.46 at local independent market & $16.78 at the Bakery Outlet)on groceries. 

This week's menu shopping list.....I don't see anything on the menu that I need to buy except fruit. A quick run to the farm stand to load up on root cellar type veggies before they close will take up most of my weekly food budget this week.  Between the weekly milk purchase, the fruit and the root veggies I'm figuring I'll spend $35 this week.

Food Waste Report....thanks to the doggies, nothing went bad and had to be thrown away.  The one good thing about having dogs.lol

Check out ORGANIZING JUNKIE to see what other Home Cooks are serving this week!

Sluggy

Giveaway over on "Happy Mom Of 5"....Ends 10/21/09 so Hurry!

"HAPPY MOM OF 5" is having a Giveaway for a Nature Valley Prize Pack.  Go check it out HERE.
The contest ends 10/21/09 at midnight central time so be sure to enter soon!

Sluggy

October Charity Challenge at CVS Saver....Donate that Excess!

Well I made the mistake of not pulling out my October donation for the local food bank and medical clinic BEFORE I did the flea market last weekend to get rid of my excess stockpile items. **sigh**


So my donation this month is a little light as I had to pull some of it after from the main stockpile.
I also have 4 more glucose meters to take up that are not pictured.  In addition, I need to get down some cold cereal and grape jelly(to go with the pb, of course!lol)but it's on the high shelving and I need hubby's help with that.  I'll be adding 6 more boxes of cereal(the ones kids like) to what is pictured before I run it up to the food bank on tuesday.

28 food items
34 toiletries & OTC meds
4 meters

Haven't done the value calculations yet.

It feels good to be able to give away stuff to those who can use it.  And using coupons, you can donate without much of a dent in your own pocketbook....or you can give even MORE than you usually do, because coupons help you stretch your dollars even further!
What have you been able to give this month?  Please leave a comment and let us know.

And go on over to Tanya's blog the CVS SAVER and check out what others have given this month HERE. 

Sluggy

Another Money Saving Resource....Grocery Outlets

For those of us who track our expenses to keep a tighter reign on our spending, striving to save anywhere we can is often the case.  One area where we can greatly affect our spending or savings is in the food budget.  Coupons are a great source of savings if utilized correctly.  But there are other ways to save money on your food shopping.  The one I would like to talk about today is shopping at Food or Grocery Outlets.

Grocery Outlets go way back.  I remember my mother, who was always kept on a tight grocery budget by my father, use to shop regularly at a place called Gronto's in Norfolk, VA back in the mid 1960's.
My mom was a SAHM and as a child of 4 or 5 I remember accompanying her to Gronto's to buy groceries.  This Outlet was a big old warehouse type building with wooden planks set up on sawhorses for tables/shelves.  It was dark, it was dingy and it smelled badly.  But there were bargains to be had!

The grocery items were lines up in rows on the planks or filled big boxes, or sat on pallets on the floor.  It was shelf stable type foods, in cans, boxes, bottles and bags.  No dairy, meat or fresh produce.  These were the things that didn't sell at the 'nice' grocery stores....the dented cans, the bottles that had leaked because caps were not on right, the things with torn labels or packaging that had been ripped apart & taped back up.  Though I was too young to read, I can guess that some of the items were out of date as well.  We never got sick or died from eating this stuff so the pennies on the dollar spent helped our family make it to the next paycheck.  This was a way even back then to stretch your money a little further.

I had seen that one of these modern versions of the Grocery Discount Outlet had opened up near a small shopping center I use to like to frequent.  This was about a year ago.  Since I have stopped shopping recreationally a few years ago, I haven't had the opportunity to be near this new Outlet until a couple of weeks ago.  So I stopped in to scout out what bargains could be had.

Like any food store, you have to go in knowing what you usually pay for items during your weekly food shopping, so you know if something is a 'deal' for you or not.  These types of stores also don't stock a full range of groceries, as they are buying overruns and returned merchandise from the large chains grocery stores and suppliers as well as discontinued merchandise.  So you have to be open to new brands of items.  And you have to be able to take advantage of deals NOW because something may not be there next time....when the stock is gone, that's usually all they are getting of a particular thing.

Here are some things I picked up on my trip.....

Since this type of store buys from different suppliers, the prices won't always make sense.  What I mean is they could have 3 different brands of pasta....same size package, same type of pasta but the price per package may be the same or it could vary widely.  The price the store puts on the item depends on what the supplier charges them.  See the Jumbo Shells Pasta?  This store brand Stop & Shop package was $.50.  The same size package/type of pasta for another store brand was $1.00.  Same sell by dates, same item basically but the 2 packages came from 2 different suppliers.
They had many national name brands as well as many store brands(some store brands from stores not around here, like Meijer, Stop & Shop, etc.)


My impressions of this outlet...

First off, unlike the Outlet of my childhood, this one was modern, relatively clean and bright.  This is only a good thing in my book.  You want the store to be clean and inviting.  While you don't need fancy(and you would pay more for the fancy surroundings), you don't want your eyes or your nose to be assaulted by filth or bad odors.

They had a WIDE selection of cold breakfast cereals, and even quite a few hot type cereals(oatmeal, cream of wheat, maypo, etc.)  Prices on these were all over the board.  The Train Mix Crunch(the varitey they don't carry at my local reg. grocery stores) was .99¢ as it was close to Use By Date.  The McCann's Irish Steel Cut Oats Instant was .99¢.  The Quaker Grits Variety Box was $1.50.  Both of those were things I can't get around here at the reg. grocery store.

The canned products(veggies, etc.)were rather limited.  House or off-brands with close to Name Brand prices.  The only good buys were Restaurant or Instituitional sizes.  The huge can of soup(Heinz brand, not the usually known name brands for grocery store consumer-sized soups around here)was $1.39.  A great deal if you can use that much soup.lol  I plan on cooking with it, so I'll use about half of it and freeze the rest for later or I'll make a double batch of the dish it's going into and freeze the extra meal.
The bagged spaghetti sauce was a decent buy for .79¢(retails for $2.39 around here).  A good deal compared to the regular retail and good to have on hand when daughter wants to make a pasta meal for herself when she doesn't want what I am making.  You can find this brand of convenience sauce on sale and combined with coupons you could do as well or better at the reg. grocery store.
The fruit chillers were .50¢.  A discontinued flavor thus the great price.  The salsa was .99¢ and the fancy-pants gourmet mushroom bruschetta spread was also .99¢.  Both coming up on Sell By Dates.

Boxes dry pastas, rice and things like taco shells were a very good buy.  The Jumbo Pasta Shells were .50¢ a box....and they weren't all broken inside the box.  This kind of specialty dried pasta goes for almost $2 a box at the grocery store.  The Old El Paso Taco shells were also .50¢ a box.  Again, much cheaper than retail and they weren't even close to their Use By Date.

Bottled/canned juices were not much reduced from normal grocery store prices.  The ones that were a good buy were full of HFCS and added things(the juice "cocktails").  Be sure to read labels before you buy.  I did pick up the Aqua Juice for .99¢.  I believe at least around here, these blends of 100% juice and water just didn't go over very well in stores so they are disappearing from the grocery store shelves.  These kind of discontinued items are a good buy but they won't be around long.

Some of the cleaning supplies and toiletries were pretty decent buys, unless you are use to getting these kinds of items for free or pennies at the drugstores like CVS, Rite-Aid and Walgreens.

Fresh bread products were scarce on this day.  What there was was out of date and marked low.  Unless you have room to freeze or refrigerate these until you need them I would be cautious about buying.

There was very little fresh produce.  It looked sad and was not a better price than you would find at the regular grocery store. The 3lb. bag of apples was an exception at $1.99 and they were local.

The best deal had to be the dairy and frozen food sections.  The closer it was to an "Use by" date, the cheaper it was with the dairy products.
The OJ was $1.50 and the Limeade was .50¢, both about half of retail.  The pumpkin pie filling was .99¢, the puddings were .79¢ & .99¢..nothing to write home about but varieties/flavors I wanted to try.  The Cooper Sharp Deli cheese(not pictured) was less than $4lb., whereas the regular grocery stores here sell it for $6.99lb.  Ocassionally it goes on sale for $4.99.  We "heart" Cooper Sharp in our house....lol

The Super Shots yogurt was .99¢.  That was the deal of the day.  Those things retail for $5 or $6 a pack!   These were not at the Sell By Date yet, but I have found that with yogurt, you can go waaaay past those dates and still have edible product.  I've eaten 4 month past date yogurt and lived to tell the tale.lol

Now I only bought 1 frozen food item, the pie in the brown cardboard box.  There is a Pillsbury plant in this region.  Mostly they produce restaurant/institutional type goods there, like these pies.  This outlet chain gets their overruns to sell.  They charge $1.50 for the pies and you never know what flavors they will have.  I think the pies are on the smallish side but it's only $1.50 so I don't complain.  Not bad if you are too lazy to make it yourself from scratch. ;-)

This outlet also gets in overruns from Tyson & a 'well-known' vegetable purveyor, mostly restaurant/institutional sized packages without the fancy packaging and labels.  I'll trade lower prices on chicken and broccoli any day for pretty wrappers!  I don't recall the exact prices/sizes but I do remember that it was a good deal and when/if I ever reclaim any space in my freezer, I'll be going back to take advantage of the deals on those items.

All in all it was a fruitful trip.  And on the way out I learned that this outlet DOES take some kinds of coupons!  There are some manufacturer's that will NOT let them take coupons however for certain brands.  That is the deal they make with the outlet....we give you our products to sell for cheap but we won't accept coupons from you for said items, thus the outlet doesn't accept coupons from the customers.  Mostly it was Tyson, Pillsbury and most of the cold cereal manufacturer's.  But it would be worth taking your coupon binder in as you may find something at a good deal and have a coupon for it that the store will accept.  Don't count on it, but it would be a happy surprise if it happens.

I spent $32.32 on this trip.  A couple of things were duds(the pumpkin pie filling and the mushroom bruschetta spread) but all in all I figure I saved about 50% over reg. grocery store retail on what I bought.

If you have a Grocery Outlet near you, it would be worth your while to check it out.  You might be able to keep a few more dollars in your own pocket using this resource.

Sluggy