…well, the one scheduled for today wasn’t what I thought it was. Instead of a free product it was only going to be a gift certificate for about a third of the price. I wasn’t sure how that would fly here and then when I requested some more info I didn’t hear back from the company today so I’m scrapping that one. Bear with me as I get ready to share a review and giveaway for another product It may be a few days till I’m ready. But I will give you a few hints about  3 of the giveaways coming up…BuildABear, MyPreciousKid, and BocaBeth.

Now, you can do some Googling for those websites and try to guess whats coming up!

I just love this smoothie. Its my own and its easy to make. Not only does it taste good, but its healthy and makes me feel better knowing I just had maybe 3-5 servings of fruit in one drink! I’m not sure what a serving is regarding each of these items and I don’t use exact measurements. Here’s how I make it.

I use:

one banana, broke into about 3 pieces

frozen strawberries (which I cut and sugar up some fresh strawberries and freeze ahead of time)

a small container of yogurt (vanilla is my favorite) about 3.5-6 oz. container for a one serving smoothie

a handful of frozen whole cranberries

a little bit of orange juice to get things moving

I put it in my Rocket (Bella) blender you see there (like the Magic Bullet but cheaper I believe) and let it do the dirty work.

The Rocket cups have rings to put on the  mixing cup so you can drink right away without dirtying another cup!

Drink and enjoy!

I’m tentatively planning to start a series of giveaways this Monday. I hope you will subscribe to my email or RSS updates so you don’t miss out!

Brandy from Work At Home United says … So excited to get to work today-People are lining up all over the world to get started with our amazing team and company for the new year!People are tired of poisoning their families and struggling financially and want a stable income while working from home. We have what everyone wants-a great income while working from home in your jammies!

Tiny Dimples... is a delightful online boutique which specializes in unique apparel and gifts for every milestone in a baby’s life. From baby shower favors to the finishing touches in the nursery and playroom, we make shopping for your little one an enchanting experience.

Melody of Watkins…  Healthy eating habits can help you reduce three of the major risk factors for cardiovascular disease; high cholesterol, high blood pressure and being over weight. The secret isn’t to eat less fats, it’s to eat good fats when following a diet for lowering cholesterol.  Click here to learn more.

DIY Design Shoppe… the Do-It-Yourself shopping cart solution.

Kirsten from Tupperware… Check out whats new or on sale at Tupperware.

There was a time when I didn’t think coupons were worth the effort. I mean, c’mon… 35 cents off? Like thats going to really help. But then I learned a thing or two. I hope to break down this kind of savings into baby steps. Start small and build on your experience and knowledge from there!

1.     Save the coupon inserts from your Sunday papers.

2.     Buy extra Sunday papers on Monday if you can get them half off like I can and buy them at Giant Eagle so you can get the Fuel Perks discount towards gas. Get the inserts from family/friends who don’t use them.

3.    Sign up for free email/rss updates with a few coupon matching websites, preferably ones in your area.   I like CouponAllies.com (NE/Central Ohio website).

4.    You can cut out all your coupons or just leave the insert intact until you know what coupon you need. If you organize your inserts (the coupon pages from the paper) and follow the bloggers who do the match-ups, they will tell you what coupon and what insert to find it in so you can match the right coupon with the items on sale. Write “today’s” date on the insert.

5.    I do a couple things. I use a coupon binder/organizer to hold coupons I cut out and I keep my inserts intact. Sometimes you will want to have them cut and organized in a binder so you have them conveniently stored in an easy way to grab and go at moments notice – you know,  “just in case” you find something you weren’t expecting.  I also use a simple 3 drawer plastic organizer to hold my inserts.

6.    If you cut them, staple the “like” coupons together.

7.    As I’m shopping I pull out the coupon that matches the item I just picked up off the shelf and I lay that coupon in the cart somewhere safe. I do this as I shop so I’m prepared at checkout.

8.   As you get familiar with couponing get familiar with the following terms…SmartSource, RedPlum and the P&G coupon inserts, learn about the Catalina coupons that pop out at checkout,  watch for rebates at drugstores.  I just earned a $15 rebate from Olay, I got  $10 in Target gift cards and I got free product- all at Target one night.

9.    Drugstores: Don’t forget about Rite Aid, Walgreens, and CVS too. Stack manufacturer coupons on top of store coupons when those items are on sale. Or stack coupons, on sales, on items offering rebates!

10.  Sign up for coupons at the websites of your favorite brands and/or call or email a request for coupons to be mailed to you. I get coupons in the mail AND I print them off from company websites as well as some coupon sites (i.e. Coupons.com).

Some of the brands I get coupons from are  Betty Crocker, P&G’s Home Made Simple booklet, Stayfree,  Angel Soft (may be able to request these once a month),  Pampers,  Huggies,  Kraft foods, and Conagra Foods. Also be sure to check out Coupons.com to print coupons. Hint: Hit the back button to get a 2nd coupon! Coupons.com uses “bricks” coupons and usually we are limited to printing out 2.

I plan to show you my coupon binder/organizer soon. You may want to subscribe to my email/rss updates so you don’t miss it!

I went to Walgreens to take advantage of the Kotex deal where you buy 3 at $2.99 each and get a $5 RR (Register Reward) and I wanted to pick up some Kleenex (buy one get one free sale). I used coupons I had printed off the computer (check here for Kleenex and Kotex coupons in my sidebar). What I didn’t know and was pleasantly surprised to find out was that by buying 6 Kleenex (three of which were free) that a $3 RR would print out! I also had Kleenex coupons to use. Here’s what I did and how I saved…

Round #1

I did 2 separate transactions. First, I bought 3 packs of the $2.99 Kotex using 2 coupons ($1 off one and $2 off two) Total before tax was $5.97 and a $5 RR ( also known as catalina coupons) popped out.

Then I bought the 6 boxes of (200 ct) Kleenex (my favorite brand of tissues anyways!)- 3 of which were free (buy one get one free sale) and I used 2 .50 off coupons and the $5 RR. Total before tax .57 cents! AND a $3 RR popped out!

Round #1 cost me $6.54 before tax out of pocket.

Later I went to a different Walgreens because the Kotex I wanted was gone. I did the same deals again but a little differently to get another batch of Kotex and Kleexex….

Round #2

This time I  bought 3 packs of Kotex at $2.99 each and used 2 coupons for $2 and $1 off and my $3 RR. But the register “dinged” and the clerk said he thought I needed to spend maybe another $1.80.  I know sometimes there are rules to how many coupons you can use per item- one of my coupons may have been $2 off two and that might have been the problem. So it gave me an excuse to try the Willie Wonka Chocolate bars at $1.99 each    So I spent $4.47 before tax and out popped my $5 RR- (luv it!)

Then I did another transaction for my 6 boxes of (200 ct) Kleenex (three which were free from the sale)-  I had no more manufacturer coupons but I used my $5 RR and my total before tax was $1.57 and another $3 RR popped out!

Round #2 cost me $6.04 before tax out of pocket.

So total before tax was $12.58 for 12 boxes of 200 ct Kleenex, 6 packs of Kotex and 1 Willie Wonka Bar

Later I used that $3 to buy a big bottle Kids’s Suave  shampoo/condition/body wash (sort of an all-purpose for kids).

I am well stocked on paper goods! Does this sound overwhelming to you? I will admit. Sometimes I just “happen” to come across some deals by accident it seems, but most of my savings comes from knowing where to look or who to look too. Don’t miss my Steps to Savings post to come later this week. These steps will help get you started on your way.

Thanks for reading  my blog, I do appreciate you! I also have some giveaways coming up along with a few reviews. So please come back and read. You may want to subscribe to my rss/email updates so you don’t forget.

Cook a whole chicken in the slow cooker.

Cook a pork roast in my other big slow cooker.

Perhaps make a smaller crock pot of mashed potatoes with my remaining potatoes.

I’m thinking about making some pancakes to freeze as well.

The big question is…what do I want to use the meat for? I need some inspiration, I want to think outside of the box. I already did barbecued turkey. So if you have any great ideas for pork roast and chicken feel free to leave me a comment here!

You can go to MoneySavingMom.com and link up your Freezer Cooking Day plan too.

I plan to share pics of my household/misc stockpiles this week so you might want to subscribe here or in the sidebar for my free email/rss updates right now so you don’t miss anything! I also want to share a little info about why doing a little stockpiling  is a good thing

I also am writing a post about some basic steps to couponing. There are some great tips in there to help you be ready to save!

Today I stopped in Walgreens to pick up my .50 bottle of Excedrin and see if  a Register Reward would pop out! Nope. I guess it wasn’t the right type of Excedrin but it was $2.50 and I had a $2 off coupon. While there I spotted Purex on sale for $2.99 and I knew I had some buy one get one free coupons at home. I paid for my Excedrin and a .49cent Reese’s Cup for Jack and…

…went back home for my coupons

Then we went back to Walgreens and I bought 6 bottles of 32 loads each Purex for about $9.00 total before tax. Which comes out to about .05 cents or less a load! Whoo-hoo! My kind of savings

I appreciate my sponsors!

Tiny Dimples, Work At Home United-Brandy, Kirsten’s Tupperware, Melody’s Watkins, DIYShoppe Designer

At any rate, I would need to find a company or two to sponsor me because I can’t afford a trip like that.

If you are a blogger, are you planning to go to BlogHer ‘10 or Relevant? Or some other bloggy conference I may not have heard about?

Well, remember my post the other day about my “stacking the deals” at Target? I got 2 $5 gift cards at that time to use in the future. Well the future came and went last night. I got out the coupons I wanted to use along with my gift cards and got all of the above for $13 and change out of pocket (OOP). I saved over $20!! Here’s what I got…

4 / 8oz packages of Kraft Cheese

2 bags of  at least 10 oz. each Reese’s Pieces (paid .49 a bag after coupons)

FREE Rimmel Mascara

2 NYC Nail Polishes (buy one get one free coupon)

100ct Excedrin (paid $1.00 after using a $5.99 coupon)

600 tissues (3 boxes of 2ooct)  Target brand Up&Up tissues ($2.89/ had a $1 off $3 purchase for an UP & UP item)

1 canister of Carnation Breakfast Drink Mix ( had a $1.00 coupon) Note: Our Target sells this item for $4.89- considerably cheaper than I can find elsewhere.

Orange juice and vitamins- no coupons

Finding coupons.

I not only get my coupons from the Sunday paper (which I buy extras on Mondays at half price) but I get coupons from magazines. I’ve found magazsines in All You (great source!), Weight Watchers, Family Circle (I think), Martha Stewart  and anywhere else. I get most of my magazines for FREE too. I either come across free magazines or discounted subscriptions by keeping up with other bloggers and if I pay, I use my Swagbucks (click here to sign up for free) points to redeem for Amazon egift cards. Of all my current subscriptions which are Good Housekeeping, All You, Family Circle, Weight Watchers, and Martha Stewart…I’ve only paid maybe $1. something out of pocket. Everything else I think was free or I used my Amazon egift certificates for.
Check out Amazon Magazine Deals Here.