What the "H" Cyber Monday?!

One of my favorite shopping days is Cyber Monday. Who wouldn't love to shop for most of their holiday gifts while still in their pajamas? I make a point of combining the sales with rewards from sites like Ebates or Cashbaq to maximize the day.

Well, Cyber Monday was quite a bust this year. I was totally surprised that the deals were so few and far between!  I guess it shows how much the recession has not only hit us as consumers, but also all of our favorite stores.  Not only was it a bit frustrating, but kind of sad.

The only thing saving us this year from Christmas catastrophe is that I love to pick up gifts here and there throughout the year.  I have some goodies in our gift box that were going to be used as "secondary" gifts but will do just fine as a primary gift this year. The funny thing is, as I was starting to get really perturbed with the lack of sales. Hubby's grandmother called and said that she didn't want us to get everyone gifts this year because of the recession and us being such a young family. She said that they have enough "crap" and she just wants us to be doted on this year. I'm telling you, she's the sweetest old lady there is.  Of course, she doesn't know that we already have gifts all set, but that fact that she made a point of calling to tell us that was great.

Were you all disappointed with the sales this year? Did you find anything that you were able to grab up at a good price?

Meal Plan Monday!

One sick kid, one teething kid, and cold, rainy weather means lots of soups this week. Thanks to the leftover turkey, we'll be having a HUGE pot of turkey and rice soup. Yum!

Monday: Turkey and rice soup with cheddar bay biscuits
Tuesday: Monday leftovers
Wednesday: Lazy Mom's tator soup with sour cream muffins
Thursday: Wednesday leftovers
Friday: Pizza night!
Saturday: Jersey famous italian hot dogs
Sunday: Dinner at my parents' house

ShopRite Deals 11/28 to 12/4

There are lots of catalina deals this week! Once I find out which ones are the best deals, I'll add them into this post! Happy shopping!

Solo cups and plates- 1.99
use .75/1 printable coupon doubled- .49
buy 4, use 4 printable coupons doubled and get a 3.00 catalina- 1.04 money maker!

Colgate max toothpaste- 1.49
use .75/1 coupon from October All You magazine doubled- FREE

San Giorgio quick cook pasta- .77(wednesday to saturday only)
use .55/1 coupon from 10/3SS doubled- FREE

Butterball turkey bacon- 1.50
use .75/1 printable coupon doubled- FREE

Reynolds recycled wrap- 1.99
use .75/1 coupon from 11/14SS doubled- .49

St. Ives lotion- 1.99
use .75/1 printable coupon doubled- .49

Clorox wipes- 2 for 4.00(must buy 2)
use 2 .75/1 printable coupons doubled- .50 each

Langers juice- 1.50
use 1.00/1 coupon from 11/14SS(expires 11/30!)- .50

Emeral dry roasted peanuts- 1.74
use 1.50/2 coupon from 11/14RP- .99 each

Quaker instant oatmeal- 1.99
use 1.00/1 coupon from 9/12RP- .99

Sundown Vitamin D- 3.59
use 1.00/1 coupon from 11/7RP- 2.59
buy 2, use 2 1.00/1 coupons and get back 3.00 catalina- 1.09 each after coupons and catalinas!

Over the Moon milk- 2.49
use 1.00/1 printable coupon- 1.49

Hellmans mayo- 2.49
use .50/1 coupon from 11/14RP doubled- 1.49

Nestle pure life 24 pack- 2 for 7.00(must buy 2)
use 1.00/2 coupon from 10/31RP- 3.00 each

Other Deals
80% lean ground beef- 1.99/lb
Boneless pork chops- 1.99/lb

Meal Plan Monday!

No real meal plan this week! Monday, I'll be making my now famous(lol) Chicken Adobo. Tuesday, we'll be eating the leftovers for lunch and ordering chinese for dinner. Wednesday is our travel day.

I hope you all have an safe and blessed Thanksgiving!

ShopRite Deals 11/21 to 11/27

Breakstone's sour cream- .99
use .55/1 coupon from 11/14SS doubled- FREE

Green giant frozen boxed veggies- 1.00
use .50/1 printable coupon doubled- FREE

Green giant canned veggies- .49
use .50/2 coupon from 10/24SS doubled- 2 FREE

Farmland skim plus milk- .50
use 1.00/1 printable coupon- FREE
Vigo yellow rice- .99
use .50/1 coupon from 10/3RP doubled- FREE

Campbells canned gravy- 3 for 1.00(must buy 3)
buy 12, use 3 .50/4 coupons from 11/7SS doubled- .08 each

Swanson canned broth- .47
Buy 5(2 different varieties), use the .75/5 coupon from 9/26 or 11/7SS doubled- .17 each

Jones sausage roll- 1.99
use B1G1 free coupon from 11/14SS- .99 each
 
Skippy peanut butter- 2 for 4.00(must buy 2)
use .50/1 coupon from 11/14RP doubled- 1.00 each

Wesson oil- 3 for 4.00(must buy 2)
use .40/1 coupon from 11/14SS doubled- 1.20

Clorox disinfecting wipes- 2 for 4.00(must buy 2)
use .40/1 coupon from 10/3SS doubled- 1.20

Nestle tollhouse morsels- 1.77
use 1.00/2 printable coupon- 1.27

TheraFlu- 3.99
use 2.00/1 printable coupon- 1.99

Use what you got to get what you want...

That sounds so....wrong, doesn't it? Like a mantra that groupies say while putting on their makeup and short skirts before the concert. But I'm focusing on items you already have to attain results you are looking for.

This past year, we found a great deal on a Wii and I convinced Hubby that we needed to get it. He's a playstation/Xbox360 fan but with our growing family, I figured a "sit down, one player per control" form of entertainment wasn't too great to waste money on. Plus, the Wii already had some great family friendly games that were a steal on Amazon. It turns out it was a great investment.

For the past 3 months I've been using it to get back into real shape. Running after a 5 year old in a daily game of tag is great exercise, but I had some pudge that wouldn't budge and needed to hop to it.  Hubby surprised me with the games "Just Dance" and "Just Dance 2". Probably because he heard me complain about how I wanted them badly and I couldn't find a good online deal. The little bugger went out and found a great BOGO sale at the brick and mortar store. Well, when it rains, it pours. A week later, there was a great sale on the "Jenny: Your Shape" game that I had been coveting as well. For under 12 bucks I basically gained a personal trainer. The game is tough, but it whipped my butt into shape! Literally.  A bonus is that I can play the "Just Dance" games with hubby and Sonny during the weekends when I want a lighter workout and to just have fun.

I have to think about how much I saved by using this as a workout routine. I know a lot of workout "kings and queens" will say that just going outside for a walk or run is "free." But with a newborn, it's not. I'll have to get a jogging stroller, make sure she's super bundled up(it's fall here in the Northeast...did you know that?), and what happens if she's sick? Can't take her out then, and I'll still have to find a routine to do inside on those days. Nope, I'm cool with the Wii. And staying inside for that matter. Plus, I figured in the price of the games and the system and I saved about 130 dollars by getting them rather than a gym membership. That's a lot of extra change in our pocket.

Quotable Wednesday

"Facts are meaningless.  You could use facts to to prove anything that's even remotely true!"

-Homer Simpson


Had to do a Simpson quote in honor of Hubby's upcoming bday....

Giveaway winners!

The winner of the EcoStore giveaway is....number 2, Michelle! Congratulations!

The 2 winners of the 5.00 Dunkin Donuts gift cards are.....number 11 and number 39! Congratulations slugmama and  Katrina!

The winners were chosen by random.org's True Random Number Generator.

All winners have been notified and have 48 hours to respond to me. If they don't, I'll randomly select other winners. Thanks to all for entering!

Meal Plan Monday!

This is a great week! Hubby's 30th b-day is on Friday so I've planned a great weekend for him. This also means that saturday and sunday this mama doesn't have to cook! Since he likes to sneak a peek at my blog every once in a while, I can't divulge everything we're going to do, but needless to say, I get a little cooking break for the weekend.

Monday: French dip sammies with onion strings
Tuesday: Breakfast for dinner; french toast, bacon, scrammy eggs, and homemade pancake syrup
Wednesday: Roasted chicken leg quarters with mashed potatoes and green beans
Thursday: crab cakes with yellow rice and carrots
Friday: Hubby's birthday! Got his fave frozen pizza on sale, so we're having a small pizza party!
Saturday: Out to celebrate the big bday
Sunday: Off to my parents' house for dinner

Dessert of the week: Cheesecake with a dark chocolate drizzle AND slow cooker peach cobbler!

ShopRite Deals 11/14 to 11/20

International Delight coffee creamer- .99
use .55/1 printable coupon or coupon from 11/7SS doubled- FREE

Butterball turkey bacon- 1.50
use .75/1 coupon from 10/31SS(or printable here) doubled- FREE

San Giorgio quick cook pasta- 1.00
use .55/1 coupon from 10/3SS doubled- FREE

Green giant frozen boxed veggies- 1.00
use .50/1 printable coupon doubled- FREE

Whole grain total cereal- 1.99
use .75/1 printable coupon doubled- .49
OR, use printable coupon and .75/1 cellfire coupon- FREE

Vigo yellow rice- .99
use .50/1 coupon from 10/3RP doubled- FREE

Suave deodorant- 3 for 5.00(must buy 3)
use 3 .75/1 coupons from 11/14RP doubled- .16 each

Betty crocker potatoes- .99
use .50/2 coupon from 10/3GM doubled- .49 each
OR, use .50/2 and .50/2 cellfire coupon- .24 each

Chef Boyardee pasta- 1.00
use .75/2 coupon from 10/3SS doubled- .25 each

Pillsbury crescent rolls- 1.66
use .50/1 printable coupon doubled- .66
OR, buy 2, use 2 printables and use the .50/2 cellfire coupon- .41 each after all coupons

Wise cheez doodles- 1.49
use .50/1 printable coupon doubled- .49

Maxwell House coffee- 1.99(with in-circular coupon and 10.00 minimum)
use .75/1 coupon from 10/10SS doubled- .49

Jones sausage roll- 1.99
use B1G1 free coupon from 11/14SS- .99 each

Ragu pasta sauce- 2 for 3.00(must buy 2)
buy 6, use 2 B2G1 free coupons from 11/14RP- 1.08 each

Wesson oil- 3 for 4.00(must buy 2)
use .40/1 coupon from 11/14SS doubled- 1.20

Pillsbury pizza crust- 1.99
use .40/2 printable coupon doubled- 1.59 each
OR, use the printable coupon and .40/2 cellfire coupon- 1.39 each

Lactaid milk- 2.99
use 1.00/1 printable coupon- 1.99

Oscar Meyer deli fresh meats- 3.00
use 1.00/2 printable coupon- 2.50 each
Also, when you buy 2, you get a free carving board!
____________
Buy 4 participating glade products, get 5.00 catalina coupon

Glade scented oil candle- 2 for 5.00(must buy 2)

Buy 4- 10.00
use 2 1.50/2 printable coupons(will need 2 computers to print)-3.00 off
Pay 7.00 and get back 5.00; .50 per item after coupons and catalina
_________
Other deals
Ronzoni curly lasagna- .99
Chicken breasts- 1.79/lb
5lb box clementines- 4.99

"Gift carding" it to a Turkey...

Every year around Thanksgiving and Easter, grocery stores have great sales on Turkeys, turkey breasts and Ham.  What's even better is that some stores actually give you a free turkey when you purchase a certain amount of groceries within a certain amount of weeks up to the holiday.

I always find that I have a great momentum at the beginning of the qualifying period but, of course, the sales start to lag around the end of the qualifying period. That usually causes shoppers to panic and buy lots of full price items just to qualify for their free meat.  When I first started grocery shopping, I was one of those people. Then I discovered couponing and tracking sales and I easily attained a turkey every year. Some years I do find that I am just a little short a week or so before the end of the period. This is when I turn to gift cards.

Luckily, when the Thanksgiving qualifying period comes around, Veteran's Day is right in the middle.  Every year, Applebee's gives a free meal to Veterans so we take advantage of this and plan our bi-weekly dinner out.  Since I know that we will be paying a bit for our whole meal there, I take advantage of the gift cards that are sold at my grocery stores.   The best part is that this purchase qualifies towards my Turkey. Since I know we will be spending the money anyway, it just makes sense to spend it a little earlier and have it count towards something.

If we ever opt out of doing the Veteran's Day at Applebee's, I also like to buy the 15.00 starbucks gift cards. My Mother-In-Law is a Starbucks junkie, so I'll save the gift card as part of her Christmas gift along with a new travel mug. This has been a yearly gift from us to her and she anticipates it every Christmas.  Some stores are even cool enough to allow you to purchase that store's gift card and have it qualify towards your meat.  My ShopRite used to let us buy ShopRite gift cards to qualify, but they've recently changed the rules.

I also love to take it one step further and pay for it with my debit card.  I made sure to sign up for a great program that gives us points every time we use the card, so I can have that one purchase qualify towards my Turkey AND towards the rewards on my debit card. I've used the points from the debit card to get free hotel rooms, gift cards( a few that were given away right on this blog), and even cash back to our checking account. I'd call that a win-win.

One thing to remember when getting gift cards from your grocery stores is that they may not activate right away. Some take up to 36 hours to activate, so plan accordingly.

Happy Veterans Day!

I just wanted to say happy veterans day to all active duty, guard, reserve and retired military members.

Meal Plan Monday(or Tuesday....)

I'm so late putting this together, but I'm getting back into the swing of things here at home so I'm cutting myself just a little slack. Most meals this week will be super easy, and Thursday is Veteran's day, so we're off to Applebee's to treat mama to her free meal :o).

Monday: Chicken nuggets with yellow rice and garlic green beans
Tuesday: Almond crusted tilapia with broccoli and rice pilaf
Wednesday: My Mom's chicken and noodles and side salad
Thursday: Veteran's Day! Off to Applebee's
Friday: Pizza night (of course)
Saturday: Hodge podge quesadillas( quesadillas filled with leftovers from the week)
Sunday: Slow cooker pot roast served over orzo

Dessert of the week: Apple brown betty

Giveaway: Dunkin Donuts gift card!

After working double hard down at the base, I realized that Dunkin Donuts kept me awake most days.  I do love the new coffee flavors they have for the holiday season too. The gingerbread one was outstanding! So, because of this, I picked up a few gift cards to give away to my wonderful readers.

I have Two 5.00 Dunkin Donuts gift cards to giveaway. To enter, just leave me a comment telling me your favorite dunkin donuts item. Remember, I will be picking two winners, so you have a good chance of winning!

This contest will be open until 10:00pmEST on November 12th. Make sure to post your e-mail (if you don't have a google account) so I can contact you if you win. Good Luck!

ShopRite Deals 11/7 to 11/13

Kleenex- .99
buy 6, use 3 1.00/2 coupons from 10/3SS, get back 3.00 in catalinas
.06 MM after coupons and catalinas!

Ronzoni quick cook pasta- .88
use .50/1 printable coupon here, here, or here doubled- FREE

Campbell's canned gravy- 3 for 1.00
buy 12, use 3 1.00/4 coupons from 10/31SS- .08 each
Remember all the gravy I got two years ago? We just finished using up that stockpile!

Swanson canned broth- .47
Buy 5(2 different varieties), use the .75/5 coupon from 9/26 or 11/7SS doubled- .17 each

Stove Top Stuffing- 4 for 3.00(with super coupon on front page)
use 2 1.00/2 printable coupons- .25 each

Swiss miss cocoa- 1.00
use 1.00/2 coupon from November All You mag- .50 each

Krusteaz pancake mix- 1.49
use .50/1 coupon from 8/22SS doubled- .49

Colgate total toothpaste- 1.49
use 1.00/1 coupon from 10/31SS- .49

Trans Ocean imitation crab meat- 1.74
use 1.00/1 printable coupon- .74

Perdue chicken nuggets or cutlets- 2.09
if whole grain is included, use 1.00/1 printable coupon(click coupon link at bottom of page)- 1.09

kraft shredded cheese- 1.79
use 1.00/2 coupon from 9/26SS(expired 11/7!)- 1.29 each

Reynold's parchment paper- 2.99
use .75/1 coupon from 10/3SS doubled- 1.49


Other deals
2lb bag frozen whiting fillets- 3.99
Chicken leg quarters- .59/lb
5lb bag white potatoes- 1.49

Oxi-what?(Make your own Oxi-Clean)

"It's not clean, unless it's Oxi-clean."

Yeah, I guess. It's also not expensive unless it's Oxi-clean.  I tried using the product a while back and I have to admit, it did work like gang busters. It was around the time that Sonny Boy was eating lots of different baby foods, so stains were at an all-time high. I needed to use something to get those sweet pea, squash, and carrot stains out of his bibs and onesies.  Oxi-clean really did the trick, but I LOATHED the price. I felt bad using it every time since I saw how much money was being thrown into the washer.

This time around with kiddo number 2( and the crazy stains we have from the vitamins she takes), I needed to figure something else out.  Of course, I turned to my good old friend vinegar. I knew some type of vinegar solution would help and that it wouldn't cause any types of breakouts on her sensitive skin.  Then, I remembered a middle school science project: the volcano. Remember that? Mix together vinegar and baking soda can make your own cool lava! A vinegar/baking soda solution is a old remedy but is tried and true. I decided to give it a go.

Well, I have to say, it worked wonderfully! I worked with the ratios a bit, and found that 1 part baking soda to 2 parts vinegar worked the best.  I placed all of her stained clothing into the washer, set it on the soak cycle, and once the water was just over the clothes, I placed the vinegar in first then the baking soda. I let the machine "swish" a bit just to get the magic going in the washer, then I turned it off and let the clothes sit for about 15 minutes. I then turned the washer to the spin cycle.  Once that's all done, I add in the rest of her clothes and proceed to do a regular wash. The soiled clothes not only come out stain-free, but nice and soft(the vinegar is a great substitute for fabric softener). I even tried it on hubby's grease-stained work clothes and it even worked on that. I'm so happy to have found this out; I guarantee it's going to save us a bunch!

Quotable Wednesday

"Those that deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves."

-Abraham Lincoln

War week giveaway: Eco Store USA

Yay for the start of giveaway week! I wanted to start off with a great product that we've fallen in love with.  A few months ago, EcoStore USA offered to let me try some of their products in our house to see if they live up to the conventional cleaners.

I decided to give the all-purpose cleaner a try since I need something that I can use in the bathroom, kitchen or bedrooms but will kill germs and clean dirt with ease. The EcoStore offers eco friendly household cleaning products that are as effective as the leading supermarket brands. All of their products are made from plant and mineral-based ingredients, free of toxic chemicals, and bring people closer to nature. They use non-toxic, environmentally safe solutions that also help to reduce your carbon footprint.

Since we just about fell in love with the all-purpose cleaner, I'm offering it as a giveaway prize!

To enter, just leave me a comment letting me know what your favorite cleaner is. Are you a fan of all purpose cleaners? Do love to make your own?

The contest will be open until Monday, November 8th at 11:59pm. One entry per person and make sure to leave your e-mail address so I can contact you if you win. Good Luck!

I'm off to "war!" (What this means for you)

Well, it's yet another week where I have to go play "war" at my base, so that means I'll be one heart-broken mama! You would think a week away from my usual SAHM lifestyle might be a blessing to me, but I miss my kids!

Anyway, what this means for YOU is that I'll be making you all happy with a few giveaways this week! Also, I have a great appetizer recipe to share, along with an awesome cleaning solution that'll replace one of those expensive ones that everybody swears by. Keep a lookout for the usual posts of Quotable Wednesday and ShopRite matchups too. Hope you all have a good week and good luck to anyone entering the giveaways!