Official Coupon Policy for Dollar General

I recently learned about some of the great deals they have at Dollar General stores (thanks Erika!). Such as, Electrasol tabs every day price of $2.50 each. With the $2.50 coupon that came out last month (4/16, I think), it would be free. 

I did a little investigation online at afullcup.com's Dollar General forum. Some people had posted about having problems at the stores when they presented their coupons. So, I contacted Dollar General Headquarters to get their official coupon policy. Here is their reply, in its entirety. 

If you have a problem have a problem with a cashier, you can show them this.

All the best,

Col

Healthy Freezer Recipes

Check out these budget-friendly, easy freezer recipes from Prevention. 

2 Free bottles of Samy Hair Care at Walgreens

This week Walgreens has Samy Hair Care on sale for BOGO. In addition, on some bottles there is a hangtag rebate form for up to $7.99. So, after MIR you get 2 bottles FREE.

Also, you get an additional $3 rebate if you buy a styling product with the shampoo/conditioner purchase.

Happy shopping!,

Colleen

Meijer Hidden Deal for week of 3/1/09

This week Meijer has Barilla brand pasta (12 to 16 oz) on sale for $0.88. I couldn't find any manufacturer's printable or newspaper coupons, but Meijer does have a -$1/3 MealBox printable coupon.  To access this coupon, after clicking on the MealBox link above; click on the "Specials" tab inside the "MealBox" box on the right-side of the screen.

Final cost = $0.55 a box. 

Hope this post help your budget stretch a little farther this week.

Col

All You Magazine Bursting with High-Value Coupons

Did you know that All You magazine has at least $30 worth of coupons in every issue? The magazine can only be purchased at Wal-Mart or via subscription  

here. The above list of coupons are included in the March 2009 issue of All You magazine.

Coupons for Organic Products

If you like organic products, but hate paying the higher prices, there's hope. I sent away for a coupon booklet from www.mambosprouts.com. It just came in the mail today. Included in the booklet are the following coupons:

$0.75 off 2 clif builder's bars

$0.50 off 2 any clif bars

$0.50 off any clif kid product

$0.50 off any luna product

$0.50 off one mojo bar

$1 off one 32 oz or four 6oz cups of brown cow yogurt

$0.70 off one back to nature product

$1 off one wolfgang puck canned soup or broth

$0.50 off batter blaster pancake or waffle batter

$0.50 off nut-thins

$2 off realfood organics product

$1 off 2 deboles pastas

$1 off 8 jars of earth's best baby food

$1 off 2 earth's best sesame street products

$1 off equal exchange coffee

$0.55 off one frontera item

$0.55 off  any box of goodearth tea (they included a free sample too - yay!)

$0.50 off one asian gourmet product

$0.20 off one jane's krazy mixed-up seasonings

$1 off maranatha nut butter

$1 off one Ian's pizza

$0.75 off one dagoba product

$1 off one box of kashi TLC bars

$1 off one Kashi hot cereal or oatmeal

$1 off lundberg 2 lb bag

B2G1 emergen-C

$3 off one natrol carb intercept product

$3 off on natrol biosil product

$1 off oikos 5.3oz or 16oz cup

$1 off riceselect product

$0.50 off one tasty bite product

$0.50 off one bar of thinkthin or thinkfruit brand

$0.75 off one traditional medicinals herbal tea

$0.55 off one san-j tamari cooking sauce or salad dressing

$1.25 off 2 nasoya tofu, wraps, & noodles and/or vegi-spread

$1 off one organic valley eggs

$1 off 2 organic valley cream cheeses

$1 off on organic valley orange juice

You can also print e-coupons at www.mambosprouts.com

Attention half and half lovers - that's you Sue ;) - you can also win a year of free organic half and half when you share your organic vision at www.organicrising.com. 

PS I know I won't be using the earth's best coupons, so if you want them, let me know.

Happy freebie hunting!,

Col

CVS Extra Care Bucks (ECB) Calculator

Today's HotcouponWorld's CVS Newsletter, contained a link to a CVS ecb calculator. It can be used to determine which ecb you should use before you even hit the store. You enter the ecbs you have and it will spit out all the different combinations you can use. 

For example: I have these ecbs right now: $4, $3.99, $4.99, and $11.98.  This is what it gave me. 

Total Amount	ECB Combination
$3.99	$3.99
$4.00	$4
$4.99	$4.99
$7.99	$3.99, $4
$8.98	$3.99, $4.99
$8.99	$4, $4.99
$11.98	$11.98
$12.98	$3.99, $4, $4.99
$15.97	$3.99, $11.98
$15.98	$4, $11.98
$16.97	$4.99, $11.98
$19.97	$3.99, $4, $11.98
$20.96	$3.99, $4.99, $11.98
$20.97	$4, $4.99, $11.98
$24.96	$3.99, $4, $4.99, $11.98

Happy saving,

Col

Clams with Rouge Sauce on the Cheap

One of my favorite dishes when eating out is linguine with clams in a rouge sauce. Cost at restaurant = ~$10 per serving.  Here is my own hack (thanks to Sue for giving me the push to begin my hack life ;) )

Clams with Rouge Sauce

• 1  16 oz box linguine (I usually can get this for $0.25 a box at Meijer and stock pile it)
  
• 1  jar Ragu spaghetti sauce (bought for 3/$5 + had 3 $0.50 coupons, so $1.17/jar)
  
• 3  cans Snow's chopped clams (bought at Rite Aid $0.99/ea + had 3 $1.00/2 coupons, so $0.49/can)
  
• 1  12 oz can Carnation Evaporated Milk (bought at Meijer $0.99/can + had coupon for $1/2, so $0.49/can)
• 2 T cornstarch mixed with just enough water to make it the consistency of maple syrup

In sauce pan, mix together last 4 ingredients cook until heated through and sauce has thickened.  About 10 minutes.  Served my family of 4, plus had 1 portion leftover. Your mileage may vary. Total Cost = $3.38. Cost per serving = $0.68. 

My girls who normally HATE spaghetti sauce gobbled it up and told me it was awesome. As soon as I picked myself off the floor, I entered this post.  ; )

Happy Hacking,

Colleen

New Service at Meijer.com - Printable Coupons

I found a new feature on the Meijer.com website - Printable coupons (Meijer Mealbox) redeemable only at Meijer. I used some coupons on my trip last week without any problems. But, better yet, I read a post on Bargain Briana's blog (Nov. 9, 2008) that says the Meijer Mealbox coupons can be stacked with Manufacturer's Coupons. Yahoo!  I can see a lot more freebies coming from Meijer... Also, check out Bargain Briana's Meijer's 101 lesson.

Do You Pantry-Shop?

One of the best ways to save money is to buy things on sale, but buying on sale is maximized if you pantry-shop. Stocking a pantry from nothing requires diligence and some work, but ultimately, it is worth the effort in the long-run.

I organized my pantry today with the help of our 6 y/o son; the organization was beneficial to me because it showed me what we have and what I still need to stock up on before the winter months fully set in.

By this time, you might be thinking, "Must be nice... I don't have a pantry!" I encourage you to think outside the box and realize that if you have some space, you have a pantry, even if it's not a full cupboard. In our last house, I didn't have a pantry, but I had shelves in one half of our coat closet, and those shelves served as pantry shelves because the closet was close to the kitchen. A little weird to put coats in the space where grocery items were, but it accomplished my goal.

The Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) encourage pantry-stocking for their members and are pros at thinking outside the box for food storage. You don't have to be Mormon to use their ideas; if you have space under a bed, you've got space to stack boxes of canned vegetables. Pantries don't have to be enclosed cabinets or closets. If you've got the ability to build shelves, fantastic. If you can't build shelves but have a small bit of cash to put in to the project, IKEA has inexpensive, sturdy shelving units that are easy to put together. No space in your kitchen? Think basement, laundry room, or even garage. Canned goods (un-dented, of course) are designed to have an indefinite shelf life and don't care if they're stored next to the boots in the mudroom or next to TP in the bathroom cabinet. If the "under the bed idea" makes you realize that your beds are too low for this trick, fashion some bed-risers from small wood blocks, or buy a set at Bed, Bath, & Beyond (with a 20% off coupon, of course!) and maximize your space. Depending on how big your pantry is, it might be a shelf, a section of a shelf, or even stashed away under your sink.

So once you have a pantry idea in mind, how to go about stocking it? Think about the things you use regularly in your meal preparation and presentation. We use a lot of canned tomatoes, canned vegetables (beans, corn, & peas), and we eat a lot of beans in stews, soups, and chili. I buy these things when they're on sale in quantities of 6-12, depending on how well-stocked my pantry is at any given time. This provides what I need to make meals for my family and keeps me from having to buy it when I need it, invariably when it wouldn't be on sale and would be full-price.

I also have a section of the pantry for convenience foods that store well (boxed macaroni & cheese, for example) and another section for baking goods (cake mixes, powdered sugar, etc.). There's a section for spices (bought in bulk at Whole Foods or at Costco) and another for cleaning supplies. But you can see how this would vary by family and cooking habits. Make a list and watch for sales. Put a little extra grocery money towards the pantry-building or stocking, and then when you're stocked, you can save the money that you're not spending on full-priced items.

Once you have your pantry stocked, don't forget to rotate your stock. Put the things that were the first-purchased at the front, so you'll not forget about a can of spinach that was purchased 5 years prior, instead eating the cans of spinach that were purchased 5 weeks prior.

There's a part me that smiles when I think of my pantry -- what I have stashed away and don't have to buy when I start holiday baking & cooking. And as things go on sale during that timeframe, I'll stock the pantry for future needs as well. It's a cycle, but one that works well for frugally-minded people everywhere. :)

Happy stocking!

~Sue