Food for Fines

Do you have library fines? Don't worry, no one is judging you. The good news is you have a chance to repent for your evil late book returning ways!

For the month of September, if you live in Jefferson County, Alabama you can exchange a can of food for every dollar you have in fines! This is so great because you give to the needy, pay off your debts and save money doing it too!

Just grab some non-perishable food from your stockpile and ta-da! All is well with the world!

Most libraries around the country have a program like this to pay off fines. Call your local library and ask when their food for fines program is.

Pick your own produce

A few Saturday's ago my family and I spent the morning picking our own blueberries! It was a great family activity and the part that made mom really happy was that we got 4.75 pounds of blueberries for just $4!

We went to

Bear Mountain Blueberry Farm
8227 Clayton Cove Road
Springville, Alabama
681-8656

Look for farms in your area. Pickyourown.org is a site that can help you locate farms in your area. It's a great way for the family to get out as well as get a great deal on fresh produce!

The value of a penny

If I haven't convinced you to use coupons before maybe this will help...

The total cost of all of the items you see here is 1 penny.

Yes, that's right, that penny that was on the ground that you didn't pick up, was picked up by me and I turned it into all of this!

Using a combination of store sales, coupons, free samples, and CVS's extra care rewards program the total cost of everything ended up being one penny. I bought $40 worth of items that day that
are not pictured here but these were just a penny. Ahhhh.... it feels so good.....

What are you waiting for? Get couponing today!! http://www.moneysavingmom.com/ has helped me learn the tricks of the trade. Let her help you too.

Publix Weekly Penny Item

As if you needed another reason to love Publix here is one more - the Publix penny item!!

Each Sunday and Monday Publix has a mystery item that they price at just one penny! That's right, one penny! You might as well consider it free.

How it works: You must buy $10 worth of groceries (before coupons and the original cost of the penny item is included) and you can only get one item at that price per visit. There is a coupon in the ad in the Sunday paper but many stores do not require it. The Publix on 31 in Vestavia and Hoover, Alabama do not require the coupon. Make sure the checker discounts it though if you don't have the coupon.

Items that have been the penny item recently have been, apple juice, toilet paper, tortilla chips, salad dressing, window cleaner and more.

I save my shopping for Monday and there are two stores close to my house. I will go to one in the morning to get most of my items and get a penny item then. If there were items that the first store had sold out of I will then go to the other store to get the rest of my items and get another penny item.

Don't forget that Publix doubles coupons up to $.50 and you can pair a manufacturers coupon with a store coupon to maximize your savings. Also, don't forget that they also take competitors coupons so all those Bruno's $5 off a $30 purchase (pre-coupon savings) can be used as well.

Frozen Pizza Bagels - Under $3 a dozen!

After last weeks post about coupons my mother said to me, "What are you going to do with all that food?" Well, here is one thing I did with it - made Frozen Pizza Bagels!

For less than $3 for the whole batch I made a dozen pizza bagles. Here is my reciepe and how to freeze them.

6 Plain Bagles
1/2 can spaghetti sauce
1 c. mozarella cheese
2 mushrooms diced
about 15 slices of pepperoni chopped

1. Lay bagel halves on cookie sheet with insides facing up.
2. Coat each one with a generous amount of sauce (some sauce will soak into bagel).
3. Top with cheese and toppings.
4. Lightly press down on the toppings so some sauce touches everything. (The sauce is like the glue of the frozen pizza. If your toppings touch even a little bit of the sauce they are more likely to stay on the pizza when it is frozen.)
5. Place cookie sheet in freezer for an hour or so. Once pizzas are frozen you can take them off the cookie sheet and wrap them however you choose for long term storage. You can place them individually in sandwich bags, wrap in Saran wrap, place in Tupperware etc. Whichever fits you, your budget and your freezer best is what you should do.
6. When ready to cook. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake on cookie sheet for about 10 minutes (approx. time. Make sure you watch them carefully all ovens are different!). You can also place them in the microwave for 2 minutes.


This is a great way to stock up on foods you love and not spend a whole lot of money doing it. These pizzas took me less than 15 minutes to prepare and saved me lots of money! And besides... who doesn't love pizza?!?

Why Coupons Are Awesome!!!

So I have some great friends who are amazing and have inspired me to start using coupons. The picture above is from my first trip trying out the coupon technique the pros use. I have to admit is was a complete success and I couldn't be happier. The above items should have cost me $92.23 (before taxes) but instead I saved $64.02 and all of this food only cost me $28.21 (before taxes). I was grinning form ear to ear as I left the store revelling in my new triumph.

Now, let me tell you how I did it...

How to get coupons: You can get coupons from the paper, blinkies and stands in the aisles of the store, from ads at the front of the store, from signing up for free coupons and freebies from the manufacturers site, or there are a plethora of websites that will direct you to coupons you can print from your computer. Here is one that I like called Money Saving Mom. Collect as many as you can.

Use them with Buy One Get One Free deals: I shop at Publix which frequently has B1G1Free sales. When chips are normally $4 and you can B1G1Free you don't have to buy two to get the deal you can just buy one for just $2. If you also have a coupon for $1 off you end up paying only $1 for the chips that were normally $4 saving you $3! Many stores also double coupons that are 50 cents or less. So a 50 cent coupon is actually $1. Where you can really stock up is when you have more than one coupon. Check your stores B1G1Free deals for the week and plan ahead. If your coupon is for more that the price the remaining money is called overage and is deducted from another item.

Here's a breakdown of some of the stuff that I bought today and the savings.

A-1 Sauce Various Flavors

• Originally $3.79.
• B1G1Free Sale Price $1.90
• Coupon $2.00 off
• Total for each $-.10

Oscar Mayer Beef Jumbo Franks

• Originally $3.99
• B1G1Free Sale Price $1.99
• Coupon $1.00 off when you buy 2
• Total for each $.99

Kraft Dressings Various Flavors

• Originally $2.99
• B1G1Free Sale Price $1.49
• Coupon $1.50 off
• Total for each $-.01

Betty Crocker Turtle Supreme Brownie Mix

• Originally $2.55
• B1G1Free Sale Price $1.28
• Coupon $.50 off when you buy two but was doubled so it was actually $1 off when you buy two
• Total for each $.78 plus there is a coupon on the boxes for 2 free movie tickets with 10 UPC's all I need is 4 more from other participating brands and I get to see Harry Potter 6 for free too!

Lenders Bagels

• Originally $2.09
• B1G1F sale price $1.05
• Coupon $1.00 off when you buy 3
• Total for each $.71

Philadelphia Cream Cheese Spread Assorted Flavors

• Originally $1.99
• 4 or $5 sale $1.25 each
• Coupon save $1 when you buy 2
• Total for each $.75

Triscut Assorted Flavors

• Originally $3.19
• B1G1Free sale price $1.60
• Coupon save $1 when you buy 2
• Total for each $1.10

I also got a dollar off of the roast beef from a store coupon and the olives weren't on sale, I just wanted them. :) As you can see the savings are significant and I'm not even a pro yet. A friend of mine bought $180 dollars in groceries the other day and only ended up spending $60 a savings of $120!

Think of what this will mean to your budget as well as your food storage. You never know what is going to happen if you will loose your job, a grocery worker strike or a natural disaster with take out the food supply. Won't it feel good to know that your savvy shopping and the food you have stored up will be there when you need it? Doomsday's aside - I'm just happy that I now have brownies on hand for all those parties and Church activities that I will be asked to bring a treat to!

Free Hot Dogs

We all pretend that we are disgusted by them but let's face it... everyone loves hot dogs!

Go get yourself a coupon for a free pack! Oscar Mayer is giving out coupons for a free package. Click here to sign up.

Discount Days and Free Birthday Food at Moe's

Well, I just came back from a delicious dinner at Moe's. The best part about it? It was free!! If you go to their site you can sign up for their free birthday promotion. On your birthday they send you an e-mail with a coupon for a free entree. You have 7 days to use it. It's a simple as that! I saved almost $8 and had a lovely evening out with the family.

While I was there I was also informed that Monday's you get $1 off all burritos and on Tuesday's kids eat free! This is the Moe's in Vestavia, Alabama. I am not 100% sure if all Moe's have promotions on the same day so I would check with your Moe's ahead of time. The birthday dinner is applicable at all Moe's locations.