Family On A Budget

Many places offer discounted calendars after Christmas and Barnes & Noble is no exception. Currently calendars are 50% off along with other holiday items in their annual After Holiday Sale.

50% off calendars with our after holiday sale. Stock up now while supplies last!

What is your favorite? My husband always buys me the Thomas Kinkade calendar for Christmas, but I think I am going to order an additional one for work.

After Christmas is the best time to pick up your favorite calendar for the coming year. Currently Borders is featuring all their calendars at 50% off while supplies last.

All Calendars 50% Off. While Supplies Last.

Looking for a low calorie way to use ham leftovers? Inexpensive and easy to make, Ham, Cabbage and Potatoes is a favorite of mine. I don’t pay attention to the exact measurements.

1 to 2 cups of Ham (I normally make this with leftovers)
2 or 3 bay leaves
fresh ground pepper
1 head of cabbage
6-8 potatoes
chopped onions (1/2 cup) or dehydrated onions (1/4 cup)

Chop the ham into bite sized pieces. Add to a stock pot with about 4-6 cups of water. Add the bay leaves. Cook on medium heat for about an hour. I normally keep the pot covered at this point.

Chop up the cabbage (remove the hard inside core) into large chunks. Larger pieces take longer to cook so pick your own size depending on how much time or how large your like your cabbabge. Add to stockpot with the onions and cook till tender (about an hour). I usually uncover about half way through this process. You want enough water left over to cook the potatoes, but not too much to be soupy.

Peel and chop the potatoes into bite sized pieces and add to the stockpot along with the pepper. Cook about 20 minutes until the potatoes are tender but not mushy.

I have never paid much attention to the Walgreens deals because until this month we didn’t have one nearby. Now we have one that opened this month and will have another only two miles away this Spring. Not sure why we need two within such a short distance. Hey who am I to complain about the new deals I can tap into.

So my first Walgreens trip will be to buy a John Frieda Luxurious Volume hair care products.

John Frieda Luxurious Volume product $5.99-$6.99
Use $2.50/1 manufacturer John Frieda Printable coupon
Use $3 off One Walgreen’s store coupon (now available to print online!)
Pay $0.49-$1.49 each after coupons!

Source: Common Sense with Money

If you are looking for a great deal on NFL Replica Jerseys,
Reebok has their entire stock NFL 40% off! Including their Jerseys. You might be cutting it close for Christmas time shipping, but this still a really great deal for the football player in your family.

Promo code NFLDEC
Good through 1/1/10!

Here we go Steelers, Here We Go. (we still love you)

All Toys are on Sale, get them before Christmas! Save up to 60%, prices start at $5.99!

Last chance for Christmas Delivery!
Use code: FREESHIP on $75+ orders

Guaranteed Christmas Delivery:
Ground cut-off: 12/20, 1pm EST
2-Day cut-off: 12/22, 1pm EST
Overnight cut-off: 12/20, 1pm EST

While both of my daughters finished up their soccer careers this fall we still go to college football games. GO PITT!! This season my lap blanket bit the dust so I was glad to see today’s Gold Box deal at Amazon.

Columbia Coral Fleece Throws are the ultimate blanket to cuddle in this winter. They are great for the car, camping, extra blanket for the bed, curl up on the sofa–you will want several to suit all of your needs. They also make great gift items.

List Price: $19.99
Gold Box Price: $10.99 (45% off)

Product Features:

* Plush, cozy fleece throw in solid Navy; measures 50 by 60 inches
* 240 grams (8.5 ounces) of warm fleece fabric per square meter
* Extra-warm for cold nights; perfect accent for any bedroom or reading chair
* Made of 100 percent polyester
* Machine washable for easy care

Who needs those boxes of Hamburger Helper when you can make a better casserole from scratch. Hamburger corn bake is a recipe that my mom used to make and I continued serving to my own family. The original recipe came from the Better Homes and Gardens Casserole Cookbook dated 1973. It was actually a “Casserole for a crowd recipe”, but we have adapted it for single family use. The original recipe called for the addition of pimiento and MSG but we eliminated that.

Hamburger Corn Bake

1 1/2 pound ground beef. (I like to use a 90/10 ground round instead)
1 cup onion
1 can of whole kernel corn
1 can of condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 can of condensed cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream (I use fat free)
salt and pepper to taste
3 cups cooked egg noodles
Optional: 1 c soft bread crumbs and 3 Tablespoon of melted butter.

Lightly brown ground beef (I usually drain and rinse my cooked beef to remove any extra fat). Add onions and cook till tender. Add the corn (drained), the soups and sour cream to the meat. Stir in the cooked noodles.

Currently there is a $.75 off of 1 No Yolks Pasta printable coupon. If your store doubles, you can get free noodles for all those budget casseroles.

Plus, right now there is a UPromise eCoupon for $.75 when you buy one package. Since you can stack Upromise eCoupons with manufacturer’s coupons, this will easily become a moneymaker!

Source: cha ching on a shoestring

Beginning on Dec 20th buy a Nivea Body Wash for $5.99 with a $5 ECB.

Coupons.com currently has a $2 off of 1 Nivea Body Wash coupon so you can make money. Print this before it runs out.

Source: STL Mommy.

Here are a few of the deals I noticed coming up for this week.

Libby’s canned vegetables – 20 for $10. You can print a Libby’s coupon for .50 off of 2 making them free after doubling. You can print 2 per computer after loading the Coupon Activator.

Kellogg’s Rice Krispies or Frosted Mini Wheats 4 for 10.00 with an instant additional 2.00 savings on 4. There are printable coupons at coupons.com for

• Save $1 on TWO Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Cereals
• Save $1.50 on your Favorite Store Brand Coffee with you purchase any THREE Kellogg’s Cereals.
• Save $1.00 on Kellogg’s Frosted Mini Wheats
• Save $1.00 Frosted Mini-Wheats Little Bites

You could buy 4 boxes of Frosted Mini Wheats/Little Bites and use 4 – $1.00 coupons from above and get them for $1.00 a box total. Not sure if you can combine this with the $1.50 off of coffee but sometimes they will let you.

My oldest offspring is on her own in college. She is now broke towards the end of the semester and needs some food advice. While not the cheapest, I thought of Italian Roast Beef sandwiches as something she can cook. She doesn’t really know how to cook, has very little time between study breaks and doesn’t have a large supply of staples like spices and extra canned goods so I figured Roast Beef was a good place to start. I have included my comments to her to help any other new cooks or broke college students out there.

Italian Roast Beef

• 2lb to 3lb Chuck or Bottom Round Roast. Find whichever one is the cheapest per lb. Watch for pieces that don’t have a lot of fat. Chuck is more fatty and cooks faster, Bottom round will give you a firmer textured roast beef and takes a bit longer to cook. I like both.
• 1 packet Good Seasons Italian Dressing. It is a dry packet of spices and you will find this in the salad dressing isle.
• Hard Rolls. This probably makes 4-8 sandwiches depending on how large the buns are.

Update: It appears that Kelloggs Target coupon is printing as manufacturer coupons and you cannot combine it with other coupons like I had first reported. Darn.

Target is featuring a $5.00 off of 4 Kellogg’s cereals coupons.

There is also a manufacturer coupon for BOGO off of Special K here. (The BOGO can only be printed once per signed up account).

There are also a few more manufacturer coupons for Kelloggs here. I have heard of people combining the Target with the BOGO along with more manufacturer coupons

Today’s Amazon MP3 Daily Deal is: Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker: Complete Ballet

Everyday low price: $6.99
Today’s price: $1.99

Finishline has NCAA Men’s Fleece 2 for $40 and NCAA Women’s Fleece 2 for $40

Additionally you can use the coupon code: HOLIDAY1060 to save $10 off a $60 purchase. (expires 12/31).

Here are some of the shipping deadlines for those last minute gifts.

1-800 Contacts
Dec 11 – Standard
Dec 17 – Expedited
Dec 21 – Fastest

1-800-Flowers
Dec 14 by carrier – Standard
Dec 21 by carrier – Expedited
Dec 22 by carrier – Fastest
Dec 24 1:30pm local (by florist)

ABC TV
Last day for USPS (free/budget): 12/17
Last day for Ground Shipping: 12/17
Last day for 2nd Day Air: 12/22
Last day for Next Day Air: 12/23

AC Lens
Last day for USPS (free/budget): 12/14
Last day for 2nd Day Air: 12/22
Last day for Next Day Air: 12/23

Adidas
Last day for Ground 3-5 Day: 12/16
Last day for 2nd Day Air: 12/22
Last day for Next Day Air: 12/23

Amazon
Dec 20 – Standard
Dec 21 – Expedited
Dec 23 3pm PT – Fastest

Auto Parts Warehouse
Last day for Ground 3-5 Day: 12/17
Last day for 2nd Day Air: 12/22
Last day for Next Day Air: 12/23

Barnes and Noble
Standard – Dec 11
Expedited – Dec 18
Fastest – Dec 21

Borders.com
Last day for Free/Budget (3-8 business days): 12/17
Last day for Priority (2-3 days): 12/21
Last day for Express (1-2 business days): 12/22

Each week my mom and I go through the ritual of making our grocery lists featuring the best sales. As most of your know the web is a big help in this regard. There are so many of your generous bloggers who spend time helping us with the best deals. Thanks everyone.

As part of our ritual I decide what coupons I can print, which ones I need to order from Ebay or which ones I have from my home delivered newspaper. We are lucky in that we have two major newspapers that have coupons so I get the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The Post-Gazette has the better coupons sometimes but the Trib has better content.

In order to save money on the newspaper, I have found the site DiscountedNewspapers.com and ordered subscriptions with up to a 50% discounted rate. Discounted Newspapers sells subscriptions to the largest local newspapers around the United States. They currently offer over 250 newspapers, serving over 40,000 zip codes with over 2,000 different subscription options. Subscriptions are for local home delivery only. Their site zipcode targeted to ensure customers live in each newspaper’s local delivery area. They have subscription options range in frequency from 7-days a week to Sunday-only and the durations range from 8 weeks to 52 weeks. The subscription discounts are guaranteed to be the lowest prices available on the web. If you see the newspaper offering a lower price on their own website, they will match it.

Coupons.com has a lot of printable Kellogg’s coupons that will probably not last long. Get them before they are gone.

I noticed that Giant Eagle is not having any sales to accompany this coupons this week, but I would guess they will have something coming up before they expire.

Coupons.com

• Save $1 on Kellogg’s Special K Blueberry Cereal
• Save $1 on Special K Protein Shakes (4 count or larger)
• Save $1 on any THREE Kellogg’s Cereals
• Save $1 on ONE Kellogg’s Corn Flakes Touch of Honey Cereal
• Save $1 on TWO Kellogg’s Special K Original Cereals
• Save $1 on TWO Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Cereals
• Save $.75 on any ONE Kellogg’s Honey Smacks Cereal
• Save $1.50 on your Favorite Store Brand Coffee with you purchase any THREE Kellogg’s Cereals.
• Save $1.00 on Kellogg’s Frosted Mini Wheats
• Save $.50 on any ONE Kellogg’s Raisin Bran Cereal
• Save $1.00 Frosted Mini-Wheats Little Bites
• Save $.50 on your favorite fresh fruit when you purchase any ONE Kelloggs Special K Cereal
• Save $1.50 on TWO Kellogg’s Corn Flakes.
• Save $.75 on any ONE Kellogg’s Smart Start Cereal

Today Amazon.com is offering House Beautiful (1-year) for $5.00 as a Gold Box Deal.

25 Days of Free

Every day through December 25, we’re unveiling a new holiday song available to download free for a limited time. Check back daily to see what’s next.

Today’s song is Slower Than Christmas by The Boxmasters.

Here is a list of all the list of free MP3 downloads available at Amazon.com. Currently there are 1344 titles.

Here are a few that I downloaded.

• My mom loves humming that new Amazon commercial song, Fly Me Away by Annie Little.
• Christmas Tree by Lady GaGa
• It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
• Rings Of Saturn, Merrick (New Age)
• Pat A Pan, Mannheim Steamroller

Source: Slickdeals.net

25 Days of Free

Every day through December 25, we’re unveiling a new holiday song available to download free for a limited time. Check back daily to see what’s next.

Today’s song is Snow Angel by Tori Amos.

Giant Eagle is having a good sale on Betty Crocker Items starting 12/03 Here are two that I have noticed.

Betty Crocker Baking Pouches, Potatoes, Pizza Crust or Muffins 10 for $8.00. Buy 10 get $2.00 off instantly with your Giant Eagle Advantage Card.

Coupons.com has the following printable coupon: (you can print 2 per computer)

If you are able to printout 10 coupons you would get these for free or a $2.00 overage.

Save $2.00 of your next shopping trip when you purchase $10 in any of the following Baking Products.

• Betty Crocker Frosting (4 for $5.00) printable $.50 off of one
• Domino Sugar (4 for $10.00)
• Nestle Morsels (2 for $4.00) – $.50 off of two
• Keebler Pie Crusts (3 for $6.00)
• Jell-o (10 for $10.00)
• Betty Crocker Brownie Mix (10 for $10.00)
• Cake Mate Decorating Gels or Decors (2 for $3.00)
• Crisco Oil (2 for $6.00)
• Hershey’s XL Bar (4 for $5.00)
• Pillsbury Cake Mix (10 for $10.00)

Additionally you can find more of the Betty Crocker coupons here (again 2 per computer)

Best Buy is featuring the Wii starting for $199.99! with an free $20 Gift Card.

Coupons.com has a $1.50 off of 1 printable Birdseye Meal

I have had a few of these and my favorite is the Roasted Chicken in Honey Chipotle Sauce. Many of them run around 320-400 calories per serving (remember there are TWO servings per bag).
Made with the finest quality ingredients, Steamfresh® Meals come in a wide variety of recipes sure to delight your taste buds. Let Steamfresh do the cooking for you!