Jul
28

Healthy & Homegrown: 2 Months Later

Posted by Cheapo McFrugalpants with 5 Comments

It is now July 27th…two months since we planted our jungle.

Methinks we have created a monster.

See those “towers” in the front? Um…yeah…that’s our lettuce. *laughing hysterically* We’ve now learned that in the heat of the summer, instead of growing into a tight head, lettuce can “bolt” (meaning it will send up a flower stalk and go to seed, resulting in leaves that are very bitter.) Not only does this condition affect lettuce plants, it can also occur in plants of the cabbage family: broccoli, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, collards, kale, kohlrabi and the common cabbage. By planting your seedlings after cold weather has passed in an area with some shady daytime hours will help prevent the bolting.

What did we do about it? We ate as much as we could from the “good” leaves (the shinier ones; not the matte finished ones), cut down the stalks and composted them for next year. Chalking that one up to amateur gardening.

As for the peppers…they are doing wonderful! We have gathered about eight or nine large green peppers, a whole slew of jalapenos and more hot banana peppers than we can eat. They just keep producing! I bought some supplies to make a bunch of stuffed green peppers in which I plan on freezing for a time when I need a “quick dinner.”

And what do you think about this? In my opinion, it appears to be a cross between a tomato and a pumpkin. It’s called a German Queen tomato plant. Have you ever grown or heard of them? According to the tag, they grow bigger than baseballs (as you can plainly see.) We can’t wait to slice into one of these; we are so curious!

As for the other tomatoes, most of them are looking good. Already picking a few Early Girls, Better Boys and yellow pears. We did notice that some of our plants have formed a “bacterial speck.” After some discussion with Twitter, it appears that it’s all over Indiana, especially in the south. Rather upsetting but we just keep removing the “bad” stuff and are hoping for the best!

And for the yard flowers?

The Hibiscus…

The Hydrangea…

And the Rose of Sharon…

…are all doing just fine.

We are definitely enjoying our own little “Midwestern Eden” this year.

How does your garden grow? Let us know!

More gardening inspiration from the Tuesday Garden Party


Filed under Grow It
Jul
26

Kroger Deals: 7/22 to 7/28

Posted by Cheapo McFrugalpants with 1 Comment

Two weeks. Two whole weeks since I have gotten groceries.

And the time went where? What in the world did we eat? Obviously, there was enough “stock up” to get us by. Therefore, Sunday shopping was in order. No! Not SUNDAY shopping! Not “waste the weekend doing weekday shopping!” I suppose hungry bellies do not wait for the week to start. *sigh* Grabs coupons and reusable bags- trudges out the door – drives with radio turned up REALLY loud because if I can’t yell, someone has to.

Fortunately for everyone around me, the Kroger crowd was very light that day (obviously NO one wants to shop on Sunday.) I pretty much flew through the aisles, grabbed what I came for and headed towards the cashier. You see, I always have this OCD “pre-checkout” ritual that I do:

  • A once over at my cart to make sure I’m not forgetting anything
  • Since I write prices on my shopping list, I add everything up on the calculator (a girl has got to know what she’s spending!)
  • If I’m over my budget, I’ll look to see what I do not need
  • Quickly sift through the coupons to ensure they are all correct

I know what you are thinking…who has time for this? Once it becomes your “ritual”, it takes no time at all.  Recently, I’ve tried to challenge myself to lower my grocery budget to $50 per week. I have yet to actually hit $50, but I will NEVER reach this goal if I don’t double check everything. I know I can do it…I’m just not ready to part with fresh mozzarella a few items quite yet. *wink*

My total was around $84-ish – which really isn’t too bad when you consider I haven’t shopped in two weeks…AND that includes a few non-grocery items. A few of the deals I found:

  • Dentyne: $.64 – $1 Sunday Q = FREE + $.36
  • Eggland’s Best Eggs: $2.59 – $1.00 mag Q = $1.59
  • 3 Starkist Tuna: $3 – B2GOF = $2 for THREE
  • 3 Horizon Vanilla Milks: (clearance) $1.65 – $1 on 3 peelie = $.65 for THREE
  • 3 Bare Naked Granolas: $6.00 – (3x) $1 peelies = $3.00
  • 40 pk. Finish Dishwasher pacs: $6.69 – $2.50 Sunday Q = $4.19
  • Fresh Mozzarella: $4.99 – $.55 Sunday Q – $4.44
  • Hydroponic Tomatoes: (clearance) $1.49 pk (since my garden ones aren’t ripening fast enough for my consumption)
  • Nut Thins: $2.50 – $1 Mambo Sprouts booklet = $1.50
  • Except for the cat litter and the golden raisins, everything else was bought at sale price.

Kroger is also  having it’s “Buy 10 participating items, Get $5 off at the register” event. Whenever this special comes about, I ALWAYS try and stock up on the items for which I have coupons – that is how you will maximize your event savings.

  • 2 liquid Soft Soap: $3.00 – (2x) $1 printable = $1 for TWO
  • 2 Kraft Mayo: $4.38 – $1.50/2 Sunday Q = $2.88 for TWO
  • Activia: $1.99 – $1 Sunday Q = $.99
  • 2 Welch’s Juices: $5.98 – (2x) $1 printable = $3.98 for TWO
  • 2 Large Captain Crunch: $5.38 – (2x) $1.00 Sunday Q = $3.38 for TWO
  • 2 Sweet Potato Fries: $5.58 – $1 Kroger Q = $4.58 for TWO
  • 3 DanActive: $6.87 – (3x) $1 = $3.87 for THREE
  • 2 Planters Nut-rition bars: $5.00 – (2x) $.75 Sunday Q = $3.50 for TWO
  • 2 Kraft Cheese: $4.76 – $1/2 blinkie = $3.76 for TWO
  • No coupons for coffee filters ($1.50) or cream cheese ($1.49)

I checked out.

Her total? $98.40.*whah?*

Did I forget how to add? Hmm…maybe I left something out. That’s quite a difference.

Since I was in a bit of a hurry to get home, I loaded up my grocs and headed down the street. After reaching a few miles, I decided to take another look at my receipt.

UURRRTTTTT! Stop. When possible, make a legal u-turn.

They overcharged me on FIVE items! Instead of the granola being $2.00, they charged me $3.99 AND they didn’t give me the sale price on chicken!

How dare they?!? Okay…I understand that mistakes happen. AND…if it was only a buck or two, I would have been mad kept driving. For $10.63, I turned back around and went straight up to the customer service counter. All in all, they were very apologetic and friendly about the situation (even though the machine was broke and they couldn’t refund my debit card and now I have to make.another.trip.tothebank…)

What’s the moral here? When at all possible, watch the screen while you are being checked out. It’s much easier to catch price mismatches on the spot…rather than five miles down the road. Was it all worth it? You be the judge.

Total: $158.63
Minus Sales: $45.22
If I ONLY shopped using store sales, my cash total would have been: $113.41
But, by using $25.64 in coupons…my total ended up as:
$87.77

How did you do this week?


Filed under Kroger, Uncategorized
Jul
22

Sampling for Charity

Posted by Cheapo McFrugalpants with 1 Comment

Concerts. Festivals. Expo Halls. Mail. Stores. Parties. Hotel Rooms. Internet.

Everywhere you look, there are free samples.

You can’t help yourself, can you? Me neither. I HAVE to pick them up.

Why? Because I absolutely, need, can’t-do-without a little baby bottle of shampoo or lotion? Well, no…basically…because they are free (and sometimes really cute!) Believe it or not, free samples can actually be useful! Now, trust me when I say I don’t spend hours per day scouring the internet to sign up for tiny little freebie deebies (unless it’s Prilosec, which saves me money in the end.) A few here and there take no time at all. Periodically checking sites like Walmart Samples or P & G Brandsampler makes it very easy to sign up for several with little effort.

What are the benefits of free samples?

  • More times than not, they will also come with a high value coupon
  • Sometimes they will include other offers, like free music downloads or ebooks
  • Good for traveling or to keep in the vehicle glove box
  • Perfect for purses or diaper bags
  • Great to carry on airplanes (I have found the PERFECT sample bottle – have been refilling it for YEARS)
  • Use them as gift basket fillers
  • Take along camping
  • Save up and send to a college student (they’ll use ANYTHING) or military (like Any Soldier)
  • Save them for Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes
  • Give them to nursing homes, homeless shelters, battered women’s shelters, food pantries (which accept MORE than food, by the way) – when you have NOTHING, a sample is SOMETHING

Giving to charity WITHOUT affecting my budget is one of my favorite things to do in the whole wide world. SO many people do without the little things. Won’t you please help? It doesn’t take much.

What do you do with YOUR free samples? Give us some ideas on how they save YOU money.

More Thrifty Thursday at Coupon Teacher


Filed under Charity, Thrifty Thursday
Jul
19

An organized hot mess – BusyBodyBooks Giveaway

Posted by Cheapo McFrugalpants with 64 Comments

***Congratulations to Stephanie @Mama23Bears for being the planner winner! A huge thank you to everyone who entered. Please remember, if you would like to order your OWN planner, take a visit to BusyBodyBooks!**

“Oh my gosh less than three weeks until BlogHer!”

“What? School supplies already?”

“You mean to tell me there are All Star baseball games AFTER the regular season ends?”

“Uh…what’s going on this week?”

“Wait, what’s today?”

Please tell me it’s not just me. Please tell me that being a hot, disorganized mess is actually quite normal. Please tell me that EVERYbody’s life is like this and it’s no reason to stress out.

Uhhhh…that’s what I thought.

Being a self diagnosed OCD-only-child-syndrome type person, disorganization is.not.acceptable. No way, no how. I can’t stand it.

It drives me C-R-A-Z-Y!

Our lives revolve around the scribbled up calendar hanging on the refrigerator. If it’s not on the calendar, it doesn’t happen. Period. That being said, can you imagine my relief when I opened up my very first BusyBodyBooks planner? It truly is an OCD dream. The grid, the little boxes, everything all in columns and rows – be still my heart.

BusyBodyBook’s weekly GRID, the one and only ‘side by side’ column format, is the tool EVERY busy mom (dad, aunt, blogger, teacher, student) needs to plan and coordinate her “dizzying” life of overlapping schedules; keeping it more organized and sane.

And, BusyBodyBook’s weekly GRID is versatile. Besides designating columns as individual family members, moms can also personalize her columns for: meal planning, tracking work projects (blogging too!) or even clients; personal goals (diet, fitness, spiritual); household, volunteering, holiday management and a multitude of other activities. Students can assign each column a school subject – which is SO perfect for home schoolers (which we are, by the way.)

Oh, and do you happen to be going to BlogHer in NYC this year? Is your head swimming with what to do and where to be and when? Guess what I’ll be carrying with me? You bet – MY BusyBodyBooks planner. I already have everything I need for each of my events, all together in one little book.

Need to get rid of your hot mess status? Lucky ducky, check it out! Cheapo McFrugalpants and BusyBodyBooks is giving one lucky winner their CHOICE of product on the BusyBodyBooks website! And, the contest will end just in time for you to receive your planner BEFORE Blogher!

Three ways to enter:

  • Visit BusyBodyBooks and leave a comment on this post letting me know what product you would choose if you won.
  • Follow my blog  (top, right sidebar.) Leave a comment letting me know that you did so.
  • Tweet this and let me know with a comment: I want to be organized with @BusyBodyBooks planner and @ItsToni – Enter to win! #giveaways #Blogher http://bit.ly/b1MJLT

You have a total of three possible entries. A winner will be chosen on Wednesday, July 28th at 7:00 pm CST – using random.org. Entries without comments will not count.

Best of luck to ya!

Honest Blogger Found Here: A planner was sent to me for review. Prize will be sent directly from BusyBodyBooks within a few days of contest end. No compensation was given.


Filed under Giveaway
Jul
18

Frugal Family Fun: Save The Date!

Posted by Cheapo McFrugalpants with 1 Comment

Pssstt…hey…remember all of those fabulous Feld Entertainment shows that I told you about last year? Disney on Ice, Disney Live, Ringling Bros. Circus and Monster Jam? Well…they’re baa-aackk…a whole new year of frugal family fun! Consider yourself one of the lucky ones to get a sneak peek of the Chicago shows.  Grab your free hotel pen and calendar…reserve your dates now!

Disney on Ice: Princess Classics

September 8-12, 2010 – United Center, Chicago

Disney Live! presents Mickey’s Magic Show

October 29-31, 2010 – Rosemont Theatre, Chicago

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus: Barnum’s FUNundrum!

November 4-14, 2010 – Allstate Arena, Chicago

November 17-28, 2010 – United Center, Chicago

Disney On Ice: Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story 3

January 26-30, 2011 – Allstate Arena, Chicago

February 1-13, 2011 – United Center, Chicago

Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam brought to you by Ford Trucks

February 11-13, 2011 – Allstate Arena, Chicago

The great thing about these shows? Always Family Friendly…and they have AWESOME promo codes, allowing you to take your family to a night of talented entertainment.

And, hey…psstt…another tidbit of info…will you be in NYC for BlogHer’10? I’ll be giving away a set of tickets for the Disney on Ice: Princess Classics show (via twitter) during the conference weekend! Be sure to follow @ItsToni so you don’t miss your chance to win.

Honest Blogger Found Here: Post written as part of my BlogHer sponsorship from Feld Entertainment. Oh…and because I believe in quality family entertainment at a great deal.


Filed under Uncategorized
Jul
15

The Walmart Follies

Posted by Cheapo McFrugalpants with 6 Comments

You are not going to believe this. I actually stopped by Walmart TWICE this week. I know, right? I don’t prefer to shop there at all, little alone go two times. But…when couponing calls, McFrug is there to answer.

Here’s what I found on my first trip:

  • 2 Fruit Chillers: $4.00 – (2x) $1 Sunday Q = $2.00 for TWO
  • Schick razors: $1.97 – $2 Sunday Q = FREE
  • Curad Band Aids: $.96 – $.50 Sunday Q = $.46
  • 2 Old Spice: $4.36 – $1 P&G Booklet Q = $3.36 for TWO (I usually get any personal products at CVS and pay close to nothing…desperate times do happen.)
  • Oikos 4 pk & Oikos 16oz. Yogurts: $6.72 – 2 FREE item coupons = FREE (not picture for some odd reason)

Total: $18.01

Coupons: $12.22

My Total: $5.79 + tax

And where is the adventure in all of this? It all starts with the cashier. Let me start by saying, “Stores, please, I beg of you, educate your cashiers on coupon usage.” Shall I repeat? I handed her seven coupons…does that seem too overwhelming? The $2 razor coupon beeped. She crinkled up her nose, looked a little closer and read, “trial sizes not included.” She went on to say, “OH! This one won’t work because it says trial sizes are not included.” I told her that I did not buy a trial size. She said, “Maybe they consider the two bonus razors inside a trial.” *crickets* No. It’s called a coupon adjustment. When an item is $1.97 and the coupon is for $2.00, many registers will not “credit” you, so the coupon has to be adjusted down to the cost. Fortunately, another cashier walked up behind her and took care of the problem. She then went on to scan the rest of the coupons, WHILE talking with the other cashier. She gave me the total and I asked, “Did you scan the last yogurt coupon?” Oh, but of course! Wrong…she walks away and the other cashier fills in. I look at the receipt; yogurt coupon missing. UGH. I brought it to the cashier’s attention and she says, “I don’t know why she doesn’t know how to do all of this. She has been here as long as I have *sigh*.” Then, goes on to tell me that it’s difficult to refund since the sale has already been cashed out; she would have to call a manager. *crickets AGAIN* While she’s blankly staring at me, I said, “well, call a manager then.” In the end, the process was actually not difficult at all. With a few beeps and turn of a key, MY money was right back in MY pocket.

Moral: Don’t let people tell you no. There is always a way.

And…as if I enjoy torturing myself, here is my second trip:

  • 2 Red Baron Pizza by the Slice: $6.00 – (2x) $2 printable = $2.00 for TWO
  • 6 Curad Bandages: $5.76 – (6x) $.50 Sunday Q = $2.76 for SIX
  • 3 Nexcare bandages: $4.50 – (3x) $1 printable = $1.50 for THREE
  • Muir Glen Tomato Paste: $.96 – $1 printable = FREE

Total: $17.22

Coupons: $11.00

My Total: $6.22 + tax

The adventure continues…”Wow, you must be really accident prone to need this many band aids,” says the young girl.

“Actually, I’m taking a mission trip to a Pacific Island Leper Colony. It’s a horrible thing really. Those poor people. I’m hoping the bandages will  keep their lesions from getting infected. I mean, who wants weaping and puss popping all about…not me, that’s for sure.”

Okay…so that wasn’t really what I said.

Sometimes I wish I COULD make up silly answers to silly remarks…just to amuse myself.

Accident prone? Come on…who says that?

Got any great cashier stories? Do share.


Filed under Walmart Deals
Jul
14

CVS Deals: 7/11 – 7/17

Posted by Cheapo McFrugalpants with 2 Comments

Okay…time to fess up. Just exactly how many Sobe’s did you get last week with the BOGOF coupons and BOGOF sales? Hmmmm??? I ended up with 14 bottles. Oh, believe me, I wanted more. I WANTED enough to quench the thirst of my son’s entire baseball team…and have some leftover.

Didn’t happen.

Some of you are saying, “FOURTEEN?” Others are saying, “ONLY fourteen?”

I do know someone who got SIXTY. *snicker* Love it.

If you missed out on last week’s free Sobe deal, don’t fret. The drinks are only $.77 each this week…which makes them only $.39 per bottle with the coupon. If the need is there, a nice time to stock up.

Here is what I have gotten so far this week:

  • 2 John Frieda products: $10.00 – (2x) $3 Sunday Q’s = $4.00 for TWO with $5.00 ECB back
  • Complete eye solution: $7.99 – $2 Sunday Q = $5.99 with $7.99 ECB back (can you say MON-EY MAK-ER? Woot!)
  • Gal. Milk: $2.69 with $1.00 ECB back
  • Fizzy Skittles: $.89 (because I needed enough to use all of my ECB’s – oh…and remember those Fizz Its when we were a kid? That’s what these are like, but with the fizz on the outside instead of the middle)

Total: $20.68

Minus$8 coupons and $12.99 prior ECB’s

My CASH total with tax: $1.66 – Received $13.99 back in ECB’s

Oh…AND…the limit on the John Frieda deal isn’t one…so guess who’s heading back tomorrow with more coupons? *wink*

How did you do?

$5 CVS Challenge at Kingdom First Mom


Filed under CVS
Jul
06

CVS Deals: 7/4 – 7/10 – Part Two

Posted by Cheapo McFrugalpants with 3 Comments

Have you been playing the Sobe Cap game lately? If not, you absolutely must. I’m not exactly sure if anyone EVER loses; I have won every time. You can play every day even if you don’t have a Sobe cap. The giveaway doesn’t end until 9/12/2010 – so…as you can imagine…that’s a LOT of Sobe to be gettin’.

Here’s the clincher – be sure to hit the “back” button and keep printing the Buy One Get One Free coupons. And, guess what? Even better…CVS has them already on sale for BOGOF this week! You know what that means…all together now…”THEY ARE ALL FREE!“

Don’t quite understand how that works? Let me try and explain. The register itself will only accept one coupon for every item you buy (regardless if it’s free or on sale.) For instance, if I buy a Sobe ($1.59), I automatically get one free ($0.00) because of the store sale. Right now, my total is $1.59 for two bottles of Sobe.

Are you with me so far?

When I give them the coupon, it takes off $1.59 for a Free Sobe. So now, I’m left with a balance of $0.00 for two drinks. If you don’t understand, let me know and I’ll keep explaining until 1.) your ears fall off 2.) your brain explodes or 3.) you totally understand. I prefer #3.

The moral of the story: Using your BOGOF coupons on already BOGOF store sales equals free product! We all like that…don’t we? *wink*

Speaking of free product, here is my second (and last) CVS trip of the week:

  • Milk: $2.69 w/ $1.00 ECB back
  • Biotrue solution: $2.99 w/ $2.99 back
  • 6 Sobes: $9.54 – $4.77 sale – $4.77 printables = six for FREE

Paid with $2.99 prior ECB.

Total: $15.22

My Subtotal: $2.69 + $.54 tax (you still have to pay tax on free stuff)

Cash total: $3.23

Received: $4.99 ECB ($1 milk, $1 green bag tag, $2.99 Biotrue)

How did you do?

More $5 CVS Challenge at Kingdom First Mom


Filed under CVS
Jul
05

CVS Deals: 7/4-7/10

Posted by Cheapo McFrugalpants with No Comments

Yes, today is July 4th and I should be enjoying the holiday – which I am. Although, I DID have $5 worth of ECB’s expiring today…along with the M&M’s coupon that would not be good tomorrow…soooo…off to CVS I went.

Good thing.

I might have missed out on THESE deals!

  • 8 Sobe Lifewaters: $12.72 – $6.36 BOGOF sale – (4x) BOGOF printables = eight FREE
  • 2 Skinny Cow Ice Creams: $1.98 – (2x) $1.00 printables = two FREE
  • Biotrue solution: $2.99 with $2.99 ECB
  • 2 Gillette Body Washes: $7.00 – (2x) $2.00 insert Q’s =two for $3.00
  • 2 M&M’s: $1.00 – $.75 on 2 Sunday Q = two for $.25

Used $5.00 prior ECB

Paid: $2.18

Received ECB’s: $2.99 from solution & $3.00 quarterly rewards

How did you do this week?

More $5 CVS Challenge at Kingdom First Mom


Filed under CVS, Couponing
Jul
04

Can I Have Your Attention…

Posted by Cheapo McFrugalpants with 5 Comments

Please excuse my excitement bare with me.

The Shopping Adventures of Cheapo McFrugalpants will be going through a bit of a redesign.

I know…you can’t wait…me neither.

In the meantime, if things look a little wonky, it’s because they are. Sidebars are being updated, pages are being created…all that good stuff that comes with moving from Blogger to WORDPRESS!

Thank you for your patience.

And now back to your regularly scheduled blog hopping, twittering, facebooking…


Filed under Cheapo Talk