How I Pinch A Penny

My oldest got the Leap frog TAG system for Christmas.  She LOVES IT!!!! It is this cool pen-like thing that can ’see’ what the words are and what the images are on the page. It will read to you, help you sound out words and it plays games through comprehension of the story.  It is a wonderful system.  Keep in mind there is no substitute for reading to your children.  There is something to be said for a child to hear a story in the voice of their parent.  It is wonderful.  If you would like a $4 coupon off a TAG book and/or a $10 coupon off the TAG system click the image below and print it out.  I don’t know how long the coupons are going to last.  I am surprised they have lasted this long!!

Directly from the red blog…

It’s March Movie Madness at redbox!

I have a secret about bread.  I don’t pay full price for  it.  But then again, rarely do I pay full price for anything!  That is part of being a penny pincher.  But here in York, Pa we have a bread outlet.  It is called the Stroehmann/Myers bread store.  Located at 1851 Loucks Rd.  Currently all their breads are 3/$3.  $1 a loaf!!!!  There are certain selections that are 3/$4 but still!!! It is a great buy.  Listed above are the brand names that they carry.  I have a loaf of Stroehmann 12 grain bread sitting next to me that has a price of $3.59 printed on it but because it came from the outlet store it was $1.  So if you are in the area stop buy and pick up some bread for a little dough.

My friend Grace recently got a membership to BJ’s whole sale club. I think it was the fact that BJ’s will let you use a BJ’s coupon PLUS a manufacture coupon. AND they will let you use multiple MFC’s on the multi packs.  Check out how I pinched pennies on this shopping trip to BJs’s.

• BRITA 10 Pack  $ 39.99
• BJ’s $7 coupon
• MFC Coupon $5 found HERE  Take the pledge and get a $5 coupon off a brita system (check the first 5 digits on the bar code and they will match a multi pack of filters)
• Final price: $27.99

• Pringles 6 pack $6.99
• use 3 $1/2 coupons 
• final price : $3.99 (.66 a piece)

• Garnier Fruitics Conditioner (40 oz.) $6.99
• BJ’s $2 coupon
• MFC coupon $1
• Final price :$3.99

Buy 3 General Mills Products listed ( It was a flyer that came in the mail) and Get $5 off.  We choose:

• Basic 4 {2 pack} ( not listed but the clerk overrode the coupon for us) $6.69
• Honey Nut Cheerios {2 pack} $6.49
• Yoplait Lite $7.49
• total : $20.67
• $5 BJ’s coupon
• 4  $.75 MFG coupon.  (use 4 b/c there are 4 bags of cereal in 2 boxes!)
• 4 $1 off coupons for the Yogurt
• Final cost: $8.67

• Activia yogurt  $ 9.99
• BJ’s coupon $2
• 2 MFG $1 coupons
• Final cost $5.99

the total before coupons was 85.45

with tax and after BJ’s coupons and MFG coupons: $50.70

a savings of $35.75

so sorry.  It has been a busy day!

Redbox free movie code 3/23/09: Redbox free movie code 3/23/09HG7W56

Photo from 1916 home

I have had a garden my whole life.  As a child I can remember sitting on the bottom of my sliding board and watching my parents and sister toiling away in the garden. ( I said I have always HAD a garden… not always WORKED a garden!)  But now that I am a home owner and a parent I want to get my hands dirty in the soil and see what I can grow.  We do the ‘normal things’.  Tomatoes, Peppers, Peas, herbs and the occasional egg plant. I tried onions in the past and I got nothing.  I think they rotted.  But this year I found a way to grow potatoes in a garbage can!!!  I am just super excited!

HERE is a link to an e-how article on how to do it.

The long and short of it is:

• Use a clean garbage can with holes in the bottom and part way up the sides (for drainage…you old beat up one is fine as long as you bleach it out first)
• Use ’seed’ potatoes.  You can’t use a grocery store bought potato because you can’t tell if they are carrying a funk of any sort.
• Put 6 inches of potting soil and a handful of holly tone (high acid).
• Plant 2-3 of the ’seed’ potatoes and cover with a few inches of soil.
• As they sprout keep covering with more soil.  Add leaves and mulch to increase the acid in the soil.  The potatoes will grow as your sprouts grow up.
• Once the leaves die back you let them sit in the soil for about 3 weeks and then flip the can over and harvest.

Now there are longer explanations of these steps on various websites, and I encourage you to go find them, but this should give you an idea of how you can grow your own potatoes even if you don’t have a spot for a garden!

I think this would be an excellent project for kids who live in a city and don’t have much space for a garden.

The above picture is from 1916 blog spot and I think it is an excellent representation of how the potatoes grow in the can.  What I think is the most beautiful about growing them in a garbage can is that you don’t have to dig them up!!  Just flip the can over when it is time to harvest.  The above picture looks very fancy and makes it super easy to see your potatoes as they grow.

We are going to try 2 different varieties of potatoes this year.  I have high hopes!  My youngest and I bought yukon gold potato and a red variety.  We got 5 seeds for $5.  I am hoping out $10 investment will turn out about 2 bushels of potatoes!  I will let you know as we progress. 

Are you going to give this a try? Let me know what you think and how you make out with this little penny pinching project.

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Just the other day I discovered Swag Bucks. I have seen a few of my twitter friends and blog buddies talking about Swag Bucks. Curiosity killed the cat.  I got an account and I have earned 6 bucks in the past 24 hours.  My goal is to get gift cards to spend on christmas presents.  We will see how far I get!  What would you get with your Swag bucks?  Click the blinky and check it out.

My daughter is turning 2 on Tuesday.  We are celebrating her birthday Sunday night with family and I am currently working on her cake. I am baking many cakes to make her a multi tiered cake.  It is a lot of cakes!  Instead of  buttering and flouring each pan I have a ’smear’ that I spread in the pans.

I combine equal parts of flour and shortening and use a paper towel to spread it in the pans.  I have the cake release every time.  Clean edges and not stuck cake!

I used my mini food processor to combine the ingredients and made a nice smear. Make a bunch and store it in an air tight container.  No need to store in the fridge…there is nothing perishable in it!

This came in an e-mail & I had to share.  Be sure to print it twice and wait for a sale!

Look good don’t they? They look even better because they are FREE. Click the image BELOW. Whoo Hoo!!FREE!

I got mine in the mail today!!!!!!  Have you gotten your yet? Tasty tasty tasty!!!