How I Pinch A Penny

How awesome is this?  I went to the store with my shopping list and coupons in hand. I was all set to buy 4 of the Post cereals they had on special for 2/$5.  I had 2 coupons for $1/2 so I was going to be getting 4 boxes for $8.  Not bad at $2 a box.  But I noticed some nice person had left their coupon for $1/2 Post cereals on the shelf. (Thank you person!!)  I snatched that right up and tossed 2 more in my cart.  Here comes the exciting part. When I went to check out a coupon printed out for $3 off my next shopping purchase compliments of Post Cereals!!  (not sure if it because I had 6 boxes of cereal in my cart or not)  PLUS Giant printed out a coupon for $3.50 of my next shopping order of $40 or more.  I am not sure how I got this one but I am guessing it is because I spent $51 before coupons.  But I could be totally wrong.  Any one know?  Whew!!! I am in penny pinching heaven!

Please check your local flyer to be sure they are running the same deals as my paper. Need help with the abbreviations? Click HERE to see what the HECK I am talking about!! Here is my coupon match up list for Giant Food stores. I am using an ad from South Central Pa. As always check your local flyer for participation. Also There are a lot of match ups for Martins.  This will be a good week to stock up on staples for your pantry and freezer.  There are also some great printable coupons!  We also will start earning those gas rewards points again!  We all love those!

• Ragu Pasta Sauce  4/$5
• $1/2 Printable found HERE (print 2) will print in spanish
• 4/$3

• Hellman’s Big Squeeze mayonnaise  $2.49
• $1/1 Printable found HERE (will print in Spanish)
• $1.49

• General Mills Cereal  Buy 4 in one visit and get $4 off your purchase
• $1/2  07-19-09 SmartSource (use 2 if you have them)
• $6 off your purchase.

• Betty Crocker Brownie Mix  2/$4
• $1/2 07-19-09 SS (varies by area)
• 2/$3

• Post Cereals 2/$5
• $1/2  07-26-09 SS
• 2/$4

• Yoplait Yogurt cups 10/$5
• B4G1 F   07-26-09 SS – Valid Up To .90 (use multiple coupons)
• 5/$2

• Giant Butter quarter $1.79 (Excellent price!) Buy multiple and stick them in the freezer!

• Dannon Activia 4 pack $2.19
• $1/1  07-26-09 SS
• $1/19 each

• Borden Cheese Singles $1.99
•  $1/1  06-28-09 SS (varies by area)
• $.99 each

• Crest Toothpaste  $2.99
• $.75/1 07-05-09 PG (exp 7/31!!)
• $1.49 each

• Skintimate or Edge shave gel $1.79
• $1.50/2  07-12-09 SS
• 2/$2.08

• McCormick Ground Black Pepper $2.55
• $1/1 05-10-09 RP (varies by area)
• $1.55

• Damp Rid  $4.04
• $1/1  *Limit 1 Coupon Per Customer* – 05-31-09 SS
• $3.04

• Seattle’s Best Coffee  $5.99
• FREE with mail in Rebate printable .pdf found HERE 
• FREE

• Snuggle Fabric Softener  $3.29
• $.50/1  05-17-09 RP ( exp 8/2)
• $2.29 each

Click the image above to enter your 2 UPCs from Ziploc products and receive a FREE on line healthy lunchbox idea recipe book.  It is hard to believe we need to start thinking about lunch boxes again!  Hopefully this will give you some healthy inspiration!

Yesterday we had a baptism at church.  For some reason we had it in our heads that we NEEDED a silver bowl for the baptism.  I got a call looking to borrow a silver bowl that I had on my shelf.  They were welcome to borrow it.  Problem was it was sooo tarnished!  But they were just thankful to find a bowl they would take on the challenge of getting the tarnish off.

Turns out she hit the internet and found a super simple way of getting tarnish off that requires no goopy paste or rubbing for hours on end.  There is a scientific way of getting tarnish off!  Here we go!

2 Tablespoons EACH of Baking Soda and Salt

Aluminum Foil, shiny side up, in your vessel.  In my case my kitchen sink.

Pour in steaming hot water into your vessel along with the baking soda and the salt.  It will be STINKY but think of the elbow grease you are saving… never mind your pennies!

Then go ahead and submerge your tarnished item.  

See the line where it is shiny and then tarnished.  I will be generous and say I submerged it for 30 seconds.  Awesome!  Once your item is shiny take it out and dry.  Then buff with a soft cloth or for a super shiny finish use a silver jewelry polishing cloth.

See the before, 30 seconds and after? Awesome!

Print this coupon and bring it to Starbucks, starting at 10 am. on July 21, and receive a free pastry with beverage purchase!  Click on the image to print the coupon!

My daughter wanted a pinta for her birthday party.  There was NO WAY  I was going to pay $20+ (plus the cost for items to fill it) for a pinta that will be busted up.  That is just not my style.  So I hit the internet once again for ideas and came up with the following tutorial on how I made her pinta.

Combine equal parts flour and water.  I used my food processors
to get rid of lumps quickly.  You can also use a hand whisk.

This is what it looks like once I have whirled it for about 30 seconds.

This is my form.  It is what I call a ‘punch ball’.  I found a pack of 4 at my dollar store for $1.  I blew it up most of the way and tied a knot in the end.  You can also use a traditional balloon if you can’t find a ‘punch balloon’.

Next cut up newspaper.  For this size project I cut a newspaper in thirds and then those strips in thirds again.  There is no rhyme or reason or right or wrong.

I found the best method was placing the paper on the surface of the paste and pressing lightly.

Then scrape it along the edge of the bowl to get rid of the excess.  You are looking for a light coating of paste.

Place the paper on your balloon.

Smooth the paper out. I found this to be less messy and faster drying time as compared to dipping the entire piece in the paste.

This is the end where I will fill the pinta.  Make it big enough so you can put in your biggest item.

This is how I dried the pinta ( this is the newspaper layer… there were 4 newspaper layers… be sure to dry COMPLETELY in between layers.)

The final layer was printer paper.  This way if you want to paint it a light color you don’t have to do a base coat to block out the newspaper print.

Once THIS layer is dried (preferably over night) untie the balloon.  It is SO COOL to hear the balloon release from the shell.

Because I had the rubber band at one end and the knot of the balloon at the other end I now have an opening at the top ( for filling ) and a small one at the bottom.  I threaded a rope from the bottom (small hole) out the top (large hole) and tied a largish knot at the bottom.  The extra rope will be used to tie it to her swing set for her party.

We painted it blue with a bright red 5 on it.  She will be five, you know.  Here is the birthday girl and her Aunt filling the pinta with treats and shredded paper from our paper shredder.

I hope you have learned something and hope you are able to pinch your own pennies by building your own pinta!

Sorry Folks.  I am going to be a bad blogger and not do the coupon match up for Giant Foods this week.  Last week I prepared lunches for about 50 people.  Our youth group kids were on a missions trip to ‘the city’.  Read about it HERE.  So because I am still recovering from LAST week, my birthday, 4th of July and preparing for DD#2’s birthday THIS week there is no time to do the match ups!

BUT I am going to try and get in a post on how I am making her pinta!  We will see how this goes! Hope I don’t loose too many of you.  Hope to be back on track next week.

Today is July 1 (Where is the summer going?!) With the change of the months I look forward to the FREE customizable wall paper from Shabby Princess. Click HERE to get yours to download. I used Photoshop to slide my photos under the template but I am sure any layering program will work. I LOVE SHABBY PRINCESS!  Aren’t these just the cutest faces?  I get to look at them on my computer all month.