Walgreen's EasySaver Catalog

I'm all about Walgreen's nowadays. I have been finding great buys in there. They have this deal called EasySaver Catalog. It's where you buy stuff they highlight in the booklet and some of the stuff is free when you send in the form for it. For example, for May, I am getting rebates on the following items:

Wagreens Maxi Ulta 24pk -- FREE after the rebate

Softsoap Body wash, 18 oz. -- FREE after the rebate

Boost 6 pk (high protein nutritional drink) -- I bought them on sale, 2 six pks for $14, minus the two manufacturer coupons I had ($3 total). I'll get a $5 rebate, so the final price of these drinks will be $6 for TWO SIX PACKS. This type nutritional drink stuff is horribly expensive, so this is a steal.

Buy $15 worth of Coke Products, and get $5 back in rebate. They had 6 pks on sale today for 3/$9 and 2 liters for 1.19. I got $15 worth in a combination, and will get the $5 rebate.

So, when it's all said and done, I will get a rebate from Walgreens of $18.13 and this includes a 10% bonus because I agree to have them put the money on my gift card instead of sending me a rebate check.

NOW, I plan to donate the pads and the soaps to the mission. They need personal hygiene items. And I can deduct the fair value of the items on my taxes (not what I paid for it, but what it's worth).

Now, check out Walgreens EasySaver Catalog!!

The value in having multiple coupons

I haven't had the opportunity to shop much lately because I had some surgery to repair my hernia. I feel like I'm in withdrawal.

I have found a good source to buy coupons. EBAY!!!!! This week I bought a set of coupons from a lady just to see what kind of deal I'd get. I got 100 coupons, all worth at least $1. I paid her $4 for them (that included the postage). I got the coupons today and they are awesome!!! It turned out to be a tremendous deal for me. Lots and lots of valuable coupons I can use. I got way more than my money's worth in that coupon purchase.

Buy coupons, you say? What idiot would PAY for coupons? That's what I used to think too. But when you do the stock up sale shopping like I have been trying to do, having multiples of valuable coupons comes in tremendously handy. Did I tell you about my Dr. Pepper deal?

A few weeks ago, Walgreen's had Dr. Pepper on sale. It was a store coupon that said buy 4 - 12 pks for $10, get one free. So, that by itself is a decent deal. A 12 PK of pop for $2.50. BUT....here's where the duplicate coupons come in.....Walgreen's allows you to use their store coupon AND a manufacturer coupon on the same item. I had manufacturer coupons for $1 off a 12 pk. So, by combining the coupons, and having a LOT of manufacturer coupons, I got 12 pks of Dr. Pepper for $1 for the entire 12 pk. Yes, that's right. $1 or broken down even further, 8 cents per can. AWESOME DEAL!!! I paid seventeen cents for each Sunday paper insert that contained the valuable Dr. Pepper coupons, so if you must add that in, you'd have to say that each 12 pk cost me $1.17. Whoppie. And then that would mean that the rest of the coupons in those Sunday paper inserts I bought were all icing on the cake, because I got my money's worth with the pop coupons. I bought 20 12 pks of Dr. Pepper. We won't need pop here for quite a while, thus diverting that money in the grocery budget to some other category I can stock up on. Whatever the loss leader is this week, or whatever good deal I can get on meat, or whatever. I can easily set aside $30 to put toward next month's Angel Foods because I don't need to buy pop. See how this works? The goal is to never pay full price for anything. Of course, I'd rather have Diet Coke. But if you can learn to not be quite so loyal to all your usual brands of stuff, you can really do some power shopping and couponing and use the savings for something cool. To me, food isn't "cool" anymore. I've had gastric bypass, I could care less about food. But, the rest of the family still likes to eat, so I have to spend some money on it for them .

WHEW! You still with me?

This is why buying coupons comes in handy and if you know what you are doing, you can come out of the deal way ahead. I have a source I buy the entire Sunday paper coupon inserts from , and I also have my lady on Ebay now that I am going to begin purchasing from once in a while. I spend probably $10-15 a month on purchasing coupons, but I promise you, I am making way more than that off those coupon deals, especially when I can combine them with a sweet deal at a store with a store coupon.

Enough about coupons. Now, go use one!!

Angel Food Ministries

Angel Foods Ministries is awesome (so far, anyway). You can check out their info. at:

www.angelfoodministries.com

Today we picked up our first Angel Foods distribution. I bought the "regular unit" for $25 and a "grill box" for $18.00. I am impressed with the food. They say that the regular unit has a retail value of $48-$70 and you only pay $25 for it. I was skeptical, but after actually getting this food, I am inclined to believe it. The only thing so far that is not palatable to us is the box of generic mac and cheese. We really must have Kraft if we are going to eat boxed mac and cheese at all. That's just the way it is.

Here is what my $25 bought today in the "regular unit":

(4) 5 oz. New York Strip Steaks
(1) 4 lb. I.Q.F. Chicken Thighs (IQF= Individually Quick Frozen)
(1) 40 oz. Beef & Bean Burritos
(1) 28 oz. Banquet Beef & Noodle Dinner
(1) 2 lb. Breaded Frying Chicken
(1) 1 lb. Ground Beef
(1) 12 oz. Pepperoni Pizza Sticks
(1) 2 lb. Popcorn Chicken
(1) 1 lb. Bean Soup Mix
(1) 8 oz. Biscuit Mix
(1) 7.5 oz. Mac & Cheese (YUCK)
(1) 12 ct. Corn Tortillas
(1) 26 oz. Pasta Sauce
(1) 16 oz. Pasta (this turned out to be a pound of spaghetti)
(1) 24 oz. Hash Brown Potatoes
(1) 16 oz. Mixed Vegetables
(1) Dessert Item (This turned out to be a frozen peach pie that you put in the oven to bake)

The $18 "Grill Box" consisted of this:

2 8-oz. Ribeye Steaks,

2 8-oz. Sirloin Strip Steaks,

4 4-oz. Bacon-Wrapped Pork Filets,

4 4-oz. Steak Burgers,

1 1-lb. Italian Sausage

The purpose of Angel Foods is to help families make their food dollars stretch farther. So far, I like what I see. However, there was no fresh produce. That is OK, as I joined a CSA this spring, and I will get a share from that each Friday. I'm not sure about the frugality of the CSA, but I will at least be sure of getting fresh produce. I have room for gardening, but frankly, I just don't want to. So, for $250, I'll get ten weeks worth of produce from the CSA. Hopefully it is a good fit for us.

Tips for a frugal Vegas Adventure

I can't figure out how to get the text and the picture together in one blog entry, so you will have to bear with me.....

There are many ways to enjoy a trip to Las Vegas without breaking the bank. I think this was the first trip we've ever taken that did not cause feelings of worry or depression for me, because we were robbing Peter to pay Paul back home. Because we are in control of our finances, we were able to plan, save, and enjoy.

Here are a few of the things we did to make this trip affordable:

1) We flew on a "budget" airline. Allegiant Air flies every day out of Des Moines to Las Vegas and back. There is no "First Class" with Allegiant. Everyone is in the economy part of the plane. The drinks and snacks are not free, but you don't have to buy them if you don't need to. I did indulge in a Starbucks Light Iced Coffee for $4, but it was a choice, not a necessity. I also took snacks in my carry-on. But be sure to buy those snacks *after* getting through security at the airport. You will pay more for them, but if you don't do it this way, you'll have to throw them away before getting through security. You can only take on the plane items bought after security.

2) We also booked an air/hotel package through Allegiant. I believe it is a savings for us, plus our hotel bill was paid in advance and we didn't have a big hotel bill facing us at check-out. We also arranged for transportation through Allegiant from the airport to the hotel and back. All paid for in advance, and no worrying about getting ripped off by a taxi driver.

3) We took advantage of every freebie we could get our hands on. We bought an entertainment coupon book on the plane for $20 that had tons and tons of coupons for free meals, or buy 1 get 1 meals and snacks. We knew we'd have to spend a fortune on drinks and snacks, so we might as well try to get some savings out of it. We did think that the coupon booklet paid for itself and that we got more than the $20 cost out of it. Plus it pretty much "forced" us to get out there and see as many places as possible on the strip.

4) We went on a time-share presentation. Let me tell you....this is not for the weak of heart. This is a high-pressure sales presentation and if you say "no" and keep saying "no", they treat you like CRAP and you have to almost get nasty to get them to give you your free gifts so you can get back on the bus to go back to the hotel. Our 2-3 hour presentation turned into a 4 hour ordeal, but honestly, 4 hours was worth it in order to get all the gifts they offered. We got a free dinner show (tickets cost $50 apiece for that); free $50 in gaming at our hotel (we played on that $50 forever and made HUNDREDS of dollars off that money); free cruise for two (some obscure 2 night cruise on a cruiseline I've never heard of -- I'll believe this one when I see it); free lunch while we were at the presentation (nice cold sandwiches, and cookies, and drinks). So, we ended up getting two meals out of the deal and money to play dollar slots with. I'd say 4 hours well spent, wouldn't you? But like I said, it is hard to get through it. If you're a wimp, don't go on a time-share trip.

5) Tip generously. This might seem *not* frugal, but in the end it really is. You get better service and have a better time overall if you are generous in your tipping. one example is this: the lady bus driver that took us to the time-share presentation was getting ready to leave to go back to the hotel and we had no idea how long before she'd come back for another group to take back and we'd already been there 4 hours. Jerry gave her a nice tip and she waited for us. PLUS a little later in the day, she saw us waiting for another bus to go down the strip and she recognized us, opened the door and told Jerry a better way to get a bus and where to go for it. That help alone was worth the tip he'd given her earlier in the day. So, be generous in your tipping. That is these people's income. If they are helpful, they earned it.

6) If you want to drink, do it for free. If you are playing at the casino, the drinks (both alcoholic and soda) are free. if you go to the bar and ask for one yourself, a bottle of beer is $4.75. So, play your slots slow, and drink for free. If you give the cocktail waitress a tip every time she brings you a drink, then she comes around a lot more often to do so. Yes, that makes the drink now NOT free, but which is better, tipping a dollar to the waitress, or paying $4.75 to get your own?

There are many more ways to enjoy Las Vegas in a frugal way. These are only the tip of the iceberg. I'll add more when I think of them. These are the things that stand out in mind right now.

Las Vegas on the Cheap!