Frugal Friday With Marsha -- More Food

Food seems to be the subject for me lately. 

This past week my daughter sent me home with ribs from the smokehouse where they work (Woodies).  Those were our meat for 2 nights.

As far as my shopping, I did my looking through ibotta.  I was actually looking for the 25 cents back on any cookies that my daughter had in her app.  Nope, not in mine.  There was 25 cents on any cottage cheese though, and I found they had some marked down to just 79 cents.  We ate that the 2 nights with our ribs.
I "splurged" and got myself an Oreo candy bar with 60 cents rebate too.
Otherwise my shopping was a bag of cat food and since I was hungry, I bought a box of the store brand bacon, egg, and cheese croissants.

My mom gave us some of her commodity foods-- box of cheese, can of peas, bag of oats, and macaroni noodles.

I had 2 free coupons for Cole's Middles from Influenster.  I was happy to find those at Wal-Mart when my daughter needed to go there after work one night.  These have made a fine snack.
Forgive me for not getting a picture of what I bought and using the picture from their website.

Although he didn't have the money to do so, hubby shopped anyway.   I understand the need to have food in the house, but we did have a little tiff about it.  I need him to make sure the bills are paid, and then see if there is anything left.
With all that, he didn't do too bad.  He spent under $30 for 5 boxes of Betty Crocker Potatoes, a 4 lb ham, the sub package of Oscar Mayer ham and turkey lunch meat, bologna, cheese slices, and Ramen noodles.
The ham will be for several meals, especially since yesterday he cooked up an entire large crock pot of ham and beans.  We ate that last night and will again tonight for supper.  Then, the rest is going into the freezer for another week.  I just don't really want to eat it 4 or 5 nights in a row!!  Freezing the remainder will ensure they don't go bad and give us meal options at a later time.

I'm in hopes of getting more freezer cooking done.  If we start looking for the best deals on meats and other foods and cooking ahead and freezing meals then we will be ahead of the game and always know that if there isn't any grocery money that there will be food in the freezer.  I'm going to discuss this with hubby this weekend and work hard to get him on board.

For inspiration in this area, I just bought this book for my Kindle app.  It can motivate me, and give me something to read during down time too.  I will be sure to post anything we make from it.




Again this week I am including a linky.  I would love it if you would share your own frugal type posts!

Soft Scrub Total--Review/Sweepstakes/Giveaway!

I was given the opportunity to try the new household cleaners from Soft Scrub: Soft Scrub Total All Purpose cleaner with bleach and Soft Scrub Total Bath and Bowl cleaner.

Let's start with the All Purpose cleaner.  Below are before and after pictures of my stove.  Let's just say, as you can tell by the photo, that we have messy cooks in this house.  Let me also add that we have been away from home so much that cleaning the stove has been neglected.

I was in hopes that the Total All Purpose cleaner would cut right through the gunk and take it right off.  That didn't happen.  I sprayed it again and let it soak.  I did have to use some elbow grease.  

With that, I want to say that I have used it since and it does take new stuff right off.  The other stuff had been baked on and cooked on.   All in all, I really like using it.

Before:

  After: (Yes, I had started supper cooking)

 
Now let's talk about the Soft Scrub Total Bath and Bowl cleaner.  I loved loved loved it!

I probably don't have to mention that the bathtub had also been on the neglected side with us gone so much.  I sprayed around the tub and it wiped right off!  I didn't have to put in any elbow grease at all on the tub.  I also used it to clean the toilet.
(This is a good time to mention that you can choose to spray it or foam it.  Also, it sprays with the bottle upside down!)

Bathtub before:   

   
Bathtub after:

   
I will be purchasing these products in the future.

Soft Scrub is hosting a Tough & Gentle Sweepstakes right now.  One lucky winner will receive $1000.  50 lucky winners will each receive $40 in gift cards!  You can click the sweepstakes icon at the top of this post to enter.  Good luck!

Would you like a chance to try one of these great new household cleaners free?   I am giving away a free coupon to 3 of my lucky readers who enter using the rafflecopter form below.


Disclaimer:  Soft Scrub provided me with bottle of their Total All-Purpose and Bath and Bowl cleaners for the purpose of this review.  They also provided the coupons that I am giving away to my readers.  I was not compensated in any other way and all opinions of the products are my own.


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Purex Let's Be Honest Giveaway--3 Winners

Purex's Let's Be Honest campaign is a lot of fun!


There are 18 videos with Let's Be Honest Moments.
Purex, in their generosity, is allowing me to give away FREE coupons for Purex Triple Action detergent.   There will be 3 winners!  Each winner will receive a coupon for a free bottle, up to $6 in value.


What do you need to do to enter?  It's simple.  You will watch all 18 videos, then choose your favorite.  You will also need to share your favorite one by liking it, sharing it, or retweeting it.


Once you've watched the videos, keep the youtube page open so that you can share your favorite.


Other things you need to know-----Enter using the rafflecopter form below. This giveaway is open to residents of the United States.  Winners will each have 48 hours to contact me or another winner will be chosen.

p.s. Don't forget to visit the Purex Let's Be Honest home page and enter your 10 digit code from your Purex bottle for a chance to win a year's worth of Purex!


Here is my favorite:


Disclaimer: I was sent coupons from Purex for the purpose of this giveaway.

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Make Your Day Bunches Better with Honey Bunches of Oats--Review and Giveaway!

Post Honey Bunches of Oats now has more of those delicious granola bunches in each box!


When I received my box of Post Honey Bunches of Oats Honey Roasted in the mail, the first thing out of my teenage daughters mouth was, "oh boy!  that's my favorite cereal!"  My thought:  It is?  Ok.....why didn't mom know this?    She couldn't wait to fix herself a bowl.


This was actually my first time trying Honey Bunches of Oats.  I have to say that I can see why they are my daughter's favorite.   I generally like the sweetened cereals the most, and those that aren't sweetened, I add sugar to my bowl.  I did not add any sugar when eating the Honey Bunches of Oats, it has just the right amount of sweet as you eat.  I look forward to trying the other flavors available.  Just some of the other flavors are: Strawberry, Cinnamon Bunches and Fruit Blends.


Here is one of my bowls ready for breakfast:

It's good for you too!  10 grams of Whole Grain per serving.  Just 6 grams of sugar per serving.  0 grams of trans fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, and 0 mg of cholesterol per serving.


You will want to make sure to like the Honey Bunches of Oats facebook page to find out all you want to know.


Four of my lucky readers will each win a free coupon for Honey Bunches of Oats so they can see for themselves just how good it is.


Enter using the rafflecopter form below.  Contest open to residents of the United States.  Winners will have 48 hours to contact me or replacement winners will be chosen.

Disclosure:  Post provided me with a box of Honey Bunches of Oats Honey Roasted to try so I could review them.  I was not compensated in any other way and all opinions are my own.  My box as well as the free coupons were provided to me by Post.





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Torani Gourmet Syrups Review and Giveaway

My review:
Pictured above are the 2 bottles of Torani Gourmet Syrups that I was sent to try and review as part of the shespeaks website.  I'm not a coffee drinker myself, but my daughter is.  I knew she would delve into the flavors right away.
She loved the Salted Caramel flavor straight from the bottle.  Gingerbread from the bottle, no  LOL  It had too strong of a flavor.  She used the Salted Caramel in iced coffee.
My daughters boyfriend also tried the Salted Caramel in his hot coffee.  He enjoyed it at first but then said the salt flavor took over.

Along with the 2 bottles of Torani Gourmet Syrups came a recipe booklet.  Since I am not a coffee drinker and know nothing about flavored coffee drinks, I was glad to see recipes for other drinks as well.  Two that I really want to try are: Torani Cherry Lime Soda and  Electric Blue Lemonade.


I did a search of my zip code to see where in my area I can buy the Torani Gourmet Syrups.  I found the only place in my area is a bulk foods store in the Amish/Mennonite community.  I do look forward to a trip to the store to try some other flavors.

About Torani:

Since 1925, family-owned Torani has been crafting great tasting flavored syrups that coffeehouses use to make their flavored drinks taste so delicious. With over 120 flavors in regular and sugar free varieties, Torani flavored syrups are perfect for flavored lattes, mochas, coffees, cocoas, Italian sodas, teas, lemonades, cocktails and smoothies. Coffeehouse professionals choose Torani flavors because they are expertly crafted and made with the highest quality ingredients, like natural flavors and pure cane sugar. The sugar free flavors have no calories and are sweetened with Splenda. Now, Torani Flavored Syrups are widely available at retail so you can easily create authentic coffeehouse quality drinks at home.

Popular Drink Types for Syrups:

• Flavored Coffees/Espresso Drinks (Most popular drink type for flavored syrups)
• Italian Sodas
• Flavored Tea (Hot and Cold)
• Flavored Lemonades
• Flavored Sodas (Coca-Cola, Mountain Dew, etc)
• Cocktails
• Mocktails
• Flavored Energy drinks (Red Bull)

Torani Syrup Flavor Varieties: Torani flavored syrups are available in over 122 flavors, which include regular and sugar free varieties. Please go to www.Torani.com to see all flavors.

Distribution/Where to Buy Torani Flavored Syrups: Torani syrups are primarily used at coffeehouses and restaurants in over 40 countries. Within the retail flavored syrup category, Torani has a dominant market share exceeding 60%. At US retail outlets, Torani is available at stores such as:

• Cost Plus World Market
• BevMo
• Walmart
• Smart and Final
• Most major grocery stores
• Amazon.com (wide assortment of flavors)
• Torani.com and Shop.Torani.com (widest assortment of flavors)

 Special offer from shespeaks and Torani!! 

Another part of my blog package are some free coupons.  I am offering a giveaway with 2 winners.  Each winner will receive 2 free coupons to try the Torani syrups for themselves.  :)

Disclaimer:  I was sent the Torani Gourmet Syrups as part of a shespeaks blog campaign.  I was also sent the free coupons to distribute as I see fit.  I was not compensated in any other way.  All opinions are my own.

Coupon Shopping Trips 60% and 71% Saved

This week I shopped at Walmart and Dillon's with coupons.
No, I'm not an Extreme Couponer, but I'm always happy to be able to coupon shop.


Walmart:

Purchased:
4-2 ltrs. of Dr. Pepper 10 using 4 free coupons
4 Goldfish (no coupon, just re-filling our tank)
4 Crave Cat treats using 4 free coupons
Idahoan Hashbrown potatoes using free coupon
Multi-Grain Cheerios using free coupon
Cheerios using free coupon
4 cans of Walmart brand cat food. 30 each--no coupon
2 travel size Pert shampoo @.97--used 2-$1 coupons
2 travel size Head & Shoulders shampoo @.97 each--used 2-$1 coupons
Covergirl Mascara @$4.24 and Covergirl concealer @$5.94 used $8/2 coupon
Post Marshmallow Pebbles @ $2.48 used $1.50 coupon
Carnation Instant Breakfast @$4.96  used $1 coupon
Dole Crisp @$1.98 used .75 coupon
4 different types of apples (for a school assignment) @1.28, .64, .79, and .71 (or in other words too much)  no coupon used.
2 Up2U gum @1.28--used 2-$1 coupons (not pictured)
Nesquik chocolate milk mix @$1  used .60 coupon
Yoplait yogurt cup--used free coupon
Cookies and Cream yogurt @.58  no coupon used
Rotel Tomato sauce @.58  used .20 coupon


In total I used $34.52 in coupons.  I spent $20.66 out of pocket which included $4.19 in sales tax for a savings of 60%


At Dillon's:

4- 2 ltr Dr. Pepper 10--used 4 free coupons
4 Crave cat treats--used 4 free coupons
PlayDoh Halloween pack on sale for $4.99, used $1 coupon
2-Dole Mandarin oranges on sale for $1.25, used .50/2 coupon doubled to $1
4 different types of apples on sale for 3 for $1.  (I was very upset to see these after spending so much on the apples at Walmart!  I decided to buy 4 more so that after our assignment there would be enough for the 10 of us to have apple slices with supper)

I saved $13.68 with coupons.  I spent $8.43 out of pocket which $1.61 was sales tax.  I saved a total of 71% between sale prices and coupons.

I'm happy....that I got to shop at all....and that I was able to use so many coupons.  It was a friend who sent me the coupons for the Dr. Pepper 10 and the Crave cat treats.  She sent 10 for the Dr. Pepper and 20 for the Crave.

Giveaway--3 Minute Maid 20 oz Free Coupons!!

I ordered these with some of my MyCokeRewards points.  I've not been able to find it in my area.  Let my mistake be your gain!

I am giving to one of my reader's who comment, all 3 coupons.  They expire June 30, 2010.

This giveaway starts today, Tuesday May 11, and ends at 9 pm CST  next Tuesday, May 18.   I will use random.org to choose the winner.

Mandatory entry:  Tell me in a comment if you do the MyCokeRewards program and what you usually redeem for.  (Please make sure I have a way to contact you if you win.)

Additional entries:  (right click to open in a new window or tab to not lose this page)

1.  Bid on one of my items currently listed at Listia--one entry, comment to which one you bid one.  (I have 2 auctions here with 1 each of these same coupons)  http://www.listia.com/profile/auctions/66249   
Here you will see all that I have listed....just in, 2 sets of Curious George bookmarks!


2.  If you are not a member of listia, join under me.  Listia is a free auction site with many ways to earn points to bid on items.  Many items even offer free shipping.  I have won 9 auctions so far, all free shipping.--this is worth 5 entries, so please leave 5 separate comments.  http://www.listia.com/?r=66249

3.  Follow my blog using google friend connect.  If you already do, just comment that you do.

4.  Follow me on Twitter--marsha32  If you already do, just comment that you do.


5.  Connect with me on facebook--marsha32  If we are already connected just comment that we are.

6.  Grab my button and put it on your blog or website--3 entries, so please leave 3 comments. Please list in one of your comments the website where I will find it.  If you've already done so, just comment that you have.


7.  Sign up for sidetick.com under me.  Sidetick is a paid social networking website...get paid to blog, post photos, play games, post videos and more!  --5 entries for this, so please leave 5 comments.  http://www.sidetick.com/signup.php?signup_referer=36647

8.  Click the WeUseCoupons button to the left.  One entry just for clicking the button.  3 additional entries if you register once there.   5 additional entries if you register, then click the affiliate link at the top and also register as an affiliate!  You can get a total of 9 entries for this, please leave the amount of comments that you need for your full entry amount.

Have fun, and good luck to all!!