9 lives? Not for this Cat

A woman's pet cat has been found alive, buried beneath debris 26 days after an Ohio fire. Click here to read the entire story.

Kelly's Thrifty Tips

Good afternoon!!!!! I apologize for not getting on here sooner. On to the savings!!!!!

First of all, if you want to start working on saving money for the upcoming holidays, one of the best places to find that extra cash is in your grocery budget. It really is THE best place to cut your budget. One of the ways I do this is by cooking out of my pantry. If you stick to purchasing items while they are on sale, you can build up a pretty substantial pantry and most people can cook out of that pantry for at least a week if not more. According to Tips To Organize Life your pantry should have these items:

Dried herbs and spices
Dried pasta
Rice
Beef, chicken and vegetable stock
Condensed soup
Canned beans
Spaghetti sauce
Liquid condiments (such as hot sauces, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce and the like)
Extra Virgin olive oil
Canned tomatoes

Myself, I also add canned tuna, Spam (yep Spam), canned mixed veggies (they go great in soups), sugar, and when I can get them cheaply cake mixes and other dry desert goods that can be used in a pinch for holiday baking.

I also consider my freezer part of my pantry and like to have frozen veggies and various meets that I have frozen.

If you are unsure of what to make with your pantry items, you may want to check out Recipe Matcher. It is a simple site that can show you what to do with those goodies. List each ingredient (even your seasonings) and you will be directed to recipes that use those items and they will also tell you what you haven't listed that the recipe requires. I love this site!

Unfortunately, I have to cut this short, but I will finish this posting tomorrow, before I leave I did want to add the link for the free chocolate!!!!! THAT begins tomorrow morning!

I'll finish posting tomorrow!

Have a BEAUTIFUL day!!!!!

Kelly's Thrifty Tips

Good morning!!!!! Let the savings begin! It is Thursday and I am feeling a little corny, but then again...that is kind of a given for me. Here are some of the things I talked about today, and a little bit more.


Shopping Tips:

1 - Do not shop hungry! If you shop when you are hungry, you are more likely to buy impulse items which are rarely a good value for the money. Let's face it, impulse items are usually the higher fat and sugar items that offer that quickly satisfy with no real good food value. Do you buy an apple when you are hungry? If you do, great! I don't and most people I know don't either. I go for salty snacks. They are definitely my weakness, and although they quickly satisfy, I am going to want something more substantial fairly soon after.

2 - Shop ALONE! Yes this can be boring, but you will most likely save money. I spend a lot more when I am shopping with my son or shopping with my husband. My son encourages me to buy snacks that I might not otherwise buy if he were not with me. I WILL spend more money on a few additional treats because my son is with me. I will also spend more when my fabulous husband is with me. The man is always hungry, and that makes us buy more. He also comes up with some good purchase ideas, and honestly, I can't refuse. It is fun to shop with both my husband and my son. It just isn't always good for my budget. Remember you can totally have those shopping partners do something fun together. I do think it is good to bring your children with you sometimes, because it is good for them to know how much things cost and how to save money when shopping, but not if you are going to cave in like I've been guilty of doing on occasion!

3 - Check your unit prices. Most stores will not only have a price posted but the price per unit of measure. With this detail you can figure out how much an item really costs and what size is actually the best size to buy. Most of the time it is the largest size, but not always. So read that unit price! Also you may not want to buy that LARGE item if it is not going to store well. If you cannot use it up before it expires, it is not a bargain. I will add some more tips next week.



Now how about some linkage?

Walmart is giving away free Hallmark cards online! I got a really cute Christmas card last year from Walmart. These are Hallmark's Connections line which is great for just about any occasion. This is only while supplies last so get going: Free Card from Walmart

Shaun Groves has an amazing song called Kingdom Coming. It has an amazing message. It is a song about doing God's will here! He is kindly offering it for a free download!




Linkage: Shaun Groves Kingdom Coming




Nabisco has an amazing coupon booklet that you may be able to find in some stores. If not, check out this link. I filled out this form last week, and I got the booklet in the mail on Wednesday! This coupon booklet has two $20 rebates and $15 in coupon savings on Nabisco products. Again, these are all while supplies last! Linkage: Nabisco


Famous Footwear has a coupon for $10 off $50. I love this store! We do not skimp on shoes. Famous Footwear has good prices and always has great sales. They also have a loyalty card which enables you to earn points for more deals and savings by mail. If you enter your email on their link, they will send you a coupon via email. You can use it online or print it out and bring it into one of their stores. Linkage: Famous Footwear See you next week for some more deals! Have a great day!

Kelly's Thrifty Tips

Good morning...kind of (it was morning when I started this post). Let's get onto some money saving tips.


Here is a place for really inexpensive accomodations when traveling quite nearly the world. The world really is your oyster or playground when you take advantage of couchsurfing.org. This site is really incredible.

The Couch Surfing Project is a free internet based hospitality service. People open up their homes to fellow surfers (couch surfers that is - you don't have to be a literal surfer) and make a traveling experience not just more inexpensive but more full. Imagine going to Ireland and really getting to see Ireland with the people who live there. There are many people who are members who offer up their home and others whom will offer to pick you up at the airport and maybe show you around. The satisfaction for this group is at 96% which is crazy good. These are really very genuine, caring and honest people. Check it out, because I couldn't begin to express how cool this service is. I would like to look into it for even local hops, but truly if I could jet off to Ireland...I would definitely take advantage of couchsurfing.org.


If you want to save money on those tickets check out Kayak.com. Put your information in Kayak and you can get the best prices from all the sites rather than going to each one seperately and re-entering every detail. I LOVE this. You can check prices on flights from Airfare.com, Hotwire, Expedia, Travelocity and Priceline by clicking on each one, and Kayak will open a new window for each. This is such a great time saver.



Now A FREEBIE BREAK:

Walmart.com is a great spot for free samples. I do not get a ton of junk mail from them or anything. Be sure to check out all their free samples, but the one I want to highlight is Emergen-C. Right now you can go to Walmart.com and get a free sample of Emergen-C multivitamin Plus Cherry Pomegranate flavor and a free sample of Emergen-C Lemonade Flavored Fizzy Drink Mix. When I was a waitress, we relied on these a lot to give us some extra vitamin C to keep us on our toes. Want to try it? Follow the link: Emergen-C.


My Top Saving Faves: Safeway...definitely get your coupons and head over to Safeway, because this week they will be quadrupling coupons up to 25cents! Turn that 25cent saving into a dollar off!

Other deals at Safeway:

Sweet Yellow Peaches 49 cents a pound
Flier coupon for Starkist Solid White Tuna for just 88 cents each with a limit of 3
Flier coupon for 18 count Lucerne large eggs just 99 cents


Albertsons

93% Lean Ground Beef 5lbs $1.77 a pound (love Albertson's ground beef!)
Large Slicing tomatoes 88 cents a pound
Albertsons Chunk or Shredded Cheese 8 oz 99 cents each!
Banquet Pot Pies 3 for $1.00 limit 6


Fry's

Check out there fabulous buy 10 save $10 deal! There are a lot of items to choose from from cereal on up so be sure to check it out.
With this deal you can buy:
Progresso Soup 99 cents each
Old El Paso Taco Shells 99 cents each

USDA Choice Boneless Beef Cross Rib Steak $1.88 pound limit 2 packages

I have to admit that the fliers weren't thrilling this week, but again, if you catch the sales and buy the best items you totally can keep your pantry stocked with the deals when they come. Catch the ones that work for you!

By the way, I do hope that some of you were able to enjoy the free entry into National parks last weekend. My family and I enjoyed the Grand Canyon on Saturday. What a total treat it was!

Have a great week!

Kelly's Thrifty Tips

Good afternoon! I am so sorry for getting this up late. I was swamped the moment I got back to my desk. BUT this is still in time for the free National Park weekends. Here is Arizona's list. Click on any of these links and you will get more information on each park including directions.

This is the plan for our family! Maybe we'll see you there!

If you are popping by here and not in Arizona or if you are going out of state click this link for the whole list. National Parks!!!

Arizona
Casa Grande Ruins National Monument
Chiricahua National Monument
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area
Grand Canyon National Park
Lake Mead National Recreation Area
Montezuma Castle National Monument
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument
Petrified Forest National Park
Pipe Spring National Monument
Saguaro National Park
Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument
Tonto National Monument
Tumacacori National Historical Park
Tuzigoot National Monument
Walnut Canyon National Monument
Wupatki National Monument



Hey, don't forget about that Walmart Coupon Calendar book! Follow this link: Coupons

Obama visits Grand Canyon

If you're planning on visiting the Grand Canyon this Sunday be advised that President Obama and his family will be visiting as well and that could cause delays all day. Read the entire article here.

Little Tikes recalls 1.6 million toys

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the recall of 1.6 million toys by Little Tikes Co. because of a choking hazard. Click here to visit Little Tikes website for more information.