80% off at Restaurant.com until 10/12!

Restaurant.com is having another 80% off sale! That means $25 GC for just $2!

Just visit Restaurant.com, choose the GC's you want, and enter the code FOUR at checkout - the discount will apply to everything in your shopping cart. You can search by zip code or by region - The offer is good until Oct 12th!

Be sure to read the fine print, as most restaurants place some restrictions on GC use. This is a great way to get early gift shopping done, or to try out new restaurants without breaking the bank!








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TOT Thursday

I decided to start a new little series, which I am dubbing Tricks Of the Trade Thursday! My goal will be to pass on small pointers and tips that you can use TODAY to save some money!

Here's today's tidbit:

Portion control

It's no secret that our portion sizes are out of whack - check out this article from MSNBC about a Rutgers portion perception study - we are eating 20-40% more than we did two decades ago, because we really don't know what healthy portions are!

You can improve your grocery spending RIGHT NOW by taking a hard look at how you portion out your meals:
*Read the actual serving sizes on the side of the box. And follow them!
*Check out this great chart of visual serving sizes.
*Stop using the 12" dinner plate - try portioning out your meals on an 8" sandwich plate instead (your plate will look fuller so you won't feel like you're missing anything!)

If you've followed correct portion sizes and your meal leaves you wanting more, try serving your meals with a slice of bread or a roll, and be sure you are drinking enough fluid while you eat! Taking breaks from the plate to take a drink gives your body time to realize it's being fed, so you may find you're getting fuller faster.

You may be surprised at how much further your meals will stretch once you're not supersizing your servings! And an added bonus - eating correct portions means your calorie intake may reduce...which may bring those "skinny" jeans out of the closet a little sooner :)




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Price Rite shopping trip

Ok...so this week SHOULD have been a nearly-free week...all of the week's meals were straight from the stockpile, or so I thought. Then I realized the celery was gone, and I didn't have enough potatoes to double the Sausage Potato Soup recipe...and the bread-and-milk run turned into a wee bit more. I had to get bread flour from Shaw's too (for $3.79 - OUCH!) - if anyone has suggestions for finding bread flour in bulk I'm all ears! Seems like I can only find it at the major grocery stores.

Last night hubby decided to make chocolate chip cookies with the Boy Wonder and ended up buying a pound of butter and a bag of semi-sweet chips for $3.18 - not really on the game plan but they had fun baking so I can't really complain :)

Here's what my nearly $23 got me:

1 Red pepper - $0.90
4 bottles Pepsi - $4.56 (Hey SodaStream - need another reviewer???)
4 cans biscuits - $1.52 (craving monkey bread!)
Worcestershire sauce - $0.99
Soy sauce - $0.99
1 gallon milk - $2.39
5 lb bag potatoes - $1.89
1 bunch celery - $0.99
Wheat sandwich bread - $1.19
5-pk garlic sleeve - $1.49
5 lb bag all purpose flour - $1.79
2 lb unsalted butter - $2.98
20 oz bag frozen corn kernels - $1.29

Total OOP: $22.97
Bread flour - $3.79
Cookie stuff - $3.18

Total spending for the week: $29.94
Total spending for October: $83.80

Target run - cheap applesauce and PB!

Tara over at Deal Seeking Mom posted about a great Target deal on Skippy Peanut butter this week, so I had to check it out! Between hubby and the Boy Wonder we go thru a LOT of peanut butter :) While I was there I also checked into the Mott's applesauce deal (buy 5, get a $5 gift card) to see if it was worthwhile.

The Skippy was priced at $2.04 per 16oz jar, a little higher than what other areas are finding. We also didn't get the $0.75/1 coupon in RedPlum, we had a $1/2 instead. But I usually pay $7.50 for two 40OZ jars at BJ's (about $0.09/oz) which makes a 16 oz jar about $1.50 - with the coupons I'd be paying $1 or less at Target so it was definitely worth it!

The Mott's deal was pretty great too! The sale includes the more expensive flavored/no sugar types which usually cost about $2.70 for a 6 pack, so picking those up at $1.75 (before the gift card) made for a great deal! There were also some packages marked at $1.69 but still part of the gift card promo!

Here's what I got for $25.98 (and yes, I spoiled my Boy just a wee bit, but with sale prices I can afford to!)

Transaction #1:
5 Motts applesauce 6-packs - $8.69

Total OOP: $8.69
got $5 gift card

Transaction #2
5 Motts applesauce 6-packs - $8.75

used $5 GC
Total OOP: $3.75
got $5 gift card

Transaction #3
6 Skippy 16 oz peanut butter - $2.04
used 6 $1/1 Target coupons
used one $1/2 coupon from 10/4 RedPlum
2 Toddler plates - $2
2 Toddler flatware sets - $2
2 Coffeemate 16 oz - $3.74
1 Bob the Builder DVD - $5

used $5 GC
Total OOP: $13.54




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Walgreens photo deals - 10 cent prints and 33% off calendars

Walgreens has a few more photo deals available from now until Oct 10th!

Use the code FALLFEST at checkout to get 50 photos for $5! That's 10 cents a print, and any photos over 50 are also 10 cents.

Also, create a custom photo calendar and get 33% off by using the code BIRD33 at checkout - the calendars are $19.99 for a 12-month, so with the discount that's just over $13 before shipping. These make GREAT gifts, and the code is valid for up to 5 uses.




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Menu Plan Monday - Oct 5th, '09

Short and sweet today - I was a bad mommy and fudged with the new baby's schedule a little last night. Paid dearly when he decided that 3AM would be a GREAT time to stay awake. And 4AM. And 5AM. Several pots of coffee later and I'm just barely conscious enough to assemble the menu plan for the week. But since my first day back to work is TOMORROW, I definitely need to get the menu in order!

This MPM is COMPLETELY out of the existing pantry and freezer - we had a VERY tight week financially (my Short term disability for maternity leave just ran out and hubby had a slight reduction in his work schedule) so this will be a bare minimum shopping week. I go back to work Monday so things will get a little easier, but I'm SO thankful to have built up my stockpile enough to cover us when these times come!

Here's my table for the week, don't forget to visit I'm an Organizing Junkie for MANY more awesome menus and recipes!

monday - Crockpot Beef Stew ($7.20 for 8-10 servings)

tuesday - Spaghetti Pie, salad - OAMC ($8.28 for 6 servings)

wednesday - Mexican Chicken with beans and rice ($5.45 for 6 servings)

thursday - Sausage Potato Soup, homemade breadsticks ($4.21 for 8-10 servings)

friday - leftovers - FREE!

saturday, sunday- Visiting friends for the weekend




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Free sub at Quiznos

Have a cheap lunch date on Quiznos! Print this coupon for a free sub when you buy a sub and fountain drink, expires 10/26.







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