Is RELAXATION calling your name???

How many Christmas parties have you been to in the last week? How about shopping malls, grocery stores, and the ever-popular Wal-Mart?

I don't know about you, but I have lost count. As I write this, I am barely able to keep my eyes open but I am happy to say that I have experienced a lot of really wonderful things in the past few weeks. I have been frugal and have found some really fabulous finds but since my family reads my blog I can't share them all with you.

Since returning from Peru God has reminded me countless times just how blessed I am and this week was no different. My church sponsored several families for Christmas this year. It was so great to see how even in raising the money for the gifts others were blessed.

At a yard sale we had to raise money, a lady came and she was so excited because she found something for everyone on her Christmas list! Then, came the time to deliver the gifts to the families...exciting and heart-wrenching all at the same time. I have been blessed to meet 3 very wonderful families this week. Each one stole my heart (for lack of better words).

God has a way of really getting to your heart and soul. When I was younger we lived in apartments that my friends and I referred to as "the projects" because they were based on income. At the same time we were living there, my father was serving time in prison. Every year on Christmas Eve someone I did not know would bring me a present "from my father." Today the family we took gifts to lived in those same type apartments and the children have experienced having a parent not in the home. WOW! God knows the best way to allow you to give back.

As an adult, every year at Christmastime I have felt ashamed for receiving and buying so many gifts yet not doing anything (big) to help others. I am so honored to have been able to be a part of something that I know has pleased God. If you have always wanted to do something like this then I encourage you to partner with someone, you will not regret it.

Jesus, my most fabulous find, is celebrating his birthday and we are all invited to join in the celebration! I hope you have a blast!!

Merry Christmas!

Tara

Sweepstakes Galore

Do you like to win?? I think we all do, thus my recent sweepstakes interest. My husband found it quite humorous as I’m sure you will that I have a list of online sweepstakes that I have been entering daily.

I told you last week about Sears Golden Ticket Sweepstakes so I thought I would share a few of the others with you, just in case you want to get in on the fun.

Gain.com is offering the chance to win a washer and dryer for you AND one for a friend PLUS a one year supply of Gain. That is the grand prize and you can enter once a day until 01/03/2009. You also have the chance to win an instant prize from Gain, Wal-Mart, or Bed, Bath, and Beyond.

Coinstarisfreegame.com is going to give someone a $1,000 Amazon gift card. For each entry until 12/31/08 you will also have the chance at an instant win prize from Amazon, iTunes, Starbucks, CASH, or electronics.

Disney is giving away a vacation for 4 to one of their resorts and instant win prizes from HP. You can enter once a day until 03/06/2009. When you get to the site, click “skip intro” in the upper right, then click the “Sweepstakes” tab.

Gander Mountain is giving away Gander Mountain gift cards. The grand prize is a $1,000 gift card. YOU CAN ONLY ENTER THIS ONCE.

Kotex is having a Perfect Fit Sweepstakes. You have the chance to win a trip to New York and a $5,000 wardrobe makeover. When you go to the site, the link is on the bottom right.

Bethanyhouse.com is giving away 3 different gift baskets.

Tyson is offering you the chance for a $5,000 dining room makeover and a host of other prizes.

Tonight was the last night for a sweepstakes over at 5gum. I was excited when I entered my information and it popped up that I won 5 free music downloads—small but exciting!

Best of luck and let me know if you win anything!!
Tara

Great Milk Deal AND a FREE OFFER

I thought I would combine 2 short posts into 1 quick post...

CVS has gallon milk for $3.39 through November 29th.

Could your little one use a new sippy cup??

Juicy Juice will send you a FREE sippy cup when you sign-up for their FREE e-mail newsletter. I received my cup yesterday. It is cute, looks like the picture you will see when you sign-up. My little girl has moved on to non-sippy cups so I am giving this to a friend. Sign-up HERE.

Great Deals at Publix and CVS

CVS
Eight-roll Viva, my favorite paper towels, are on-sale at CVS this week. I bought one pack for $7.99 and earned $2.00 in Extra Bucks!! Making my total $5.99 or 74 cents a roll.

I also went back to CVS and took them up on their offer for a $25 gift card. You have to have a new or transferred prescription to take part. I had a new prescription for my daughter. It was $11 and some change--so I made another $13 dollars--plus the prescription was free when you account for the gift card!! What will I use the gift card for?? I will let you know.

Publix
I had fun in Publix. My local Publix accepts competitor coupons and I had a coupon from Winn-Dixie for $10 off $50. I tried to use this wisely.

My receipt breaks down the savings as follows:
Store Coupon (the Winn-Dixie coupon): $10.00
Vendor Coupon: $10.69
Advertised Special Savings: $19.85
Advantage Buy Savings: $2.40
YOUR TOTAL SAVINGS AT PUBLIX: $42.94

My grand total (out of pocket) for this trip was $37.90.
I SAVED more than I SPENT!! YAY!!

A FEW OTHER FABULOUS FINDS FROM PUBLIX
* Birds Eye Voila was BOGO. I needed 2 more in order to qualify for another FREE Charlie Brown DVD.
*Kellogg's Smart Start was $3.99 and I had a $1.00 coupon. The BEST part: This is another one of those cereals that is labeled TRY FOR FREE. I will send in the rebate and receive $3.99 back. That is a $1.00 profit!!
*Rembrandt Toothpaste was advantage buy for $5.99 AND I had a coupon that made it FREE. I made sure to buy that in this trip so it would count towards the $50 I needed in order to use the $10 off $50 coupon.
*Kraft Mac N Cheese was on sale 50 cents a box--limit 4. I saved 75 cents on each box!

SPLURGE OF THE WEEK
My husband NEVER requests anything specific from the grocery store, he is EASY to please when it comes to food. Thank God!! However, he did send me a cute text simply saying, "How about some fried green tomatoes?" He is a joker so I replied, "What? For dinner."

SO...I did splurge on the fried green tomatoes and the Whistle Stop mix to go with them. They were YUMMY and my hubby was HAPPY so it was well worth the extra $$ spent.

That is all the shopping I did this week.

Blessings,
Tara

Cool Contest/Game

My friend Misty sent this to me. It is a contest from Sears. Let L.L., Ty Pennington, or the guys from Orange County Choppers search for your Golden Wish Ticket.

Links to a few samples and coupons

FREE Betty Crocker Coupons

Betty Crocker is offering a FREE booklet with $10 in coupon savings when you sign-up for their free Dinner Made Easy email newsletter.
Click HERE to sign-up.

FREE Dove Shine Therapy Shampoo Sample

While supplies last, you can request a FREE Dove Shine Therapy Shampoo. You can only request it once. I have already received mine. Click HERE to request yours.

FREE Christina Aguilera Inspire Perfume Sample

I have already received two of these. They arrive pretty fast.
To claim yours, click HERE.

A Charlie Brown Christmas has Arrived--YAY!!

I received my FREE A Charlie Brown Christmas DVD this week. I was so excited. It includes a bonus music download of two songs from the movie and a bonus Peanuts TV Special. If you don't recall the post about how I got this for FREE you can read about it HERE.

My husband L-O-V-E-S Christmas, Christmas music, Christmas movies--all things Christmas--so I am anxious to open this DVD. I can just see us piled up on the living room floor with our daughter and some popcorn making memories with 2 of my most precious and fabulous finds!!

Blessings,

Tara

Has it really been a MONTH??

WOW! Time does fly. It has been exactly one month since I have posted or even seen my blog.

I made it safely to and from Peru. The experience is something that I still can't quite put into words. If there is anything you want to know, please e-mail me and I will do my best to help you out.

As for my blog, I am SO ready to discover some fabulous finds. I am on my 3rd week back and I am just getting to the place that I feel some sort of normalcy. The first 2 weeks I could not even function in my normal routine. For some reason, even the smallest of tasks seemed insurmountable to me. Last night was the first chance that I have had to get my coupons organized. I am going to attempt some grocery shopping tomorrow, but I still haven't read Sunday's paper and ads to know what is on sale.

I did go to some yard sales with my mom Saturday. I think yard sales (good ones) are fun and so does my mom so we had a great time. I came away with the cutest skirt from Dressbarn, a really nice sweater, 3 adorable plaque type hangers, 2 matching puzzles, and a bright pink bin for my daughter's room like I had been looking for in retail stores. Everything looked like new....all for 6 bucks!!

I also found jeans for my really-tall-like-her-daddy daughter at Old Navy 2 for $22. I know they had a slightly better sale last week but it was a great deal to me since finding jeans for her is such a task.

I look forward to posting about more fabulous finds and some normal weekly posts within the next few days!

Blessings,
Tara

Where Do You Get All Your Coupons??

This is the question I hear the most. Sometimes I don’t know if I want to answer that question for all the “normal” folks out there because then they may think that this coupon lovin’ girl is out of her mind! But I will try, just know this could take some time!

In addition to clipping coupons from the Sunday paper, I have found that with just a little effort you can obtain more coupons than you will ever need or want. Yahoo groups are a great place to start. I am a member of the Yahoo group, Royalty Coupon Trains. I never knew what a coupon train was until someone in my Freecycle Yahoo group told me about it.

The coupon train that I am on consists of 5 people; a conductor and 4 passengers. The conductor starts the train (an envelope) with 50 coupons that are all at least 3 weeks from their expiration date. The conductor will send it to the first passenger. When passenger #1 receives the train, he/she will remove any coupons they want/need AND any coupons that will expire within 3 weeks. Passenger #1 then has to replace the number of coupons he/she removed with the same number of coupons having at least 3 week expiration, then send it to passenger #2.

There are other perks to being on coupon trains. For example, the moderator of Royalty Coupon Trains requires you to complete a Wish List, which is a list of items that you use regularly. She does this so that other members can look at your list and send you a ROAK (Random Act of Kindness) envelope, if they choose. A ROAK is an envelope of coupons from your wish list. You can also post to the group if you are looking for a certain coupon.

Sample or Freebie web sites are also a great way to get your coupon stash started. My favorite freebie site is A Freebie Empire. The owner researches online freebies and sends a message 1-2 times a day with the listings of freebies. It only takes a few minutes each day to read the message and pick which freebies I want to receive. I fill out a quick form with my Name, Address, and Email address for each form and then the freebie will be sent to me. It takes a few weeks for the freebies to start coming in. Many times a freebie will include a coupon or a few coupons. Also, usually when you request a freebie you have to agree to receive that company’s online newsletter. If you agree, they will send you more freebies and coupons. If you use your email for business purposes, I would suggest getting a free yahoo e-mail account just for this. Some examples of freebies I have received are Vaseline Lotion, Dove Lotion, Caress body wash, reusable grocery bag, vitamins, Lemonade drink mix, True Lemon, and many, many more. The lotion and body wash samples are usually travel size. Most of these all came with coupons!

The magazine ALL YOU is a great magazine to get coupons from. ALL YOU is approximately $2.00 an issue. It is a monthly magazine. It has some great articles and the coupons are also great. This is where I got those great Kraft coupons that I blogged about, see the post HERE. You can get ALL YOU at the grocery check-outs but they do go fast.

You can find coupons on E-bay—that is correct! Just do a search for “coupons” and you can have a field day. I do suggest looking at several sellers before deciding.

When I go to Publix I always grab one of each of the free magazines they have on the rack with the sales ad. Greenwise and Advantage Buy books—many times these will have coupons and people assume that they are only Publix coupons. There are Publix only coupons in these, but there are also manufacturer’s coupons to be found in these books. Just look through them and the one’s that state “Manufacturer’s Coupon” next to the expiration date are NOT Publix specific coupons. Publix specific coupons will have a look-up number and state “Store Coupon” on it. The other free Publix magazine, Family Style, does NOT have coupons if you receive it from the store. You used to be able to subscribe to it free via the Publix web site and then it would be delivered via regular mail and it would have coupons, I don't know if you can still do that or not.

Have you ever seen those red boxes that blink and then spit out coupons in the grocery store?? Yes, another source of my coupon addiction. Even if the item is NOT on sale that week, grab a few of these at each blinking box. These usually have long expiration dates and the items will likely go on-sale before they expire. These are manufacturer coupons so you don’t have to use them at the same store you get them from. These are also great to add to the coupon trains.


Lastly, if you have a particular brand you like, you can go to the company web site and request coupons. Viva is a great example of this. I didn’t request coupons but I did go to their site and tell them how much I love their products. They sent me an envelope of 4 or 5 coupons. Some sites have an actual tab you can select titled, “Coupons,” “Deals,” or something similar. They may send the coupons via mail or you may be able to instantly print them from your computer. Many retailers will accept internet coupons, but you may want to verify with a quick phone call to the store.

I know this is long and I could add more, but you should have a good idea now of where to start your coupon search. If you have another great source for coupons, let me know.

Blessings,
Tara

Title Town Deals at Publix beginning Oct. 9th

There are several fabulous finds at Publix this week; of course milk is one of them considering it is still $3.59 a gallon.

In keeping with their theme of affording the essentials they have the following at excellent prices:

Tide 2x
$5.99
Sidenote: CVS has Purex for $3.99 this week and if you have the $1.00 coupon that is a great deal!

Chicken Leg Quarters
$.59 per pound

Green Giant Canned Vegetables
$.79 each

Publix Large Eggs
$1.39

In addition to these fabulous finds, check out Publix’s 20 Buy One Get One Free items for this week. Remember, in Title Town you only have to purchase ONE of an item and it will ring-up for HALF the original price. At other Publix stores, you will likely have to buy BOTH items.

----BOGO----

Publix Classic Salad (Bag)
Classico Pasta Sauce (Stock-Up)
Ronzoni Boxed Pasta (Stock-Up)
Publix Ibuprofen (Stock-Up)
Barber Foods Stuffed Chicken Breast
Diner’s Choice Mashed Potatoes
Old El Paso Salsa (Stock-Up)
New England Coffee
Wish Bone Dressing (Stock-Up)
Hellmann’s Mayo (Stock-Up)
Kellogg’s Special K Cereal (Stock-Up)
Post Honey Bunches of Oats Cereal (Stock-Up)
Lawry’s 30 Minute Marinade (Stock-Up)
Mrs. Cubbison’s Croutons
Pasta Roni and Rice A Roni (Stock-Up)
Progresso Bread Crumbs
Life Saver’s Bag Candy
6-pack 7-Up, A&W, or Diet Riet
Doritos Tortilla Chips
Entenmann’s Donuts

----FREE----
Get a FREE 1-pint Publix Deli Tea or Lemonade WITH the purchase of a whole turkey sub.

Sounds like this would be a good week for something Italian or Mexican. There are several other fabulous finds on sale that could be paired with the BOGO’s to make a cheap meal. Check out the complete ad online at http://specials.publix.com/

Have a great weekend.

Tara

One Week Left

This time next week I will be racing to get everything done before heading out for the Peru Mission Trip. We will leave next Thursday and will return the following Friday. We may have access to the internet, but I don't know if I will access it or not.

This week and past weekend have been all about spending time with some of my most fabulous finds: MY WONDERFUL FAMILY and FRIENDS!! Oh how I will MISS them. The thought has consumed me the past few days. However, today me and Jesus had a conversation about just how much I desire to go on this trip AND how much I desire to come back ALIVE and IN ONE PIECE--the same way I left (physically), now emotionally--that will be a different story.

I am so excited about this trip, but I was telling Jesus earlier that this has to be for HIS glory. I don't want to just be able to say, "I went on a mission trip."

I want to be able to say, " I went on a mission trip and HELPED people. I SAW lives CHANGED. I held sweet children, and while their lives were touched, they touched mine in ways that I will never be able to explain and they will never comprehend."

The Lord knows that this is uncharted territory for me. I know from all the ways he has provided for this trip, that it is HIS plan for me to be out of my comfort zone and that HE will take care of ME and EVERYONE ELSE that is going to be with me. Keep us in your prayers please.

Once I get back to normal, I will start posting again about my fabulous store finds. Take care!

BLESSINGS from the BOTTOM of MY HEART!!

Tara

Kids Eat FREE or NEARLY FREE in Valdosta, GA

Kid’s can eat for FREE or NEARLY FREE at the following restaurants in Valdosta. Some exclusions may apply. This is the most updated list my friends and I have, but I would still verify these with a phone call before going.

EVERY NIGHT
Kid's 3 and under eat free at Ci Ci's Pizza

MONDAY NIGHT

Fazoli’s: 5-8 p.m. They do not have a kids eat free night, but they do have a craft table set up for the kids.

Texas Roadhouse: 5-8 pm, 99-cent kid’s meals

Loco’s – Children 12 and under eat free w/the purchase of an adult meal

Wooden Nickel – Kids menu 99 cents w/purchase of an adult meal, free games 4-8 pm – Perimeter Road location (need to verify with new location)

TUESDAY NIGHT

Ryan’s: They have characters, activities, and your child will receive a coupon, so the next visit, they eat free.

Pizza Hut on Ashley St. : 5:30-8 p.m. Kids coloring activity. Free buffet for children with purchase of adult buffet.

Beef O’ Brady’s: 4-8 p.m. free kids meal with each adult meal.

Chick-Fil-A on St. Augustine: 5-8 p.m. free kids meal with purchase of combo meal.

Fox’s Pizza – Kids eat free and play games free (children 12 and under will enjoy a free bambino pizza and 4 game tokens w/purchase of any regularly priced Medium, Large or Big Daddy Pizza. Dine in only, drinks not included.)***

Wooden Nickel – Kids menu 99 cents w/purchase of an adult meal, free games 4-8 pm – St. Augustine Road location (need to verify new location)

WEDNESDAY NIGHT

Moe’s: (after 4:00 p.m.) Free kids meal with each adult meal.

Fox’s Pizza – Kids eat free and play games free (children 12 and under will enjoy a free bambino pizza and 4 game tokens w/purchase of any regularly priced Medium, Large or Big Daddy Pizza. Dine in only, drinks not included.)***

Las Banderas – Kids eat for 99 cents w/an adult purchase, kids choice from kid’s menu

THURSDAY NIGHT

Atlanta Bread Company: All children eat free!

Fox’s Pizza – Kids eat free and play games free (children 12 and under will enjoy a free bambino pizza and 4 game tokens w/purchase of any regularly priced Medium, Large or Big Daddy Pizza. Dine in only, drinks not included.)***

SUNDAY

Applebee’s: All day Sunday. Free kids meal with each adult meal.

El Toreo: 99-cent kid’s meals

Rodeo: 99-cent kid’s meals

Wooden Nickel: Kids Eat for 99 cents all day

***Not sure if you need a coupon for Fox’s Pizza, the flyer that has this information on it does not say coupon needed****

If you know of others, please let me know.

Blessings,
Tara

FREE Pictures!!!

When my daughter was born so was my addiction to picture taking. The lovely folks at Sam's Photo knew me by name. At that time, I was using a 35mm camera. I was in there every week developing a roll of film. THEN, I got my handy dandy digital camera AND a SD card that holds about 600 pictures, yes I said 600! I thought that was great, but here is the real problem that presents: I will take ALL 600 pictures now before I go and get them developed. This can obviously become quite expensive. So being the frugal person that I am, picture developing is one of those items I search out the most fabulous find on. I NEVER pay full price to develop my 600 pictures.

There are 2 great offers for online developing right now. The first is CVS Photo Center. A NEW user can get up to 50 prints FREE! Details are as follows, and remember an Extra Care Card is FREE just sign-up at your local CVS it only takes a few minutes:

"Get 20 Free Prints when you open an account and 30 more when you add your ExtraCare card number to your account. You will receive an email with a link to activate your free prints."

Shutterfly is also an excellent online service. I just received prints from them yesterday and they were excellent quality. Did I mention that (50) 4x6, (2) 5x7, and (1) 8x10 were all FREE?!?
Why does that matter to you? Because here is what it says on their website:

"Experience the quality of our products with 50 Free 4x6 prints and Free standard shipping on first order."

I had an additional code from a Disney DVD my husband purchased that allowed me to get the 8x10 and (2) 5x7 prints free. I did have to enter my credit/debit card info. but I was NOT charged. The price was adjusted before checkout.

So what are you waiting for?? Go get some of those pictures developed. I am definitely going to be searching out the best picture deals when I get back from Peru!

Blessings,
Tara

Two Fabulous Finds You Don't Want To Miss

CVS has Zephyrhills 24- pack water for $3.88, plus you may have a coupon in your stash for $1.00 off. That was one fabulous find I couldn't leave behind. This was in Title Town, but I am pretty sure this was a regular sale.

Walgreens has a great coupon for $5 off of a $20 purchase. It is valid Friday and Saturday. Just remember, the required $20 is AFTER all coupons have been taken off. If you have some monthly rebate items you want to purchase, this would be a great time to do so. You can print the coupon out HERE.

Title Town Milk Deals for Thursday

This is later than normal, sorry. I don't have a lot of time today so this will be brief. (Bet you didn't know I could be brief) :-)

Publix is taking great strides in helping us to "afford the essentials." They lowered their milk 10 more cents this week, making it $3.59 a gallon! THANK YOU PUBLIX.

If you haven't checked out their ad, I encourage you to do so. You can do it online by clicking HERE. They really have some really good prices on the "essentials," as they put it.

Blessings,
Tara

Can We Have a Tie-Breaker Between Publix and Winn-Dixie?

My Great Trip to Publix

Birds Eye Voila
Regularly $4.69 EACH
On Sale: BOGO
Purchased 3 = $7.04
$7.04 minus (1) $1.25 coupon and (1) $2.00 coupon = $3.79
SAVED $10.28 just on these and with the purchase of 3 I can send for a FREE Charlie Brown DVD.
Remember, at my Publix I don't have to buy 2 of a BOGO item, I can buy one and get it half-price.

Green Giant Frozen Lima Beans
On Sale 10/$10
Purchased 1 = $1.00

Taco Bell Dinner Kit
Regularly $2.59
On Sale: BOGO
Purchased 1 = $1.30
Saved $1.29

Lysol Pourable Cleaner
Regularly $3.19
On Sale: BOGO
Purchased 1 = $1.60
$1.60 minus (1) $.50 coupon = $1.10
Saved $2.09

V8 Broccoli Soup
On Sale 2/$5
Purchased 1 = $2.50
$2.50 minus (1) $1.00 coupon = $1.50

Kraft Easy Mac Cup
On Sale: 4/$5
Purchased 1 = $.80

Keebler Cookies
On Sale 2/$5
Purchased 2 = $5.00
$5.00 minus (1) $1.00 coupon= $4.00

Publix Milk
$3.69

Minute Maid Fruit Falls Water
$2.65

Ground Beef
$2.46
Saved $1.52

Chex Mix Trail Mix
*This rang up $2.89, should have been BOGO and I had a $.50 coupon, which would have made it $.95. That is a difference of $1.94. I will swing into Publix and see what happened. I may have picked-up the wrong kind. I got the right size, but I notice I have Chex Mix (Select), that could be the problem. This is my Peru snack, so we have to get this cleared up. :-)

My total including all in-store savings and coupons was $25.67.

I saved $21.88!!

Jimbo, who rang me up said, "Wow, you saved almost the same amount you spent!"

Blessings,
Tara

My Winn-Dixie Trip

Since I shared with you about the great sale at Winn-Dixie and told you to let me know how you fared, I thought I'd share my trip with anyone interested. If you remember, I had a coupon for $10 off $50 so my mother and I decided we would combine our order since neither of us needed $50 worth--but couldn't let $10 of free money pass us by.

I am only including my portion of the purchase. We split the $10, taking $5 off each of our order, but paid for it all together. Our total with sales discounts was $59.30 BEFORE the $10 coupon and all our other manufacturer's coupons. After all the coupons it was $45.35.

I got everything below for $20.21!!
Together we saved $40.94!

We also received another coupon for $10 off $50 and a certificate for 20 Box Tops for Education which I will give to the elementary school my daughter will attend next year. I want them to have nice equipment when she gets there! ;o)


Kellogg’s Frosted Mini-Wheats Strawberry Delight
On Sale 2 for $5
Purchased one at 2.50 minus$1.00 coupon=$1.50
Saved $2.49

Kool-Aid Roarin Waters Drinks
On Sale 10/$10
Purchased one=$1.00
Saved $.34

Winn-Dixie Brand Cream Cheese
On Sale 10/$10
Purchased 2= $2.00
Saved $1.58

Michelina’s Chicken Alfredo Frozen Meal
On Sale 10/$10
Purchased 1= $1.00
Saved $.67

Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls and Crescent Rolls
On Sale 3/$5
Purchased 3 at $5 minus (2) $.30 coupons and (1) $.35 coupon = $4.05
Saved $2.92

Campbell’s Dora the Explorer Soup
On Sale 10/$10
Purchased 1 = $1.00
Saved $.69

Margaret Holmes Turnip Greens
On Sale 10/$10
Purchased 2 = $2.00
Saved $.78

Winn-Dixie Organic Lemonade
On Sale 2/$5
Purchased 1 = $2.50
Saved $.39

Hunt’s Diced Tomatoes
On Sale 10/$10
Purchased 1 = $1.00
Saved $.39


Hunt’s Manwich
On Sale 10/$10
Purchased 1 = $1.00
Saved $.89

Colgate 360^ Toothbrush Reg. Price $5.49
On Sale 2/$5
Purchased 1 at $2.50 minus (1) coupon for $1.00 = $1.50
Saved $3.99

Winn-Dixie Brand 5lb Sugar
On Sale 2/$4
Purchased 1 = $2.00
Saved $.59

Chex Cherry Cola
$2.89--not on sale

Thrify Maid Cookies
$1.00--not on sale

Awaiting my trip to my beloved Publix,

Tara

Attention Size 3 and 5 TitleTown Cowgirls

Tractor Supply had a rack of jeans marked down to $4.50 and $5.00, regularly $44.95, but they only had sizes 3 and 5. These were nice jeans that even a "non-cowgirl" wouldn't mind having-especially at that price. I think they were Cruel Girl brand. If only they had them in my size.

The "Old" Wal-Mart had Hanes Perfect T Relaxed Fit shirts in various colors and sizes for $3.00 each. I snagged 2, I think they will be great for the Peru Mission Trip. There was an entire display rack full of these.

Have a great weekend!

Tara

Title Town Milk and Other Deals for Thursday

Milk prices look to be the same this week.

Winn-Dixie and Publix both have some pretty good sales. Although Publix is my favorite place to shop and Winn-Dixie did annoy me with their BOGO antics, if I were to give a “Great Sell Award,” I’d have to give it to Winn-Dixie this week. (Did I just say that??)

Winn-Dixie has over 52 items on sale this week 10 for $10! That is a lot of items, and if you happen to be one of those people like me that received the coupon at check-out last week for $10 off $50 or more, you can really save some cash this week! Planning ahead will be the key. You can visit the online ad HERE.

Knowing your prices and the sales at other stores is where the planning I keep telling you about really makes the difference. For instance, VO5 shampoo is part of the 10 for $10 deal, but VO5 is also on-sale this week at CVS for $.88. Another example, Betty Crocker cake mix is 10 for $10, but if you aren’t brand loyal then you can get Pillsbury cake mix BOGO at Publix or $.84 each. I know these aren’t huge price differences for ONE item, but if you were to buy 10 of each item that would definitely add up. A $1.20 here, a $1.20 there can quickly become $20.40!

One really good deal at Winn-Dixie this week is for the NEW DUNCAN HINES DECADENT CARROT CAKE. It is on-sale 2 for $5 AND there is a coupon available for $1 off at the Duncan Hines website. Click HERE and look for the Coupon tab in the top right. I also read that there is a rebate form for this cake mix if you click on the Guarantee tab. I hope you can download the coupon the security settings on my computer wouldn’t allow it. :-(
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Onto Publix . . .

Make sure you check out all the good BOGO deals for this week HERE. I see a lot of things on sale this week that I bought just a few days ago—guess that happens sometimes. However, I do see some really good deals that I won’t be able to pass up:

**Keebler Cookies are 2 for $5 and I have a $1 coupon. That’s excellent considering the prices I saw this week for snacks. (Not that I need cookies in my house!!)

**Quilted Northern Bath Tissue is 2 for $12. I will probably buy ONE of these.

**If you have some of those Lysol coupons in your stash, this would be a good week to use them, Lysol Disinfectant All Purpose Cleaner is BOGO and Lysol Spray is $4.99.

**Kellogg’s Special K cereal is $2.99, which is an excellent price for Special K.

If you want to check out another great blog listing all the sales at Publix and the corresponding coupons, visit Fiddledeedee.

Let me know how you fare this week,

Tara

"Saving" Our Daughters: My Personal Opinion of "Little Beauties: Ultimate Kiddie Queen Showdown"

Appalled! Frustrated! Down right angry! Sad!
A combination of all these terms defines how I am feeling right now.

I was turning the volume down on the TV, but instead I accidentally changed the channel. What I saw caught my attention, little girls (6 years old) in a pageant. Seemed harmless until I sat down and realized the horror of what was really going on.

The show was Little Beauties: Ultimate Kiddie Queen Showdown! On this particular show the girls were in Tennessee for the Little Miss Pageant. I quickly discovered that there was so much that I didn’t know about pageants for little girls.

Do you know what Flippers are? These are pieces that are inserted over the little girls teeth to cover their “snaggle” tooth little faces. Parents pay $200 for the Flipper and an additional $50 to have the flippers fitted to their mouths.

These little girls get spray tans, “because the lighting just doesn’t do anything for the fair skinned little girls,” was the response of one mother. This is what they said regarding one the fair skinned girls, “being fair skinned, we have to make her up from scratch.”

Are you kidding me?? This is a beautiful little girl created from scratch by God as he planned her to be, but obviously not beautiful enough for the pageant circuit.

Then there was the little girl, Aleena who wasn’t winning anything. She said, “I’m prettier than all of them!” Bless her little heart, who has put these thoughts in her head to have to compare herself to others based upon beauty??

After this pageant, the little girls and their entourages traveled 10 hours to Daytona Beach, Florida to participate in the Fabulous Faces Pageant. They showed the setting-up process where someone said, “You are judged by your appearance.”

THEN one of the most outrageous comments: “Then, there are the candy vendors to give the girls their boost!!!” And we wonder why so many people in the entertainment industry and beyond are addicted to drugs. Yes, it’s sugar—but like they said—the sugar is being provided to give them a boost. Sounds more like a high to me. These little girls were downing those really long, wide straw shaped sticks of sugar! I don’t know about the rest of you, but my daughter can barely handle 3 pieces of candy, much less that much sugar!!

Then there was the swimwear part of the pageant: little girls prancing around and dancing on a stage—need I say more!!

People are always telling me that my daughter is beautiful and that I should enter her in pageants. I have considered it—and I’ve learned to NEVER say NEVER—but I hope that I never allow my daughter to be subjected to such a negative environment.

We wonder why unspeakable things happen to our children, but while I was watching this I was thinking that this is one of the reasons that children are subjected to horrible things such as molestation, abuse, human trafficking, etc. These LITTLE girls looked like grown-ups. Yes, they did look beautiful and I could tell that these parents really love their babies, but the reality is that I have to wonder what unknown harm is being done to God’s precious little creations.

Maybe you’ve watched this show and it seemed harmless to you. Maybe you are one of those moms that place your girls in pageants. I do know and support many other mothers who enter their daughters in pageants, but I think that each pageant has to be carefully considered before allowing our little ones to be exposed to some areas of life that are just too grown-up for their little minds to comprehend.

I’m not saying that my baby will never be in the spotlight of some type, I just pray that I never let it become of that proportion. She is more than a fabulous find of mine, she is a fabulous gift from the Almighty and it is up to me to prayerfully consider all that she does and is a part of. I pray that you too will consider all aspects of anything that you allow your child to participate in.

Blessings always,

Tara

"Fabulous Finds by Tara is a site for discovering "fabulous finds" in all areas of life--not just the grocery aisle."

I deleted my links!!!

I was trying to remove ONE link on "My Fabulous Web Links," instead I deleted them all!! I will try to get them all added back in the next day or two! I will also be adding 2 new links-exciting!

23 Days and Counting. . .

I will be heading to Peru in 23 days!!! How exciting.

It has been 10 years since I have flown, and we all know a lot has changed since then. I was just reviewing the guidelines for carry-on items and checked bagged. WHOA! Talk about making my head spin. You CAN take this, and you better NOT take this. :-) There are approxiamately 20 of us going on this mission trip. I do pray we will all get it right!

However, I know that God has his awesome hand on our trip and he will be with us as we go through the whole airline process. I feel sure that it will be an adventure and a blessing! I can hardly wait to come back and fill you all in on all the amazing things that are going to take place!

On a side note: When I started this blog, I said that my most fabulous find is Jesus Christ. I also stated that all posts will be prevalent to my life and daily walk as a Christian. I am going to make a point to post something weekly about my Christian walk. I hope you will "stay tuned" while I continue to share my fabulous finds.

After this trip, I hope to be able to post more frequently. Please keep this mission trip in your prayers.

Until next time--Blessings and peace,

Tara

Response from Winn-Dixie

Below is the e-mail response that I received from Winn-Dixie. I am sad about this, seriously. You may think that is silly, but I can't even look at their ad the same.

We had to go in Winn-Dixie Friday night on our way to the hunting club. My daughter loves those white powder sugar donuts. We were already planning to buy them, but then we saw that they were BOGO. We did not NEED 2 bags of donuts so I thought I would just see if I could buy only one. NOPE, not a chance! I had to buy both, or like the Winn-Dixie reply below states, I could buy one but then I'm still basically leaving money on the table. So we ended up with 2 bags of donuts (and 2 boxes of Fruit Roll-Ups), just what we needed. I just hope that my local Publix continues to let you purchase one item when they are BOGO.


"Dear Mrs. _______,

Thank you for taking the time to contact us with your inquiry. When purchasing BuyOne Get One Free items you have the option of purchasing on item if you would like but you will not receive the item at half price. To get the best benefit of the Buy One GetOne Free its best to go ahead and get both items because the price will be the same.Have a wonderful day and thank you for shopping at Winn-Dixie.

Winn-Dixie Customer Service Department
1-866-946-6349"

Questions or comments? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Blessings,
Tara

UPDATE on Working BOGO's to Your Advantage

Some things are always changing. . .

In my previous post about Buy One Get One Frees I told you that at my local Winn-Dixie and Publix if an item is Buy One Get One Free you can buy just ONE of the item and it would ring up 1/2 price.

That does work at my local Publix; however, my friend Crystal did inform me that in Florida you have to buy both items. Also, my friend Misty told me that when she went to our local Winn-Dixie she had to buy both items to get the deal.

Knowing that I have bought only one of an item and received it for 1/2 price, I told her I would make some calls today to see what I could find out. I called 2 different stores and received 2 different answers. One Customer Service Clerk told me that you HAVE to buy both items. The other clerk at the other store(where I KNOW I have bought only one if an item) told me that you HAVE to buy both items. BUT then I asked, "Has it always been that way?" He said, "Well, it just depends on which item it is."

Obviously, I was a little confused after those conversations. Seroiusly, how is a girl supposed to make her tedious list with all her coupons BEFORE going to the store if I don't know how much I will have to pay for an item??

So what am I going to do? For starters, I went to the Winn-Dixie corporate site, clicked on that amazing little button entitled, CONTACT US, and politely asked them exactly what I am supposed to do!

When they let me know, I will let you know. Until then, please check with your local store to see how they handle Buy One Get One Free items.

(Both stores did tell me that if an item is 2 for $5, you can purchase just one item for $2.50.)

Blessings and sorry for any confusion,
Tara

Title Town Milk Deals for 9/18/08

O.K.

Are you ready for this??

This is really good news!!

I was in Wal-Mart this week on Perimeter Rd. and store brand milk was $3.69 a gallon.

Today, I was in Winn-Dixie on Madison Hwy. and store brand milk was $3.99 a gallon.
Unfortunately, Dairy Fresh (the good stuff) was $5.69 a gallon.

CVS is at $3.99 a gallon.

Publix is still helping us to "afford the essentials" with their brand remaining at $3.69 a gallon.

At least, for now, milk is more affordable in Title Town. You may not get the exact brand you like, but it is cheaper than gas!!!!

Remember that these prices are specifically for Title Town, USA. While I love to share savings and savings tips of interest to everyone on my blog, most of the fabulous finds are specific to Title Town.

If you live elsewhere and would like to give us an idea of the cost of milk in your area, please leave a comment.

Blessings,
Tara

Contest: Win For Your Pastor

Christianbook.com has a an entire page devoted to contests. There are several contests to win books, but there is one that I really liked: Win for Your Pastor. It is for a Pastor Appreciation Plaque. Even though a lot of churches designate a specific day as Pastor's Appreciation Day, wouldn't it be nice to win this and be able to present it to your pastor?

You can go directly to the contest page by clicking HERE.

Best of luck,
Tara

Title Town Milk Deals for Thursday 9/11

Do I even have to tell you?

Yep, Publix still has the cheapest milk at $3.69 a gallon. Their ad states, 'In today's tricky economy, Publix is lowering prices on the items you need most." Then at the bottom it states, "Publix. Affording the essentials is essential." So I am thinking this $3.69 milk deal may be around for some time, which is just fine with me.

Walgreen's does have half-gallons on sale for $2.49 and Winn-Dixie has their brand of organic milk on sale for $3.89 a half-gallon.

If you find a better deal in Title Town, please let me know.

Blessings,
Tara

Save-A-Lot saved me a L-O-T!!

A great big THANK YOU going out to my wonderful mother this week. She called me on Saturday and told me that Save-A-Lot had chicken legs on sale. The "Sale By" date was Saturday so Save-A-Lot had to sell them or throw them out.

Do you know what they did??
They marked them down to $.59 per pound, originally $1.49 per pound!

Do you know what I did??
That's right, I got in my truck and drove straight to Save-A-Lot. I grabbed 7 packages of chicken legs, all marked at $.59 per pound, making each package around $1.06 a pack!! Each pack had 5 legs in it. That's 35 chicken legs--in my freezer!! What an awesome deal!

I told my husband instead of inviting friends over for hot wings, we could invite them over for hot legs. He said that I might want to think of a better way to word that. :-)

Have a great week!!
Tara

Two Great Sales this Weekend

I received an e-mail from Bath and Body Works and another from Kohl's this morning, both are having a great sale!

Bath and Body Works have their Wallflowers Buy 1 Get 1 Free! You do have to buy 2 in order to get the deal. Still, that is a savings of up to $12.50. You can see all of the sales items by clicking on the "Bath and Body Works" link above.

Kohl's is having a 2 day Power Pricing Sale, Friday and Saturday. Click on the "Kohl's" link to find out more about this great sale!

Have a great weekend!
Tara

Title Town Milk Deals for 9/4/08

The choices are slim and I know you think I'm picking favorites, but I am going to have to go with Publix again this week: $3.69 a gallon for the 4th week in a row. GO PUBLIX!! They also have Publix Greenwise Market Soymilk 1/2 gallon on sale 2/$5.

If you are on the other side of town, CVS will still have their milk $3.99 a gallon through Saturday? If you read my previous post, you know that I was in CVS this week. If you are particular about the brand of milk that you drink, I did notice that the milk was Pet Brand. I say this because the CVS ad states, "Brands vary by store."

If I discover any other milk sales before next Thursday, I will post them.

HOORAY...for CVS Extra Bucks!!

With a little planning, I think I fared pretty well today at CVS. Of course, I had to have my CVS Extra Care Card to get the deals. It’s free to get and only takes few minutes.

I needed mascara and toothpaste, so here is how I worked the sales and my coupons to my advantage to get the things I needed, plus some extras I can use. I did 2 transactions so that I could get this to work out right. A little work, but I think you will agree it was worth the deal.

1st Transaction

Covergirl Wetslicks Lipstick was ON SALE for $5.99
Also earned $5.99 Extra Care Bucks (ECB) at the end of the transaction to use on next transaction

Colgate Total Advanced Whitening Toothpaste ON SALE for $2.99
Had a coupon for $1.50 and earned ECB of $2.00

Colgate Max Fresh Toothpaste ON SALE for $2.99
Had a coupon for $1.00 and earned ECB of $2.00

Total of 1st Transaction: $10.31
Total ECB’s Earned this transaction: $9.99
Total Coupon Savings: $2.50
Not to mention, that the same toothpaste was almost $1.00 more each elsewhere

2nd Transaction—this is EXCELLENT!!

Neutrogena Healthy Volume Mascara ON SALE for $5.99
Neutrogena Lip Shimmer ON SALE for $5.99
Had a coupon for $3.00 off 2 and earned (2) $3.00 ECB’s

Dawn Dishwashing Liquid ON SALE for .99

The BEST Part: I used all the ECB’s from the 1st transaction on this transaction, plus my Neutrogena coupon.

Total of 2nd Transaction: .21 ---YES, 21 cents!!

PLUS, I earned $6.00 more dollars in ECB’s

In my opinion, that is soooooooo awesome!! All that for $10.52!

I also swung by Wal-Mart and picked-up Suave deodorant for 24 cents!
(Had a coupon, of course)

Another quick stop at Publix to get the New Kellogg’s Frosted Mini Wheats Blueberry Muffin cereal. I read somewhere that some of the boxes were offering a REBATE on the purchase price but Publix is the only place I have seen the box with the rebate info. I have to admit that I also had a coupon for this cereal. More FREE money coming my way!

I needed some granola bars for snacks at work. Target has their brand 4/$7 or $1.75 a box. I grabbed a small box that was on sale, but then I looked on the top shelf and they had a BIGGER box of assorted flavors for the SAME price.

FYI: Target also has a deal this week where you buy 4 snacks (certain brands) for $9 and you receive a $5 gift card. You can see the brands HERE.

I think that is about it for now. I did sell an item off of Craigslist today, so that was a blessing! I was also very blessed yesterday (in the grocery store of all places) with a donation/sponsorship towards the mission trip I will be taking in October. Praise be to God—he is my daddy!!

Blessings,

Tara

Rain or Shine...RAIN CHECKS are a Friend of Mine

As I was getting bread today at Publix, I asked the Produce Clerk, “Do you remember when this same bread was .85?” He did. Well, at $1.79 a loaf (Publix brand) I made my way to the check-out just happy that I could buy bread.

The cashier was swapping shifts with another cashier. While I was waiting, I ran and grabbed a sales ad. Of course, I had already viewed the ad online but I wanted to “look” at the ad-so glad I did! Another Publix brand was on sale for .89! That’s a .90 difference or I could get 2 loaves for the same price I was about to pay for 1 loaf. BUT they didn’t have that particular brand, the warehouse was out.

The Customer Service Clerk issued me a rain check for the bread. You know what I like so much about that? She asked me how many I wanted. I only asked for 1, but just knowing I could get 2, 3, 4…10 made me feel all good inside!!

Seriously, rain checks should be your friend, too. It’s like leaving money on the table. My example with the Publix brand bread is great, but what if this were a major brand that was on sale, like Sunbeam? You just might stumble upon a coupon for Sunbeam bread before you redeem your rain check that you didn’t have when you were originally going to buy the bread. Then you could use it and your rain check to save even more money!

Got a good rain check story? I’d love to hear, just leave me a comment. Don't have a Google account to leave a comment? It only takes a few seconds and it's FREE.

Blessings,
Tara

Titletown Thursday Milk Deals

For the 3rd week in a row, Publix has had the best milk deal at $3.69 a gallon, 8/28-9/3.

CVS also has their milk at $3.69 a gallon (with card) through Saturday, but the limit is 2 and brands vary by store, if that matters to you. However, at Publix the limit is 4 and the brand is Publix brand, my favorite because like I said last week, it truely does matter to me.

If you really need milk and at a good deal, but can't get to Publix or CVS, maybe Walgreens can help ease the burden on your pocketbook at $3.99 a gallon through Saturday.

If you like/need specialty types of milk, Winn-Dixie has the following on sale 2/$6 for a half-gallon: Hood Simply Start and Hood Calorie Countdown. This sale will go through 9/2.

Milk prices are updated on Thursday so that all new ads will be out for the weekend.

Rebates, Freebies, and a nasty cold!!!

Yes, a nasty cold but I could not let these free deals pass me by! Plus, it was really cool to show my sister what all I could buy with so little money!! I am accomplishing one of two things with her: 1) She is excited and will jump on the coupon train with me, or 2) She will never want to go shopping with me again....time will tell!

Walgreen's was our first stop. I bought :

3 jars of Peter Pan Peanut Butter

On Sale 3/$5

I had a manufacturer's coupon for EACH jar, total of $2.50 off = $2.50

1 Jane be Pure Mineral Powder
On Sale for $4.99
I had a manufacturer's coupon for $2 off, and $3 in Walgreen's Register Rewards=FREE

1 Pack of Trident Extra Care Gum
On Sale for $.99
Had a Manufacturer's Coupon for $.75 off = $.24

1 Package of Walgreen's 4-pack Lightbulbs
$1.99

My total with tax $5.39 !

I saved $16.22!!

But here is the coolest part: This morning I submitted by Walgreen's Easy Saver Rebate form and I will receive a rebate check for $10.77! So all that wonderful stuff (that we will use) will be FREE!!!! Plus we made a few bucks.

You see, the Jane be Pure Powder and the light bulbs were FREE after rebate. On a previous trip I also bought Pert Plus which is FREE when you submit the rebate form. AND you can use a manufacturer's coupon at time of purchase and STILL receive the FREE rebate. Isn't that so cool ?!?

Next Stop: Rite Aid

This was a quick stop because I only needed one item. Pert Plus (again). Why? You guessed it, REBATE. Rite Aid has what they call Single Rebate Check (SCR).

Pert Plus was on sale for $2.99.
I had a manufacturer's coupon for $2.00 off.
My total with tax was $1.20
PLUS I submitted the SCR online form for a $2.00 REBATE. That's $.80 profit, not to mention the FREE shampoo.

Last stop: Wal-Mart
No, they don't have a rebate form--but they do have the cheapest price on Kool-Aid. Do you know why that is so important? Let me enlighten you:

I had the following coupons:
1 FREE 16 oz. Kraft Dressing
1 FREE canister of Crystal Light
1 FREE 16 oz. pkg. of Kraft Cheese Singles
1 FREE pkg. of Oscar Mayer Hotdogs

The catch: For EACH coupon, you had to purchase 3 Kraft products. Guess what? Kool-Aid is a Kraft product. Did you know that, neither did I until I was reading another great blog,
Justine's Grocery Brags.

Kool-Aid at my local Wal-Mart is 5/$1.00. I had to buy 12 to get the deal. Glad my hubby likes Kool-Aid. So for $2.40 I got 12 packs of Kool-Aid AND the 4 items above FREE!!!

That was my awesome shopping trip of the day. Remember there are a lot of "great" deals out there, but if you don't use the items, I don't recommend buying them just so you can say you found a fabulous find. These were all items we will use.

In closing, let me say that my sweet sister did stop by another Rite-Aid for me so that I could run-in and get something for that nasty cold, because after all that shopping I wasn't feeling too fabulous! Thank God, I feel much better today.

You Gotta Work Those Buy One Get One Free Deals to YOUR Advantage

Buy One Get One Free, also known as BOGO's can be your best friend, IF you know how to make the great deal even greater. I will be talking about Publix and Winn-Dixie, if you don't have these stores in your area, you may want to verify if the same is true for your local grocer.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

1. When an item is BOGO at Publix and Winn-Dixie, you don't have to buy 2 items. You can buy just one item and it will ring up at half the price. For example, Publix has Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Cake Mix BOGO this week. The regular price is $1.99 each. If you purchase 2 cake mixes, one will scan $1.00 and the other will scan .99, totaling $1.99.

2. As mentioned above, you don't have to buy both items. I generally only buy one of the item that is BOGO unless it is something that I really need or if it is a good item to stock-up on.

3. You can use a coupon in addition to the BOGO deal. Just remember, if you are going to purchase 2 cake mixes you will need a coupon for each cake mix, unless your coupon says you have to buy 2 mixes to use the coupon. So let's say we have a coupon for .50 off 1 cake mix and the cake mixes are BOGO like mentioned above. If we buy only one cake mix and then use our coupon, look at the savings:

1 cake mix at 1/2 price for $1.00 minus the .50 coupon = total paid for cake mix .50!! You saved $1.48 --now that is a deal.

If you are a self-proclaimed coupon queen like me or if you are just starting out, I suggest that you check out the sales ad for your local grocers online before heading to the market. Every week I check out each grocer's websites. Publix and Winn-Dixie both have their ad's online and you can do a search by product or category. At first, it may take some time but if you make it a habit it will be second nature. If you have more BOGO tips, please leave a comment. I know I didn't cover them all, but hopefully I gave you a good start.

Links to our local grocers:
Publix
Winn-Dixie
Harvey's (they double coupons--a whole other post)

Day of the week the ad changes:
Publix: Thursday
Winn-Dixie: Wednesday
Harvey's: Wednesday

BLESSINGS!!

Best Milk Deal for Title Town- beginning Thursday 8/21/08

Publix has done it once again this week: Milk at the more affordable price of $3.69 a gallon. Publix milk is my favorite, next to Horizon Organic Milk. However, that stuff is sooooo creamy and good I immediately gain 12 pounds off of one bowl of Special K Fruit and Yogurt drowned in it's creamy goodness!!

Back to the point, if I can't buy Horizon milk I strive to buy Publix or Dairy Fresh brand. Both brands are made without added hormones. Unfortunately, I am far from being a 100% Organic consumer, but I do TRY to eat/drink products that don't have a lot of added stuff.

Extra FYI: If you have to have Horizon Organic Milk, it is $3.99 a HALF gallon this week at Winn-Dixie.