This year, my goal is to pay off my home equity line of credit once and for all!
This month, we made a huge dent into the debt. My husband is paid every other week, so twice a year he gets three paychecks in one month. June had three paychecks, so we were able to devote a lot of money to debt reduction!
So we have now paid off 37% of the amount we owed on December 31, 2011, and 77% of the total debt that we had incurred on our home equity line of credit in the years that we used it. We haven't used it in several years, and though I won't close the account once it's paid off, I hope to never need to use it again.
Next month we have some large one-time payments coming up, so I expect we won't make as great progress as we did this month. But we'll keep at it until the debt is gone!
How are you doing on your 2012 financial goals? Leave a comment below!
This week, I'm cutting up lots and lots and lots of mangoes from my tree to get them ready for freezing and for recipes. And mangoes are on sale at the grocery stores now. So I thought I'd share a post from last year about how to cut a mango!
A mango has a very large, flat pit inside it. Here's the best way to
get the mango flesh out of the mango without running into the pit, or
without wasting much mango flesh. After that, I'll give you my faster,
but slightly more wasteful, way to cut a mango.
You'll need a knife, a spoon, a cutting board, and a mango.
This week at Publix, I got cheap macaroni and cheese!
No, that's not quite right. I got cheap macaroni! And cheap cheese!
And other pasta shapes as well. Mueller's pasta was BOGO and I had 12 55¢/2 coupons that were expiring on Saturday, and we go through pasta really quick. So I bought 24 boxes. I feel like such an extreme couponer...
Otherwise, I didn't have a lot of time to plan a big trip this week. I printed out some coupons for cheese and salad dressing, and I got some Goodnites for my daughter. I'll probably go again at the end of the shopping week to pick up some deals that I missed this time. Please let me know what I missed, or link your deals up with Wednesday Weekly Shopping!
This week's ALDI trip was kind of random. I replaced some items we had used up, and I bought some items to be used for a dinner at our friends' house coming up this weekend. I'll probably still need to go again on Monday to pick up milk, more eggs, and produce.
Welcome to Frugal Food Thursday! If you have a great frugal recipe, please link up below!
This week, I'm featuring Fresh Mango Salsa!
It's mango season here at the Frugal Follies household. The backyard mango tree is producing tons of fruit. And because of the wind gusts from the outskirts of Tropical Storm Debby, they're falling down on the backyard grass like rain!
While I deal with all of these mangoes, here's a recipe for a fresh mango salsa that I made and posted last year. It is incredibly yummy!
It's been a couple of months since I gave away some Amazon.com gift codes... so let's do it again!
I love earning $5 Amazon.com gift codes from Swagbucks, and I love giving them away!
In the past two months, I've earned ten $5 Amazon.com gift card codes. I'm going to give them away to one lucky winner!
To enter, use the Rafflecopter below! This giveaway is open to readers 18 and older worldwide. This giveaway ends on Friday, July 27, 2012, at 12:01 am. A winner will be chosen randomly soon after the end of the giveaway. The winner will be contacted by email, and the winner must respond within 72 hours. If the winner does not respond, that person will be ruled ineligible and another winner will be chosen.
I invite you to link up to your best grocery deals below, to inspire others to save more!
Most weeks, I spend a lot of money at Publix and just a little bit of money at the drug stores, CVS and Walgreens. Instead, this week I spent almost nothing at Publix and spent a lot at Walgreens!
Last week, when I posted about the week's upcoming coupons, I noted that there was a $5/2 Coppertone coupon. I wrote that I hoped for a sale on suntan lotion, as we were pretty much out.
And poof! there was a great sale on Coppertone suntan lotion at Walgreens! Yay!
I skipped going to CVS this week, but here's what I got at Walgreens:
This week, ALDI had some wonderful produce deals. I love it when they have strawberries and blueberries on sale, but they had avocadoes on sale this week as well!
Looking to get a cheap guitar? Here are some tips:
Ask around! You may have a friend or relative who bought a guitar, played it for a month or two, then quit. You might be able to get a guitar for free.
Check Craigslist for guitars in your area.
Go to yard sales - look for ones that say they are selling a guitar in their ad.
Do online searches - for instance, search on "epiphone les paul special ii" if that's the kind of guitar you want.
Over the last couple of weeks, I've heard a radio commercial for the Walmart Challenge: "See for yourself. Bring your last receipt in to Walmart, buy the same items and compare prices. How much could you save?"
Well, I'll be happy to take that challenge!
I'll compare the shopping trip I did at Publix on June 14th. On that trip, I bought 8 boxes of Mrs. Paul's Parchment Bake tilapia, 2 Dole Frozen Shakers, 2 bottles of Hunt's Ketchup, 2 packages of Hebrew National hot dogs, 2 bottles of Dial body wash, 12 Voskos yogurts, 2 Polly-O mozzarella cheese packages, and one bagel. For this trip, I spent $12.45. See all the details here.
For the comparable shopping trip at Walmart, I'll use the same manufacturer's coupons that I used on my Publix trip; however, I won't be able to use cents-off or dollars-off Publix store coupons or competitor store coupons, since Walmart does not honor these coupons. (See the Walmart coupon policy for more information.)
I'll also use ad matching to get lower prices on items at Walmart when a specific price was mentioned in the Publix ad; however, price matching cannot be used on buy one, get one free items if a specific price is not mentioned. I assume the "Save up to..." statement in the Publix ad is not a specific price.. (See the Walmart ad matching policy for more information.)
I also had to make two minor substitutions: Walmart did not carry Voskos brand yogurt, so I substituted Oikos brand. I still took off the Voskos manufacturer's coupon, though. And my Walmart did not carry fresh bagels in the bakery, so I substituted a doughnut.
(That post title sounds like an episode title of The Big Bang Theory, doesn't it?)
I had such an amazing week at Publix last week, getting eight free boxes of fish fillets and saving 86%, so I didn't think this week would be able to live up to that.
In fact, it was much, much worse than I thought!
Several deals I planned at home ended up not working when I got to the store.
Failed Deal #1:
2 Flatout bread, 11.2 oz @ BOGO $3.19
- 2 $0.55/1 Flatout Soft Pretzel Fold-It printable (zip 30003)
= $2.09 for two, or $1.45 each
Problem: The soft pretzel Flatout was not included in the BOGO (it was only 10 oz).
Failed Deal #2:
1 Magnum ice cream bars @ $3.00
- $1.50/1 Magnum Mini Product printable
- $1.25/1 Magnum bars (in-ad coupon)
= 25¢
Problem: The Mini product was not included in the $3.00 sale - it was $5.99. This deal could have worked had I bought two boxes and used the $1.50/2 Magnum Ice Cream Bar Multipack printable coupon as well as a second in-ad coupon - that would make each box $1.00 each, which is still a good deal!
I had twelve coupons for 50¢ off Maruchan Yakisoba (a ramen noodle product) from the Smartsource insert from the 5/20 newspapers. With a buy one, get one free sale for 99¢, they would be free! Do I get them or not?
Pro: They're free! And with hurricane season just starting here in South Florida, it's always a good idea to have emergency food on hand.
Con: I'd look like a crazy extreme couponer by buying tons of Yakisoba. In many of episodes of TLC's Extreme Couponing, you see couponers buying case after case of Yakisoba. And even in an emergency, would we really want to eat it?
We've been out of lemon juice for a few weeks now, so I headed over to our local Western Beef to stock up.
I don't usually make a special trip like that, but Western Beef sells 32-oz bottles of lemon juice for 99¢ each. This is a lot cheaper than Walmart, where it is $1.99, or even ALDI, where it costs $1.69. And I make lemonade with the lemon juice regularly. (Recipe: 1 cup lemon juice, 1 cup sugar, 7 cups water. Stir together in a pitcher and refrigerate. Why would anyone buy frozen lemonade - or even worse, instant lemonade drink mix?)
Western Beef, by the way, is a grocery store chain with a few dozen stores in the New York City area and two in South Florida - one in Pembroke Pines and one in Boca Raton. It specializes in beef (surprise, surprise) and other meats, which is stores in a freezer room. Bring your jacket - and maybe gloves!
While I was there, I picked up some produce as well.
How many inserts will there be in your newspaper this Sunday?
According to the Sunday Coupon Preview, it looks like a normal week - one Smartsource and one RedPlum. However, next week (July 1st) there will be no inserts due to the holiday.
I'm excited about the Coppertone coupons. We're running out of the suntan lotion we bought on sale last year with coupons, so I'm hoping I can combine those coupons with a sale at the drug stores this weekend.
Which coupons are you most excited about? Check Sunday Coupon Preview and leave a comment!
Welcome to Frugal Food Thursday! If you have a great frugal recipe, please link up below!
This week, I'm featuring Mozzarella and Cilantro Salad, a lunch salad recipe I created this week.
I bought some bunches of cilantro for 39¢ each on this Penn Dutch shopping trip last week. Usually, I'd use the cilantro to make cilantro pesto to serve on pasta. But since I'm trying to cut down on carbohydrates, I thought to use them in a salad.
To the cilantro, I added the Polly-O mozzarella cheese I got on sale and with coupons at this Publix shopping trip. And I added tomatoes, red peppers, and lettuce, also purchased at Penn Dutch on sale. A little bit of salad dressing from my stockpile, and I had a delicious, fresh salad!
It's not the most sophisticated recipe, I have to admit, but it shows that you can have fresh, healthy food on a budget.
When you try to save the most money possible using coupons, one thing you generally have to drop is brand loyalty. The toothpaste you like the most might never go on a sale where you can get it for free at the drugstores. If you're out of canned tomatoes and there's a great sale on a brand you don't normally buy, you buy the other brand to save money, rather than pay full price on the brand you preferred.
Even before I started couponing, I wasn't brand-loyal; I generally bought the store brand of most items. But one brand I've remained loyal to is Dry Idea deodorant. I've tried other brands that I got for free, but I really like Dry Idea the best. Luckily, I've rarely had to spend more than $1.00 each, and sometimes by combining manufacturer's and store coupons, along with sales and store loyalty programs, I can get Dry Idea for free!
So when I was offered the chance to try out the new Dry Idea AdvancedDry antiperspirant, I was really excited to give this new product a try! The new Dry Idea AdvancedDry comes in a roll-on, clear gel, or invisible solid. The roll-on gives you 24 hour protection with its fast-drying MicroCotton formula. It's hypo-allergenic and contains vitamin E. Learn more about this product at DryIdea.com or at the DryIdea Facebook page.
I decided to try it out for a 7-mile bicycle ride on a hot, humid South Florida afternoon. And this wasn't a pleasure ride - I've started riding for fitness; it's great aerobic exercise and a lot of fun, too! And the AdvancedDry kept me cool and dry throughout my ride. I really enjoyed using this product - assuming it goes on sale at the drug stores, I would definitely get it again!
Frugal Follies is sponsoring a giveaway for a coupon for a free Dry Idea AdvancedDry product! 3 winners will be chosen.
The coupon is for 1 FREE 3.25oz or smaller Dry Idea AdvancedDry. Maximum value of the coupon is $5.50. This offer is not subject to doubling. Limit one coupon per purchase of specified items. Limit of 1 like coupon in same shopping trip. Coupon not valid with other coupons for the same item. Coupon may not exceed value of item purchased. This coupon expires on 12/31/2012.
To enter, use the Rafflecopter below! The giveaway is open to US residents aged 18 and older. This giveaway will end on Friday, July 20th, at 12:01 am Eastern time. If you are the winner, I will contact you shortly thereafter, and you will have 72 hours to respond. If you do not respond within that time, your entry will be declared invalid and a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook.
I invite you to link up to your best grocery deals below, to inspire others to save more!
For the past few weeks, I've gone over my grocery budget of $80 per week for my family of five. That includes food, paper and plastic products, and health and beauty products, but not medicine or restaurant meals.
This week, I stayed well under $80, woohoo! My best deal was eight packages of frozen fish, which I got for free!
This week, we'll have lots of fish in the plans, as I got eight boxes of tilapia fillets for free at Publix! We also have some salmon, so we'll be eating that as well.
This week, I got a great present from my aunt: a pad full of Reach floss coupons! She's a medical sales representative, so she gets lots of free samples from different manufacturers. So we got some floss samples, some mouthwash samples, and at least 20 $2 off Reach floss coupons. That means that even if there isn't a Reach coupon available, I'll be able to use these coupons when there is a sale on Reach - like this week at Walgreens - and maybe turn a good deal into a moneymaker.
I also picked up some Colgate toothpaste and Suave shampoo that was free after Register Rewards, and some Hefty plastic bags that I was out of.
I wasn't too excited about this week's deals at CVS, but one caught my eye: a money-making deal on Tom's of Maine deodorant! So that was all I got this week.
There were other deals that looked good, but many of the deals this week were only for a particular region. For instance, I read that General Mills cereals were on sale for $1.88 each. Using this coupon for $1.00 off 2 General Mills adult cereals or for $1.00 off 2 boxes Cheerios cereals, if I bought two boxes, each box of cereal would cost $1.38 - below my target price of $1.50 per box.
But in my local ad, the deal was buy three boxes for $10 and receive $3 in Extra Care Bucks. That means that if I bought three boxes and used one coupon, I'd spend $6 for three boxes after ECBs - $2 per box. Not a good deal for me!
For more frugal tips, please go to my Linkup Parties page and check out the bloggers listed under Frugal Tips Linkups. There are lots of great ideas on each blog and I'm sure you'll find lots of wonderful tips!
Mrs. Paul's Parchment Bake tilapia fillets are on a Buy One, Get One Free sale this week. I combined the sale with this B1G1 Mrs. Paul's or Van De Kamp's Parchment Bake printable coupon to get two packages for free! I was able to get four prints of the coupon (two prints each on two computers), which meant that I got eight packages of fish fillets for free.
I'll be able to serve this fish with a side dish of pasta primavera (got the ingredients on my Penn Dutch shopping trip) to make some very nice dinners!
Dole Fruit Smoothie Frozen Shakers, using this $1.25/2 Dole Fruit Smoothie Frozen Shakers printable (watch the video to increase the value from 65¢ to $1.25) and the $1.99/2 Dole Fruit Smoothie Shakers from the Publix Yellow Advantage flyer
The Stock Up for Summer Savings coupon booklet came in handy again, with coupons for ketchup and hot dogs. I loaded up on yogurt - thankfully I still had coupons that came in an insert from February 19th! And lastly, I bought a bagel for my middle daughter, who was shopping with me.
This week I did some shopping at Penn Dutch, a store in my area which specializes in meat - particularly store-made meat products like sausage.
Penn Dutch offers a free 34-oz bottle of extra virgin olive oil if you join their mailing list. I had seen the offer for quite some time, but hadn't taken them up on it until this week, when I spied a $2 off $10 coupon in their weekly ad. The two deals together looked like a winner!
I also picked up some imported pasta for 79¢ per pound, as well as some on-sale produce - great prices on cucumbers, celery, cilantro, bananas, and lettuce. I also picked up some tomatoes and red peppers. I now have some great ingredients to make pasta primavera!
Welcome to Frugal Food Thursday! If you have a great frugal recipe, please link up below!
This week, I'm featuring Banana-Blueberry Whole Wheat Pancakes!
I love making breakfast for dinner on Saturday nights. Sometimes I make omelets, or I pull out my Belgian waffle maker and make some waffles. But usually I'll make pancakes.
I use a recipe from the New York Times Cookbook, but I substitute whole wheat flour for half the white flour, and I add some vanilla. I use powdered milk and water rather than use milk from the fridge. And I put in whatever fruit I happen to have around that is about to go bad or that I otherwise need to use up.
This weekend, I decided to use the dried blueberries from the Bella Viva dried fruit assortment that I received for a review and giveaway last month. And I mashed up a couple of turning-brown bananas. It was a great combination!
I invite you to link up to your best grocery deals below, to inspire others to save more!
I was over budget again this week, ack!
I don't really do anything to keep myself under budget. I don't use a cash envelope - though I pay with cash, I keep the grocery money commingled with cash meant for other purposes. I don't even write down how much I've spent as the week goes on. I just kinda estimate in my head how much I've spent during the week.
But I may need to implement some method - either keep the grocery money separate, or keep a tally of how much I've spent - and stick to it!
I took a trip over to ALDI earlier this week. No great deals in the discount aisle, but I found sour cream in the refrigerated case for 59¢. This will be great to use in the taco salads that I planned for in my menu plan.
One of the great things about reviewing and giving away products here at Frugal Follies is that I get the chance to try things that I might not otherwise! For instance, I've heard great things about coconut oil (not to mention the health benefits), but I had never gotten around to giving it a try.
Still unsure what coconut oil is? Check out this post on What Is Virgin Coconut Oil? to learn more. If you'd like to learn more about the health benefits of coconut oil, check coconutoil.com.
I wasn't sure what to make with the coconut oil. Luckily, I was able to find lots of great recipes using coconut oil by doing a search. Here's what I ended up making!
1 tbsp butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1 cup Reese's Chocolate Easter Eggs (about 6), chopped finely
Line an 8x8 baking pan with wax paper. Spread the butter on the top of the wax paper.
In a medium saucepan, combine the peanut butter, honey, and coconut oil. Cook over medium-low heat until melted and well combined. Remove from heat. Add the oats and mix until the oats are covered. Allow to cool for 2 minutes, then add the chocolate eggs.
Using a spatula, spread the mixture into the 8x8 pan. Place in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours or until solid. Remove wax paper and cut into squares.
Makes 16 granola bar squares.
They were delicious! I loved how the coconut oil gave the granola bars a faint coconut taste without having to add coconut itself.
The Tropical Traditions website also has information on how to use coconut oil. There are lots of great ideas there - not only can it be used for baking and frying, but it can also be used to make your own mayonnaise, salad dressings, and even ketchup! I will definitely be trying these recipes soon.
Frugal Follies is sponsoring a giveaway for 1 quart of Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil!
To enter, use the Rafflecopter below! The giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents aged 18 and older. This giveaway will end on Friday, July 13th, at 12:01 am Eastern time. If you are the winner, I will contact you shortly thereafter, and you will have 72 hours to respond. If you do not respond within that time, your entry will be declared invalid and a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook. If you are a Canadian resident, Tropical Traditions is not responsible for customs or duties that Canada may charge for your prize.
Love guacamole? If you do, here's a great giveaway to enter!
Yucatan Guacamole is running a simple "enter to win" Guac Party giveaway where one daily winner will receive a Guac party kit that includes all Yucatan guacamole flavors, sombreros, mustaches, maracas, Yucatan bags, bubbles, plates, pens, and more!
On Saturday, I went to pick up another gallon of milk to get the $1 Extra Care Buck after purchase. That means that milk cost me $2.69 - cheaper than ALDI. I brought my two younger daughters on this trip. My middle daughter (who has special needs) loves to shop at CVS because of the security camera in the front of the store. She can see herself on the video display overhead. She gets excited and dances all around, watching herself dance on the monitor. It is a little difficult to get her away from the camera to pick up the items we need! But when I check out, she goes back and dances some more.
On Sunday, I picked up this week's deals... by myself. It is easier to shop by myself, but I have to admit I don't smile as much.
At Walgreens, I had $4 in Register Rewards (two $2 RRs) to use up today, but this week's Walgreens ad was not all that great. So I used them to purchase my go-to item - toilet paper. The Angel Soft 9-roll package was on sale this week for $4, so that means I only paid sales tax!
But since I was using two Register Rewards, I had to buy at least one more item. I noticed that Kleenex tissues were buy one, get one free this week. I usually buy a year's supply of tissues each year when they go on sale at Publix just before the school year starts. I buy enough for us and to give a few boxes to my daughters' teachers. But now I'm down to just a couple of boxes, so I thought I'd buy two more to get us through the summer. Hopefully Publix will have the same sale again and there will be high-value coupons that match the sale!
I love nuts! I love to add them to granola for breakfast, or to add some to a dish of oatmeal. I love to make salads with some chopped nuts on top for a healthy lunch, or processed into nut butters and spread on bread for a yummy sandwich. They're great for snacks all by themselves or baked into cookies or banana bread. And for dinner, I add nuts to stir-fries. So they're great all day long!
Problem is, nuts can be very expensive. And for a frugal person like me, it's hard to shell out (get it? shell out?) the money to buy nuts. So here are some strategies I use to buy nuts for cheap:
Look for sales! I love to buy nuts when they are on a buy one, get one free sale at Publix.
Combine the sales with a coupon to save even more! I can often buy jars of nuts for $1 or less by combining manufacturer's coupons (and maybe store coupons too!) with a sale at the grocery store.
I also buy nuts at ALDI. Their regular prices tend to be lower than any other store in my area.
If you don't have ALDI in your area, try Walmart's house brand of nuts.
If you need a small amount of nuts, buy them from the bulk bins that many stores have. For larger amounts, buying prepackaged nuts on sale and with coupons will probably save you more.
Buy unshelled nuts. Shelled nuts may be easier to use, but they cost more.
Check health food stores. Not the fancy kind of health food store - they will be very expensive, so don't buy there - but the inexpensive type. They may have lots of different kinds of nuts available in bulk.
You can earn points on online rewards sites, then use your points to purchase gift cards for health food stores or online shopping sites. Use these gift cards to purchase nuts!
If you're looking to purchase online, do searches to check all sources and prices. You'll probably want to buy in bulk to save on shipping costs. For instance, NutSite.com carries walnuts, almonds, filberts, and mixed nuts in 20 lb or 25 lb bags. That's plenty of nuts, but if you love nuts and you'll definitely use that size, you'll save a lot!
Hope this helps you save on purchasing nuts!
(This is a sponsored post on behalf of NutSite.com. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.)Read more...
I know how much all of you love to win Publix gift cards in giveaways here at Frugal Follies. So I've decided to have another giveaway!
I'm giving away the Publix $25 gift card that I received as part of the Running Out? Run In. promotion a few weeks ago. I figure, I barely spend any money at Publix by combining coupons with weekly deals, so why not give this card away to one of my readers?
To enter, use the Rafflecopter below! The giveaway is open to US residents aged 18 and older. This giveaway will end on Friday, July 6th, at 12:01 am Eastern time. If you are the winner, I will contact you shortly thereafter, and you will have 72 hours to respond. If you do not respond within that time, your entry will be declared invalid and a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook.
Alamo is offering exclusive deals when you sign up to be an Alamo Insider!
Summer vacations are just around the corner, and Alamo is offering exclusive deals when you sign up to be an Alamo Insider! Join free today and from now on the best deals come to you. Plus, you can bank on special privileges like a 10% or more member discount on every rental, and self-service kiosks that get you on the road to vacation faster than ever. Whether your next escape is one week or months away, Alamo’s got exclusive deals for you.
It's filled with over 60 recipes, each with 10g or less of carbohydrates. There are recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and even snacks. Plus, you'll get access to an online database filled with hundreds of other recipes.
FamilyFun is the magazine for parents with children ages three to twelve. Family Fun is an ideabook for all the exciting things families can do together. You'll receive 20 issues of the magazine. What a deal!