Frugal Fun: Lowe's Build & Grow

Weekends can prove to be the best time for creating family memories, but sometimes they can also drain your wallets.  Since Benji is two years old right now, it sometimes becomes tough looking for new activities that he can sit through, especially with this never-ending cold weather.

This weekend we tried Lowe's Build & Grow program for the first time.  I signed us up thinking that it was worth a shot, though I really didn't think the odds were good that he would sit through the session.  I am happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised.

When you first enter Lowe's, the activity is already set up for everyone.  We walked up to three long tables, with aprons, safety goggles and hammers laid out.  I went to the desk to check in, and received the bird house kit.  Daddy started reading the instructions while Benji waited patiently... while banging the hammer, of course!

I think he could have just banged on the wood with the hammer all afternoon.

The kit was really simple, and contained blunt nails and pre-drilled holes for them which struck me as really thoughtful.  Since it was such an easy project, we could let Benji bang away at the pieces, and they just started to form the house.

He was very enthralled with the mechanics of the bird house.  We put a couple pieces on backwards since we were letting Benji take so much of the lead, but we quickly popped them out and put them together correctly while he was distracted with another piece of wood.  When he showed the birdhouse to the employee manning the desk, they gave him a certificate and a patch for his apron.

I am going to let him paint the birdhouse and then we will nail it to the tree right outside our bay window.  In the summer, Benji likes to climb in that window and watch the birds.

Cost: $0
Smiles: Infinite  :)

Couponing Extravaganza

My local grocery store has been running their Dollar Days promotion this week, and there have been a lot of great coupons this month.

This haul included free ice cream, rice steamers, wax melts, pasta sauce, rice sides and salad dressing.  I paid $28.00 for this order, but also received $15.00 back for the dollar promo.  There are 8 boxes of fruit packs stacked there- that will last a long time, and it my usual bribe to the kiddo.  I did these deals four times in total so I could really stock up our pantry.  We use the sauce on our homemade pizzas too, so we should be set for a while.

I just ran in to grab this stuff really quick this morning.  The store has all their Gorton's frozen fish half off, which works with coupons for a really good buy. I spent $5.87, and got $3.00 back for the dollar promo.  There are great coupons available now for the turkey bacon, snickers, cookies and P3 packs.  I thought the P3 packs would be a waste but the coupon made them free.  However, they are a nice addition to a salad, so I am glad I picked them up again.  The cookies were finally clearanced from Valentine's Day, so I picked up all the Pillsbury they had left since they matched up with my coupons.  The eggs, P3 packs, cookies, snickers, cleaner, tissues and hair products were all free or better than free with coupons.  I found the hair products on clearance, and I have coupons worth more than their current price.

You will notice that I don't purchase a lot of produce or meat.  The reason that I don't buy produce is that I garden from the spring through the fall.  It is by far the most fun way to stretch your grocery budget.  When I started this, we lived about 45mins away from NYC so we had a 10x10' plot in a community garden.  I canned 50 jars of sauce, and ate countless salads, cucumbers and melons from that tiny space.  I will write more about gardening when I am not looking at snow outside the window.

I only buy meat in bulk, or on a manager's special.  My husband and I tried out a vegan diet a couple years ago, and after not eating meat for twelve months, we just don't eat as much as we used to.  So I buy bulk packages at Sam's and split them up into dinner size portions, and then freeze everything.  When luck is with me, I find those on manager's special.  Since I always freeze everything immediately, it doesn't make much difference when it is expiring.  Our deep freezer has become my best friend in this endeavor.

Be sure to check all the popular sites for coupons as least once a week: coupons.com, redplum.com and smartsource.com are great places to start.  My grocer allows me to stack those coupons with store coupons, so I can get some pretty great deals.  Become familiar with your store's coupon policy, and if you don't know the rules- you better ask somebody.  :)

DIY: Household Cleaner

One way to save money is to make common household items rather than buy them in a store.  An easy start is to make a cleaner that can be used on countertops, sinks, tables, floors, etc.  There really is no end to it's uses because it is just vinegar and citrus peels.  It is non-toxic and all natural, and literally costs pennies to make.  I realized I was running low this morning, and I think I last made this before we moved last summer.

There are lots of recipes online, but I use the most basic.  A couple of weeks ago, Aldi had small bags of limes for $0.49.  There were five small limes in the bag.  I used one for margaritas one night (ahem), and then the other four I peeled into a large mason jar, and then juiced into a different small mason jar.  I filled the large mason jar with plain white vinegar, put a lid on it, and I can forget about it for the next three weeks or so.  I store it in our basement overstock since it's a cool, dark space.  I don't recommend storing it near strong sunlight since it might interfere with the citrus peels.  After that time, you strain the peels, dilute the mixture and put it in any old spray bottle.  I prefer to use a 50/50 dilution, and the resulting mixture will last for many months.  You can use orange, lemon or lime peels- whatever floats your boat.  The mixture will kill germs on any surface, but test a small area first if you are using it on something valuable.  It cleans our entire kitchen with minimal effort, and you are only left with the faint scent of citrus.

Since we are in a waste-not, want-not household, the juice will also go to use.  I am thinking Tequila Lime Chicken for dinner tomorrow.  In case you feel like doing that as well, here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
4 limes
1 C tequila
1/4 C olive oil
2 T salt
5 cloves garlic
1 jalapeno, sliced
1/2 bunch chopped cilantro
12 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 C grated Monterey Jack Cheese

Directions:
Squeeze the juice from the limes into the food processor, and add the tequila, olive oil, salt, garlic, jalapeno and cilantro.  Blend well, then add the mixture to a plastic bag with the chicken, and marinate overnight. Cook the chicken breast over medium high temperature for about 4-5 mins on each side.  Then melt the cheese over the chicken breasts.


This is a great recipe for cooking in bulk, and you can easily set up a freezer dinner for later.  Keep in mind that chicken breasts are insanely large these days.  When I buy a big pack of chicken breasts at Sams, I take a sharp knife and cut the breast in half width-wise.  If you push it flat on your cutting board, the knife will slide right through.  That way you aren't overeating since no one needs that much chicken in one sitting.

And in the end, what is left of the limes go into the compost pile, and we are only left with a jar of cleaner and a big pan of chicken!

Free Cereal

One of the reasons I didn't have as many high-value coupons for my Dollar Days Deals was because I had already used them to snag some free cereal at Stop and Shop.  In this case, the store was giving an automatic $6.00 back when you bought four specific cereals.  Since I happened to have coupons for all of the boxes, I walked out with a $0.00 balance. Yay, free cereal!

Sunday Morning Couponing

This is a typical grocery store coupon run for me.  I love Sunday mornings!  This week, my local grocer is running a promotion called "Dollar Days." For this promotion, if you buy a certain number of products, you get a dollar amount back on a catalina and a free store bag.  I did 3 of these promotions on Sunday, and I plan to do some again on Wednesday when they run their 4-day specials if I receive my coupons in the mail on time.  This is the breakdown:

(4) Kelloggs Krave S'mores Cereal - $2.49
(2) Kellogs Mini Wheat Touch of Fruit Cereal - $2.99
(4) Honey Nut Cheerios Cereal - $1.99
(2) Chocolate Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal - $2.49
(6) Stoneyfield Organic Greek Yogurt - $1.00
(1) Stoneyfield Organic Greek Yogurt Quart -$3.69
(4) Betty Crocker Cake Mix - $1.25
(2) Knorr Rice Sides - $1.00
(2) Ragu Pasta Sauce - $1.39
(2) Wishbone Salad Dressing - $1.69
(4) Minute Rice Steamers - $0.99
(4) McCormick Mild Taco Seasoning 2/$1.00
(4) Superpretzel Cheese Bites - $0.88
(1) Dole Smoothie Shaker - $1.99
(1) Barber Foods Stuffed Chicken Breast- $2.99
(3) Shopping Bags - $0.99
Totals: $69.16

Coupons:
(1) .75/2 Betty Crocker Cake Mixes Store e-Coupon
(2) .75/2 Betty Crocker Cake Mixes Internet Coupon (doubles)
(1) .75/2 Betty Crocker Cake Mixes SavingStar Deposit
(1) 1.25/1 Dole Smoothie Store e-Coupon
(1) .75/1 Dole Smoothie Newspaper Coupon (doubles)
(2) Buy 2 Get 1 Free Stoneyfield Yogurt Newspaper Coupon
(1) .80/1 Stoneyfield Organic Yogurt Quart Store e-Coupon
(1) .80/1 Stoneyfield Organic Yogurt Quart Internet coupon (doubles)
(1) $1.00 Barber Chicken Newspaper Coupon
(2) .50/2 McCormick Taco Seasonings Newspaper Coupon (doubles)
(4) .50/1 Superpretzel Product (doubles up to $0.88 since it is the cost of the product)
(4) .50/1 Minute Rice Package Newspaper Coupon (doubles up to $0.99 since it is the cost of the product)
(1) $1.00/2 Ragu Sauce Store e-Coupon
(1) .75/2 Ragu Sauce Newspaper Coupon (doubles)
(1) .50/2 Knorr Sides Store e-Coupon
(1) .50/2 Knorr Sides Newspaper Coupon (doubles)
(2) .70/1 Wishbone Salad Dressing Newspaper Coupon (doubles)
(1) $1.00/2 Cheerios Store e-Coupon
(1) .75/1 Chocolate Cinnamon Toast Crunch Store e-Coupon
(2) .75/1 Chocolate Cinnamon Toast Crunch Internet Coupon (doubles)
(1) .75/1 Chocolate Cinnamon Toast Crunch SavingStar Deposit
(2) $1.00/2 Cheerios Newspaper Coupon
(4) .70/1 Kelloggs Kraves Cereal Newspaper Coupon (doubles)
(2) .70/1 Kelloggs Mini Wheats Touch of Fruit Newspaper Coupon (doubles)
(1) $1.00/1 Kellogs Mini-Wheats Checkout51 Deposit
(3) Free Shopping Bags with Dollar Days Deal
Total after Coupons: $21.86


Catalinas:
$3.00 Unilever Dollar Days Deal
$5.00 General Mills Dollar Days Deal
$5.00 Kelloggs Dollar Days Deal
Total after Catalinas: $8.86

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So that is a typical couponing morning for me.  There were better deals to be had- higher coupon values on different cereal, more newspaper coupons that I had already used, etc.  But I try to make it a practice not to buy food that we won't eat even if it's a great deal.  A great deal is a terrible deal if the food goes to waste.  I use the high-sugar cereals to make dessert bars a la Rice Krispy treats so I can use all the free cereals for snacks instead.  I am going to put out a breakdown of how I coupon this week, but I hope this at least gives you a starter idea!