Well, Blogger Giving Me Problems!

The last post I made I had to do through email to Blogger. So, it looks strange, but works ;) For some reason, Blogger does not want to always load for me. I try several times, but it still does not work. Of course, it DID work this time. So, if you see odd posts on the blog, I apologize...but, hopefully they will work for your viewing!!
I will hopefully be posting sales and match ups tomorrow morning. Allergies are giving me fits this week!! Love the Spring, but could do without the sneezing and sinus drainage!

Free Pantene Shampoo and Conditioner Sample from Vocal Point

Go to www.VocalPoint.com and if you are not a member, register. In your Try Section, you will find a section for a free sample of Pantene Shampoo and Conditioner.       ~*Debbie*~ Homeschool Mom to 5 Great Kids!

Stocking Up for Emergencies

I think it was last month I promised to write a bit about stocking up for weather related emergencies. I never did get around to doing this, and I am glad I waited. I realized, last week, how important being prepared in your freezer or pantry is no matter what! My whole family came down with a stomack bug that one, by one, wiped us all out. Even my husband, who rarely gets anything more major than a nasty cold, was downed by this. I was stocked up pretty well with Jell-O, but as for other things, not so much. I had made meatballs ahead of time when my 1st child came down with this. They were in the freezer, ready to go. Well, Friday I made them-threw them in the crockpot and let them reheat. Guess what, Friday night is when Mom got the bug! By Saturday I was eally wishing I had more stocked in my freezer. I do have precooked hamburger and chicken, but nothing that my kids or I could just throw together. My husband was still down for the count and I didn't even have canned chicken noodle soup on my shelves!

SO, I realized, not only is it important to be ready for a weather emergency, which can happen any time of the year, but also for down times like illnesses. These may not even have to be down times or emergencies in your own home. How about if a family member or friend gets put down by an illness or emergency. You could dig into your stockpile and help them out a bit.

I know if you are really paycheck to paycheck like we are here, this can be hard to do at times. But, picking a time of the month when you are able to buy extra items here and there could help. My time of the month is the middle of the month. I plan to buy extra things like children's pain relievers, canned soups, dry milk, etc. Also, things that are easy for my kids to fix in case I am down and cannot cook-pizza fixings (I can even make some mini pizzas ahead and put them in the freezer), mac n cheese, tuna, etc...

I also plan to really get busy with my garden this year and having lots put up in the freezer and to also learn to can. A friend has blessed me with an abundance of canning jars that I will learn to use this year :) We use frozen peas alot here, so I have already started some in my flower beds (big garden not ready yet) for the Spring planting and will grow more in the Fall, along with some other Fall veggies. But, gardens are a great way to stock up on fruits and veggies!

But, I also plan to get back to my freezer cooking! I really need to learn to implement my extra fridge/freezer in our garage for things other than just extra loaves of store bought bread! I want to plan some precooked dinner foods or need to be cooked foods that can be just dumped into the crockpot or thrown into the oven.

And, beyond that, non-food items for those weather emergencies, or just periods when things like the electric goes out, plan for those as well. Make sure you have working flashlights, batteries, candles, ways to stay cool or warm (depending on the year), hand can openers, bandages, medicines, etc...Keep a list as you go along on the essentials you might not think about before an emergency hits or when it actually hits! Go through your medicine cabinet and look at prescriptions, medicines you would not like to do without or 1st aid items. Buy those things that you can little by little.

Be prepared as much as you can. When the time comes, you will be thankful you did!!

Refresh Your Nest For Less Coupon Booklet

Go Here to get your new HomeMadeSimple coupon booklet. It was Refresh Your Nest, but now, they are Decor Done Right :) These are always great to get and I have been able to get quite a few every so often! So here is a heads up to order yours :) If you already have, try again to get another.

Reynold's Coupons

Go here to print coupons for Reynold's wrap, Reynold's Recycled, and Reynold's Parchment paper.

Land O' Lakes Reply

Well, I told you I would update when I received a response from a company I had contacted. I completely forgot that I had contacted Land O'Lakes about their milk last week. We had just tried their milk for the first time because it was on sale in our area. My oldest commented on how good it was and I thought I should contact them :) I went to their website, filled out all the info in the contact area under the comment section. Today, in my snail mail, I received a thank you from the company, along with two 50 cent off coupons on any Land O'Lakes product. How nice! It made me feel good to know they enjoyed my compliments too. It was nice that they took them time to contact me back. So, it can be worth your time-it really only takes a few minutes in many cases-to let a company know how you feel about their products/services!

Food Pyramid and Reasor's Sale and QP Match Ups

Reasor's has a 12 hour sale this Saturday-yay!! Check it out under weekly ads here.

Here are the Food Pyramid deals I have found so far :
Ground Round-$1.99/lb
Boneless Sirloin Pork Chops-$1.79/lb
Dole Iceberg salad or Cole Slaw mix-77 cents
Corn King Bacon-2/$3
Dawn Dish Soap $.99cents-$.25/1 (doubled) (3-7 P&G)= $.44cents or
  - .50 cents from HomeMade Simple Coupon book (doubled)=FREE!!!
Barilla Pasta 4 for $5-.55/1 (3/7 SS)= $.70cents
Jennie-O Turkey Franks-99 cents



Reasor's
***12 Hour Ad Specials****
Kraft Chunk CHeese-8 oz-4/$5 limit of 4
Pop-Tarts-98 cents each
Land O Frost lunch Meats-$1.98-if you saved the coupons from a couple weeks ago-$2 from Land O Frost Mom=Free  
or
-5 cents off (1/31 RP)= $1.40
Strawberries-2/$3
Pepsi or Dr Pepper 12 packs-4/$9
Suave Shampoo or Conditioner-69 cents

Rest of the weekly ad-
Green Giant canned veggies-10/$5
Pillsbury Toaster Strudel $1.98-$1 here=.98
Free pasta (coupon in ad) when you buy two Ragu sauce at $1.77 each

Writing Companies Update

So far, I really have nothing to share. I did not receive any emails, unless they happened to come to my spam folder in which I missed them. And, nothing has come in the mail, but it has only been a week, so I am not expecting anything :) I wrote to 3 companies last week-Zatarain's , Nexcare (and that link will take you to some good coupons), and Malt-O-Meal. I let each of these companies know how much my family likes their product-used examples of the ones we might like the best (for instance, the Zatarain's jambalaya mix) and why. I also thanked them for how their company's products helps me out (for instance, the jambalaya mix helping me to make a quick and easy meal for my family).
I plan to write to more companies this week and I will let you know once again how it is going. Have a great day, everyone!

Colgate Coupons to Print

Go here and you can print off some valuable coupons for Colgate products. You can use some of hte toothpaste coupons at Walgreen's this week to make a bit of money-Buy Colgate Total Advanced, Sensitive, or Enamel for $3.99 and get $3.99 in RR. Use one of the coupons from this site and make 75 cents to $1 :)

Target Kellogg's Deals

Starting next week, Target will have Kellogg's cereals and Pop-Tarts on sale 4/$10. When you buy 4 items, you get a $5 Target gift card :) Go here for more info-thanks Couponers United!

Some Great Deoderant Coupons

Go to Don't Fret the Sweat and print off some great coupons for Unilever deoderants-Dove, Degree, Suave, etc...Thanks to Couponing to Disney for the heads up :)

Nexcare Coupons

I really like Nexcare bandages. I had never purchased them before last year when I had a coupon that gave me a great deal. We go through band-aids alot here, so I am always trying to find the best deal. Yesterday, I was emailing the company about how much I appreciate their bandages and I noticed coupons for their products. You can print these out as much as you want since they are pdf files. Go here to find $1 off 2 on Nexcare bandages, as well as other coupons for 3M products. At my Walmart, the cheapest bandages are $1.50.

Contacting Companies for Coupons

I have seen this on a few blogs. Contacting companies and receiving coupons from them. I have gone back and forth on trying this and have decided it does not take much of my time to send a quick email to a company we use and letting them know how we like their product. You could even mention a problem with a product from a company if you need to. I am starting today with Zatarains. A friend of ours makes terrific jambalaya and I wanted to learn how he made it. One day he showed me-he used the Zatarain's as a base, added chicken and smoked sausage (or even some crawdad :). It's easy, fast and fills up my big family quick! So, I decided ot write them and let them know how much we enjoy your product.

Couponing to Disney is where I first saw this idea. She does a 5 A Day and gives suggestions of companies to contact. She also gives a great tutorial on how best to contact the companies-how to make it personal, but not overly personal.

Also, here is a terrific list of some companies you might use and a quick link to each of them. That is where I found the Zatarain's link and decided to make it my first company.

I will try another company tomorrow. I will not try a new company everyday, but would like to get to atleast 3 a week. I will post later on to let you know how it is going. Perhaps a few freebies, or maybe just some good money-off coupons. But, to spend a few minutes of my time (honestly, that is all that email to Zatarains took) is worth it to see how this works out.

Free Cat Litter-Yippee :)

Register or sign in if you are already a member with Catster-Cat's Pride to receive a coupon for a free bag of cat litter-valued up to $7.00. This is on any size litter. But, you better hurry-this offer is while supplies last!!!

Sign up For Murphy USA Offers

Go to MurphyUSA and sign up for their monthly newsletter. It is really worth it. Last month was a soda coupon, but this month is $2 off a $10 gas purchase. That is a 20% savings! Be sure to sign up the person who might use it the most. For instance, I signed my husband up. He might be asked for his I.D. so that is why I suggest using the person's name who might be getting the gas the most :) You may not get this gas coupon (I signed up in January when there was a $5 off coupon and I did not get it) but hold on and it will pay off. Also, if you are on Facebook or Twitter, check them out on there-they have lots of give aways and keep you updated on new events as well. In my area, these are located with the Walmart Super Centers.

Reasor's and Food Pyramid Deals/Coupon Match Ups

To be honest, I did not see a whole lot of good deals at Food Pyramid this week. But, Reasor's has a meat sale going on-so you might go to their website to check that out.

Food Pyramid-
Best Choice Mac & Cheese-29 cents

Kellogg's Cereals & Pop Tarts-50 % off (no idea which ones or if all are included) might be a great deal if you have saved coupons for this from Coupons.com :)

Keebler, Sunshine or Kashi crackers-also 50% off

Dr Pepper/Pepsi Products-12 pk cans-3/$9 with coupon on back of ad

Red Gold Tomatoes 4 for $5-$1/3 (2/7 RP)= $2.75 for 3

Wishbone Dressing-2/$4-free bagged salad when you buy 2 (coupon in ad)



Reasors-
10 lb bag potatoes=$2.27

Clorox Bleach $1.88-.50 on 2 (1/31 SS)=$3.26/2 or $1.63 each

OR

Use the the manufacturer's coupon in the ad for a free Clorox bleach when you purchase two participating products- Clorox Clean-Up ($6/2), Clorox Bathroom Cleaner, Disinfecting Wipes ($5/2), or Clorox Toilet Bowl Cleaner

Clorox Disinfecting Wipes free with manufacturer's coupon in the ad when you purchase two Clorox Bleach ($1.88), Clorox Clean-up ($6/2), Clorox Bathroom Cleaner, Pine-Sol ($6/2), Disinfecting Wipes ($5/2), Tilex Mold and Mildew, or Glad Trash Bags ($5.98)

Wisbone Dressing-3/$5 (about $1.66 each) - 75 cents off one printable = about 92 cents each and when you buy two, get a free bagged salad with in ad coupon

Roma tomatoes-89 cents/lb

Broccoli crowns-79 cents/lb

Sounds like a good week to make salads for dinner one night ;)

Betty Crocker Potatoes $4 for 5-.40 printable =.40 each

Free Wildflower Seed Packet

Go to Bentley Seeds and request a free sample of their wildflower seeds :) Could make a nice addition to a flower garden or give them to your kids to put in pots and let them have their own flowers to care for this summer :)

New Coupons Are Up...

New month, new coupons! Get them while they last. Coupons for Easter candy, the 55 cents of 32 oz Yoplait yogurt is back (love this one :), $1 off 4 Old Orchard juices (which Reasor's puts on sale quite often), $1 off any Ziploc Pump or refill bags, etc... So, head on over to Coupons.com