Tag: shopping

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Belated Happy 4th of July!

We had a really nice holiday and I hope you and yours did as well. It was the usual picnic on the deck (with wayyyyyyyyyyyy too much food), sunshine  and family. Next year I have promised myself that I will go to the parade and the fireworks. It really isn’t completely the 4th of July unless you do. This year I opted for quiet at home.

I seem to feel that my posts are always a potpourri of different things and this one is no different. During the week if I think of something I want to share I write it down in my notebook. If I try a new recipe, that goes in the notebook too. Also, if I have an interesting experience somewhere and learn how to save money or do something a little more efficiently that goes on the list. Without further ado, here is this week’s potpourri!

  This wreath was my last-minute decor for the 4th. I had the raffia and the little star at home. At a household sale a few years ago I had bought the 48 star flag, which was the design of the flag when I was born. All I needed to buy was the grapevine wreath. That I  picked up at Joann Fabrics. I saved 20% on that purchase because I signed up for their email notices. It was very cheap and I am always on the lookout for that money-saving angle!

RECIPE

This week I tried Dear Abby’s recipe for meatloaf. I read her column daily. This is an old recipe and a reader recently asked for it to be published again. I thought I would like to try it too. I have always made my meatloaf adding eggs for moisture and as another binding agent. That is the way my Mom taught me. I have never had a complaint but it’s good to try new things. The moisture in this recipe is provided by water and catsup.

-2 pounds of ground beef

-1 cup Italian bread crumbs

-1/2 cup finely chopped onion

-1/3 cup catsup

-1/3 cup water

-1 teaspoon garlic powder

-salt and pepper to taste

I combined all of the ingredients and made a loaf shape in a pan I had sprayed to PAM. I then drizzled catsup on top of the loaf. The meatloaf went into the oven at 350 degrees for an hour.

First of all, it was delicious. Three people shared dinner with me and all had good comments. No one would get into that dangerous area of whether it was better than the one I usually make. Gee, I wonder why! Let’s just say none of them lack intelligence or, for that matter, the desire to remain alive. Anyway, I did do a couple things differently than the stated recipe above. I didn’t have Italian bread crumbs so I added Italian seasoning to plain bread crumbs. I think it worked very well. I also added about 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese. Don’t ask me why! I just wanted to and I could, so I did!

 Almost in the oven.

 Out of the oven! You may notice this is only 1/2 a loaf. I forgot to take the picture when I took the meatloaf out of the oven so this is the half that remained after dinner. Whoops!

MONEY SAVER!!!!

You may do this already but for those that don’t I wanted to tell you about the Wal-Mart Savings Catcher. I have used it for a couple of years now and have actually earned a couple of e-gift cards. Here’s the premise. You download the app on your smart phone (from iTunes or the Google Play Store) and create an account. When you shop at Wal-Mart you scan the QR code or the SKU on the bottom of your receipt. You submit your receipt to Wal-Mart. If they find a lower price at another store in your area, they give you the resulting credit. So, for instance, if I buy a pack of Duracell batteries and they find them for sale at another store for a cheaper price they add the difference to your Savings Catcher account. You can claim your money at any time and be sent an e-gift card in your email. At the store you just present that at checkout like you would a coupon. Slick! There’s very little effort.

The only hitch I had at one point was that Wal-Mart Savings Catcher decided it didn’t like my road runner email. I called them to find out why I wasn’t getting my e-gift card and they told me they weren’t sure why but road runner addresses weren’t working and if I had another email to use that one. I have a Gmail account as well so I just used that and there was my e-gift card.

If you would like to read more about this program or sign up the link is provided below.

https://savingscatcher.walmart.com/

SUPER SAVER TIPS

I have mentioned in previous posts to sign up for loyalty programs at the businesses you frequent. There are savings!

Here are some more ideas for you to consider.

  1. If you get a $1 or more coupon for a new product but you’re not sure you will like it, wait until it is on sale. My grocery store periodically runs dollar doubler coupons in their sales flyer. I wait to use the coupon at that time when I can save $2. That way if I am disappointed I haven’t lost that much.
  2. Buy one, get one free sales are always nice. Now, if you’re a discerning shopper you realize that they increase the price of buying one of the items so that it isn’t that great of a deal for you and they still make money. However, you can play their game too. Here is my for instance. The dog food I buy was on BO/GO. It usually is $4.99 a box. They had upped the price to $5.99 but I still was going to get one free so it was an okay deal. I also had two $1 coupons off one box. So, I used both coupons because I was purchasing two units. At the $5.99 price and a total of $2 off I was getting two boxes for $3.99. That is cheaper than I could buy one for at regular price. I call that a win! Even if you have a $1 coupon of two of some item it helps you save.
  3. My grocery store runs special deals to get gas points. You buy 6 items from what they have in the group and you get 200 gas points. Sounds good. I do this only under certain conditions. I have to really use the product. I need to have a coupon. I particularly focus on the items that are buy one, get one when I have a coupon for money off of two. The danger here is that you buy things you wouldn’t ordinarily buy and then the store wins. I try never to do that.

 

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Sunshine Makes Everything Better

The sun is shining and all is right with the world! Well, at least it seems like more is possible when the sun is out!

First of all, this week I want to share a couple of items with you that I have found save me money. Who doesn’t want that? (It gives us more to spend somewhere else!)

Our first money saver is only for people who are near enough to Canada that they have a Tim Horton’s Cafe & Bake Shop (or as we do, 3 or 4 of them) and qualify as a “senior”. There is a senior discount at Tim Horton’s! Who knew? Which was surprising that I didn’t know since I am what you might call an addict. I didn’t find out until just 2 or 3 weeks ago. That was thanks to my friend Linda!  I have since learned it is a discount on the coffee purchases and not on any food you might buy. Never the less, it is helpful and much appreciated.

The next money saver is for everyone, everywhere. It is a browser extension called “Honey”. You can download it from the Google Play Store or search for it on Google. You download it and you’re ready to go. The little icon for Honey will show on the upper right of your browser window.

Below I am quoting from the FAQ’s page of “Honey”:

     Honey is a service that makes it ridiculously easy to save money and time.          Honey automatically finds coupon codes for the site you’re shopping at and      applies them to your order when you check out, saving you money and                  coupon searching time.

Honey just kind of sits there quietly and waits until you go shopping online. Before you checkout it pops up in a box on the upper right hand of your screen and asks if you would like to run the coupons codes. It also tells you how many they have to run. You just click indicating that you want the codes run and there you are. If Honey finds any that are usable for your purchases it is automatically applied. Presto! Changeo! Money Saveo! (Okay, I made that last part up!)

Another layer to this Honey thing is that you also earn as you shop. Their name for your earnings is Honey Gold. When you earn G1000 you can redeem it for a $10 Amazon card. Read more about it at the following link:

http://help.joinhoney.com/article/34-what-the-heck-is-this-honeygold-thing

Currently, Honey is supported on Chrome, Firefox and Opera browsers. ( I had never heard of the Opera browser but I did do some investigating. It was developed in Europe in 1995 and is used around the world. It purportedly is very secure. I may give it a try at some point.) The people at Honey say that a mobile app is coming soon as well as support for other browsers.

A long time ago someone returned a plate or container to me that I had given them with some food item at some point. They had put some candy with it. When I asked about the candy they told me that they always returned an empty food container with something inside. It could be any little treat like a pack of gum. It was not just a thank you, although it certainly is that. It was more a  tradition that a plate or container should not be returned to its owner empty. I have tried as much as I could to do the same. It just seemed like a nice thing to do.

Much more recently I saw an idea about a Giving Plate.

The idea is that you give someone this plate filled with some treat such as cookies and at some future time they pass the plate and a treat of their choosing onto another person. It seems like a great thing to do! It also reminded me of the previously mentioned tradition.  I liked it! I had to make one.

To make the Giving Plate you just need a plate. It can be any color and it could have a design around the edge. I simply chose white because I liked the simplistic look. The plate I found in Dollar Tree and you guessed it! It was $1.

To start with, make sure that your plate is clean. Wash it, of course, but also take a cloth or paper towel and wipe the area to be painted with rubbing alcohol to make sure it is clean. I have oil based Sharpie markers that are made to use on ceramics but if you don’t have them that’s okay because you only need two colors. They are not that expensive ($3.85 at Walmart for one). You also could use the acrylic paints that are meant to be used on ceramics. The brand I have is Folk Art and line for use on glass or ceramics is called Enamels ($2.99 a bottle). If you purchase two pencils or two bottles of paint you will certainly get many uses out of them as you just need a small amount for this project.

If you would like you could create a stencil for your design. At the very least, draw your design out on a piece of paper and make sure you have room for what you want and that the design is centered on your plate. If you make a goof and need to remove something you can scrape it off with your fingernail or a needle. If it is still wet rubbing alcohol will work and for small goofs a cotton swab is ideal.

Once you have the words on your plate, you simply put it in the oven and set the oven for 425 degrees (there is no need to preheat). Let it bake for one hour. Then shut the oven off and allow the plate to cool in place. I have created several cups and plates this way and the ink stays in place through use and washing. I have not tried it in a dishwasher but I would advise against that if you want the color to stay.

As it seems that I have jumped to dishes and traditions there is one more that I have adopted thanks to my niece, Nicole. She had started using a red place setting for the birthday person at parties. This signified their specialness as the guest of honor. She did this for her Dad, my brother, and I really liked the idea. I have started doing it for all of our family birthday parties. I purchased a plate, a dessert plate, a small bowl and a coffee mug. You wouldn’t have to have anything but the plate but I get carried away! Also possible, would be that you could use another color instead of red. Maybe orange is your thing or peacock-blue. Hey, you’re creating your own tradition. It can be anything you would like it to be!

See you next time!

Duffy says hello to the fans of his picture on the first post! (Doesn’t he have a noble nose?)

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