Friday, July 30, 2010

Healthy Shaw's Deals This Week

Shaw's seems pretty good this week.  I have another $5/$50 coupon I'm hoping to use.  Not sure if others got this coupon in the mail.  If you don't get random things from Shaw's from time to time in your mailbox, consider signing up at Shaws.com.

I only highlight healthy things - because Mama's got to lose some junk in her trunk.

-  Steak Tips!  Yum!  Yeah, probably not "healthy" but at $3.99/lbs, you just have to say "Yummmmm!"

-  Broccoli & Green Beans - .99/lbs

-  Raspberries & Blackberries - $2 a container

-  StarKist Tuna - .50 a can!  Tuna is great.  I just picked up some 2 weeks ago - but my dumb ass got the kind packed in oil.  I pawned it off on the husband, because at 10 grams of fat per pouch, it wasn't worth it.  Plus, tuna packed in oil tastes pretty darn nasty.

-  Cucumbers - .59 each

-  Eggo Pancakes - $2.  There was a $1/2 MFC in the paper for these - combine with a Shaw's Doubler to get a box for $1.  If you are Weight Watchers, make sure you look at the nutrition labels to see which one packs more fiber for your buck.

-  Aunt Jemima Waffles are $1.50.

-  La Choy Teriyaki or Soy Sauce - $1.69 ea.  Not a great price for soy sauce, but it is for Teriyaki Sauce!

- WONDER SMART BREAD - $1!  This bread is great.  It's white bread packed with a bunch of fiber and vitamins.  2 slices is only 1 Weight Watcher point.  Def. a great deal (I think the "normal" price is $3.39).

-  Avacados - $1

-  Mangos - $1

-  Tuttorosso Pasta Sauce - $1

-  Stacy's Pita Chips - $2.79.  There is a $1/1 MFC from the paper out there.  Combine with the Doubler to give you a bag of Pita Chips for .79.

-  Shaw's frozen vegetables - $1 (I'm a big fan of the Rancho Blend and of course the pepper strips and onion/green pepper mixture - although I'm not sure if any of these are actually part of the sale since it's "selected varieties")

-  Cat's Pride Litter - 25% off.  Combine with $1/1 MFC from paper and a Doubler.  We've used this litter and I like it.  Although, I don't have to poop on it so I really should ask my cat how he feels about it.

-  P&G is doing a promo where if you spend $30 on their stuff (pre-sale), you get a coupon for a free $10 gift card of your choice.  It's the basic P&G stuff and you can see all the items in your circular.  Match up with coupons to get a bigger deal.  You can't redeem the coupon for a Shaw's gift card.  Wahhh!

My Slacker-Self is still part of the BeCentsible Community.  Check them out if you haven't done so in a while!

Old Navy $2 Cami Sale Until Tomorrow

Just in case you didn't read it on the 7,000 other bargain blogs out there, Old Navy's Cami sale is going on.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Attention Ice Cream Lovers!

If you like Ben & Jerry's, you'll love this "Groupon"!

Today only, go to Groupon.com and the "special deal" is $10 worth of Ben & Jerry's ice cream novelties at one of their 4 Boston area stores for only $5!  They have stores in Natick, The Prudential Center, Newbury Street, and Harvard Square.


Click HERE to go to Boston's Groupon page!

Children's Place Sale


The Children's Place is having what appears to be a good sale from now until 7/31.  In stores only.  Save 20% on $40 or more.  25% on orders $50 or more.  And lastly, 30% on $60 or more.  

CLICK HERE to get your coupon.  

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Shaw's Review - 7/28/10

So I trucked it on over to Shaw's this morning to buy some staples.  Here's some things I got that were great and other observations.


Total Before Sales & Coupons:  $110.83
Total Preferred Savings:  $29.33
Coupons Used:  $20.60
Cash OOP:  $60.90

-  Overall, I was kind of disappointed.  I feel like the prices at my Shaw's have gone up. 

-  Used a $1 off fresh produce coupon that came in the mail!  This put a dent in the $20 I spent on fruit and vegetables!

-  Had a $5/$50 purchase.  I love a free $5 off!

-  Deli meat at grocery stores is outrageous - but I didn't have time to go to BJ's or a local market.  $6.49 for a pound of Shaw's American Cheese!  Yikes!  Land O'Lakes is $3.49 a pound at BJ's.  Shaw's Turkey Breast was $6.49 a pound.

-  Got 2 packs of Carolina Gold 2 lbs rice.  Price was $1.99 but I had 2 $1/1 MFCs.  $1 for 2 pounds of rice!

-  B&M Baked Beans stated $1.59 on the shelf.  But it rang up at $1.65.  I had a coupon for $1/2 and the husband begged me for baked beans.  Sure, it's only a .6 cents a can increase, but these things add up.

-  Mezzani Pepperoncinis - $3.49 (.50/1 from All You DOUBLES).  I love these on my salads.

-  Shaw's has generic Arnold Sandwich Thins!  Yey!  The normal price is $2.79 a pack, but they are on sale this week for $2.50.  Still 1 point like the name brand ones.  

-  Better Start Thomas English Muffins are BOGO Free at $3.99 ea.  These suckers are only 100 calories and pack 8 grams of fiber in each one.  1 point!  Usually these "healthy" ones aren't part of the sales, but they were!

-  I did the Catalina - and I got my 50 box tops but didn't get my $5 OYNP coupon.  Not sure how that works, but I didn't have time to fight it.

-  I got 3 of the Yoplait Delights since they are on sale this week for $2 and I had 3 $1/1 MFCs.  I tried a lemon one just now and they are fabulous!  Not bad for 2 points.  

-  Cottonelle Moist Wipes are $2.85 and I had a $2/1 that popped out at the register a long time ago.  .85 for butt wipes = good deal in my book. 

-  Grabbed a Viva 2 pack ($3.49).  There was a .75/1 pack MFC (DOUBLES) from All You this month.  Not earth shattering, but a $1 for a roll of paper towels isn't too bad.  Especially if you are one who doesn't have the room or doesn't like to do a big stock up of items.  

Attention Massachusetts Bloggers!

Hey you crazy fellow Massachusetts Bloggers!  Here is a blogathon event that you should consider getting involved in (I am, because I like this kind of junk).

A really awesome blog "In Our Grandmothers' Kitchens" started this movement with a little help from the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources and Mass Farmers Markets.


To sum it up, pretty much you just have to agree to blog about something relating to Massachusetts Farmers Markets (or locally grown food) the week of August 22 - 28.  It can be about ANYTHING!  Have an entertainment blog?  Post something about things that go on at your local farmers markets (for instance, at Quincy, some farmer always brings a chicken.  This little chicken can keep my kids occupied for at least 15 minutes if not more. ENTERTAINMENT!)  Have a cooking blog?  Buy something from your farmers market and make something with it!  Have a kids blog?  Write how fun it is to bring the kids.  Etc., Etc, Etc....  The week will also encourage people to donate to Mass Farmers' Markets.

You can "Like" them on Facebook too so you can get up-to-date stuff on how it's going.  CLICK HERE TO LIKE LOVING LOCAL:  CELEBRATING THE FLAVORS OF MASSACHUSETTS.  You can get more (tactful) information about this by clicking Tinky's link on her Grandma's Kitchens blog HERE.


So why am I doing this?  


1.  I will support ANYTHING put on by ANYONE named "Tinky".


2.  I like to garden.  It's a hobby - but it can be hard and frustrating.  I guess that's why I like Farmers' Markets.  I appreciate what local farmers do - because heavens know, I couldn't garden for a living.  


3.  I like to support local business.  Long live Massachusetts and it's people!

4.  You can get some great deals on certain produce and products at Farmers' Markets.  A few weeks ago, I scored Lobster for $5.50 a pound!  That's  a really great price.  What's even better is that the lobster was caught that morning - right off the South Shore.   It can't get much better than that.  Plus, by buying there, it's like I'm helping out neighbors - who are just trying to make a living during this tough economy for lobstermen.

5.  Most everything at Farmers' Markets are Weight Watchers friendly.  Okay - well the bakery stands can be debatable - but in my opinion, any food purchased at a Farmers' Market should be deemed "healthy" and 0 points!

6.  My kids are relatively well behaved at Farmers' Markets.  My kids are hooligans.  They drive me crazy in most public places.  But usually not at the Farmers' Markets.  Vendors are nice to them and usually there is a kid event going on.  And if those two fail, well, I fall back on the chicken.

So there you have it.  I'm probably just going to blog about great deals I find at Farmers' Markets that week. It's actually pretty nice because there are 5 different Farmers' Markets all relatively close to me on 5 different days.  You can find your local market HERE.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Vitalicious Anyone?

If you do Weight Watchers, you probably have heard about Vitatops/Vitamuffins/Vitalicious blah, blah, blah.  Well if you haven't, they are these tasty treats that pack lots of fiber, low calories and low fat.  1 Vitatop is 1  WW point.  Nice, huh?

So what's the catch of these amazing muffins?  They are pretty darn expensive.  A four pack at the grocery store is $4.99.  If you have been itching to try these suckers and have about $30 to burn doing so, now is your chance!  Hungry Girl teamed up with Vitalicious to offer you 24 Vitalicious treats for $22 (I think it's $7 for shipping and handling).  But this is a great assortment of muffins, tops, and brownies.  You can see the entire assortment (and other important junk relating to your order) at the link on the bottom of this post - but it's a great deal, boasting a 30% savings from what it normally would be (yeah, these delicious suckers are expensive suckers!).  Let me just add - the assortment includes Fudgy PB Chip, Deep Chocolate, and Double Chocolate Dream varieties.  How can you not want to try these?

I've bought Vitalicious through Cashbaq before (they give you 7% back) - but I can't find the Hungry Girl link through the webpage - so it might be hidden or whatever.  Or, it could be 5:45 in the morning and I'm just not caffeinated enough to find it.

Anyways - HERE IS THE HUNGRY GIRL VITALICIOUS OFFER LINK   This offer is good until 7/28/10.  Ahhhh....that's tomorrow.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Have You Made Money On Rebate Sites?


So - by now, most everyone should know about rebate sites.  I personally use Cashbaq.  I like it.  Ebates is another popular one and there are others out there as well.

First off, I don't do much internet shopping.  It sounds like a nice addiction though.  Anyways, I joined Cashbaq in the beginning of 2009.  So I've been a member for a year and a half.  In that year and a half, I have "earned" $101.90 by shopping through them.  I actually recently discovered "ShopDiscover" through my Discover card.  I actually earned over $32 in Discover Rewards by booking a trip we took recently by going through ShopDiscover to Orbitz.  Sure, it took an extra 17 seconds of my life, but hey - I made $32 by doing so!

So my question is - how much money have you earned by shopping through rebate sites?  Do you think it's worth the time/aggravation to do so?

Friday, July 23, 2010

Thanks Shaw's! Plus, Healthy Deals & Stuff This Week

I haven't been to Shaw's in 2 months.  Seriously. All of my grocery business has been going to Stop & Shop & Roxie's lately.  BUT....I think Shaw's lured me back this week.  I got 2 $5/$50 coupons in the mail as well as a $1 off fresh produce and $1 off seafood coupon.

Shaw's is having a pretty decent catalina for the first time in like forever.  It's on the back page of this week's circular.  Spend $20 (pre-sale prices) on select GM products, get $5 off your next purchase and 50 Bonus Box Tops (this equals $5 for your school of choice!).  Now since I'm Weight Watchering it up, I'm not going to bring into my house the likes of Toaster Strudel or Chex Mix.  But there's a plethora of healthy selections in this catalina. Remember:  Pre-Sale Prices.

Healthy/Kid Stuff in the Cat (and yes, Lucky Charms ARE healthy in my book!)

Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, & Lucky Charms - $2 ($1/2 MFC from paper, .55/1 Cheerios & $1/2 Qs on Coupons.com, BettyCrocker.com, etc.)

Green Giant Canned Vegetables - $1

Nature Valley Bars - $2.50 ($1/2 MFCs from paper, .50/1 & .75/2 both DOUBLE at BettyCrocker.com, )

FIBER ONE BARS (I love these suckers) - $2 ($1/2 MFC from paper)

Yoplait Delights - $2 (usually $1/2s from the paper and .50/1 DOUBLES online at Coupons.com, BettyCrocker.com,)

Trix Yogurt & GoGurt (these nasty GoGurts are great frozen for the kids!) - $2 (.75/2 DOUBLES at BettyCrocker.com)

Big Yoplait - $2.50


Unhealthy Crap You Might Want Anyways 

BC Supreme Brownie Mix - $2.50 (.75/2 at BettyCrocker.com DOUBLES)

Chex Mix - $2.50 (.55/1 MFC at Bettycrocker.com)

BC Fruit Snacks - $2 ($1/2 MFC at Bettycrocker.com)

If you want to buy multiples of these products, also check out www.growinglocallearning.com to get the same coupons that are on the Betty Crocker site.  You have to sign up - but when you do, they'll give the school of your choice 5 Box Tops ( .50 cents!  Woot!).  You can also refer friends and all that other jazz.  There are other things with this sale - you might want to check out other bloggers for the full list (or just look at your circular).  BeCentsible has a lot of bloggers - all sectioned off by state.  Check them out!

Other healthy stuff at Shaw's this week:

Corn - 8 for $1.99

Green Grapes - .99/lbs

Fresh Express Salad Blends - BOGO Free

Prego Pasta Sauce - BOGO Free

Crystal Light/Poland Spring Deal - Buy 3 Crystal Lights @ $2 ea, get a case of Poland Spring for free.  I am a Crystal Light junkie.  I love me some Red Dye #40.  Must use in-ad coupon.

Thomas English Muffin Better Start - BOGO Free

I don't know if it's just me, but this week's Shaw's add is kind of pathetic.  Maybe they are just tryingStop to save money on advertising.  Stop & Shop's is more than twice the size, and honestly, like the past few weeks - looks like they have better deals on stuff that I personally buy.  Poor Shaw's.  I'll do a Shaw's run this week though - mostly due to the fact that I dig Fiber One bars and box tops.




Target Black Friday Sale!

Today, Target is having a "Black Friday in July" day online.  CLICK HERE to see all the crap that they mark down.  I actually went to Target yesterday (in Hanover, MA for the stalker folks).  Dang - the clearance was a booming!  I didn't look at ladies or men's clothes since I had the little rugrats with me.  Baby and Toddler clothes had a lot of great deals.  My oldest is slowly moving on up to the "bigger boys" clothes - I didn't see too much in that area - but then again, might just be my tastes.

Speaking of tastes, I've been letting my 4 year-old have some say in what clothes I buy for him.  We were at The Children's Place last week and I told him he could pick out any shirt he wanted.  He picked a muscle shirt.  Urgh.  I did the same thing at Target yesterday - like a magnet - the poor boy was drawn to striped muscle shirts.  I tried to tell him that boys don't wear tank tops (I know, I can be a snob sometimes.  I don't care.)  But the kid is obsessed with the fact that they don't have sleeves.  Since they were only a whopping .75 cents each, I delighted his heart and told him he could have two.  He thinks I'm the most awesome mother ever.

There were also a ton (seriously, a ton) of toys on clearance.  Sadly - the summer stuff really wasn't on clearance at all.  Give it a few more weeks I suppose!

Monday, July 19, 2010

Great Weight Watchers Meal with Deals from Stop & Shop This Week!

Hello from the world's most slack-tastic blogger!  Let's update the world on me.  For starters, I haven't been to Shaw's in MONTHS!  Seriously.  I have done what I swore I'd never do - I have crossed over to Stop & Shop.  Why?  I don't know.  As for my Weight Watcher ways.  Well around May, I hit the 20 pounds loss mark (my goal is 25 pounds).  I even hit 23 there for a while - but I've been a real WW slacker the past month or two (the only consistent thing in my life is being a slacker).  Well I went back yesterday after not going for 3 weeks - and happily - I was only up 1/2 a pound and still only 4 pounds away from my goal.  So now is the time I have to really get cracking on this.

I went to Stop & Shop yesterday and today, created a great 5.5 point meal that is worthy of me coming out of my blog funk.  All stuff is on sale at Stop & Shop this week.

Taco Chicken Wrap (5.5 points)
1 Cedar's Whole Wheat Wrap (1 point) - BOGO Free @ $3.49 this week
4 oz. Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast (3.5 points) - $1.79/lb
1 tsp. Taco Seasoning (0 points) - I highly recommend buying a big old tub of this at BJ's.  It's $5.99, but they send out $1.50 off coupons all the time.  The packets are a real rip off.
1 tsp. Olive Oil (1 point) - $4.99 for S&S's 17 oz bottle this week (if you're running low)
1/2 cup frozen pepper strips (0 points) - Stop & Shop brand is only $1.50 for a 1 pound bag of frozen pepper strips!  I ALWAYS have these in the house.
Some lettuce (0 points) - 3 Romaine Hearts are $2.50 this week
4 cut up Grape tomatoes (0 points) - $2.50 per pint this week

Heat oil in small skillet.  Rub your chicken with the taco seasoning.  Cook chicken and add peppers.  Saute until done.  Prep your wrap by putting it on a plate and add lettuce and tomato.  Schlop the chicken/pepper mixture on it.  Roll it up and eat!  It's huge and healthy!

Another alternative to this is to decrease chicken to 2 oz. (2 points) and add 1/4 cup of cooked Minute Brown Rice (1 point).  This is on sale at Stop & Shop this week for $2 a box.  There was a coupon in the paper a while back for .75/1 Minute Brown Rice.  This will double making a box of brown instant rice only .50 cents!  Using rice and half the chicken makes the wrap only 5 points instead of 5.5.  If you want to spend a little more, you can add a little low fat sour cream (I just got my free container of Hood sour cream from that Facebook coupon!).  Using rice & sour cream would make this more of a dinner burrito vs. a sandwich wrap.  I'm a huge fan of Moe's (and Chipolte, and every other burrito joint around) - so this is a great alternative to those places!

Here are some other things I scored at Stop & Shop with coupons this week:

1 Act Mouthwash - $3.99 ($2/1 MFC)  $1.99

Stacy's Pita Chips - $2.50 (.75/1 MFC DOUBLES) $1.00

Perri Sausage - $2.50 (.55/1 MFC DOUBLES) $1.40

Welch's refridgerated Juice - $2.50 (.75/1 DOUBLES) $1.00

Tropicana OJ - $3 ($1/2 MFC) $2 ea.

Turkey Hill Dynamic Duos Ice Cream - $1.99 ea ($1/2 MFC) $1.49 ea

Yoplait Yogurts - 14 at .60 cents ea.  Used 2 "Buy 6, Get One Free"

Activia - $2 ($1/1 MFC in this week's paper) $1

Starkist Tuna Pouches - $1 ea ($1/2 MFC from paper) .50 ea (My stupid butt bought tuna in oil!  Yuck!  I'll pawn it off on the husband!)

Sargento Stringsters - $3.99 ea ($3/2 MFC) $2.50 ea - Not great, but my kids dig cheese sticks.

Hebrew National Hot Dogs - BOGO ($1/2 MFC) I forgot how much these are.  $4.49?  $5.49?  Who knows.

I really buy a lot of fruit and vegetables now.  I usually only cook with frozen vegetables but stock up on salad and sandwich vegetables.  If you knew how much I spent weekly on fruit now, you'd tell me I have no business having a "bargain" blog.  To which I would respond, "I don't care."