New E-coupons available

Cellfire put out more new e coupons Tuesday-Yes I am behind! You can load them to your Kroger card here.

Shortcuts also released some new coupons within the past week or so, including some for Kroger brand items. You can load those here. I got a bag of tortilla chips for .35 after the .65 e coupon. The bags are labeled snack size but have 9 servings and the coupon came off fine at the register.

Jungle Jim's: FREE Ice Cream!

Starting tomorrow 9/21 and through Sunday 9/27 you can get free Mayfield Ice Cream after coupon! Use the $2 off coupon from last weeks Smart Source insert on the classic varieties(56oz) that are on sale for $1.98. In the same insert there were also $1 coupons, making the ice cream .98(Still a very good stock up price).

Guest Post: Frugal and Healthy

Frugality comes in a number of flavors: those interested in reducing expenses, those interested in simplicity, recycling, anti-consumerism, and to some degree the green movement. No matter what your motives, the increased focus on health and the environment has created some challenges. Organic foods and other higher quality foods with healthier ingredients are almost always more expensive than the lower quality equivalents. So those interested in frugality together with health and the environment must get creative to solve this potential dilema.

There are many strategies to frugality, coupon clipping being perhaps the most popular. Products promoted by coupon are simply those products the companies offering them wish to promote for various reasons. These products tend not to be the healthy or green choices. When leading a green and/or healthy lifestyle, one does not want to be subject to the whims of chain stores with their coupons or discounts for things they'd like to promote.

I scoured the web to find solutions to this dilema, and some that I found were quite legitimate - I already do many of these: cook and eat at home, prepare from fresh foods, buy in bulk, buy directly from the farmer or at a farmer's market, grow your own, compost, buy less and eat less, make your own beverages, cleaning products, etc.

But in terms of direct savings on specific items, only buying in bulk has the potential to save big. The problem is that buying in sufficient bulk for big savings means lots of freezing and lots of clutter and waste. Bags and sacks and bins take up space, and often the food goes bad before you can use it. And we all know what freezing does to most foods, especially the fresh stuff.

My solution, and that of my neighborhood, is to pool our money with neighbors and friends and order the things we need in huge bulk, then split it up when it arrives. We buy directly from suppliers, distributors and farms. We get the healthiest and freshest foods for prices far under what most pay at the grocery store for the common equivalents. We order only what we need for the near term to reduce clutter, waste and freezing, and we make orders fairly often. We do this for fresh foods, packaged foods, and non-food items.

The only hurdle is that you have to be willing to communicate with your neighbors and local friends and coordinate the order. My neighborhood was already having regular meetings when somebody first mentioned this idea. For most neighborhoods this is not so easy, and the community hurdle is the biggest one. Many don't know their neighbors and would feel uncomfortable calling them or knocking on doors. This is a sad fact of life in most of the Western world.

A friend of ours is reducing this hurdle by creating a free web tool that lets people indicate the types of things they'd like to order in bulk, and then shows them other people near them who are interested in the similar things. The logistics of the order are discussed and the "split" happens. Suppliers must be found that will agree to sell in huge bulk to you, but there are many that are willing. This can require a bit of research, but the rewards are well worth it, and you can order from the same supplier again and again if you like.

This web tool is operational but in "beta testing" mode - meaning you must request an invitation and must be willing to provide feedback. Let's give him some good feedback and start splitting stuff by going to SplitStuff.com. Enjoy.

Annette's blog, Splitting Expenses, focuses on sharing tips to start your own co-op and much more. Her site is relatively new, but already I am intrigued. Visit her at Splitting Expenses and learn even more about "working together to reduce costs, clutter and waste". Couponing is not the only way to drastically reduce your grocery cost!

Fiber One Gift Pack Winners!

Tamara B. said... 12

I never eat anything after 6:30 PM and I drink 8 glasses of water a day regardless.

Marilyn said... 32

Drink lots of water and exercise before work.

Laura said... 44

My best tip would be to find a supportive friend or partner, especially to exercise with!

I have emailed 2 of you, and the other did not leave an email or clickable profile with email link. You each have 48hrs to send your mailing address to me at savingsmakescents at gmail dot com (in proper email format).


Thanks to everyone who entered. I hope to have some more giveaways in the near future for you.

Fiber One Yogurt Review and Giveaway*closed*

Closed-winners to be announced soon!

The review

My kids(6 and 1.5 years), husband and I all love this yogurt! My daughter even asked if she could have some in her lunch instead of gogurt...

It is very smooth and creamy, just like yogurt should be, BUT it has 5 grams of fiber and only 50 calories!

My favorite flavor is key lime. A few of the flavors do have a slight after taste, but not this one.

The product recently shrunk from a 6 pack to a 4 pack, while the price stayed the same:(


The giveaway

3 readers will win a Healthy & Fit Weight Management gift bag which includes a coupon for a free 4 pack and a cooler pack with storage items


To enter leave a comment sharing your best weight loss tip.

here's mine: Drink a glass of veggie juice every day (preferably in the morning).


You can also get more entries by doing the following:

Subscribing to my feed (on the right sidebar) or email (on the left sidebar) updates.If you already subscribe you get an extra entry too.

Sharing this giveaway on your own blog, facebook, myspace, twitter or any other public forum(please don't be spammy!).

Make a comment for each of the ways you shared or subscribed!


Please be sure to leave a way for me to contact you if you win!


The giveaway will close Tuesday (9/15) @ 9 pm est. The winner has 48hrs to email me back with their shipping address.

New Cellfire Coupons/Kroger Mega Sale

Cellfire put out more new e coupons Tuesday. You can load them to your Kroger card here.

Shortcuts also released some new coupons within the past week or so, including some for Kroger brand items. You can load those here.


It also looks like Kroger will be having ANOTHER Mega sale starting Monday! You can check out a few of the items to be included here

90% off at Restaurant.com!

Save 90% off w/every $25 Gift Cert. order. Use code NINETY and Pay$1 thru 9/13/09 3:01 AM PST at Restaurant.com.

Expired deal

Meijer: FINALLY! Free Veggies This Week

It has been a LONG time since I've scored free veggies so I was very happy to see Meijer has Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers on sale this coming week 10/$10 get the 11th free! You can pair the sale with the .50 printables found here and here. The boxed veggies are also on sale for the same price, so you can get them for .50 a box with the printables found at the same two links as the steamers coupons.

Make sure you print the coupons you want now, as there is no guarantee that they will be there later.

ETA: More Printables here , here, here, and here! Stock the freezer:) These 4 sites are tied together, so you may not be able to print from each- I was only able to print from 2.