Now I remember why I cut all my coupons....

I was talking to a friend that uses coupons the other day and she told me that when she plans her shopping trips, she puts the coupons she will use in a little retractable carrier and takes those to the store. I thought, "How wonderful! How simple!" and considered doing the same. Until I run into these......

The items with big ugly orange stickers on them- CLEARANCE! So, of course, I'm glad I have ALL my coupons with me, because I used the Herbal Essences Buy One shampoo or conditioner Get One styling product FREE coupon. Buy one conditioner at $1.39 and get a $3.29 hairspray for FREE? Yes, I'll keep cutting and carrying ALL my coupons, I can't stand to miss a deal!

Recipe of the week: Homemade pizza

Homemade pizza is a dinner that I make often and is probably one of the most economical dinners in the world!

I start by grinding some wheat for the flour:

1 c. wheat kernels, ground
1 t. salt
1 T. Saf instant yeast

Mix together the top 3 ingredients.

Then add:
1 1/4 c. hot water
3 T. oil

Mix well, then add 2- 2 1/2 cups of white flour, or until the dough clings to the mixer, spoon, or "dough hook" in this case.

Let the dough rise for about an hour in a warm place. Warm your oven to 450 degrees. (HoT!!) Roll out, stretch out, or push out flat with floured hands and place into your baking pan or pizza pan. Add desired toppings and bake for 15 minutes. Easy and probably costs around $2 or less!

I use plain tomato sauce (FREE or really cheap with coupons), cheese, cut up some lunch meat ham on this one (our family thinks regular ham is too chunky on pizza) and a few olives for my husband and I. Half of this pizza is for the kids and the other half for the adults! Obviously, you could get really creative here.

Enjoy! I once read an article titled "Stepping Down to Health and Wealth." It was in an article published by Utah State University. They were basically saying that you can take a few steps "down" and become more healthy and wealthy.

It states: "To visualize the principle, draw a staircase with four to six steps. On the top step write down the most expensive purchase. On the next step, write down an alternative, less-expensive purchase, on down to the least expensive on the bottom step. Then ask, 'Can I step down one or more steps with this purchase?'

"With food purchases, for example, the top step could be eating at a sit-down restaurant. The next step down from that would be eating at a fast food place. The next step could include buying prepared food to fix at home, buying mixes to cook at home, and cooking from scratch. It is interesting to note that this step-down scenario does dual duty- as you progress down the steps toward "cooking from scratch," you likely improve the quality of the food you eat. Less processed food generally means more healthy." Taken from: Emma Eccles Jones College of Education & Human Services- Magazine- Fall 2009.

I really love the idea of this "step-down" principle and feel that's what I do when I make this pizza for dinner. It's healthy and I'm a little more wealthy by making homemade AND using coupons and sales to buy the ingredients for the pizza.

Once I made a pizza that had a full bunch of spinach, cooked and pureed, mixed into the tomato sauce. I also made it a "cheeseburger" pizza with wheat mixed in with hamburger. So, my kids got a full serving of spinach with their pizza piece + 2 versions of wheat! I hope you'll love this homemade recipe for the pizza dough and enjoy the healthy adventures you make with creative toppings!

Another $2/2 Right Guard coupon!

WOW! Get another $2/2 Right Guard coupon here. (This is in addition to the $2/2 Smartsource coupon and the Coupons.com coupon.) This new coupon link will print as soon as you click on it. These should get you at least a travel size deoderant for FREE.

Thanks, Hip 2 Save!

How to cut multiple sets of coupons- QUICK & EASY!

You get all your coupon inserts in the paper- now what? You have two choices: 1-Cut all the coupons out and file them. Or, 2- Date the coupon inserts and wait for a sale to use your coupons with.

Either way, you can use this method to cut out the coupons you want to use.

Step 1: Take your coupon inserts apart. Lay out each sheet like this.

Step 2: Lay each sheet on top of each other- identical sides facing up.

Step 3: Make sure your coupons are lined up and hold tight while you get ready to cut.

Step 4: Cut out your coupons, making sure to leave room around the bar codes and the expiration dates. If you cut into those, your coupon will be worthless.

Step 5: There you go! 5 identical coupons- cut in about the same time that it takes to cut 1! File your coupons away or get ready to use them on your next coupon shopping trip!

**HOT coupons to print!

Print a $1/1 coupon for Sara Lee desserts here
This could make for a really cheap dessert from Wal-mart's frozen section!

More $1/1 coupons for Yoplait Yo-plus here (IE)
and here (FF)

Thanks, Krazy Coupon Lady!

Print a .75/1 coupon for Earthgrains bread when you become a Facebook fan

Thanks, Fistful of Coupons!

Vocalpoint members can login here to print a high value coupon for $1.50/1 Kashi crackers or cereal
I hope you're convinced to become a Vocalpoint member, they have nothing but good things to offer!

Thanks, Hip 2 Save!

Newspaper deal just got a little sweeter!

Remember the awesome deal on papers that I was able to get for Savvy Sister readers? Well, I was able to make it a little sweeter for you guys! Now, when you sign up for the 'SUPER COUPON SPECIAL' you will receive from Savvy Sister Shops a $5 gift card to use at Smith's OR Family Fresh Foods! (You choose!)

Benefits of having the paper delivered to your home:

• No running to the newspaper dispensers on Sunday, only to pay more for your papers and find the coupons inserts are missing! (I found out that only the leftover inserts are put into the dispenser papers, the Standard Examiner's first priority is getting the coupon inserts to their regular subscribers.)
• The newspaper coupon inserts are the most reliable source of coupons and account for 70% of coupons used by consumers!
• The 'SUPER COUPON SPECIAL' is the most economical deal on papers that I have ever seen! Regular subscribers that get one paper every day pay $13 every 4 weeks. At $19.99 a month, you get one paper Monday through Saturday and 5 papers on Sunday. Your papers only cost about 45 cents each! That's less than a regular subscription and your Sunday papers are much more valuable! Look at this: the P&G insert this Sunday has over $73 of savings inside. If you are part of the 'SUPER COUPON SPECIAL' you will be getting 5 of these!

• You will be able to save even more on the regular items you buy for your household because you have so many coupons delivered to your home each week!
• Using the coupons inserts will pay you back many times over! For the first month, pay out of your pocket $19.99 and get $5 back instantly with your gift card. Then, if you use only 5 $1/1 coupons at Family Fresh Foods from your Sunday papers, you will have already made your money back! (Of course, you will use many more coupons than this, making your investment in the paper so worth it!) I just consider the $19.99 a month as part of my monthly grocery budget.
• Stay tuned! If cutting up 5 sets of coupons sounds overwhelming, I am going to show you a QUICK and EASY way to cut up your coupon inserts that doesn't take any more time than it would to cut just one insert! It's such a simple idea, but when I learned how to do it, it saved me so much time!

It's easy to sign up, just call Dave at the Standard Examiner at 625-4448 and tell him that you want the deal that Heather from Savvy Sister Shops told you about. As soon as you sign up, let me know by sending me an e-mail at savvysistershops@live.com and I will send your $5 Smith's or Family Fresh Foods gift card today! Remember that your price is locked in, it will not be increasing in the future, and you can cancel your newspaper subscription at any time. This deal is available to all residents in the Davis, Weber, and Box Elder counties!

$5 Bonus Tropicana Rewards Program- Friday only!

If you wanted to sign up for the Tropicana Rewards Program, but haven't done it yet- now is a great time to start! Check over here with Good Deal Mama, she explains the $5 bonus reward you get if you start a new account on Friday, Feb. 19th only!

Buy Excedrin and make money!

This deal starts Sunday February 21st at Walgreen's. Print 2 of the Excedrin coupons from coupons.com and use them next week!

The sale goes like this:

Buy Excedrin Menstrual Complete (20-24 ct.) $2.50
Buy 1, Earn a $2 Register Reward
Use $2/1 Excedrin 20 ct or larger coupon
Final price: $0.50 OOP, $1.50 Money Maker

Or Buy Excedrin (20-24 ct.) $2.50
Use $2/1 Excedrin 20 ct or larger coupon
Final price: $0.50 OOP

Thanks Krazy Coupon Lady!

Don't forget to look for coupons in the store

The next time you go shopping, keep your eyes open to the possibility of picking up more coupons! They are all over the store and you never know when they might come in handy. I picked up this "salad guide" from Dole yesterday. It was in a little holder right next to the Dole salad display. There's lots of helpful information inside about their new salads and their system of the salad guide and such.....


but the most helpful thing to me was another .75/1 coupon! I'm going to hang onto this and hopefully Family Fresh Foods will have another salad sale of $1.50, making the salad FREE!

FREE taco at Taco Bell coupon!

Go over here to print a FREE Taco Bell taco coupon! This was available in the past, now it's been reset. FYI- the coupon expires a week from the time you print it.

Thanks, Adventures in Savings!

FREE cone day at Ben & Jerry's!

(Cute picture, huh?)
This event is more than a month away... but I think you might want to put it on your calendar now! Ben & Jerry's at the Gateway in Salt Lake City is offering a 'FREE cone day' on March 23rd from 12p.m.-8 p.m. FREE ice cream cones for everyone! And.... you can get back in line for more- as many times as you like! WOW!

If you don't live in the Salt Lake area, check here for the location of the nearest Ben & Jerry's scoop shop!

I'll remind you again as the date gets closer. In the mean time, you can read Ben & Jerry's Facebook page for more information on FREE cone day!

Thanks, Fistful of Coupons!

Rewards for good grades

My husband and I just took our kids to Fat Cat's for FREE! Take in your kids' report cards and get 3 tokens for every 'A' earned, 2 tokens for each 'B.' (In our school district, these are 4's and 3's.) What a fun way to spend a rainy Monday holiday! My kids played games, climbed on the jungle gym and earned tickets and prizes. To read more about Fat Cats, check here. There may be a location near you, call ahead to make sure they are participating in this program!

Also, Krispy Kreme (locations in Layton and Orem) offers a FREE donut for every 'A' your child earns, up to 6 donuts! Mmmm.... talk about sweet rewards!

P.S. While I was at Fat Cat's in Ogden, I noticed that The Pizza Factory offers FREE kids meals on Tuesdays. Two kids eat free with the purchase of one adult meal! Add this restaurant to your Kids eat FREE list.

Nestle chocolate chips coupon

SWEET! coupon to print: .75/1 Nestle Morsels

You can also print a $1/1 Nestle cookie dough coupon there while you're at it!

Thanks Confessions of a Thrifty Mama!

Also, I noticed an awesome new coupon on coupons.com: $1/2 Welch's grape juice, print 2 now and save for a sale!