WE MOVED!

Surprise! The time has come for me to make my last post here on SavvySisterShops.blogspot.com.

That's because.... I moved over to SavvySisterShops.com! Come join me over there! This change has been in the works for a long, long time so I'm really excited about this... especially because I learned to build the site myself! (I'll tell you all about that soon.)

I had some help from my friend Shelley- she designed the new header, pictures, and button. She's awesome, can customize anything, and she's VERY affordable.

I wanted to give you all access to more: like the Savvy Sister Coupon Database- it's super cool and I'll show you how it works in an upcoming tutorial. You can search for any coupon out there, eCoupons, Magazine coupons, Newspaper coupons, Printable coupons!

If you were already a subscriber through the RSS feeds, you have moved with me! If you haven't subscribed yet, head on over the SavvySisterShops.com and click the orange button with white stripes.

You can now sign up for e-mail updates as well! See you in a 'click'!

DFW Food Storage: Palm Shortening Order!

I found yet another component for my Food Plan 2011- DFW Food Storage! This group buying site is similar to Zaycon Foods and Bountiful Baskets- you get more for less when you buy in big numbers!

I'm giving you really short notice on their current deal, but I promise to give you tons of notice for next time around. DFW Food Storage is now taking orders for Palm Shortening. This is a fantastic product for food storage. Unlike vegetable oils, Palm Shortening has an indefinite shelf life! This is a wonderful investment!

And.... for my cute Utah readers out there- DFW Food Storage can get shipments to you, too! There just needs to be enough interest in the products to get an order. We can work more on that later, or... if you'd like to head up getting some interest in your area, please contact Sharon by e-mail at sharon@dfw foodstorage.com (remove space).

A gallon of Palm Shortening is $30. DFW Food Storage suggests you have 6-8 gallons for a family of four in your food storage.

If you live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, orders for the Palm Shortening will be accepted until this Sunday, Jan. 30. Details on how to order and more information about Palm Shortening are on the DFW Food Storage site. Again, I'm super excited about "group buying" and how we can work together to get food storage for our families!

(DFW stands for Dallas-Fort Worth. In case you didn't know- I learned this when I first moved to Dallas!)

FOOD: My Plan for 2011

Now that the new year is here, I want to share with you my plan to restock our food supply in our home. Many of you followed my blog through the 9 1/2 months of my husband's unemployment last year. Now that we are employed again, we're focused on building up our 3 month supply of readily available foods. We will also be adding to our year's supply of dried foods and necessities.

When building your supply, don't forget about non-food items. As far as non-food items are concerned, coupons really stretch the budget! There are many items I don't pay for anymore: body wash, toothpaste, toothbrushes, deoderant, razors, lip & face products, cosmetics, dishwasher detergent, and hair products.

As much as I would like to say that I get all my food for FREE, that's just not reality. With some planning, you can still save big at the grocery checkout line. This is my 5-step plan to get the best deals possible in 2011:

1. Coupons
If there is a coupon available for foods our family eats, it will most likely be used in the regular grocery store. I've also become a big fan of Aldi- 99 cents for milk and 49 cents for eggs!

Most of the coupon deals I pick up for my family are the ones posted here on my blog. (You are what you type...!?) I also try to pick up healthy snacks for my kid's lunches when I have coupon overages or catalinas at the drugstores. They often have marked down specials, because grocery items at the drugstore don't move quickly.

2. Bountiful Baskets
The picture at the top of this post was my Bountiful Baskets foods from about a week ago. I paid $16.50 for all that food! It's definitely worth the price (and the small drive) for fresh produce, something that coupons usually don't pay for. Each produce basket ordered is $15.00 along with a $1.50 handling fee.

Sign up for Bountiful Baskets is every Monday and Tuesday. In Texas, where I live, Bountiful Baskets pick up is every two weeks. Check the Bountiful Baskets site for your pick up time and location. (Hint: If your state is listed under 'Locations' but is not listed under the 'Participate Now' page, it means sign up and pick up will be the following week.)

Also, if there is no Bountiful Baskets pick up locations in your area, read about how to start one. Bountiful Baskets is 100% volunteer run, so you could be just that- a volunteer that guarantees fresh and inexpensive produce for families like yours!

3. Zaycon Foods
Another item that coupons usually do not pay for is meat. Zaycon Foods delivers truckloads of fresh meat products to several locations in the U.S. They are able to get low prices on their meats when there is a large group of buyers.

This month's item for Zaycon Foods in my area is boneless, skinless chicken breasts for $1.49/lb.! The meats are organic, so it's an amazing deal for high quality meats. Zaycon should be working on a hamburger shipment set up for the next run, so stay tuned!

The Zaycon Foods website is easy to use- orders may be reserved and paid for online. Again, if you do not see Zaycon Foods coming to your area, contact them through their website to discuss interest your area. If there are enough people that want to buy their products, they will be there! The more they hear from you and your friends, the better- let them know!

*Reminder: If you ordered a box (or two) of chicken, be sure to pay for it by this Friday, Jan. 21. Pick up is on Jan. 29 and the time varies by location.

4. Shelf Reliance
I attended a Shelf Reliance demonstration recently, and I was very impressed with the quality and variety of the foods available. Many Shelf Reliance #10 cans will be added to my food storage this year! The freeze dried fruits are very tasty- you can get a home demonstration to try these out for yourself! Shelf Reliance Foods are also available at Costco.

My friend, Julie Sivley, has a blog all about Shelf Reliance Foods. Check her We Strive to Thrive blog for more information. She would be happy to give you more information about Shelf Reliance foods- no matter where you live!

My first order is going to contain powdered sour cream and powdered tomato. I was so excited to find out that these products exist! These will be extremely handy to us when you're running low on everyday items: sour cream, ketchup, tomato sauce, etc. I also use many powdered items in my cooking, so these will go on the ingredients list for many recipes.

5. Homemade Foods
As always, I'll make homemade foods whenever I can. This is, of course, the least expensive way to go when trying to cut costs on groceries. I still have a big supply of basics: sugar, flour, powdered milk, etc. and I will continue to add to the basics as the year progresses.

It's not always to easiest or the most convenient, but I consider the work I do at home to save and conserve is my way to get paid as a stay at home mom!

We recently tried making homemade tortillas- yum! I'm still working on my technique (they're not very pretty.... that's why I haven't posted the recipe here yet), but they are super tasty!

I have many recipes posted, check them out and try a new homemade recipe at your house!

What's your food plan for 2011? I'd love to hear more about it, please leave a comment and share with all of us!

Food Storage: Texas Style!

It's not pretty.... but here it is: my food storage! I say 'Texas Style' because there are no basements here. Also, the garage is not an option because the 3 ideal environment conditions for food storage: cool, dark, and dry would be an impossibility in a Texas garage!

I'm sure that I will learn a thing or two (or more....) from the more experienced Texas food storage enthusiasts here, but this is what we did. We put our food storage in our closets! Above is Closet #1: Coat closet turned food storage closet. Works very well! We stacked 15 large buckets of food storage into one closet and hung our coats in, well- our own closets.


Closet #2: Our master closet is nice and roomy- we used the area by the window for our medium-size food storage buckets. Again, works nicely and my husband enjoys another place to put his "not dirty/not clean" pile of clothes!

I packed a lot of these buckets myself with dry ice in the bottom. Have you done that before? You just take a small amount of dry ice and place it in the bottom of each bucket. Quickly fill the bucket with desired dry food (oats, wheat, rice, etc.) and put the lid to the bucket on top loosely. The dry ice will "melt" taking most of the oxygen from the bucket with its' gas. This allows your dry foods to last longer in storage.

Once the dry ice is gone, (you will be able to tell by feeling the bottom of your bucket- it won't be freezing cold) pound the lid of the storage bucket into place. Your food should be good to go for many years!

Closet #3: My daughter also has a nice, big walk-in closet. We placed one set of food storage shelves in her closet and stacked our smaller cans and readily available foods on those. (She's nice to bring me a bag of flour, etc. when I ask her to!)

Closet #4: Not really a closet, it's our pantry. As you can see, I have many #10 cans of food! I use a lot of them in my cooking regularly, so this is a great place for them.

Regulars at our house include sugar, flour, wheat, powdered eggs, powdered milk, white beans, vital wheat gluten, dehydrated onions, macaroni, oats, and chicken bouillon. We also like the chocolate pudding and hot cocoa mix! I don't mention this as much as I should- but learning to use these dry ingredients will decrease your grocery bill many times over. (I'm also very proud of the stack of FREE pasta in my pantry!)

I've included many recipes using food storage items right here on Savvy Sister Shops, if you'd like to get started and use your food storage items regularly in your family's diet.

Can you tell what my son was for Halloween from the pantry picture?

We also use more cupboard space to store more foods. Coupon shoppers always have extra boxes of cereal, right? (The bags of Halloween candy were also hiding in this high spot.)

What I really want to have more of is regular cans. Cans of tuna, vegetables, soup, fruits, etc. Many of you that know our story know that we lived on food storage and coupons through 9 months of unemployment. We continue to use these items to live as frugally as possible. There's no sense ending a good pattern!

Like I said, these pictures are not pretty, but I know the foods we have stored will help us in case a "storm" comes our way. Do you have some great food storage tips? Please let us know by leaving a comment!

I blew all my Extra Bucks....

...but it was worth it! Final price= 2 cents!

This is how I bought 2 rechargeable toothbrushes and 8 bags of candy for 2 cents. (Just so you can see how awesome CVS is! You can do this too!)

Transaction #1:
Oral B Vitality Rechargeable Toothbrush $34.99
Used raincheck for sale price $23.00
Used $10/1 P&G 9/26
Used $5, $2.99, $2.99, $2 Extra Bucks
Final price: 2 cents, got back $13 Extra Bucks

Transaction #2:
Repeat transaction #2
Used $13 Extra Bucks from above
Final price: FREE!, got back $13 Extra Bucks

Transaction #3:
8 bags candy on sale $2.00 each= $16.00
Used 3 $1/2 SS 10/17
Used $13 Extra Bucks from transaction #2
Final price: FREE!

Now I have some rebuilding of Extra Bucks ahead- stay tuned! I just want to stress how important it is to get a raincheck when sale items are out of stock. If you need a refresher course please read my article on rainchecks.

My first trip to CVS! and more...

This was my first ever coupon shopping trip at CVS! We don't have CVS stores in Utah, so I was extra excited. I spent $6.75 on the items above, but got back $8 in Extra Bucks Rewards to spend next time. I was able to use a $4/$20 coupon for being a new CVS cardholder. I expect to spend even less (or should I say 'make more'?) in the weeks to come! Get the details on the CVS deals this week.

If you're new to couponing, you may be surprised that I hit so many stores this week to pick up the deals. All I can say is, it's worth it!

Walgreen's stop: (Right across the street from CVS for me!) 40 cents. We're not huge gelatin fans, but I needed some for my daughter's special orange birthday cake. I just couldn't pass up FREE dental floss! Walgreen's Deals for this week are here.

I'm really becoming a fan of Market Street's FREE mailer coupons and their marked down deals. I needed to spend $10 to get a FREE pound of hamburger. I used coupons to help me reach the $10 mark, plus I spotted these Lloyd's barbeque beef packages for only 99 cents each! They are normally $6.99 each and they were 4 days away from their 'Best By' date. What a deal! I bought all of these items at Market Street for $4.88. Not bad when you consider I can get 6 dinners out of these meat products!


Next up, Target! Oh, how I love Target. The Sense & Spray were FREE with an overage of 96 cents each. Wonka bar= FREE with $1/1 RP 9/12 and $1/1 Target printable coupon (No longer available). Kraft Homestyle Mac & Cheese= FREE with Kraft First Taste coupon. Archer Farms Pizzas= Buy One Get One FREE with an awesome Target catalina coupon. The stickers I actually paid full price for, 99 cents- we were making cards for my daughter's birthday! Total for this trip was $2.56.

And, last, but not least: Lowe's! This is one of my favorite coupon deals ever! I love it when Brita comes out with high value coupons. These pitchers were $3.00 each, including tax, for clean water for months to come! This saves big time when we don't have to buy water bottles, etc. We just filter our own water with these pitchers and refill washable water bottles. Nice!

Of course, these are not the only shopping trips we have to make to get all that our family needs. Most of these items are not things that we "need" right away, but they are going into our supply so we can draw on them later. You really can shop for pennies on the dollar to provide for your family!

How did your shopping go this week?

What to do with a FREE milk with $10 purchase coupon

*Update: The Sept. 15-21 FREE coupon offer is for 1 lb. 80% Lean Angus Ground Beef! Use your FREE ground beef coupon the same way!

I received a FREE milk coupon with $10 purchase coupon in a mailer last week. It was from Market Street here in the Dallas area. Whether you have a Market Street coupon or not- I hope this will give you an idea of how to use such a coupon!

Here was my plan- buy $10 worth of groceries with coupons! After your purchases are added up at the register, give the FREE milk coupon to the cashier FIRST.

It worked! I got all of the above for $3.48!

2 1/2 lbs. of black grapes- On sale @ 99 cents/lb.
Tropicana juice- Marked down to 99 cents (+ 3 more Tropicana Juicy Rewards points!)
Gallon of milk- FREE with coupon
Tide travel packs- FREE with $1.50/1 SS 8/22 coupons
Slim Fast 100 calorie bar- FREE with $1.25/1 RP 8/29
Charmin To Go travel pack- FREE with $1/1 P&G rebate coupon
2 Rhodes Dinner Rolls 12 pk.- 79 cents each with $1/1 Rhodes coupons from Grandma

If you were lucky enough to get one of these coupons, too- you need to use today! It expires today, Sept. 14! Use your coupons and let them make the $10 purchase for you- then you'll get a whole gallon of milk (and more) for FREE!

First things first...

So we're starting to adjust to life here in Dallas! I'm slowly getting ready for the transition from being a Utah blogger to a Texas blogger. My first priority is to get my house in order buy a Dallas Cowboys jersey! Who cares that I really don't understand the game of football, Albertson's stores down here give an additional 10% off on game days when you wear your Dallas Cowboys jersey!

And, it must be a JERSEY- t-shirts don't count. We already tried that when we rolled into Amarillo and pulled out my son's Cowboys t-shirt... we thought we did well for just arriving from Utah! But, it was a no-go- it must be a jersey.

Then, I'll be on to learning about double and triple coupons at Kroger and Albertson's and other fun items like CVS. Wow, I'm so excited!

I hope you all have a fabulous holiday weekend with your families, everyone! I'll be back on Tuesday with the deals!

$19.99 Newspaper Deal ends tomorrow!

*Remember that you may order up to 8 copies of the Sunday paper with this deal! EIGHT- it's a coupon users dream!

FYI- If you were even thinking about adding more papers to your growing collection- you need to know that the incredible $19.99/year paper deal is ending tomorrow!

Due to the holiday weekend, this deal will be ending sooner than expected. If you want to get a new subscription, or even add onto your existing subscriptions, you will need to call Debbie at 801-344-2923 by tomorrow (Friday) afternoon!

Be sure to tell Debbie that Heather let you know about this promotional deal, so you can lock in the lowest price in history! If she is not available when you call, be sure to leave a message. She will get back to you ASAP to get your order set up.

Can I just insert here that using coupons has CHANGED my life forever. I slowed way down on shopping since learning we were going to move. Even after over 9 months of unemployment, we moved into our new home and filled the pantry completely FULL! The bathroom shelves and drawers are FULL and more storage shelves are FULL of groceries and non-foods items. I won't need to go shopping for awhile, either- unless I really want to! I hope you're learning to love coupons as much as I do. I love the way we are able to provide for our family. Just wanted to add my two cents here!

Enjoy this fantastic deal!

First of the month reminders!

August is over and September has begun! It's a busy time for coupon users...

1. Print your NEW coupons- It's the first of the month, there' new coupons available! Get all your favorites on coupons.com, smartsource.com and redplum.com.

2. Send in your Rite Aid Rebates- Just type in your receipt info and they do the math for you! It's so easy!

3. Donate your expired August coupons to overseas military families!

Staples Moneymaker! (Courtesy Payless & Office Max)

*Update! This deal is even sweeter than I thought! Make any purchase at Office Max and get a $5/$25 coupon for Payless! Buy a ruler or eraser for 5-10 cents at Office Max and save an extra $5 when you go to Payless. (Thanks, Hip 2 Save & Krystal!)

These are my daughter's new school shoes- aren't they the cutest school shoes you've ever seen? (I knew you would agree.) We bought these at Payless Shoe Source- they are having a Buy One Get One 50% off sale! With all of my kids in school this year, we had to take them up on that deal.

While we were checking out, I noticed they had a little sign that said, "Take your Payless Shoe Source receipt to Office Max and get a $10 off coupon for any $30 purchase." Well, this made my day!

With the Back to School sales this week, you can score a lot of items for FREE with this coupon! How? Remember that Staples accepts competitors coupons? They do! I suggest taking the $10 off $30 Office Max coupon to Staples! (Check with customer service first, just to be sure you won't have trouble checking out.)

Go to Staples and buy the following:
5 Staples Filler Paper 120 sheets = 5 cents
2 Staples Multipurpose Paper 500-sheet ream = $9.98
1 PNY Attace 2 GB USB Flash Drive = $9.99
2 Staples Photo Supreme Paper 50 pack = $2.00 (w/ in-ad coupon)
2 Bic Round Stic Grip Ballpoint pens 12 pk.= $2.00 (w/ in-ad coupon)
2 Westcott 7" Student Scissors = $2.00
Scotch Pop-Up Desk-Grip Tape Dispenser = $3.00
1 4-pk. #2 pencils= $1.00 (w/ in-ad coupon)
Subtotal: $30.02

Use these coupons at checkout:
$10/$30 Office Max coupon
$1/1 SS 8/8 Scotch coupon
$1/2 Bic printable coupon
Pay: $18.02 + tax

Then submit rebates for the 2 Reams of Paper, Flash Drive & Scotch Tape dispenser for a total of $19.97.
Final price: All for FREE + $1.95 moneymaker!

(Plus you'll get some cute shoes to boot!)

Baby Shower Gift: $3.71!

This is a baby shower gift that I gave my sister recently. She doesn't know this, (although she may have a hunch).. but I paid almost nothing for these gifts! This is one of the beauties of using coupons, you get to feel very generous, but pay very little for the gifts you give!

This is what I did:

2 packages of Pampers wipes: FREE!
These were priced at $1.97 at Wal-mart and I used the $2/1 P&G coupons. That was easy!

Pampers Diapers: FREE!
Can I just say that I LOVE Rite Aid? Between coupons, +UP Rewards, prescription transfer gift cards, & Single Check Rebates, this $9.99 package of diapers was FREE!

Butterfly Towel: $3.71
Retail price of this cute towel is $34.99. It was marked down to $13.00 at Kohl's and I used a $10 off $10 coupon that arrived in the mail. Sweet!
(It's so cute, too! And large- her little girl will be able to use it for years to come.)

Bibs and Headband: FREE!
I have a very kind and generous family that gives me their extra fabric. My mom-in-law and sis-in-law donated some of these fabrics and I made the headband and bibs for FREE! I just had to be willing to put in some time to make them.

So, what do you think? Would you like a shower gift like this? I was feeling pretty proud of myself- thanks for letting me share this with you!

FREE Coupon Classes! (My basket is overflowing...)

This is a basket at my house full of FREEbies and cheapies to give away. After the Smith's sale this week... it's overflowing!

I collect these items to give away to YOU and your friends! Did you know that I teach FREE coupon classes? I do! I can come to your home, business or church and teach you and your friends how to shop like a Savvy Sister. I will bring along 15-20 items like these and someone gets to take them home for FREE!

Everyone's money is tight these days and I know a lot of people are looking for ways to cut expenses. Using coupons is a great way to go! Putting in a little time and effort to get organized really pays off!

If you are interested in hosting or setting up a FREE coupon class, just send an e-mail message to: savvy sister shops@live.com (remove spaces) I'm available in the Weber and Davis areas, of course- but I also like to visit family a lot in the Salt Lake area, too! Just send me a message, I'd be happy to show your friends how to save money by using coupons. They'll thank you again and again!

Smith's $25 credit

Did you catch the part of the Smith's ad with the big $25 on it? Smith's now gives a $25 credit to your Smith's card when you transfer a prescription!

Whoo-hoo! This is one of my favorite money-saving techniques. Here is what I do to make extra money to spend on things my family needs:

1. Transfer prescriptions to Rite Aid for a $25 gift card. My son regularly needs his ezcema cream, so I pay $9 for that at Rite Aid and get back $25! I use this gift card along with my Rite Aid Coupons, Sales and manufacturer's coupons to really make this gift card stretch!

2. The next time my son needs his cream prescription, I transfer the prescription to Smith's. They put the $25 credit right on my Smith's card and I go shopping with my coupons again. Again, this $25 stretches way out with coupons and we get a lot of food and supplies that we regularly use!

3. Repeat.

One more thing, I usually take my prescription papers with me and shop while they fill it. If you think ahead on this, you may call the pharmacy and they will transfer the prescription for you. Easy, right?

4th of July Weekend

Have a wonderful 4th of July weekend everyone!

I am going to be on a short vacation for the holiday and my son's 6th birthday.... just so you know. I will still be posting the Family Fresh Foods ad for next week and the very best deals out there for you to grab!

I'm so glad I have you as a new friend- I love all the new friends I've made through Savvy Sister Shops. I truly hope you have a wonderful weekend with your families.

Smith's Coupon Sale in the News

Coupon clipping has been making big news lately with this fun Smith's sale. People that have used coupons for awhile now can tell you that coupon popularity is growing by leaps and bounds. Here are a couple of stories that you will like:

First up, this article 'Bargain lovers in store for a super-value treat' published in the Salt Lake Tribune by Lesley Mitchell. You may know her as One Cheap Chick because she also has a blog that follows all the sweet deals here in Utah. She noticed some timing issues that may or may not be associated with the Smith's sales and WinCo. Hmmm.....

I was honored to be interviewed and tried to explain why these super coupon events are a big deal to hard-working families in this economy. I hope you like it!

Also, my friend Vanessa at Our Thrifty Ideas Become One, had this link to the opening news story at FOX News. The opening story was about the coupon event at Smith's! WOW! She also noticed how different people prounounce the word, "Coupon." Do you say it the way that they do? Ha!

So, the next time you're out coupon shopping, have some insightful words in mind to share, just in case. You never know when you will be interviewed by newspaper or TV reporters!

Have you planted your garden? It's not too late!

Last year we moved to our home in the last part of June. I always loved having a garden planted in the spring, but I thought I'd be too late. Then, I started to learn more about square foot gardens. They are so easy to set up and are a "non-gardeners" garden!
I read that instead of building garden boxes, you could use a worn out bookcase or bookshelves for your garden box. My daughter's white bookcase broke during our move. Instead of throwing it out, we turned it into a garden box!


Just lay the bookcase on its' back and fill with soil. The perfect recipe is 1/3 Peat Moss, 1/3 Vermiculite, and 1/3 Compost. All of these items may be found at garden centers at your favorite store. Mix these three together and then fill the box/bookcase. Then, plant your favorite vegetables. Buy some plants already growing at the garden center to plant your garden!

Our favorite plants are tomatoes. We planted the tomatoes as soon as we could! We had a fantastic green tomato harvest in the fall. Here is my son with 3 of the 5 bowls we picked from our tiny garden! We let them ripen inside and then used them to make spaghetti sauce, dried tomatoes, and we even canned some whole tomatoes! Yum!

I used to think that homemade spaghetti sauce was more expensive than what you could buy at the store. I've changed my mind since I found the $1/1 Muir Glen coupons and can get tomato paste for FREE at Wal-mart and tomato sauce for 9 cents at Macey's. Mmmm... homemade is so much better! If you haven't planted a garden yet, it's not too late! It's the best way to get FREE food right from your own backyard!

Coupon Binder

WOW! I just found a lot of coupon binder organizer friends on Couponing to Disney! I had a third guest post on Kristin's blog while she is on vacation. You can read all about it here.

I must say I LOVE my coupon binder! If this works for you as well, that's great! If not, I hope you will use whatever method works the best for you. I was happy to hear from so many women that use binders.

Missed my other guest posts? Read Coupons have kept our family going for 7 months & Birthday Freebies as well!

Thanks, Kristin!

Flipz are yummy!

Our 5 FREE bags of Flipz we got at Smith's on Monday? ...GONE!

How long did yours last?

Coupons, coupons, coupons

Hey! My SLC Mommy is a blogger that lives in downtown Salt Lake City. She asked me to write up a guest post of how I organize my coupons. You can check it out here.