~New Series Coming Soon!~

Something I've enjoyed doing in the past is to have several different series of posts. I wasn't sure if anyone would want to read them at first. It turns out that you all really enjoy them and have asked for more. Thank you for emailing me (coachoshields@hotmail.com) to let me know that you liked them!
I've been working on a financial series and a series of posts on different home cleaning recipes. I wasn't going to post them until I actually tried them, however it may be a while until I get around to it and didn't want you all to miss out. So, if you try these recipes for your cleaning products, please let me know how they work and if you like them!

*Keeping it thrifty with the fashion...I was super excited about this dress that I purchased in South Texas a couple weeks ago. I've wanted a dress like this for a long time now, but have never seen them cheaper than $45-$65. I was able to get this dress for $13.99. The retail tag (was still on) said $55! At that price, it was screaming at me to take it home ;)

*This is how I wore it to church. I'm also planning on wearing it in the fall & spring with a denim jacket over it. I love a dress that I can wear all year long!

Tuesday Blessings~
SHO

~FREE Paper Towels!~

Target:

Bounty Paper Towels
.99
-$1 TARGET coupon (from paper)
=FREE!!!

I really, really HEART FREE! Woohoo!
SHO

~Menu Monday!~

It's menu Monday! I'm not going to be posting my menu this week, however I don't want you to forget to make a plan. Don't worry, we will eat :~)
Those of you who have been making a menu plan...Isn't it so much easier to already know what you are going to cook? I love to walk into the kitchen and just make dinner without trying to figure out what I can throw together. I love knowing that I am going to be feeding my family a well-balanced meal (most of the time) simply by taking a few minutes each week to plan it out.

Tonight I'm making a cheesy chicken, broccoli & noodle dish.


Happy Menu Planning!
SHO

~A Few Wal-Mart Deals~

Ran into Wal-mart before church to grab a couple of items that were on sale. Also took the Tom Thumb ad (from the Sunday paper) in with me to comp a couple of items.

3 Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ
$2 (Wal-mart sale)
-$1q
=$1 (this is the 40 oz bottle...it's huge! So, $1 is a great price)
*I know you all think we must LOVE bbq sauce. We do! I try to keep several backup in the pantry along with other dipping sauces. Yummy!

2 Mrs. Baird's bread
Reg. $1.97
Paid .99 (used comp ad from Tom Thumb)

2 Ruffles
Reg. $3.98
Paid $1.88 (used comp ad from Tom Thumb)

Uncle Ben's Rice
$1.96
-coupon for a FREE pouch (got in the mail)
=FREE!

Retail-over $20
Paid-$8.74

Okay, that's it. Happy Monday! I'm having some MAJOR computer problems and getting a new modem (again!)and service. There is a chance I will be without phone & internet for 24 hours. I will do my best to continue to post each day, but if I don't that is why. Hope you all are having a wonderful summer and saving tons of money!

Also, there will not be a CVS or Walgreen's post this week. I'm taking a vacation from the drug stores this week.

Monday Blessings~
SHO

~Kellogg's Recall!~

Kellogg’s has a voluntary recall due to an uncharacteristic wax like smell on the bag. Listed below are the cereals included in the recall:

Kellogg’s® Apple Jacks®
UPC 3800039136
17 ounce package with Better if Used Before Dates between APR 10 2011 and JUN 22 2011

UPC 3800039132 3
8.7 ounce packages with Better if Used Before Dates between JUN 03 2011 and JUN 22 2011

Kellogg’s® Corn Pops®
UPC 3800039109
12.5 ounce packages with Better if Used Before Dates between MAR 26 2011 and JUN 22 2011

UPC 3800039111
17.2 ounce packages with Better if Used Before Dates between MAR 26 2011 and JUN 22 2011

UPC 3800039116
9.2 ounce packages with Better if Used Before Dates between APR 05 2011 and JUN 22 2011

Kellogg’s® Froot Loops®
UPC 3800039118
12.2 ounce packages with Better if Used Before Dates between MAR 26 2011 and JUN 22 2011

UPC 3800039120
17 ounce packages with Better if Used Before Dates between MAR 26 2011 and JUN 22 2011

UPC 3800039125
8.7 ounce packages with Better if Used Before Dates between MAR 26 2011 and JUN 22 2011

Kellogg’s®Honey Smacks®
UPC 3800039103
15.3 ounce packages with Better if Used Before Dates between MAR 26 2011 and JUN 22 2011

If you have any boxes of cereal included in the recall, you should stop using them and call 888-801-4163 for replacement coupons.


Happy Saturday!
SHO

~2 Coupon Inserts Scheduled~

There should be 2 coupon inserts in the Sunday paper:

*SmartSource
*RedPlum

Happy Clipping!
SHO

~My CVS trip this week~

2 Colgate
$2.99
-$2 ECB
-$1 q
=FREE!!!

5 Dawn dish soaps (for my mom)
$1
-.50 q
=.50 each

CVS Vitamins B1G1 sale!

Just in case I haven't said it lately...I HEART FREE :)
SHO

~Kroger Deals~

Listed below are some of the items I will be purchasing at Kroger this week:

*Kroger cheese .99 (stock up price!)
Jumbo Cantaloupes 4 for $5 ($1.25 each)
Red Grapes .88 per lb
Bumble Bee Tuna .50 per can
*Kraft BBQ .70
Pineapple $2

*Kroger is having their Daytona 500 sale, which means you get an instant $3 taken off for every 10 participating items that you buy. You can do this 3 times per transaction. Which means that you can buy 30 participating items per receipt. Make sure you count your items before you get to the register. If you buy 9, you don't get the instant $3 (which is what makes the participating items such a good deal). The tag will say "participating item" on it.
Hope this helps!

Happy Shopping :)
SHO

~Clearing it Up~

My last Walgreen's post may have been confusing....I'm going to explain how the Walgreen's transaction went down.

2 Body Wash
$4.49 price
-B1G1 q
=$4.49 out-of-pocket
Get back $4.49 ECB, so you got both of them for FREE! Hope that makes sense.

Thursday Blessings~
SHO

~My Walgreen's Trip~

Walgreen's trip this week included the following:

2 Old Spice Body Wash
$4.49
-B1G1 q
-$4.49 ECB
=2 FREE

2 Gillette Body Wash
$4.49
-B1G1 q
-$4.49 ECB
=2 FREE

~Menu Wednesday!~

Well, now that it is Wednesday I figured that I should come up with a menu for the week! Our crazy summer schedule has me all messed up. I do know that after eating out for 4 days & nights, I'm ready to eat at home!

Wednesday-Beef Stroganoff w/ mushrooms
Thursday-Chicken, rice, broccoli dish
Friday-chicken enchiladas
Saturday-Italian dish w/ salad
Sunday-hot dogs (church social)

Just remember that you don't have to plan a menu only on Monday. If you miss Monday, then just pick up on the current day. Your budget & family will thank you for being prepared. Trust me :)

*The pic above is a dish that I ate in Mexico. Yummo! I ate some sort of steak or fresh fish every day. It makes me hungry just to look at the picture!

Happy Menu Planning~
SHO

~Tip from a Sassy Saver!~

A very sassy saver reported that there are special marked Fruity & Cocoa Pebbles cereals that are on sale (through today) at Albertson's that have a FREE child ticket to Six Flags. This is a great value if you are planning to go there this summer!

Thanks for the tip Christy!

~My Kroger Trip~

As promised, this was my Kroger trip yesterday. I didn't have time to post regular & sale prices (only sale). This sale ends today.

Steak $2.97 per lb
Strawberries .97
Kroger brand Olive Oil $2.29
Kroger brand Peanut Butter $1
Dial soap .88 - .35 q (tripled)=FREE!
toothpaste $1 - $1 q =FREE!
grapes $1.59 per lb
apples 3 for $1
pork chops (family pack) $5.66
tortillas $1 (they were out of the sale tortillas, so they offered me this brand for the same price)
Watermelon $4.49
2 Light Hot dogs (see next 2 lines for details)
$4.69 BOGO sale
$2.35 -$1/2 q = .68 each!
Kroger brand buns $1
Kroger brand pickles $1.88
Kroger brand mushrooms .54
goldfish $1 -.75 q =.25 each
salad $3.29-.50q = $2.79
Happy Tuesday!
SHO

~Kroger Deals~

Here are a few items that I will be purchasing at Kroger. The sale ends on Tuesday.
We've been out-of-town 9 of the past 15 days, so I have tons to do today. I will do my best to post a pic of my Kroger deals before the sale ends.


T-Bone steaks
$2.97 (limit 2 w/ $10 purchase)
*AWESOME Deal!

Driscoll's Strawberries
.97

Goldfish
$1
-.75 q
=.25

Kroger peanut butter
$1

Mission tortillas
$1

Happy Monday!
SHO

~2 Coupon Inserts Scheduled~

There should be 2 coupon inserts in the Sunday newspaper:

*1 SmartSource
*1 Redplum

Happy Clipping and Happy Father's Day! I'm posting this a day early so that I can enjoy a 3 day weekend with my hubby. Hope you all have a wonderful Father's Day Weekend!

*Oh, how I love this guy! Happy Father's Day...we love you!
Your girls

~A Very Thrifty Situation!~

Now this is thrifty!

There is a family that I know that recently got toilet papered. Bummer, right? Wrong! The little idiots that papered them used CHARMIN (pretty much the nicest and most expensive toilet paper). So, what did these folks do? Yep, they really did....You guessed it....they picked up the rolls, took them inside and started using the paper.
The man of the house usually has to use a cheaper brand of paper. He told his lady that he was going to get spoiled with this nice paper. Ha! I told him that he needed to put a sign in the front yard that said "Toilet papering allowed here ONLY if you use Charmin!" Is it weird that I'm still laughing out loud about this?

This is not a joke...Funny? Yes!...Thrifty? You betcha!

Before you all ask, I promised to not reveal the family this happened to. I can say that it was not me :)

Just remember that if you think and act like everyone else, you will be like everyone else! These particular people have a lot of wealth that they have built all on their own. Pretty impressive. We could all learn a lesson from this lemon to lemonade story.

Thursday Blessings~
SHO

~The Importance of a Rain Check~

This is why it is important to get a rain check if a store it out of something.

3 Motrin (rain check item)
$2.99
-$3 q
=FREE!

4 Nivea lip care (rain check item)
.99
-$1 q
=FREE!

6 Floss
.99 sale
-(3) $1 q's
-(3) B1G1 q's
= FREE!




Now, this is a transaction I like to see! My total that day at Wal-green's was $0.00.
I HEART FREE!!!

Wednesday Blessings~
SHO

~CVS & Father's Day Gift Idea!~

A few of my CVS deals worthy of reporting this week:


2 Old Spice
sale $4
-$4 ECB back
-B1G1 Old Spice q
Total Due: $4
*(The ad says limit 1 for the ECB, but it printed out (2) $4 ECBs=$8)
=$4 profit (after ECBs)


*Buy 1 at $2.59, get one for .01...Use the $1 q and it makes them .80 each.

These products would be great for a Father's Day basket! You could easily make a "favorite things" basket and not spend a fortune. Again, if you think outside the box, you make any gift special for Father's Day. I would love to hear what you come up with if you make a basket!

Tuesday Blessings~
SHO

~Menu Monday!~

Here is a menu for the week. We have several things going on and won't be home for dinner on a few nights. This is what we came up with considering we only bought milk, spinach, carrots, fruit, breads, sausage & lunch meat since our return.

Pizza w/ spinach salad
tacos w/ pinto beans
breakfast burritos (will be able to eat twice)
Shredded bbq chicken sandwiches w/ beans

There you have it. Simple. Easy. Done.

Happy Monday~
SHO

~Jimmy Dean Deal~

Jimmy Dean Sausage
Sale $2
-$2/2
=$1 each

*This is my favorite sausage and the only one I will buy. We don't eat much sausage, but one of my hubby's favorite meals is breakfast burritos. So, I like to always keep some in the freezer for that meal. At this price, I bought 8 of them.

Kroger was out of them, but I asked the nice boy working back in that department and he brought several cases from the back. So, as always, don't be afraid to ask.

SHO

~Back From Paradise!~

Back from paradise...back to saving money for the next trip to paradise! Let me just say that each tropical vacation we take is worth every single dollar saved and worth clipping every single coupon that got us there. Totally worth it! I will be posting pictures here and there of the trip.

*Keepin' the fashion thrifty...the dress I'm wearing cost me $1.50 to make! I was wanting something tropical looking and fun. So, I bought 1 yard of fabric off the $1.50 rack and started sewing. This is what I came up with.


This shirt was really thrifty too! I bought it at a friend's garage sale just before I left for .50! It is Gap and came in very handy for the day after I spent way too much time snorkeling and my back was really red. I ended up having to wear it all day to tour the town and then in the water too. I will not go on another island vacation without this gem. It was worth much more than fifty cents to me! Due to a bit of a fashion emergency, I wore my swim skirt with it....a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. :)
Island Blessings~
SHO

~Tip from a Sassy Saver!~

A Sassy reader emailed wanting to pass along the following information:

"I have just discovered a money saver! Hulu.com... you can watch practically anything you want TV, movie, old, new."


*She has cut off her cable service and is excited to be able to watch some of her shows still, but for FREE now! Thanks for sharing, Tiff! Sounds like a great money saving idea :)

~2 Coupon Inserts Scheduled~

There should be 2 coupon inserts in the Sunday paper:
*1 SmartSource
*1 Redplum

Happy Clipping!
SHO

~Thrifty Fashion Day 4~

More Thrifty Fashion:

Okay, so this outfit is not the cutest. However, it is comfortable and great to wear around town. I love wearing skirts. This year I purchased my first pair of dressy shorts. The only time I ever wear shorts is to workout (and they are not the cute kind). Once I tell you what I paid for the outfit, it will look a lot cuter :)

Are you ready?????

$4.50


Yep, $4 for the shirt (Wal-mart) and .50 for the NY&Company denim skirt (pretty sure it was brand new at a garage sale)! You can't really see very well, but I put a necklace & matching chandelier earrings on to dress it up. For $4.50, I felt like at least $20 bucks. Ha! I included this outfit also because a lot of what I wear is not something that you might would wear. I'm OVERLY girly and I know that not everyone shares my love of all things lace, ruffly, & sparkly. This outfit is universal, so I think. Who doesn't like a t-shirt & denim?

Blessings~
SHO

Day 3 of Fashion Week

Thrifty fashion: Day 3



Ruffle top-$3 clearance at Wal-mart
*loved this shirt b/c it can be worn in the summer alone or in the winter with a black undershirt. I have it paired with an old black shirt from Ross and a black skirt that I've had for 10 years. Yes, you read correctly 10 years!

Mini-me is wearing a pj top ($3) and zebra pants that I got at JCPenny's for FREE! Yes, she dressed herself :)

Fashion Day 2

It's fashion week here at Queen of Sassy Savings. Keeping with the theme, I'm going to share some of my thrifty outfits. I'm only including those that I get compliments on ;-)

Me:
Dress $12.99 (Ross)
Ribbon Belt...less than $1...(made it)
Ribbon Belt ornament is actually a hair clip-$3
3 Bracelets-$1 each (Target)

Mini-me:
Gigantic hair bow-$2
Dress-not exactly sure how much it cost me to make...I used remnant pieces from an old project. I'm guessing less than $5!

There you have it! This dress was my Easter dress in OK, Mother's Day dress in TX and my Spring Musical dress...I think I've already gotten my money out of it!

SHO

Fashion Week Day 1

Thrifty fashion:

I often get asked about my clothing. So I thought I would do some fashion posts of some of my thrifty outfits. I get my clothing at some of the least likely places! Below is a perfect example:



Just wanted to show that you can wear a nice outfit and not spend a fortune. I liked the skirt when I saw it and then when I looked at the tag, I had to have it. It is a pricey skirt originally that is lined and well made. For $3, it was mine!

Tank: $3 on clearance @ Wal-mart
Body by Victoria Skirt: $3 @ Helping Hands thrift store
3 bracelets: $1 each @ Target
Shoes: $9 Payless clearance (several years ago)
or
You can make it a bit more casual....

Tank: $3
capri's:??? sorry, they were a Christmas gift several years ago
Sweater: $19.99 Target...8 years ago...this shows that if you take care of your laundry that even inexpensive clothing will last!
Hair band: $2
3 bracelets: $1 each @ Target
Watch: $15 (bought with some RR's at Wal-greens!)


Do you shop clearance racks, garage sales or thrift stores? Do you have any deals that you want to share?

Blessings
SHO

~Kroger .54!~

Don't forget to grab FREE Lawry's marinade at Kroger right now! It is on sale for $1 and there are .50 coupons that will double to $1, which means it is FREE!!! This is when having multiple coupons comes in handy. I love to use this marinade in the crockpot.
2 Old Spice
Sale $1.50
-B1G1 q
-$1 q
=This entire transaction was .54!

~McDonald's Recall!~

Go HERE to read about the Shrek cup recall. We didn't have any, but I'm certain that some of you may. Hope this helps!

~National Donut Day!~

Today is National Donut Day! If you are not getting ready for a beach vacation, then drop by these locations and eat a FREE donut for me!

Dunkin Donuts is offering a FREE donut w/ drink purchase.

Krispy Kreme is offering a FREE donut with no purchase necessary.

I love donuts :)

~3 Coupon Inserts Scheduled~

There are 3 coupon inserts scheduled for the Sunday paper:

*SmartSource
*RedPlum
*Procter & Gamble

Happy Clipping!

~I Did It!~

I went to get my groceries for the week and only purchased bread, fruit, & spinach just as planned. Yeah! My total was $12.74. Woohoo :)

Happy Thursday!
SHO

~A Very Easy Meal!~

Some of you asked about the chicken, rice & broccoli dish that I listed on my menu. It must be the easiest thing that I make, literally! Plus, it is super tasty! I have 2 versions of this.

Version #1 (the healthier):
Rice (made from the pouch in 90 seconds)
Shredded chicken (made in the crockpot in bulk, separated, then frozen for quick meals like this...I just thawed it out in the fridge this morning)
*heated the chicken up on the stove top for 5-7 minutes
Broccoli (used a bag of frozen broccoli...took 5 minutes)
Done!


Version #2 (hubby looks at this and says "this looks really healthy"...translation="I need a little more of something on this!"

Add shredded Cheese
Bacon bits
Done!

*Remember that chicken goes much further if it is shredded. I can feed my entire family with 1 shredded breast in a meal like this (meaning it has multiple ingredients) vs. 3 individual breasts that are not shredded. Hope that made sense.


Both ways are good, of course, the second way taste the best. Anyway, it is a super easy meal that takes less than 15 minutes from start to the dinner table. A hit at our house :)

Hope this helps!

Blessings~
SHO

~Snapfish B1G1 Offer!~

Buy 1 Snapfish Custom or Classic Cover Photo Book and get 1 FREE! Be sure to enter coupon code EARLYBIRD10 Offer is valid until 6/9.
*Also, if you are new to Snapfish, you will get 20 FREE Color Prints for signing up!

Think Graduation & Father's Day Gifts with this offer! I make 1 book per year that includes vacation, Easter, Christmas, birthday, etc. for my daughter. I know that when she gets older she will appreciate it :)

~Menu Plan~

I've challenged myself this week to only buy fruit & bread. So, we had to get creative with what we already have. Plus, my goal is to not eat out until the weekend. This is what my menu is looking like this week:

Double Decker tacos
Spaghetti w/ spinach salad
Chicken/crescent roll dish
Calzones
Chicken & rice (probably add a bag of broccoli to it also)

What is cookin' at your house?

~The Importance of an Emergency Fund!~

Last week my cute hubby drove our older car home from work and said something was wrong with it. It had been running great, up until he headed home. No lights were on, no problems since July of 09'. This was the first car that I paid for all on my own and have taken great care of it. Regardless, it is a 1997 model....So, things will have to be repaired from time to time. We were hoping it could be fixed for $75 (who doesn't hope for that!). Well, it ended up being closer to $500. We could look at this 1 of 2 ways.
#1 Go out and get a newer car
#2 Be thankful that it only costs us $500 to drive it this year.

I'm going with #2 :)

Am I excited about spending $500? NOPE! My point here is that this is an expense that we could not have avoided. Always having money put aside for "emergencies" is a great feeling. Being debt free has so many perks!

My other point is to not go out and replace an older car just because it needs a few things fixed. Just think about how much money you are actually saving by not going out and financing a car. I know, not popular. I'm pretty sure that most self-made millionaire's probably made a lot of "unpopular" financial decisions to earn their millions!

Have a great day and be proud of driving that car that is fully paid for!

Blessed~
SHO