Extreme Couponing, Houston Frugal Living Blog
Need another great deal to add to your CVS Shopping List for this week? If you grabbed a paper on Sunday you might have seen that high value $2.00/1 Colgate Mouthwash Coupon in the SmartSource Insert! If you’re new to couponing at CVS this is a super easy deal to do.
** Deal Breakdown **
Buy 1 Colgate Mouthwash 500ml $4.00
Use $2.00/1 Colgate Mouthwash SS 7/24
Receive $2.00 ECB After Purchase
Total: FREE
Make sure you check out all the other CVS Weekly Deals HERE
Take the stress out of your upcoming holiday meals with these Christmas menu ideas that save time. Not only will you be able to face the family from out of town without stress, your family will still enjoy the fun menu they expect from you. Christmas meals don’t have to be a huge production, they just need to be a delicious production.
Utilize your freezer in advance. There are copious menu items that can be prepared even a month in advance to Christmas day and put in your freezer to simply reheat in the oven. Large batches of mashed potatoes, gravy, a whole turkey or ham, casseroles and even hot rolls can all be made in advance. Instead of cooking everything the day before and of the meal, do batches for a few weeks and put into your freezer.
Make a double batch of mashed potatoes or this great loaded potato casserole with dinner one night and instead of putting in the refrigerator for leftovers, load into a freezer storage bag, label and pull out a day or two before Christmas to thaw. Add a bit of cream and butter while reheating and nobody will know they ever sat in a freezer. Nearly everything from those mashed potatoes to your favorite pies can be done in advance and frozen to be reheated on Christmas day. This takes tons of time out of your day, and helps rid you of stress. If you plan on doing this with a lot of recipes or several weeks in advance you might even consider investing in a Food Saver unit to vacuum seal your freezer foods for longer shelf life.
Use your Crockpot. Crockpot’s aren’t just for soups and stews. We have some great Crockpot recipes, but you can even make your own stuffing, roast a turkey or ham and make cake in your Crockpot. This will save space and time using your oven, and provide you with a great way to safely keep food warm on a Christmas dinner buffet.
Use semi-homemade recipes. Not everything has to be made from scratch. Grab frozen dinner rolls, ready made casseroles at a local restaurant, or even buy your turkey already cooked in the local deli or specialty market. This is one of the best and easiest Christmas menu ideas that save time. Semi-homemade meals are just as delicious. Remember it is the time spent with your family that is most important during the holidays, not whether you made every dish from scratch in your own kitchen.
Make it a potluck event. If you generally host a lot of friends and family in your home, you can easily ask others to help by bringing a dish. Instead of taking on the entire menu alone, set up a list of items others can help by bringing for you. Things like drinks, desserts, hot rolls and side dishes could be prepared by your guests while you focus on providing the main dishes like the turkey, ham, or even a great lamb roast.
These are some basic Christmas menu ideas that save time on your favorite holiday event preparation. From getting others to help prepare your meal to using your freezer for weeks in advance, this year you can enjoy the time on Christmas day with your family instead of slaving over a hot stove.
Check out some other ideas to make the holidays easier on you as a busy mom, plus some yummy holiday recipes!
Chritmas Shopping Tips For Busy Moms
Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner Ideas For Christmas
:: COMING UP TODAY!!!! Watch LIVE! ::
Heads up!! I am doing another LIVE YouTube/Google Hangout on Wednesday, July 30th at 1:00pm CST talking about how to shop this mega event and highlighting all the great deals that I find!
It will be recorded if you can’t make the live version, but if you want the skinny on the best deals…
You can bookmark this page so you don’t miss it! You can go HERE to watch it on You Tube!
Wednesday, February 12th at 10:00am CST you can watch Paul and I *LIVE* show you how we make both of these treats! This recipe/cooking segment will go from 10:00am – 10:30am and you can watch either on Google+ or on YouTube live.
It is super easy to watch, it is fun to see people live and since this is a new thing for us, you can make fun if you want, I am sure we will have a few bloopers!
We are going to be making Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Bites and Peanut Butter Ball Cookies and showing you how we are going to be giving them to our kids teachers and neighbors for Valentines Day.
Have you wondered what all those Use By Dates mean on products from your grocery store?? It can get really confusing! Recently I had the chance to sit down with Kat Cosley and the Disney Live Well Network to talk about how to understand what they are suggesting!
Go HERE to watch that segment.
It’s Monday and so a quick video to get you going this week. Catch my shopping trip to Kroger and make sure to get in there and grab your last minute deals.
Make sure to check out my video below as I explain what I bought and check out in the store. If you can’t see the video you can go HERE to watch it.
I saved 47% and spent $47.18 This is what I bought:
Buy Hershey’s Spreads $2.99
Use $1.00 off HERSHEY’S Spreads
Total: $1.99!
Buy 2 Wholy Guacamole $1.49
$1.00/1 Wholly Guacamole Product, Any – Facebook Coupon – Manufacturer–
$1.00/1 Wholly Salsa Product – eatwholly.com – Manufacturer–
$1.00/1 Wholly Salsa, Any – Facebook Coupon – Manufacturer
Final Price: $.49
Buy 4 Wholy Salsa $1.49
$1.00/1 Wholly Guacamole Product
$1.00/1 Wholly Salsa Product
$1.00/1 Wholly Salsa
Final Price: $.49
Buy Silk Milk $1.99
Use 2 $1/1 Silk Milk Coupon HERE (I used zip code 77477)
Final Price: $.99
Buy 2 Barilla Pasta $1.69
$1.00/1 Barilla Pasta
Final Price: $1.19
3 Old Elpaso Taco Seasoning $.75
Use $0.60 off THREE Old El Paso products
Total: $.55 each
Del Monte Squishers $2.19
Use $1.00 off any 2 Del Monte Fruit Burst Squeezers
Total: $1.69
Dole Squishems $2
$1/1 Dole Squishems coupon
OR $1/1 Dole Fruit Squish’ems (Kroger Digital Coupon)
Total: $1
Cottonelle $4.99
Use $1.50/2 Peelie Coupon
Total: $4.24
Orville Popcorn $1.99
Use $1/1 Orville Redenbacher’s Gourmet Popcorn, exp. 3/31/14 (Peelie)
Total: $.99
Vitamin Water $.79
Get back: $3 Catalina
Paul and I made a little video today of some of the best and our favorite deals this week at Walmart and Kroger. The beginning is the best with Paul running around Walmart trying to get as many deals as he can in 1 minute!
Here are the deals we highlighted:
:: AT WALMART ::
Buy Arm & Hammer Spinbrush $4.88
Use $2/1 Arm and Hammer Spinbrush Powered Toothbrush or Refill printable
Or use $2/1 Arm & Hammer Spinbrush
Total: $2.88
Reach Floss: $0.97
$1.00 off any 2 Reach Floss
Total: $0.47
Supreme Protein Bar: $1.97
Buy One Get One Supreme Protein Bar
Total: $0.98 each
Efferdent Power Clean Crystals Trial Size Packs: $1.00
Use $1/1 Efferdent product (12/31) (SS 11/10//2013)
Total: FREE
Buy Tresemme Shampoo or Conditioner $2.48
Use $2.00 off any TRESemme Product
Total: $.48
:: AT KROGER ::
Playtex Tampons $1.99
Use $2/1 Playtex Gentle Glide or Sport Tampons, exp. 11/17/13 (SS 10/06/13)
$2/1 Playtex Gentle Glide or Sport Tampons, exp. 11/17/13 (SS 10/06/13 R)
$1/1 Playtex Gentle Glide Tampons, exp. 12/31/13 (Product Insert)
Total: FREE
Buy Listerine Mouth Wash $3.99
Use $2.00 off any 1 LISTERINE Mouthwash 1L or larger
Total: $1.99!!
* Stock Up Price!
Buy 3 Power Bars $.49 (part of mega event buy 10 get $5 off)
Use $1.50/3 Power Bar Coupon HERE
Total: FREE!
Carnation or PET Evaporated Milk $.89
$0.55/2 Carnation Evaporated Milk, exp. 12/31/13 (SS 11/03/13)
$0.55/2 Carnation Evaporated Milk, exp. 12/31/13 (SS 09/22/13)
$0.50/2 Nestle Carnation Evaporated Milk printable
Total: $.62
* Stock Up Price
Betty Crocker Cake Mix $.99
$0.75/2 Betty Crocker Ready To Spread Frosting, or Supermoist Cake Mix printable
$0.85/2 Betty Crocker Ready to Spread Frosting, Supermoist Cake Mix or Cookie Mix printable
$0.75/2 Betty Crocker Ready to Spread Frosting, Supreme Brownie Mix, Dessert Bar Mix, SuperMoist Cake Mix or Cookie Mix, exp. 11/23/13 (SS 09/29/13)
Total: $.57
* Stock Up Price
Oh MY Gosh!!! JCPenney pull your crap together would ya?!
Take a look at this video showing Penney’s marking prices up so they can mark them down! They think they can hide it with a sticker??? Thanks My Crazy Savings!
I thought things would get better with the horrible CEO they had out… but nothing is changing?? So Sad!
Here is a quick video showing you how easy it is to change your zip code in Coupons.com when you give you the directions!
Coupons.com is making us crazy as well with the new layout, so we are trying to make it painless for you to find the best coupons!
This is a segment my daughter filmed last week for KHOU Houston that aired Friday night. She is a little embarrassed that they called her a coupon princess, but she did a great job on her shopping trip!
Emma’s shopping trip cost her $8.36 and something total.
Emma saved over $18 with coupons and in-store promotions!
Part comedian, part Dad, part athlete. He will boss around your children while they play ball.
Just as angelic as she looks, this girl could easily raise a Village by herself, and all the children would grow up to be President.
Self proclaimed, she would be a webkinz dog. Because, "they're cute, and puppies are too. And they're sweet and they always get along with other puppies."
This mini-Martha Stewart can handle ANY craft you send her way. She isn't all bows and rainbows, she's got karate kid moves!
Not "Pick-Me-Up" like caffeine, she wants you to pick her up! AND NOW!
Anything that can be destroyed WILL be destroyed!
Practically Perfect in Every Way for now! Nicknamed "The Panda" she is rolly polly and lives by the motto, "the little one, is KING!"
The resident Labradoodle, Miller got his name because Mom won and got to name the baby! Need something chewed up? He'll take care of it. Especially if it's expensive..
