Groupon Deal: The Produce Spot

Have you used Groupon yet? Lately, these group deal sites have been popping up everywhere, although Groupon is the first one that I have heard of. I've bought a few restaurant deals, a 50% off Gap gift certificate, and a $20 Soap.com gift certificate for $10.

I get a daily email with the Groupon for the day (there is one email for San Francisco and one for San Jose; I subscribe to both).

Today's Groupon for San Jose is a $20 gift certificate to The Produce Spot on Berryessa Road in San Jose for $10. The limit is one per person, but you can buy 2 additional ones as gifts. The Produce Spot carries organic and conventional produce, some baked goods, and dairy products. I have not been to the Produce Spot, but I have been to a similar store in South San Jose.

So if you are ever in the area of East San Jose and would like to stretch your grocery budget a little further, maybe it's a good idea to pick up this Groupon today!

***You have until Midnight Tuesday night (tonight!) to purchase this particular Groupon, but you have until March 29th, 2011 to use it.***

Super Savings Saturday

Boy, I haven't done one of these in awhile. But I got to thinking that seeing others get deals like this inspires me, so why not return the favor?

I went in to Rite Aid this week and picked up:

2 Huggies Jumbo Pack diapers, $8.99 each

1 Huggies Pull-Ups, $8.99

2 Kotex pads, $3.50 each

Oh, and a bag of Cheetos because my girls were being so good. Add in another 89 cents because I get 10% off non-sale merchandise with my wellness+ card. I love that little perk.

Total before coupons: $34.86 plus tax

I was rushing to find coupons because my coupon stash is a bit disorganized at the moment. I tried to print a coupon for the Pull-Ups ($1 or $2) but I couldn't get it to work. I also forgot to get a coupon for the Kotex, which I'm sure I had. But the time wasn't worth the extra $2 or $3 bucks I would have saved since my kids were going crazy while I looked for coupons!

I did have a coupon for a free Jumbo pack of Huggies diapers from their Enjoy the Ride Rewards. Subtract $8.99 for that. Then I had a $5 off a Jumbo pack of Huggies diapers from Recycle Bank.

-$13.99 for the above coupons

-$1 video values Huggies coupon

-$2 video values Huggies coupon

-$5/25 coupon

Total: $15.10

I paid with $15 in giftcards I received from the skincare rebate at Rite Aid this summer, so I spent 10 cents out of pocket.

And I got $9 in +Up Rewards (3 $2 from Huggies and 1 $3 from Kotex).

Plus, I will get a $10 giftcard for the Kimberly-Clark rebate since I spent more than $25 on K-C products.

Even with the Cheetos, it's a $4.10 moneymaker!

Whole Foods' Chicken Sale Friday

This Friday only, my local Whole Foods is having their Rocky fryer chickens on sale for only 99 cents/pound. This is a great price for good quality chicken. I think I'll stop in and pick up a couple of chickens for my freezer.

Check with your local store to see what they've got on sale this week.

The Hunger Challenge Debate

I read a post on BlogHer about the SF Food Bank's Hunger Challenge last week. Several different bloggers participated in the challenge, which was to eat on $4 per person/day. Apparently that is about what people who are receiving food stamps have to spend on groceries.

After reading some of the posts about getting by on bean and cheese burritos with not enough money for fruits and vegetables, I started to wonder if I could feed my family on the Hunger Challenge amount. Let's see: $4 per person (we have 5)/day works out to $20/day...or $560 per month! In 2008, the maximum a family of 5 could receive in food stamps was $698!

I was shocked because my food budget is less than that...by more than $100/month. So while it is difficult to hand someone a $5 bill and say "This is all the money you have to buy food with today", if you look at the bigger picture, it's not that hard to eat (and actually eat well) on such a "small" amount.

One blogger who got it right is Kimberly from PoorGirlEatsWell. I like the way that she makes her food as appealing as possible, because that always makes it taste better. She also uses what she has on hand instead of running to the store for an ounce of some obscure spice that you'll never use again. I'm definitely going to check out her blog for some inspiration as I prepare my weekly meal plans.

The main point of the Hunger Challenge was made clear: there are people who are on food stamps who don't have the luxury of eating whatever they want. They long to be able to buy a cupcake at the corner bakery or even something from a drive-thru. With every bite they take, they are keenly aware that their bounty is steadily dwindling and the cupboard may be completely bare before they are able to get more assistance or find another job. Those of us who are blessed with full cupboards should be moved to share with those whose pantries are empty.

Dinner this week...

I'm itching to use my crockpot again. I think that's the Fall in the air! Here's what I've got on the menu for this week:

Monday: Leftovers

Tuesday: Spaghetti, green salad, yummy bread

Wednesday: Trader Joe's Orange Chicken, brown rice

Thursday: Dinner Swap Surprise

Friday:Tuna Rapscallions, green salad, green jello

Saturday: still not sure

Sunday: Leftovers

What are you having for dinner this week?

Dinner this week...

Is it the middle of September already? I'm planning for Halloween costumes and I bought a butternut squash the other day (the first of the season for me) to make my delicious butternut squash soup.

Here is what we're having for dinner this week:

Monday: Poppyseed chicken over angel hair pasta, peas, fruit salad

Tuesday: Pizza Margherita (didn't end up having this last week)

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Zucchini quiche, green salad, fruit

Friday: Garlic shrimp, butternut squash risotto, green salad, homemade crusty bread

Saturday: Dinner at church

Sunday: Leftovers

What are you having for dinner this week?

Living Room Mini-Makeover

Husband and I will celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary in November. That got me wondering if it might be time to take down our wedding picture so prominently displayed in the living room and put up some pictures of the things that have come along since then...namely our three little girls!

I finally decided to get down to business and put up some pictures. I went to Michael's to take advantage of their great sale: all frames are 40% off plus there is a coupon from Sunday's paper for an extra 25% off frames! I took all three of my babes with me to pick out the frames. I also picked up some supplies to make a letter "J" for the wall as well. Total cost for four frames, wooden letter and supplies was about 60 bucks.

Here is the before (simple, but a little blah):

And here is the after:

I already had the "family" sign up on another wall. I also already had the three-picture collage frame holding newborn pictures of my twins. I made the "J" with some scrapbook paper and modge podge on a wooden letter. Most of the pictures were taken by my friend Shannon Montez (if you are in need of a photographer in the Bay Area, you should totally check out her website.)

I just love it. It was a bit of an undertaking trying to get it all together but it was worth it. I ended up also getting rid of some clutter from around the living room to make it look a little more "brand new".

The room feels so much more pulled together now. It helps remind me that the house is not just for the kiddos. : )

Finney's Friday Free Stuff

Check out the goodies available this week in Finney's Friday Free Stuff:

• one free 12 ounce bag of Galaxy Granola
• one free Polly Foot Primer from Foot Candy in Walnut Creek

For more information on to where to send your self-addressed, stamped envelope, click here.

Per Finney's website, Free Stuff offers are only available to viewers of KGO-TV. Sorry to my friends outside of the Bay Area.

Dinner this week...

Here's what's on the menu this week:

Monday: BBQ with family (Happy Labor Day!)

Tuesday: ?

Wednesday: Crockpot chicken masterpiece over rice, green salad, jello

Thursday: Dinner swap surprise

Friday: ?

Saturday: Pizza Margherita

Sunday: Leftovers

I'm working on planning out the month's menu. I think it helps with grocery shopping to have a better idea of what the future brings. : )

What are you having for dinner this week?

Whole Foods' Grass Fed Beef Sale

My neighborhood Whole Foods will have ground grass-fed beef on sale this Friday, September 3rd. $3.99 per pound is a super great price for this. That is about my stock up price for Whole Foods "regular" ground beef. Check to see if your Whole Foods store is participating in this sale...and then stock up!

Quarterly Cash Out

Normally I "cash in" my earnings from surveys and swagbucks once per quarter. It makes it a little bit more fun to get a big check, doesn't it? Well this past quarter I have been a little too busy to do many surveys...I don't have anything to cash in!

I do have some swagbucks that I will convert to Amazon giftcards (totaling $25), which is nothing to sniff at, but this is the lowest cash out that I've had in a long time! I guess it's time to do a few more surveys.

I know what I've been doing with that time, though. I've been trying to get a little bit more organized every day. And I'm still so tired because the littlest one still eats in the night. {I know!} I'm trying to play with my little ones and keep them from destroying the house. Three kids under three sure make a BIG mess.