Random Produce stuff

Found something at the Westgate Shaws that I hadn't seen before (or at least haven't seen since I've delved into the coupon world)-- discounted produce. I got some great deals on summer squash that looked perfectly fine. They also had some fancy lookin' bell peppers and cucumbers. It can be challenging to find good deals on produce, so I was pretty psyched about that.

Sadly on the other hand, the 3 pound bag o' Cuties that I swear I saw the other day at a Shaw's for $3.99 was instead "on sale" for $5.99. And my $.55 coupon did not double. Good things those clementines are so tasty, or I'd be peeved!

Another great place to check regularly at Shaws is the area in the back by the double swinging doors. There's usually some day-old bread for good prices, cakes, Chanukah candles-- you never know what you're going to find back there. Fun times!

Under the wire

So for the first time, this week I came in at around $40 under budget for groceries. I'm still not sure how it happened, except we didn't need of those big budget-busters this week, like diapers (thanks to the Rite Aid P&G deal, we're set on those for awhile) or the husband's fancy local coffee, and I didn't indulge my goat cheese addiction this week. Granted, we have a generous grocery budget, which includes stuff like diapers and other household stuff, and I eat mostly produce and expensive stuff that doesn't have wheat or cow's milk or food coloring in it, so I'm guessing our grocery budget probably looks pretty bloated compared to other frugalistas out there. But one thing I'm trying to learn is that the only person I can really compare my own progress to is... that's right, me. So from the last time I tracked our spending before my coupon lust began, when we spent over $800!!! on groceries, we've made awesome progress. We'll probably never have a $50 a week grocery budget, and that just has to be okay.

I'm also learning not to try and jump in on every great deal out there. There are some good catalina deals this week at Shaws, for example, but I'm restraining myself. If you want to learn all about them, go here. These ladies (and perhaps even a few gents) will amaze you. But there's really nothing we need from these deals this week, or even anything we'll need in the weeks to come, so I'm sitting out. There are some good deals at Shaws this week that I'll partake in, like free Izze's sparkling drinks when you print them here, (these will double, making them free or even giving you overage if you're lucky) and reasonably priced Newman's own pasta sauce when you print these which will also double at Shaws.

But other than that, I'm laying low. I like the feeling of under budget.

Cuties Oranges coupon

One of the most rare of the coupons is the fresh produce coupons. I almost deleted this email with a Cuties orange coupon today when it came into my spam box-- horrors! Anyways, check these out. I noticed they had the 3 pound bags at Shaws,I think for $3.99 where the $.55 coupon would double giving you a juicy (sorry, I can't help myself) $1.10 off. Plus these oranges are delicious-- they're seriously the crack of citrus.

Tip-- if you click your backspace button of your browser thrice times after printing the first one, it should let you print another coupon.

Don't go changin'....

You may have noticed that the layout of my blog keeps changing. Please bear with me-- I got some feedback that the old background, while pretty, was a bit hard on the eyes. So I'm experimenting-- and in the experimentation I managed to lose the basic layout that I had. So, keep coming back to my chameleon blog. And speaking of blog backgrounds, if I was ballsier, I'd go with one of the "dark fantasy" layouts from this designer.

Whole Foods Sale and Coupon Match-ups, 2/24 to 3/2

A lot of the same deals from last week, except no free yogurt. Fortunately my refrigerator is bursting with free Oikos-- which by the way, you can then enter the extremely challenging to read codes from the yogurt tops here to get more free stuff.

But I digress. Thanks to Money Saving Maine-iac for spotting some deals that I missed. Here's the match-ups:

• ThinkThin Bars-- 4 for $5, use $.50 off coupon

• Nature's Path Waffles Organic Buckwheat Wildberry, 2 for $5, use $1.50 off two from Jan/Feb Whole Deal, or go here

• Imagine Foods Soup, 2 for $4, use $.75 off two from Jan/Feb Whole Deal, stacked with this $1 off 2, making these 2 for $2.25!

• Method Laundry Detergent, $7.99. Use $1 off any Method product from Jan/Feb Whole Deal, stacked with this, makes it $4.99 (Usually $10.99!)

• Muir Glen Organic Pasta Sauce, 2 for $6. Use $1 off 1 here.

• Seventh Generation Paper Towels, $1.79. Use $1 off 1 or $2 off 2 here.

• Terra Chips, Sweets & Beets, 2 for $5. Use $1 off 1 from here, here, or here.

• Kiss my Face Olive Bar Soap, 4 oz 3 for $7.50, 8 oz 3 for $10. Use $1 off here.

• Goodbelly Probiotic Fruit Drink Blueberry Acai, 2 for $6. Use $1.50 off here.

Have fun and remember when something is advertised as "2 for $6", you don't have to buy 2 to get the deal.

Too Legit To Quit~ earning extra $ on the interwebs

Part of my experiment this year with saving money is also trying to find ways to make a little extra cash. I do have a work from home day job that pays pretty well, but I don't get a lot of hours right now. So I've been spending some time sitting around in my mom jeans, scouring the internet for legitimate opportunities to earn a few extra bucks here and there. My research is far from complete, but I wanted to share a few ways things that I've found.

Pinecone Research. This is a survey company-- there are tons of these out there but this is my favorite so far. Why? They only send you surveys that you're already qualified for-- you don't have to answer questions for ten minutes only to find out you don't qualify for the survey. Why else? They pay a flat rate of $3 per survey, and it's in the mail within days. Or if you prefer you can use Paypal and get the $ even quicker. The downsides--they only accept new users at certain times, and I've only received a survey every few weeks.

Youdata. This site pays you to watch brief adds. You fill in as much personal info as you're comfortable with to help them know which adds to send you. They don't bombard you with annoying emails-- you simply go to their site whenever you want to see if you have any ads available. Every Friday they put whatever earnings you've accrued into your paypal account. The downside-- very infrequent adds. I've made about $2 so far with this. Their main target demographic is mommy bloggers in Texas. Cool idea though.

Swagbucks. This is cool and simple. It's a search engine, powered by Google. You just download their search engine and you earn swagbucks, seemingly randomly, from internet searches you do. You can also earn points by shopping online, taking special offers, recycling cell phones or mp3 players, or pimping out your friends to join under your name, as I've so subtly done here. You can redeem points for gift cards or paypal cash. The downside-- none really-- I generally only get one or two Swagbucks from searching each day, but I try and just forget about them until they add up.

MyPoints. Okay, so you can't get cash at this site, but you can get giftcards to Amazon, Target, and more. There are numerous ways to earn points here, from printing coupons (sweet!) to using their search engine (crappy), shopping online and taking surveys or special offers. The easiest (yet slowest) way to earn Mypoints is by clicking on email links they send you. I've been using this for a few months and am a little past being able to redeem for a $25 gift card, but I'm saving up for a $50.

I'm exploring a few other ways, like writing content for ehow (as evidenced by my new link to my articles there) and I'll let you know how that goes.

What ways do you have of bringing in a little extra cash? Has anybody tried mystery shopping? Side jobs? Answering those creepy Craigslist adds in search of lactating women? Tell me all about it.

Windowpain

A few weeks ago we were leaving BJ's and a nice lady approached us asking us if we'd like a free $25 BJ's giftcard. Well duh! All we had to do was be the recipients of a free window inspection. No obligation to buy-- we'd even get some free energy-saving tips to boot. At this point, while I was having a tiny o, my husband was shaking his head and saying "no thanks." I gave him the devil woman death glare and we huddled. "Fine, but you have to deal with the inspection," he said. A bargain had been struck. For weeks I fantasized about that giftcard. Maybe it would arrive at the same time my Rite Aid P&G Visa card would, and I'd use the two together to create grocery budget magic. I waited by the phone like a giddy teen. Finally, the window people called. Unfortunately there was a small glitch-- my husband and I both had to be home during the inspection. "Why is that?" I asked Jose, the inspection coordinator. "It's our policy to have both property owners present," he replied.

Busted.

I scheduled anyways for Saturday morning. Husband was not ecstatic but was relatively docile about it. Then I started feeling guilty. We have no intention of replacing our windows at this time-- was it wrong to go through the process in lusty pursuit of a BJ's giftcard? We talked about it and neither my husband nor I was feeling very excited about spending 60-90 minutes on our Saturday morning with strangers tromping through our toy-strewn home putting the hard sell on us. Reluctantly, I cancelled our inspection.

So no BJ's giftcard for me. And yet, unlike our old, filthy windows ("who cleans your windows?" Jose had asked during the initial phone call. "Uh... the condo association?" I improved.) I felt somewhat virtuous about the whole thing. We did the right thing, and instead of getting pitched to I got to go to dance class this morning.

What would you do? Is it somewhat naughty to accept a giftcard or other reward in that type of situation when you know you're not even mildly interested in the product?