American Eagle Deals

Hmm...this seems like a pretty good deal for anyone in the market for some American Eagle clothes (think Christmas presents!!). Stack these deals to maximize your savings:

• get 20% off your entire order by using coupon code 23876456.
  
• Also, buy any pair of jeans (even clearance!), get 50% off any hoodie or graphic tee (even clearance!!)
• And, buy any pair of shoes (even clearance!) or 77kids item (access using tab in upper left corner), you'll get FREE shipping.

I tried this out. I was able to throw a pair of women's clearance jeans, a clearance graphic tee, and girls clearance headband (77kids) in my shopping bag with a grand total of $23.10, SHIPPED! That seems pretty good to me!! Check it out!

$1 Boston Market Meal ! !

Wow, Boston Market has really been laying it on thick lately!! Right now with coupon in hand, you can score a $1 Real Chicken Meal, as stated above. That seems like a great price to me!! Also, don't forget that 2 kids eat free for each paying adult. I'm not so sure they'll let you combine this coupon with the 2 free meals, but I'm guessing a family of four could easily eat for under $10 with both promotions!! Link to the coupon here. (it was rreeaallyy slow for me to load, so be patient!!)

Score Some Holiday Adress Labels for Shipping Only!!

Okay, this is a deal worth doing (well, in my opinion)! I know we probably all have a bajillion return address labels from the miscellaneous organizations that send them out with a request for donations. But for the holidays, if you are like me, these just won't do. A gorg Christmas card requires an equally brilliant address label. And now, we can get those labels for next-to-nothing! Yeah!!

Vistaprint is offering up a FREE (originally $7.99) set of 140 labels, all you pay is shipping (starts around $3). I am sad you can't see the image above better--I tried to make it bigger but it just got fuzzy. That's the one I created; and paid $3.06 for shipping! I was super-pleased to see that they offer PayPal as a payment option. I have over $40 in my PP account from selling awesome clearance finds at CVS on Ebay, making mad profit! So, these labels were no money out of pocket for me. Yeah!!

To make your own, head on over to VistaPrint. Under the "Home & Family" category on the left-hand side, click "Holiday." You'll then choose "labels" and you'll be prompted to start creating. I had fun making my own label...there are tons of options to make the caricatures really look like you family member (even the dog!!). But there are several different designs to choose from, from generic holiday-themed labels to personalized labels with a picture of your choice!!

When checking out, they'll try to sell you on a bunch of add-ons. Just be careful what you click and make sure you review your order well so you don't end up with any extra charges. Mine went great and was pretty easy to do. So I hope you find this to be a great deal as well!!

World Market FREE Tote!

If you know me at all, you know I have a slight obsession with totes. I like bags of all kinds. I have many, many a bag at home. Most of which sit in a closet. Who really needs 100 bags of various sizes?? But, here's just another that is giving me bag-fever: World Market is offering up this cute reusable tote for FREE with any $10 purchase. If you aren't familiar with World Market, I can tell you A. They ROCK!! and B. I wish I had one closer to me!! They have tons of rare wines and candies from all over the world. They have wonderful decor for your home and awesome stocking stuffers...remember--we are in holiday mode here! Go check em out--store finder here. And get your free bag...while supplies last!

More Printable Game Coupons!

Yeah! More printables to have on hand when shopping for gifts for the kids! Hasbro has just released $30 in savings:

$5/1 Game of Things
$5/1 Guesstures
$5/1 Cranium w/ Bonus Family Pack
$5/1 Clue: Secrets & Spies
$5/1 Pictureka! Flipper
$5/1 Connect 4×4

These all expire 1/31/2010, so make sure you hold on to them and pair with a sale (maybe Black Friday?!?) to maximize your savings. There may also be some good toy clearance after the holidays! Click image for link.

FREE Individual Pizza on Halloween!

Just bring your little ghouls into Papa Murphy's on Halloween (all dressed up in their costumes) and they'll receive a FREE individual pizza of their choice! This is a nation-wide deal, but as always, it doesn't hurt to call ahead and make sure your location is participating. Find locations here.

FREE Snuggie Offer

I'm always a little leerie of these offers, but from reading the fine print, it seems pretty harmless. I already submitted my request for one, and it asked for no credit card/billing information. We'll see!!
Here's the offer: a FREE (no shipping, taxes, nada!) Snuggie in blue, green, or red, your choice. The fine print states they may call you for a brief (no more than 15 minutes) survey on the product shortly after you receive it. They state they will call maximum of 3 times if they don't reach you the first 1 or 2 times.
You can go here to request yours. I'm thinking these would make a great Christmas gift or addition to a movie-themed gift basket!!

Gift Alert: College Slippers, Boots, Bags--CHEAP!

Another 6pm.com deal to be had, this time a bargain on college-logo flip flops, slippers, bags, and kids rain boots...just $4.95!! Hurry on over...I'm sure they won't last long. These would make excellent gifts for a fan on your Christmas list!!! I'm so bummed they don't have any KSU-logo items!! Go here for the full list!

Big Lots Buys, 10/25

I used to shop Big Lots all the time...before I began couponing. I don't really think they helped me to save any money, because that is one of those stores where you can browse and fill your cart to the point of overflowing in nothing flat (well, at least I can!). If you aren't familiar with Big Lots, they carry overstock from grocery stores and such. They carry food, toys, household items, toiletries, you name it. Some of their prices are pretty great. But if you don't know what things cost in the store, or with a coupon, then you can easily pay too much for certain items (i.e. laundry detergent).

So I hadn't been there in probably over a year. But I was out with my mom today and she wanted to stop in (she's a regular there). I thought I'd humor her, but really didn't think I'd buy anything. Wouldn't you know I walked out with 3 huge bags of stuff. OOOPS!!! But that's okay. I had no coupons to use there (they don't accept them), but I actually didn't panic. I'm trying to simplify my life and running all over town to 3 grocery stores, Target, Wags, and CVS is just not making sense for me. So if this one trip saves me all the others, then I'm good with that. I really hit the motherload there. I was pleased with all I got for $28:

The huge cans of organic stewed tomatoes for $1.20 were a good buy and will be great for chili. I got huge cans of pears and peaches for the kids for $1.20 as well. A bag of bird seed for a project with Jack. All the pasta was $.60 per bag. The frame was 90% off; $1.50...I'll use this for a project later. A few noodle sides, individual fruit cups for the diaper bag, snackies for the kids, a 3-individual pizza making kit, and a stir-fry kit. Not bad for under $30. I think that does it for my grocery spending for the week...coming in at just $40. Sure beats my old grocery bills of $100+!!!

HyVee Sunday

I am almost apalled that I did all my grocery shopping this week with absolutely NO coupons!! But, I'm still happy with what I got and what I spent, so it's all good. So like I posted earlier, I only needed refried beans for my week's worth of meals. But it's football Sunday, and the guys are coming over and have requested dip. So I needed green chiles, cream cheese, and tortilla chips. But, of course, a few impulse items made their way into the basket...but only at unbeatable prices!! I got the above for $12.48. Not stellar, but manageable...I can handle a week's worth of groceries for $12.48!

Menu Planning

So how many of you "Menu Plan??" This concept was unknown by me until a year or so back. I've dabbled. Must say I have not been consistent. But overall, I've found that I really must menu plan if I'm going to stay on a grocery budget. So, I'm back at it.

Does this sound like you??:
"Man, we have NO food in the house...I need to go to the store!" So I'd think about what sounded good to eat over the next week. Of course, I would have NONE of the ingredients to make any of those items, so my grocery list would be 10,000 miles long. And so would my receipt. And, alas, my budget would be blown. I still can't believe that just two years ago I was okay with spending $200 in a single trip to the grocery store. Now, I rarely spend over $40!!

Now, I plan a week's worth of meals around what I already have in the house. Follow along with me as I walk you through this week's plan:

(Side note: In celebration of the fact that my now 3-year-old is finally broadening his food comfort zone and let spaghetti on his "will eat" list, we have deemed Sundays "Spaghetti Sunday" in my house. So as to not get bored with the old faithful spaghetti and tomato sauce, anything pasta goes. So, that came in first on the list.)

Sunday: Chicken Pesto Pasta
Monday: Turkey Tenderloin (got this last week at HyVee on sale), stuffing, green beans, biscuits
Tuesday: Burritos (bought these through a fund-raiser at kiddo's preschool. Frozen, premade), Spanish rice, refried beans
Wednesday: I work late; left-over night
Thursday: Pork ribs (on sale last week at HyVee!), veggie, noodle side
Friday: Frozen pizza and snackie foods; movie night!
Saturday: Halloween!! Take-out
Sunday: Spaghetti, garlic rolls

Would you believe I had everything I needed for each of these meals, with the exception of a can of refried beans. A $.79 grocery bill week!? Now that's beautiful!!!

Welcome to my Blog

So . . .
I began my last blog, CouponCrazedInKC, a while back with the intention of helping my family and a few friends to save a buck... to spread the wealth a bit. I was obsessed with shopping CVS, Wags, Target, and all the grocery stores each week! With a husband, two boys 3 and 1, a part-time job, and limited sanity, I'm finding that I'm just stretching myself too thin. My objective is to stretch my buck, not my sanity!!

So, I'm re-evaluating my focus. I'm taming it down a bit. What gets done, gets done. And what doesn't, will be there tomorrow. And if I miss a deal in the meantime, there will always be another! This about serenity in life! I need serenity!!

So why a new blog? In an attempt to reach a broader audience and perhaps to just broaden my focus in general, I've decided gear this blog, yes, toward my adventures with coupons, but also toward bargain-hunting (think Goodwill, garage sales), helpful household tips, ideas for the kids, etc. I hope that if you have followed along with CouponCrazed, that you will continue to follow me in my new endeavor. And if you have just found me, then Welcome!! Let's start this journey together!!