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Thursday, April 2, 2009

Frugal Friday & Handmade Coupon Organizer Giveaway


I just wanted to say first how much I am enjoying Frugal Fridays. Everyone's comments on how helpful I have been to you really does my heart good. Thank you for this and I do hope it's making a difference in your lives.

Today I am going to talk about ways to save and eat for less. Not just your grocery store savings but how to eat out for less and different ways at home you can cut corners with your groceries.

The first thing I want to talk about is cooking and freezing your meals. When Trucker first became a truck driver he was gone for one month at a time. Only home for four days each month. He was allowed to use a portion of his check each week up to a certain amount of his grocery money and any essentials he needed. But by him doing this it also cut down on the amount of money he had to send home. I don't know how many know this but truck stop food is not cheap at all. I had to come up with ways for him to have better meals that weren't costing us an arm and leg. To begin with he didn't have a refrigerator on his truck either. We simply could not afford one and the company didn't supply it. He carried a large ice chest for his drinks and food. He also had a electric warmer cookstove. No microwave either. So I had to get creative on this.

Each time he came home I would spend one full day cooking large quantities of food. I made things such as soups, chili, casseroles and large containers of spaghetti. The more I cooked for him the less he had to spend while out. And of course this was also better for him as far as being healthier plus eating out does get old.

1. There is no reason why you can't do this at your home as well. Take a Sunday afternoon and cook a large batch of something then place it into individual containers for freezing. This saves you time each night when you come home from work as you don't have to cook anything that night. Try it sometime.

2. Almost any grocery store has a special place in the fruits and veggie dept. where they place their markdowns. In my store it's all placed into buggies out in the aisles. I often find banana's, onions, lettuce, peppers and everything they have in this dept. These things are always marked way down and you can still use them. I love to purchase these banana's for making banana nut bread. As they are always just ripened enough. But for onions, peppers, and say celery I dice them in the food processor and then freeze for later use. They are excellent in stir fry meals and in soups and salads. this will save you a lot of money.

3. Eating out is expensive as we all know. But every now and then we have to treat ourselves to this. Most often you find you go out over the weekend or especially at night. Save yourself some money and instead go out for a brunch, lunch or even breakfast. Dinner is the most costly meal of the day in restaurants. If you must go out over the weekend then go for one of the other meals. If you can go on a week night, then it's not to bad as most places offer a better deal on weeknights.

4. Give yourself a treat: Did you know that you can get gift certificates for most local restaurants from places like EBay, Craigslist and Restaurant.com? At a huge savings to. Most of the time they are quite a bit less than face value. Take restaurant.com for example. I purchase gift certificates from them a lot. I can find a deal that is for a $25.00 GC and only pay $3.00 for it. Watch online through them and you can even catch better deals with codes.

Also ask if you favorite restaurants have a "dining rewa
rd" for eating there. This is usually a punch card and after so many punches you get a free meal or drink. Our favorite chinese place does this. For every 10 meals we get one meal free.

If you have kids check to see which nights they might do "kids eat free" or at a discount.

Also when eating out one of the most expensive parts of the meal is your drink. Why not order water? It's better for you and is a lot more economical as well.

6. Want to really save big at restaurants? Use a GC and a coupon together. Some restaurants won't allow you to do this but why not pay separately for the meal. This way you can use them both. I recently went online to my favorite restaurant sites and signed up for their newsletters. After signing up I received a coupon at each one. Then a few weeks later I also got emails from them with coupons for a free meal for my birthday. Heck do this for every member of your family. All it takes is a little time but it's worth it.

7. When leaving a tip at a restaurant don't fall into the trap of leaving to much. 15 - 20% is the recommended amount but remember this is before the taxes and just for the amount of the meal only. Don't short change yourself.

8. Last but not least this week is something that might surprise you. Stop buying cookbooks. Before the internet this was a great idea but now any recipe you want is out there and free. Simply print it out for your use or save it into a file for printing later. Make your own cookbooks.


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It's time to announce the winner from last weeks giveaway. I hope everyone enjoyed The Ole Bag Lady's shop and her beautiful fabric tote/gift bags as much as I did. Thank you so much Tami for sponsoring the giveaway. I dearly love the tote you sent me. It's beautiful and the fabric is so nice and bright.

Announcing the winner: AMY M congratulations for being this weeks winner of your choice of any of the reusable fabric tote/gift bags from Tami at The Ole Bag Lady's etsy store.

You have been emailed and have 48 hours to contact me with you mailing address or I will be forced to choose an alternate.

Again Amy congrats.

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I am excited to say that this weeks giveaway is sponsored by Glow girl Functional Eco Friendly Coupon Organizers. She has generously donated a coupon organizer from her store. The winner will get to choose the organizer of their choice. These are not just any old coupon holder but made of up-cycled durable fabrics. What makes them so special as well is that each one attaches to the front of the grocery cart. This is wonderful as it leaves your hands free for using your calculator or for putting those groceries into the cart. Your coupons are right in front of you for easy access.

Glow girl is very echo friendly as well. Many fabrics are up-cycled - She loves finding and using drapery/upholstery and vintage fabrics at yard sales/flea markets/remnant shops/on-line.. Due to this, most bags are one-of-a-kinds! I rarely find the same fabric twice in my searches!

Most of the coupon organizers I have ran across and used do not hold up. They are usually made of paper and will very soon fall apart on me. Most don't come with very many tabs. Glow girls is not like that at all. Each organizer comes with 20 blank tabs !!! as well as choice of 70 headings - peel and stick what YOU want to use onto the tabs !!!! easily secures right to the grocery cart for hands free sorting !!!! Each holder is fabric, fully lined with a stabilizer to give it some strength. Bottom is a 1" flat bottom, allowing for a lot of coupon storage!

I'm going to make this weeks chance to win much easier than the weeks before. Why? Because I love you all and wish I could give everyone who commented one of them. Heck I gotta get one for myself now. LOL.

All you have to do to enter is head over to Glow girls Etsy store and let me know which coupon organizer is your favorite. That's it for the first entry. If you don't do this your really missing out on a wonderful item for your use. For the extra entries to count you must do this. If you don't have a blog with your email address on it then do please leave your email addy in your comments.


If you would like more chance to win here are ways to earn more entries into the giveaway.

1. Follow my blog. If you already follow then let me know in your comment. (1 entry)
2. Subscribe to my blog. If you already subscribe then let me know in your comment. ( 1 entry)
3. Add glow girls store to you favorites on Etsy.
4. Follow me on twitter and tweet the giveaway. then come back here and leave your comment with your twitter id. (1 entry)
5. If you blog about this giveaway then this earns five extra points. Leave me a comment with the link to your blog. Make sure your blog post links to mine and the giveaway. (5 entries)

If you would like to twitter this giveaway everyday that is fine also. Come back here and leave a comment and your id name to let me know. You earn an extra entry into the drawing this way.

This giveaway will end next Thursday night at 10:00 pm CST on April 9th. Winner will be emailed and have 48 hours to provide their mailing address and choice of coupon organizer or an alternate winner will be chosen and notified.

Good luck everyone!

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Till next week on Frugal Friday Happy Savings,








41 comments:

Amy M said...

Hi Treasia, Great tips!! I make ahead & freeze food for my family for those busy nights! With 4 kiddos we also eat out on "kids eat free" nights! :)

I love this shop! My favorite is this: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=22941586

Thanks for another great giveaway!

Amy M said...

I follow you...

Amy M said...

I hearted her shop!

Unknown said...

Another great Frugal Friday!!!

The only thing I will add is that although it is typical to tip 15-20 % on a meal, your servers are making less than minumum wage (in some cases 2.15-3.00 an hour) and a good tip can bolster their spirits to provide even better service the next time you are there or to comp your drinks or even dessert!!!

Hope you enjoyed your apron...hadn't heard whether you liked it or not.

Midlife, menopause, mistakes and random stuff... said...

Another fantastic Frugal Friday post Tresia. Hey, do you think that you could get trucker hubby to drop you off here for a few days so's you could give me a few tips and a little help first hand. I'll feed you and everything. Prince and I will even take you out to dinner!!
Let me know :)
Please have a weekend filled with much love, joy and laughter and....

Steady On
Reggie Girl

One Gray Hair At A Time said...

I love the black, gray, and yellow one. Wouldn't I look spiffy shopping with that?

Ally M said...

These are all so cute but they have no names so I can only say I have my eye ion a green patterned one. Thanks for the chance to win.

rubymoonstone at gmail dot com

Ally M said...

Your blog feeds to my Google Reader now so I'm a subscriber!

rubymoonstone at gmail dot com

Delaney said...

I like the multiple colored striped one, easy to see and hopefully not easy to forget at the store.

Delaney said...

I signed up to follow.

Jill said...

My Favorite is this Coupon Organizer..

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21448267

Risingsouth said...

I really love the http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=22727339.

Risingsouth said...

I am also a subscriber.

Heather D. said...

No names, but here's the link to the one I like - http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21447522
It is black, hot pink and white. Cute!

icefairy said...

My favorite is this one http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21854014
Thanks for the great giveaway!
beatspammer at gmail dot com

icefairy said...

Follower
beatspammer at gmail dot com

icefairy said...

Subscribe via email
beatspammer at gmail dot com

icefairy said...

Blogged #4
http://icefairystreasurechest.blogspot.com/2009/04/giveaway-highlights.html
beatspammer at gmail dot com

icefairy said...

Blogged #5
http://icefairystreasurechest.blogspot.com/2009/04/giveaway-highlights.html
beatspammer at gmail dot com

icefairy said...

Follow and tweeted
http://twitter.com/luckytoddler/status/1453609381
beatspammer at gmail dot com

Linda said...

I love the black with white swirlies! so cool a way to carry my coupons! lovemylittlefamily at yahoo dot com

Linda said...

I subscribe. lovemylittlefamily at yahoo dot com

Tia said...

I really like Listing # 21854014.
Thanks for the great giveaway. I try to do a good job with my coupons but I really have to come up with a better system. Maybe this will help.
nhmummab@comcast.net

Andrea Hatfield said...

I like the purple and black coupon organizer the best. Thanks for the great tips!

Andrea Hatfield said...

I added her to my Etsy favorites.

Unknown said...

I like the white with pink and black graphics; here's the link: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21854014

Unknown said...

Blog follower, sito50

Unknown said...

I added the shop to my favorites, sito50

Unknown said...

Twitter follower & tweeted - http://twitter.com/sito50/status/1478596757

Unknown said...

New e-mail subscriber.

Barbara's Beat said...

What a great idea. The listing # 21894617, color purple is my favorite one. Thank you for the offer

Barbara's Beat said...

I am following your blog

Barbara's Beat said...

I subscribed to your blog

Barbara's Beat said...

I Added glow girls store to my favorites on Etsy

Barbara's Beat said...

I follow you on Twitter and tweeted http://twitter.com/blp3/status/1483630269
blp3

Sasha222 said...

I like the purple and black coupon organizer

ABCD Diaries said...

I love the 2nd down on the left, greens and blues with lacy edges:) This would be so helpful! Thanks!
christinbanda@yahoo.com

ABCD Diaries said...

I subscribe:)
christinbanda@yahoo.com

Andrea said...

The purple and black is my favorite. Thanks

CinnamonLaine said...

The green leaf one is cute!

CinnamonLaine said...

Add shop to my favs!