Scratch & Dent Savings

Hello there, friends & followers.
One thing I think all of us have in common, especially in these economic times, is the love of a good deal.
If there's a way to save a few extra dollars at the grocery store, well, you can count me in.

One way to stretch those dollars is by taking advantage of the markdowns
on the scratch & dent aisle.
Maybe your store doesn't have one, but if it does, make sure it's an aisle that you don't skip!

Our Kroger store used to have just a small couple tables in the back corner where they'd place the
markdown items ... along with a random cart or two near the refrigerated section.
They've now moved the scratch & dent markdown area to about 1/2 an aisle length near the pet food.

They also roll out a couple carts of baked goods & there's a special cart in the produce,
all with reduced priced items.
In addition to that, there are mark downs in the coolers, you just have to look for the stickers.

None of these things are out of date.
They are marked down either for quick sale, damaged cans/boxes, or the items are no longer being carried.

It's usually hit & miss on any of the deals cause they go quick ... just a matter of timing.

Today, I found quite a few things, most of which were scratch & dent.
Now,  it doesn't bother me one bit to buy a can that's been dropped on the floor,
or a cereal box that is in less-than-perfect shape.
As long as it isn't opened, doesn't look like it's been ran over by a truck,
& has a good expiration date, I'm in!

Here's what I found today:

dented items
canned veggies {corn, green beans, carrots, peas & carrots combo}  -- .19 & .39 each
Campbell's chicken noodle soup  -  .39
cream of chicken soup  -  .59
Downy fabric softener  -  $2.49
Cocoa Pebbles  -  $1.19
Sprayway glass cleaner $1.59  **one of my favorite brands -- this had a cracked lid

The rest of the items can nothing wrong with them whatsoever.
diced chilies  -  .59
Quaker granola bars $1.19
Kellogg's Krave $1.99
Kraft salad dressing $1.49

I was pretty happy with these deals.
Would've been even nicer if I'd had a coordinating coupon or two to match with these,
but I did not.

All in all, know your store.
Know where the markdown items are located throughout & take a second & see what's there.
Hope you are finding ways to stretch your dollars too.

Dealies at Meijer

Here's a couple deal scenarios I picked up yesterday at Meijer.
If you have time to stop in today, you should still be able take advantage
of these before the sale ends tomorrow.
This deal is a great example of matching coupons to the sale in order to get a nice savings.

Now to make these happen, you need the coordinating manufacturer's coupons.

For theVidal Sassoon, Meijer has them on sale for $1 off, making them $1.59 each.
There are lots of $1 coupons available in the inserts/online, which would take them down to .59 each.
There's even a $3 off 3 in the 8/4 insert.
I had a postcard that came by mail with several VS coupons, one being a BOGO.
So, I used that one + (2) $1 off coupons.
This made my cost .39 a piece.

The Bic razors are a 'price drop' at Meijer
{price drops usually last a couple of weeks & vary from store to store}.
They are currently $2.99.
I used the $3 coupon from the 8/11 SS insert & it made these absolutely free.

For the Right Guard, Meijer is offering a deal through August 31.
If you spend $10 on Right Guard products, you save $3 instantly on your bill.
I bought 4 items:  2 deodorants for $2.96 each  -- 1 body wash &1 6 pk of bar soap for $3 each.
I used {2} $2 off 2 coupons from the 8/4 RP insert.
This made my total cost $4.92 or $1.23 each.


My total was $19.68, before coupons ... probably double that price if the items had not been on sale.
I used $13.58 worth in coupons, bringing my total out-of-pocket cost to $6.10!
If I divide that by 8, the number of products I bought, it's .76 each each item.
Definitely not a bad deal.

I took advantage of sales/coupons & got some other good deals on the grocery side,
PLUS there were a couple of markdown racks on men's cargo shorts for $5 each.
So, Mr. James got 4 new pair.

All in all, decent savings yesterday at Meijer.

Hopefully you are stretching your dollars too.

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 Monday         Make It Yourself Monday        The Better Mom       C.R.A.F.T     
Tuesday    Domestically Divine     A Bowl Full of Lemons    Titus Tuesday      A Stroll Through Life
Wednesday   Raising Homemakers        Savvy Southern Style         Adorned From Above
                   Women Living Well    The Thrifty Home     A Wise Woman Builds Her Home
Thursday      The Shabby Creek Cottage     Serving Joyfully     Lamberts Lately
Friday    Happy-Go-Lucky     The Thrifty Groove      Farm Blog Hop
Sunday  Suburbsmama    Sew Many Ways

Apple Streusel Pie

I love the tastes & smells of fall ... don't you?

Cinnamon & apples are at the very top of my list.

While it's officially not the fall season just yet, I'll admit, my mind is already headed that direction ...

& of course, the fall recipes have quickly followed.

Another something you may not know about me:  I like to experiment making apple pies!

The funny thing is, apple pie is not my favorite kind of pie to eat.

I like it, I really do, but I'd choose peach over apple every time.

However, I really love baking apple pies!

It's just so all-American, an apple pie is ... & there's nothing better than the smell in your kitchen 

when an apple pie is in the oven.

One year, early in our marriage - say 15 or so years ago -- I baked an apple pie using a different recipe

almost every weekend during that fall season.

It's like I was on a quest to find the best apple pie recipe!

Each recipe had it's own little twist to make it unique.

One of them used sour cream ... & the most interesting one was baked in a brown paper bag!

I'll have to blog that one sometime.

Sooo ... in case you are in the fall mood like I am ...

OR maybe I've just made the good ol' apple pie sound so good that your mouth is now watering, 

I thought I'd share a pie recipe with you.

I love a good, crumbly, brown sugar topping.

It's perfect on pies, muffins, & coffee cakes ... & with this Apple Streusel Pie, it's the star of the show ... right next to the apples, that is ;)

I wish it had been a bit crumblier {is that a word?} in the center ... or actually, maybe I'm just wishing

there had been a bit more piled up in the center cause I like it so well.

None-the-less, it was very delicious & hit all the right spots as it went down.

It's another tasty apple pie for the records.

Here's the recipe.

Apple Streusel Pie

1 pie crust

pie filling
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon apple pie spice
5-6 large apples {about 2 pounds of apples - peeled, quartered, cored, thinly sliced  --
I used Granny Smith}
1 tbsp vanilla extract

Combine sugar, flour, & spice.
Add in apples & extract & combine til all apples are coated.
 
streusel topping
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
5 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Mix together with a pastry blender/cutter or a fork in a medium bowl the flour, 

brown sugar, & cinnamon.

Then work in the cold butter until the mixture resembles crumbs.

{Do not overwork this mixture or it will become pasty -- that's almost what I did -- oops}

Place pie crust in a 9-inch pie dish & spoon in apple filling.

Evenly sprinkle streusel topping over apples.

Bake pie until apples are tender and topping is light golden, about 45-50 minutes.

Pie is delicious served warm {or at room temperature -- it's yummy any which way you prefer it}

with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

To totally take it over the top, drizzle with warm caramel syrup.

 

Go on now ...  bake up this pie!

Get your kitchen smelling good & get a jump on the fall season even if it is a week or two early.

And for a quote that's almost as good as this recipe:

 “Good apple pies are a considerable part of our domestic happiness” ~Jane Austen

 

 Don't you just love that.

 

 

 

 

 

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 Monday         Make It Yourself Monday        The Better Mom       C.R.A.F.T     
Tuesday    Domestically Divine     A Bowl Full of Lemons    Titus Tuesday      A Stroll Through Life
Wednesday   Raising Homemakers        Savvy Southern Style         Adorned From Above
                   Women Living Well    Southern Lovely     The Thrifty Home
Thursday      The Shabby Creek Cottage     Serving Joyfully     Lamberts Lately
Friday    Happy-Go-Lucky     The Thrifty Groove      Farm Blog Hop
Sunday  Suburbsmama    Sew Many Ways

The Scariest Room in my House

I'm going in!
And if I'm not back out in a few minutes, come rescue me!

You think I'm kidding, but no!
My laundry room is officially the scariest room in my house to deep clean.

partially painted -- going from dark tan & cranberry to a lighter tan all over

See, it functions not only as the laundry room, but also the dog-feeding room & the mud room.
The name 'mud room' in & of itself denotes that dirt & grime are sure to show up in this room.
Now, add in all the spills every time the dog's food storage container is refilled
& all the DUST from the dryer & what you've got is one ICKY room.

Now, it's cleaned every week ... you know, vacummed, mopped, dusted ...
but I do not pull out the washer & the dryer to clean underneath weekly.

I know.

Shame on me ... a slacker of monumental proportions.

About 4-5 times a year, I take on the task of moving the washer/dryer over to the other side
of the room to clean ... & oh the treasures I find.

There's always a good amount of dust, dirt & lent ... & dust, dog food, & pennies ...
and pellets from air soft guns, dust, & more dog food.
It's a dirty job but someone's got to do it.

And since I did not have this exhilirating activity on my Summer 2013 bucket list,
don't you think it's only fitting that I promptly go on over & add that on,
but for the sole purpose of getting to check it off my list?!
I think I should.
It's the logical thing to do.

Here's what been going on in my laundry room:

• wallpaper border stripped

• entire room washed down -- walls, trim, floor, doors + the washer & dryer

• the trim & doors have been painted

• walls painted {almost done with that} -- finishing behind the washer & dryer today

In my lofty dreams, you know -- the one where every room in my house is filled to the brim
 with all my Pinterest faves, my laundry room would look like it stepped right off the cover
of Better Homes & Gardens.
You know the kind -- those swoon-worthy rooms ...but, that's just not a reality for me.
In addition to being a laundry room, dog feeding room, & mud room,
the heater & water heater live in this room.
Talk about being multi-functional!
And, unfortunately, there's no creatively hiding those things.

And before you ask, yes, those are flip flops in the trash can!  They hurt my feet so much yesterday that I promptly came home from the grocery store & tossed 'em in the trash!

So, I'll settle with a fresh coat of paint & things organized a bit better.
I did buy a pretty picture to hang on the wall several months ago & I think I'll pick up
a new basket or two to sit on the shelf & hold something or other.
I'll show you pics of this little windowless room once it's all completed.

Remember how I told you this is a dog feeding room?
Well, Cooper keeps coming in to see what's going on in 'his room.'

What an adorable little black face.

 Boy, am I glad to have this dirty job done!
I promptly collasped on my fainting couch & ate a bon-bon.

Ok, I don't have a fainting couch ... or a bon-bon.
So, I settled for my regular ol' couch & I ate a wedding cake ... the whole thing ;)
{It's a good thing there were only 3 in the box.}

 

 Take it from me ... in the case of a bon-bon emergency, these will work just fine ;)

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Monday         Make It Yourself Monday        The Better Mom       C.R.A.F.T     
Tuesday    Domestically Divine     A Bowl Full of Lemons    Titus Tuesday      A Stroll Through Life
Wednesday   Raising Homemakers        Savvy Southern Style         Adorned From Above
                   Women Living Well    Southern Lovely     The Thrifty Home
Thursday      The Shabby Creek Cottage     Serving Joyfully     Lamberts Lately
Friday    Happy-Go-Lucky     The Thrifty Groove      Farm Blog Hop
Sunday  Suburbsmama    Sew Many Ways

Saving Money with mPerks!

With the discontinuation of double coupons, many stores are providing more ecoupons,
mobile coupons & shoppers rewards cards, all with additional ways to save.

I am not mad at that.

Meijer offers mPerks.
It's through your mobile phone & all in all, I do pretty well with it.
It's easy to use & the savings are nice.

The website isn't completely clear whether you can 'stack' coupons {use a manu coupon with mPerks},
but at our store, it totally works.

You can read all about the program here.

Now, on to the deal I wanted to share with you!

Last week, Meijer had this deal going:
Buy 3 Fructis & get $3 off instantly.

mPerks had a coupon for $2 off 1 Fructis, so I 'clipped' that, hoping it would work with this deal.
{Remember, I said the policy is a bit sketchy on what works with what.}
Sure enough, it came off ... so just with $3 off deal & the mPerks, $5 came off the price of the hairspray.

Here's the added bonus!
Earlier in the week, I had printed 2 coupons off the internet for $1.50 off 1 Fructis,
which is a nice coupon, & another 2 coupons for $1.00 off 1 Fructis.
So, I used both of the $1.50 off coupons & 1 for $1 off.
This brought my price down from $10.68 to $1.68 which is .56 a can!!
Woohoo -- it worked!

 

Now, what was my plan in case it didn't work?
If the coupon would've beeped at the cashier & she didn't put it through due to the mPerk coupon
that would've already come off, I would have kept my coupons & determined whether I still wanted to
purchase the hairsprays at that price.
If not, I would've just had her take the 3 cans off my order.
I usually work through those scenarios ahead of time so I am prepared with a decision.

These babies weren't free, but they were pretty close to it.
I was happy about this deal.

Hope you are finding ways to save your bucks!






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Monday         Make It Yourself Monday        The Better Mom       C.R.A.F.T     
Tuesday    Domestically Divine     A Bowl Full of Lemons    Titus Tuesday      A Stroll Through Life
Wednesday   Raising Homemakers        Savvy Southern Style         Adorned From Above
                   Women Living Well    Southern Lovely     The Thrifty Home
Thursday      The Shabby Creek Cottage     Serving Joyfully     Lamberts Lately
Friday    Happy-Go-Lucky     The Thrifty Groove      Farm Blog Hop
Sunday  Suburbsmama    Sew Many Ways

Saving money without coupons - Kroger

If you are a couponer, you know that Kroger no longer doubles coupons.
And Meijer has followed suit, only doubling until the 25th of this month.

Kroger has advertised that their prices have lowered throughout the store ...
& I am happy to report that I've noticed the price drops!
Yay!

I been comparing prices & across the board, I've seen a change.
The biggest drop that I've found is in the health & beauty department, especially in make up ...
I'm talking a $3 - $4 price difference on the regular price at Kroger compared to CVS.
That's a big price difference!

Another thing I've been enjoying are the freebie items that Kroger has offered each Friday.
I've gotten free shampoo, toothpaste, & various other items.
These are loaded from the Kroger site right on to your Plus card.

Meijer is doing the same thing -- offering free items through the mPerks program.
I've gotten free milk, eggs & Jif peanut butter.

What I wanted to show you today, though, is how to save at Kroger without using coupons.
Our store has a markdown aisle & you just never know what you'll find there.

Yesterday, there were lots of medicines.
Since it'll be cold season before we know it, I decided that they were worth stocking up on.

I paid $9.33 for the following:

2 Chapstick lip balms - .39 each
2 Halls lozenges  - .59 each
1 Robitussin  -  1.99
3 Nyquil  -   5.38 for all 3

At CVS, the 2-pack of Nyquil sells for $12.99.
At that, it would've been $3 more than I paid for all of these items put together!

Last night, not only did I find some goodies on the mark down aisle, it was a cha-ching at the meat case!

 3 T Bone steaks that were $11.99 per pound -- marked down to $3.88 per pound!

This pork shoulder will be awesome in the smoker.
It was originally $2.49 per pound, marked down to $1.74 per pound.
The bad news here ... it didn't ring up the mark down price & I didn't notice til after I got home.
I'll have to take my receipt & this pic to get the difference back.

And to think ... I only stopped in at Kroger to grab a bag of dog food.

This is one way I can lower my grocery bill.
I always take a second to run through the mark down areas of my store just in case there's a bargain.

Here's to stretching my bucks!





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Monday         Make It Yourself Monday        The Better Mom       C.R.A.F.T     
Tuesday    Domestically Divine     A Bowl Full of Lemons    Titus Tuesday      A Stroll Through Life
Wednesday   Raising Homemakers        Savvy Southern Style         Adorned From Above
                   Women Living Well    Southern Lovely     The Thrifty Home
Thursday      The Shabby Creek Cottage     Serving Joyfully     Lamberts Lately
Friday    Happy-Go-Lucky     The Thrifty Groove      Farm Blog Hop
Sunday  Suburbsmama    Sew Many Ways

Living Room Odds & Ends

I get on a roll.
I'll be blogging away, showing how I've decorated one room or another
or where I've put my flea market finds ...
and then, just like that --
all the sudden,
I just putter to a stop.

I open up a folder of pictures on my laptop & I'm reminded of the little things here & there
that I took a pic of & never got around to showing all you good people.

So, I'm brushing the dust off that folder of pics to show you a few pretty things in my living room.

I bought this old chair at my favorite flea market.
I've almost forgotten how much I paid for it, but I'm thinking it was $6.

And my chippy old ladder.
I love this thing.
It was on my 'want' list for the longest time, til I finally found this one -- the right size & the right price.

 

And my bright, super fun & fresh green curtains.

 

I debated on these for several weeks before they made their way into my cart.

I can thank good ol' Lowe's for these pretties.

Now, here's where my my sad, oh so sad & lacking camera skills take center stage.

The light was coming through so bright that, well, I just couldn't seem to make the pic look nice at all.

But, you get the idea, right?

 

 

Just wanted to show ya how pretty the curtains look hanging at this window.
I have another double window at the front of the room, but same story ... bad photography.
I'll save myself the embarrassment ;)

Tomorrow, I'll show you my gallery wall.
I'll have to wait to then cause it's changed since I took the pic back in early spring.
I'll show you what it looked like then ... & now.
Better hurry though, huh, cause it's almost time to decorate for fall & the gallery wall
will get yet another little makeover.

Whew ... decorating for fall.
Are you kidding me?
Is it really almost time for that?!

Happy Monday, fellow blogger friends.
Hope it has treated you well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Monday         Make It Yourself Monday        The Better Mom       C.R.A.F.T     
Tuesday    Domestically Divine     A Bowl Full of Lemons    Titus Tuesday      A Stroll Through Life
Wednesday   Raising Homemakers        Savvy Southern Style         Adorned From Above
                   Women Living Well    Southern Lovely     The Thrifty Home
Thursday      The Shabby Creek Cottage     Serving Joyfully     Lamberts Lately
Friday    Happy-Go-Lucky     The Thrifty Groove      Farm Blog Hop
Sunday  Suburbsmama    Sew Many Ways
 

Billy Graham / Blake Shelton

OK ... so this is crazy random, but ...

Is it just me or does Blake Shelton look a whole lot like a young Billy Graham?!

A FB friend posted a meme with an image of who I thought at first glance was Blake Shelton.

Think again!

The resemblance was so on point that I had to look up a pic of Blake to do a side-by-side
just so you all could see!

Ca-razy, huh?!

{Yes, I'm easily entertained}

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Monday         Make It Yourself Monday        The Better Mom       C.R.A.F.T     
Tuesday    Domestically Divine     A Bowl Full of Lemons    Titus Tuesday      A Stroll Through Life
Wednesday   Raising Homemakers        Savvy Southern Style         Adorned From Above
                   Women Living Well    Southern Lovely     The Thrifty Home
Thursday      The Shabby Creek Cottage     Serving Joyfully     Lamberts Lately
Friday    Happy-Go-Lucky     The Thrifty Groove      Farm Blog Hop
Sunday  Suburbsmama    Sew Many Ways

 

The Gift of a Picnic Basket

A picnic basket with a royal blue polka dot liner ... what could be sweeter?

 

One of my favorite things to give as a summer wedding gift is a picnic basket.
That's what this basket was  ... a gift to our friends as they began their married life together.

Finding a basket with this royal blue liner helped to decide on what to fill it with.
I couldn't have been happier when I came across these nautical plates, napkins, & tablecloth.
I ADORE anything nautical.

This sweet little lantern -- had to have it!

I also added his & hers beverage bottles ...

and a covered serving tray.

 This is just perfect for keeping the bugs out of the picnic lunch.

Here it is ... almost all packed up.

Lastly, I added in a mini-bottle of sparking red grape juice.
Isn't it just about the cutest thing ever?

All packed up & ready for a romantic picnic.
Just what honeymooners need, don't ya think?