If you read this and it sounds mighty familiar, then you are probably a dear soul from Prairie Homemaker. I posted this there a few days ago, and thought I'd use it here as well. Busy day, what can I say? :)
About a month ago when I was in Walmart I thought that it'd be a good idea to grab a can of my favorite Campbell's soup - Bean with Bacon in the family size can. I love that stuff, and I always have. It's the perfect combination of beans, tanginess, smokiness, MSG and who-knows-what-else-ness.... When we get below 8 cans (the family size cans!) in our pantry, I get nervous.
They didn't have any.
Neither did King Sooper the next time I was there, and neither did Albertsons, and neither did Walmart the next couple times I checked.
I got worried that maybe they'd quit making 'my' soup in that size, so I called the 800 number on a can I had at home, and talked to a nice lady named Barbara.
She reassured me that they still make it, and said that Super Target has it, and that Walmart isn't on their search system, so they might still have it too.
Meanwhile, while she was looking all this up for my genuinely concerned self, I was telling her how it was my MOST favorite Campbell's soup since I was old enough for solid foods - like, 1967.
I told her how when I was three, they took out my tonsils, and they told me I could have all the ice cream I wanted after surgery, but when I woke up from the operation I insisted that the only thing I would eat in the whole world was Bean With Bacon. The hospital didn't have any (egads!), so my parents went to a store and got some for me, heated it and brought it in a thermos.
Yum.
I even confessed that I've tried, and failed, several times, to make a copycat of the soup, but none of them are even close.
Yes, I'm that goofy. I really love me some Bean n Bacon!
Moral of the story? If you love a product, tell the company. If you have a story, share it, and there's a pretty good chance they will give you some.
Post Script: Last week I received three fantastic coupons from the Campbell's Soup Family of Companies. After coupons, I was able to get three cans of my beloved Bean With Bacon - Family Size - for four cents apiece. They are lovingly nestled in my pantry, next to the others.
Showing posts with label coupons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label coupons. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Day 18
We did some shopping today while we were out doing other errands. Here's what we got:
2 cans chef boyardee ravioli (free, plus 22 cent overage after coupon)
2 packages tyson chicken
1 package jack links chicken pieces
3 packages hormel pepperoni (price matched)
almost 1 lb. fresh jalapenos
Cash Spent: 14.34
Coupons Spent: 11.67
Meals today:
B - Oatmeal with peanut butter, raisins and apples, milk.
L - Leftover lo mein with whole wheat noodles and vegetables, brownies.
S - Hot dogs on homemade buns, homemade baked beans, carrot and raisin salad.
Snacks - popcorn and hot cocoa (pepsi for me)
Tomorrow we'll pick up a few things when we're in town - I'll report them then. :)
I picked green beans, and I have almost enough to can 7 more quarts. I'll prep these tonight, pick a few more tomorrow and can them in the afternoon or evening. It has been cool this week, but we're still getting plenty of things from our garden.
2 cans chef boyardee ravioli (free, plus 22 cent overage after coupon)
2 packages tyson chicken
1 package jack links chicken pieces
3 packages hormel pepperoni (price matched)
almost 1 lb. fresh jalapenos
Cash Spent: 14.34
Coupons Spent: 11.67
Meals today:
B - Oatmeal with peanut butter, raisins and apples, milk.
L - Leftover lo mein with whole wheat noodles and vegetables, brownies.
S - Hot dogs on homemade buns, homemade baked beans, carrot and raisin salad.
Snacks - popcorn and hot cocoa (pepsi for me)
Tomorrow we'll pick up a few things when we're in town - I'll report them then. :)
I picked green beans, and I have almost enough to can 7 more quarts. I'll prep these tonight, pick a few more tomorrow and can them in the afternoon or evening. It has been cool this week, but we're still getting plenty of things from our garden.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Day 16
Not a lot of excitement to report, but we did buy carrots and celery today. I also picked up some Jack Links chicken nugget-y things that were free with the coupon from All You Magazine. They are buffalo style, nice and spicy and slightly addictive.
Anyroo, we spent $1.82 for the head of celery and the pound of carrots.
In the "I can't believe we got yet another Freebie from Chick-Fil-A" department, well, yeah, it was free breakfast Tuesday. Hubby had some lab work to get done, so after that we took our hungry selves over to Chick-Fil-A for free chicken minis. It's a chicken nugget inside some super-soft bread that's brushed with honey or syrup or something. As odd as it sounds, it's tasty, and you get three of them. We got them via the drive thru, and spent exactly zero.
So, that was breakfast, which Little Bit supplemented with some dried fruit and strawberry mini wheats.
For lunch, Little Bit had peanut butter raisin oatmeal, one of her favorite foods in the whole wide world. Hubby and I had veggie burgers on homemade buns, some tortilla chips and cucumber pickles.
Supper was meatballs in sweet/sour plum sauce, brown rice, zucchini and onions and a pear crisp. The meatballs were homemade, the plum sauce home-canned, the brown rice from the pantry (bought at the co-op). The zucchini and onions (OK, it was shallots, actually) were from the garden, and the pears were home canned from last year. It was an easy meal to put together and tasted good too!
Hope everyone is doing well with the challenge!
Anyroo, we spent $1.82 for the head of celery and the pound of carrots.
In the "I can't believe we got yet another Freebie from Chick-Fil-A" department, well, yeah, it was free breakfast Tuesday. Hubby had some lab work to get done, so after that we took our hungry selves over to Chick-Fil-A for free chicken minis. It's a chicken nugget inside some super-soft bread that's brushed with honey or syrup or something. As odd as it sounds, it's tasty, and you get three of them. We got them via the drive thru, and spent exactly zero.
So, that was breakfast, which Little Bit supplemented with some dried fruit and strawberry mini wheats.
For lunch, Little Bit had peanut butter raisin oatmeal, one of her favorite foods in the whole wide world. Hubby and I had veggie burgers on homemade buns, some tortilla chips and cucumber pickles.
Supper was meatballs in sweet/sour plum sauce, brown rice, zucchini and onions and a pear crisp. The meatballs were homemade, the plum sauce home-canned, the brown rice from the pantry (bought at the co-op). The zucchini and onions (OK, it was shallots, actually) were from the garden, and the pears were home canned from last year. It was an easy meal to put together and tasted good too!
Hope everyone is doing well with the challenge!
Friday, July 24, 2009
Day 12
Last night hubby brought home a late snack he picked up for us at the drive-thru. I adjusted the amount we spent for the week by that amount ($4.25)
I stopped to get milk and some snacks that were on sale this morning. I went to self-check because the lines were long at the regular registers. After I scanned my stuff and then scanned my coupons, the machine spit out 15 cents and a receipt. I was actually paid 15 cents to shop!
We ate our meals at home today - I didn't have breakfast (I wasn't feeling well) and I'm not sure what my family had, as I was out doing some errands.
Lunch was homemade Lo Mein, with whole wheat noodles and lots of vegetables, mostly from our garden!
For Supper we had homemade pizza, carrot sticks, ice water to drink and ice cream for dessert.
Snacks were cereal and milk, raisins and crackers.
I did some canning tonight - I put up 7 pints of 'Dilly Beans' - a dill pickle green bean. This will be enough to last us an entire year. They are a treat, but something I'd never buy at the store, because they are $7 a jar! The beans and the dill are from the garden, and the only other ingredients are garlic, cayenne, vinegar and salt, so it didn't cost much at all to make them. Even figuring the cost of the jar lids, they probably come to about 12 cents a jar.
Tomorrow I'll be canning cherry jelly and cherry syrup. I'm dehydrating sour cherries that have been sweetened, so this is a way to make use of the resulting syrup as well. If there is enough, I may even make some lollipops. We even have (non-food) plans for the cherry pits - waste not, want not!
I stopped to get milk and some snacks that were on sale this morning. I went to self-check because the lines were long at the regular registers. After I scanned my stuff and then scanned my coupons, the machine spit out 15 cents and a receipt. I was actually paid 15 cents to shop!
We ate our meals at home today - I didn't have breakfast (I wasn't feeling well) and I'm not sure what my family had, as I was out doing some errands.
Lunch was homemade Lo Mein, with whole wheat noodles and lots of vegetables, mostly from our garden!
For Supper we had homemade pizza, carrot sticks, ice water to drink and ice cream for dessert.
Snacks were cereal and milk, raisins and crackers.
I did some canning tonight - I put up 7 pints of 'Dilly Beans' - a dill pickle green bean. This will be enough to last us an entire year. They are a treat, but something I'd never buy at the store, because they are $7 a jar! The beans and the dill are from the garden, and the only other ingredients are garlic, cayenne, vinegar and salt, so it didn't cost much at all to make them. Even figuring the cost of the jar lids, they probably come to about 12 cents a jar.
Tomorrow I'll be canning cherry jelly and cherry syrup. I'm dehydrating sour cherries that have been sweetened, so this is a way to make use of the resulting syrup as well. If there is enough, I may even make some lollipops. We even have (non-food) plans for the cherry pits - waste not, want not!
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Couponing
I used to read about those people who went to the store and got shopping carts full of stuff for $1.58, and I always thought it was amazing. I also thought it was difficult, time consuming, and somehow, maybe not completely legal. I mean, really, can you get that much stuff for little or no money?
Oh yes...yes you can. Take a look here at some of my coupon adventures. Especially, check out those photos where there are a bunch of groceries on the counter, and a little sign showing what I paid in cash for all the stuff. It's amazing what you can do!!
I'm not exactly a coupon queen - more like a coupon puppy or something (sorry, I can't use the word 'princess' in a sentence that describes anything about me). Over the course of the last couple years, I've learned how couponing works, and I'm convinced that it can save you a lot of money. There are, however, a few requirements.
1. It does take some time to find the sale/coupon combos that give you the best results. Fortunately, there are sites that help with this tremendously. My favorites are www.moneysavingmom.com and www.hotcouponworld.com (though that second one is verrrry busy and a little overwhelming for me). It takes time week to week to organize things, but you get faster with time. Plus, once you end up with a shelf full of shampoo and toothpaste that you got for free (also toilet paper and cookie mixes, fresh pineapples and buddy soap, chicken nuggets and barbecue sauce, peanut butter and yes, chocolate!), you can focus on the things you're low on, and not have to scurry around after every deal.
(psst - this stuff was all free!)
(this stuff too!)
2. Brand loyalty kinda goes out the window. Then again, I have a lot more name-brand stuff on hand than I used to. I only have a couple of things that I am very brand specific for. Most everything I will go for the best deal. If it's a new (to us) product, I will try one before I stock up, to make sure we like it, but I'm blessed with a family that is not picky, so most of the time, we're good to go. If we get something in multiple and we don't like or use it after all, we donate all the new unopened packages to the food pantry.
($3.06)
3. It's generally a lot easier in a metropolitan area. Why? Because the stores compete with one another, and there are more of them. You're more likely to have stores that double coupons. Also, bigger city, better coupons in the Sunday paper. That said, I wouldn't pass up free toilet paper (or shampoo, or all that other stuff I listed, plus more) just because I couldn't get everything else cheap or free. Many sales/promotions are national, and every little bit helps!
4. If you have a printer, you can print a lot of internet/online coupons. In a lot of cases, these seem to be the 'high dollar' ones. Also, if you have two printers (this is far more common these days than I ever realized) you have the opportunity to print even more of many of the coupons that are available. The savings easily pays for the ink and paper - really!
5. If you're willing to ask friends/neighbors/co-workers for their unwanted coupons, you can buy the 'good deals' in multiples. I know that some people buy multiple copies of the Sunday paper or they use 'clipping services' to order coupons, but we have found that for our family (just three people) we can get leftover coupons from friends, family and the break room at hubby's work. It's not always a sure thing, but so far, it's been a blessing and we've always gotten just what we need.
(nineteen cents)
I learned couponing over time. I started with one 'deal', and then did another, and then another. It would be redundant for me to go through all the how-to stuff when www.moneysavingmom.com has some really good tutorials and information, so I'll just encourage you to go there and check it out! If you're here because you're an All-You magazine reader (me too!) then you also know that magazines - particularly All-You - can be a great coupon resource as well.
Personally, I think it's a really good idea to start small, take it slow, and grow your knowledge and understanding of how couponing works over time. Rather than rush out and order coupons from someone on ebay, maybe read some couponing tutorials online. Look at the sale ads from your local grocery stores and see if you can match up a good price with a good coupon. Find out which stores double coupons, which ones do (and do not) take internet coupons, etc. Eventually, you'll be packing out bags of groceries while still keeping your hard-earned money.
It has worked for me, and for a lot of others. Why not give it a try? Or, if you're a seasoned coupon shopper, leave a comment and share your favorite tips and strategies here.
Oh yes...yes you can. Take a look here at some of my coupon adventures. Especially, check out those photos where there are a bunch of groceries on the counter, and a little sign showing what I paid in cash for all the stuff. It's amazing what you can do!!
I'm not exactly a coupon queen - more like a coupon puppy or something (sorry, I can't use the word 'princess' in a sentence that describes anything about me). Over the course of the last couple years, I've learned how couponing works, and I'm convinced that it can save you a lot of money. There are, however, a few requirements.
1. It does take some time to find the sale/coupon combos that give you the best results. Fortunately, there are sites that help with this tremendously. My favorites are www.moneysavingmom.com and www.hotcouponworld.com (though that second one is verrrry busy and a little overwhelming for me). It takes time week to week to organize things, but you get faster with time. Plus, once you end up with a shelf full of shampoo and toothpaste that you got for free (also toilet paper and cookie mixes, fresh pineapples and buddy soap, chicken nuggets and barbecue sauce, peanut butter and yes, chocolate!), you can focus on the things you're low on, and not have to scurry around after every deal.
(psst - this stuff was all free!)
(this stuff too!)
2. Brand loyalty kinda goes out the window. Then again, I have a lot more name-brand stuff on hand than I used to. I only have a couple of things that I am very brand specific for. Most everything I will go for the best deal. If it's a new (to us) product, I will try one before I stock up, to make sure we like it, but I'm blessed with a family that is not picky, so most of the time, we're good to go. If we get something in multiple and we don't like or use it after all, we donate all the new unopened packages to the food pantry.
($3.06)
3. It's generally a lot easier in a metropolitan area. Why? Because the stores compete with one another, and there are more of them. You're more likely to have stores that double coupons. Also, bigger city, better coupons in the Sunday paper. That said, I wouldn't pass up free toilet paper (or shampoo, or all that other stuff I listed, plus more) just because I couldn't get everything else cheap or free. Many sales/promotions are national, and every little bit helps!
4. If you have a printer, you can print a lot of internet/online coupons. In a lot of cases, these seem to be the 'high dollar' ones. Also, if you have two printers (this is far more common these days than I ever realized) you have the opportunity to print even more of many of the coupons that are available. The savings easily pays for the ink and paper - really!
5. If you're willing to ask friends/neighbors/co-workers for their unwanted coupons, you can buy the 'good deals' in multiples. I know that some people buy multiple copies of the Sunday paper or they use 'clipping services' to order coupons, but we have found that for our family (just three people) we can get leftover coupons from friends, family and the break room at hubby's work. It's not always a sure thing, but so far, it's been a blessing and we've always gotten just what we need.
(nineteen cents)
I learned couponing over time. I started with one 'deal', and then did another, and then another. It would be redundant for me to go through all the how-to stuff when www.moneysavingmom.com has some really good tutorials and information, so I'll just encourage you to go there and check it out! If you're here because you're an All-You magazine reader (me too!) then you also know that magazines - particularly All-You - can be a great coupon resource as well.
Personally, I think it's a really good idea to start small, take it slow, and grow your knowledge and understanding of how couponing works over time. Rather than rush out and order coupons from someone on ebay, maybe read some couponing tutorials online. Look at the sale ads from your local grocery stores and see if you can match up a good price with a good coupon. Find out which stores double coupons, which ones do (and do not) take internet coupons, etc. Eventually, you'll be packing out bags of groceries while still keeping your hard-earned money.
It has worked for me, and for a lot of others. Why not give it a try? Or, if you're a seasoned coupon shopper, leave a comment and share your favorite tips and strategies here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
