Clip-less Coupon Organization – Time to Clean Out Your Coupon Binder! {Feb 1}

Is Your Binder Feeling… UGH!!!???

Organization is KEY to couponing! If you aren’t organized, couponing can get frustrating and even come to a halt! Also, if you don’t clean out your binder – you’ll get to the point where you can’t close it (and then it’s a pain to carry around)!

READY TO GET ORGANIZED??

One of the things that I love about the clip-LESS coupon organization system is that it’s easy to pull out expired coupons. Remember that you can always donate expired coupons to the Overseas Coupon Program!

Here is a list & this is how you use it…

1. This is a list of some of the older inserts that still have unexpired coupons.
2. The date in blue is the Sunday the insert came out
3. Underneath each date are unexpired coupons (as well as their expiration date)
4. Personally, if I know with out a doubt that I will NOT use that coupon, I’ll pull the entire insert to make room in my binder. OR…
5. You may want to just clip out the few remaining coupons and pull the rest of the insert.
6. If you have any inserts older than August 7, 2011, you don’t need them any more!

Hope this helps you keep your binders beautiful!

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Fabulous Treasure Valley Dental Services Giveaway {Plus a Deal!}

Oh the dentist…

Some people cringe at the thought of going to the dentist.  Maybe it’s some sort of fear of pain, or fear of pain in your pocketbook.  Some people just put it off or avoid it all together.  If you’re one of those people (and even if you’re not), keep reading!

Last week I got to visit the one and only Dr. Taylor Clark of All About You Dental (located near Eagle and Ustick).   Since we no longer have dental insurance (some of you know that my hubs lost his job a few years ago), regular cleanings and check ups have taken a back seat.  It’s not a good thing.   I’ve also been dreading  going to the dentist because of the gum exam…  I’ve had a few people poke me until I had tears streaming from my eyes.   It was NOT something I was looking forward to.

I was immediately impressed by the beautiful office and friendly receptionist.  Then I was super surprised that they gave me a gift bag… a regular feature for new patients.

 

Wow.  Who does that?

Moments after I completed my paperwork, a friendly assistant greeted me.  What?  No waiting.  I didn’t even get a chance to thumb through boring magazines!  Again, I was IMPRESSED!

Alicia, the assistant, got me settled in and the fun began.  I never knew a dental exam could be such a pleasant experience!   Here are 3 things that I found refreshing and impressive about my visit at All About You Dental.

1. Not only did  Alicia take the standard xrays, she used this fantastic mini camera (looked like a camera in a wand) and took pictures of  some of my teeth (like those ones in they way back that you’ve never seen before – ha ha).   THEN when Dr Taylor came in and reviewed my history and xrays, he could show me exactly what was going on with my teeth.  I didn’t just have to take his word for it, he showed me exactly what he was talking about, what it looked like, and why it was happening, and what we could do to prevent further issues.  That’s right,  I actually LEARNED a few things during my time with Dr Clark.  Woot!
2. Remember how I told you I dreaded the part of the exam where my gums are poked and prodded?  Dr Clark was so careful and gentle.  In fact, I felt practically nothing during the process!  A+ for Dr Clark!
3. After all was said and done, Dr Clark told me that I had 3 cavities.  Darn.  More money out of my pocket.  THEN he proceeded to tell me that he didn’t think they needed to be taken care of quite yet {did you just do a double take?}.  The last dentist I had gone to told me I needed to get those cavities taken care of asap!  I never did because I didn’t have an extra $400 to spend.  I told him this and he informed me that he is a conservative dentist.  If I continued to take care of my teeth, do some fluoride rinses, and in 6 months if he saw they hadn’t gotten bigger, he saw no immediate need for fillings.  WOW!  What a releif!  And that sure felt good to know he wasn’t going to suggest procedures that I didn’t need.

In the end, I had a FANTASTIC experience at All About You Dental and I will happily recommend Dr Clark and his team to my readers.

SO… what’s in it for you you ask?

 

Get FREE U-swirl Frozen Yogurt for a Year!

Here’s How:

Visit my dentist at All About You Dental for one of the following new patient offers and they will give you a gift card for one FREE $5.00 cup of frozen yogurt for each month of the year! ($60 Value)

Choose One:

Get Acquainted Special! $87 Package ($193 Value)

New Patient Exam, Necessary X-Rays, Cleaning.

Offers cannot be combined.  Does not include periodontal disease therapy.

OR

“FREE” * Teeth Whitening (Reg. $295)

*Free with a paid new patient exam, x-rays and cleaning at regular fees.
This is perfect if you have dental insurance…
your ENTIRE visit may be FREE (depending on your dental plan).

Offers cannot be combined.

After your exam, you’ll get a FREE Uswirl  gift card that will get you a free cup of yogurt once a month for a year.  This Uswirl offer is only valid until Feburary 24th!  After that, you can still get the deal, you just won’t get the FREE yogurt!  So call All About You Dental and tell them Fabulessly Frugal sent you!

Click here to print the coupon!

We’re not done yet…

We’ve got a SWEET giveaway for you!

Enter to win a  FREE New Patient Exam with the necessary X-Rays AND a Cleaning ($193 Value) PLUS a Gift card for FREE U-swirl yogurt for a year ($60 Value)

There are THREE ways you can enter to win!

1. Go like All About You Dental on Facebook, and leave a comment here telling us you did.
2. Write on the All About You Dental wall and tell them how fab you think this giveaway is!
3. Share this deal with your Treasure Valley friends using the sharing tool below, and leave a comment telling us you did.
4. Leave a comment and tell us why you would love to win this free exam and Uswirl gift card.

The giveaway ends on Monday Feburary 6th at 11:59pm  MST.   Winner will be chosen via random.org and after verification, will be announced on Tuesday February 7th.

$1000 Giveaway with 15 winners {2 KitchenAids, $100 Gift Cards, and More}

We’ve teamed up with 9 other bloggers to bring you an absolutely positively superbly fantastically wonderfully fab giveaway!

It’s super easy to enter… just like each page on facebook, and you’ll be automatically entered for a chance to win!

Details:

• (2) Grand Prize Winners: Pink Kitchen Aid (or their choice of color) $349.99 Value
• (3) 1st Runner Up Prizes: $100 Gift Cards
• (10) Pink Kitchen Aid Wisks (very cute!)

Rules:

• Giveaway runs from Jan 30th 8pm EST until Monday February 6th at 11:59pm EST
• Winners will be notified via email with in 24 hours
• Winners have 48 hours to respond before they forfeit their prize
• This giveaway is brought to you by the following blogs:

Fabulessly Frugal
Discount Queens
Tater Tots & Jello
Skip To My Lou
How Does She
Freebies 2 Deals
The Tom Kat Studio
Sweetopia
Mojo Savings
A Thrifty Mom

You’ll have to use the rafflecopter widget below to enter… if you’re not seeing it, just give it a minute to load!  Comments on the post are not entries (but feel free to comment regardless).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Share this giveaway with your bestie so you can get another chance to win!

{tip:  use the sharing tools below}

2012 Grocery Budget Challenge {Week 4}

How are you doing with your Grocery Budget?

Did you know we have a weekly challenge going?  Lucky for you, it’s not too late to join!  Here are the details about our 2012 Grocery Budget Challenge.

It is time to share how you did last week… did you stay within budget?

I had a pretty good week this week.  Well, my husband did rather… he’s been doing the regular grocery shopping (and I do the coupon shopping).  I’ve been out of town and I haven’t been out to snag deals yet (I hear the round ups at Albertsons have been pretty good!).

Last weeks winner…

Last weeks randomly selected $20.00 Amazon gift card winner is…

Congratulations Nicole! Comment on this post to claim your prize. I will send you an email to get your shipping address!

Here is how the fabs are doing on their budget…

Cathy: Feeding a family of 9

Monthly grocery budget: $600

Spending this week:  65.93
Savings this week: $0 {just did regular supplement shopping}

January Spending:  $382.37
January Savings: $116.47

Year to date spending: $382.37
Year to date savings: $116.47

Mavis: Feeding a family of 4

Monthly grocery budget: $100

Spending this week: $12.85
Savings this week: $56.00

January Spending: $133.10
January Savings: $625.32

Year to date spending:  $133.10
Year to date savings: $625.32

Read more about Mavis’ spending in Monday’s with Mavis

Monica: Feeding a family of 4

Monthly grocery budget: $150

Spending this week: $25.81
Savings this week: $6.50

January Spending: $101.60
January Savings: $186.67

Year to date spending:  $101.60
Year to date savings: $186.67

Becky: Feeding a family of 3

Monthly grocery budget: $200

Spending this week: $58.85
Savings this week: $143.90

January Spending: $224.07
January Savings: $465.25

Year to date spending: $224.07
Year to date savings: $465.25

Amber: Feeding Family of 4

I was only planning on buying produce this week, but I had to go take advantage of the Round Up deals! Those were some FAB savings!

Monthly grocery budget: $250

Spending this week: $28.14
Savings this week: $96.21

January Spending:  $191.37
January Savings: $177.38

Year to date spending: $191.37
Year to date savings: $177.38

So are you ready to track your spending and join our challenge?

#1 – Decide on your monthly grocery budget.

#2 – Complete this form with your #’s… remember, this is you competing with YOURSELF, no one else!  Share your email if you want to enter to win our challenge giveaway… your email will be hidden, but all other answers will be public.

#3- View the results below and see what sort of goals other Fabulessly Frugal readers are setting!

#4 – Come back next week:  we’ll announce a winner from entries on this form AND we’ll give you another chance to submit your spending and saving!

This week the random winner will get a $20 Amazon gift card!

 

Tools to help you:

• Here is a grocery budget tracking spreadsheet to help you keep track of your spending/saving each week. It’s nothing fancy, but it will help you track your spending so you can quickly enter in your #’s each Monday afternoon.
• {NEW!}  We also encourage you to download our Fabulessly Frugal Budget Tool to easily set a budget, track your spending and compare your actual spending to the budget you make.

Enter your goal and spending here:

See how other Fab FruGALs or Fruguys are doing here…

Coupon Classes This Week and Next {Boise & Tacoma}

 We have TWO coupon classes scheduled over the next two weeks!

First things first… here is what you’ll learn in a Fabulessly Frugal coupon class:

What this coupon class is NOT about:

• showing you how to clear shelves
• teaching you how to hoard product
• revealing the tricks of coupon misuse
• learning the ropes of couponing so you can cheat the stores

What this class IS about:

• the 7 Secrets of Successful Couponing including…
• helping you change the way you think about grocery shopping
• learning how to build a stockpile of food your family will eat and only pay rock bottom prices for it (slow and steady!)
• how to use modern day tools to simplify your grocery shopping
• where to find more coupons than you ever thought existed
• discovering coupon organization strategies {don’t waste time clipping coupons!}
• learning how to use coupons effectively
• and more!

 

ANYTIME, ANYWHERE

• Learn how to coupon anytime in the comfort of your own home when you buy our class on DVD – CLICK HERE to open the shopping cart
• You’ll receive the DVD in less than a week!
• Use coupon code SAVE and get it for only $17! (plus shipping)
• Want more info on the DVD? Learn why we created it and what’s in the Coupon Class DVD.

Coupon Classes This Week {Puyallup & Seattle}

 We have FOUR coupon classes scheduled over the next two weeks!

First things first… here is what you’ll learn in a Fabulessly Frugal coupon class:

What this coupon class is NOT about:

• showing you how to clear shelves
• teaching you how to hoard product
• revealing the tricks of coupon misuse
• learning the ropes of couponing so you can cheat the stores

What this class IS about:

• the 7 Secrets of Successful Couponing including…
• helping you change the way you think about grocery shopping
• learning how to build a stockpile of food your family will eat and only pay rock bottom prices for it (slow and steady!)
• how to use modern day tools to simplify your grocery shopping
• where to find more coupons than you ever thought existed
• discovering coupon organization strategies {don’t waste time clipping coupons!}
• learning how to use coupons effectively
• and more!

January Coupon Classes:

 

ANYTIME, ANYWHERE

• Learn how to coupon anytime in the comfort of your own home when you buy our class on DVD – CLICK HERE to open the shopping cart
• You’ll receive the DVD in less than a week!
• Use coupon code SAVE and get it for only $17! (plus shipping)
• Want more info on the DVD? Learn why we created it and what’s in the Coupon Class DVD.

Albertsons Football Party Pack Giveaway

We’ve got a winner!

 

 

Congrats to Shanna!  Check your email Shanna, I sent you instructions!

And thanks again to all who entered, AND to Albertsons and SuperValu for the fab giveaway!

Homemade Orange Julius

This is the recipe I grew up with, and now make for my own children.  We love it when we have a yummy Saturday morning breakfast, and ALWAYS enjoy this Christmas morning!

Homemade Orange Julius

6 oz of Orange Juice (half the can)
1/3 cup Sugar
1 ½ cup Milk
1/2 cup Water
1 tsp Vanilla
6-7  Ice Cubes

Blend first 5 ingredients until well blended.  Add ice cubes one at a time until crushed.  Serve immediately.  (If you have this blender, you can just put it all in at the same time and hit “ice crush”).

Money Saving Tip: Uses for Used Dryer Sheets

One great way to save money is to repurpose common household items…

Use you used dryer sheets to help you clean!  

• Remove foods stuck hard on your pots and pans by filling the pan with water and drop the sheet inside. Let soak for about an hour and wash as usual.
• Quilters can use old dryer sheets to keep block-edges straight and all the same size
• Dust furniture
• Put them on a hanger in the closet to add freshness to the closet
• Hang on the shower curtain to add a fresh scent to bathrooms
• Use them to  polish mirrors and chrome appliances, or clean windows and mirrors

What other household items have you repurposed?

Read more money saving tips.

Sign up for daily money saving tips.

 

Update on Coupons in the Idaho State Journal

The past 2 weeks we’ve received many emails and comments on facebook from Eastern Idaho readers who were frustrated that they weren’t getting the Smart Source coupons in their paper.   Thank you to reader Lisa for letting us know about this update Idaho State Journal put on their facebook page…

We appreciate the interest and comments regarding the coupons in our newspaper, which are valued by many of our readers. We have been working diligently and in good faith with Smart Source to continue inserting the coupons into our paper and it was a surprise when they recently pulled them out. We are working very hard to get them back into the paper and hope that we will reach a new agreement with them within the next 30 to 60 days. We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused our subscribers and we will keep you apprised to any new developments.

So it looks like they are as frustrated as everyone else.  In the mean time, you can consider looking into Smart Source coupon inserts on eBay or Coupon Clippers to supplement your coupons.

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