Operation $40K

The day started with an Egg Hunt at the local Culvers, with a coloring contest first Then outside to get ready for the hunt!  And they are off! You can barely see Miss Sarah behind the baseball cap kid (who took the eggs so fast that she only got ONE!) But it was a GOOD egg - it had a FREE Ice Cream chip in it!  Then, we did stuff with my brother Chris: lunch and a movie! Home for dinner, got her to bed and then... Meet the Chief Bunny:  He delivered a nice assortment this year - A basket that is inside a pink beach hat (last year's Easter clearance) , full of glitter bunny stickers (free), headbands (free), butterfly sidewalk chalk ($1), Peep chocolates (free), bunny notepads (free), Fairy magic towel ($1), Princess filled egg ($0.50) and three lip glosses (free), under a scattering of jelly beans! That bunny is a darned good shopper! =) The only problem? His tail sheds. (sigh) He has to check on Ms Sarah first, then, hide the basket...leaving a tail trail - so...

If you have taken my Coupon Clipping 101 class, you know I talk about letting other people do some of the work for you - so you don't have to spend hours and hours working out the deals and coupon match-ups yourself.  Wags is a GREAT example! WHY should you comb over and over the ads when there are several hot sites that have already done it? My favorite three places to go: Iheartwags.com - they have the ad inserts for the next three weeks posted and it helps me to figure out what coupons I need to stock up on. wildforwags.com  - they have it broken down into transactions, in order, with coupon match ups to make the most of the deals. I like the deals and coupon match ups posted. hiptosave.com - is another transaction scenario site - breaking it down for you, step by step. They also list all of the deals in the ad, by category. I stick with the first two as they do a great job helping me plan, but I do NOT use the scenario examples of the last two. It never fails...

I LOVE my Copp's Store and I REALLY love my Wednesday cashiers! That being said, today they had the "B" team on the registers. (sigh).  Those of you that are like me and plan your trips out, KNOW what your total should be, what should print out when you are done and what should be coming out of your pocket. The gal rang up my first transaction and said:   "That will be six cents".   I KNEW I should have paid $4.17, and then gotten back a $3 Catalina...and tried to tell her. Then she said: You don't know what you are talking about Mam, that offer won't print when you use coupons". OK, I could have killed her for the Mam comment alone...don't get me started on this one. (Grrr...) Then comes the second transaction where she said I owed $6.70. I knew this was wrong, even though I had planned to use that $3 from the first transaction ... it should have been under $5. I paid it and then marched over to the customer service desk. YIPPEE!!! On...

Go shopping, LOL! I ended up going to Walgreen's this morning and scoring a few deals while not having to annoy anyone behind me at the register. Actually, I had a GREAT chat with the cashier on duty! I didn't see any of the clearance Children's Benedryl that some people have been talking about or the Always products that are 2/$6 with that $4 RR...so I ended up with what you see pictured. Transaction #1 Color Wonder Pack@$1.50 (used $1/1) 3 Magic Tapes @$1.99 (used three $1/1) - and B1G2 Ad coupon Goody Hair accessory @$3 2 chocolate Peeps @$.50 (used $1/2) Used $2 RR Paid $.45, got $3 Transaction #2 Goody Hair accessoryy @$3 Used $2 RR, paid $1.17, got $3RR Transaction #3 2 Beach Barbies @$3.99 (B1G1 - 50% off) clearance fruity lip gloss @$1 Used both $3 RR from previous transactions, paid $1.36 So, I spent  $2.98 and saved $33.49 =) The Barbies are in the Gift Stockpile, the lip gloss, chocolate Peeps and hair stuff will round out the Easter Basket and the tape...

One thing we teach in Tupperware is food storage! How long can something last in your freezer, cupboard and fridge - and then, how much MORE longer it will last when stored properly! This is a basic list of time lines for your pantry items, keep in mind that Shelf lives listed are for unopened products stored in a cool, dry environment and are commercially canned, bottled, or packaged. Dates are approximate and may vary by brand. Always look at the product’s Best By or Use By date and discard any food that exhibits a change in odor, color, or taste. Once products are opened, shelf life decreases substantially. Salty Snacks Chips, corn tortilla 3 months Chips, potato 2 months Crackers 3 months Nuts, shelled 4 months Popcorn, kernels 18-24 months Popcorn, packaged/ microwave 12 months Pretzels 3 months Snack mix 3- 6 months PB & Jelly Jams/ Jellies/ Preserves 12 months Peanut Butter 9 months Nutella 8 months Fruit Applesauce 12-18 months Fruit, canned 12 months ...

Sorry I am late in this - all the Easter Fun had be distracted, LOL! They have a 3 day sale that starts Monday - the big deal is the Whole Beef Tenderloin for $4.99/# Seriously, spend the extra dollar to get it trimmed and then, have the butcher cut it into steaks for you. That makes it a GREAT price on fillets and go a lot further for you!  ***Keep in mind that you can NOT stack at Sentry, that means you can't use a manufacturers coupon on top of a store coupon that is in their sale flier. Other than that, here are the deals: Produce Deals: Asparagus $1.99/#  - make sure it is tender, THIN stalks that are sitting upright in a little tray of water. If they are thick or dry at the base, skip it! Dole head lettuce $.99 EACH - with in add coupon, only on the 3 day sale **weigh them to get a heavier one Fresh Broccoli $.89/# DOLE Cauliflower $.89/# DOLE Celery $.99 EACH, again: weigh them Dairy Deals: Sentry Large Eggs $0.99 Use in add coupon to get sale pric...

We already had a list here  . Now we have some things from this weekend only to add - Yippee! 3-Day Sale Items (4/22 – 4/24) KC Masterpiece $1.42 (Limit 4) Use $0.50/1 from 3/13 Smart Source insert Spend $0.92, get $1.00 back via mail-in rebate Final price: Better than free after coupon and rebate M&Ms Pretzel 9.9 oz $2.94 Use $1/1 from 3/13 Red Plum insert Spend $1.94, get $2 back via mail-in rebate Final price: Better than free after coupon and rebate Colgate Wisp 8-Pack $4.00 (Limit 5) Use $0.75/1 from April All You magazine Spend $3.25, get $4 back via mail-in rebate Final price: Better than free after coupon and rebate Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter $4.99 (Limit 2) Buy 2 and use $3/2 from 4/10 Smart Source insert (we did not get this coupon in Minneapolis) Spend $6.98, get $8 back via mail-in rebate Final price: Better than free after coupon and rebate Thanks Pocket Your Dollars!

Enfamil Class Action Settlement - $12 or 2 Free Cans of Formula If you bought Enfamil LIPIL® Infant Formula you could get free infant formula or cash from a Settlement. Records show that you may have bought infant formula in the past. A Settlement has been reached in a class action lawsuit about whether Mead Johnson & Company, LLC ("Mead Johnson") falsely represented that Enfamil LIPIL® is the only infant formula that contains DHA and ARA. DHA and ARA are healthy fatty acids. Mead Johnson will pay between $8 million and $12 million in infant formula and cash. No one is claiming that Enfamil LIPIL® is unsafe or challenging the nutrition it provides. Go to www.FormulaSettlement.com for more information and to file a claim online. Who's Included? You are included if you bought Enfamil LIPIL® infant formula in the United States between October 13, 2005 and March 31, 2010. You are not included if you received Enfamil LIPIL® infant formula through the U.S.D.A.'s ...

There are bloggers out there that don't let you know a few things: if they make money off things you click on their site if they make money off things you print on their site if they make money off referring you to sites, through links if they are getting something for posting about a certain item etc.  Here is my official policy for you: 1. Operation 40K is written and edited by me, Dannelle Gay, also known on the web as Tupqueen1.   2. This blog may accept forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation. The compensation received may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog, but I won't have anything that is against my beliefs. That content, advertising space or post may not always be identified as paid or sponsored content, but I try my best.   3. I may be compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though I receive compensation for posts ...

You would think we are almost Easter'd out but we are only halfway through our celebration! It was time to do our eggs...this year it was all about Tye Dye!! First you need a few things: hard boiled eggs food coloring white vinegar colander pan for under the colander paper towels assistant Set the colander over the pan, place an egg into it, pour a little vinegar over that egg Add some food coloring:  The more colors, the more fun! Now, gently swirl - you don't want to crack the egg.  When it is "done" (your assistant will let you know), gently pat it dry with a paper towel and add to your egg container. Repeat as needed, until all eggs are simply beautiful.  Eggsactly Perfect!

I have taught Tupperware candy making classes in December for almost twenty years, haystacks being a quick and easy way to use up leftover chocolate. This is simply a variation that had been running through my head and I cringed when I saw other bloggers pop up with the idea before I had a chance to whip these up with Miss Sarah. (sigh). However, no one has had my cute little packaging idea - so there IS something new for the blogosphere, LOL! That, and no one has this cute a picture of them:   Let me start out by saying that this is VERY picture heavy - sorry! Here goes: First, we used the left over chocolate from the bunny pops we had made, and just added a little more white chocolate to it Then, we added an entire bag of chow mein noodles to it We also needed little birdies...  Yes, these are some Belly Flops left from our Jelly Belly Field Trip...  It's VERY hard to NOT lick the chocolate stiring spatula...  So...

On my FAVORITE scrapbooking board: ScrapChicks.com, we did a Secret Bunny Swap. We filled out a little survey and then were given the name and survey of someone else to shop for. Secret Bunny Guidelines: • At least $10.00 worth of scrapbooking/goodies. Please be sure to send new and current products. Do not send something you would’t love to receive yourself. • A handmade Easter card. •To make sure your SC receives their package by April 24th, packages must be mailed out by April 15th. •All packages need to be sent with a tracking number. As soon as you mail your package please PM me with the tracking number. My package, from my Secret Bunny, arrived today!!! You can see that I had help opening it... LOTS of great goodies!! Ribbon and BoBunny stickers for the Easter pages, stickers and ribbon for the Dinosaur Birthday Party pictures, mini brads in fun colors, A photo storage box, an Easter stamp set, and goodies for Ms Sarah: bbracelets, rings and a paint by number kit! TH...

Welcome to our Penny Pincher Series! Today we are going to look at ways to "recycle" your food! No, I do NOT mean scraping things off the plates after dinner and making them eat it the next time, I mean a creative "re-purposing" of food to make the leftovers seem like a brand new creation! I have shared a few ideas over the past year -- Like how to turn leftover rice into a dessert or brand new entree and creating pizzas with that 1 cup of meat you have leftover from sandwiches a few days before. Even making soups! We used to joke at my restaurant: What is tomorrow's soup? Cream of today's special! You can make a roast chicken for meal #1. What is left after dinner can be pulled off and turned into chicken and dumplings with carrots and pearl onions for meal #2. Boil the carcass to make noodle soup for meal #3. Leftover chicken and dumplings can become creamy chicken a la king over biscuits or chicken pot pies when you add peas for meal #4 and tho...

Just wanted to give everyone a heads up that there are no coupon inserts this week due to the Easter holiday. So don’t waste your money on a newspaper... :)

 I have told you before about checking into your local Parks and Recreation program before here This time, we did the Easter Ribbit program - it was SOOOOOO cute! First they read a story, and then, made a glorious mask... Another crafty project: turning a toilet paper tube into an Easter frog Then an Egg Hunt! Everyone got the same amount of eggs and helped each other find them - WHY can't adults interact like that? Wisconsin Senators -- are you reading? (sigh) At least they were filled with great treasures like egg shaped erasers, flower and bunny shaped bracelets, even a few with mini chocolate bunnies in fun foils!  THEN, a treat to hop the kids up before they were turned over to their parents... lemonade and a mini sundae.  Almost two hours of fun and a SUPER cheap price - what a great way to start setting the stage for the fun of Easter week! And more is coming: We are making Tye Dyed Eggs on Friday AND More fun with Peeps!

My Sample Showcase came today, Claritin Children's Alergy Meds (BzzAgent campaign),  and my Proctor and Gamble coupon booklet! LOTS of goodies were in the Sample Showcase: Wisk he detergent Coffee Mate Biscotti (already gone...) Secret Deodorant GUM dental picks a bunch of coupons! Did you get anything fun in the mail?

I wanted to let you Lakeview Library people know that I have been waiting...and waiting... to get a reply back from them for their offical policy! I have a listof questions that I asked: both corporate and the local store, and haven't heard back yet. I DO have the info on their rewards card for you...the program seems less than stellar, if you can't max it with coupon savings - like you need to spend $50 to get a pack of free eggs ($1.29 value). Here is their rewards program info - I will update it with their policy, ASAP Just 3 Easy Steps! Step 1: Pick up your Pierce's Markets Rewards Card the next time you’re in the store and present it that very day when you shop. It’s ready to go! Step 2: If you prefer, you can enroll yourself online. Click here to enroll and receive 200 Bonus Points at time of enrollment! Step 3: Show your card to the cashier each time you shop. You’ll earn 5 points for every qualifying dollar that you spend in the store. (Certain items are...

So here is the big project that Ms Sarah and I did for her class mates this year - Peep Bunny Pops! You start with some Peeps And need some sucker sticks - found in the candy supply section of most craft stores. We have a Liquidators in town and these cost a fraction of the craft store price.  Take the sticks, and the Peeps, and do the un-thinkable to them...  Get your mini marshmallows ready...  Melt your chocolate (I used the microwave)  Dip the bunnies and shake off the excess. Nothing like MORE sugar added to a sugar covered, shape of sugar...  Add the bunny tail (mini marshmallow)  Prop up to dry  Repeat until he has a lot of friends...  And get creative when you run out of Styrofoam to use... After they are dry, you need to bag the little suckers so they are ready for the presentation. I like CHEAP, fold over sandwich baggies, instead of costly candy sleeves.   Whip out a little curling ribbon to tie them and you are...  S...