Operation $40K

I had a few readers, who recently started following, notice that I don't have meet on my weekly grocery lists... I hope this helps to explain things. :) Meat is one of those items that rarely has a coupon...so, what do you do? Look for your grocery store selling cycle! Most stores have a 6 to 8 week cycle. What does this mean? This week ground beef is on sale for $2.69 a pound. It normally is $3.93 a pound. If you usually eat 1# a week, you need to invest in 8 pounds at that sale price. This will save you $9.92 on ground beef. 10 is $10 in my world, LOL! Just think of saving $80+ over 8 weeks on meat! The next week, whole chickens might be on sale for $.79 a pound when they are normally over $2.00 You can get a whole chicken for about $2.50, cook it off and harvest the meat. This should get you 2-3 pounds of meat which tastes a LOT better than the 8oz can of chicken for $3.00 **Just think of this: by using the sale pricing on whole chicken and cooking it off, tha...

Cookie Exchange Parties are SO MUCH FUN - for a few simple reasons:You get together with your friends You make only ONE kind of cookie and finish your holiday baking, after swapping out You get new recipes You often have snacks or games! That being said, I do one every year - in December, about 2 weeks before Christmas. (You can read about it HERE or see a TV segment I did on it http://youtu.be/-iUR7GlAiQw ). I thought it would be fun to have a collection of 30 fun recipes to try - one a day in November - so you can be prepared for that holiday baking! Today's recipe idea comes from I Heart Naptime ! Just picture these in red and green -- packaged together for a very festive treat. :) Ingredients 3.5 cups flour 1 tsp baking powder 1.5 cups salted butter softened 1 cup sugar 1 egg 1 tsp vanilla 4 (3 oz) pkg jello You can use any flavors you want Instructions Beat butter in large bowl with mixer until creamy. Add sugar and beat until lig...

This is right off of their website: The Freecycle Network™ is made up of 4,775 groups with 7,090,000 members across the globe. It's a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It's all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Each local group is moderated by a local volunteer (them's good people). Membership is free. To sign up, go to our website (http://www.freecycle.org), find your community by entering it into the search box above or by clicking on “Browse Groups” above the search box. Have fun! Basically, there are four types of posts: Offer, Curb, Pending, Taken. Offer is when you have something you want to get rid of, you add the name of the item, details and city it's located in...people reply directly to you and you choose who it goes to. Curb is when you have something on your curb - like someone who cleaned out a rental unit. Again the name of the item, details...

I love these and think it's a perfect recipe for this time of year - when fresh cranberries are inexpensive and plentiful. These are VERY nutritious (don't tell the family that) and easy to make with a sweet enough taste that you could skip the pancake syrup. The best part? It is all made in the blender so you have little to wash! I can't remember where I got this recipe from and would LOVE to give credit but we LOVE it and it's permanent fixture for our recipe file :) Cranberry Oatmeal Pancakes 1 1/4 cups milk 1 1/8 cups whole wheat flour 1/2 cup rolled oats or quick oats 2 eggs 1 teaspoon cinnamon (I use Tupperware's Cinnamon-Vanilla Seasoning ) 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 cup brown sugar pinch of salt 1 1/2 cups fresh whole cranberries In a blender, combine the milk and flour until they are well-mixed. (Stop and scrape the sides of the blender once if needed.) Add the oats, eggs, cinnamon, baking powder, brown sugar, salt, a...

A typical Wisconsin winter means higher utility bills - especially with oil topping $100 a barrel! If you or someone you know is having trouble making ends meet, Wisconsin's Home Energy Assistance Program can help. The amount of assistance depends on the household size, income level and household heating costs. To apply and make an appointment, contact Energy Services, Inc. at (608) 267-8601

We always used to laugh the day after Thanksgiving - the fridge looked like an aluminum mine with all the tented tin foil over everything. These recipes are from the Tupperware world -- fun ways to "re-invent" the leftovers from your Thanksgiving Dinner so it seems like a brand new meal to feed your family. Enjoy! Left Over Turkey 1 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese 1/2 cup fat free or low fat sour cream 1-2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 4 turkey cutlets Mix bread crumbs and cheese in a shallow dish. Spread both sides of turkey with sour cream and press into the bread crumb mixture to coat. Heat the oil carefully in a skillet over medium heat. Place turkey in the skillet and cook 5 to 7 minutes, until lightly browned and cooked through. ~if you are having trouble getting the breading to stick add a little more sour cream or a tablespoon of mayo~ Left Over Sweet Potatoes Latkes 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and shredded 2 egg...

Cookie Exchange Parties are SO MUCH FUN - for a few simple reasons:You get together with your friends You make only ONE kind of cookie and finish your holiday baking, after swapping out You get new recipes You often have snacks or games! That being said, I do one every year - in December, about 2 weeks before Christmas. (You can read about it HERE or see a TV segment I did on it http://youtu.be/-iUR7GlAiQw ). I thought it would be fun to have a collection of 30 fun recipes to try - one a day in November - so you can be prepared for that holiday baking! Today's recipe idea comes from Taste Of Home Ingredients 1 cup butter, softened 1-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar 1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour 2 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted 1/2 cup chopped Diamond of California® Pecans 3 to 5 drops green food coloring 1/4 cup finely chopped candied red cherries 1/2 teaspoon almond extract 3 to 5 drops red food coloring ...

In my coupon class - I talk about where to find coupons. Swagbucks is a GREAT spot where YOU get to reap the rewards for printing all of your coupons (that Coupons.com carries) instead of some blogger. :) (but you know I love you for supporting my site and helping the homeless mission at my church...) Simply create your account, click on the coupons tab and start printing! You get 10 points for every coupon you print and use - so, ten a week would equal 5,000 points over the course of a year - almost enough to get a $50 Amazon gift card! A $50 Amazon Gift Card can net you $200-300 of goodies if you wait to use it until Cyber Monday! The best part? It's FREE to join!!!! :) Get started today!

Thanks to Didie for this week's list! Coupon Color Decoder: ~Pink=Facebook Coupon, you'll have to have a Facebook account to print these IPs! ~Light Blue = Scanner coupon or CVS Retailer Coupon, you'll know it's a CVS coupon because the barcode will always start with the number 4! ~Red=these are general coupons, they could be from an insert, a tearpad, a booklet, peelie, or an IP and start with the number 5 or 9. ECB DEALS Spend $30 Get $10 ECB wyb these P&G items: Limit 1 Charmin Basic 12pk., Ultra Strong or Ultra Soft 9pk. $5.99 Tide or Gain liquid 19-32 loads $5.94 Puffs 95-108 ct. or Puffs Plus 48-68ct. tissues $0.99 Bounty Paper towels 6pk. $5.99 Dawn 9-10.3 oz $0.99 CoverGirl Face, Eye or Lip (excludes Outlast lip) BOGO 50% off Pantene shampoo, conditioner 12.6 oz or styler 5.7-11 oz $3.99 Aussie or Herbal Essences shampoo or conditioner 10.1-13.5 oz or styler 6-14 oz 2/$7 Clairol Natural instincts, nice'n easy Non-Permane...