Buy Gift Cards. Make Money!

One of my friends, Michael, posted this on Facebook:

Deal of the moment: Food Lion has [five] gift cards (Belk, iTunes, Lowe's,Bass Pro Shop and the Mastercard gift card) which, if you buy $50, you save $10 instantly. So I stopped in Food Lion today while at Hope Thrift and bought a $50 Mastercard gift card. It cost me $44.95 at the register, so I made a cool $5.05 buying a prepaid credit card I can use anywhere! Cool, huh?

He also pointed out he didn't think (and I agree) that the other cards have an activation fee - only the Mastercard gift card.

Wow!  Can you say great Father's Day gifts?  You can give these as gifts or spend them yourself! Stock up while the deal lasts!

I researched this and apparently this deal is nationwide, according to Centicible Saver:

Now through June 19 at Food Lion stores, when you spend $50 on gift cards for Belk, Lowe's Home Improvement, iTunes, Bass Pro Shops or Mastercard, you'll get $10 off your bill -- instantly.
There are no coupons or rebates involved. As I understand it, you will simply pay $40 for a $50 card.

Read more here: http://blogs.newsobserver.com/centsiblesaver/food-lion-offers-generous-gift-card-promotion#storylink=cpy

Hurry!  The deal ends June 19!

Thanks, Michael for the head's up!

"Little" sandwich day!

I got home from Kroger a few minutes ago and I'm pretty pleased that I saved over 35% on my total order! 

I got 1 free 1.2 lbs of Private Selection Ground Chuck, 1 free Private Selection 6" pie and 1 free SoBe Life water. One of the ways I score free samples and coupons for free/ discounted items is as a BzzAgent. I'm currently involved in a Private Selection campaign - have tons of coupons for 20% off Private selection items, and in a SoBe Lifewater campaign - and have tons of 50 cents off coupons.  The idea is to use some coupons and give some away - "cheap" marketing for the companies and a great way for "BzzAgents" to score free/ cheap stuff!

I also used quite a few Kroger coupons, which are mailed to us periodically--generally the items are geared to our spending habits (which I'm sure are automatically tracked through my Kroger card.)

Today I'll be cooking up sausage biscuits to freeze - quick 'grab-n-go' breakfast (I have a rebate coupon for one pack of Tennessee Pride sausage patties). I also bought 2 packs of Kroger sausage patties that I'll cook up while refrigerator biscuits bake.

I used a $1 off coupon on Hawaiian rolls and also bought a pack of "small rolls".  Bought 2 packs of Kroger brand slider patties (in the refrigerator section) that had been marked down so I'll also cook up 2 dozen sliders to freeze.  These are one of my son's favorites as they're tasty and can be popped in the microwave for a quick lunch. The cost for these is less than 1/2 of the ready-made frozen ones - even than the Kroger brand.

My husband has requested meatloaf  which I'll probably fix tomorrow for dinner and have leftovers for sandwiches next week.  Finally, I'll make some more pizza pockets but I'm going to add a bit of sauce to the recipe.

We have stuck to our "no eating out" pledge! There were a couple of times that it was soo tempting because I was exhausted from work. Fortunately, because I had planned ahead and had some meals (or at least main courses) all we had to do was defrost and microwave.

We've enjoyed the freezer brownies and pizza pockets I fixed (see previous post HERE.)

What are you cooking this weekend?

Just be frugal,
Mary

Freezer cooking update and Memorial Day cake success

The Memorial Day/ patriotic birthday cake was a huge success and so light and refreshing for the hot, humid weather yesterdayy here in Richmond, VA!

We had a great weekend with family and friends.  Love the summer when we can spend time on the deck, grill out and eat, drink and be merry!  I baked banana bread yesterday (one loaf was originally intended for the freezer, but ended up going home with my daughter and son-in-law). Fair enough, as my daughter helped out with last minute cookout prep:-)

Today I'm fixing Broccoli, Chicken, Rice casseroles - one will be for dinner tonight and three will go in the freezer. I'm going to make pepperoni pizza pockets and brownies this afternoon as well so I don't have to worry about cooking/baking the rest of the week.

We have enough potato salad, corn on the cob and deviled eggs leftover to provide supplements to our dinners and lunches this week, so it should be a light cooking/meal prep week, unless I decide to really go crazy and cook  ven more meals ahead--which I just may because I love having dinner ready to pop in the oven or microwave after work.

It's been a relaxing and fun Memorial Day weekend for us. My Dad visiting from Seattle was a special treat.  We missed Mom so much and hope she's up to travelling again soon.

We honor and thank all those who serve - and their families - so that we continue to enjoy the freedoms only possible in America, the greatest country in the world.

Regardless of your political affiliations, today we are all one and I'm so grateful for my life, for my family and my country.

I pray you and yours have enjoyed this Memorial Day weekend and have paused for at least a moment to remember those who have served and especially those currently on active duty around the world.

Just be frugal,
Mary

Happy Memorial Day

I spent 2 hours at Kroger this morning!  I used all but two coupons, then used one I found that someone had opted not to use:  2 rolls of Heavy Duty Reynolds wrap - on sale and then with the coupon, it was CHEAP.  I usually don't buy national brands of wraps, but this deal made it quite a bit cheaper than the store/generic brands. Happy dance:-)

I bought 10 pounds of chicken leg quarters ($.69/lb), 4 packs of Ball Park franks, 4/$5. These two plus my found bargain were the best deals of the day, but I saved almost 30% on my total so I was pretty pleased. 

I bought the few ingredients I lacked for all the recipes I plan to cook tomorrow, and lots of items for our birthday (my 24 yr old son)/Memorial Day cookout with family (including my Dad who will be visiting from Seattle!

Our birthday/Memorial Day menu:
Turkey burgers, sirloin burgers, hot dogs, potato salad, deviled eggs, watermelon, corn on the cob, tossed salad.  Birthday cake will be a patriotic yellow cake mix, whipped topping with blueberries and sliced strawberries (flag).

Click HERE for recipe.

Eggs just finished boiling. One frozen and one "make from storebought whole-wheat crust" pizza are in the oven for dinner - we'll have leftover zucchini and some frozen brussel sprouts. I'll boil potatoes tonight. Tomorrow, I'll work on the potato salad, deviled eggs and freezer recipes:

Brownies,
Pizza Pockets
Banana Bread
Chicken Brocolli Rice Casserole

using recipes I found at moneysavingmom as part of her 4 Weeks to Fill Your Freezer series.

What are you fixing for Memorial Day?

Just be frugal,
Mary

A weekend of filling up my freezer!

Dinner tonight:  Garlic chicken and rolls from the freezer, zucchini squash. Yum. Tomorrow: massive couponing/ stockpiling/ gearing up for freezer cooking!

I'll be using lots of the recipes I found at Money Saving Mom and her series:

Check back for updates over the next 3 days!

Just be frugal!
Mary