Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones!
We hope that you have a relaxing, fun day.

Budget-Friendly Christmas Gift Ideas For Those Who Have Everything, Part 6: The Gift of Prayer

If you're scratching your head this year trying to come up with gift ideas for those in your life who seem to have all of their needs (and even wants!) covered, we have a few ideas for you. This is part of our series running this week on Budget-Friendly Christmas Gift Ideas for Those Who Have Everything!

• Give the gift of prayer. If you can honestly commit to praying for somebody, this can be a great complement to the hand-written letter. Pray across all areas of the person's life - for their health and peace of mind, for their relationships with God and their friends and family, and for their spirits through the holiday season.

If you missed them, check out:

• Budget-Friendly Christmas Gift Ideas for Those Who Have Everything, Part 1: Experiences 
• Budget-Friendly Christmas Gift Ideas for Those Who Have Everything, Part 2: Consumables
• Budget-Friendly Christmas Gift Ideas for Those Who Have Everything, Part 3: Discounts 
• Budget-Friendly Christmas Gift Ideas for Those Who Have Everything, Part 4: Fellowship  
• Budget-Friendly Christmas Gift Ideas for Those Who Have Everything, Part 5: The Gift of a Hand-Written Letter

Stay tuned tomorrow for another Budget-Friendly Christmas Gift Idea for Those Who Have Everything!

5 Reasons to Visit Giant This Week, 12/10-12/16

I can't believe that Christmas is in just two weeks! Now is the time to stock up on low-priced staples that have relatively long shelf lives - for example, the store-brand $0.99 cream cheese deal this week. Many cream cheese packages are marked as being good for weeks, if not months, so you could be fueling meals in January and February with the Christmastime stash. :)

1. Navel Oranges, $0.88/lb.
2. Blackberries or Blueberries (in eeety beeety containers), 2/$4
3. Giant European Salads or Dole Salad Blends, 2/$5
4. SUPER G Boneless Chicken Breast, $1.99/lb. (Save at least $2.30/lb.) This is a freezable price, so stock up!
5. Whole Boneless Pork Loin, $1.89/lb. (Save at least $2.10/lb.) At more than half price off, this is also freezable if you're a pork loin afficionado.

Other reasons to visit Giant this week:

New York Strip, $5.99/lb. (Save $4/lb.)

Large Easy Peel or Medium Cooked Shrimp, $6.99/lb. in a two pound bag ($13.98/bag)

Hachiya Persimmons, 2/$3 Try a warm persimmon butter made in a slow-cooker/crock pot for a holiday treat!


Green Beans, Washed and Snipped, BOGO

3 lb. bag White or Red Potatoes, 2/$5 OR Sold Individually @$0.99/lb.

Jumbo Green Peppers, $0.99/lb.

Cedar's Hummus (8 oz.), $2.99 (Save $1)

Furmano's Tomatoes, Canned, 10/$10

Wyman's Wild Blueberries (frozen), 2/$7 (These are $3.99 retail and I LOVE them for their smoothie-making quality because they're smaller with a more intense blueberry taste.)

Cascadian Farm frozen organic vegetables, 2/$5
$1/1 printable for signing up
Final price: $1.50

Birds Eye Frozen Veggies, 10/$10
$1/2, 12/12 SS
Final price: $0.50/ea.

Green Giant Fresh Steamers, 3/$5
$0.50/2, 11/14 GM
Final price: $1.16/ea.

Claussen Pickles, 2/$6

Giant Cream Cheese, $0.99/ea. (Save $0.60/ea.)

Giant Shredded Cheeses, 2/$4

Cabot Cheese Blocks, 2/$5

Giant Ricotta Cheese, 2/$5

BelGioioso Mozzarella, 8 oz, 2/$6 (Save $1.50/ea.) (By the way, though this is a nice discount, the Sam's Club price on BelGioioso still beats this by far, so if you have a membership there or at another warehouse club it's probably worth comparing.)

Daisy Sour Cream, 2/$3

Blue Diamond Almonds, 2/$5
$0.75/2, 10/10 and 12/05 SS
Final price: 2/$3.50, or $1.75/ea.

Nestle Morsels chocolate chips, 2/$4
$1.25/3, 11/14 RP
Final price: 3 for $4.75, or $1.58/bag

Green & Black's Organic Chocolate Bars, 2/$5 (Retails over $3/ea.)

Swanson Broth, 4/$3
$0.75/5 or $0.75/2 (or other values), 11/07 SS
Final price: Varies

Carnation Evaporated Milk, 5/$5
$0.50/2 Carnation Evaporated Milk Printable
$0.50/2, 11/14 RP
Final price: $0.50/can

Food Should Taste Good Tortilla Chips - includes gluten free!, 2/$5
$1 off coupon
Final price: $1.50/bag

Proctor Silex Small Appliances, $7.99
Includes: 5 Speed Hand Mixer, Juicer, Coffee Grinder, Food Chopper, Can Opener or 2 Slice Toaster

***

This post is part of BeCentsAble's Grocery Gathering

What other Giant coupon matchups and deals did you spot for the coming week? Did we make any deal-calculating hiccups? Post a comment to let us know!  

Budget-Friendly Christmas Gifts for Those Who Have Everything, Part 5: A Hand-Written Letter!

If you're scratching your head this year trying to come up with gift ideas for those in your life who seem to have all of their needs (and even wants!) covered, we have a few ideas for you. This is part of our series running this week on Budget-Friendly Christmas Gift Ideas for Those Who Have Everything!

• Give the gift of a hand-written letter. Another overlooked option - taking the time to hand write a letter. Your words can do so much to brighten a person's day - much more so than a material item, in many cases. Think of all of the different ways to encourage them with your letter: write about aspects of the recipients personality that you enjoy, recollect favorite memories of things that you've done in the past, and even ruminate on what experiences you hope to share in the future. (Nothing like anticipation of future fun to add to the afterglow of receiving that letter!)

If you missed them, check out:

• Budget-Friendly Christmas Gift Ideas for Those Who Have Everything, Part 1: Experiences 
• Budget-Friendly Christmas Gift Ideas for Those Who Have Everything, Part 2: Consumables
• Budget-Friendly Christmas Gift Ideas for Those Who Have Everything, Part 3: Discounts 
• Budget-Friendly Christmas Gifts for Those Who Have Everything, Part 4: Fellowship 

Stay tuned tomorrow for another Budget-Friendly Christmas Gift Idea for Those Who Have Everything!

Budget-Friendly Christmas Gift Ideas For Those Who Have Everything, Part 4: Give The Gift Of Fellowship!

If you're scratching your head this year trying to come up with gift ideas for those in your life who seem to have all of their needs (and even wants!) covered, we have a few ideas for you. This is part of our series running this week on Budget-Friendly Christmas Gift Ideas for Those Who Have Everything!

• Give the Gift of Fellowship. This is so often overlooked - but so important! Just an evening enjoying coffee (or your hot drink of choice) over a cozy chat is a terrific way to bless someone during the holidays, when quiet, reflective times of fellowship can be so scarce. Of course, if cozy coffeehouse chats aren't your style, you can bond and catch up over LaserTag, or whatever other fellowship activity fits the bill. The point is to reconnect with each other, to encourage, to catch up on each other's lives - though take my word for it, your Great Aunt Edna's probably more into the coffeehouse option.

If you missed them, check out:

• Budget-Friendly Christmas Gift Ideas for Those Who Have Everything, Part 1: Experiences 
• Budget-Friendly Christmas Gift Ideas for Those Who Have Everything, Part 2: Consumables
• Budget-Friendly Christmas Gift Ideas for Those Who Have Everything, Part 3: Discounts

Stay tuned tomorrow for another Budget-Friendly Christmas Gift Idea for Those Who Have Everything!

Budget-Friendly Christmas Gift Ideas For Those Who Have Everything, Part 3: Give Discounts!

If you're scratching your head this year trying to come up with gift ideas for those in your life who seem to have all of their needs (and even wants!) covered, we have a few ideas for you. This is part of our series running this week on Budget-Friendly Christmas Gift Ideas for Those Who Have Everything!

• Give Discounts! Just because a person has everything they could ask for doesn't mean that they don't love a good bargain - my in-laws will proudly identify themselves in this category! (And in fact someone's "have everything they need" comfort factor may very well be tied closely to their ability to budget and find a good deal.) Some of my inlaws' great delights are in exploiting Ruby Tuesday BOGO coupons, Dunkin Donuts free coffee coupons, Chick-Fil-A freebie coupons, etc.
  
  One way to give discounts is to give someone a starter coupon set, or a way to help organize an existing coupon set. My mother-in-law was already a rabid couponer before I gave her a portable file folder with date-labeled files for holding each weekend's insert set. She loves it so much that she has continued to relabel her folders with the newest dates as the old inserts have expired, and the file folder remains an integral part of her couponing strategy.
  
  A family favorite "give discounts" idea for us is the 2011 Chick-Fil-A "Cowlendar" - it has coupons on every page! You also saw a restaurant discount idea in our first part of this series, where we mentioned a current 80% off Restaurant.com gift certificate deal as a good resource for eating-out discounts.
  
  A final idea on a way to give discounts is to give a 2011 Entertainment Book as a gift. It's jam-packed with coupons relevant to your area - a great way to encourage the recipient(s) to try new activities, see some movies, go to restaurants, all at a greatly reduced rate. There are also many freebie or freebie-with-purchase coupons in this book, so it's got some no-cost options available to the recipient right away.

If you missed them, check out:

• Budget-Friendly Christmas Gift Ideas for Those Who Have Everything, Part 1: Experiences 
• Budget-Friendly Christmas Gift Ideas for Those Who Have Everything, Part 2: Consumables
• Budget-Friendly Christmas Gift Ideas for Those Who Have Everything, Part 3: Discounts

Stay tuned tomorrow for another Budget-Friendly Christmas Gift Idea for Those Who Have Everything!

Budget-Friendly Christmas Gift Ideas For Those Who Have Everything, Part 2: Give Consumables!

If you're scratching your head this year trying to come up with gift ideas for those in your life who seem to have all of their needs (and even wants!) covered, we have a few ideas for you. This is part of our series running this week on Budget-Friendly Christmas Gift Ideas for Those Who Have Everything!

• Give Consumables. Whether it's the pistachios that they're (har) nuts about or something delicious that you've tried or made recently, something tasty to enjoy and share with company is always a welcome change of pace for a gift. A budget-friendly favorite of mine in this category is a $6 bottle of our family's favorite German white wine. Chilled and dressed up with some fancy ribbons, a gifted bottle of wine could even come with some new wine glasses (like the simple and inexpensive ones at IKEA).
  
  You can also use coupons to get some delicious consumables this time of year, like the Lindt chocolates that frequently go on sale combined with the $1/1 coupons that come out every holiday occasion. (Christmas, Valentine's Day, Easter...but if you ask me, who needs a holiday occasion for Lindt?) And the term "consumables" doesn't necessarily only apply to foods; one time I gifted my newly-married brother and sister-in-law with a huge collection of couponed toiletries and household staples -  toothpaste, deodorant, cleaning items, etc.

If you missed other posts in this series, check them out!

• Budget-Friendly Christmas Gift Ideas for Those Who Have Everything, Part 1: Experiences 
• Budget-Friendly Christmas Gift Ideas for Those Who Have Everything, Part 2: Consumables
• Budget-Friendly Christmas Gift Ideas for Those Who Have Everything, Part 3: Discounts

Stay tuned tomorrow for another Budget-Friendly Christmas Gift Idea for Those Who Have Everything!

Budget-Friendly Christmas Gift Ideas For Those Who Have Everything, Part 1: Give Experiences!

If you're scratching your head this year trying to come up with gift ideas for those in your life who seem to have all of their needs (and even wants!) covered, we have a few ideas for you. This is part of our series running this week on Budget-Friendly Christmas Gift Ideas for Those Who Have Everything!
 
Today's Budget-Friendly Gift Idea:

• Give Experiences. Restaurant gift certificates, an offer on your part to do babysitting, a night at a nearby bed and breakfast, a couple of tickets to an amusement park, a concert or evening with a comedy tour. The possibilities are endless! Think about creative ways that you can spur and/or enable the recipient(s) to get out. As an example, earlier this year we gave my dad a gift certificate to Wolf Trap so that he could pick any show or performer(s) that he wanted to see and take my mom along, too.
  
  One budget-friendly way to do this is to keep an eye on the deals from Restaurant.com on restaurant gift certificates. You can score some from anywhere around 60-80% off of the face value (today's example is 80% off with coupon code JOY, making $25 certificates only $2, expires Sunday 12/12 - thanks Frugal Coupon Mom!), which makes a fantastic value on an evening out. A few dollars' investment for you could translate to a very large discount for them.
  
  Be sure that a camera joins your recipients on the outing so that they can look back and savor the memories!

If you missed parts of the series, check them all out:

• Budget-Friendly Christmas Gift Ideas for Those Who Have Everything, Part 1: Experiences 
• Budget-Friendly Christmas Gift Ideas for Those Who Have Everything, Part 2: Consumables
• Budget-Friendly Christmas Gift Ideas for Those Who Have Everything, Part 3: Discounts

Report from the Field: Kohl's $10 Gift Card FREEBIE, Results in Near-Free Jewelry!

A couple of days ago I received a Kohl's $10 freebie card in my mailbox - this is a card that you can use on any purchase of at least $10 pre-tax value. SWEET. I love it when these come around. They are usually cellophaned onto a larger flyer/brochure from Kohl's so keep your eyes peeled. The $10 coupon is good today and the next three days, if memory serves me rightly. I usually consider it a nice little challenge - how little can I get away with paying while still hitting the $10 threshold to use the card?

I stopped at Kohl's today after another errand since it was on the way home, and to my great delight they had a fairly big jewelry sale going on. Tables of genuine diamond chip sterling silver and gold-plated jewelry in presentation boxes - originally marked around $80-$90 - down to around $20. If you had a niece or other lady in your life who might appreciate those, the $10 gift card would make them just $10!

There were also racks featuring stuffed Dr. Seuss characters like the Grinch and the Grinch's dog (name escaping me at the moment...was it Max?). These, along with copies of How the Grinch Stole Christmas! were just $5 each - so someone with the $10 coupon could get a couple of fun kids' gifts for free. Niiiiice.

This time, I ended up selecting a pair of Dana Buchman clip rhinestone earrings - my mother-in-law wears clip earrings since her ears aren't pierced, and sometimes clip earrings can be tough to find. They were originally $16, marked down to $10.40. I paid the $0.40 plus a few pennies tax for a little bling bling to brighten her Christmas.

At checkout, I noticed that the gal in front of me was using both a recently-mailed Kohl's 15% off coupon AND a $10 coupon. When I asked, the cashier confirmed that you could use both a cash coupon ($10) and a percent-off coupon (%) in combination with each other. Wow! Wish I had known that, though it would have saved me only $1.50ish off of my earrings, leaving me to troll the clearance racks with an increasingly cranky baby for some item valued at about that amount in order to meet my $10 threshold.

Did YOU receive this $10 card? What did you use it to buy - something fun for yourself? A stocking stuffer or two?

Happy Thanksgiving!

May you have a wonderful, relaxing, recuperative Thanksgiving!

(And good luck to those of you with enough energy and fortitude to conquer Black Friday...) ;)

Psalm 34:8-10

Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints,
for those who fear him have no lack!
The young lions suffer want and hunger;
but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.




With thanks for photo to flickr's Cameron Nordholm,
under creative commons license.

5 Reasons to Visit Giant This Week, Thanksgiving Edition with FREEBIE Canned Veggies, 11/19 - 11/25

1. Woo hoo for Clementine Season! $4.44 for a 5 lb. box!
   
   
2. Loss-Leader Turkeys at Rock Bottom Prices! The cashier at Giant told me this week that anyone also wanting to do turkey for Christmas dinner should buy now for the most savings. I picked up a frozen ~15 lb.'er turkey for around $6.50 this week. (And I could have gotten it for $5.50ish had I remembered the printable - d'oh!)
   Shady Brook Farms Fresh Turkey, $0.99/lb. (Save at least $0.40/lb.)
   Shady Brook Farms Frozen Turkey, $0.47/lb. (Limit 1 w/$25 purchase, not including the price of the turkey, saving at least $0.52/lb.)
   Shady Brook Farms $1/1 printable
   Butterball Fresh Turkey, $1.49/lb. (Limit 1, saving $0.20/lb.)
   Butterball Frozen Turkey, $0.99/lb. (Limit 1, saving $0.30/lb.)
   
   
3. Cheap Green Beans! 2 lb. bag, washed and snipped, $3.99 (Save at least $3).
   
   
4. Spiral Honey Glazed Sliced Ham or Smithfield Spiral Sliced Ham, $1.79/lb. (Save $1.40/lb.)
   
   
5. Sweet Potatoes, 3 lbs./$1 (Save at least $0.66/lb.)
   
   
6. Bonus FREEBIE Reason:Green Giant Vegetables (green beans, peas, or corn), 2/$1 (Save at least $0.90/2)
   $0.50/2, 10/24 SS
   Final price: If it doubles, FREE!

Other reasons to check out Giant this week:

Kraft Cracker Barrel Cheese (wooo! hors d'oeuvres!),2/$5

Land O'Lakes Butter, 2/$5 (Save $1.98/2)
$0.50/2 SmartSource, makes them $2/ea.
$1/2, 10/24 SS, makes them $2/ea.

Hunt's Tomatoes, 10/$10

Lay's Potato Chips, 3/$6

Edy's Ice Cream, 2/$5 (Save at least $3.58/2)
$1/2, All You October
Final price: $2/ea.

Mrs. Smith's 8" Bake & Serve Pies, $1.99 (Save at least $2.50)

Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice Drinks, 2/$4 (Save $1.98/2)

Canada Dry Ginger Ale 12-pack, 5/$10 (must buy 5)

Coke 2 Liter, $0.89/ea.

***

This post is part of BeCentsAble's Grocery Gathering

What other Giant coupon matchups and deals did you spot for the coming week? Did we make any deal-calculating hiccups? Post a comment to let us know!  

5 Reasons to Visit Giant This Week, 11/12 - 11/18 - FREE Breakstone's Sour Cream with Printable!

Oooof - I got home last night from a few days' worth of visiting relatives a few hours away, and it was an unintended media fast of a weekend since our accomodations had no Wifi - hence me getting some Giant deals up just now!

1. Shady Brook Farms Frozen Turkey, $0.47/lb. (1 with $25 purchase) As you'll see in the menu plan for this week, I might be roasting/freezing one just to have leftovers for soups and other entrees. Other turkeys range $0.99/lb.-$1.49/lb.
   
2. Blueberries, Blackberries, or Raspberries, 2/$4. Note that these are the smaller half-pint containers.
   
3. Asparagus, $1.99/lb. (Retail ~$3/lb.) You'll see this twice in my menu plan this week. Our family loves asparagus!
   
4. Pepsi 2 Liters, 10/$10. If you have a heavy soda drinking crowd for Thanksgiving these may come in handy.
   
5. 
   Breakstone's Sour Cream, $0.99/ea.
   $0.55/1, might double to make it FREE (bricks)
   $1/2, would make it $0.49/ea. (bricks)

Other reasons to visit Giant This week:

General Mills Cereals, 4/$8, must buy 4
GM Cereals coupons @ Coupons.com
$1/2, 10/31 and 11/07 SS (Final price: $1.50/box)
Includes:
Honey Nut Cheerios
Lucky Charms
Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Fiber One Honey Clusters
Cocoa Puffs
Apple Cinnamon Cheerios
Also: Get a FREE Gallon of Milk when you purchase any 4 participating General Mills Cereals in one transaction with your Giant card (Coupon will print out at checkout for your next purchase, up to $4.50 value. Limit one per transaction.)

Birds Eye Vegetables, 10/$10

Cut Baby Peeled Carrots, 10/$10 

Breyer's Ice Cream, 2/$5. Same as the Pepsi!

***

This post is part of BeCentsAble's Grocery Gathering

What other Giant coupon matchups and deals did you spot for the coming week? Did we make any deal-calculating hiccups? Post a comment to let us know! 

Lands' End, up to 37% Off Your Purchase, PLUS Free Shipping! - Regular, Sale, AND Clearance, Through Monday Nov. 8

Lands' End is running a deal right now that would work out terrifically if you need to buy a lot of clothing - say, a bunch of Christmas gifts in one go, or some legendary Lands' End outerwear for your growing family?

Use code NOV8 and PIN 2639 when you check out to get $20 off $75 or $50 off of a $150 purchase AND free shipping. (This deal is good through 11:59 p.m. tomorrow night, Monday.) Go through ebates to the LandsEnd.com site to get an additional 6% cash back on your purchase! (The Overstocks section also has a bunch of clearanced stuff at up to 65% off, too, so that's another chance for savings.) This way, if you bought $150 worth of merchandise, you'd get $50 off right away, and then $6 back on the $100 you spent if you click to the Lands' End site through ebates.

Disclosure: if you sign up for ebates using our ebates referral link above, we will receive $5 bonus thanks to you if you happen to make a $20 purchase within 90 days. You'll receive a $5 starting bonus, too!

5 Reasons to Visit Giant This Week, 11/05 - 11/11

Lots of great stock-up prices on whole foods and produce this week!

1. Bumblebee Tuna, white, 10/$10 (Save $0.59/can)
   
   
2. Shady Brook Farms Frozen Turkey, $0.47/lb. with any $25 purchase (limit one turkey per transaction)
   Giant notes here that it will match prices on turkeys with any competitor's price - good to keep in mind as you grocery shop in the coming weeks! Details in-ad.
   $1/1 Shady Brook Farms Frozen Turkey Printable Coupon
   The smaller the turkey that is bought with this, the greater the relative value of your coupon in terms of lowering the "per pound" price.
   
   
3. The $1.88 produce deals:
   Russet Potatoes, 5 lb. bag, $1.88. Wash the all 5 pounds in your dishwasher when prepping for a crowd! ;-)
   Yellow Onions, 3 lb. bag, $1.88
   Tomatoes on the Vine, by the lb., $1.88
   Giant European Salads or Dole Salad Blends, $1.88/ea.
   
   
4. Whole Boneless Pork Loin, $1.98/lb. - This is about half price. Great for crockpotting!
   
   
5. Giant Canned Vegetables, 2/$1

Other sales advertised at Giant this week:

New York Strip Steak, $5.99/lb. (Save $4/lb.)

Boneless Tilapia Filets, $5.99/lb.

Extra Large Easy Peel Shrimp, $5.99/lb.

SUPER G Boneless Chicken Breast, $1.98/lb. (Lowest price you're likely to see for a while on chicken breasts.)

Barilla Pasta Sauce, 2/$3

Giant Pasta, $0.66/box

Campbell's Gravy, 2/$1

SmartOnes Classic Favorites, 8/$10

Progresso Traditional Soup, Buy 2, Get 2 FREE (Save $4 on 4)
$1/4 Facebook Progresso Coupon
$1/4, 10/03 GM, 09/12 GM, 10/24 SS
Final price: $0.75/can, half price!

Thomas' English Muffins 6-packs, 3/$3, must buy 3

Kellogg's Cereal, 4/$6, select varieties, must buy 4
$1/3, 10/17 RP - Final price, $1.17/box
LOTS of different $1/2 Kellogg's cereal coupons, final price: $1/box


***

This post is part of BeCentsAble's Grocery Gathering

What other Giant coupon matchups and deals did you spot for the coming week? Did we make any deal-calculating hiccups? Post a comment to let us know! 

$/$$ Coupons in the Mail - Target, Lands' End, Toys 'R Us!

BOOM! The holiday season has officially landed. How do I know? The COUPONS in my mail. If you're signed up to receive snail mail ads from your favorite stores and/or get a home paper delivery, you'll find some, too, I'm betting!

Here's some of what I've spotted recently:

• Target "general holiday" green Christmas tree catalogue with a $15 off $150 purchase coupon on the back
• Target "Toy Sale" catalogue with a $5 gift card with any toy purchase of $50 or more coupon on the back. There are a TON of Target toy coupons inside, too, in a coupon booklet - betting they could be combo'ed with a sale price for a good deal in some instances.
• In the Sunday ads from this past weekend: A Toys 'R Us ad featuring a coupon for a $10 gift card when you spend $75 or more
• Lands' End winter catalogue with a $10/$50 purchase coupon

Needless to say, it's time you started spending a little extra time perusing your newspapers, Sunday ads, email inboxes, and catalogues, 'cause in the next 5-7 weeks the deals are going to be SMOKIN'. Everybody wants your dollar, and they know that they'll have to compete to get it! I just love being in a buyer's market!

Have you received some hot coupons in the mail or in your email inbox recently? Tell us all more by leaving a comment! ;-D

$2 "BOO-rritos" (Burritos) at Chipotle on Halloween!!

I love this deal! When you dress up as a "horrifying processed food product" and hit up Chipotle after 6 p.m. tomorrow night (Halloween), you can get a burrito, bowl, salad, or an order of tacos for only $2! Considering these normally range $5-$7, this is quite a deal! Details on Chipotle's site. Thanks to reader Jen for the email tip!

Works for Me Wednesday: Organizing My Gift Wrap STUFF before the holidays!

It's Wednesday, and that means it's time for another "Works for Me Wednesday" tip, as hosted by the blog carnival at We Are THAT Family. See this week's Works for Me Wednesday here.

How many of you out there have a pile of barely-used looks-new gift bags somewhere in your home? My mom is a chronic gift-bag saver, and so is my mother-in-law! The result of this is we've had the same set of Christmas gift bags revolving between our families for several years now! Many still look brand new, and others...well...let's call them well-loved classics. (Especially the HUGE Christmas gift bags...because we're all too cheap to buy enough paper or a new gift bag to wrap large-size gifts when a perfectly good Santa gift-bag is still kicking!)

Gift bags aren't the only thing we save, either. Gift boxes, bows large and small, fancy gift ribbons, and other like-new package decorations are continually reused, and even large unwrinkled sheets of gift wrap that once wrapped very large gifts are seen as potential gift wrap fodder for a future Christmas.

In fact, the only time I typically buy new gift wrapping items is when they are heavily clearanced after the fact; CVS and Target are my top locales for sniffing out gift wrap for pennies on the dollar in the weeks after Christmas.

Last week and this week, I made it my mission to clean out my SUPER messy "saved and clearance-purchased gift wrapping stuff" storage shelf in the basement. For real: it was a huge mountain of random gift bags, barely-used gift wrap, and other accoutrements.

For the past couple of years stuff has collected there, and it needed major help. It took me several minisessions of work (that's the way it happens when you're doing it with a baby and often also a three-year-old around). Here's how I approached it:

• Throughout the entire process, throw away anything that looks too old or used. When in doubt, don't reuse it.
  
  
• Separate all of your stuff: bows and tissue paper from your gift bags and gift boxes. Make a huge pile each of bows, tissue paper, bags, or boxes as you do this.
  
  
• Sort your gift bags into three categories: teeny, standard, and HUGE. Put each size set in a box (could be cardboard, Sterilite, whatever works for you!).
  
  
  
• Sort your tissue paper by color. For me, this was: whites, yellows & golds, reds & pinks, blues & greens, and white with patterns. Some tissue papers are holiday-themed, so it may behoove you to have a few tissue categories by holiday (Christmas, birthday, baby, wedding, Valentine's Day, etc.).
  
  
  When you're done with the sorting of the tissue paper, you can gently roll your stack and store the roll loosely upright in a smaller box. This way it's easy to see and easy to take a sheet out without messing up the rest.
  
  
• Sort your gift boxes. Some are holiday-themed, so it may work for you to have box categories by holiday (Christmas, birthday, baby, wedding, Valentine's Day, etc.). Stack your gift boxes neatly, largest on the bottom, smallest on top, so that you can see them in one glance. Two post-Christmases ago, I picked up shirt boxes at Target for 90% off - and they're still in my stash. Sweeeeeet.
  
  
  
  
• Put your bows and other box decor in a separate box. (Or further sort them if you like.)
  
  
  
  
• Organize your items on a shelf or other designated location so that you can see things plainly and put things together quickly, so that when the gift-giving occasion arises you can wrap it in no time. Here's a sample scenario of how it might go:
  --What size is my gift? For which occasion? (You'd pick out your gift bag or box.)
  --What color tissue paper should I use? (You pick out a sheet or three from your color-sorted tissue paper.)
  --Do I want any other bows or decor? (You pick from your separate box of bows to match the gift bag and tissue paper.)
  
  
• Pick up a hanging or under-the-bed gift-wrap organizer with compartments for storing a few items like spools of ribbon, tubes of gift wrap, "gift wrap scissors" if you have'em, and scotch tape (in my case, picked up for $0.24/roll on clearance).
  
  
  
• If you like, you can save the "too old" tissue paper for kid-oriented craft projects like tissue paper carnations, which make terrific decoration come spring and Mother's Day! "Too old" gift wrap can be used for scissors practice, too.

What are the benefits to getting together your gift wrapping stuff now? Well, there are quite a few:

• You will save money, because you'll know at last the extent of your supplies at home. No more last-minute purchases of bows or tape or wrapping paper at the store (probably at full high-season pricing) only to realize later that you had it at home all along!
  
  
• In the same vein, you'll know when you're about to run out of something because you have an awareness of what's already in-stock at home, and that way you can keep an eye on deals or seasonal clearances to stock back up.
  
  
• No more crummy too-old tissue paper on gifts you give because you grabbed that still-looks-new gift bag (containing said too-old tissue paper) from the top of your "gift wrap stuff" pile in a rush.
  
  
• Having your gift wrapping stuff organized means that you're less likely to procrastinate on holiday gift-wrapping and will save time when you do gift wrap.
  
  
• Knowing what you have, you'll be able to put together more creative combinations of bows, paper, bags, etc. than if you were just staring at a mountainous pile of unorganized gift wrap leftovers.

Organizing my gift wrap miscellaneous in time for the holidays works for me!

What organizing tasks are you tackling now so that you can have a more peaceful, less expensive, less-stressed holiday season?

Happy Labor Day! + A Few Giant Deals

We both wish you all a Happy Labor Day, folks! Enjoy the extra day off. :)

I (A.) am relaxing with family this weekend, so the Giant deals will be back next week. I CAN tell you, though, that you should stop by Giant for:

• Porterhouse steaks, half price ($4.99/lb.)
• Pork ribs, half price ($1.99/lb.)
• Watermelon ($3.88/lb.)
• Cantaloupes and Honeydew melons ($2/ea.)

Happy long weekending!

Memorial Day Weekend Shopportunities - BIG Discounts!

Well, if you were planning on shopping this weekend, you're in luck! Here are some deals going on:

At Gap.com, get 25% off your Gap purchase of $75 or more on regular-priced merchandise, and FREE shipping when you spend $100 or more. (Enter code GAPSUMMER at checkout, and go through ebates for at least 2% cash back!)

Yankee Candle's Semi-Annual sale is on, with the largest jar candles as cheap as 2/$25 (about as cheap as these get for a sale price)! $5 flat rate shipping on orders under $100.

Ralph Lauren Factory Stores (read: outlet stores) are offering 15% off your entire purchase May 27 through May 31. FREE SHIPPING on RalphLauren.com through Thursday, June 10. Click to RalphLauren.com through the ebates website to also get 3% cash back.

Eddie Bauer in-store coupon, 10% off, good through Monday, here (click to enlarge):


Through Monday at Ann Taylor Loft, save 40% off your entire purchase by entering code 40SAVE at checkout. (Orders over $150 ship free automatically, but this threshold must be met after the 40% discount.) Go through ebates for 3% cash back.

Free shipping on Bath and Body Works purchases over $40 when you enter code FREESHIP40 at checkout. Signature Collection Classics and Signature Collection Body Care are all Buy 3, Get 3 FREE in the current sale prices. Going to the B&BW site by clicking through ebates will net you 3% cash back as well.

FREE shipping on all orders through philosophy.com through Monday with the code memorial at checkout. Clicking to the philosophy website through ebates will get 3.5% cash back.

As a disclaimer, if you sign up for ebates under our ebates link (here), we will receive cash back thanks to you. You'll receive a starting bonus, too!.

Happy Easter!

We hope that you and your loved ones enjoy an uplifting, rejuvenating Easter today!

Up from the grave He arose!
With a mighty triumph o'er His foes
He arose a Victor from the dark domain
And He lives forever with His saints to reign
He arose!
He arose!
Hallelujah, Christ arose!

Text and music: Robert Lowry