Deals at Hen House, Kansas City

If you live in the Kansas City area and attended the Hen House Holiday food show earlier this month, you can really score some great deals this week! I'm talking 12 cans of Libby's vegetables for .88!!!! That's for TWELVE! And how about a 15.8 ounce bag of wonderful Sister Shubert's rolls for just a buck?? There are many more deals than just those, but I'm on a pretty limited budget, so I only got a few of the best ones. Here's what I purchased today for just $11.10!:

3 bags of Empire apples - $3 (produce special)
12 cans of Libby's vegetables - .88 (.49 sale, less .50/3 Hen House card discount and $1/4 manufacturer's coupons)
2 bags of Nestle morsels - $1.76 (1.88 sale less .50 c/o)
2 cans of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls - $1.96 (1.48 sale less .50/2 c/o)
Roberts Cottage Cheese - $1.10 (1.98 sale less .48 Hen House card and .40 c/o)
2 bags Sister Shubert's rolls - $2.00 (2.50 sale less $1/2 Hen House card and $1 c/o)

If you missed the food show, be sure and go next year if they do it again. Not only do you get enough samples and coupons to make up for your $5 admission fee (not to mention the free reusable bag!), but I saved $6 last week and $3.50 this week on just the few things I bought! The discounts are loaded onto your card and automatically deducted at the register until January 2nd. It's most definitely worth going!!!!

My Almost Free Christmas

I find it so difficult to believe that Christmas will be here in a bit over a month. How does the time get away from us? It will be 2010 before we take a moment to sit down and look at a calendar!

For this Christmas, I have known for awhile that I wouldn't have the money on hand that I've had in the past several (working) years to spend on gifts. So I have spent a lot of this year preparing. I haven't been shopping much until recently, but I've been setting us up to be able to "purchase" most of our gifts for nothing or very little. And, amazingly, we've managed to be successful!!

What I've done is focus on points programs that don't really cost anything. One of the programs is not one that most people can access, but most of them are out there online, and anyone can take advantage! First, I have MyPoints. If you look at the guidelines for the program, you are allowed up to two accounts per household, so I set up an account for myself and one for my husband. The best part is that if you initially set up only one account, you can then refer another household member for bonus points! If you are not a member of this program, it's fairly simple. You receive emails almost daily that advertise and direct you to specific websites. By clicking on the link they provide, you basically earn 5 points per mail. They also offer frequent surveys worth at least 10 points, and something called the MyPoints FrogPond where you can receive 25 points for simply giving your opinion on a site. If you shop online, you can go through their site and earn even more points. It's only a few points at a time for the most part, but it adds up quickly and I've been able to get more than I even anticipated with my MyPoints. If you aren't a member, I'd love to refer you - just give me your email address and I will send you an invitation.

Another program I love is ZoomPanel. This is a survey company that sends me a survey every 2-3 days. Every survey for which I do not qualify earns me 5 points; the surveys that I get to complete can be worth 50, 75, or even 100 points. In addition, I've tried many products through this company and given them my opinions. You can redeem these points for a multitude of items in their gift catalog - and they have some really nice stuff!! Again, I'd be happy to refer you - just send me your information.

One of the most popular programs out there is SwagBucks. You earn SwagBucks for simply doing something you probably do every day - web searching! You can download the toolbar or go to the website and perform your search. Randomly (generally 1-2 times per day, depending on how frequently you search), you receive SwagBucks when you get your results. Most of the time it's 1 at a time, but I have gotten 2 and 3 bucks several times, and once I even got 20 just for searching! You can redeem these bucks for many gift cards (I tend to do the Amazon $5 e-giftcards and get 1 or more a month), paypal "cash" or other items. It's a great deal, because I'm always searching anyway. I've managed to get several things for my kids from Amazon.com with my free gift cards. This is most definitely worth checking out! Go to Swagbucks, sign up, and start searching!

The program that not everyone can join is called Food Service Rewards. It's a restaurant program where you earn points based on the products you buy. I've been able to order some presents for my kids through this program, but since it's limited to restaurants, I won't go into the specifics. Just realize that you never know where you will find a points program that you can use to earn money or gifts - always look into anything you find because you never know when it will be a wonderful deal for you!

There are other survey companies out there that either save up your points that can be redeemed for cash - I don't even know of or belong to all of them. I also know of a site called Inbox Dollars where you earn .03 for each email that you read/click on. You can't cash out until you have $30, so that takes a very long time, but it's worth doing in the long run. I figure I will hit the $30 level about once a year. Maybe for next Christmas..... :)

A program that has been an amazing help in paying for Christmas isn't an online program at all. It's through my Citibank credit card. I'm not as happy with their Thank You Redemptions program as I used to be, because they no longer give 5 points per dollar for certain types of purchases, but they still provide 1 point for every dollar spent. The points are then redeemed on their website for a variety of gifts and gift cards. I've only used my points for the gift cards, and this year I was able to get 2 $100 Visa debit cards to finish the shopping for the kids. Those came in SO handy! Sadly, I can't earn points as quickly as I used to when grocery and gas spending added up five times faster, so I'm not advocating Citibank like I used to, but I do still use the card. I just make sure that I pay it off every month. Especially now that they've taken away the bonus I loved, I will not pay them a dime in interest. I charge quite a bit each month, but always pay in full, which helps the points to really be "free."

I know there are lots of credit card rewards programs out there, so look around and see what you can find. It might be worth changing cards to take advantage of the program that works well for you and gives you the most benefits.

So there you have it, and a long blog post to boot! My (almost) free Christmas shopping. I'm loving being able to give the kids things they want and not spending too much money. Christmas doesn't have to put you into debt or cause financial stress. A few minutes each day will give you several gifts by the end of the year. And keep your eyes peeled - you never know what freebies you will find out there!

Enter to Win a Kindle

Hello, all! I know I've been very quiet on the blog front lately, but I promise to think of a great topic really soon and get it posted. Things have been crazy around here, and I'm sure that isn't going to change anytime soon with Christmas coming fast, but I am sure I will eventually think of something exciting to write! :-)

In the interim, I just found this giveaway online and I would LOVE to win a Kindle! I think it would be so neat to own one. Since it's a great giveaway, I wanted to share. Click here to enter! Good luck! Hope I you win!!

An Award-Winning Costume!!

I found a sombrero at a garage sale a couple of months ago and bought it, with the idea of trying to make a jellyfish costume, just to see how it looked. I went to Hobby Lobby and picked up a remnant of a light blue chiffon and some small rolls of ribbon and sequins. Here is the final result:

My youngest LOVED it!! So she became a jellyfish for Halloween. Tonight, we took the kids to a "Fright Night" event at Park University. They did some trick or treating, played games, painted pumpkins, and had some fun. We were about to leave when the girls decided they might want to be in the upcoming costume contest. The older one backed out, but my little one had gotten so many compliments on her costume that she wanted to participate. She was in the 6-8 age group, as she is 7.

The kids all paraded across the stage and then gathered for the judging. A Dorothy (from Oz) costume took third place, and then a child in a hideous monster mask was given second. I heard a few people in the crowd chanting "jellyfish, jellyfish" and was surprised by this. Then, the announcer said, "And first place goes to our COOL jellyfish!" There was actually a cheer that went up in the audience! She was SOOO excited! She couldn't stop talking about it. :-) They gave her a Connect Four game and a very large bag full of mini candy bars....she's set! That made our night.

I think it's so funny that a simple costume that I created myself won a costume contest over several expensive store-bought ensembles. Now my girls are arguing over which one gets to be the jellyfish next year....I might have to make another one! Anyone have a sombrero???? LOL

Great Deal at Hobby Lobby

I wanted to share a truly great deal I got this morning at Hobby Lobby! I was looking at the clearance area and noticed some very nice scrapbooks. They are the Generations Memory Album in Luxurious Leather with 100 pages with sheet protectors. The price on these gorgeous albums is $39.99. They were clearanced at $5.00!! The cashier told me that they just got the markdown last night on their sheets, so they had only been on the shelf at this price a very short time when I found them. She said they knew they would go fast.

If you're near a Hobby Lobby, it's definitely worth checking for this deal. If you scrapbook, these are beautiful archival albums. If you know a scrapbooker, what an awesome Christmas gift!!!

What?? No Pumpkin???

So the word is that we are in the midst of a canned pumpkin shortage. Libby's has reported that bad weather conditions LAST year are resulting in very low production of canned pumpkin right now. Apparently there was a bit of a panic recently on Twitter and people are afraid they will have no pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. The horror!

I'm actually not participating in the uproar. I haven't even looked for canned pumpkin at any of my grocery stores, though I might start, just out of curiousity to see if I can find it. But every time I've gone to the store lately, I've seen huge boxes absolutely overflowing with lovely, round, bright orange pumpkins. So why worry???

I know, some people look at the garden produce and see only porch decorations or a future Halloween Jack-o-Lantern. But guess what? You can actually take one of the pumpkins from your local grocer and probably get enough pumpkin to keep you in bread, pies, and bars until the end of the season! It isn't even difficult!

I usually keep my pumpkins out for decoration until Halloween; I do pull them in when it freezes overnight, though. Then, I bring them inside and straight to the kitchen. I give them a good washing, remove the stems, and then cut them in half. I scrape out the seeds into a colander and get a cookie sheet out of the cabinet and spray it with a little oil. I place my pumpkin halves on the cookie sheet and pop them into a 375° oven until they are nice and soft.

Once the squash is softened, I pull them out and let them cool for a bit, until I can pull off the outer skin. It usually comes off with very little effort once the pumpkin is good and cooked. Then I put the pumpkin flesh in a large bowl and puree it down a bit with my hand blender. Once it's nice and mashed, I measure one-cup amounts into zip-top bags and prepare them for the freezer. I generally have cooked pumpkin year-round because those big ones result in a LOT!!!

Just today I pulled out 2 bags and made a big batch of pumpkin bars. A few days ago I made pumpkin cheesecake bars. The fresh (frozen) pumpkin truly makes delightful treats, and I don't miss the canned variety at ALL!

So don't fret about the "Great Pumpkin Shortage of 2009." Besides the fact that Libby's also now reports that they are currently processing the current year's harvest and it will be shipping to stores in plenty of time for holiday baking, you can definitely enjoy everything pumpkin and never open a single can! Try it....you will be amazed at how easy and delicious fresh pumpkin really is.

Lowe's Needs a Lesson in Customer Service

I am so completely disenchanted with Lowe's. I *thought* they were a reputable and reliable company, but the way they handle customer service has forced me to re-evaluate that idea. In the last year or so, we've purchased 3 major appliances from them - washer, dryer, and dishwasher. The delivery of the washer and dryer was a nightmare. Twice they scheduled delivery and then didn't show up. I had to call the store and find out that the dryer wasn't in yet, so they couldn't deliver. Excuse me? Maybe you should actually CALL me and let me know this so I am not sitting around all day waiting??? A month after I was supposed to receive the set, they finally delivered it to me. Not too impressive, eh?

Well, now we fast forward to today. My dishwasher (it's a Samsung - NEVER NEVER NEVER buy anything they make as they are JUNK!!!!!) broke down on Sunday. I called Lowe's because we have their "Service Advantage" (HA!) program. It took forever to get everything set up because they apparently don't keep any record of you unless you have this one specific number from your receipt from purchase. If you don't have that, don't bother calling. I did finally locate all the information and they told me that I had an appointment on Tuesday between 8 and 5. I was assured of the confirmation of this date.

Today, being Tuesday, I have arranged my entire schedule so that I can be home all day. I decided to contact the servicing company to inquire if they could possibly narrow down the time to maybe morning or afternoon. After being on hold awhile, they told me they had no record of me. Huh???? So I called Lowe's back. After some "research" (and more hold time), she tells me that there wasn't any availability for today. I asked her when they learned this, and she told me yesterday. So I asked her, don't you think that you might have wanted to let ME know this information?????? They never bothered to reschedule or contact me or do ANYTHING at all! They just left it there, and there was no follow up scheduled in any way. What the flip kind of customer service is that????

After a few more times on hold and being assured that "this never happens," (gosh - why do I truly doubt that?) she told me that I would have service on Thursday. So I'm hand-washing dishes even longer because of the stupidity and lack of service at Lowe's. Hmmm....maybe if they had any inkling of how to take care of their customers, they could have called me yesterday and scheduled something for tomorrow??

I am just plain disgusted with Lowe's at this point. They have no follow-up at all and really don't seem to care at all if their customers receive any service. And do they offer anything for their blatant error? Of course not! Just....well, we got you scheduled for Thursday, and so what if you have to change your entire schedule for another full day? I think they should at least send someone here to wash my dishes! Yeah, that's not going to happen, but seriously, after this experience, I will never buy another major appliance from Lowe's. There are many other companies out there that might actually contact their customers if there is a problem. I'll be giving someone else a try. Lowe's doesn't get a third chance to make a good impression.