Shop the Pig update

So, I went to Piggly Wiggly today. I guess each store has a different coupon policy, so call ahead. The one in Hubertus on Appleton (a little north of me) accepts internet coupons up to $2. The one in Sussex said they didn't accept internet printables.

There wasn't much selection of cereal (coco pebbles, cherios, and Total) included. Also, you didn't get an extra $5 off if you bought $20, that is a different deal they have going, but if you eat a lot of pillsbury and hamburger helper and betty crocker type products, there are probably coupons to make those deals pretty decent.

Anyway, I got 24 or so yogurts (there are $1 coupons on coupons.com for yo-plus and fiber-one yogurts), cereals, and granola bars, and chex mix, and 4 gallons of milk and a dozen eggs for $24 dollars or so.

Free Coldstone Tonight

It looks like Coldstone Creamery is giving free ice cream with a donation to the Make a Wish Foundation. It's tonight (Thurs Sept 24) from 5-8pm. Check out this link for details and locations: http://www.coldstonecreamery.com/promos/makeawish/

Piggly Wiggly Sale on Gemeral Mills

Here is a pretty good deal. General Mills products - specific cereals, fiber one products, yoplait kid yogurts, nature valley granola bars, (listed in the add, so some of the coupon matches might not work- I didn't look super closely) are on sale at Piggly Wiggly. They are $1.50 for the first ten items, then $2.00 each for the next ten. I don't know if you have to buy in multiples of ten, or if you can just buy 13 or whatever. Anyway, if you buy $20 of those products, you get $5 off your order. Then, you also get a free gallon of milk with every 5 items you purchase (not whole milk).

www.Coupons.com also has some GM coupons on there. There are a few coupons (Trix, cinnamon toast crunch, Kix, Nature Valley Granola Bars, Fiber One bars, Fiber One cereals, and maybe more that I am forgetting) that match up. If I did my math correctly, and if the coupons really do match up, I think for $21 dollars, you can get 13 items, then you can save $6 in coupons from coupons.com, and then you'll get another $5 off, plus 4 gallons of milk (if there is no limit). so the total would be about $10 for all that.

Again, I haven't yet tried to shop Piggly Wiggly, but I will be trying that deal this week- so I don't know their rules regarding coupons. Also, there is a coupon in their add for a dozen eggs for maybe $0.29. I will try to post to follow up if this deal worked or not. (I also think their adds run from Wed. till Tue.)

Free piano

This morning I was just wasting time I could have been spending with my children looking at Craigslist's free stuff. I spent months looking for a great deal on a piano and let me tell you, this looks like an awesome deal! I 've never seen this nice of a piano on the free list. Have no idea where it is, though.

http://milwaukee.craigslist.org/zip/1384197530.html

Consignment stores

Furniture. Typically the next word that comes to mind is expensive. Not so, my friends. As many of you know, I like to redo furniture. To make this practical I have to get a steal on the piece as I will spend money on paint and fabric. One gem I have found is
Legacies Limited
7922 N Port Washington Rd.
Milwaukee, WI (actually Fox Point area)

I visited Legacies for the first time a few weeks ago. I am not in the market for furniture right now. I did score this sweet Lakefront Festival of Arts poster (that actually predates my birth) for $5. Now.... the reason this place is a gem is because every 30 days the item is discounted. I am embarrassed now, I want to say 30% but I can't remember for sure, maybe it was ony 15%. I will call them Monday and post what the actual discount is. Anyway, every 30 days you take an additional discount off of the item. There was this green leather sofa in there that had been there since Spring. It was down to $180 with the discount! So say it was there for 6 months. You take 15% (I think!) off of the original price. Subtract that amount from your original price and then do it again and again for however many months it has been there. I have no need for a green, leather sofa. It was tempting though just because it was such a good deal!

Things you need to know:
-the discounted prices are not marked on the tag. The date is as well as the original price. So you might want to take a calculator or at least your cell phone for quick computing while you are browsing.
-It is not kid friendly. This place is PACKED with stuff. Stacks of dishes, lamps, mirrors, pictures all within toddler reach. Plus the aisles are so narrow it would be impossible to keep a kid from even bumping in to things.

Places on my list to check out:
Nearly New Family Fashions
6803 N Green Bay Ave
Milwaukee, WIMilwaukee, WI 53209-2820

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Another Look LLCAddress:

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1916 E, Capitol Drive

Shorewood, WI 53211

http://www.shopat-anotherlook.com/

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Placement on map is approximate 2520 E Capitol Dr Milwaukee, WI 53211-2136 http://www.chattelchangers.com/ Have you checked out any of these places?

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Preparedness Pantry Gift Card Giveaway

Do you have your own blog or website? If so, you can score a $10 gift card fromEmergency Essentials, a Utah-based company that sells a wide variety of emergency preparedness supplies.
Simply put one of their Preparedness Pantry blog buttons (found on the right column of the blog) on your blog or website and they’ll send you a $10.00 Emergency Essentials® Gift Card for free!

Claim your free $10.00 Gift Card by emailing them at blog@beprepared.com with a link to your site/blog so that they can verify the button (put Gift Card Giveaway in subject line). Include your contact information in the email so that we can mail your Gift Card to you. Hurry! they need to have received your email by Monday, 9/21!

Emergency Essentials has a wide variety of items priced at $10 or under, so I imagine this gift card will enable you to get some pretty great deals! The 41-piece First Aid kit shown above would cost less than $1 using your $10 gift card!

One entry per household. All emails must be received by Monday, September 21st. We will be verifying the Preparedness Pantry Blog buttons and mailing out the Gift Cards in the next several weeks. Gift Cards can only be mailed to an address within the 50 United States.

Fondy Farmers' Market

Have any of you ever been? It is a delight! Located on the corner of Fond du Lac and North, it's definitely in the inner city, but has a very safe and fun feel. The displays were extremely orderly and beautiful and the produce was fantastic--corn, broccoli, all colors of onions, tomatoes, hot and bell peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, summer squash, zucchini, lots of greens, beans, etc. There were watermelons, apples, and a few cantaloupe but fruit is pretty slim pickings this late in the season. The prices were good--not phenomenal, but certainly much better than the grocery market. And all the farmers were so pleasant and earnest. Truly a lovely place. Don't miss the Egg Roll Lady on the way out--fresh egg rolls for $1/per. I didn't notice their daily hours (or even whether or not they're open every day), but they will be there until the end of October.

Milwaukee Central Book Sale

Milwaukee Central Library (on W. Wisconsin) is having a 10 cent used book sale this Saturday starting at 9am. It will be held in a room off to the right when you enter in the main front doors. Metered parking on the sides of the building. AMAZING kid's section with a lighthouse that kids can climb in, a puppet show stage with lots of puppets, train table, lego table and an amazing selection of books. Fun place to go, a "must" with the book sale this weekend as I know we were all inspired at enrichment to start reading better books.

Free Advance Movie Screenings

Have you heard of gofobo.com? It's a website that offers free advance movie tickets to selected films. You have to check it frequently but if you get lucky, you can get some tickets to go see a movie before it comes out to the general public.

I just went on there this morning and there are still some free passes available for the movie called Bright Star, rated PG. The movie is Tues Sept 22 at 7pm at Downer Landmark II Theaters in Milwaukee. You just need to sign up for an account with gofobo, type in your zip code in the top left box and select "More Info" on the movie. There's a trailer at the bottom of the screen you can watch and if you want 1 or 2 passes, then click "Get a Pass" (you don't need an RSVP code). It will have you print off your passes and then you need to arrive early because I think they give out more passes than there are seats.

If you don't get in on this one, you can usually check back every few weeks and they'll offer new shows. These usually aren't the big box office hits but what beats a free movie pass?

Does anybody want these coupons?

I have 2 coupons: one for OshKosh and one for Carter's. They are both 20% off a purchase of $50 or more, valid the month of October at any store including outlets. Anybody going to Johnson Creek? And is Pleasant Prairie the one off the 43 on the way to Chicago?

Mark your calendar

If only I had a daughter to take to this... because I totally want to go. p.s. It's FREE

Saturday October 17

2:00 PM 4:00 PM

Milwaukee Ballet’s Fairy Tale Day Calling all royal families! Milwaukee Ballet is celebrating the start of its 40th anniversary season and the upcoming performance of Cinderella with “Fairy Tale Day.” Come dressed as your favorite prince or princess to the royal kingdom of Bayshore and enjoy a free fun-filled day of activities: meet Milwaukee Ballet dancers and students in costume; listen to the tale of Cinderella during story time; and try your hand at a Cinderella-inspired art project! Don’t forget your camera--there will be an opportunity to get photos with the dancers. Cinderella runs October 22-25 at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. For more information or to buy tickets, visit www.milwaukeeballet.org.

Free Audiobooks

The Wisconsin Library system now has I-Pod compatible formats of audiobooks. They only have about 1,000 titles right now, but I found several I wanted to check out in just a few minutes. I found the site where you can download the audiobooks at http://countycat.mcfls.org/ (the Milwaukee County online catalog). Under "other resources" on the upper right, you can click on "Overdrive Audiobooks: 1,000 Titles now Enabled for I-Pod". Like hard copies, the books are only available for a certain number of people and you have a rental period. Check it out!

A few things for Saturday

Well it looks like there is plenty to do this Saturday! I just saw that the kite festival is going on from 10-5 www.giftofwings.com and just a heads up if you want to go to the zoo on Saturday there is a JDRF walk that morning there so it will probably be busy in the morning. We're walking in it but I'm still not sure what time it starts...gotta love the details I get from hubby;)

Raspberries -- 5 for $5

The Sendiks at 86th St and North Ave has 1/2 pint raspberries for 5 for $5. I went out and worked like a slave at a U-pick patch last week; I spent $3 per pint. I think this is the last day of the sale, and when I stopped at another location, they weren't having the same sale. Happy freezer jam! (I think, I'm not sure you can do freezer jam with raspberries...)

Playdate Tomorrow?

Anyone wanna meet us tomorrow for a playdate? We're trying to savor every last minute of sunshine...we'd love to meet at a park or at the zoo. Let me know...

Dozer Day

"Dozer Day" is September 12 in Sussex. I've heard it highly recommended. Little boys love it, of course. There are a few of us that are thinking about going if you want to meet up...we'll probably be going in the morning.
www.dozerday.com
Thanks for the tip Heather!

Pineapple and Green Chile Tacos

3 lb. boneless pork roast (I've used chicken too)

1 (20 ounce can) crushed pineapple with juices

1 (16 ounce) jar tomatillo salsa (green salsa or salsa verde)

2 (4 ounce) cans green chiles, undrained

2/3 cup brown sugar

Possible items for serving: warm flour tortillas, queso fresco (or feta I just used cheddar), chopped cilantro, lime wedges, more green salsa. Combine all ingredients in the crock pot and cook on high for four hours or on low for 6 to eight hours. Shred pork, season to taste with salt and pepper. In a colander, drain juices from crock pot. Mix shredded pork with pineapple/salsa mixture that remains in colander and serve in tortillas with desired accompaniments. It also works great to serve as a quesadilla.

great deals for the web surfer

Christian also suggested this site: www.dealspl.us

If you have the will and time to browse (apparently my husband does), this site has some really amazing deals. People submit deals to the site, then they get rated on how good they are with the best deals on the front page, so you get a huge variety of things. Just to whet your whistle, we got our Flip camera for $50, telescope for $15, clothes from REI for $5, restaurant coupons 80% off, and, shamelessly, gobs of other items. May the force be with you.

ahh...the weather

We were having a conversation about how completely unreliable weather.com is and so I asked Christian what his favorite site is for checking weather conditions. (He checks more than any person I know because of his crazy sailing obsession). Anyway, the site he loves most is www.noaa.gov

Hopefully you won't be stuck at home on a gorgeous day because the forecast said "thundershowers absolutely certain."

A Great Coupon Blog

I was blog-surfing the other day and came across this blog, A Thrifty Mom. While I couldn't immediately use any of the coupons I saw, I have saved it on my own list of blogs to visit frequently and see what she has up. Lots of people leave ideas with her there and it's pretty neat.

Also, linked to her blog was a Target-only blog with a list of coupons that I could see myself and many others using. It even has the dates the coupons expire. It does has a place where you can register, and, as I haven't yet done that, I can't vouch for the registration, but you can also just use it as a guest.

Good luck!

Bay Beach

This place is probably not new news to you all, but before the weather really crisps up (especially north of us), you really should try to get up to Green Bay for the amusement park, Bay Beach. There is no admission fee, you just buy $.25 tickets to ride the kiddy rides. Our kids absolutely LOVED it. One tip, however, if you have a wiggly toddler, be wary of sending him off on his own on the rides, even with brothers "in charge" of holding on to him. Charles took a little swim on the "boats" until a man jumped the fence and pulled him out (I was running to the gate opening yelling, "oh! oh! oh!"). It was not a nice moment, but I did learn my lesson, at the expense of Charles, poor kid.

One more thing, the food is honestly the most awful food I have ever had. Bring a picnic and spare yourself the heartburn. On the upside, the icees and cotton candy are only $1. Budget fun is so awesome.

Good Will

If you are a Target lover, that you should be a Good Will lover too. I know this is probably common sense to all of you by now, but for anyone else who is new in town, the Good Will stores here (at least the one off of Capitol and the one in Menomonee Falls) is a donation center for Target- meaning they sell brand new stuff from Target at a fraction of the cost! Examples: shoes for $5 (cutest ballet flats right now), jeans for $8, toys and games anywhere from a $1 on up. We play games on Friday nights and I just bought a great game for preschool age for $3. Brand new. Sealed box. I even saw a slipper chair still in the box for around $20. They have everything- curtains, aprons, fleather bed matress pads, you get the idea. And the dollar spot we all love so much at Target- 4 for a $1 at Good Will. Gotta love it. For icing on the cake, Good Will now has club cards like Pick -n- Save. They are free. You receive 5% off purchases over $20, coupons, etc. Plus, you are helping out a good cause which is a great way to rationalize unnecessary shopping in my book:)