Frugal Florida

What's the first thing that you think of when you think of Florida?  Walt Disney World, right?  Maybe you think of Florida's many beaches or maybe you think of America's oldest city, St. Augustine.  I personally think that everyone, no matter how old you are, should visit Disney.  We have some really beautiful beaches here in Florida (personally, the beaches out in the panhandle are the prettiest) and I love walking around Old St. Augustine.  But there are so many other places to visit in Florida and they're CHEAP!

I had the day off from work today, so my sister and I headed down A1A for a trip to Washington Oaks Gardens State Park.  Washington Oaks is located between Crescent Beach, FL and Palm Coast, Florida.  The park is located along the Matanzas River.  The property was originally owned by Owen and Louise Young.  Owen Young helped to found RCA and Louise was a designer.  They used the property as a summer retreat and Louise donated the property to the State of Florida in 1964 after the death of her husband.

This is my sister Debbie, sitting in the gazebo.

C

Mask made from coquina along one of the paths.

It only cost $5.00 to get into the park.  The visitor center is located in the Young's former home, and there are nature trails, beautiful gardens, and a picnic area.  Visit http://www.floridastateparks.org/washingtonoaks for more information.  What makes it even better is that the park is located right across the road from the Coquina Rocks of Washington Oaks Garden State Park.  Coquina Rocks is included in the price of admission to Washington Oaks.

This place is awesome.  I never knew that rocks could be found in Florida; I always thought of my state as pretty much of a giant sand pit.  Anyways, I couldn't believe how beautiful it was.

Photos of the Coquina Rocks

We also ran into a native Floridian while we were there -

Florida Gopher Tortoise

Finally, just up the road is Fort Matanzas.  Fort Matanzas is near the site where a group of French Huguenots were slaughtered by the Spanish in 1565.  It's free to enter the park and you can take a free ferry ride over to the Fort.  Visit http://www.nps.gov/foma/index.htm for more information.


What a great way to spend my day off!

Easter Greetings

Easter is chocolate bunnies, peeps, baskets, egg hunts, and family.  But it's also about a new beginning, the resurrection of a living savior, and the hope that I have in a future without pain, tears, or death.  Happy Easter.

My Experience as an Uber Couponer

Today, after work, with coupon binder, shopping list, and sale ads in hand, I set out to try my hand as an uber couponer.  My first stop was Walgreen's.  I was pretty excited.

Walgreen's purchases -

dawn dish washing liquid - retail price is $1.99
sale price - $0.99
manufacturer's coupon - $0.25
final price - $0.74

scotch magic tape - $1.99
sale price - buy 1, get two free
manufacturer's coupon - $1.00
final price - $0.33 each for 3 rolls

Campbell's cream of chicken soup- 2 cans for $3.00
sale price - $0.79 each
manufacturer's coupon - $0.40 off 4 cans
final price - $.069 each for 4 cans

gold medal flour - $3.49
sale price - 2/$3.00
I did not have a coupon & I purchased two - $3.00

domino's brown sugar - $1.29
sale price - $0.89
manufacturer's coupon - $0.75 off 2
final price - $1.03 for 2 boxes

Celebrity canned ham - $3.99
sale price - $1.99
I did not have a coupon & I purchased 3 - $5.97

domino sugar, 4 lb. bag - $2.99
sale price - $2.49
manufacturer's coupon - $0.50
final price - I purchased 2 @ $1.99 - $3.98

Reynold's wrap - $1.69
sale price - $0.89
I did not have a coupon & I purchased 1 - $0.89

puff's facial tissue - $2.49
sale price - 2/$3.00
manufacturer's coupon - $0.50
final price - $1.25 per box

Ajax cleanser - $0.99
sale price - 2/$1.00
manufacturer's coupon - $1.00
final price - should be free, but the store would not honor my coupon, so $1.00
 
Total Cost

1) If I had purchased everything at retail price, I would have spent $50.12
2) If I had purchased everything at the sale price, no coupons, I would have spent $26.76
3) My final purchase price, including coupons, wagc (Walgreen's coupons) & tax was $23.84

I don't feel like an extreme couponer.  Maybe if I had only purchased items for which I had coupons, it would have been different.  Moving on to CVS !!

At CVS, I only purchased three things:

1 gallon of milk - $3.19, get $1.00 ECB (extra care bucks), final cost - $2.19
1 96 oz. chlorox bleach - $1.69, $0.25 manufacturer's coupon, final cost - $1.49
1 green bag tag - $0.99, get $0.99 ECB, final cost - free

Maybe I did better at CVS, but I'm not sure.  I do know that I saved money today, but I'm not ready to claim the title of UBER Couponer yet.

The Bottom Line

Uber Couponing

I haven't watched the new TLC show, "Extreme Couponing" but I am fascinated by extreme savers.  A couple of weeks ago, I decided that I wanted to see how much I could save by couponing.  The first thing that I did was to make my own coupon binder.  If you want a good example of how to set up your own binder, go to www.homeof5.com.

The hardest part of this whole thing is matching up the weekly store ads with coupons.  I don't subscribe to my local paper so I have to depend on my friends for the sales inserts and coupons.  There are also several websites where you can download and print coupons.  I need to determine how cost effective this is based on the cost of ink for my printer.

This week, I plan on going to Walgreens and CVS to take my first steps into the world of extreme couponing.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Easter - Coconut Cream Eggs

Do you have a favorite Easter treat?  I like peeps and cadbury creme eggs, but I especially like coconut cream eggs.  I found an easy recipe for them at www.thriftyfun.com.

Combine 1 can of sweetened condensed milk, a 1 lb. bag of coconut, one 2 lb. bag of powdered sugar, and 1 tsp. of vanilla.

Mix well and shape into eggs.  I took about a handful of mix, patted it down, and used an egg-shaped cookie cutter to make my eggs.

I made 20 eggs, but you could make more or less depending on how you form your eggs.  I placed them on a cookie sheet and refrigerated them for about an hour.

After about an hour, I melted a bag of chocolate chips over low heat until they were creamy.

Finally, I dipped the eggs in the chocolate until they were covered.  Then I put them back into the refrigerator to chill.

Here's the final product.  I wish that they had turned out prettier, but they still tasted good!

How to get a free microwave

My microwave is getting old.  Sometimes it works the way it's supposed to and sometimes, it runs without turning off.  This is becoming an issue.  I want a new microwave, but I don't want a $49 special from Walmart.  I want the same kind of microwave that I have now; I want all the bells and whistles.  The really cool thing though is that I'm going to get a new microwave for free.  FREE!

I'm not saying that you can just decide that you want a new microwave today and then go and get it tomorrow.  It is easy though.  So far, I have received two $50.00 gift cards for Walmart, and I'm on my way to getting another $50.00 gift card.  $150.00 should be more than enough to get me the microwave that I want.

How did I do it?  I signed up at www.mypoints.com.  All I have to do is read emails, shop online, etc.  Anything that I would normally do online I can do through the mypoints program.  I can earn anywhere from 5 points for reading an email to 1,000 + points for joining a book club or shopping online.  When I've accumulated enough points, I can redeem them for rewards, such as gift cards.  How easy is that?

A "Fair-y" Good Time

I love the County Fair - the smells - popcorn, pizza, boiled peanuts, and sausages; the sights - the exhibits, the livestock, the carnies; and the rides.

Today, after work, my sister and I went to the fair.  I purchased admission tickets and armbands online and saved $16.00 - not bad.  The first thing we did when we got there was to visit the "Old Florida" exhibition.

Moosemobile

We went through all the exhibits and I got a bunch of free pencils and other stuff.  Then we went and looked at the livestock.

Isn't this the cutest little guy you've ever seen?

OK, I know you're thinking, "what's up with the cow and the pig?"  Well, my favorite number just happens to be 23 and, you guessed it, these are pictures of cow #23 and pig #23.  Come on, I had to take a picture of them!

Afterwards, we went on the rides.  I confess to being a coward; the scrambler is about the limit for me.  I usually ride the same three or four rides until I get sick to my stomach.

I took this photo while I was riding on the scrambler - wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Finally, no trip to the fair is complete until I buy the biggest bag of cotton candy that I can find - pure sugar and pure heaven for me.

Household Notebook

A few days ago I wrote about how disorganized I am right now.  Sometimes it's amazing that I get anything done.  While stumbling around on the internet, I've seen some great websites that show you how to make a household notebook.  Organizedhome.com has free printable planner forms that you can download and make your own household notebook.  Another good website is "money saving mom."

I went with organized home because I believe that their forms are more relevant for me.  Here's how I put my notebook together.

daily do-it checklist - this is where I listed all the things that I want to accomplish on a daily basis.  My list includes feeding my dogs and cat, making my bed, doing a morning devotional, eating breakfast, brushing and flossing my teeth, showering, moisturizing, taking my vitamins, drinking 8 glasses of water, exercising, and checking my email.

daily planner - this is my personal to do list and is divided into the following sections: "to do", "to go", "to call", "to buy", and "what's for dinner?".  I like the idea of dividing things up into categories.

weekly planner - this is my work to do list and is divided into days.  I actually am pretty well organized at work, but this still helps me stay on track.

monthly calendar - I carry a calendar in my purse also, but the monthly calendar in my notebook has more room to write things down and I color-coded it - green for bills; yellow for work appointments; blue for personal appointments, and pink for mystery shops.

shopping list - makes it easy to keep track of what I need to purchase

weekly menu plan

freezer inventory

pantry inventory

blank sheets of paper

monthly budget - I couldn't find a printable form that I liked, so I just included my handwritten budget.

It's a work in progress, but I hope to get to the point where it's indispensable.

Bubble Up Pizza

This is a wonderful recipe that I got from al.com.  It's just another great recipe to make that's easy and tastes good.  I modified it slightly using ingredients that I already had on hand.

Bubble Up Pizza
1 can of Grands buttermilk biscuits, 16.3 oz
1 jar of pizza sauce (I used pasta sauce)
2 cups of cheese
your favorite pizza toppings (sausage & pepperoni are my faves)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Cut biscuits into quarters and place in a medium size bowl.  Toss biscuits with 1 cup of sauce.  Add pizza toppings and half the cheese.  Toss until well blended.  Spray a 9" x 13" pan with cooking spray.  Pour biscuit mixture into pan and top with remaining sauce and cheese.  Bake at 375 for 25 - 30 minutes or until biscuits are done.

It is so good!