In case you missed my note last weekend, Rise and Shine is a new morning post that I’ll be doing. It’s my way of having coffee with you and sharing a lot of information in one post (instead of many small posts or not at all). I hope to have it published every morning by 5:30 a.m. PST. So meet me here every day and let’s rise, shine, and save together. 🙂
Good morning! If you read about this in today’s News Tribune or Olympian and this is your first visit here – WELCOME! We do one thing really well around here and that’s save money, while having fun of course. Hope you stick around!
I went to Trader Joe’s yesterday afternoon and they have pumpkins for only $2.99 each. I like it when stores offer them at a flat price, then I don’t have to weigh them and try to guess how much it will cost. They also have live basil plants for $2.99. I bought one of each and it was the best $6 I’ve spent so far this week. 🙂 What’s your favorite Trader Joe’s product? I just had their Naan last week and. . .well, it let’s just say it was Naan-existent after only 24 hours in our house – it is delicious! p.s. You CAN you use coupons at Trader Joe’s if you have a manufacturer coupon for an item there. The challenge is a lot of the items are Trader Joe’s brand, which really isn’t a problem (if you ask me) because it’s so affordable to begin with.
p.s. Speaking of pumpkins, if you’re brave enough, watch for big pumpkin displays outside Albertsons, Fred Meyer and Safeway this fall and plop the kids into the middle of them for some candid photos with a bunch of pumpkins. I’m tacky like that and have done it in the past. You just need to be aware that people WILL probably stare at you as they go in and out of the stores. But they usually stare at me anyway since I’m juggling two kids, a purse, a huge coupon box and my reusable bags. Of course be careful you don’t want pumpkins rolling on top of your kids, so be smart about where you plop them.
Okay, now for the good stuff. . .
COUPONS
Did you know that you can get a FREE annual membership to Coupons.com Savings Club? This offer ends at the end of this month – so if you’re interested you’ll want to sign up here before September 30. The Savings Club gets you higher value printable coupons! Learn more here.
These are my absolute favorite coupons on Coupons.com right now: $0.75/1 Keebler Town House Roasted Flatbread chips, use zip code 12345 (says redeemable at Hannaford, but doesn’t say redeemable ONLY at Hannaford and it’s a manufacturer coupon so you can use it anywhere). Also I like the $6/2 Schick Disposable razors and $1 off any Weight Watchers cheese coupons. Check for the latest coupons here.
Office Depot – Print a coupon for $10 off $50 for Office Depot
FAVORITE DEALS
FREE Cinnabon today only (Facebook link) at mall-based locations
The Safeway deal to get a $50 iTunes gift card for only $20 (mentioned yesterday in Rise & Shine) is working! We received confirmation from readers who tried it and it worked for them! SCORE! I love it. Try at your own risk, Safeway could pull it at anytime.
Albertsons deal of the day – Betty Crocker cake $0.69 cents each. TODAY only.
One of my favorite deals ever is still available – Get a fancy coffee pot, four packs of coffee, a scoop and filters for $9.99 shipped. Great gift idea! I’m not sure how much longer it will run, but I definitely recommend checking it out. I’ve had lots of positive reports back from readers and I ordered this and gave it to my grandma!
Don’t forget to order your boneless, skinless chicken breasts from Zaycon Foods only $1.69/lb! Available until it sells out or until October 9.
Today and tomorrow (September 25-26) when you spend $30 on almost anything at Walgreens you get 5,000 points, the equivalent of $5. See this week’s Walgreens deals here.
RECIPES & MEAL PLANNING
Last night for dinner we had Trader Joe’s Easy Peasy Pizza and homemade pica de gallo using a ton of tomatoes from our garden. Pizza and salsa is a well-rounded meal, right? The kids LOVED the pizza. The kids also ate a ton of pears and peaches (*see local note down below), topped off with a Popsicle thanks to the the QFC deal making them only $0.50 a box (ends today!).
I plan to make some marina sauce in the crockpot today using up the other tomatoes from the garden and if it turns out, I will share the recipe in the our Crock-tober series coming in October.
New grocery ads come in my mail today (I love Tuesdays!) so I’ll see what other kinds of deals we can find for meals the rest of the week. What’s on your menu plan this week? Albertsons, TOP Foods/Haggen and QFC deals should all be posted here sometime today. Safeway ads usually surface by early tomorrow, we get them up as early as we can.
FOR THE LOCAL NW FOLKS
Olympia/Lacey Stopped by Jay’s Farm stand yesterday and they have some fabulous prices. I got peaches and pears for $0.88/lb, gala apples for $0.59/lb, cilantro for $0.50, green peppers for $0.50 and celery for $0.59/lb. I asked if they do bulk discounts and they said they’ll take off $0.09 if you buy 20 pounds of something. So if apples are $0.99/lb you’ll get them for only $0.90 if you buy 20 pounds. You can always ask when you go what kind of deals they have to offer. I walked out of there with THREE huge bags of produce for $23!
Living Social: $12 for a Value Card with 110 points for rides and attractions at Family Fun Center & Bullwinkle’s restaurant (Edmonds or Tukwila) – TODAY only. Click on cities and select Seattle to see this offer
Got kids? Mark your calendar to go shopping at the LMNOP Consignment Sale next weekend, September 27, 28, 29, 30 at the Thurston County Fairgrounds Sokolik Building! Learn more about the sale here. Don’t live in the area? Check your community for a consignment sale – it’s a great way to make some extra cash and clean out unnecessary clothes and toys!
Groupon: Octoberfest Northwest – Puyallup Fair and Events Center – $12 (save 52% off) for the full weekend October 5-7 (click on cities –> Seattle)
ONLINE DISCOUNTS & PROMO CODES
Target Deal of the Day – Dyson Allergy Kit – $49.99, ships FREE (reg. $69.99)
Amazon Gold Box deal of the day: Madden NFL for XBox or Playstation – $39.99 (reg. $59.99). Gold Box deals are available until they sell out, one day only. You can also latest Gold Box deals here.They generally run in themes for the day but you never know.
Discount Magazine deals of the day:
Using the promo code QUEENBEE subscribe to:
Elle Magazine for only $4.50 per year (67% off)! You can order up to 4 years at this price!
CBS Watch! Magazine for only $5.29 per year (33% off)! You can order up to 2 years at this price!
Offers expire at Wednesday 09/26/12 11:59 p.m. EST
25% off purchase at Gap.com with promo code PRETTYGAP. Not valid on the following Gap merchandise: Leather and Suede Apparel, Denim Bottoms, Women’s & Men’s Cords, Cashmere, Women ‘s Panties, Baby Sleepwear and Playtime Favorites. Not valid on aden + anais®, Junk Food ™, Star Wars ™, Collegiate T’s®, Clu ™, Minnetonka ™, Threadless®, NuBra®, Medela®, GQ© and Bravado®. Expires 9/25 at 11:59 PM ET.
Snapfish – Enjoy 200 4×6 prints for just $20, including shipping, use code PRINTFOR20. Or get 100 prints for only $10, shipped with code PRINTFOR10. Use both codes as many times as you like through October 3.
Bath & Body Works – FREE shipping on 425+ order with promo code SCARECROW
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
September 29 – FREE coffee from Krispy Kreme, September 29. Don’t worry, we’ll remind you.
September 29 – National Parks FREE admission
So far I’m getting great feedback about this format – and I’d love your ideas or suggestions to make it better.
What are your plans today? What kind of deals can I help you find today?
Margot says
Hey Heather,
I got my $50 itunes gift card from Safeway for $20 this morning. Thanks for the heads up on that one!!! As for suggestions for this daily post, I know that on Mondays and Tuesdays, I like a reminder on good deals at the grocery stores ending on Tuesdays.
Thanks for all you do. (:
Stacy says
I’ll say that I’m tacky like that also. I have pictures of my son on random grocery displays. I had a friend give me the strangest look when I took her kid and plopped her son on a pumpkin display and took photos. I just told her since we weren’t making it to the pumpkin patch that year we were making our own. :).
Melinda D says
Thanks for the tip on the iTunes card. It worked for me as well. One Christmas present off my list. :). BTW the first coupon for $15 expires today.
Robyn says
I also love this new column! Trader Joes is wonderful – they have great salsas & dried fruits & nuts. They also have these multigrain rice crackers with soy sauce that have become my all-time favorite snack. Oh, and their cheeses are usually really good, too, and a lot cheaper than the fancier ones at Top Foods. Love Trader Joes!
Lori H says
Just wanted you to know that I enjoyed getting up and reading your post this morning:) Thank you for all your hard work.
Rochelle says
Love the new ‘Rise and Shine’ segment. I surf through many blogs and I have to say you have the most informative posts. I really do appreciate all your work. Thank you.
Heather says
Thank you Rochelle! Have a great day. 🙂