the where and how of saving for a baby in your life! (part 1_

I've been asked for help in getting the best deals for babies. There are tons of resources, and I will do my best to cover them all.

I'll start out by repeating some of what I have said in other couponing posts. One of the best ways to save money is to shop at stores where you can stack a manufacturers coupon with a store coupon.
An example from September:
Avent pacifier $4.79 Manufacturerer coupon for $1.50 (price $3.29) Store coupon 2.00 total price= 1.29 for a 2 pack! This is a great price for a pack of pacifiers! (this deal is now expired, but you can occassionally find coupons to stack for pacifiers).

Stores that I know stack coupons:
Walgreens
CVS
Rite Aid
Target
(most grocery stores)

Another good deal is combining a coupon with a store incentive, such as Walgreens Register Rewards.

an example: (this deal is made up, but similar to one from the past)
Pedia Care fever reducer 2/$5
manufacturer coupon: $1 (use one coupon for each)-- $3.00
Buy $10 worth of pedia care, get $5 register rewards

deal: buy 4 pedia care fever reducers -- $10.
use 4 $1.00/1 coupons -$4.00
total out of pocket= $6.00 get back a register reward for $5.00 to use towards your next purchase (cannot be for more pedia care, or you won't get the next register reward). Many people consider this to be like paying 25 cents for each of the pedia cares.. but I'm not really sure I agree.. you spent the money out of your pocket, so the real savings comes when you use your register reward on something else.
Stores that have this type of thing:
Walgreens- Register Rewards
CVS- (I don't remember the name of their rewards programs)
Rite Aid- Up rewards
Target- (sorta) they do gift cards on occasion which CAN be rolled on the same product!

A note.. RRs, CVS bucks, and Up Rewards are considered manufacturer coupons, so you have to make sure you have at least one product per manufacturer coupon you use, this is where "fillers" come in. (fillers are extremely cheap items you pick up to give you enough merchandise to cover all Manufacturer coupons--typically under a dollar).

to be continued...

souse chicken

a friend of mine from the Bahamas shared this recipe with me. I am going to substitute the wings for boneless skinless chicken breast, only because not everyone in the family likes chicken on the bone, and while the kids are little, I don't want them dealing with the bones either.

This looks pretty good, and pretty easy. I will be trying it soon :)

Here are the ingredients. (1) 24 chicken wings Separated (2) 3 table spoons of Lime Juice (3) 1 teaspoon of seasoned salt (4) 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil (5) 1 large onion diced (6) 1/2 green pepper diced (7) 6 large potatoes pealed and diced (8) 3 carrots diced (9) 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (10) 1 tablespoon ground allspice (11) 2 bay leaves (12) 3/4 cup of lime juice (13) 3 cups of water (14) salt and black pepper to taste.


Directions. (1)Toss the chicken wings with 3 tablespoons of lime juice and the seasoned salt.Set aside to marinate at room temperature for 1 hour.(2) Heat the vegetable oil in a large pot over medium heat.Add the onion and green pepper.Cook and stir until the onion has softended and begun to brown,about 10 minutes add the potatoes,carrots,red pepper flakes,allspice bay leaves,marinated chicken, lime juice, and water.Bring to a simmer,then reduce heat to medium-low,cover,and continue simmering until the chicken is no longer pink at the bone,and the vegetables are tender,about 40 minutes.Season to taste with salt and pepper before serving.