Tastefully Tueday...

Got your baking done for the season?  Well if you are done congratulations!  If not here is the worlds easiest cookie recipe, every time I make these they are gone within two days.  I grew up with my mom making these and they were always the first to go then too, funny how some things never change.

Cornflake Crisps

5 Cups Cornflakes
12 ounces chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter

Put the chocolate chips and peanut butter in a glass bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. Remove the bowl and mix (the chips will look like they haven't melted because they will hold their form until stirred)  if you need to melt them a little more do it in 10 - 15 second bursts or you may over cook and break the chocolate making a gritty mess.  When they are done just mix in the cornflakes and coat them well.  Spoon the mixture out on wax paper or cookie sheets and let them cool.  If you live in a cold area you can always set them outside for a few minutes, that will do the trick.  If you want to present them as gifts you can spoon them out into little muffin cups.

Coupons:

$0.50 off Nestle Toll House Morsels
$1.00 off 3 Kellogg's Rice or Cocoa Krispies, Corn Flakes, or Crispix Cereal at Target

Today's no cook idea is from Restaurant.com, through 12/7 they are offering $25 gift certificates for as low as $2! Just enter the coupon code GIFT at check-out! These are great gifts for secret Santa's, stocking stuffer or a little something for yourself, also a great way to try a new place without spending a lot of cash.

Hope you are all having a great Tuesday!

C.Q.

Thursdays picture perfect deal...

The picture...

The other day we had our little 6 point male buck in the yard, he is growing into a very handsome boy.  We have quite a few deer, we don't feed them but they do love to come and see if the birds have thrown anything out of the feeders.

The deal...

Now through December 13th Spa Finder has an awesome deal going, buy one gift certificate and get one of equal value at 20% off!  That means you can either give more or get more, or both. You could get a $100.00 certificate for your best friend or daughter and have a special day together with you certificate only cosing $80.00 or you could make your child's favorite teacher, hair dresser or mail carrier very happy with a $25.00 certificate for them and one costing only $20.00, its a great way to get your nails done at a discount.  This deal is only good through December 13th though so you need to hurry, just use coupon code HOLIDAY20 at the checkout.

Have a fantastic day everyone!

C.Q.

Eating up the savings...

The folks who know me know that I am somewhat of a foodie, I enjoy dining out and if I were unable to go out at least once a month I would get a little glum so I have found ways to be able to do this without over spending. I have touched on a few of these ideas before but I just read a great little article in the Consumerist that made me think its time to bring this up again.  With money still tight for folks we can tend to get a little stir crazy because we are staying home more, its nice to be able to get out and have a nice sit down dinner away from home where someone else cook, serves and cleans.  This may sound like something that could potentially break the bank but there are some great ways to save money and indulge at the same time.

First, check all the great general sites for discounts and half off gift cards.  If you live in areas served by Groupon, Half Off Deals,  Neo Fill and Half Off Depot check out the savings on their sites, also remember to check out your area Entertainment book for additional coupons that can be used together with your half price gift certificates.  The other fantastic place to check is Restaurant.com where you can find gift certificates for area dining at more than 50% off plus, if you use coupon code AUTUMN right now you will save 80%.  They are also giving a free $10.00 gift card with every order. 

Before you head off to dinner be sure to check out Facebook and Twitter as well, many restaurants are trying to get dollars in their door through social media and will offer an instant coupon if you follow them on line.  Also check the establishments web site directly, many times you can find promotions and coupons there as well.  While you are at the restaurants web site to sign up for their birthday clubs if they have one, then you will get some great deals when your birthday rolls around each year.

Next is to figure out the best time to go to a restaurant, some places have great deals on Monday's to get traffic through the door; or consider making appetizers your meal, you will get to try a couple of items for less than the price of a full meal, and some places offer great appetizers for half off during Happy Hour.  If you decide to use Happy Hour to stretch your dollars remember not to order more than  one drink, better still just have a soda or a glass of water.  Again, checking the restaurants web site to look at the menu in advance will also help you stay within your budget, knowing what you want to order before you are even seated can really help your bottom line, also you will be able to see if where you are going has joined the new wave of dining establishments with a prix fixe menu.  These are great and let you have some of the best food at quite a reduced cost. While you are there consider what you may want to take home for later, many restaurants offer large portions which you can easily make into two meals, plus, if you are at a place that serves free salad, bread sticks or chips for a starter then you can have the freebies to fill you up a little, allowing you more to take home and enjoy later. If you qualify for it, be sure to ask the waitstaff about a senior discount as well, you have earned that discount, why not ask for it?

I also found a great web site called Pocket your Dollars while writing this article that I think can help you find even more savings.  I would love to hear some of your tips for a great night out at a fancy restaurant.

Have a great weekend everyone!

C.Q.

Dining on less Dollars...

I love to dine out and consider myself to be a bit of a foodie so the last thing I wanted to do in this economy was to eat at home more. Thankfully I was able to find some great sites that really pared down the amount we spent on meals out and continue to save us a lot of cash.

Groupon offers a deal a day for many cities, these deals are half off or more and are not always for dining, you can find some great deals on spas and services as well. Living Social also does one deal per day for a variety of markets.

HalfOffDeals.com has local deals for many areas, they offer multiple deals and they are all half off. However, instead of getting one certificate you usually get two that need to be used on different occasions. For example if you order $50 of certificates for $25 you will get two $25 certificates to use on two occasions.

Sudden Values offers money off printable coupons to area merchants, both services and restaurants. Most areas offer a lot of different discounts, some are half off offers, other are just coupons for savings, be sure to check the expiration dates.

Where I live we have a several sites that all start with www.thebestof_______.com. I did a little checking and this seems to be true for a lot of areas with some exceptions. I tried thebestofChicago, Boston, Houston, New York and San Francisco and the site was available for all of them. Give it a try and see if it works in your are. These sites all offer discount coupons and half of gift certificates.

Of course Restaurant.com always has terrific deal on dining, usually you can get a $25.00 certificate for only $10.00, sometimes even less.

It is also worthwhile to check out WOW Coupons for any printable coupons that can be used together with your discounted gift certificates to stretch your savings even further.

Enjoy your weekend everyone!

C.Q.

Sitdown meal deals...

Ok, we covered the fast food options available, time for the sit down options for when you have a little more time. One of the easiest ways I can think of for sit down meal savings is with gift cards. You can purchase them at a discount at a variety of places and if you find a coupon to use at the restaurant you can save even more. Here are some site that have cards with examples of the savings:

Plastic Jungle has Applebees cards at up to 11% off face value.

Ebay has a whole category dedicated to Gift certificates, narrow your search to restaurants and you can find some good deals, a Ruth Chris $100 card just sold for $90.01 with free shipping, that's 10% off. Make sure to watch the shipping charges at eBay though, they can be very high with some sellers.

Gift Cards Again has a $100.00 Outback Steak House card available for $91.00, a 9% savings.

ABC Gift Cards currently has Baja Fresh certificates for 10% off and Planet Hollywood certificates for 12& off and free shipping on all orders.

Of course there is always the popular Restaurant.com where you can find discount certificates for pennies on the dollar. These are an awesome value. They have a promotion going until 1/12/10 11:59pm, if you enter coupon code CHOW you will get an additional 50% off.

There are a lot of printable coupons available now for area restaurants;

Boston Market has $3.00 off when you sign up for their email news letter.

California Kitchen is offering a free kids meal on their birthday month just for registering with them.

Chili's has a coupon for a free chips and queso when you join their email list.

Chuck E. Cheese's has a few coupons available through February 3rd for those nights out with the kids, deals include 1 large pizza, 4 soft drinks and 25 game tokens for $18.99 and buy 60 tokens get 40 free.

Godfathers Pizza has 5 current coupons including one for a buy one get one medium pizza.

The Melting Pot will give you a free chocolate fondue for joining their mailing list (This would be great for valentines day!!)

Be sure to check all your local papers as well, they usually have some great deals as well. Have a great start to the week everyone.

C.Q.

The art of giving and getting....

Tis the season for hustle and bustle, but it doesn't have to be stressful and expensive. If you have folks that are hard to shop for one of the best things to give are gift cards. They fit perfectly in a card, no gift wrap required. The best part is that there are a lot of places this year offering gift cards free with a purchase of either merchandise or other gift cards. That means that if its a store you like you can keep the bonus for yourself or you can send the windfall on as a gift to someone else and make your dollar go even further.

If you live by a CVS Pharmacy, they currently have a promotion going, for every $25 worth of gift card by Email (eGift Card) purchased, the purchaser receives a $5 eGift Card, they will send you just one gift card based on your total purchase, so if you spend $25.00 you will get a $5.00 E-card, and if you spend $150.00 on gift cards you will get a $30.00 E-card.

Best Buy is currently running a promotion on their DVDs, if you buy 5 DVDs totaling at least $50.00 from their extensive list they will give you a $25.00 gift card.

Got an outdoor person on your list? L.L. Bean is offering a free $10.00 gift card with a purchase of $25.00 or more, note here that you will not get more for spending more so your best bet is to stick to the $25.00. The $10.00 gift certificate is only good until February 16,2010.

Applebees is offering a $10.00 bonus card when you spend $50.00 on gift cards, but you can not buy them on line, you need to go into the store.

If you live in the Duluth area our local Black Woods / Black Water restaurants are offering a deal if you are a member of their diner club. Buy a $100 gift certificate and they will give you an additional $25.00 gift certificate. You can mix and match these which is really nice. I got the 1st card to Black Woods because I know we love it and we go quite a bit with my niece, and I got the $25.00 card to Black Water because we haven't been there and have wanted to try it, this will get us to go and it will be close to free.

There are a few ways to get gift cards at below cost. First you can always check eBay, however there are even less expensive venues out there. My friend Bernie found a site I hadn't seen before that I am very excited to order from its called Plastic Jungle and they ship for free! If you have ever used it yourself I would love to hear about it. There is also the Gift Card Rescue, where you can sell, exchange or buy discounted cards, they also have free shipping. Also, if you live near a Costco they sell gift cards for all sorts of places at below face value. (Super saver tip: If you can get a discount Costco gift card and use it to purchase discounted gift cards to other stores you can save up to 60%!)

Finally, if your looking for a great way to present your gift instead of just popping it in an envelope then check out the Gift Card Girlfriend for a ton of wonderful and creative ideas!

Hope you are all having a wonderful week!

C.Q.