And the winner is...

The winner of the Go-Gurt Prize Pack is...

Sarah (coupons850@)


Congratulations! 
I will be emailing you shortly!


Thanks for everyone that entered! I hope to bring you more giveaways in the near future, so be on the look out!

New Uses for Milk Jugs

For more new uses, click here.

I love finding uses for recyclable things other than recycling. Here are some great uses for milk jugs.

• Cut the top off and use it as a scoop
• Use the top as a funnel (especially great for things you don't want in your kitchen funnels, like motor oil).
• Cut the top off and use as a container to plant in
• Make a watering can for flowers. (Your kids can even decorate the outside to make it look pretty)
• Use it to organize craft supplies (or anything really). Depending on what you are storing, you may choose to cut off the tops or leave the bottle intact.
• Make a bird house.
• Use it to collect rainwater, which you can use to water your garden.
• Cut off the top below the handle and you have a handy scooper.
• Cut off the top below the handle and you have great container with a handle to pour paint into. This is especially useful for trim work or cutting in.
• Use them as banks for children (or for a vacation fund, loose change, etc.). Your kids can decorate it for the occasion. Just cut a slit to fit the money through. I especially love THIS milk jug piggy bank.
• Cut pieces of plastic into large triangles to use as plant markers for the garden.
• Use jugs filled with water to weigh down. This could be useful for holding down something you are trying to glue or to get a rolled up poster to lay flat.
• Poke holes in the bottom and cut off the top and use it to rinse fruit and veggies in.
• Cut the bottom off to use as a plant saucer.
• Use it as a dust pan. Just cut at an angle, and be sure to leave a flat side.
• Make a bailer for a boat by cutting the bottom off.
• Hand Weights. 1 Gallon= about 8 lbs.
• Maracas for kids. Fill with beans or beads, and you have a fun instrument.
• Hornet Trap.
• Fill with water or sand and place into the tank of the toilet to cut down on the amount of water per flush. (A half-gallon would probably be best for this purpose).

Do you have a great use for a milk jug? Feel free to share below and I will add it to the list!

Publix Ad

Michelle over at iheartpublix has this weeks ad up. You can find it HERE.

There doesn't seem to be much I am excited about, but sometimes when I go back later I find more.

***Don't forget to enter my giveaway for free Go-gurt and a "Keeping Cool in School" gift pack. Click here for more info.

Monday Money Sense- Credit Reports

How many credit reports are there?
In the U.S. there are three: Experian, Transunion, and Equifax

What is in a credit report?

• Personal Identification Information- This section includes your name, current address, previous address(es), social security, employment, and other names you might have had.
• Credit Account Information- This section includes all credit accounts (open and closed). It shows the payment history, date opened, credit limit, current balance, and high balance(what is the highest the balance has been). It also includes a pay status which is whether the account is in good standing or not. Each account will also show a type of account. The type can be revolving or installment, as well as individual or joint.
• Public Records- This will be records of public action, such as bankruptcies and foreclosures.
• Negative Accounts- This is going to be accounts like collection accounts. Collection accounts can be for anything not just credit accounts. It can be a medical bill, library fine, or anything that you owe money for.
• Promotional Inquiries- These are people/businesses who have pulled your credit report for promotional items. This might also be inquiries from if you pulled it from a free credit report site. These inquiries can only be seen by you and they do not affect your score.
• Account Review Inquiries- These are businesses that have pulled your credit for an account review or business transaction. These again are only seen by you and do not affect your credit score. This may be your credit card pulling your credit to change your terms.
• Inquiries- These are inquiries used to establish your credit. These are often inquiries for mortgages, loans, credit cards, and occasionally land lords and insurance. These can be seen by others and do affect your credit.

How often should I check my credit report?

At least once of year. Many people have mistakes on their credit report, and the only way to check them is to check your credit report at least once a year. It takes time to fix mistakes, so you want to catch them well before you try to get a loan. You are entitled to a free credit report from each company annually. You can get it HERE. If you have never checked your credit report, it would be wise to check them all at once. If you have checked your credit report before, you may want to spread out your free ones across the year.

What if I find an error?

Many of the companies have this information on their website, and many you can do online. When you receive your credit report, there should be information on how to start a dispute/investigation. When you start a dispute or investigation, you may need proof of what ever you are claiming (this is especially true for information such as addresses, names, and personal information). For accounts that have errors they will contact the company and ask them to verify the information on the report. It can be very long and annoying process. Once the investigation is complete, the company will send you a notice of it's completion and you will receive a new credit report. 

What if the dispute comes back and says the information is right, but I know it is wrong?

I definitely understand this one. I once checked my credit report to find two collections on it. Both were from medical accounts that I had no idea I owed money on. They were both due to billing/insurance issues (and ironically neither medical office ever sent me a bill). These took some work on my part of calling the medical offices and the insurance companies. In the end they told me they would remove it from my credit report, but I filed another dispute stating that with the credit bureaus, just in case. Disputes can be very annoying, but stand strong. You should also keep copies of everything concerning your dispute, and make sure that it stays removed.

Hopefully that makes things a little clearer, but feel free to ask any questions! Next week we will look at credit scores.

For more Money Sense, click here.

Tax-Free School Supplies and Clothes

Just a reminder for those in Florida today begins tax-free school shopping!

From today until August 15th (3 days!) you can get the following tax-free:

• School Supplies $10 or less
• Clothing under $50
• Footwear under $50
• Books under $50
• Diapers!!! (I'm serious, it's on the official list)

The following are NOT included:

• School Supplies over $10 
• Clothing, Footwear, and Books over $50
• Anything bought in an amusement park or other "tourist-type" place (hotels, gift-shops, etc.)

Check out the official publication from the Department of Revenue for more information. It can be found HERE.

Friday Favorites- Giveaway!

Ok so a fairly recent discovery for me is Go-Gurt. I knew it was around, but only recently tried it. It's great because you can take it anywhere and you don't need a spoon! I regularly use it as a quick part of an on-the-go breakfast.

I don't have any school age children, but I do have a school teacher husband! Go-Gurt is great to pack in his lunch. The best part is I can freeze it and put it in his lunch box and it thaws by time he eats! In fact, Go-Gurt is specially made to be frozen and thawed.

For those watching their weight (or trying to feed their kids less artificial foods), I highly recommend Simply Go-Gurt. It's only 70 calories and is free of artificial colors, flavors, and sweeteners (including high-fructose corn syrup). It is so good. My 16 month old daughter begs for it whenever I eat mine, and I feel good about giving it to her.

The folks at Yoplait and MyBlogSpark have supplied me with a great gift pack full of lots of goodies for back to school and a coupon for free Go-Gurt*. Not only that, but they are providing one of my readers with a gift pack as well.

To Enter:
1. Leave a Comment sharing your (or your kids) favorite flavor
2. Subscribe to Frugal and Provident
3. Follow Frugal and Provident with Google Friend Connect (found in the Right Column)
4. Leave a Comment with your favorite lunch recipe.

This means you can enter up to four times! Please leave a comment for each entry. I will choose a winner on Tuesday 8/17 around noon.

Disclosure: Yoplait and MyBlogSpark provided me with info and a prize pack for me and my winner. All comments and opinions are my own.


*Coupon not valid in ID, LA, MN, NV, NJ, ND, and TN.


Good Luck!

P.S. Don't forget about the 85¢/1 coupon HERE.

Publix Trip 8/12/10

I spent $27.43 for $134.19 worth of groceries, saving $106.76 or 80%. But I will submit for the $5 Kellogg's Gift Card which makes my savings 83%.

(Not pictured 1 Reach Floss and 1 Publix Deli Drink)

Check out my original list here.

Added:
(1) Reach Floss $1.49
    -$1/1 Internet Printable (Not sure which site it's from)
    -$1/1 Publix Coupon $15 of Savings Sheet
(1) Publix Deli Soda $1.19
(2) Composition Books 2/$1
     (Applied the $2 off School Supplies to it)
(1) Additional Papermate Pens 2/$1
     -(1) 50¢/1 HERE
(1) Sirloin Tip Steak $2.07
(1)Zephyrhill's 6-pk 2/$4
     -$1 wyb 2 boxes of Cheez-it



Deleted:
(2) Toufayan Pita Wraps because it was bagels on sale
(3)Dr. Pepper because it was coke products at my store
(1)Tostitos for the same reason as above
(4)Sundown Vitamin D because they were out
(1) Stayfree because I did not get the BOGO coupon in my paper (but the pack I got was a bonus pack)
Milk because it wasn't on sale at my store either :-(


Prices, Price Changes, and Coupon Changes:
(2)Busy Bone 2/$7 (free after coupons!)
(2) Ocean Spray Fruit and Veggie BOGO $3.99 not $3.25 (I asked about this one and they said it was included, but then it rang up wrong... but they gave it to me for BOGO anyway... so I would ask)
     -$1/1 Peelie Found on Bottle
(4) Del Monte BOGO $2.45 not $2.75 (I was able to use the Target q's I only had two though because my husband's computer has bit the dust )
(2)Kraft Mac and Cheese BOGO $1.29 not $1.19 (but with my free item coupon both were free!)
(2) Kellogg's Mini Wheats BOGO $4.19 not $3.89
(2)Cheez-it BOGO $3.99 not $3.29
(1)Broccoli 2/$4
(1) Fruit Salad $2.84


-$5/$25 Purchase Save-a-lot Coupon


I had my favorite cashier this week except she changed the way she rings up her coupons this week (she matched coupons to items as she went), so it took a little longer.


For fun here's a list of free items I got:
-Stayfree 32 ct Bonus Pack
-Reach Dental Floss + overage
-(2) Lunchables + overage
-(2)Kraft Mac and Cheese
-(1)Store Brand Soda +overage
-(2) Beggin Strips
-(2)Busy Bones
-(2)Smart Taste Ronzoni +overage
-(2) Packs Papermate Pens
-(2) Pack Bic Mechanical Pencils
-(3)Spiral Notebooks
-(2)Composition Books
-(2)Ocean Spray Fruit and Veggie (The cashier asked and they took both the $2 off wyb Frosted Mini Wheats and the 2 $1/1 Peelies since one was from Kellogg's and the other Ocean Spray)

Frugality- Learning the Sale Cycles and the Best Prices

For more frugal tips, click here.


"Is ____ dollars a good price for that?"
"How often does ______ go on sale?"
"It seems like that never goes on sale, so should I just buy it now?"

I see these questions all the time online! And the funny thing is the answer is fairly simple... learn your sale cycles! Here are the steps to figure them out.

1. When you first start couponing, don't fall into the urge to buy everything because it is on sale and you have a coupon for it. You could actually end up spending more money that way.
2. Take some time to learn how things cycle. Some things cycle every 3-4 weeks, some 6, some 12. There are very few things that cycle longer than that. That being said they won't be the same sale price every time. I feel like everything goes on sale at some point.
3. The easiest way to learn the cycle is just to pay attention to the circular each week. You may even collect them for a couple of months.
4. Alternately, you can also go to your favorite deal matching site and use their history and/or search function to see how often things go on sale. Here's a link to the archive of weekly ad's on iheartpublix. You can go back pretty far with it.
5. Make a list of what your family uses most often. Try to find what the frequency for sales is for those items. 
6. Limit your purchases. You don't need to buy pasta every time there is a good sale if you already have a stockpile of it. Buy a couple to replenish what you've used, but don't go crazy. Pasta cycles fairly often.
7. Be aware of seasonal cycles. For example, baking sales are best in winter. Grilling sales are best in summer.Currently with the fall we are seeing all the back to school sales on food for lunches. This is sometimes the lowest point you will see them all year (but that doesn't mean they won't go on sale again...)
8. Establish your stock-up price. While you may see stock-up prices on deal matching sites, it is best for you to be realistic about what you can do. Depending on where you live, prices may just be higher in your area and so you may never reach the price they have as a stock-up price. You may not have enough storage for 100 boxes of cereal at the lowest point, so your stock-up price may be more forgiving. If you only buy organic, whole grain, sugar-free, or gluten free varieties, you may have higher stock-up prices. 
9. Don't feel like a failure if some weeks you have to buy something at a price higher than your stock-up price! This is why I recommend a weekly budget and not a specific amount of savings.

Below I will list some cycles as I see them. Keep in mind that sometimes things will vary slightly from this list.

Things that cycle fairly regularly:

By this I mean that at least one brand goes on sale about once a month or more often. This does not mean it is necessarily the cheapest you will see it, or your most favorite brand.

-Bread, pasta, pasta sauce, juice, peanut butter, soda, lunch meat, diapers, wipes, baby food, cookies, crackers, cleaning products, salad dressing, bagged salad, cereal

Things that cycle less often:

By this I mean every 6-12 weeks.

-Paper goods, pet foods, cat litter, meats, frozen foods, chips, some personal care items, cheese, yogurt, otc medicines, boxed baked goods, refrigerated baked goods

Things that cycle rarely:

This is a very slim category, and pretty much means anything that happens a few times a year.

-Baking staples (flour, sugar, yeast, salt, chocolate chips, brown sugar, etc.), spices and extracts, seasonal fruits and vegetables, school supplies, specialty items (this is a broad term to include foods for special diets, "green" items, organics, etc.)

Join me next week for more frugal tips!

Shopping List for 8/12/10

Blue=Manufacturer's
Green= Publix
Red= Competitor's


(2)Toufayan Pita Wraps BOGO $1.99 (there seems to be differences on this one on different sites, so we'll see when I get to the store...)

(2)Ronzoni BOGO $1.39
    -(2)$1/1 Smart Taste Coupons from Magazines (if included, I've seen it being reported both ways...)


(2)Tyson Frozen Chicken Products BOGO $6.59
   -(1) $1/1 from newspaper (I clipped it so I'm not sure which one)
   -(1) $1/1 Peelie


(2)Purina Beggin Strips BOGO $3
   -(1) BOGO peelie


(2) Busy Bone
   -(2)Free wyb Beggin Strips from 7/11/10 SS


(2) Ocean Spray BOGO $3.25
    -$2 off wyb (2) Frosted Mini Wheats


(4) Del Monte Fruit  Bowls BOGO $2.75
    -(1) $2/3 from Children's Miracle Network Donation
    -(?) $1/1 Target Coupon (wording says 6-pack, but 4-pack is shown, haven't found a 6-pack)


(2) Kraft Mac and Cheese BOGO $1.19
   -Free Kraft Cheese Explosion from special promotion(if included) 


(2)Kellogg's Frosted Mini-Wheats BOGO $3.89
   -(1)$1/2 HERE
   -(1)$1/2 Kellogg's Cereal Target Q HERE
   -$5 MIR wyb 5 Kellogg's/Keebler/Sunshine/Eggo Products

(2) Cheez-it BOGO $3.29
    -$2 off School Supplies wyb 2 Cheez-it
    -$1 off Bottled Water wyb 2 (not sure if I will do this one)
    - $5 MIR wyb 5 Kellogg's/Keebler/Sunshine/Eggo Products


(2) Arnold Whole Grain Bread BOGO $3.69

(3) Dr. Pepper B2G1 $4.76
     -B2G1 Publix Yellow Advantage Buy


(1) Tostitos
     -Free wyb 3 Pepsi Products Yellow Advantage Buy


(?) Milk $1.99
   (I've read this could be regional so I am crossing my fingers, if it is on sale I may buy a few!)

(2)Bic Pencils 10pk 3/$3
    -$1/2 HERE
    -$1/2 Target HERE

(3) Top Flight Notebooks 3/$1

(1) Paper Mate Pen 10 ct 2/$1
   -.50¢/1 Target HERE

(4) Sundown Vitamin D
   -(4) $1/1 Peelies
   -(2) $6/2 Publix Green Advantage Buy (exp. 8/12)


(2) Stayfree $1.99
   -(1)BOGO Coupon from 6/27/10 RP
   -(1) $1/1 HERE
   -(2) $1/1 from $15 of Savings Flyer


Produce
    -(2) $1 off Produce Target Coupon HERE

(2) Lunchables 10/$10
   -(2) $1/1 HERE
   -(2) 50¢/1 HERE

(2)Land O' Frost Lunchmeat $2.99
    -(2)$1/1 HERE

(2)Sorrento Sticksters 2/$6
    -(1)$1/1 Peelie
    -(1) 75¢/1 Blinkie


(2) Keebler Cracker Packs
   -(1)$1/2 HERE
   -$5 MIR WYB 5 Kellogg's/Keebler/Sunshine/Eggo Products

(1) Store Brand Soda
   -$1 off wyb 2 Keebler Sandwich Crackers Tearpad




May be more coming later... I'm still figuring a few things out. If not on this post, then it will be on the trip post.

Water Storage- Purifying Water

For more emergency prep information, click here.

For whatever reason, you may find yourself at some time with the need to purify water. Remember that this should be used only in an absolute last resort, and that the best idea is to store an adequate amount of water for your family.

There are many ways water can be contaminated, so often the best way to purify water is by using more than one method. I will outline several methods below, and explain what they best eliminate.

Filtration

1. Using a coffee filter or layers of paper towels, pour water through.
2. Collect water in a bowl underneath.
3. Repeat several times.

Pros

-Filters out sediment and hard metals

-Easy

Cons

-Doesn't remove micro-organisms.

Boiling

1. In a large pot or kettle, bring water to a rolling boil.
2. Boil for 1 minute.
3. Let cool.
4. You may need to add oxygen back into the water. This can be done by passing the water back and forth between two clean containers.

Pros

-Kills most micro-organisms.

Cons

-Does not remove large particles, chemicals, or sediment. You will need to use filtration first.

-Requires a cooking source.

Chlorination

1. First, make sure you are using only regular household bleach. Do not use scented, colorsafe, or bleach with other cleaners. It is also recommended that you use a new bottle of bleach, as old opened bleach loses potency with time.
2. Add 16 drops (1/8 tsp) of bleach to 1 gallon of water.
3. Stir.
4. Let stand for 30 min.
5. The water should have a slight bleach odor. If it does not , repeat steps 1-3, and let stand for an additional 15 min.
6. If it still does not smell of bleach, discard the water, and find another water source.

Pros

-Kills most micro-organisms.

Cons

-Does not remove large particles, chemicals, or sediment. You will need to use filtration first.

-Concerns over potency of bleach over a few days.

Distillation

1. Fill a pot half-way with water.
2. Tie a cup (that will not melt) to the handle of the pot's lid. (See image below)
3. The cup should hang right-side up when the lid is upside down. Also, make sure the cup does not dangle in the water.
4. Boil the water for 20 min.
5. The water that drips from the lid into the cup is distilled.

Pros

-Kills micro-organisms (more than boiling or chlorination).

-Removes heavy metals, salts, and sediment.

Cons

-Requires a cooking source.

-A little more labor intensive.

-May not produce a large quantity of water.

Hopefully, you will try out some of these methods now to become familiar with them. Next week, I will provide you with a list of great resources, so I hope you will return for that!