These bacon-wrapped scallops were the closest thing I could find! Credit: Fuzzy Gerdes/Flickr
The five winners of “Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half” have been announced on the Frugal Festival site!
Today’s book giveaway is for “Poor Girl Gourmet,” a cookbook that sticks to a $15 per meal budget.Contest ends 11:59 p.m. EST tonight, June 14, 2011.
More free food announced at this year’s Frugal Festival Food! Libertine will be passing out bacon-wrapped tater tots at the in-person event June 25 in Canoga Park. That line is going to be long!
Illustration by OConnorCartoons.com
USPS shipping coupon – Believe it or not, USPS is 50% off when you ship from Office Depot. Today only!
Home Depot workshop – There is a free workshop geared towards women using Martha Stewart Living products. The goal is to help you coordinate home decor while encouraging you to do home improvement projects.
Free soap – Get a free sample of Dawn Hand Renewal with Olay Beauty or Cascade® Complete All-in-1, when you are a bit of personal information and answer eight questions about your dish washing habits.
Restaurant.com – The latest Restaurant.com coupon gets you 80% off their $25 certs, which start at $10. Crunch, crunch, crunch. That means each $25 certificates is $2 each. Expires Sept. 13, 2010.
Check out all the coupons and deals on my WalletPop blog.
jpellgen/Flickr
This is a guest post from Marie, a long time reader of BargainBabe.com.
Most restaurants today offer great cost-conscious meals for those willing to search for them. Getting super deals when eating out is as simple as clicking keys.
The best way to get great deals is simply to visit their Internet sites, join their online member clubs, and take advantage of the great deals most restaurants offer on their sites and email regularly to their members.
It’s not just grownups that can benefit. You can fill in membership applications online for your children to get great free or low-priced offers. Here are a few examples, but you can find your own at almost any restaurant, simply by exploring their web sites.
Claim Jumpers Restaurants
Join the Claim Jumpers E-Club. Members receive a complimentary Small Bite Dessert for joining. Club members also receive monthly emails with exclusive offers, in-store promotions, etc.
Children 12 years of age and under can join the Little Jumpers Club to receive a FREE Build Your Own Sundae for joining and a FREE Little Jumpers meal on their birthday. You will also receive emails about children’s promotions and events at Claim Jumpers.
Benihana Restaurants
Benihana, the Japanese-style restaurants where food is cooked fresh on your table, have great online offers. Join the Benihana Chef’s Table club at www.benihana.com to get a Benihana Birthday Dinner certificate for a FREE meal of $30 or less during your birthday month. They will also take an instant birthday photo for you to keep as a souvenir.
Benihana is now launching Kabuki Kids for children 12 and under. Go to the site and fill out the form with the child’s name, birthday and address. Benihana will send the child a special postcard to bring into any participating Benihana during their birthday month for a FREE souvenir mug of their choice with the purchase of any Children’s meal.
Baja Fresh Restaurants
Join Club Baja to get email offers. Recent offers include a $5 coupon off any purchase of $15 or more (two can eat for this offer); a coupon for $2 off any $6 or more entree; and if you buy a Primo Taco Combo (which includes your choice of Langostino Lobster, Spicy Marinated Fire-Grilled Steak, and Blackened Mahi Mahi), you get the second Primo Taco Combo for $2.99.
Tip: Your Baja Fresh receipt often offers $2 off your next meal if you complete a survey.
I was very skeptical when I first heard about EasyLunchBoxes, a multi-compartment container that claims to save time, help the environment, and make you eat healthier. Ya, right.
Buuuuuut, EasyLunchBox creator Kelly Lester has some good points:
- her box, above, is easier than packing a brown bag lunch
- her box eliminates the need for plastic and paper bags
- lidded compartments expand your lunch options, creating more opportunities for healthy food
So I asked Kelly to send me a sample so I could check it out for myself. What I received was a plastic container similar to anything you can get at the grocery store. But it has three compartments and one lid. So all your food is together, but separate. With compartments instead of bags, you have more lunch options. Who ever tried putting hummus in a plastic baggie? The container is easy to wash and packing is quick.
A 4-pack of the containers goes for $14 on EasyLunchBoxes and an insulated carrying case is another $8. I’m giving away a free container set and carrying case to a reader who shares a tasty, healthy lunch perfect for the EasyLunchBox.
Here’s mine to get you started:
Cheese and lettuce sandwich
Hummus
Carrot sticks
Simple and delicious! Leave your suggestion as a comment!
Zeetz Jones/Flickr
This post is brought to you by Network Solutions, offering great deals on web hosting packages.
As a follow up to my earlier post about saving money by buying in-season vegetables, here is a list of in season fruits that should be cheaper than the usual offerings.
Apples
Cherimoya (pictured above)
Dates
Grapefruit
Kiwifruit
Oranges
Passion Fruit
Pear
Persimmons
Pummelo
Red Currants
Tangerines
I don’t know what some of this stuff is, but if you click on each fruit it’ll take you to a page with fun facts about the fruit and ways to eat/cook it.
The reader who left the comment that won my review copy of Strategic Eating, a book that pairs healthy eating with money-saving strategies, has been looking for this type of book for some time. Congrats, Emi Onishi Ruzzin!
What a great idea – eat nutritionally AND save money. I’ve been trying to do that by using coupons, buying fresh ingredients, avoiding the processed and frozen food sections, etc., for years, but I haven’t seen a book specifically about having a strategy for eating right. With my first baby about to be born next month, I’d love to find out ways on how I can do more to eat nutritionally and cut costs. Also, the “Why coupons may end up costing you more” intrigues me a lot! Thanks.
An honorable mention goes to Mary:
Boy, I need this book! My husband and I have tracked our spending, and we spend far more on eating out that we realized. We’ve resolved to eat more at home, and to eat healthier, in the new year.
If you didn’t win, no worries. Buy it from Amazon now for $13.25.
Barbara L Hanson/Flickr
We all know it’s cheaper to eat veggies that are in season, but what exactly is available this time of year? Here’s a list from Fruits and Veggies More Matters (not the best name for a website but the info is really good).
Click on each vegetable below for tips on selecting them at the store, info on the nutrition benefits, and the top 10 ways to prepare each one. My favorite winter vegetable is brussels sprouts.
Belgian Endive
Brussels Sprouts
Collard Greens
Kale
Leeks
Radicchio
Sweet Potatoes
Turnips
Winter Squash
Bonus: Here’s a recipe for roasted winter veggies from one of my favorite cookbook authors, the Barefoot Contessa.
Restaurant.com is 80 percent off through Dec. 31!
Doing any post-Christmas shopping? Amazon has some amazing year-end deals.
Check out all my deals on my WalletPop blog.
Here are all the deals I shared on WalletPop.com today!
Oatmeal breakfasts are just $1 at Jamba Juice through Dec. 11, 2009 with a coupon you can get here.
Restaurant gift certificates are 70 percent off through Dec. 8, 2009 at Restaurant.com. Get the code here.
Here are 7 tips to get the best values this holiday season.
More coming this afternoon so check back!
Get a $1 chicken meal from Boston Market today through Sunday, Nov. 1, 2009. The deal is a counter promotional campaign to KFC’s free “unfried” day. Boston Market points out that everyday is unfried with them. Print the coupon here.
The meal includes a quarter of white meat or three dark chicken pieces with mashed potatoes and cornbread. Valid at participating Boston Market’s only.
Caveats: cannot be combined with other coupons, not valid on kid’s meals.
Get one free piece of grilled – not fried – chicken from Kentucky Fried Chicken today, Oct. 26, 2009. KFC is introducing their new grilled line of chicken, hence the freebie.
Caveats: one per person. Free piece varies by location. Valid at participating KFC’s only.
Thanks, Tina!
Get a free grilled cheese sandwich tomorrow, Tuesday October 20, 2009 when you buy a large fountain drink at participating Jack in the Box’s in SEATTLE.
The freebie introduces the chain’s two new sandwiches: The grilled turkey bacon cheddar comes with roasted turkey, cheddar cheese and bacon. The grilled deli trio comes with salami, sliced ham, roasted turkey, provolone cheese and pickles.
Thanks Yuri!
A Lincoln Lunch at TGI Friday’s! Get a salad or sandwich for $5 Monday through Friday from 11 am to 4 p.m. Or you can get a free appetizer when you buy a beverage at TGI Friday’s now through Nov. 1, 2009. Good when you sit at the bar from 4 pm to close.
Some caveats. Print the coupons here.
What I like best about The Frugal Foodie Cookbook is that to make three different recipes I did not need to buy a single ingredient. Not having to go to the store saved me time and money – plus I got delicious food out of my pantry!
The authors’ food philosophy is to keep it simple but not necessarily cheap:
Bring frugal is about getting the most value from your food. It doesn’t mean using absolutely the least expensive ingredients. You could probably pare your food budget down to pennies if you lived on potatoes and ramen noodles – but would you call that living? Making smart choices about how, when, and where you spend your money will fill your pantry and menus with delicious options.
I tried two recipes (I never got around to the third, no-knead bread) and both turned out great.
I made teriyaki chicken by marinating chunks of raw meat in a broth that took me 10 minutes to put together (soy sauce, sesame oil, white wine, chicken broth, sugar, honey, orange juice and garlic). Instead of simmering the meat in the broth on the stove, as recommended, I skewered the chicken and tossed them on the grill. My friends gobbled them up.
Next I made raisin scones with a cinnamon glaze, above. Scones are super easy to make (combine flour, oats, brown sugar, baking power and soda, salt, butter, and milk). The glaze was a matter of mixing together sugar, milk and cinnamon. Scones freeze well and by cutting the dough into small wedges I made twice as many, about 32 instead of 16.
The 189-page book covers regular meals, party food, kids meals, midnight snacks and thrifty gifts. It’s a relatively small book that is handy to have in the kitchen when your cupboards are full but you’re not sure what to make.
I’m bummed to be giving away this book because I’d like to make a few more recipes. But as per my habit, I’m giving away my review copy to one reader who leaves a comment on this post by Friday! If you don’t win, you can buy the book from Amazon for $10.85. Or check your library.
Related:
Every Tuesday I review a book about saving money. Send me your book to review!
Book review – The smartest way to save – don’t spend
Book review – Secrets of a Stingy Scoundrel
Get a free sub sandwich at Quiznos when you buy one and a drink. Use this coupon. Expires Oct. 26, 2009. You can also get $1 off select sandwiches with a coupon through the above link, but this deal has a lot more restrictions.
Caveats on the free coupon: not valid on delivery orders, participating locations only, one coupon per person per order, cannot be combined with any other offers.
