Starbucks $2 Breakfast

This looks great! This started yesterday (sorry I missed it then) and will run through February 4.

From Starbucks' Facebook page.

On a cold winter morning, nothing beats a warm and savory breakfast from Starbucks. Come in out of the cold and enjoy any of our delicious Starbucks breakfast sandwiches and wraps with your morning coffee.

Still having a hard time getting out of bed? Between Jan 30th and February 4th get any breakfast sandwich or wrap for just $2.00 with the purchase of any handcrafted beverage*. Try one, try them all. Choose from eight warm and tasty options, including our new Chicken Sausage & Veggie Wrap.

Whichever delicious breakfast sandwich or wrap you choose, it’s the perfect start to any day.

Amazon Grocery Deals, 1/31

I've found some really good deals today for Lipton Teas. If you're a tea drinker, this looks like a terrific opportunity to stock up.

First, there's a 50 cent coupon off these select Lipton products, then remember that you will also get 15% off when you choose subscribe and save.

Check out the quantities! This first one is 24 boxes of 16 bags, and it will only be $8.80 after the two discounts. The rest are still awesome deals.



The next coupon is $1.00 off when you buy two of these Ragu sauces. These are 4 packs of the large 45 ounce jar, and some of these are marked down to around $16. Once you subtract the two discounts, you're down around $3 per jar.



One last find. These Quaker Chewy bars have a coupon for 20% off, then there's the additional 15% off. I just checked out with the peanut butter chocolate chip ones for $1.75 a box.



Stock up and save.

Winter Wandering -- Grimes Farm

Check the "wandering" tab for more of the posts in this series, or the SSSS tab for more ideas for entertaining the short people in your home.

This is sort of an extension of my Wednesday Wandering posts from the spring and summer.  This winter has been unseasonably warm after some brutally cold and snowy ones, so we're out as often as possible on these warm days.  I know the warm weather isn't going to last.

One recent day off from school, we packed a lunch, loaded up, and headed out for an adventure.  We started out visiting Hickory Grove Park (I haven't done a post about it yet?  I'll remedy that soon) but we ended up chasing rivers to the Grimes Farm and Conservation Center near Marshalltown, Iowa.  First, we met friends for our picnic lunch.

After our lunch, we looked around inside the Conservation Center.  They have a lot of different native Iowa bird and animal species, along with many different learning stations.

My 4 year old especially liked the pelts:

There are  few different trails around the conservation center where you can bike or hike through forest, wetland, and prairie areas.  You can adjust the length of your hike by taking different trails--some are paved as part of a larger bike trail, some are more like foot paths, but all are well maintained for easy access.

Even in the winter, there's something to see.  We saw several different types of birds at their outdoor feeder, though not a lot of other wildlife.  If you go, don't forget to check out Mildred's Tower.  We skipped it that day because we had some little ones getting tired, but it looks like it would afford some great views of the area.

For more information, check out the Marshall County Conservation website or the Grimes Farm site.

Amazon Peanut Butter Deals 1/30

The peanut butter deals have been few and far between since I first posted about the price hikes back in October. FINALLY, you can get some decent prices. Make sure to click on the clip coupon under the price for $1 off, and choose the subscribe and save option.

My preferred price point is around $1.50 a jar. These are hovering closer to $2 a jar, but this might be a good price if you are in need of a stockup.


These will go fast!

To see my monthly Amazon grocery deals post, click here.

FREE Admission to Czech and Slovak Museum

Many might not know this, but much of the Czech and Slovak museum was involved in the huge floods in Cedar Rapids in 2008. They have slowly been restoring and rebuilding, and are due to have the grand opening of their brand new facility on July 14. In the meantime, the museum has returned to the Czech village, and is housed in the Kosek Building.

A new exhibit has been set up, titled "Rising Above: The Story of a People and the Flood." From February 1 through July 13, they are offering free admission.

I don't see this information on the museum's website yet, but Travel Iowa announced it on their Facebook page. If you haven't already liked Travel Iowa, you should. It's a great place to find out the latest information on free and fun activities in your area. One of our favorite freebies just came in the mail last week! The 2012 Iowa Travel guide. We use ours to plan out our weekend activities and find out information about staycation opportunities in our area. Click HERE to get yours.

Another exciting development for Cedar Rapids: they will be able to show off their rebuilding effort to the world when RAGBRAI makes an overnight stop.

New Hasbro Coupons

This is a brand new batch of Hasbro coupons, so print them fast! Save $5 on Catch Phrase, Taboo, and Pictionary, or $3 on Jenga or Cranium.

Popchips 50% off TODAY

This is a today only deal! Get 35% off these select Popchips today only, THEN get an additional 15% off with subscribe and save. You can click the link above to see all the included products, or click individuals below.




These will go in a hurry!

Shipping is always free with subscribe and save items, and remember that you can change or cancel your subscription at any time.

For all the Amazon grocery deals for January 2012, check HERE.

Reiman Gardens (Mostly) FREE Admission

This looks like a great opportunity to check out Reiman Gardens' new conservatory display, get in where it's warm, AND entertain the kids. Price of admission? Bring non-perishable food items to help restock the food pantry.

From their Facebook page, you can come in on Saturday or Sunday from 9 am until 4:30 pm and visit the conservatory to see their newest display, ISU Architectural Salvage. I can't wait to see what they've done with it.

For the kids, this year's theme also includes tons of Lego sculptures, so be on the lookout for some awesome Lego creations. Also, if you bring in the kids between 10 am and 2 pm, they can participate in some free craft activities.

Don't forget the butterflies! We love to visit the butterfly wing during the winter for a tropical getaway.

Inside:

 Outside:

 Love it!

Wellness Wednesday

This looks like a good freebie opportunity for my local friends. On Wellness Wednesday, Wheatsfield Grocery will offer free samples and also free health screenings.

You can take a look at all the information here.

Plus, save 10% on wellness products, and take some time to look around. We love it.

FREE Bath and Body Works

This is a Facebook exclusive! This weekend only, click HERE to receive a great freebie.

From their page:
Want to try our newest fragrance FREE?! This weekend only, we're giving all of our Facebook Fans an exclusive FREE GIFT — a NEW Pink Chiffon 2 oz Body Lotion Preview! Download and print the coupon below or show this post on your phone to redeem. And, don't forget to share a little LOVE with your friends!

Ham and Bean Soup

This is something I do with a lot of different crock pot roasts. The flavor of the soup will change based on what meat you started with, but I find them all tasty.

I'm in the middle of a freezer cleanout month, trying to use up things that have been in there way too long. It's a good money saver and it also is less wasteful.  When I was in Target last week, they had whole bone in spiral cut hams for only $1.50 per pound.  Since $2.99 is generally a decent deal, I bought the biggest two hams I could find.  I cooked the ham, and we ate two meals with meat from it.  After that, I packaged and froze the rest of the meat.  I didn't have time to make a lot of freezer meals right then, but I will get to them later.  For some other things I do with ham, check out these two posts:

• One Ham, Many Meals
• Ham and Cheese Ziti

Since the first time I posted, I have discovered that the beans are so much more flavorful if you soak them in the broth from the meat.  It also made it a whole lot easier.  I dumped the bone and the juices from the ham into my crock pot with the rinsed beans, put the lid on it, and left it all in the fridge overnight.  In the morning, I put the liner into the crock pot and started it out on low.  I love these beans:

Around noon, I dump in whatever leftover veggies I have on hand.  We had some leftover broccoli from the previous night's dinner, a partial bag of frozen mixed veggies, and a whole bag of frozen peas. When you are ready to serve, here's my last helpful hint.  You can thicken up the broth and make it more stew-like by just taking your spoon and mashing some of the beans and veggies.  No need to add a heavy cream or roux, so it might even be a bit healthier for you. 

We've had several meals from this soup, and I just froze the rest of the leftover in freezer bags.  Remember, if you lay them flat before they freeze, they take up much less space.

Amazon Grocery Deals, 1/13

These deals look like they will last through the end of the month, though there are some of the items with only a few left.

These three misters have 3 bottles each for around $16. Take $4 additional off by clicking the coupon in the link (or you can go through the page with all the grocery coupons to find it) and then an additional 15% off to make these just over $3 per bottle.  This is perfect for using on a salad or to oil a pan.


Here are three great dried fruit snacks--click the coupon for 15% off, then get another 15% off with subscribe and save.


I will post more as I find them.

Great Day for Gas, Ames Area!

I need to go out and run some errands today, but it's COLD in Iowa today. It's so cold that I decided I would rather face my kids without milk than go and fill my car up with gas. Maybe if we had a full service gas station in my town. Even the free juice at Kum and Go isn't enough to entice me out of my car or house.

Reader Sabrina just let me know that BOTH HyVee stores in Ames are offering 13 cents off a gallon with a grocery receipt, and an additional 3 cents off a gallon if you pay with cash.

While you're driving over, you can also go try out the coffee at Starbucks.

16 cents off a gallon!

Deals from my Inbox, 1/13

I apologize for the lack of posting lately. I seem to get into a slump after the first of the year, but I actually am catching up on everything that got let go during all the Christmas season.

I have a new recipe post that I'll finish this weekend, but for now I'll do a weekend deals roundup:

• Michaels has two great deals, one ending Saturday, the next starting on Sunday.  I know it's late, but I want to share them both.  For this week, there are many BOGO items along with their standard 40% off one regular price item.  For next week, there is a rare 25% off your whole purchase, along with several other good coupons.  They also have a good clearance right now.
• Aeropostale, take an additional 30% off their clearance items with coupon code WKD30.  This sale just went live, and lasts through the weekend.
• Staples, this week (again, ends tomorrow) you can get 100% rewards cash back when you buy from several 3 ring binders, portable file boxes, and banker boxes.  They are also offering $6 cash back per recycled HP cartridge when you spend $50.  Don't forget, you'll also get 20% back from your ink purchase.  For the upcoming week, there are a lot of good Dollar Days deals.  Check out both ads HERE.
• From Snapfish: Create any photo book and get two more of the same value FREE. Just use coupon JANBOOKS, until January 21.
• Here's one of my favorites: get a Burt's Bees grab bag for only $20.  This includes 5 full sized products and a bunch of smaller items.  If you want to pick up more than one or add a filler item, coupon SPRING12 will get you $5 off a $25 order.  These always go fast when they're offered.
• Bath and Body Works is in the final days of their Hello Yellow sale, with some huge markdowns.  There is a $10 off $40 printable coupon for in store, or you can use code HELLOYELLOW.
• New York and Co. has a $100 off $200 coupon code 1945, or $50 off $100 with code 1946 through 1/16.  There are great deals online, but in store is the place to be--All their holiday dresses are now only $15!  Jeans and holiday sweaters are only $10.  Printable for in store.
• more coming!

Starbucks FREEBIE

I'm not quite sure what the freebie is, but Starbucks is having a sampling event in store for the next three days--January 12, 13, and 14. You can read the details HERE, but they will also have some freebie. They'll want you to vote for your favorite on this page.

I'm not sure if this will work for you, but Cocoon is giving away $5 Starbucks gift cards. Just register for an account, and they will send the code to your email.

**I haven't received my code yet, but it's worth a shot.

Amazon Community Coffee, Keurig Deal

Stock up on some good coffee, and take advantage of this chance to get two Ekobrews for your Keurig.  Right now, Community Coffee on Amazon has a 10% off coupon using code COMMUN92 through the end of January.  They also have the 15% subscribe and save discount.

There are a lot of great coffee types that will end up very inexpensive with the stacked discounts, and my favorite: get two Ekobrew filters for your Keurig and a bag of coffee for $22.50.  Subscribe and save always comes with free shipping from Amazon, and you will be able to change or cancel your subscription at any time.




On all of these listed below, be sure to see that some are 6 packages for that price, and the list price doesn't have the discount figured in.



Enjoy!

FREE Odwalla

This looks like a great opportunity, especially if you have a few Kum & Go stores in your area.  This coupon is for a FREE 12 ounce Odwalla juice drink, and it is good through 1/14.  The coupon is not limited, but it does say one per visit.


Click HERE to print.

A Whole Lot of Tea

If you're a tea drinker, this looks like a great deal!



Just click the picture to order!

Pay just $12.04 for EIGHT 64 ounce bottles of Sweet Leaf Tea with lemon. If you're new to Amazon grocery shopping, you'll need to use the Subscribe and Save option to get the additional 15% off. You are able to change or cancel your subscription at any time after you order.

Shipping is free!

January Caseys Pizza Coupons

Here are the Caseys coupons for January. 

Remember, you need to click their link to print these.  The picture's just to pretty up the post.

January Amazon Grocery Deals

I didn't even get to the grocery deals in December, figuring most people were focusing on Christmas shopping. Now that that's over, it's time to start getting back to the business of saving money.

We'll start with the "clippable" click coupons.  They're always listed in my Amazon post on top, but I'll include them here as well.  I understand people in NY state may not get as many as those of us in other places.  The key here is that the coupons change when you refresh, so if you don't see one that is mentioned, refresh till you do.

The Managers' specials are HERE.

Now for the coupon codes and markdowns!  Remember there's already the 15% with Subscribe and Save, so the coupon code is just added to the per cent off.  You can see all the deals right here .  This is the month for New Year's Resolutions, so all the food discounts are for healthy foods.

(I think that they're a little late getting out the extra % off coupon codes, so I will add them in when they get added to Amazon.)

January Amazon FREE Downloads

It's already the first of the month, even the first of the year. I hope everyone had a safe and happy New Year's Eve, and I'm looking forward to the best year possible for 2012.

Did you get a new Kindle for Christmas?  I'll help you fill it with lots of great reading material.

I'll start with the Kindle bestsellers.  The free bestsellers are in the list on the right, but if you also look on the left, you'll see many books for under $5.  Did you know you don't even have to have a Kindle in order to read these free books?  Amazon has reader apps for many different types of devices.  You can download that HERE--free.

You can get any kind of book for free!

Improving yourself?




Your cooking?




Need some free games?



Whatever else might interest you, there's a free book for it.

Here also is the Kindle Daily Deal.  This changes (obviously) every day, so bookmark this page.

The top Kindle books for $3.99 and under.  While they aren't free, it's nice to have a good cheap list to work from once you've downloaded and read EVERY free book there is.  (Is that possible?)

On to the free music...  You can start here on the bestsellers list.  The top 100 free downloads are in the list on the right.  Some are singles, and some are entire albums.   Find your favorites, or try out some new artists.  When it's free, anything goes.




Don't forget the cheap MP3s for the month.  Since this is a free post, I'll just post the link to the January $5 whole album downloads.  There are 1000 this month instead of 100.

And just one more FREEBIE!  You need a FREE android app every day, right?  Bookmark this page, too.