Stuffed Green Peppers

Here is a healthy and frugal recipe that my husband, daughter & I LOVE (my son, not so much...). I fix this when green peppers are 4/$1 ~ I usually have the rest of the ingredients on hand:

2 medium sized green peppers

1 lb 90% lean ground beef

1/3 cup chopped onion (1 small)

2 medium tomatoes, peeled and cut into small wedges

1/2 cup long grain rice

1/2 cup water

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon dried basil or oregano, crushed

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 cup shredded lower-fat natural cheddar cheese (2 ounces)

Halve peppers lengthwise and remove stem ends, seeds, and membranes. Immerse peppers into boiling water for 3 minutes. Invert onto paper towels to drain well.

In a large skillet cook meat and onion until meat is brown and onion is tender. Drain off fat. Stir in the tomatoes, uncooked rice, water, Worcestershire sauce, basil or oregano, and pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 15 to 18 minutes or till the rice is tender. Stir in half of the cheese. Spoon meat mixture into peppers. Place peppers in a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Spoon any remaining meat mixture into baking dish.

Bake, uncovered, in a 375 degree oven about 15 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Let stand for 1 to 2 minutes or till the cheese melts. Makes 6 servings.

Enjoy and God bless ~ Thrifty Gal

Recession Recipes

There is a thrifty thread on CNN.com right now on their ireports link. It is called Recession Recipes and it's from viewers all over the country writing in with their best, low cost recipes ~ GREAT for us thrifty gals! :) Here's the link.... http://www.ireport.com/ and then click on Recession Recipes in the left hand box.

I'll post again tomorrow with my own recession recipe... :)

Enjoy and God bless ~ Thrifty Gal

The downside of self employment

I'm very lucky...I'm my own boss. The downside of that is motivating oneself when that self doesn't feel like doing anything. As I laid awake in bed this morning, I decided that I needed to be a little more aggressive in my business because we can ALWAYS use the extra money :) When I list, I make money. When I don't, I don't make money. Doesn't take a genius to figure this out, does it?!!! Anyway, I'm looking for some suggestions on self-motivation. What gets you up and doing when you don't feel like it? Any comments would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance and enjoy your evening! God bless ~ Thrifty Gal

Another way to save!

We live in a small town (pop. 9,000) that has two grocery stores, Hy-Vee and Fareway. Both are midwest chains that started in Iowa and, without any other choices, these are the stores where I do the bulk of my grocery shopping. They each print a new ad on Tuesday that runs through the next Monday. I shop once a week ~ usually on Friday ~ after spending Wednesday and Thursday evenings matching up the ads for the week with my stash of coupons. Yesterday's Hy-Vee ad was a sight for this thrifty gal's eyes! It said at the top of the ad, "Introducing another way to save!" and explained in the front page paragraph that Hy-Vee now has TWO new ways to save money, "This HOT deals printed ad and our new exclusive online ad located at http://www.hy-vee.com/." And the prices in the HOT Deals ad are AWESOME! Skippy Peanut Butter for 99 cents! 80% Lean Ground Beef $1.49! Green Peppers 59 cents each! Kleenex 88 cents! Pillsbury Crescent Rolls $1.66! and it goes on and on. These are great deals for around here and, if I combine them with coupons, I will be paying less than when I make the 80-mile round trip to the nearest Aldi store! So, if you are in my area, check out the new deals and happy shopping! :)

God bless ~ Thrifty Gal

A great day to be an American

No matter what side of the fence you are on politically, there is no denying that this is a historic day in the United States of America. I'm thankful today for a new beginning, a peaceful exchange of power and the right to vote in free and public elections.

Enjoy and God bless ~ Thrifty Gal

What to do on a cold Saturday afternoon

GO BOWLING! We had been cooped up in the house for four days and needed to get out and since there are only 2 things to do in our little town (go to a movie or go bowling and we already saw the movie), we hit the bowling alley! I thought I'd share some pictures from our little activity...

This is DS making his grand approach:

This is Thrifty Gal (me) giving my DD all kinds of bowling advice (I AM Qualified since I have bowled AT LEAST 12 times in my life... hehehe):

We played boys against the girls (we brought along my DD's best friend) and the girls won the first game! Here are the winners:

And the boys (my DH & DS) won the second game:

All in all, a fun ~ but not thrifty! ~ way to spend the afternoon. Even with a coupon and limiting everyone to 1 treat a piece (pop or a bag of chips), we still spent $34! Ouch! But, since we don't do it very often I guess it's ok :)

Enjoy your family time and God bless ~ Thrifty Gal

Please pray for Harper

There is a sweet little newborn girl in Tulsa, Oklahoma, right now fighting for her life. She is the first born child of a fellow blogger, Kelly. You can read her entire story by clicking on the "Praying for Harper" link on the sidebar. Please keep this lovely family in your prayers...

God bless ~ Thrifty Gal

A few clarifications...

...regarding my post yesterday. I went to the http://www.cosmeticssettlement.com/ website and discovered that you can only get ONE product per person, not per store as I was thinking (and hoping...). Also, the products that you can choose from are products specified just for this settlement. The list appears on the above mentioned website. I plan on asking for the Boucheron Femme Eau de Toilette (1 ounce/30 ml) ~ it is the largest of the perfumes that they are offering and also the most expensive :) I plan on taking a copy of the settlement information to the Younkers store that I will be going to, just in case there is any trouble or confusion.

Oh, and here is why Target does not have to participate: Cosmetics and fragrance products sold through mass distribution channels, such as drug stores and warehouse outlets, are not Department Store Cosmetics.

Cosmetics Giveaway Info

I just read the following story online and wanted to share it with anyone who might be reading that likes make-up as much as I do:

Boston Store, Macy’s, among stores in cosmetics giveaway settlement

The Business Journal of Milwaukee - by Lisa Biank Fasig, Cincinnati Business Courier

Boston Store, Macy’s and Saks_Fifth_Avenue, among other chains, will be giving away free cosmetics, skin care and perfumes on Jan. 20, as part of a five-year-old settlement involving price fixing on beauty products.

The giveaway stems from a February 2004 class action settlement filed on behalf of consumers who purchased cosmetics between May 1994 and July 2003, according to a the settlement’s Web site (www.cosmeticssettlement.com). Nordstrom, Nieman Marcus and Target also were named on the suit. The retailers have claimed no wrong doing.

As part of the settlement, $175 million in cosmetics will be given away, one per person in a first-come, first serve basis. Consumers will be able to choose one item per person until supplies last. Brands include Estée Lauder, Clinique, Lancome, Clarins, Guerlain, Givenchy, Chanel, Boucheron, Cody, Calvin Klein, L’Oréal and Christian Dior.

The products involve mascara, skin care, moisturizers and fragrances, said Macy’s spokeswoman Sharon Bateman. “None of the product comes from the store’s regular inventory,” she said. “I think these products were created specifically for this give away.” The offer will last until all of the products in a particular store are distributed.

Consumers are not required to show proof of purchase at Macy’s stores, which has a location at Mayfair Mall in Wauwatosa, though its customers will have to sign a certification sheet acknowledging they purchased the products.

Stores participating in the settlement include Bon-Ton Stores Inc. chains, Boston Store, Younkers, Carson Pirie Scott, Bergner's and Herberger's, in addition to Parisian stores, which Bon-Ton operates in the Detroit area. York, Pa.-based Bon-Ton which has significant operations in Milwaukee, was not named in the suit; the settlement predates Bon-Ton's acquisition of the stores from Sak's Inc., of Birmingham, Ala., the operator of Sak's Fifth Avenue,

RETAIL DEFENDANTS
The following is a list of stores participating in the cosmetics giveaway:
Bergdorf Goodman
Bergner’s
Bloomingdale’s
Boston Store
Carson Pirie Scott
Dillard’s
Gottschalks
Herberger’s
Macy’s
Neiman Marcus
Nordstrom
Parisian
Saks Fifth Avenue
Younkers

Maybe some of you out there still have receipts from 1994 ~ but I don't ~ so I'm just going on memory here....I KNOW I purchased cosmetics from many of these stores during that time frame (I was HUGE into Clinique at one time) so I'm going to head out to Dillard's and Younkers on Tuesday and pick up my FREE items!

P.S. I'm not sure why Target isn't participating in the giveaway, even though they are listed in the settlement. I'm going to do a little research on that and if I find anything out, I'll let you know!

Enjoy and God bless :) Thrifty Gal

Working on my financial situation

I've been on the quest for financial security for many years now. I've read books, blogs, watched experts on t.v. and the internet in the attempt to gather as much knowledge as possible to help me change my ways. Nothing has worked :( I've continued to spend, spend, spend and procrastinate on bill paying because I haven't wanted to admit that I couldn't afford what I wanted (throughout this post, when I write "I", I really mean "we"). I'm the financial manager of the family. In fact, my poor husband never sees a penny of his paycheck. So, it really is all up to me how this family survives. I know, all the experts say that your partner MUST be involved with the finances to make things work. But, truely, my husband doesn't need to be involved because he doesn't spend any of the money. He NEVER writes checks or uses the ATM, and, if he needs something, he gets it from me. ANYWAY, I have decided that THIS is the year to get our financial situation into shape. I'm currently reading Suze Orman's new book "Suze Orman's 2009 Action Plan" that I downloaded FREE from Oprah.com. And I've realized that the first thing to do is get caught up on our bills. Stop paying them late! I mostly do this on credit card bills because I pay the necessities first. We do have 6 credit cards BUT we no longer charge on them. SO, I've been starting to get caught up on paying everything on time and that is affecting the way I do other things.

In my effort to get caught up, I made several choices this week that are vastly different than I would have made in the past and I want to celebrate the fact that I'm starting to think differently! The first decision I made this week surrounded around a Christmas gift for my son. He had asked for a certain soundtrack for Christmas. I ordered it online but was told it was back ordered until January 11. I told him this before Christmas and he was ok with that. Lo and behold, Jan. 11 rolls around and the company I ordered it from emails me and tells me that the soundtrack is no longer available :( My son said he saw a copy of the soundtrack at Barnes & Noble at Jordan Creek Mall in Des Moines on our last trip to visit my sister. My son wants to head down to Des Moines (a 2 hour trip - one way ~ we usually end up staying overnight at my sister's) this Saturday. Now, in the past, I would have giving anything to 'get away' on Saturday and see my sis. BUT, the new me decided that I should just call the store at Jordan Creek Mall and see if they would be willing to send it to us, saving us the cost of gas, eating out and probably finding a few 'extras' at the mall that we didn't need. Not only would they send it to me, but there was no shipping charge because it was over a certain amount and qualified for FREE shipping! Cha-ching! I just can't tell you what a triumph that is for me....silly, I know, but HUGE for me! :)

The second smart financial decision I made has to do with my online business. Normally, I rack up seller fees for a month at a time and then take the money to pay the fees out of my husband's check when he gets paid. I use the money I make online for 'fun' money ~ things for myself, the kids, the house or to go "do" things that cost money). Well, this month, when I made the amount of money in sales that would cover the cost of the fees, I PAID THEM! Another HUGE step for me!

The third smart financial decision I made happened today...and it's similar to the first in that I needed a new printer cartridge for my computer. I initially told the family that we were all going to load up the car and head over to the nearest Target (40 miles away ~ the only store anywhere near us where I can buy that kind of printer cartridge). This would mean lunch out for the four of us, plus those darn "extras" that none of us needs! Instead, I got online and ordered the printer cartridge. Shipping was $10.50 but still A LOT cheaper than eating out, etc.

I'm not posting this just to pat myself on the back, I'm posting it as a reminder to myself that I CAN do it and I want to continue to make good decisions like this to get my family's financial situation in better shape.

God bless ~ Thrifty Gal

Deal of the Day!

I was at our local Kmart today (it's the only "big box" store we have in town), getting a prescription refilled (with a coupon for a $10 Kmart Gift Card with a new or transferred prescription) and I found their Christmas items on clearance for 75% off. PERFECT! My husband has been wanting some icicle lights to hang on our house for next year so I cruised to the light section and, sure enough, they still had 3 full shelves of lights left. I got 8 boxes of commercial grade icicle lights for $24.42 Enjoy your day and and then used the $10 gift card for a grand total of $14.42!! Yippee!

...I'm SO easily amused... :)

Enjoy your day and God bless ~ Thrifty Gal

Snow Day!

Yes, today was another Snow Day in the beautiful land of Iowa (which means 'beautiful land' in Native American). The kids have been entertaining themselves (for the most part) and dirtying every dish they can find (we don't have a dishwasher besides me...). They did enjoy walking around outside for awhile and then came in for some hot chocolate, which I enjoyed with them :) I've been trying to get some of my ebay work done and here is the view from my office:



and no, it's not a black and white photo ~ that's just what it looks like! :)


So, enjoy your day (in whatever weather happens to be in your part of the country) and God bless ~ Thrifty Gal

FREE shampoo!!!

In today's paper, there is an ad for a FREE Suave hair product! :) You must register on http://www.suave.com/ between 12:00:01 a.m. ET on January 14, 2009 and 11:59:59 p.m. ET on January 14, 2009, and you will receive a coupon for one (1) bottle of Suave Shampoo, Conditioner, Hair Spray, Styling Aid, Body Wash or Body Lotion (good up to $3.00) by Mail. It's open to all legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia, 14 years or older. Limit one coupon per household.

I love me some FREE stuff!

Enjoy and God bless :) Thrify Gal

Long time, no type

Wow! It's been over a year since the last time I wrote a post for this blog. My how time flies when you're having fun :) Anyway, I hope to get back at this on a (nearly) daily basis again. My kids are now 14 and 12 (going on 21) and my husband and I will celebrate our 20th anniversary this year! God is GOOD! I'm still selling quality used clothing on Ebay http://stores.ebay.com/Denim-Recycled and trying to balance a budget and pay bills on one full-time income. And it's hard! But I have gotten better at reducing my expenses at the grocery store and will try to share info on how I do that in a future post. Other changes include my interest in scrapbooking, which I'll also talk about in the future. Well, I don't want to get to wordy on my first post back so I'll go for now and wish you all an enjoyable Saturday evening!

God bless ~ Thrifty Gal