A round-up of good deals

There are quite a few good deals going on right now, and while I'm not shopping at the moment (I'm avoiding all of it!)- I'd hate for you to miss out on a great deal. Here are a few links you might be interested in:

• Old Navy is currently offering 60% off all clearance items online. I believe shipping is a flat $7 as well. This is one of my favorite ways to stock up on kids clothes for next season! (plus, if you're a cardholder for ON or one of their affiliate stores, you can score an extra 10% off today only using code TUESDAYS)
• ThirftyNorthwestMom has all the details on some HOT La Victoria (salsa) printable coupons.
• You can get 75% off everything ColdWater Creek has online right now, and AThriftyMom has the info you need for that.
• MoneySavingMom has the details on a FREE photo calender (it appears to be 3 photos on a year long calender poster) from Shutterfly & Target. However, you do have to pay $4.99 shipping.
• If you're looking for a different kind of photo freebie, you should check A Thrifty Mama's list of current photo freebies. She might have just what you're looking for.
• If you're in or near Seattle (the only local-ish place with a participating alley) you might want to sign up for the AMF e-club and get a free game of bowling (for up to 10 people). Once again, A Thrifty Mom has your details.

The Coupon Winner is...

Thanks for everyone who commented on my menu plan for the month, at the end of the post I mentioned something about giving away a stack of coupons (including a few great FREE item coupons). The winner, as selected by random.org, is...

Comment #6: Rachael

I don't have your email, so if you could email me with your address- I'll get them out to you right away. Thanks to everyone who entered!

PS. If you didn't win, that's okay. You still have a shot at an awesome new PUR pitcher, and as of now there are only 8 entries! Go here to enter!

Menu Review Monday

Since we're eating from the pantry this month, and I've already planned out most of our meals for the month- I figured I use my Mondays to review how we're doing. We stocked up before hand on milk, bread, a bag of salad, and a few 2liters of coke (at $1.17 for 4 bottles, otherwise the temptation to buy soda might've been too much for the husband). While we may only be 4 days into January, we've actually been eating from our pantry since about the 27th and it's been going well. We were able to throw together some neat appetizers and have guests over for New Years Eve. Here's the recap of what we've been eating:

1. Hamburger meat w/tomato sauce and corn, served with tortillas (a childhood favorite of mine, the toddler ate 2 servings). The husband went to a friend's for football (taking a bag of chips, jar of peanuts, and homemade brownie bites).
2. We went out for dinner with the husband's mom, sister, and uncle. I made and brought over a loaf of Garlic-Herb Braid Bread, that turned out pretty good.
3. Turkey, Rice, and cheese veggie casserole (I bumped the Tortellini in favor of this, because the Turkey was already in the fridge and the tortellini is frozen anyways). Husband took half the leftovers for lunch and the toddler and I will be eating the other half for lunch as well.
4. Today! We're doing tacos with mexican rice. You just sub in a bit of tomato sauce for the water and we add a bit of spice (and maybe some tomato or onion if we're feeling fancy).

It really has been great so far! It certainly doesn't feel like we're trying to scrap together meals from whatever we can find, although I was shocked at how low I was on flour. I think that this challenge is really going to help me discover where the holes are in my stockpile. I'm tempted to amend my rules of shopping to include freebies/items with overage but only those which occur when I'm planning to shop anyways. I haven't made up my mind yet.

NEW Progresso Prize Pack Winner

...Since I never was contacted by the original winner and had no way to contact him/her, I've had to select a new winner, and that person is....

ERIN, who said "I eat a lot of beans in my diet and I love them in soup!"

Congrats! I will be emailing you shortly so we can get this prize pack off in the mail to you!

FREE Coffee at McDonalds- today only!

That's right, today only McDonalds is giving away a FREE small cup of coffee to everyone who stops by and asks today all across Western Washington. I have heard good things about their regular brewed coffee, but have never tried it myself. Anyways, here's the official scoop from the email I was sent about this:

"McDonald's is helping people in Western Washington get back to the grind in the new year with a free cup of Premium Roast Coffee on Monday, January 4, the first official workday of 2010. Customers can head to any of the 190 local McDonald’s restaurants in Western Washington to get a FREE 12 oz. Hot Premium Roast Coffee anytime from open to close that day. Limit one per person."

You can read about it here as well (along with info on a FREE vegan cinnamon roll today at Cafe Flora's in Seattle and FREE Chai at Preet's in Redmond).

Eat From the Pantry Challenge!

I am super excited about what these two ladies are hosting for the month of January- instead of Baking Day, we're all taking on an eat from the pantry challenge! This is the first time I'll be trying to make a month out of it, but after taking stock of my inventory- I'm confident I can do this! The rules I have set for myself in this challenge are:

1. I will only buy from the produce, dairy, and bread sections. Everything else must come from the freezer and pantry.
2. I will go to the store no more than once a week (although I'm hoping to limit myself to 2-3 trips total)
3. All money saved will be put into savings.

I'm working on a menu plan today (for the whole month- yikes!!) and this is what we're looking at so far (in order, although I may change things as we go):

1. Hamburger meat w/tomato sauce and corn, served with tortillas- yumm!
2. Turkey, Rice, and cheese veggie casserole
3. Stuffed tortellini in red sauce with ceaser salad
4. Tacos with Mexican rice
5. BBQ chicken, hash brown casserole, and corn
6. Beef and Vegetable Stew w/homemade rolls
7. My mom's birthday- we might take her out for dinner
8. Parmesean Crusted Tilapia with penne and broccoli in alfredo
9. Grilled Peppered Steak with Cabernet Balsamic Sauce, mashed potatoes, cooked carrots
10. Oven roasted Chicken Breasts, Stuffing, Green Beans
11. Spaghetti with meat sauce, Garlic Bread, Garden Salad
12. Chicken Enchilada Casserole
13. Pork Chops: need to google a recipe
14. BBQ Meatballs, pasta&veggie (maybe? this is not normal food for our house, but we might try it just for variety)
15. Fish Fillets (frozen), Mashed potatoes, Corn in butter sauce (freezer)
16. Dinner out maybe?
17. Crescent Roll Lasagna (husband's grandma's recipe), Garden Salad
18. Meatloaf, Hash brown Casserole, Brussel Sprouts
19. Teriyaki Chicken w/Rice and Broccoli
20. BLT's, pasta salad, and leftover hash brown casserole
21. Spaghetti with meatballs, veggies with dip
22. Cream Tuna on toast
23. ?
24. Steaks, homemade fries, corn
25. pork chops: need to google a recipe
26. Tostadas with crockpot refried beans
27. Whole Roasted Chicken, Stuffing, Mixed veggies (freezer: steam bag with potatoes and green beans)
28. Chili Dogs, veggies with dip
29. tilapia: need to google a recipe
30. Peanut Butter Chicken and Rice
31. Baked Tortellini with salad

Did you make it all the way through? I know, it's a TON to read, but there's a bonus! Are you participating? maybe not? Either way, I have an envelope full of coupons (some set to expire in January, some not, including some FREE item coupons) that I'm going to giveaway. To enter, simply leave a comment here with your email address on or before the 4th and I'll select someone at random (using random.org) to win. It's not anything amazingly fancy, but it might just perk up your coupon binder!

PUR Giveaway

I was recently provided with some information about a great event coming up later this month developed to raise money and awareness about clean water efforts (and the chance to offer a giveaway to one of my readers). I'm more than thrilled to help spread the word about this as well!

Summit on the Summit

• This January PUR is partnering with “Summit on the Summit” (SOTS), a celebrity climb of Mt. Kilimanjaro featuring Jessica Biel, Alexandra Cousteau and others that will raise awareness and funds for clean drinking water efforts. Find out more HERE
• Dr. Greg Allgood, Founder and Director of CSDW, will be joining the climb as the water authority, educating the climbers on the global water crisis and what is being done to help.

How Can You Help

• When you buy a PUR, you’re not only helping your family get clean water, but a family across the world.
• 1 System = 1 Week: For every PUR system purchase, one week of clean drinking water is provided to a child in the developing world through CSDW. To-date, CSDW has already provided 1.8 billion liters of clean water to children and their families around the world.

Why Is PUR a Smart Choice for Families?

• By simply using a PUR water filter, you will remove many of the common contaminants found in drinking water. Including: 94% of atrazine, 98% of lead and other metals, 99.9% of microbial cysts and 96-99% of pharmaceuticals.
• Switching from bottled water to filtered water and a reusable bottle can save one person up to $600 a year and eliminate up to 3,200 plastic bottles.

What great reasons to buy a PUR! Of course, winning your very own PUR Pitcher would be pretty awesome as well- here's your chance! I'm definitely excited to be giving one of these away, and here are the three ways in which you can enter (you can do all three to increase your odds!):

1. Leave me a comment, don't forget your email address so I can contact you if you win!
2. Tweet about it! I don't care if you tweet and link about the giveaway or just tweet and link people to the SOTS information. Let's spread the word about this event. (Just be sure to leave a separate comment that you tweeted with your twitter name here. Even better if you @maybefrugal!)
3. Tell me what your favorite thing about PUR filters is! In a separate comment, of course!

You have until 9pm PST on January 6th to enter, I will select a winner using random.org and announce who it is on January 7th. Good luck!

Disclosure: I was provided with information about this event and PUR filters and offered the chance to give away a PUR Pitcher to one of my readers. I was not provided with any sort of compensation for this post.