federal trade commission page on free annual credit reports

Free Credit Reports

By Valerie | January 14, 2012

Even though the law requires it, there are some unscrupulous companies out there that mislead you into thinking you need to know your credit SCORE, which certainly has it’s place, but it’s not necessary when you’re just doing an annual checkup on your credit report to check for accuracy. They…

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Money-saving tips for Thanksgiving

By Valerie | November 18, 2011

Here are a couple of tips to save money this Thanksgiving. When you’re chopping celery for your stuffing, save the celery stems and leaves, and use them when making stock with your turkey carcass. They have all the same flavor and are going to be strained out anyway. Also, when…

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Chicken Math – Is buying a whole chicken a better deal?

By Valerie | September 17, 2011

I admit it, I’m a sucker for short-cuts. I, even as frugal as I am, frequently buy boneless, skinless chicken breasts… but only on sale, usually under $1.80 lb. A couple months back one of the local stores had whole fryers on sale for 59¢ a pound (gone are the…

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Shelf Life of Food

By Valerie | May 31, 2011

Knowing the shelf life of the food in your stockpile is handy. I’ve already shared this site where you can check the shelf life of foods before, but it bears repeating, because it’s just SO darned handy. Still Tasty: Your ultimate shelf life guide Today’s post by StillTasty was about…

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blurry photo of spuds growing in my garden

Growing Potatoes at Home

By Valerie | May 19, 2011

My spring garden is thriving, even the potatoes I planted, which were actually sprouted ones I “re-purposed”. I’d already read a bit about growing spuds and the need to continue mounding the soil around the stems as they grew up, but I still had questions. A quick google search, and…

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Jackpot List of Savings Links

By Valerie | March 3, 2011

The latest issues of the Commissary Connection had a great section of links to savings pages for some of the best-known brands in American. I’ve gone through and added them to a “Brand Name Discount Links” page so they’ll be easy to get to and use. Some of them require…

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Use What You Have Cooking

By Valerie | March 1, 2011

I know that most readers of this blog are couponers. And as couponers, we tend to stockpile food. The question then becomes: How do I find recipes that use the ingredients I have on hand? I’ve have a few different approaches to solving this dilemma. A list of recipes stuck…

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Shelf Life of Food in Your Stock Pile

By Valerie | January 2, 2011

I just found a link to a nifty site where you can look up the shelf life of of the food in your stockpile, as well as just about anything you can think of: StillTasty.com I ran through the search for a handful of items, coolio! I haven’t trusted the…

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photo of freshly made bratwurst

Homemade Sausage & How to Make It

By Valerie | November 9, 2010

Homemade Sausage? Have you ever tried homemade sausage? Making homemade sausage can save you money. The meat used is typically pork shoulder (Boston Butt) and it can be found on sale for less than $1 per pound. The other supplies and ingredients you will need are seasoning and casings (casings…

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Discounts for Veterans

By Valerie | October 28, 2010

Eat Free at Applebee’s Military veterans and active-duty Service Members will be able to eat free at any Applebee’s across the U.S. on Veteran’s Day, Thursday, Nov. 11, 2010. There will be six entrées available from the menu. Guests will be asked to show one or more of the following…

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