Homemade Peppermint Bark

My most recent batch!

A few years ago, my current roommate and I had a Christmas party. One of our parents' friends brought us a gift for hosting. It was the most delicious Peppermint Bark ever. I wanted to get some for my family for Christmas and when I priced it out at Williams & Sonoma (where it had been purchased), I was shocked to find that it cost close to $30 a box. I decided that I would find a way to make it for cheaper.

After lots of trial and error, I have finally found an easy and comparably inexpensive way to make this treat at home. I think that I even like it better than the one from the store and when all is said and done I make about three times the quantity in the box at Williams & Sonoma for less than $20. It makes a great dessert for a Christmas party and I package it up and give it as gifts to my co-workers and friends.

I personally have started using Ghirardelli chocolate bricks from Sam's because they taste amazing and melt really easily. They are 2.5 pounds each (one white and one regular chocolate) for around $7.50 each. You could use any kind of chocolate you have handy and I have even done it with chocolate chips before too. I then buy whole candy canes (I get Bob's from WalMart for .98 cents each) and crush them up myself.

Here is the step by step process.

Homemade Peppermint Bark

• Equal parts white and milk (or semi-sweet) chocolate
• Candy Canes

1. Rough chop your milk chocolate and put it in a microwave safe bowl.

2. Microwave it in 30 second intervals, stirring between each time until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth.

3. Pour and spread evenly on a baking sheet lined with wax paper.

4. Put in the fridge for 15 minutes or until hardened.

5. While the first layer is cooling, I chop my white chocolate and crush my candy canes

6. Once the first layer has set, melt the white chocolate and then pour and spread evenly right on top of the first layer.

7. Right after pouring the white chocolate, even sprinkle on crushed candy cane bits.

8. Put whole tray back in the fridge until completely hardened.

9. Once it is set, you can break it up in to bite size pieces.



I store it in an air tight container in the fridge or freezer. I love to find little packages at the dollar store to wrap it up for gifts. This year I found a great deal on DIY Martha Stewart packing at TJMaxx. I ended up getting a set of six of these cute bags for $2.

Enjoy!



Couponing To A New Camera

As I have mentioned before, couponing has allowed us to save a significant amount of money in the last six months. We have been able to put that extra money towards paying off house expenses (specifically our little surprise renovation project), adding to our savings and it has allowed us to enjoy fun things that we would not have had money in our budget for otherwise.

In the last few years we have been really wanting a new, higher-end digital camera. We thought maybe would buy one before our Honeymoon last year but we never quite got around to it. Black Friday came and went this year and even though we saw the models we wanted for great prices, it just wasn't in our budget.

Lately, I have been taking advantage of all the great deals at Target and CVS where you can earn gift cards with your purchases. I normally just take these gift cards and use them towards my weekly grocery trip or use it on my next Target purchase. This gave me an idea; what if I saved this "found money" towards something big? That is exactly what we are going to do.

Every time I earn a Target gift card with my purchases or earn a $10 American Express card at CVS, we are going to save them in an envelope and put them towards a camera next Black Friday. I will also be using my reward points from my online search/cash back sites to redeem for gift cards as well. I specifically use E-bates, SwagBucks, and MyPoints.

Our goal is to have $600 in Target/Prepaid Gift Cards by next November so that we can use them to buy the camera we want on Black Friday 2012.

It seems like a high number but I have probably earned close to $100 in Target and Amex cards (from CVS) in the last few months alone. They are in small amounts ($5-$10) and won't really be missed now that we are saving them. I will try to update on our progress periodically.

Publix Trip 12/9



This week got a little crazy so I did not end up getting to go shopping until Friday afternoon right before our party. I was a little nervous that the price of this week's trip would be higher than usual because I needed alot of fresh veggies and stuff for our party that I did not have good coupons for. However, I was pleasantly surprised with how low my final total was compared to what it could have been. I had a few money makers and I did hit my $80 before coupons total so I could use both my $5/50 Publix coupon (my last one sadly) and my $5/$30 Winn Dixie coupon.

We did end up buying our meat for our party at Sam's since we still have our membership there right now. Since Publix does not really do store meat coupons and also does not print Catalinas which many couponers use towards fresh meat, end up buying alot of our meat at Sam's because it ends up being cheaper per pound especially when we need a large amount. It is one of the only things we currently buy at Sam's anymore. Check out this comparison of grocery shopping with coupons versus warehouse shopping for more details on why. 

Here is the breakdown of this week's trip:

Total retail value: $111.60

Spent out of pocket: $50.51

Total saved: $61.09

Percent saved: 54%

Ideally, I like to save at least 60% or more but considering that this trip included fresh carrots, celery, grape tomatoes, broccoli, 2 bags of apple slices and 3 bags of baby spinach I am ok with only saving 54% this week.

Here are the highlights with coupon match ups:

• 1 tube of Crest Complete toothpaste, retails for $3.29, on sale for $2.39
• Used a $2 off man. coupon from the 9/11 SS
• Stacked with a $1 off coupon from the Stocking Spree booklet
• Made it FREE plus .61 cents overage
• 1 Oral-B Complete toothbrush, retails for $3.69, on sale for $2.39
• Used a $2 off man. coupon from the 9/11 SS
• Stacked with a $1 off coupon from the Stocking Spree booklet
• Made it FREE plus .61 cents overage
• 2 bottles of Kikkoman Ponzu Sauce, retails for $2.49 each
• Used two $3 off man. printable coupons from the man. website
• Made each bottle FREE plus .51 cents in overage
• 2 cans of Muir Glen Organic Tomato Sauce, retails for .89 cent each
• Used two .75 cents off coupons from Coupons.com
• Made each can .14 cents
• 2 cans of Muir Glen Organic Soup, retails for $2.59, on sale for $1.67
• Used two .85 cents off coupons from BettyCrocker.com
• Made each can .82 cents
• 2 boxes of Kashi Cereal, retails for $4.09 each, on sale for $2.99 each
• Used two $2 off coupons from RecycleBank.com
• Made them .99 cents each
• 4 five pound bags of Gold Medal Flour, retails for $2.37 each
• Used four $1 off Publix store coupons from the current Yellow Advantage flyer found in the front of stores
• Stacked with four .25 cents off printable from the man. website
• Made them .87 cents each (tis the season to stock up on baking supplies!)
• 2 tubs of Smart Balance, retails for $3.59 each, on sale BOGO ($1.79 each)
• Used two $1 off any Smart Balance product from woundedwarriors.com
• Made them .79 cents each, I buy them and freeze them when I can get it under $1 each
• 1 bottle of Coffeemate Natural Bliss, retails for $2.50, on sale for $1.67
• Used a .50 off coupon from a newspaper insert
• Made it $1.17
• 2 bags of Celentano Meatballs, retails for $3.29 each, on sale for $2.79 each
• Used a $1.50/2 Publix store coupon from the Winter Family Savings booklet
• Made them $2.04 each
• 1 bottle of Weiman's Glass Stove Top Cleaner and 1 pack of Weiman Scrubbing Pads, retails for $3.99 and $1.99 each
• Used two .65 cents off printable coupons from the man. website
• Stacked with a Publix store coupons for free scrubbing pads when you buy any other Weiman product from the Winter Family Savings booklet
• Made both products $2.69 total

Everything else was either needed for the party or on sale BOGO. I got some other great deals on stuff at Target that I will post about soon.

Comment with any questions or if you found any great deals at Publix this week!

Couponing 101: How Does Stacking Coupons Work?

One way to get the lowest prices possible on a product is to combine a sale with a manufacturer coupon and a store coupon. This is often referred to as "stacking" coupons. Here are some common questions I get in regards to stacking.

1. How do you stack coupons?
2. What stores let you stack coupons?
3. Where do you get store coupons?

Here are my answers based on what I have learned about couponing so far.

1. Stacking coupons is when you can use a manufacturer coupon and a store coupon on the same item. Coupons will have a little set of boxes at the top of them that will have the expiration date and will state what type of coupon it is. Most coupons (especially those from the paper or coupon websites) will be manufacturer coupons. However, if the box on the top of the coupon says "store coupon" or "Target Coupon" then it is a store coupon.
2. Right now the only store I shop at locally that let you stack coupons are Publix and Target. Publix will let you use a manufacturer and a Publix coupon on every item that you buy. This includes BOGO items. Publix will also let you stack a competitor's coupon and a manufacturer's coupon on an item if you don't have a Publix Coupon. Target will let you stack a Target coupon and a manufacturer coupon as well. My Target does not accept competitor coupons but if yours did then the same would apply as it does at Publix. Check your local Publix and Target to see if they accept competitors coupons and who that store considers a competitor.
3. Store coupons can be found in lots of places. I will break it down by store
• Publix: The most common place to find Publix coupons are in Publix Green and Yellow advantage flyers. Occasionally, Publix puts out store coupon booklets like the Family Winter Savings and All The Trimming booklets. It is rare but you can sometimes find Publix store coupons in newspaper inserts and on website like coupons.com.
• Target: Target.com is the best place that I know of to find Target store coupons. Target does do home mailers but they are far and few between and its hard to know if you are going to get one. Target also has in store coupon booklets but I never seem to find them in my stores. From time to time, newspaper inserts do have Target store coupons as well.

A few more tips:

• Many times manufacturer coupons can have a store logo on them or say "Redeem At Publix". This does not necessarily make them a store coupon. If the tops says manufacturer than it should be accepted anywhere.
• The exception to above is if the coupon says "can only be redeemed at Publix". Then it is a store manufacturer coupon and can only be used at that store and cannot be stacked with another manufacturer coupon. Publix should let you use a store coupon with that type of coupon if you had one.
• Stacking coupons on top of a sale is the best way to get a great price. Publix BOGO sales are my favorite because you can use two coupons per item, even the free one.
• Example: Soup is normally $1.25 a can
• On sale BOGO
• Use a .25 off store coupon and a .25 manufacturer coupon on both items
• now you are paying .25 cents for both cans

Comment with any other questions!

$10 Credit To RueLaLa for New Users

Never heard of RueLaLa? Now is the time to join! Sign up now until Dec. 8th and you will receive a $10 credit within 72 hours of joining.
RueLaLa is a daily discount website that features flash sales on brand names clothes, shoes, accessories, beauty products, home decor, kids stuff, travel and more. Every day at 11am EST they have a number of new sales on a selection of brand names. 

I have used their site many times and find that they have great customer service and pretty easy returns too. It is also fun to dream/online window shop some of their high end designer sales : )  

Sign up here to receive the new Home Made Simple mailer from P&G. They put these out every month or so and the booklet contains coupons for products from Cascade, Dawn, Febreeze, Mr. Clean and Swiffer. The coupons usually have a really long expiration date and it's completely free so its worth signing up for.

Publix Trip 12/1: $125 Worth For $45

I was so happy with the final total of my shopping trip today. I was able to get some things we needed for our upcoming Christmas party, stock up on sale items, buy a decent amount of chicken and even purchased some non-sale/non-coupon items that we needed. I may even go back later this week to buy some more chicken.

My total cost out of pocket today was $45.93 for $123.01 worth of groceries. I was planning on using both a $5/50 Publix coupon and a $5/$30 Winn Dixie coupon but my total before coupons did not reach $80 so I just saved my Winn Dixie one for another day. As you can see alot of my savings came from special store prices so I didn't even actually use that many coupons (compared to normal)

Here is the breakdown:
Total Retail Value: $123.01
Total Spent: $45.93
Total Saved: $77.97
Saved 63%

Here are the highlights with coupon match ups:

• 2 liter bottles of Zephyhills Sparkling Water, retails for .99 cents each, on sale for .89 cents each
• Used two $1 off coupons from coupons.com
• Made them both FREE, plus I made .10 cents off each one
• 2 packages of Diamond Kosher Sale, retails for .99 cents each
• Used two .55 cents off store coupons from the Publix Winter Family Savings booklet
• Stacked with two .40 cents of printables from coupons.com
• Made them .04 cents each
• 1 dozen Publix eggs, retails for $2.09
• Used a coupon for FREE Publix eggs when you buy 2 bags of Sargento cheese
• Made them FREE
• 3 bags of Emerald Breakfast Blend Trail Mix, retails for $1.99 each, on sale for $1.50 each
• Used three $1 off coupon from the 11/13 SS
• Made them .50 cents each
• 4 packages of Solo Cups, retails for $5.45 each, on sale BOGO ($2.64 each)
• Used two $1/2 store coupons from the Publix Winter Family Savings Booklet
• Stacked with two $1/2 target.com printables (side note: my Publix allow me to use a Publix store coupon and a Target coupon on the same item, many don't but mine do for whatever reason. I have asked multiple managers and they have all ok'd it)
• Made them $1.64 each
• 4 bottles of Northland 100% Blended Juice, retails for $4.15 each, on sale BOGO ($2.07 each)
• Used two $1 off coupons from the 10/9 SS
• Made them $1.57 each
• 4 boxes of Krusteaz Cookie Mix, retails for $2.39 each, on sale BOGO ($1.19 each)
• Used two $1/2 coupons from a store blinkie dispenser
• Made them .69 cents each
• 4 bags of Nestle Tollhouse Morsels, retails for $2.93 each, on sale BOGO ($1.46 each)
• Used two .50/2 printables from the manufacturer's website
• Made them $1.21 a bag
• 2 boxes of Golden Grahams, retails for $3.99 each, on sale BOGO ($1.99 each)
• Used two .85 cents off coupons from bettycrocker.com
• Made them $1.14 each 
• 2 bags of Pepperidge Farms Stone Baked Artisan Rolls, retails for $3.69 each, on sale BOGO ($1.84 each)
• Used two .75 cents off coupons from the 10/16 SS
• Made them $1.09 each
• 1 Publix whole chicken on sale for $1.19 a pound
• 2 packages of Purdue Fit n Fresh chicken breasts on sale for $2.99 a pound
• Saved $2.00 a pound
• Note: chicken definitely goes on sale for cheaper than this but this is a decent price for Publix

Comment with any questions or if you found any amazing deals this week!