Trading Up Downtown » Deal of the Week

Deal of the Week: Nab Great Deals in the Bread Aisle

Tina — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:53:14 +0000

As you probably know, coupons and in-store sales are a grear way to save money at the grocery store while you shop, but you can even save more with some smart shopping strategies. Here are some tips to help you make budget-friendly choices in the bread aisle!

Check out the day-old shelf: Most grocery stores have a day-old shelf or rack where you can find day-old bread at a deeply discounted price. If you don’t know where yours is located, ask the bakery counter. Day-old bread is perfect for making your own bread crumbs or French toast.
Take advantage of buy one, get one deals: Don’t need two loaves of bread? Buy one and freeze one for later!
Get creative: Is your bread at home about to expire? Crumble it into burgers or meatloaf. You’ll use less meat without skipping out on flavor, which means you’ll save some money in the end!
Make your own snacks: Instead of buying expensive bags of chips, make your own at home using corn or flour tortillas. Crisp up the tortillas in the oven (or toaster oven) and sprinkle with sea salt or garlic powder.

Trading Up Downtown Giveaway

Thanks to everyone who entered this week’s giveaway! Here’s you winner: 75!

75. Daria

Peanut butter cookie and pecan pie! Great as a snack or dessert!

Congrats, Daria! Please email me at thaupert@nuval.com with you full name and mailing address to claim your prize.

Deal of the Week: Unfinished Furniture

Tina — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:07:31 +0000

The other day, my husband came up with the brilliant idea of purchasing unfinished furniture to save us some money. We like doing home improvement projects, so sanding and staining new furniture isn’t a hassle at all for us. Plus, we’re all about saving money where we can!

On Monday, we headed to a local furniture store that specializes in unfinished pieces. We found all sort of great stuff, and our trip was a huge success because we bought a new TV stand (below), a desk, and a cabinet for my office for hundreds of dollars less than we planned to pay at one of those big furniture stores. And the quality of the pieces was excellent. All three were built well with beautiful (real) wood. Woohoo!

Trading Up Downtown Giveaway

Thanks to everyone who entered last week’s giveaway! Here’s your winner: 60!

60. Jillian @ Sprinkle Massacre

My favorite way to eat granola is sprinkled over greek yogurt.

Congrats, Jillian! Please email me at thaupert@nuval.com with your full name and mailing address to claim your prize!

Deal of the Week: Oil Mister

Tina — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 12:57:40 +0000

Have you ever heard of an oil mister? Is a great little kitchen tool that you fill with olive oil and use to “mist” your food or a cooking dish– sort of like nonstick cooking spray, but a lot more nutritious for you and, of course, less chemically. It’s also a great way to save calories and fat (if you’re watching your weight) as well as your hard-earned money!

I recently received a fancy bottle of expensive truffle oil for Christmas, so I put it in my oil mister to help me use less of it so it lasts longer. Instead of pouring the truffle oil, I light spritz it on my meals/food.

Trading Up Downtown Giveaway

Thanks to everyone who entered this week’s giveaway! Here’s your winner: 20!

20. lindsay

you never regret a workout!

Congrats, Lindsay! Please email me at thaupert@nuval.com with your full name and mailing address to claim your prize.

Deal of the Week: Use Your Coupons

Tina — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 12:49:01 +0000

I already showed you guys what I bought at the grocery store earlier this week, but then I realized that I had a bunch of coupons that were about to expire at the end of the month, so I gathered them up and went to cash them in. Many of them are for FREE items or ones that I typically buy, so if I let them expire, it would be like I was wasting money.

Check out the loot that bought! Original cost: $74. Cost after sales and coupons: $36! A savings of $38! Booyah!

Items that were on sale:

Store brand egg whites
Kettle Backyard BBQ Chips (NuVal score: 24)
Kettle Krinkle Cut Chips Buffalo Bleu All Natural (NuVal score: 24)
Brown sugar (NuVal score: 1)
Clementines (NuVal score: 94)
Wilson Pepperoni Slices
Store brand shredded cheddar cheese
Wonderful Roasted & Salted Pistachios (NuVal score: 41)
Chobani Non-Fat Strawberry Greek Yogurt (NuVal score: 28)
Chobani Non-Fat Greek Yogurt Blueberry (NuVal score: 28)
Chobani Non-Fat Peach Greek Yogurt (NuVal score: 28)
Chobani Non-Fat Plain Greek Yogurt (NuVal score: 94)
Chobani Non-Fat Pomegrante Greek Yogurt (NuVal score: 28)
Chobani Non-Fat Black Cherry Greek Yogurt (NuVal score: 27)
Chobani Low-Fat Mango Greek Yogurt (NuVal score: 25)
Chobani Low-Fat Banana-Strawberry Greek Yogurt (NuVal score: 26)

Items that I had a coupon for:

Arnold 100% Whole Wheat Bread (NuVal score: 37)
Arnold 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Thins (NuVal score: 37)
Dole Endless Summer Salad Kit
Buitoni Braised Beef and Sausage Ravioli
Ristorante Pizza Quattro Formaggi Frozen Pizza

Don’t forget to use your coupons before the end of the year! Many of them expire on December 31, 2011!

Deal of the Week: Store Food Without Worry

Tina — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 11:01:45 +0000

Scoring items on sale at the grocery store is one of my favorite things, especially when it’s a product that I love and use often. Getting these deals slims my grocery bill quite a bit, but only if those purchases don’t go to waste. If they do, I’m just wasting money!

Here are some helpful guidelines from AllYou.com to help keep items as delicious and fresh as they were on the day you bought them.

Keep your pantry items…

Bottled salad dressing (unopened): 1 year
Bread: 5-7 days
Canned goods: 1 year
Cereal (unopened): 1 year
Jams, jellies, honey, syrup (unopened): 1 year
Peanut butter: 6 months
Pasta: 2 years
White rice: 1 year

Keep your frozen food…

Beef steaks: 6-12 months
Bread: Up to 1 year
Butter: 6-9 months
Fish: 2-6 months
Ground meat: 3-4 months
Lunch meat: 1-2 months
Produce: Up to 1 year
Whole poultry: 1 year

Deal of the Week: Save Money with Printable Coupons

Tina — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 12:09:03 +0000

Before you head to the store, don’t forget your coupons!

An easy way to find them is online. There are a ton of websites devoted to printable coupons. Stock up on printable coupons for groceries, health, and beauty products and more!

Here are just some of the great websites out there that offer printable coupons!

Do you ever use printable coupons? What are your favorite websites to find them?

Deal of the Week: Workout from Home

Tina — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 12:19:24 +0000

Thanks to a bunch of new online offerings, you don’t need to pay for an expensive gym membership to take a great fitness class at home. Check out these affordable (some are even free!) at-home workouts that you can find online:

Yoga Download: Online yoga studio from Yoga Download. Choose from a wide variety of top quality on demand streaming video yoga classes, audio yoga classes and meditation.
Yogis Anonymous: Get your online yoga fix with full-length live-streaming and on-demand yoga videos!
Live Exercise: The #1 FREE website for online workouts. Get in the best shape of your life with elastic resistance.
Pilates Anytime: HD quality Pilates class videos available 24 hours a day, new exercises added all the time. Free 15 day trial.
TRX TV: TRX TV lets you watch and download the latest TRX exercises – plus get trainer tips and advice.

Do you ever use the internet to exercise? If so, what are your favorite websites?

Trading Up Downtown Giveaway

Thanks to everyone who entered last week’s giveaway! Here’s your winner: 81!

81. Charliss

I, too, traded up from instant oatmeal to old fashioned rolled oats…next step? Steel cut oats!

Congrats, Charliss! Please email me at thaupert@nuval.com with your full name and mailing address to claim your prize.

Deal of the Week: Easy No-Bake Desserts

Tina — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 12:55:35 +0000

Happy Friday!

What are your plans for the weekend? Is there a party or barbecue on your calendar? Turn off the oven and make these easy, luscious sweets from AllYou.com. The best part about these goodies (besides their taste, of course) is their cost per serving– most are under $2 each. I love that!

Trading Up Downtown Giveaway

Thanks to everyone who entered the Ebates giveaway this week! Here’s your winner: 27!

27. Emily

Love ebates!! Been a member for a while now and try to use it all the time.

Congrats, Emily! Please email me at thaupert@nuval.com with the email address you used to sign up for Ebates.

Deal of the Week: Make Pricey Items Last Longer

Tina — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 11:35:01 +0000

Doesn’t it seem like the grocery items that you use the most are often the ones that cost the most too? Why does that happen!?! Just imagine how much money you’d save if those pricey items lasted longer!

Here’s how I outsmart those high prices with these simple suggestions from AllYou.com!

BEEF: Beef can be costly, but that doesn’t mean you need to take burgers off the menu. You can stretch ground beef with fillers such as beans and vegetables. Reserve steak for special occasions.
PORK: Instead of using pork as a meal’s main event, add bits of ham or bacon to soups, stews and egg dishes to give them oomph. Or put your slow cooker to work on a pork shoulder or another tasty, inexpensive cut.
FATS & OILS: Use just a little oil in a nonstick pan to brown meat and vegetables, then toss in a splash of broth to keep food from sticking. Buying a mister to spray your cooking oil also can help you cut down on waste.
DAIRY: Add just a sprinkling of a bolder cheese, like sharp Cheddar, instead of piling on a milder variety. Shred your own to save a lot. Milk is one of the least costly ways to get your dairy servings, so drink up!

How do you make pricey items last longer?

Deal of the Week: A Can of Spray Paint

Tina — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 11:44:00 +0000

Who knew a can of spray paint had so much potential?!?

The other day, I went to town on a couple of spray paint projects around the house. Now, it’s is my favorite tool. (Spray paint is considered a tool, right?)

The first project that I tackled was prettying a set of tables that I rescued from the garbage a few months ago.

Before we moved into our new house, I snagged these tables off the curb before they were picked up for trash day. They were covered in cobwebs and dirt, but I saw their potential.

The tables are made of a hard plastic, so I bought a special plastic paint at Lowes and then washed (with soap and water) and dried before spraying them.

I spray painted the tables in the basement, which ended up not being the best idea because the fumes got a little out of hand. I probably should have done the project outside, but rain was in the forecast for later in the day, so I didn’t want to risk it. I ended up taking breaks every few minutes and opening the door to the basement to get fresh air.

Spraying the bigger table with blue paint was a piece of cake. It took me 10 minutes. The smaller table, which I spray painted white, took a lot more effort because it needed multiple coats and a few touch-ups. My wrist was actually sore the next day from holding down the spray top for so long!

But, in the end, it was totally worth it. I LOVE the new look!

I also used the white spray paint to change the look of a frame that didn’t match the décor of our new home. It was originally gold, but I spray painted it white and replaced the photo with a black and white greeting card from CVS. Cute, right?

Do you like DIY projects? What’s the coolest DIY project you’ve ever done?