Levine's Red Cross challenge grant -- matched!

Just read this good news in the Charlotte Observer: Jerry Richardson, owner of the Carolina Panthers, and his wife Rosalind, matched Howard Levine's challenge to the community to raise $250,000 for the Red Cross after only one day! The Red Cross has also received about $6000 in checks from other individuals over the past week. However, they're still about $1 million short of their budget, and they're hoping to raise it by June. Visit redcrosshelps.org to make a donation and help your neighbors in crisis.

Free pancakes at IHOP 3/1

Visit any IHOP next Tuesday, March 1 and celebrate National Pancake Day with a FREE short stack of buttermilk pancakes. They're asking that customers make a donation to Children's Miracle Network in return. All money collected in the Charlotte area will go to Levine Children's Hospital.

Thanks, Charlotte on the Cheap!

Crayola Pop Art Pixies for $3-$8 AC

Crayola has a line of craft kits aimed at tween girls called Pop Art Pixies, and they're on clearance right now at Target. Visit Crayola's website and print up to 2 coupons for $2 off any kit. They're 50% off right now at my stores, making the larger kits $9.98 (shadow boxes & glass plates) and the smaller kits $4.98. I picked up 2 of the Naomi's Stationery Box kits for $2.98 each after coupon. They're super cute; they look like Japanese bento boxes and come with wasabi stampers, chopstick pens and sushi sticky notes. One's going to my niece for her 9th birthday, and the other is going to my sister, a Japanese major at UNCC. Yes, we still like cute stuff. Don't judge us.

These will make great donations for older girls to Bright Blessings, or save them for this year's Toys for Tots or Salvation Army toy drive.

Learn to coupon with Jenny from Southern Savers

Oh boy, this is exciting news! Jenny from Southern Savers (one of my very favorite deal sites) is coming to Charlotte next month for 2 of her "Extreme Couponing 101" seminars. She'll be in Monroe on Wednesday, March 23 at 6 pm at Sunshine Station at Sardis, 4405 Sardis Church Rd. On Thursday the 24th, she'll be right down the street from me at Calvary Chapel Huntersville, 15800 Old Statesville Rd., also at 6 pm. Both seminars are FREE. Register on her website to reserve a space for yourself. She'll be teaching coupon organizing techniques, how to find deals online, how to use your coupons most efficiently, and details on how to do drugstore deals. Everyone gets a complimentary guide to keep. Space is limited, so sign up now if you're interested!

Edit: I got my email confirmation a few minutes ago, and it turns out these seminars aren't free after all. They are $10 per person, payable in cash or by check at the door. I feel it's worth the price for all the information you're getting, but just wanted to let you know.

FREE and cheap Seventh Generation products at Harris Teeter

I just love Seventh Generation's cleaning products! I worry about exposing my son to too many chemicals, so I started buying their all-natural disinfectant all purpose spray, and it does a really great job cleaning up messes on the high chair, the kitchen floor, and countertops. My husband and I also hated how other dish soaps left a nasty taste on our travel mugs and Tupperware, so we switched to their unscented dish soap. It really works just as well as the more popular dish soaps without any weird fragrances, plus it's better for the environment.

Okay, unsolicited testimonial over! If you also like Seventh Generation, or want to give it a try, go to Harris Teeter before Wednesday. There were coupons in Jan. 23's Red Plum insert, and there are printables available at Seventh Generation's website (click "Coupons" and register). Here are some of the better deals:

Seventh Generation dish liquid, $1.99 (normal price)
- $1/1 Seventh Generation product, any (excluding single roll paper towels), RP 1/23 or here
= FREE

Seventh Generation dishwasher detergent, $1.99 (normal price)
- $1/1 Seventh Generation product, any (excluding single roll paper towels), RP 1/23 or here
= FREE

 Seventh Generation all-purpose disinfectant spray, $3.29
- $1/1 Seventh Generation product, any (excluding single roll paper towels), RP 1/23 or here
= $1.29

Pet rescues and shelters are always looking for cleaning products, so take your donations to the Cornelius Animal Shelter or Google "pet rescues" and your zip code to find one closest to you.  

Great diaper deals at Harris Teeter through Tuesday

I noticed most of the diapers at Harris Teeter are on sale this week for $8.99 a pack, and while this isn't a very good deal without coupons, you can get a GREAT deal on Huggies Snug & Dry. There are blinkie machines at both the stores closest to me with coupons for $1.50/1 Huggies Snug & Dry. So through Tuesday (the end of Super Doubles), you can get a pack of these diapers for $5.99. Remember, HT only doubles 3 like coupons per day, so if you want to stock up, you'll have to make a few trips.

And through March 1, the e-VIC special is Pampers jumbo packs. You can pick up 2 packs per household for $5.99 each with your VIC card, no coupon required. If you're lucky enough to have a fully potty-trained household, Loaves and Fishes, Salvation Army and Bright Blessings will be more than happy to take a donation.

Red Cross Challenge Grant

Yesterday, Howard Levine, CEO of Family Dollar, announced his donation of $250,000 to the Greater Charlotte chapter of the Red Cross. The Red Cross is really in the hole right now, as they've had to cut 40% of their employees since 2008 and donations have been down since the beginning of the recession. They're hoping to raise $2.7 million this budget year, and so far they've raised just half that. The challenge grant will be a BIG help to them, and they'll be able to assist local families affected by disasters such as house fires and floods.

If you want to contribute, go to the Red Cross' local homepage here and click "Meet the Challenge" to donate via credit card, or call (704) 347-8428. You can also mail a check to: American Red Cross, Carolina Piedmont Region, PO Box 36507, Charlotte, NC 28236. Make the check out to "American Red Cross, Carolina Piedmont Region" and put "Meet the Challenge" on the memo line. Even $5 is better than nothing, so go ahead and make a little donation!

Harris Teeter Super Doubles -- My best bets

Okay, I've looked over this week's Harris Teeter ad and Southern Savers' fabulous post about the Super Doubles promotion going on now through next Tuesday. Here are my best bets for items to donate:

Buy 2, Get 3 Free
Colgate Toothpaste, original, 6.4 oz., B2G3

- (2) $1/1 Colgate toothpaste, 4 oz.+, SS 1/30

= .35 each for 5 tubes!

Old Orchard 100% juice, 64 oz (selected varieties), B2G3

- (2) .50/1 IPs, here

= .78 each for 5 juices!

Barilla pasta, 16. oz, B2G3

= .60 each for 5 boxes

Buy 1, Get 1 Free
** Remember, Harris Teeter will take only ONE coupon for a B1G1 deal. If you have 2 or more coupons for a B1G1 item, you'll have to do separate transactions to use them.
Luck's Pinto Beans with Pork, 15 oz, .49 each or .99 for 2
HT White Rice, 16 oz, .59 each or $1.19 for 2
HT Oats, 18 oz, .99 each or $1.99 for 2e
Bumblebee Tuna Solid White Albacore, 5 oz, .97 each or $1.95 for 2
Pedigree Dog Food, 15-20 lb, $8.99 each or $17.99 for 2

- $2/1 Pedigree dog food, 8.8 lb +, RP 1/23 or IP here

= $6.99 for a bag

Purina Cat Chow, 3.5 lb, $3.74 each or $7.49 for 2

- $1/1 Purina Cat or Kitten Chow, SS 1/02 or IP here

= $1.74 for a bag

Other great deals
Uncle Ben's Boil-in-Bag Rice, 14-15.8 oz, $2

- $1/1 Uncle Ben's white or brown rice, RP 1/09

= FREE!
Betty Crocker Specialty Potatoes, $1

- $1/2 Betty Crocker potatoes IP here or here

= 2 FREE boxes

Betty Crocker Hamburger, Chicken or Tuna Helper, $1

- .75/3 Hamburger Helper, any variety, SS 2/13

= $1.50 for 3 or .50 each

Remember the rules: only 20 coupons can be doubled per day, only 3 like coupons will be doubled (2 if they're printables), and they will not take a coupon on a "free" item. Have lots of fun with this, I know I will! I'll put up a post of my deals later on this week.

New P&G Everyday Solutions coupons available

Procter & Gamble allows you to request coupons quarterly through their P&G Everyday Solutions site. It's the start of a new quarter, so visit their page and get up to $39 in coupons for Tide, Charmin, Downy, Puffs, Crest, and more. There's a very nice high-value coupon for $2 off any Pampers available, so make sure and ask for that one if you've got little ones or would like to donate. You can only request coupons once per quarter, so make sure you get all the ones you want now!

Bless their Hearts at Toys & Co. in Cotswold

Toys & Co. at 242 Sharon Amity Rd. (in the Cotswold Village Shops) is partnering with Bright Blessings (formerly Birthday Blessings) next week, February 20-26th. Mention "Bright Blessings" or "Bless Their Hearts" when you make a purchase, and 20% of the sale will go to help Bright Blessings. This great charity helps homeless children have the happy birthdays they deserve, and also helps homeless mothers get the supplies they need for their newborn babies. If you've got a birthday party or other occasion coming up, see if you can find something at Toys & Co. and help out.

Birthday Blessings is now Bright Blessings

To reflect the fact that they support homeless children and mothers in many ways, the awesome charity Birthday Blessings has changed its name to Bright Blessings. To see their current wish lists, go here.

Harris Teeter Super Doubles start tomorrow!

This is very exciting for those of us who coupon: Harris Teeter's having a Super Doubles coupon event starting tomorrow, 2/16, through 2/22. HT normally doubles coupons with a value of .99 or less, but for the next week, you can double coupons worth up to $1.98. There are a few restrictions:
- Only 20 coupons per day per household will be doubled.
- Only 3 like coupons will be doubled, 2 if they are IPs.

Jenny at Southern Savers always does a great job of putting out thorough matchups for Super Doubles. There are a lot of freebies and things that can be had for very cheap this next week. Here's a link to her first post about the current deals. She'll be putting up more later today when she does her weekly Harris Teeter ad preview. I'll update the blog when she does and post my best suggestions for donations as well.

Best Bets for 2/13-2/19

These are the best values for popular items on charities' wish lists I'm seeing in this Sunday's Target & Walgreens ads. I've posted coupon matchups where I can. If you need to find a charity to donate to, check out the "Charity Profile" tab at the top of the page. Enjoy!

Target
Market Pantry pastas & tomato sauce, $1 each
Tuna Helper, $1

- .75/3 Hamburger Helper, SS 2/13 

= $2.25 for 3 or .75 each

Starkist tuna pouches, 2.6 oz, $1

Walgreens
Campbell's Tomato or Chicken Noodle condensed soup, 2/$1 (with IAC*)

- .40/4 Campbell's Condensed Soups (excl. Great for Cooking soups), SS 2/13

= $1.60 for 4 or .40 each

Quaker Quick 1-Minute Oats, 2/$3

- $1/1 Quaker oats, SS 1/2

= $1 for 2 (if you have 2 coupons), or .50 each

Tuf paper towels, .49 (with IAC)
Arrid or Arm & Hammer deodorant, .99 (with IAC)
Purex laundry detergent, 32 loads, $1.99

Saturday Brag for 2/12/11

This week, I was really motivated to pick up some stuff to donate to the Boy Scouts' Scouting for Food drive. I pulled together some coupons for Hamburger Helper, Quaker Oats, Maalox and Friskies. Here's my haul:

8 boxes Hamburger Helper (stroganoff & cheeseburger macaroni flavors), $1 each
5 bottles Maalox chewables (65 ct.), $3.79 each
2 bags Friskies Party Mix cat treats, $1.13 each
1 box Quaker instant oatmeal variety pack (22 ct.), on clearance at Target for $3.94
= $33.15 before tax

- (2) .75/3 Hamburger Helper, SS 1/02

- (2) .50/1 Hamburger Helper, IP (down right now, sorry!)

- (2) $1/1 Friskies cat treats, any, SS 1/23

- $1/1 any Quaker oatmeal, RP 1/02

- $1/1 Quaker instant oatmeal TQ, here

- (5) $5/1 any Maalox product, SS 1/09 (coupon value adjusted to $3.79 each by cashier)

= $7.70 after coupons!

I really wish the cashier hadn't insisted on changing the coupon value. At first, she tried to say that she couldn't take them because they were more than the value of the items (not true, according to Target's coupon policy), and then tried to say that I could only use one, since the coupons say "one per purchase". However, "one per purchase" means "one per item". If a coupon says "one per transaction", you can only use one in your order. Target got in big trouble over the summer for giving customers less than the full face value of the coupons, and most stores will now go ahead and give it to you. Unfortunately, they do still reserve the option of adjusting the value of the coupon if the item costs less, according to their official coupon policy. I don't like this at all. I really doubt Target's telling the manufacturers to keep the extra money, since they only let me have part of the value of the coupon. But I digress...

If I was a little luckier and had a cashier who gave me the full $5 off each bottle of Maalox, my total would've been $1.65. Even my "big" total of $7.70 is a teeny price to pay for all the stuff I'm donating! I hope this inspires you to get out and use your coupons. See you back here next week for another brag! And if you want me to share your trip, leave a link to your blog in the comments.

Donate clean water on PUR's Facebook page

Like PUR on Facebook and donate 10 liters of clean water to the Children's Safe Drinking Water Fund. You can click once a day to donate, and PUR will donate up to 3,000,000 liters of water. They're also donating an additional 10 liters of water for each new fan, so tell your friends!

Like La-Z-Boy on Facebook to help Ronald McDonald House

If you go to La-Z-Boy's Facebook page HERE, they will donate $1 to a Ronald McDonald House on your behalf. There isn't one in Charlotte yet, but you can choose Winston-Salem, Columbia or Chapel Hill, or pick another part of the country you'd like to benefit.

Hamburger Helper .50 a box at Target

I promised you cheap deals on food for the Scouting for Food drive, and I've got one for you. Go to the Hamburger Helper website HERE and print a .50/1 coupon. There was a coupon for .75/3 Helpers in the 1/2 SmartSource, and there's also a .75/3 printable HERE.

Most varieties of Hamburger, Chicken and Tuna helper are $1 right now at Target, so they'll be either .50 or .75 each, depending on your coupon. Don't forget to take your finds to Harris Teeter this week and drop them off in the collection bins!

Great deals on cat food & treats at Target

There are several awesome deals at Target right now on cat food & treats. You can donate them to an area shelter, such as the Cornelius Animal Shelter, or a cat rescue. I'm personally a big fan of Friends of Feral Felines. My good friend, Jeannie, is a certified “crazy cat lady” and feeds several colonies of feral cats every day, and FFF also traps, spays/neuters and releases cats so the colonies are controlled. Second Harvest Food Bank (on Spratt Street, just north of Uptown) takes pet food to distribute to individuals who can't afford to care for their animals. I've also noticed that the Petco in Huntersville has collection bins for Second Harvest, so might be able to drop off your goodies at a store near you. Many of these deals are money makers (MMs). That means the value of the coupon exceeds the price of the items. Make sure and buy other stuff, either for yourself or to donate, so your total doesn't go below $0 and you can take advantage of this "free" money. I am planning a trip this week to show you how to take advantage of MMs, so keep watching for it!

Whiskas cat food trays, 2 for $1 (TPC through 2/19)

- BOGO Whiskas cat food tray, 1/23 RP

= .50 for 2 trays of cat food

The Goodlife Recipe wet cat food, .79 (regular price)\

- $1.50/1 or $1/1 any The Goodlife Recipe cat food, 1/2 RP

= .21 or .71 MM!

Friskies Party Mix cat treats, $1.34 (TPC through 2/19)

* I have found some varieties on clearance for .98 a bag – check your store!

- $1/1 any Friskies cat treats, SS 1/23

- $1/1 Purina Dog Snack or Cat Treat, printable HERE

= .34 per bag, .02 MM if you can find the clearance bags

Whiskas Whisker Lickin's, .89 (TPC through 2/19)

- $1/1 Purina Dog Snack or Cat Treat, printable HERE

= .11 MM!

Scouting for Food

Charlotte-Mecklenburg area Boy Scout troops are collecting food this week for Loaves & Fishes. You can donate at any Mecklenburg County Harris Teeter through Sunday, February 13, or drop off at these locations this weekend:

• Arboretum Shopping Center-Providence and Hwy 51, Charlotte 
• Davidson United Methodist Church-233 South Main Street, Davidson 
• Mulberry Presbyterian Church-5600 Tuckaseegee Road, Charlotte 
• Sharon United Methodist Church-4411 Sharon Road, Charlotte 
• St. Mark’s Catholic Church-14740 Stumptown Road, 
• Huntersville Town Center Plaza-8600 University City Blvd., Charlotte 
• Trinity Presbyterian Church-3115 Providence Road, Charlotte
  

I'll do my best to post some really cheap deals this week, but why not kill two birds with one stone? Take 15 minutes this week and look in your pantry. Pull out the things you may have bought on impulse, or the stuff you bought several boxes of but don't really like. Ask yourself, am I really going to eat this by the expiration date, or does someone need this more than I do? Note: don't give expired food, because that's just gross. Sure, people are hungry, but they deserve to feed their families food that's not stale and funky. I dropped off some boxed mashed potatoes that are close to the best-by date (not past!), as well as some baby food, since my son's a toddler now and has no interest in mashed peas or pureed chicken whatsoever. It's a win-win-win: you'll have a neater, cleaner home; you're not wasting money on food you won't eat; and families in need will have food. Pretty great accomplishment for cleaning out your pantry!

Get $110 in coupons for P&G products on Facebook!

Procter & Gamble is mailing out coupon booklets with $110 worth of discounts to anyone who likes them on Facebook. Go HERE, click "Get the Special Offer" and put in your information. Looking forward to getting mine!

Donate $15 to Greenpeace, get $15 Groupon credit

Groupon is running a cool promotion now through March 31: donate $15 to Greenpeace, and receive $15 in Groupon credit! It's like donating money to charity and getting it all back to spend on yourself. Groupon publishes a deal a day (sometimes more), and your $15 credit can go toward the purchase of another Groupon for a local business. Today's regular deal for Charlotte is for Phat Burrito in South End, but you can save your credit if you want to wait for a different deal. Don't forget to read the fine print, like you need to with any deal-a-day site. I really love Groupon and LivingSocial (the other big daily coupon site), and this is a great way to help a charity and keep your money for yourself at the same time. Click HERE to buy your Groupon.

Cheap finds at Target's Baby Sale

Target is continuing their big Baby Sale this week. Here are some coupon matchups for you. Don't forget to donate your extras to Loaves & Fishes, Salvation Army Center of Hope, or Birthday Blessings' Bless-A-Baby program.

Desitin, 2 for $6

- $1 off Desitin (excludes trial size), 1/9 SS

= $2 per tube

Johnson's baby wash, 15 oz, 2 for $6

- $1 off Johnson's Baby item (excludes trial size), 1/9 SS

- $1 off Johnson's Baby toiletry item, Target baby mailer

= $1 per bottle if you have both coupons, or $2 if you have just the MQ

Kerry at Totally Target is also reporting that you can find bottles of Johnson's Baby Wash bundled with a small bottle of Johnson's Bubble Bath for $1.99 at some stores. If you use the MQ, you can get this deal for .99, and if you have the TQ from the baby mailer, they're FREE!