Click here to “Like” Melt Buttery Spread on Facebook, and then sign up for a free product coupon. You are required to share the offer on your wall and allow limited posting access in order to receive the coupon, which is a printable. FYI, it will display both your full name and Facebook profile photo on the coupon. Not all stores accept printables for free items so keep that in mind when redeeming. I’ve never heard of this product before so I’ll be curious to see where it is sold. Thanks, Free Fun & Fab!

This has been quite a memorable spring for us! As you know, Jai and I have been on the Nutrisystem Nation Blogger Panel since June 2012. I’m pleased to say that we just wrapped up the program and lost a combined total of 86.9 pounds, 13.9 BMI points and 55.7 inches! Yeah! Currently, we are transitioning off the program, eating Nutrisystem dinner entrees with our own lunches and breakfasts. Prior to our last week, I placed an order on Amazon in anticipation of our transition:

I ordered a Nature Valley Sweet and Salty Peanut Granola Bars – 48 Count Box (Amazon Associates Link) for $20.45 and two orders of Kashi TLC Cereal Bar 6-Count Boxes (Amazon Associates Link) for $12.80 each. I had some Amazon gift cards saved up, so it didn’t cost me anything out of pocket. I chose these because the portion size/calories and nutritional information match up with the type of things we’ve been eating on Nutrisystem, so these make for effortless breakfasts & lunches. Initially, I planned to do a big batch of freezer cooking before phasing off Nutrisystem; however, we are remodeling our kitchen this month, so I realized it just wasn’t going to be practical. Having the kitchen torn up is going to make food preparation a lot harder, so I wanted to go easy on myself the first month with pre-packaged foods that will be ready to go without any prep.

In addition to the pre-prepared meals, we’ll be continuing to supplement with fresh foods as we have been on Nutrisystem. The photo above show an example of the type of things we’ve been picking up – eggs, brown rice, fruit & salad supplies. I snagged some savings on the Minute Rice and Dole Pineapple using coupons from the February issue of All You Magazine – I’ve been getting press copies of the magazine in the mail all year, which has been really handy. Since I run this site, I will often receive promotional items in the mail for review consideration; and I can’t think of anything more frugal than getting free coupons in the mail. I also used the January issue of All You to save on some cream cheese I bought at Walmart for a recent birthday party I hosted. Many of the coupons in All You are for products sold at Walmart – naturally, since the magazine is only sold in Walmart stores! – so it can be hit or miss whether I can use them or not, since I can’t get to Walmart often due to the distance; but I have still gotten some useful coupons from it. And of course it’s always fun reading the frugal articles and recipes!

Readers: Gotten any good deals this spring?

Click here to “Like” Safeway on Facebook and sign up for a coupon good for one free bag of Doritos Locos chips. Thanks, FHS Freebies!

Click here to enter the “Breakfast For a Year” contest on the Friskies Facebook page by uploading a photo of your cat, and you’ll be able to print a coupon good for a free can of cat food just for entering. Thanks, Inspiring You 2 Save!

Click here to head over to the Safeway Facebook page, “Like” them and fill out the form to receive a coupon good for one free 14 oz box of Frosted Mini-Wheats. I have heard that this offer is not valid in New York, but I didn’t look closely at the page when I signed up myself. Thanks to FHS Freebies for the tip-off!

We’re less than a week away from Valentine’s Day, and whether you’re thinking about a gift for your significant other or just shopping for candy to take to your child’s classroom, it’s likely that many of you will be doing some shopping for gifts this week.

1. Make a Gift:

When I was a child, I remember reading a short children’s story about a farm girl who starts at a new school right before Valentine’s Day. She was upset because she didn’t have the money to buy special valentines like her classmates, so her mother suggested using the resources they had on the farm – eggs, milk, flour – to make a batch of heart-shaped cookies. Her class loved her personalized, yummy cookies better than any other valentine, and the story finished with the recipe to make your own cookies. After all these years, that story still sticks will me, and I think it’s a timeless message! Whether it’s homemade treats, handwritten cards, a bouquet of wildflowers, or a craft idea you found on Pinterest, I firmly believe that DIY presents result in some of the most cherished memories.

2. Give Your Most Precious Resource – Time:

But what if you don’t have the funds or materials to even make a homemade present? Then you can create memories and do something special for your loved one by giving the most valuable gift of all, which is your time. With everyone getting busier and busier, quality time is getting scarcer than ever. Take an afternoon to just hang out and visit the park, watch a movie, go for a walk, play video games – whatever you feel like doing! The time we spend with others is what we remember all our lives, long after the chocolates have been eaten and the flowers have wilted.

3. Use Online Coupons….

If you have a larger budget and are planning on shopping online for something specific, take a few minutes before you place your purchase to do a little comparison shopping, then check for online coupons or rebates that may be available at the vendor you decide on. For example, if you’re shopping for jewelry, Red Envelope has a page of coupon codes including 20% off their jewelry, $30 off your order of $135, 15% off your order of general merchandise, or free shipping on order of $49 or more. Their diamonds aren’t exactly in my budget, but they do have some other more modest offerings. The clearance section had some items around $10 that would be a little more my style if I were shopping for gifts there! No matter how much you plan on spending, a bit of quick research on available coupon codes can quickly shave money off your order.

4. …And Offline Coupons!

A few years ago, I used some in-store coupons at Walgreens to pick up some bags of chocolate-covered macadamia nuts for .50 cents each. I tucked them in my gift box and pulled them out to give to Jai on Valentine’s Day. Spending $1 for V-day: It might not be diamonds, but it was delicious!

5. Finally, Hit The Clearance For Next Year!

No, clearance candy probably won’t taste good in 2014, but there are plenty of other things you can find marked down now that can save you some time and cash next year – decorations, craft supplies, or other non-perishable Valentine’s themed items are all good buys for next year if you can pick them up at a steep discount February 15th.

How do you save money on Valentine’s Day gifts?

Click here to load an ecoupon for a free 2-liter of Pepsi Next onto your Kroger card. The coupon is valid through February 23rd, however the coupon will only be available to add to your account today, February 8th, so hurry if you want this one! I think this may work at other Kroger stores such as Fred Meyer, but I’m having problems with my Fred Meyer Rewards card/account so I can’t test it myself to verify if my hunch is correct or not.

Thanks to Money Saving Mom for the tip!

I have my first noteworthy coupon haul of 2013 to share with you!

Staples:

Total Spent: $3.98
Total Before Coupons: $13.98

So a few days ago I got a coupon in the mail for $10 off a purchase of $10 or more at Staples. This was a “Surprise coupon” that resulted from being on a variety of snail mailing lists – the coupon mentioned my blog name, so I think I might be on this list as a thank-you for a previous project? Either way, I welcome free money! I decided to go for something practical and pick up two packs of Charmin. After my coupon, I paid on $3.98 for two packs of 16 double rolls.

PetCo:

Total Spent: Free!
Total Before Coupons: $2.06

PetCo is right next door to Staples in my area, so I dropped in to pick up a free can of Purina Pro Plan dog food and Friskies cat food. These coupons were both available as printable coupons from PetCo’s Coupon Page – I don’t see the dog food coupon on there now, but the cat food coupon is still available as of this writing. Note that you’ll need to be a PetCo Pals member to use these coupons – PetCo Pals is their free loyalty card. You can sign up easily and print the rewards card right from their website.

And I know what you’re thinking – “Beeb, you don’t have any pets!” No, but my Grandma has a dog and one of my best friends just had a new batch of kittens, so I picked these up for them.

Happy Friday everyone! Today we’re sending out congratulations to Super Coupon Girl reader Jules on winning our Contessa World Cuisine coupon giveaway. Enjoy your slew of free dinners, Jules!

My free Contessa coupon stash came in really handy over the holidays – we were invited to a New Year’s Eve party at a friend’s house, so as my contribution I picked up 6 bags of these meals so that we could cook them up at his house as a nice dinner/late night snack/carbs to absorb beer. We cooked the Orange Chicken and Mongolian Beef on our friend’s wood-burning stove over the course of the evening, and it was a big hit. I hope everyone else had a nice New Year; here’s to a great 2013!

The holiday season is a time for giving, so it seems only appropriate to host an end-of-the-year giveaway to say thank you to my wonderful readers! One reader of Super Coupon Girl will win an envelope containing 15 coupons good for a free bag of Contessa World Cuisine frozen meals, plus 25 additional coupons for $2 off! Now how’s that for an awesome coupon haul?! You can enter via the Rafflecopter form at the bottom of this post! Read on for more information.

Since Jai and I started our diet program, I’ve been doing a lot less shopping because all of our food is being provided to us free of charge for participating in the program. I figured I would still do a fair amount of shopping for other items, but I realized that there just isn’t much that we actually need at the moment! I’m stocked up on most cleaning and personal care items, so all that really leaves is the purchase of supplementary items like milk or fruit. And I did a big stock-up at Walmart in September because I had won a $100 gift card, so all told, I just haven’t needed to buy much of anything! Even my Christmas shopping is covered, because my gift list receive either items I’ve won in contests or things I’ve reviewed for Contest Corner.

When I do go shopping, I always receive a warm welcome from the cashiers at our Safeway. One of them asked me where I’ve been, and when I explained that we were getting free food at the moment, she immediately got it. This was the same cashier who rang up my epic Windex haul, so she knows I definitely won’t be running out of cleaning products any time soon. But that doesn’t mean I have completely stopped shopping:

I stopped by Safeway last night to pick up a few things before Christmas. Contessa had offered to send me an envelope full of coupons for free products and $ off, as well as provide a giveaway for the same, so naturally I had to take them up on this offer. What could be a better prize for my readers than a ton of coupons to save money in the New Year? I used one of the coupons they sent me to pick up a bag of Orange Chicken for free. I also picked up a quart of half and half, a bag of ripe bananas marked down to .54 cents per pound, and two dozen eggs, on which I used this printable coupon to save .55 cents. All told, I spent $6.51.

Contessa frozen convenience meals feed two people, and this variety came with vegetables, a bag of chicken, sauce, and rice. We reviewed two other varieties of these meals earlier in the month on Contest Corner, and they were really tasty. This time, I thought I’d try out the Orange Chicken, and the first thing I noticed was that this variety was a tad easier to cook than the Mongolian Beef as all the ingredients were already separated in their own bags. That being said, none of the ones I’ve tried were hard to prepare!

To cook, all you do is heat up a pan with vegetable oil, add the chicken, and cook for 5 minutes. Then you add the vegetables and sauce, and you’re done about 5 minutes later. The rice is packaged in a bag that you stick straight in the microwave to heat up and cook, which takes 2-3 minutes. Open the bag, serve up the rice, then add the meat and veg. That’s it!

Jai and I treated ourselves to the dinner and oh man, it was good! The tender battered chicken is so yummy and does a good job at recreating the restaurant experience. The vegetables are pretty typical for frozen, with a nice sauce and rice. We thoroughly enjoyed it and love the ease and speed of preparation – not bad for an all-in-one meal! Of the flavors, I would have to say Mongolian Beef is still my favorite simply because it was loaded with garlic, but this came in a close second! All three varieties of Contessa frozen meals which we’ve sampled over the last month have been great.

Now, time for the giveaway! One reader will win an envelope containing 15 free product coupons for Contessa frozen skillet meals, plus 25 additional coupons good for $2 off. The free coupons are good up to an $8.99 value, making the total possible savings with these coupons $184.85! Coupons are valid through 5/31/13, do not double or combine.

We’re using Rafflecopter on Super Coupon Girl for the first time! If you’re unfamiliar with Rafflecopter, it makes it easy to enter giveaways. Just log in to the widget below with your email or Facebook account, then click the “Easy entry” button to enter the giveaway with one click! That’s it! After your initial entry, you’ll see a host of other option appear if you’d like the chance to increase your odds of winning. See below the widget for full rules. Have fun and good luck!

Rules, regulations, and other important stuff: Giveaway is open to residents of the United States, 18+, and ends on January 4th, 2012 at 12:00 AM PST. We are sorry, but APO/FPO addresses are not eligible to win. Winner will be chosen through Rafflecopter the same day and notified via email. Winner has 48 hours to respond to our notification email, or a new winner will be chosen in their place. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. We hereby release Facebook of any liability. By entering this giveaway, you are releasing Facebook and understand that you are providing information to Contest Corner and the giveaway sponsor, not Facebook. Super Coupon Girl is not responsible for late entries or entries lost due to technical malfunctions. Please see our disclosure for further details on our site’s policies. A sample was received to facilitate this review.