by Dana on November 6, 2010
in
Welcome to The Coupon Challenge! This site is dedicated to providing coupons, freebies, store matchups, recipes, free/cheap events and much more! Don't want to miss any of the great deals or money saving tips? Subscribe to my RSS feed or get FREE daily updates via email . Thanks for visiting!
Hi! I’m Dana, the writer behind the scenes of The Coupon Challenge. Are you looking for ways to save your family money? The Coupon Challenge provides
coupons to help you save on groceries, restaurants, clothing, and everything in between. You’ll find
store matchups to help you get more bang for your buck as well as links to score
free products. I’ll keep you appraised of
free/cheap events, give
frugal advice and even offer chances to
win giveaways!
Take a look at my getting started series if you’re new to the world of coupons. You may also be interested in my weekly menu plans and freezer cooking as a way to save time and money in the kitchen. Look around to find out how I can help you lower your monthly budget, so you can spend your hard-earned dollars on what is most important in your life.
More About Me:
I have been with my wonderful husband, Derrick, for 11 years. We have 2 energetic kids that keep me on my toes. Moneyboy is 6 and LuLu is 3. We live in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. I welcome you to meet my family and learn about our spending habits.
After my son was born, my coupon usage became more of an obsession. I’ve always enjoyed finding a good bargain and watching my grocery spending become less each month. I have taken this further into frugal living by cooking more, wasting less, shopping for the best deals, and much more. I have found that I can put more money into things that are beneficial and enjoyable to my family by changing my spending habits.
I started blogging in January 2010. I used to send out emails to family and friends with all the deals I was finding. I felt like I was bombarding their inboxes with deals (which I was). I wanted a place where they could go at their leisure to find coupons and deals, thus The Coupon Challenge was born!
I love comments and getting to know my readers. Leave a comment or send me an email to say hi! I’m always looking to improve The Coupon Challenge, so let me know your thoughts, needs or questions.
Thanks for reading!
Contact Me
Have a Question or Comment? Want to Share a Deal or Event?
I’d love to hear from you!
Email me
thecouponchallenge @ gmail (dot) com
Disclosure: This post may contain an affiliate link.
*CLOSED*
I’ve had the opportunity to work with CSNStores.com on several occasions. You can find just about any product you are looking for on one of their 200+ websites. A quick search of CSNStores.com and you can find
nightstands, crayons or kitchen sinks. In keeping with the Healthy Families Happy Kids theme, I searched for eco-friendly products. I was pleased with the choices available.
I recently reviewed the
Pyrex 5 Piece Bakeware Set. I needed more baking dishes for my
freezer cooking, so using my gift code to purchase items to help save my family money was a must. The checkout process was simple and my order arrived early which is always a plus.
Win It: One Coupon Challenge reader will win a
$35 Gift Certificate valid at any of the 200+ websites at
CSNStores.com. You must leave a separate comment for each method of entry. The mandatory entry method must be completed before any extra entries.
Winners will be selected at random. Please make sure you leave your email address with each entry. Winners will be contacted via email after the close of the giveaway. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to my email or a new winner will be selected. Entry for this giveaway will close on Tuesday, October 19th at 8pm EST.
**Mandatory Entry:
Go to CSNStores.com and leave a comment telling me a product you’d like to own.
Extra Entries:
- Follow The Coupon Challenge on Twitter. Leave a comment telling me you follow.
- Like The Coupon Challenge on Facebook. Leave a comment telling me you Like.
- Subscribe via RSS feed or by email feed (must be verified). Leave a comment letting me know how you subscribe.
- Become a Google Follower (on sidebar). Leave a comment and tell me you’re a follower.
- Become a Networked Follower (on sidebar). Leave a comment and tell me you’re a follower.
- Enter one of my other giveaways. Leave a comment here telling me which you entered.
- Blog, post in your facebook status, or tweet about this giveaway. Leave a comment telling me how you’ve spread the word about the $35 CSNStores.com Gift Certificate Giveaway. (You may choose 1 or all 3 methods)
- Add the Healthy Families Happy Kids Button on your sidebar. Leave 10 comments for 10 extra entries.
*US Only.
GOOD LUCK!
Disclosure: This post may contain an affiliate link.
My freezer is in need of prepared foods, so I thought my menu plan this week should consist of
Freezer Cooking Days. I don’t really have a full day to devote to marathon cooking, so I’ve decided that most of my menu will consist of meals that I can freeze. We’ll eat one for the night I cook it and use one for the freezer. My plan is to add in an extra meal or two on Thursday or Friday. My menu is based around what I have on hand, so I’ll need to do minimal shopping to pull this off.
I’ll post my freezer results (and recipes) on Friday, so stop back by if your interested.
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Meat Loaf with rice and whatever veggie is on sale Wednesday (freeze 1)
Saturday
Dinner with friends
Sunday
Turkey Burgers with baked sweet potato fries
Disclosure: This post may contain an affiliate link.
You all know that I love coupons! I use coupons daily in all aspects of my life, but saving money isn’t all about using coupons. I’ve put together a list of other ways my family saves money.
-We use CASH! Paying in Cash has been the most beneficial off all my money saving strategies. Paying with cash hurts and when it’s gone, it’s GONE!
-We avoid going out to eat! Although I love going out to eat, it’s expensive. Don’t get me started on fast food and how crazy the price is for that for junk. I’m not saying we don’t eat it on occasion; sometimes convenience over rules.
-I like to cook and participate in Freezer Cooking Day on a small scale. I can’t tell you how many times grabbing something from the freezer at the last minute has saved me. Oh, last night. I swore I’d taken out the turkey sausage. I just grabbed a container of chicken soup from the freezer and dinner was served!
-We find free or cheap entertainment. I’ve been working on an events/kids fun page which has been very helpful to me. Sunday we will be taking the kids to Portsmouth City Park for the boat races. It’s FREE, outside so the kids can run, and I’ll pack a picnic for lunch.
-We have weekly dinners with friends. We have friends with kids the same age, so we get together on Friday nights at one of our houses for dinner. Everyone contributes to the meal and the kids get to run and play all night. Although there is some cost, it’s minimal and a fun night out for all!
-We drink water! We don’t buy a lot of juice and rarely buy soda. My hubby and I can’t control ourselves if soda’s in the house, so I just don’t buy it! We do drink a lot of milk but the beverage of choice around here is water.
-I avoid too many shopping trips. I LOVE to shop, but I know my weaknesses. I have to be very careful in Target. It’s so easy to walk in an spend $100, so I limit my trips there and go with a list. Unless it’s free or at a rock bottom price, I stay way.
I have a list of other ways we save money, but I thought a Part 2 on Earth Day would be nice. A majority of my money saving strategies are also beneficial to our planet.
How do you save money?
This post is linked to My Coupon Teacher, Madame Deals and Melissa’s Bargain Blog
Disclosure: This post may contain an affiliate link.
I’ll be participating in Freezer Cooking Day with Crystal and Jessica again this month. My freezer is still pretty stocked, so I have only a few items I’ll be making. I don’t cook all my meals in one day like some of the others ladies, but I do prepare several meals that help ward against the “what’s for dinner” questions at 5pm. Most meals can come straight from the freezer and into the oven. Further, my son has been sick which just throws everything off. I plan to add on a few more items tomorrow if I’m feeling up to it.
Chicken Stock
Brown Bag Burritos
Banana bread
Macaroni and Cheese X2
Chicken Tortilla Soup X2
Southwestern Wagon Wheel Pasta (except I’m using shells-they were free)
I’ll post the Southwestern Wagon Wheels recipe tomorrow. I know you already link to Money Saving Mom, but I’d be interested to know if you have any recipes I should try next month.
Disclosure: This post may contain an affiliate link.
