frugal living

10/17/19 National Pasta Day!

Abby H.

d885edea4dac6850a5f9bdde459b5c86.jpgDid you know that 10/17/19 is National Pasta Day?

I didn’t. There aren’t tons of freebies. Like… None.

Olive Garden has some sort of shenanigans going on via Twitter, but ain’t nobody got time for that. IF you sign up for their email club, you can get a free app or dessert.

For those of us who don’t have time to chase deals, and want to eat a bowl of plain ‘skettis at home, here are some yummy pasta recipes to try:

The kids have requested Mac and Cheese for dinner- so we’re celebrating!

Quick & Easy Meal: Ravioli Soup

Abby H.1 Comment

cooking-1.jpgThis recipe is super easy, you can add meat (like in the picture) if you like, or keep it meat-free and add some extra vegetables.

I try to have the ingredients for this soup on-hand. It’s quick and perfect for when you want a hearty bowl of soup in a hurry.

Ravioli Soup

Serves 4

Ingredients:

  • 2 T. olive oil
  • 1 small onion chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, diced
  • 1/2 c. each: chopped carrots, celery
  • 2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
  • 1 14.5 ounces (or so) fire-roasted tomatoes
  • 1 small can tomato paste
  • 1-quart vegetable stock
  • 1 Bay Leaf
  • 2 T. Mural of Flavor
  • 1 9oz. package of Ravioli (I Like 4 cheese)
  • 1/2 c. good quality parmesan cheese, divided

Directions:

  1. In a stockpot, heat olive oil and saute all of the veggies for about 5-10 minutes.
  2. Lower the heat to medium/low, add tomatoes, tomato paste, and veggie stock.
  3. Simmer on medium/low for 20-30 minutes.
  4. Add ravioli and cook 8-10 minutes, until ravioli are cooked.
  5. Ladle into 4 bowls, top with cheese and serve with a green salad.

It’s that easy!

Substitutions-

  • Add 1/2 lb. of protein- your choice. I like cooked, crumbled Italian sausage. Meatballs or  Italian sausage sliced into rounds work great too. Add into the soup after step 2.
  • Use ravioli with meat if you prefer.
  • Use Gluten-free ravioli if you need to.
  • If you want more veggies in your soup, add 3-4 cups of fresh spinach when you add in the ravioli.

 

 

California Climate Credit- Savings on Your October Utility Bill!

Abby H.

Screen Shot 2019-10-10 at 10.10.07 PM.pngWOO HOO!! It’s back! The second California Climate Credit  is back for it’s second installment of the year!

And if you have any of the following utilities: PG&E, SDG&E, SCE Pacific Power and Liberty Utilities, your October bill will have a credit.

The California Climate Credit. From the CPUC website:

“Twice a year, millions of California residents receive a credit on their utility bill identified as the “California Climate Credit.”  The California Climate Credit is part of California’s efforts to fight climate change.  This credit is from a state program that requires power plants, natural gas distributors and other large industries that emit greenhouse gases to buy carbon pollution permits.  The credit represents residential utility ratepayers’ share of the payments from the State’s program.  The credit program was created by the CPUC, which also oversees the program’s implementation.

Currently, all residential and eligible small business electricity customers of PG&E, SDG&E, SCE Pacific Power and Liberty Utilities receive the credit, as do all Community Choice Aggregator (CCA) customers.  In addition, natural gas residential customers of PG&E, SoCalGas, Southwest Gas, and SDG&E also receive the credit.  Customers don’t need to do anything to receive the credit – it is automatically applied to their bills.  The credit amounts vary among utilities, CCAs and from year to year.

If you’re not sure whether you’re receiving the Climate Credit, the first thing to do is contact your utility or CCA, the same as you would do with any billing questions.  That’s because although the CPUC oversees the credit and can help with any remaining questions you have, your utility or CCA is best positioned to access your individual records and answer questions about individual accounts.”

In addition to this credit, we also use the TIME OF USE billing to our advantage. Here is an article I wrote about last summer with some tips about how to save on your utility bill. Time of Use billing isn’t for everyone, but we use it as I am able to do the bulk of our energy using chores during off-peak hours, such as dishes and laundry.

And one thing that I find super helpful- We signed up for Ohm Connect a few years ago and it texts and/or emails you when you should conserve more power due to the demand on the power grid. It’s a win-win situation: You save money on your power bill, and you earn points from Ohm Connect that you can cash out for Paypal, Amazon or Target Gift Cards, OhmConnect store credit (to buy energy-efficient thermostats, smart plugs, etc.) You can learn more about OhmConnect here. When you sign up here and link your utility account, you’ll earn $10 in rewards! We’ve earned over $50 in 2019 so far!

 

**Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. I may earn a small commission if you click on links or make purchases. However, I only post about stuff that I like and use for my family.

10/11/19: Weekly Freebies and Deals!

Abby H.

file000845666076

Woo Hoo! Friday means Freebies and deals! There are a lot more freebies and deals this week. I’m excited to share!

Samples

In-Store Events/Freebies

Magazines

Deals

PinchMe: Sample Tuesday is Coming 10/8/19!

Abby H.

Every time I post about PinchMe, someone says that they miss the window of freebies, so I’ve decided to start posting heads up when I get the emails!

Sample Tuesday is coming up on Tuesday, October 8, 2019, and they’ve got a bunch of amazing new samples you won’t want to miss!

Click here to RSVP to the Official Facebook event to get a reminder on Sample Tuesday and a chance to win 1 of 5 amazing deluxe PINCHme boxes.

P.S. Here’s a sneak peek at some of the samples for you to claim:

  • Moroccanoil Moisture Repair Shampoo & Conditioner
  • Moroccanoil Hydrating Styling Cream
  • Scotch-Brite Glass Cooktop Pads
  • Clorox® Scentiva® Disinfecting Wet Mopping Cloths
  • Garnier SkinActive Fresh-Mix Sheet Mask
  • Barilla Creamy Ricotta & Arugula Pesto
  • Rael Organic Tampons
  • Peace Out Dark Spots
  • Heinz Mayochup Saucy Sauce
  • Move Free Joint Health Ultra Triple Action Tablets
  • Chlorphen-12 Allergy
  • Heinz Tomato Ketchup with a Blend of Veggies

Remember to fill out your advanced profile in order to boost your chances of receiving samples! Don’t forget, the new samples go live on Tuesday 12pm ET!

10/4/19: Weekly Freebies and Deals!

Abby H.11 Comments

file000845666076

Woo Hoo! Friday means Freebies and deals! There are a lot more freebies and deals this week. I’m excited to share!

Samples

 

In-Store Events/Freebies

Magazines

Deals

Cents Of Style Clearance Sale: Free Earrings With Any Purchase!

Abby H.

Cents of Style has a great clearance sale going on right now- Order anything from the massive clearance sale and use coupon code FREEEARRINGS and you will receive not only a pair of free earrings (they’ll choose something cool- trust me), but shipping is free too!

Woo hoo!

Here are a few of the MANY items that you will find on clearance:

Clearance
FREE EARRINGS

FREE EARRINGS

Clothing, jewelry, belts, sunglasses, scarves, and shoes- All kinds of incredible deals!

Here are the sunglasses I bought:

Screen Shot 2019-10-03 at 9.39.01 AM.pngThe sale is valid through 10/6/19.. so get to shopping!

Recipe: Not Your Average Taco Salad

Abby H.

IMG_7688_woventexture4.jpg

My Taco Salad is a little different than most, there is no big, greasy, deep-fried shell. Instead, I use tortilla chips as a garnish. This was one of the first recipes I concocted after we committed healthy eating about 10 years ago. It’s very filling and has tons of veggies.

There are all kinds of changes and modifications that can be made to accommodate any dietary concerns.

Not Your Average Taco Salad

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb ground meat of your choice (Beef, chicken, turkey, or pork, or a mixture)
  • 1 yellow onion, diced
  • 1 T. olive oil
  • 1 packet taco seasoning
  • 1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 can corn, drained and rinsed (or you can use 1.5 cups of frozen corn)
  • 1/4 cup water (or however much the packet tells you to use)
  • 2 cups Tortilla chips (I like these flax seed Tortilla chips)
  • 2 cups (per person) Salad greens of your choice

With the following ingredients, use as much as you’d like, I prep 1/2 cup-1 cup per person:

  • Chopped tomatoes
  • Chopped bell peppers (I usually use one red, one yellow, and one orange pepper for color/variety)
  • Shredded carrots
  • Cucumber slices
  • Avocado slices or guacamole, whichever you prefer
  • Shredded or crumbled cheese
  • Black Olive Slices
  • Jalapeno peppers Slices
  • Sour Cream or plain Greek yogurt
  • Salsa of your choice

Directions:

  1. Brown meat, set aside.
  2. Using any residual fat in the pan, and adding olive oil, cook onions until clear and soft.
  3. Add meat back to pan, mix in taco seasoning and water. Cook as directed on the taco seasoning packet.
  4. Add in both cans of beans and corn, cook until heated throughout.
  5. To plate, on a dinner plate or a big bowl- arrange 2 cups greens, top with 1/4-1/2 cup meat/bean mixture, top with other veggies and 1/2 cup chips and cheese and a dollop of sour cream/sour cream.
  6. If you NEED dressing, mix a little sour cream or plain Greek Yogurt with salsa or hot sauce and top your salad.

For a vegetarian taco salad- use soy/veggie crumbles instead of meat.

October: New Month, New Coupons!

Abby H.

file000786402730Here is your monthly reminder!  A new month means new printable and electronic coupons!

Check out the following sites:

One of my favorite websites is the Sunday Coupon Review.  It helps me plot out scenarios in advance and I can email friends to ask for coupons in advance. Remember if clipping coupons isn’t your thing, but saving money is, check out my list of Smartphone apps that can save you the big bucks! New offers are added on the Smartphone Savings Apps all the time!

Here are a few of my favorite new coupons:


Save $0.75 When you buy any ONE (1) Horizon Organic Single Serve Milk 6pk or 12pk

Save $1.00 on TWO (2) Celestial Seasonings® boxes (excludes K-Cups)

Save $2.00 on any TWO (2) BOOST® Nutritional Drink or Drink Mix

Save $0.55 on any ONE (1) Hillshire Farm® Lit’l Smokies® Product

Save $15.00 on any ONE (1) FoodSaver® Vacuum Sealing System ($89 or more)

Save $1.00 off any ONE (1) package of Angel Soft® Toilet Paper, 12 Roll or Larger OR 6 Mega Roll or Larger (Available at Walmart)

Earn Money for Tracking You Steps with Achievement!

Abby H.

48c653a4c4f659c243bbd22d0971b521.jpgI’ve been using Achievement to earn extra cash for about 2 years now.

Connect your fitness tracker to Achievement and be rewarded when you exercise, sleep, and log calorie or water intake.

It is non-intrusive, and you’ll earn points that can be redeemed for cash via PayPal, gift cards, or you can donate your earnings to various charities.

I earn $10 in PayPal cash about 4-5 times a year. I usually use it to reload my Starbucks Card.  It’s a nice little perk for being active.

It’s super easy to get started. Click here to sign up! This is my referral link- If you sign up using my link, I earn an extra 100 points.

Achievement is compatible with over 20+ Android and iOS apps (and counting!).

Health and Fitness Apps:

  • Apple Health
  • Daily Mile
  • Expresso
  • Fitbit
  • Garmin
  • Google Fit
  • MapMyFitness
  • MapMyHike
  • MapMyRide
  • MapMyRun
  • MapMyWalk
  • Misfit
  • MyFitnessPal
  • Record
  • RunDouble
  • RunKeeper
  • Samsung Health
  • Stop, Breathe & Think
  • Strava
  • Withings

Lifestyle Apps:

  • A&D Connect
  • Qardio

Social Media Apps:

  • Twitter

Link to research that is done with the information collected: https://www.myachievement.com/research