Of all the things I buy at the grocery store, the things that make me cringe the most are the things I buy with the express intent of throwing away.

~Garbage bags

~Paper Towels

~Paper napkins

~Kleenex type tissues

~Bathroom Tissue

~Plastic food storage bags

~I’m sure there are others that escape me at the moment.

Aside from the environmental concerns, I always feel like I might just as well put a $5 bill through the paper shredder every week.

We have all but eliminated paper towels in our house. A couple of well placed baskets of cloth rags have taken their place. I’ve purchased one roll of paper towels in the last year and I can’t even give a good reason for that purchase. Moment of weakness, I suppose.

We do still use plastic food storage bags. But, as the chief lunch packer in our home, I’ve been able to minimize the use. I use reusable containers where I can and we reuse some bags that have only held dry ingredients like a cookie or bread.

Bathroom tissue is one we are stuck with. I know there are alternatives, but our family will likely never be that zealous about saving money or the planet. You do what you can.

Facial tissues are rarely purchased in our home. We’re simple people and make do with the type of tissue that comes on a roll and is conveniently located in the room where we also keep our germ fighting soap and water. 😉

I’d love to find a way to stop buying plastic garbage bags. I can think of many ways to reduce our usage of them. But I fear that elminating them altogether would be difficult.

I am committed to buying no more paper napkins. Before we finish up our current package I will make fabric napkins for our home. I’ve tried this before and I’m not sure why we didn’t stick with it. Time to revisit, I think.

The garbage can is no place for our hard earned grocery dollars.

So tell me, Dear Readers, how do you avoid buying things that are meant to be thrown away?

Hurry and print!  Save $2/2 ANY Mars Easter Products!!!  Click HERE for coupon.  You can print twice.

By planting your own garden starts you can save a lot of money! I started doing this myself last year and it is much easier than you would think. Last year I saved around $50 by doing my own starts instead of buying the plants at the nursery.

I save all the containers that I previously have bought with flowers, veggies, etc. and I use those for my seeds. I first plant them in the smallest containers (like you buy flowers in packs of 4 or 6) and then when they get to be 4-5 inches tall I transfer them to larger containers so they can grow to their maximum potential. These were my starts last year around the first of May:

I planted 4 tomato plants (2 roma, cherry, beefsteak) marigolds, watermelon, tomatillo, 2 green peppers, 2 kinds of jalapenos, basil, rosemary, and nasturtium. Everything else I plant I will do from seed. I may still purchase a few plants but with what I have done on my own here it will save me quite a bundle!

Do you plant your own starts? If so, what have you found easy or difficult?

Fage is amazing yogurt and Fage Facebook is offering a printable coupon for $2/2 17.6 oz cups!!  You can print 2 of these coupons.  Click HERE for coupon.

• Check out the PYP Navigating Rite Aid posts to help you along your shopping journey at Rite Aid.

• Read the Rite Aid coupon policy and keep it in your coupon binder.

• These are the BEST offers this week. Always check your local ad to verify prices as they change by region.

• Participate in Rite Aid’s Video Values to be able to print valuable coupons, like $4/$20 purchase!
  

• Sign up for the Wellness Program to get special discounts, offers and rewards.
  

Stayfree Maxi Pads $2.49Use Stayfree product, any $1/1 (6-30-11) RP-3/27 AND
Stayfree product, any Buy 1 Get 1 FREE of equal or lesser value, max. value $6.00 (3-31-11) SS-1/9

Get a $1.49 +Up Reward when you buy two

Final Price: FREE after coupons and reward!

Trident Vitality Gum B1G1 Free

Use Trident Gum, any single pack Buy 1 Get 1 FREE up to $1.69 (4-30-11) SS-3/6

Final Price: Both free after coupon!

American Greetings Cards 3 for $3

_{Use $1/1 printable coupon AND $3/3 in-ad coupon}
Final Price: FREE after coupons!

Carefree Pantiliners 2/$5

Use $2/2 printable coupon Get a $2 +Up Reward when you buy two

Final Price: $.50 each after coupon and reward!

I have been a Costco hold out for years.  Years!  On Saturday I went into Costco and found a screaming deal!  New Executive Member sign-ups will get  $75 cash back when you sign up for a Costco True Earnings American Express Card!  Executive memberships are $100 with a 2% reward on most items.  A friend has this membership and got a huge reward this year…it more than paid for the card.  In addition, if your reward is less than $50 in a year, (the difference between the Gold Star membership and the Executive Membership) they will give you the difference!  I was skeptical of this, but a lady next to me in line brought her reward check up to the counter and they happily gave her the difference…no questions asked!!  Also, the AMEX card has no annual fee and 3% cashback on gas as well as 1% cashback on all other purchases! 

Bottom Line:

Executive Membership: $100

Less $75 cash back on first purchase (no minimum purchase!)

Less $50 Guaranteed Rewards:

Final Price: -$25.00

This offer goes through April 5th. 

Valid 3/28-4/5  Click HERE for coupon.

Details:

Buy: (5) W Brand Diapers for $5.99 each

Use: (5) $2 Infant Care Booklet Coupons

Pay:  $19.95

Receive: $10 Mail in Rebate that will print at check-out!

Final Price: $1.99 each after rebate and coupon!!

Hurry over to Biore Skincare on Facebook and click the "Cleanser Face-Off" link in the navigation on the left side of our page to cast your vote and request a free Bioré cleanser sample*! *3/29-4/5 or while supplies last, limit 1 per person!  Click HERE to participate.

Take a survey about turkey products and packaging and receive a $10 coupon for a Whole Norbest Turkey!! This survey will have limited applicants and is valid for residents of Utah, Oregon, Washington, Northern California and Nebraska.  LINK to survey.

Restaurant.com LINK

Use code: TASTY at checkout.

*Be sure to read the fine print for each offer, not all offers have the same terms!

On sale starting today, the Food and Water Storage pakage provides a six-month supply of food for one person at over 2,000 calories per day.

The package includes 96 #10 cans (one-gallon cans), a 55 gallon water storage barrel kit, and a Grain Mill wheat grinder. Details of the package below. 

The package retails for approximately $1,500*, but is on sale for $973 plus $15.99 shipping! That’s right $15.99 to ship everything.  Plus, if you live outside of Utah, Shelf Reliance wil pay your sales tax through the end of March! The sale ends April 17th.

This sale is not available online, it is only available through Shelf Reliance Independent Consultants. Please contact us at thrive@pinchingyourpennies.com, or register for a Shelf Reliance account here, and we will contact you. As always, by registering as a Pinching Your Pennies customer at Shelf Reliance will receive discounted pricing when you purchase online.

Here are the details of the package:

Grains/Starch

• 6 Hard White Winter Wheat
• 4 Potato Chunks
• 6 Elbow Macaroni 
• 6 Six Grain Pancake Mix
• 3 Cornmeal
• 3 Quick Oats 
• 6 Instant White Rice

Fruits/Veggies

• 6 Sweet Corn
• 6 Green Peas
• 3 Broccoli
• 3 Raspberries
• 2 Strawberries
• 6 Apple Chips
• 3 Carrot Dices
• 3 Mixed Bell Pepper
• 3 Potato Beads

Dairy/Cheese

• 6 Non-Fat Powdered Milk
• 4 Chocolate Drink Mix
• 2 Cheese Blend

Meats/Beans

• 2 Bacon TVP
• 2 Beef TVP
• 2 Chicken TVP
• 2 Taco TVP
• 2 Pinto Beans
• 2 Black Beans
• Kidney Beans
• Whole Eggs

Other

• THRIVE Orange Drink
• Deluxe Hand Wheat Grinder

The Shelf Reliance Water Storage System includes the following:

• 55 Gallon Water Container
• Water Pump – (45" long, 3" wide) Hose (47" long, 1"wide)
• Sturdy Bung Wrench – doubles as a gas shutoff tool and provides access to storage barrels of all sizes.
• Water Treatment Solution 
• Detailed instructions of how to prepare your water storage.

* Sorry about the typo earlier. $1,500 is the corrected amount.

Joann.com LINK
Use code: FREESHIP88

Cricut® – $99.99 Sale
Blizzard Fleece – 50% off Sale
Waverly Home Decor Fabric – 50% off Sale
Scrap & Stamp products – 40% off Sale!

Joann.com LINK
Use code: FREESHIP88

Puffy Alphabet Stickers – Girl Power Uppercase
# 2067437
reg. 3.99
sale 2.39

Reclosable Storage Bags 3"X4"-100/Pkg
reg. 1.49
sale 0.89

Classic Stickers – Easter Eggs
reg. 1.49
sale 0.89

Joann.com LINK

Mamapedia.com is currently offering this National Deal…

$20 for 50 recordable, sharable children’s e-books to keep forever plus 10 special bonus books from A Story Before Bed ($110 value)

Code:
10% off your order SPRING10 – exp 3/31/11

~ Valid for one year Super Subscription (regularly $40 per year), plus 10 more books FREE (regularly $7 each)
~ Must create account on A Story Before Bed website
~ Recordings must be made on a PC or Mac with webcam
~ Limit (1) code per subscription, max of (5) per person
~ Expires March 31, 2012

Code:
10% off your order SPRING10 – exp 3/31/11

*One unique thing about Mamapedia.com is that 5% off your purchase is donated to a school of your choice.

Mamapedia.com LINK

The Pinching Your Pennies forums never cease to amaze me!

PYP members seem to be an endless source of valuable information.

Yesterday I stumbled across a discussion about cooking from scratch for healthier living. In that discussion there was an idea for making your own vegetable broth powder (think boullion, without the shiny gold wrapper!) that I knew I HAD to try.

I’m so glad I did! Would you believe that this little pint jar of powder will make the equivalent of 73 cans of vegetable broth?

It only took about 5 minutes to put together, and I had all but one of the ingredients in my spice cabinet.

Thanks to a great forum full of folks who are eager to share their tips and resources I am fully "stocked" on veggie broth for awhile.

What’s not to love about this idea?

~73 fewer cans to store.

~73 fewer cans to dispose of or recycle.

~No MSG.

~Massive savings!

Find the recipe and other great discussions HERE.