Hey, Texas readers, have you heard the big news? ALDI is finally here!

I first heard of Aldi a couple of years ago while perusing one of my favorite blogs, Mom Advice.  I was intrigued by the no frills discount shopping approach, but quickly disappointed when I realized there were no Aldis in Texas. That all changed this week!

The Grand Opening preview of my local Aldi was quite the event. Doors opened to long line of eager shoppers, just waiting to peek inside.  Promises of free goodies and samples lured a huge crowd, myself included.

I loaded up my kidlets and met my friend Kim for my first glimpse of Aldi yesterday. We were practically giddy over the shiny new store and the amazingly low prices! Are we geeks, or what?

I was especially impressed by the prices on staples such as dairy and juice.  Their hormone-free milk is priced at $1.79 a gallon!

Our children enjoyed the unlimited samples of snacks, while we ooed and ahhhd over the produce prices.

Even their meat selection was impressive.

Colin enjoyed a few samples himself.

But the best part of the whole day, hands down, was the fun that followed at home. Each guest at the special preview received a jumbo reuseable tote filled with goodies at the door. They were kind enough to give one to each child as well.

The girls decided the totes are much more useful as toys, potato sack style, and proceeded to have races around the kitchen.

Of course, these bags will come in handy for shopping at Aldi, since bags there actually cost money. Bringing your own is the way to go! Even the carts buggies will cost you a quarter.

Although Aldi does not accept coupons (gasp!), I can certainly see how a family can enjoy a smaller grocery budget by shopping there. Just remember to take those reuseable bags!

So, seasoned Aldi shoppers: What are your favorite things to purchase at Aldi? What are some things to avoid, if any? I would love to hear your tips!

Aldi Stores Now Open in Texas is a post from: Keeping the Kingdom First

After months of cold, pouring rain and even snow, the sun decided to make an appearance this week. Spring is in the air!

There is nothing like some dirt, a trowel and some $3 flowers to make for one very happy child. Frugal family fun at its finest!

What are you planting this Spring?

Wordless Wednesday: Spring Planting is a post from: Keeping the Kingdom First

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! Here are some great freebies and deals to celebrate this fun Irish holiday.

Freebies

:: Get a FREE Baja Fresh Burrito with the purchase of a large drink tomorrow in honor of St. Patty’s day when you visit a participating Baja Fresh location wearing green. Print the coupon off to score your free burrito! Thanks, Deal Seeking Mom!

:: Become a fan of Redbox on Facebook and enjoy a FREE one-night rental… valid ONLY today, March 17th!

:: If you need a quick, cute craft, check out this St Patty’s Day Patch Pin.

:: Download this FREE ebook full of great crafts, ideas, and recipes to celebrate the holiday!

:: Wahoo’s Restaurant is offering a Free Green Enchilada or Monsters Drink 3/17 ONLY. Print this invite and bring it to your local Wahoo’s (I lurves Wahoo’s!). Locations in TX, CA, and HA. Find yours here.

:: Here is a freebie for the kiddos! Print this Disney St. Patrick’s Day greeting card and give it to your favorite little leprechaun or Irish rose!

:: Get your St. Patty’s groove on with the FREE St. Patrick’s Day sampler. The sampler includes 2 versions of 10 different songs.

Deals

:: Get an extra 25% off all green tag clearance at Kirkland’s. You can also print off a $10 off $50 purchase coupon! Thanks, Coupon Dad!

:: At some locations, Chick-fil-A is offering FREE 8-Piece Chicken Nuggets. To see if your local restaurant is participating, find your location here.

:: In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, all 2010 Entertainment Books are just $17.00! If you want to snag yours, you need to hurry… this sale only lasts 17 hours! (You can order additional books for $10 each.)

St. Patty’s Day Freebies and Deals is a post from: Keeping the Kingdom First

We eat a lot of pasta in our home. Seriously, I could eat it every day and never get tired of it. So I am always looking for ways to make it a little different when plain noodles and sauce just won’t do.

I discovered my favorite way to enjoy pasta is baked. This hearty dish is similar to baked ziti, with some veggies snuck in. My kids adore this dish and go back for seconds! It is also a fantastic way to use up leftover cooked chicken breast. No one will ever know!

Chicken Pasta and Spinach Bake

Ingredients:

8 oz. penne pasta
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 lb. chicken breast, cooked and cubed
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes (optional)
1 28 oz. jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes, drained
1 3 oz. package cream cheese
2 cups fresh baby spinach
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a  9 x 13 baking dish.

Cook pasta according to package directions for “al dente.” Drain. Pour into prepared baking dish.

Heat oil in a large saucepan or skillet over medium-high heat.

Add chicken, seasonings, half of the spaghetti sauce and the drained tomatoes. Let simmer 2-3 minutes.

Cut cream cheese into small chunks. Add to chicken and tomato sauce mixture. Simmer until cream cheese is melted. It will turn a delightfully creamy shade of orange… mmmm.

Stir in spinach. Cook another minute, until spinach wilts slightly.

Pour chicken mixture over pasta, mix well.

Top with one cup of the shredded mozzarella. Top with the remaining spaghetti sauce, remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.

Bake, uncovered, 20 minutes, or until bubbly. Serve with a crisp salad and garlic bread.

This will also freeze well as a make-ahead dish. Double the recipe and save one for next time you are craving some Italian comfort food!

This post is linked to Tasty Tuesday and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.

Chicken Pasta & Spinach Bake is a post from: Keeping the Kingdom First

Have you checked out the new online bargain shopping site, Buxr.com?

Buxr.com is a social bargain hunting site where community members gather to share hot shopping deals. All of the deals on Buxr are shared, rated, and vetted by it’s community.

How does Buxr work?

Buxr members search for hot deals and share what they find on-line at Buxr.com. The deals are then voted on by the community based on their hotness. These votes are used by shoppers to make buying decisions, and also for determining the results of the daily and monthly deal contests.

Thanks to Buxr.com, two lucky Keeping the Kingdom First readers will each win a $50 Amazon.com gift card, and ten additional readers will each win a Buxr-branded mousepad.

For a chance to win:

1. Leave a comment below: Check out Buxr.com, then come back and comment with a link back to your favorite deal.

If you are reading via email or in a reader, please click through to the post to enter.

For Bonus Entries (leave a separate comment for each):

2. If you are a subscriber or follower (thank you!), leave a comment. You may subscribe for free updates via RSS or email and leave a comment telling me you have done so.

3. Become a Buxr member. Come back and leave a separate comment letting me know you’ve joined or that you’re already a registered user!

4. For a fourth entry, follow @KingdomFirstMom and @Buxr on Twitter, and tweet about this giveaway:

Enter to win 1 of 2 Amazon.com gift cards from @Buxr at @KingdomFirstMom: http://bit.ly/cr1JJ5

This contest will close on Thursday, March 18th at 11pm CST. The winners will be selected by random.org and contacted via email. Contest open to US residents only.

Giveaway: $50 Amazon.com Gift Card (2 Winners!) or Buxr Mousepads (10 Winners!) is a post from: Keeping the Kingdom First

Welcome, my fellow Walgreens fans! It’s Sunday, time for our weekly Walgreens $5 Challenge. The place to come for simple scenarios with step-by-step instructions.

We went a little over the $5 challenge this week, so see if you can come up with a better scenario than I did! Grab your weekly Walgreens ad, a printer and some scissors to get started. Don’t forget to pick up your March Walgreens Coupon Book.

If you are new to shopping at Walgreens, and wanting to learn the basics, check out this post. New to couponing? Learn the lingo here.

If you are a first time visitor, here’s the lowdown:

Join me each week as I host The Walgreens $5 Challenge!

Seasoned WAGS shoppers: share your best scenario(s) for the upcoming week at Walgreens.

Your budget: $5.00 out-of-pocket cash.

Your mission: to grow that $5.00 into more Register Rewards (RR) to use in upcoming weeks.

Want to participate? Start by reading the rules here.

*********************************

Here is MY $5 Scenario for the week of March 7th:
*coupons in red (scenarios never include tax as this will vary by region)

Transaction #1
Buy (1) Colgate Toothpaste @ $3.99
$1/1 Colgate Total Enamel Strength Toothpaste printable OR
$1/1 Colgate Sensitive Toothpaste printable OR
$1/1 Select Colgate Total Products SS insert 03/07/2010)

Total After Coupon= $2.99

RRs Earned= $3.99

Transaction #2
Buy 1 Electrasol/Finish Jet Dry Rinse Agent 8.45 oz @$3.49
Buy 2 Wags Big Roll Toilet Paper @2/$1.00 (in-ad coupon)
Buy 3 Scotch Mailers @3/$1.00 (in-ad coupon)
Buy 1 Reese’s Dark Peanut Butter Cups @49¢ (in-ad coupon)
$0.75/1 Electrasol/Finish Jet Dry Rinse Agent or Turbo Dry printable
- 55¢/1 Reese’s Dark Coupon (SS insert 03/14/10) give this BEFORE the ad coupon to get overage
Pay with $3.99 RRs from above

Total After coupons and RR= $0.69

RRs Earned= $1.00

Grand Total OOP= $3.68

Total Value= $9.97 with $1.00 in Register Rewards remaining!

Keep rolling those RR’s for more savings!

*************************************

Let’s see what fabulous scenarios you come up with for $5.00 or less!

Simply post your scenarios on your blog, then drop by Keeping the Kingdom First and add your permalink to Mr. Linky below. (If you are reading via email or in a reader please click through to see the Mr. Linky)

Please link directly to your scenarios. Links directly to your homepage will be deleted. Linking back to this meme to share it with others is greatly appreciated!

Don’t have a blog? You can leave a comment with your scenario, too. I invite everyone to participate.

Walgreens $5 Challenge: March 14-20 is a post from: Keeping the Kingdom First

Welcome, my fellow CVS fanatics and newbies! It’s Sunday, time for our weekly CVS $5 Challenge. The place to go for simple CVS scenarios with step-by-step instructions.

All you need is an ExtraCare Card, a CVS ad, a printer and coupons to get started. Be sure to register your CVS loyalty card with Upromise for extra college savings.

If you have been looking for Zhu Zhu Pets, CVS has them on sale for $7.99 each, limit 2. What are you looking forward to this week?

If you are a first time visitor, here’s the lowdown:

Join me on Sundays as I host The CVS $5.00 Challenge!

Seasoned CVSers: share your best scenario(s) for the upcoming week at CVS.

Your budget: $5.00 out-of-pocket cash.

Your mission: To grow that $5.00 into even more ECBs to use in upcoming weeks.

Want to participate? Start by reading the rules here.

*****************************

Here is MY $5 Scenario for the week of March 14th:
*coupons in red

Transaction #1
Buy (2) Herbal Essence Products- 1 shampoo/conditioner & 1 styler @  $2.99 each
FREE HE Styler wyb HE Product (P&G insert 02/07/10)
$1.00/1 Select Herbal Essences Products (RP insert 03/14/10)

Total After Coupons = $1.99

ECBs earned=$1.00

Transaction #2
Buy 1 Gillette Disposable Razors @ $6.29
$3.00/1 Gillette Razors (P&G insert 3/7/10)
Pay with $1.00 ECBs from above

Total After Coupons and ECBs= $2.29

ECBs earned=$2.00

Grand Total OOP= $4.28

Total Value= $12.27 with $2.00 ECBs remaining

Keep rolling those ECBs for more savings!

*********************************

Now let’s see what fabulous scenarios you come up with for around $5.00!

Simply post your scenarios on your blog, then drop by Keeping the Kingdom First and add your permalink to the Mr. Linky below.

Please link directly to your scenarios. Links directly to your homepage will be deleted. Linking back to this meme to share it with others is greatly appreciated!

Don’t have a blog? You can leave a comment with your scenario, too. I invite everyone to participate!

CVS $5 Challenge: March 14-20 is a post from: Keeping the Kingdom First

The freebies don’t get much better than this! Dave Ramsey is offering a FREE Financial Peace University lesson! You know how much I love Dave, and if you have not had the opportunity to experience Dave for yourself, now is your chance!

The free lessons will be held the week of April 5th – 12th.  After you register, you will be sent a list of locations so you can choose the site of your choice.

What is Financial Peace University?

Financial Peace University (FPU) is Dave’s life-changing program that teaches you to achieve your financial goals by eliminating debt, saving for the future, and giving like never before.

You need to hurry to snag this freebie, though, because classes are filling up fast!

Dave Ramsey FREE FPU Lesson is a post from: Keeping the Kingdom First

You can expect 2 inserts in tomorrow’s paper: 1 SmartSource and 1 RedPlum.

Keep in mind that coupons always vary slightly by region.

You can refer to the 2010 Coupon Insert Schedule to see what inserts are included each week. All new coupons have been added to the Coupon Database.

If you are in need of more coupons this week, check out my coupon resources page.

Here are my favorite high value coupons you can expect:

SS
$3/1 Aquify Multi-Purpose Solution
$1.50 off Classico Pasta Sauce AND Fresh Beef
$1/1 Cuties Box
$1/1 Depend Adjustable Underwear
$10/1 FreeStyle Meter
$1/1 Gentle Naturals
$2/1 Heinz 57 Steak Sauce
$1/1 Hershey’s Bliss Chocolate
$2/1 Hershey’s, Reeses, or Cadbury Candy
$2/1 Hidden Valley Farmhouse Originals
$2 off Kingsford Charcoal AND Meat
$1/1 Lysol Disinfectant Spray
$4/1 Lysol Neutra Air Freshmatic Starter Kit
$10/1 Prevacid 24HR
$1/1 SoyJoy Multipack
FREE Target $5 Gift Card wyb Windex Outdoor Kit
$1/1 V8 V-Fusion
$3/1 Zaditor

RP
$2 off Aussie Shampoo AND Styling Aid
$2/1 Bengay Product
$1/1 Children’s Benadryl Allergy
$1/1 Disney or Marvel Vitamins
$1/1 Emerald Nuts
$5 MIR wyb GP Everyday Essentials Products
$1/1 Select Herbal Essences Products
FREE Ideal Packets
$1/1 Johnson & Johnson Red Cross Product
$6/1 Knox Nutra Joint Powders or Caplets
$4/1 Knox Powder or NutraMix for Strong Nails
$3/1 L’Oreal Healthy Look Hair Color
$1/1 Select McCormick Products
$1.50/1 Milk-Bone Essential Plus Biscuits
$3/1 Nature’s Bounty Your Life Multis
$1/1 Pampers Splashers Swim Pants
$2/1 Select Pampers Diapers
$1/1 Promise Product
$1/1 Rimmel Mascara
$4/1 Sudafed OM
$1/1 Tropicana Trop 50
$3/1 Tylenol Sinus, Cold, Cough or Allergy
$2/1 Visine Product

For a complete list of tomorrow’s coupons, check out Sunday Coupon Preview.

In other coupon news:

For a preview of Walgreens deals next week, stop by Mommy Snacks. For the scoop on CVS, visit Deal Seeking Mom.

Join me tomorrow for our weekly $5.00 Drugstore Challenges!

Coupon Insert Preview: March 14 is a post from: Keeping the Kingdom First

“You are not at all what I was expecting!”

These words greeted me today as I outed myself as the guest speaker at a local MOPS group this morning. I was invited to speak to a group of about 60 women on the topic of teaching children to be frugal.

Her words caught me a bit off guard, so I laughed and asked her exactly what she meant.

“Well, I guess I expected you to be… old. And… not blonde.”

Ha! I was not the least bit offended. In fact, I was intrigued by the preconceived notion about my age or how I should “look”. Everyone has a picture in their mind before you meet someone new I suppose.  And perhaps I don’t fit the frugal (frumpy?) mold one might expect.

Then I was told that I look about 25, and of course I wanted to hug her. Little did they all know, I was wearing a $4.00 top I scored at the Goodwill.

I am a coupon-clipping, simple-life loving, anti-credit card, thirty-something frugal wife and mom of four. I was thousands of dollars in debt by the time I was 21 years old.  Frugal became not only my way of life, but a necessity not long ago.

What does frugal look like? I believe it is different for everyone. It certainly doesn’t have to be boring or plain. Some of the most frugal women I know are fabulous decorators and elaborate cooks.

The most put-together mom you see at church every week may be drowning in debt. The mom in sweats at the preschool drop-off line may be worth millions.

Don’t underestimate the wisdom you might glean from a young-ish mom. Don’t hesitate to help a seemingly “with-it” friend learn to coupon. Because looks can be deceiving.

The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7

What does Frugal look like? is a post from: Keeping the Kingdom First