Frugal Friday: Freshfields Farm

Eating healthy, whole foods can be expensive!  As a mom, I try so hard to feed my family nutritious meals, but these days, it seems the price of groceries keeps climbing and it can be tempting to fill the cart with junk, because it is cheaper.  Now, Jacksonville has a Freshfields Farm and it is helping our food budget and our diet become much healthier.

As a family of five, it is very rare for me to leave the grocery store without my receipt reading over $100.  Just the opposite is true when I visit Freshfields Farm. Instead, my bill is rarely over $50 and I have a cart full of extremely fresh vegetables, fruits, meat, seafood, cheese and eggs. In addition to those fresh items, you can find quality deli meat, some locally produced juices, dried beans, local honey and freshly ground peanut butter.  You will NOT find any packaged foods.   I can't do ALL my shopping there, but I've started making a regular weekly run.  Think of it like a permanent, indoor Farmer's Market.

The store has a motto, "Bringing the Farm to You" and they do that by purchasing as much as they can locally.  I've been very pleased with the variety and freshness of the produce, especially. Remember my post on Brussels Sprouts?  Well, when I buy them from the regular grocery, they usually are brown on the cut ends.  At Freshfields Farms, the are pure white, because they have just been cut from the stalk! Sometimes I see them offered STILL on the stalk!  See the photo?  I actually never knew how the sprouts grew, until I saw them in this store.

If you live in Jacksonville, or Orlando, I encourage you to check it out.  The Jacksonville location is located at 5555 University Blvd. W, just off of the 95 Exit.  They are open Monday-Saturday 9am-7pm and Sunday, 10am-6pm.  

Frugal Friday: Amazon Subscribe and Save*

Are you an Amazon Prime Member?  If so, have you taken advantage of the Subscribe and Save Feature?  I've been experimenting with the feature off and on for over a year, to see if I could save more on certain household products that I constantly need. I'm very pleased with the prices of my current order that is on it's way.

Subscribe and save allows you to select certain products to be shipped automatically based on the time frame you select from every month to every 6 months.  You can select a separate time for each item in your order.  Also, they clearly state a cut-off date for when your next order will process, so it is very easy to cancel.  In fact, if you just want to try it out, just cancel all the items after your shipment arrives and start fresh when you are ready for more.  

To save the most, you should select at least 5 items for the program.  That will increase your savings from 5% to 15% off the total of each item.  Currently, I have toilet paper, paper towels, dishwasher detergent, along with two personal care items, in my order.  I've compared prices and am very happy with the deal I'm getting, especially since it will be delivered to my door.  Here is what I ended up with for the household goods I picked.

Quilted Northern Plush Toilet Paper Double Rolls for .42 / roll
Bounty Pick-a-Size Big Rolls for .96/roll (114 sheets per roll)
Finish Quantum Power Tabs for .12/tab

*This post, and my page, contain affiliate links. This just means if you click on a link to take you to a product that interests you, I may receive a referral bonus or points towards future purchases.  Thank you.

Frugal Friday: Publix Digital Coupons

Publix.com

If you are a Publix shopper and have wondered why the keypad asks for your phone number at the checkout, let me enlighten you.  DIGITAL COUPONS.  I've been surprised how many of my friends do not know about them or do not use this simple tool to help reduce the total on the grocery receipt.

Go to Publix.com and under the heading of savings, you will find a link to coupons.  There is currently a large green banner that will alert you that you are in the right spot.  Register your basic information and you are set.  After you are logged in, just scroll through the available offers and digitally clip them by clicking on the box next to the offer you want.  I usually click on ANY item there is a remote chance that I will purchase because most have long expiration dates, and you never know when you will need those cough drops or that last minute frozen pizza because you don't feel like cooking a real meal.

The final step to getting the coupon is to enter your registered phone number on the keypad before you pay.  After the cashier totals the receipt, the magic begins to happen and you will see deductions being taken on any coupons you qualified for.  I actually delegate the digital clipping to my kids.  That is why I am often surprised by the coupons that I end up seeing on the receipt.  

Coupons are updated weekly and if you are SUPER motivated, you can pair these digital coupons with store and other manufacturer coupons to double or triple your savings. Below is a shot of a recent receipt.  The digital coupons are indicated with the DC. 

Last week, I shared a post about the ibotta rebate app.  It was on this receipt where I made my infamous Tyson chicken strips purchase. :-)  The grilled and ready chicken strips (my daughter loves to have these available for quick lunches or when we are serving beef, as she is not a beef eater) were on sale for $2 off the regular price.  I had a digital coupon, which is from the manufacturer, and a Publix store coupon.  When I got home I also redeemed a $1 rebate from ibotta.  I'm not a coupon queen by any means, but every once in a while I'll catch a deal like that.   

By the way, Publix has an app too, for those who want to clip on the go.  

Frugal Friday: ibotta

Who doesn't want to trim their grocery budget?  For about 9 months, I've tried many different coupon apps and only one stands out as being worth using. The ibotta rebate app.

Ibotta.com

I downloaded the ibotta rebate app for free from the itunes app store onto my phone; it is also available on android devices. The app lists rebates available by store and by category. Categories include groceries, movies, home improvement, clothing and more. Once you see a rebate you want, you will "unlock" it by answering a quick question or watching a short video. After you purchase that item, you scan the UPC and snap a photo of the receipt. The receipt is approved within 24 hours and the rebate is added to your ibotta account.  Once you have accumulated at least $10, you may "cash out" by transferring the money to your paypal or venmo account OR requesting a gift card from a list of stores (Starbucks included). Since last July, I've received $179 in rebates.  Every little bit helps, right?

To increase your rebate opportunities, ibotta offersbonuses. There are Teamwork bonuses and product bonuses.  Teamwork bonuses change monthly but no matter how large the bonus is, it requires that you and your team reach a certain threshold on rebates. For instance, the Level 1 Bonus this month is for the team to accumulate $10 in rebates and the individual to accumulate $6 in rebates. I almost always get the level one bonus but it just depends on what rebates are offered.  

You build your ibotta team by referring friends and by connecting social media accounts such as facebook, twitter and google.  If you decide to give ibotta a try and you use my referral link, which is embedded here, I will receive $5 after you redeem your first rebate! Pretty cool huh?  

A product bonus occurs when a particular brand has multiple items listed and you purchase a combination of those items.  In that case, you receive the rebates on each item PLUS the bonus rebate.  For example, this month there is a bonus on a brand of greek yogurt that I enjoy.  If I but three single servings, I will get a 75 cent rebate, if I buy a 32oz container, I'll receive $1.00 rebate and if I buy the 4pack that would give me another 75 cent rebate. However, if I purchase ALL three of those items before the rebate/bonus expires, I'll get an additional $1.00 bonus.  Pair this with traditional coupons and/or store coupons and sometimes items end up being free.

Connecting the social media accounts automatically places your social media friends, who also uses ibotta, on your team, provided they have also chosen to connect the account.  This is true no matter if they use your referral link or not.

Why do I prefer this over other apps?  I've tried Checkout 51, SNAP and a few others. These apps offer fewer rebates and lower rebates making it very hard to reach the $20 accumulation threshold needed to 'cash out'. In the time I've used ibotta to accumulate over $100, I only accumulated about $5.00 on the other two.  That just isn't worth my time. 

If you want any more info or know of another worthwhile app to try, I'd love for you to comment.