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We’re getting closer to my favorite time of year ... fall. Since I’ve had enough of this summer heat, I am highly anticipating the change of seasons.

This weekend I’ve been doing some deep cleaning at home. Hockey season is approaching, and this means we won’t be spending much time at home. So, I decided to get cleaning and this way I can keep up with maintaining a somewhat organized household during this busy time.

You know sometimes when I get in one of these cleaning moods, it inspires me to want to make some changes. With fall on its way, I’m thinking a little painting may be in order. I noticed on the front page of the Redplum insert, Sherwin-Williams has 30 percent off paint through Sept. 6. I’m looking for a new color for the master bedroom.

While in Lake Geneva, Wis., recently, I was in a home décor shop. The designer in this shop was telling me that yellows and grays are the hot colors right now in decorating.

When making these changes in my home, I need a starting point – a color inspiration. Target has 8-piece bedding sets for $59. This sounds like a good place to start.

I also decided to pull out my fall decorations. With a three-day weekend coming up, it’ll be a good time to work on getting that chore done.

This week’s Michaels ad has fall florals and Halloween décor on sale. It’ll be a good time to replenish any items that have seen better days.

If you have any fall decorating ideas on a budget, I’d love to hear from you. I’m always looking for new and different ways to bring this season into my home.

Also, make sure you go through your coupons today. There are three inserts in the Journal-World. This is a good week to replenish on your savings.

I've been a little single sighted this week stocking up at cereal at HyVee so I have just a few deals for you today. Rest assured, they are still good deals...and even some freebies!

If you haven’t signed up for the Home Depot Garden Club this summer you can still do so. We got our coupon this week for B1G1 Spring Blooming Bulbs. I continue to be amazed by the coupons that we are getting...others included B1G1 rees, rose bushes and now spring bulbs. You can sign up here if you want in on these great coupons.

Everyone is trying to stretch a dollar these days but every now and then you find yourself in the position to eat out. You can get a coupon for a free Chips and Queso at Chili’s with the purchase of any entree. You can print the coupon once you sign up for their newsletter.

If you have older kids shopping for fall wardrobes or you are doing some shopping for yourself you might be interested in this coupon: $25 off $50 purchase at EXPRESS (coupon expires September 30).

Target has Tag Reader books on sale for $9.99 through September 13. You can print a $4/1 coupon and get the books for $5.99. These usually sell for $14.00 so this is a great deal. Note: The new Toy Story 3 book is the only one NOT included in the sale.

Another really great deal is Skippy Peanut Butter at Target this week for $1.79. Use the $1/2 from 8-01 Red Plum and stack it with a $0.75/1 Target printable coupon and get this for $0.59/each. This is another item that I will be stockpiling. While we don’t eat a lot of peanut butter, I do bake with it quite often and “baking season” is just around the corner!

Just a note about Target and coupons: If you don’t check your Target receipts carefully you may want to be a little more careful. There have been many issues with their registers not taking off the proper amount for coupons, for instance a $4 coupon may only register $1.99. The Target spokesperson says they apologize for the inconvenience and are working on a fix. They also state that you can return to the store with your receipt if there is a problem. No indication as to when the problem might be fixed though.

If you haven’t shopped the HyVee General Mills cereal sale, there is still time! You can find coupons for General Mills cereals HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.

Have a great week and be sure to share your great finds with us here or on our ShopTalk Facebook page.

This is the sale I've been waiting for. You don't even have to use coupons.

Through next Tuesday, you will receive $10 off of 6 boxes of General Mills cereal at the register when you purchase them at HyVee. Even better? A $6 "On Your Next Order" will print off when you check out. Still better than that? Today...and as long as supplies last... several types of cereal (Wheaties, Flavored Cheerios, Honey Grahams, Cinnamon Toast Crunch) are 6/$16. Um...that means FREE. If you use coupons...it's a money maker.

ALL General Mills cereals are included on this deal...most run between $2.99 - $3.79. Stack your manufacturer's coupons with the sale and you have a LOT of nearly free cereal.

I would work the deal like this:

Buy 6 Wheaties at 6/$16. Use 6 $0.75/1 Wheaties coupons found HERE and HERE and pay $2.50 for 6 boxes of cereal PLUS receive a $6 catalina. Now you can "Roll" that $6 into the deal again...using your catalina like cash with the slightly more expensive cereals.

It is important to note that you can only do this deal once per transaction.

Don't use Wheaties or some of the other "Free" cereals? Why not donate them to Ballard Community Center? (You HAD to know I was going to say that!!) Remember you can drop off your goodies at Lawrence Freenet (4105 W. 6th Street - across from HyVee gas station) and I will deliver them for you!

I've been working on trying to find ways to save. I use my coupons, shop the sales, cut back on my Starbucks runs, etc.

About five years ago, I purchased an XM radio and service for my husband's birthday. We had heard so much about the programming and selections, plus no commercials, so we were eager to get one. We do lots of driving. Between our trips to family in Chicago and the road trips associated with sports, we spend plenty of time in the car.

We were so thrilled with XM, we got a second one for our other vehicle. And, like I said, for the amount of time we spend on the road, we could justify paying $24 per month for our service.

Recently, we encountered some difficulty with one of our units. We made several attempts with Sirius/XM customer service to try to correct our problem, but to no avail. So we decided to cut our service.

We have now been XM-free for about 4 months. Do we miss it? Initially, there was a lot of griping about listening to commercial radio. But, I am pleased to say, we got over it.

I definitely like not having the $24 monthly payment. And with the help of our iPods, we still get to listen to the music we like. For my husband, he has discovered podcasts. He downloads these right onto his iPhone for free, then can listen to live radio feeds from stations around the country. He's even found his favorite Chicago shows, including Steve Dahl.

It's always liberating to have one less payment to make. No matter how hard it is, it pays to evaluate your budget regularly to see where you can make cuts. You may be surprised to find where you can cut back and save yourself a few bucks.

There has been a lot of discussion on my blog post from Sunday about cooking in this heat...solutions and recipes for dinner that won't make you feel like your house is the oven.

I went looking to a blog I love but haven't visited in a while: A Year of Slow Cooking. I found a great alternative to making meatloaf tonight in the oven...for an hour. I'm going to give it a whirl in the crockpot. I'll let you know how that goes.

Then I went looking for Stephanie O'Dea's cookbook on Amazon. Make it Fast, Cook It Slow is on sale! It is currently $13.99 (down from $19.99) and qualifies for free shipping. It also is available on Kindle...which I might just do as I keep half of my recipes on my iPhone anyway.

I've heard great things about the recipes that she has in this book, I'm a big fan of the ones on her website. You will find a lot of them are also gluten free.

The kids have gotten settled in school. I’m done with the supply shopping. It’s time to get back into our routine. And it seems like that routine is coming back with a vengeance . . . homework, hockey tryouts, fall ball. We have been running.

I need some time in my kitchen.

Last weekend while my husband and son were at the Royals game, I was home baking focaccia bread and making eggplant parmesan. It felt good to be in a quiet house and enjoying the comfort I get from preparing these meals from scratch, without using any shortcuts.

Today, while Dennis and Thomas are at tryouts, I’m going to take advantage of the chicken leg quarters on sale at Hy-Vee for 58 cents per pound. I found a recipe on food.com I am anxious to try.

The following recipe is Rachael Ray’s Tuscan Chicken and serves 8 (The recipe uses chicken thighs, but I'm going to use the leg as well.):

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs (leave bone in if you wish) or

` 1 1/2 lbs chicken tenderloins

1/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

fresh ground black pepper, to taste

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

6 garlic cloves, crushed

3 tablespoons white wine vinegar

2 tablespoons butter

2 shallots, chopped

6 sprigs fresh rosemary, finely chopped

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup dry white wine

2 cups beef broth (yes, beef broth)

Directions:

Prep Time: 10 mins Total Time: 30 mins

Heat a large, heavy, deep skillet over medium high heat.

Season chicken with salt and pepper.

Add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, half the chicken pieces and

a couple of crushed cloves of garlic.

Brown chicken 2 minutes on each side and remove from pan.

Add remaining oil and swirl around pan. Add remaining chicken pieces and garlic.

Brown chicken 2 minutes on each side and remove.

Add vinegar to the pan and let it sizzle till most evaporates.

Add butter, shallots, and rosemary to the pan and cook 2 minutes.

Add flour and cook 1 minute.

Whisk in wine and allow to reduce and thicken for 1 minute.

Whisk in broth and bring liquids up to a low boil.

Return chicken to the pan and simmer over moderate heat 7 to 8 minutes for boneless (or nearly double that for bone-in) to cook chicken thoroughly.

In the spirit of “Frugal Fest” I’m keeping my pledge to plan my menus and stick to a grocery list. This week SuperJenn is under redesign so I thought I’d post them here for the world to see. I’ve highlighted items that I had on hand and why I had them on hand (ie stockpiling, my garden, canning, etc) so you can see how, over time, I’ve created a stockpile for my family that allows us to eat a balanced, nutritious diet. When appropriate, I’ve added links to the recipes that I’m using:

Sunday:

• Breakfast: Baked Oatmeal w/Blackberries, Vanilla Yogurt, Juice

Oatmeal is something I always keep on hand, I buy a LOT of it when I can find a good price. Blackberries are $10/10 at Dillons which is cheaper than using the blueberries this time. Vanilla Yogurt will go on my grocery list. I have juice coming out my ears. I recently stocked up during a sale at Dillons and Target and was able to get 64oz bottles of Juicy Juice for around $1/each.

• Lunch: BLTs, chips, grapes

We have several packages of turkey bacon in our freezer...I can’t even remember what the sale/coupon was, it was a month or two ago. We buy Pringles for a treat when we can get there with a “On Your Next Order” catalina so I have these in the pantry. Tomatoes from the garden. Grapes will be on my list this week.

• Dinner: Grilled Steaks, red potatoes, green beans, homemade rolls

Venison steaks are in our freezer, red potatoes and green beans from our garden and I have yeast and flour on hand to make the rolls.

Monday:

• Breakfast: Cereal, Milk, Bananas

I will need to pick up regular milk and bananas this week, we have soy milk on hand. Cereal is something I always keep on hand.

• Lunch: Tuna Wraps, Carrot Chips, Veggie Dip, Grapes

Individual pouches of tuna were something that I stocked up on so long ago...I don’t even remember what the sale was...but I’m still using them. There have been some great coupon/sales on Mission Tortillas lately so I have several packages on hand.

• Dinner: Homemade mac and cheese with hot dogs, broccoli

I’m stocked up on cheese from the Kraft “$5 off your next order” sale and I pick up noodles about every other shopping trip so I’m sure to have what I need on hand. Oscar Mayer Premium nitrate free hot dogs were $0.50/pkg earlier this summer so I’ll have those around for quite some time. Frozen broccoli in steam bags is almost a staple at our house because the kids love it. Every time it is on sale I grab a bunch to make sure we stay stocked.

Tuesday:

• Breakfast:Banana Muffins, Scrambled Eggs, Juice

I have some bananas that desperately need to be used. Eggs we buy from a farm and I have on hand this week.

• Lunch: Leftover mac and cheese with hot dogs, applesauce

• Dinner: Meatloaf, Scalloped Potatoes, Green Beans, Biscuits

Venison from our freezer, StoveTop (I use this for a quick substitute to bread crumbs and seasonings), Green Beans and Potatoes from my garden and cheese in the freezer from a past sale, Biscuits made from staples we keep on hand (flour, water, shortening).

Wednesday:

• Breakfast: Cereal, milk, juice
• Lunch: PB & J Burritos, Apple slices, celery sticks

I purchased peanut butter for myself and for The Ballard Community Center this past week at HyVee. Grape jelly continues to be on sale for $0.50 after sales and coupons at Dillons and I have tortillas on hand. Apples are on my list and I have a bunch of celery from last week that we haven’t finished using.

• Dinner: Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken

This is one of my favorite, simple recipes and it makes enough for me to put half in the freezer for another day. That day is today! I will need to pick up hamburger buns.

Thursday:

• Breakfast: Pancakes, bacon, fruit

I’m using bisquick I have on hand for the pancakes and the remainder of the bacon from Sunday’s BLTs. I’ll let the kids pick what fruit they want from what we have on hand. I make my own pancake syrup and have some already made in the fridge.

• Lunch: Left over meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans.

• Dinner: Tilapia w/ Dill, asparagus, wild rice

I buy frozen fish at Aldi. I can generally get two meals out of one bag of Tilapia purchased there for approx. $4. This week I’ll need to pick some up. Asparagus will also go on my list and I have a wild rice pilaf on hand I will use.

Friday

• Breakfast: Granola, yogurt, fruit

I stocked up on several bags of Bear Naked Granola last month when I printed some BOGO coupons and matched them with a peelie I found on the package in the store. I got them for approximately $1 each. We are low on yogurt and eat this a lot for snacks, too so I will add this to my list this week.

• Lunch: Turkey and Cheese sandwiches, apple slices

I have several packages of turkey sandwich meat in my freezer from one of their recent sales. This is another opportunity for me to utilize the $5 off your next order Kraft promotion. I will need to add soy cheese to my grocery list for our daughter.

• Dinner: Grilled Italian Chicken, “Hobo” potatoes, homemade rolls and broccoli

I have chicken in the freezer and will marinate it in Italian Dressing we have on hand before tossing it on the grill. We are overwhelmed with potatoes from our garden and we have a few peppers as well so we will cut those up and through them on the grill in foil packs. I have yeast and flour on hand for the rolls and frozen broccoli in the freezer from a recent sale at Dillons.

Saturday

• Breakfast: Quiche-In-A-Bag, fruit, bacon(?)

I have this quiche in my freezer made with feta cheese and I will toss in some peppers before I bake it. If there is any bacon left over we will have that and the kids can choose their fruit.

• Lunch: Hummus on tortillas, carrot chips, grapes

Utilizing the tortillas again and this spring Dillons sold Athenos Hummus for $1! Did you know you can freeze hummus? I’ve still got several to make my way through.

• Dinner: Homemade Pizza, salad

My kids can’t get enough pizza. I found a very simple pizza dough recipe on AllRecipes.com thanks to a Twitter reply. We make this up and then vary our toppings from week to week (yes, we eat pizza almost every week). This week I have on hand the pizza cheese from a recent sale + Catalina deal at Dillons and I have some shredded rice cheese that I bought on a “Manager’s Special” and froze a couple of weeks ago to use for my daughter. We have turkey pepperoni left over and I will buy fresh mushrooms and olives. If there is leftover BBQ chicken I might use some of that on half of it. We will add lettuce to our grocery list and toss in veggies from the garden.

My shopping list for the week: Milk Soy Milk Soy Cheese Asparagus Bananas Apples Carrot Chips Mushrooms Olives Lettuce Tilapia Chicken breasts Hamburger Buns Bread Granola

My “stock pile” item for this week is going to be chicken breasts. I really like the Gold ‘N Plump brand of chicken at Target. It is a little pricier, even when its on sale but I think it tastes better and I also think I get more chicken for my money. I almost never have to trim it and I feel like I’m getting what I pay for. At Target this week 16oz. chicken breasts are $3.49. A lot of the time these have a peelie on them for at least $0.75/1. You can also sign up for their monthly newsletter and get good coupons there from time to time. This is on sale often at Target so I don’t need to go crazy...but I will spend whatever “extra” I have in my budget this week on chicken.

What are the “staples” at your house? If you could stockpile one item what would it be? Share with us here or join the conversation on our Facebook Page. Not a fan yet? Be sure to “Like” us to get tips on even more deals throughout the week!

HyVee is having a four day sale (Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun) this week that features many inexpensive items. Oroweat Bread, seedless watermelons and Charmin toilet paper for starters. Two sale items in particular caught my eye: Peter Pan peanut butter for $0.69 and $0.39 a box for Kraft Mac and Cheese! What fabulous prices, but even better? In the 8/01 Smart Source you will find a $0.60/1 Peter Pan coupon...final price: $0.09/1 jar! Now, this coupon has proven to be a little difficult to find, but have no fear! There is another: $1.50/2 Peter Pan in the August edition of All You Magazine. Since the ad says “Limit 1” I’m not sure if this will work. With the All You coupon the price is reduced to $0.19/ea for 3!

Don’t have the coupons? I’m not sure it really matters, I think these are still phenomenal prices.

Don’t use Peter Pan? Maybe you don’t eat peanut butter or even mac and cheese? Why not grab some to donate to the food pantry at The Ballard Community Center? I mentioned earlier that the month of July was one of their busiest months in a long time and their shelves have been depleted. Every donation helps.

Maybe you think, “She keeps telling me one or two things at a time that would be great...but I don’t want to run allll the way out there to drop these off.” Completely understandable....why not let me do it for you?

My friend Kris Adair at Lawrence Freenet has graciously offered to put a drop box in her office, right across the street from the HyVee Gas Station on 6th street, for you to drop off your items. When the box is full...I will post a picture and drop the items off at The Ballard Community Center myself. Just stop by Lawrence Freenet at 4105 W 6th between 10a-6pm and you will see the drop box...just waiting to be filled.

Just a few cents and maybe 5 extra minutes of your time. Can you spare that to help out someone else in our community?

You would think after two years of rather intense couponing that I would learn to follow my own advice: Call ahead to make sure a sale is being offered at your location, read the fine print to make sure you know what you are doing, understand the stores' coupon policies.

I have copies of all the coupon policies available to me in my binder. I understand how the stores work - sometimes I can even help the new cashiers figure out what they are doing! So why would I try to work deals at a store without completely understanding changes to their policy? Yeah, I asked myself the same question.

Last week I posted about the deal on Juicy Juice at Target. It was a great deal! I went to great lengths to get myself, my kids, all of my coupons AND my Dillons sale flier to Target before Tuesday when the Dillons sale ended. This was all so I could price match. I bought my juice and headed over to customer service to have the price matched. I was rather proud of myself because the venture appeared to be going off seamlessly. What happened next was NOT amusing: They wouldn't match my price. It seems rather silly when you think about it ... there was only a 31-cent difference in price; but I had purchased eight, and then it starts to add up. The problem was in the fine print; both Dillons' and Target's. The "sale price" on the juice at Dillons read "With Card" ... meaning when you use your Dillons card. The fine print in the Target price matching policy, which I failed to read, states that sales using membership loyalty cards are excluded.

I could have saved myself so much trouble, waited an extra day and gotten the same deal. Why am I publicly outing myself for this coupon faux pas? To make the point that it really is important to prepare yourself before you shop. Read the coupon policies, pay attention to when changes are made and don't assume you know how something works.

I teach people to keep copies of the coupon policies for the stores they shop readily available. This is mainly for reference if you run into a cashier who doesn't understand and you need to back yourself up. It also serves to remind us that we need to know what we are doing.

And though it should go without saying, if there is a misunderstanding when you are working with coupons, whether on your part or the part of the store, remember that we are all human and mistakes are made. Be polite, be kind and work with the people around you. Everyone will have a better shopping experience in the end.

In Sunday’s Target ad, select 32-ounce TreSemme hair care products are $3.49. This is a great price for the size.

Seeing this got me thinking. In our quests to save money, do you sale shop when looking for hair care products or are you pretty loyal to a brand? Do you shop around for low prices when you are planning for your haircuts and color? Or are you loyal to one hair stylist?

I’ve moved around several times and have had a hard time finding a hair stylist I like. And when you do find the one, you’re willing to pay whatever the price to have your hair done right.

When we moved to Lawrence, I was referred to a salon in town. Again, I was paying quite a hefty price for a cut and color. After a few stylist changes (not my doing), I was getting fed up with not always getting the style I wanted and still paying the high price. In comes my current stylist. I met her through work about two years ago and have been with her ever since. Her prices are half of what I’d been paying, and she’s really good.

So why is it, that you can pretty much get the same services, and yet some salons feel it necessary to charge so much more than others?

I’d like to hear from you readers . . . are you willing to keep paying the higher prices or shop around to find the best deal on services rendered by a salon?

Let’s hear it from the men, too. Does it matter who cuts your hair, or do you rely on one certain barber?

How much are you willing to spend for a haircut or style?