Great Coffee For $.85/pound?

Yep, it's true...for a limited time and for one pound only. So here's the story (if you read this blog you know that most everything around here comes with a little story attached!)...

New York City is my favorite city in the United States. Maybe my fav city anywhere, but for sure in the US. As I'm getting older and little lazier, I'm content to accept Chicago as my NYC experience on a much much much smaller scale. But every decade or so I'm lucky enough to head to New York.

So my last visit was in late 2003 on my honeymoon. One of the coolest touristy things we did was take a walking and eating tour of Greenwich Village. It's one of those things, looking back, that I don't know how I stumbled across the tour or why I booked it (who am I kidding, because it was an EATING tour!). The tour company is called Foods Of New York Tours, Inc. and the web address is http://gonyc.about.com/od/toursbr/gr/foodsofny_green.htm. Highly, highly recommend.

While on this tour, the guide said to us, totally as an aside, that Porto Rico Importing Co. was a spot to buy great coffee for cheap. I am a coffee freak, so I tucked this info away for later. I never got back to the store on Bleecker Street, but checked it out online after I returned home. Cheap is right. A typical price for a pound of beans (or ground) is about $6.99. But here is the best part. Twice a year they have these amazing sales. One is in late Fall and is called Peter's Birthday Sale and one is in the spring (NOW!) and is called the Springtime Sale. I buy Christmas gifts during the fall sale and I just buy during the spring sale. Prices are about $4.99-$5.99/lb during the sales. And right now, the first pound of Special House Blend is $.85/lb!

Now I know there is such a thing as baaaaad tasting coffee. But I promise you, this isn't it. You don't get what you pay for in this instance. The coffee is shipped as fresh as fresh could be, and it is darn good stuff.

Get your orders in: www.portorico.com.

Energy Efficient?

You will recall that I was sick to my money saving stomach last month when our gas/electric bill was nearly $300. This is normal for the Midwestern season, but that fact doesn't make it any easier to process. So, I worked extra hard (You're chilly? Put on a sweater!), and coupled with a few days of nice, mild temps, this month's bill came in at...$170. Still nothing to scream with glee over, but a definite improvement!

FREE Ice Cream Today!

A FREE ice cream cone has your name on it today from noon - 8pm if you stop in to a participating Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream shop. This is an annual event, and I accidentally stumbled upon it with my son last year (lucky me!). That was a day when I thought: am I a bad mom? They had all of these wonderful, kid friendly/popular flavors available, and I chose...sherbet? What kid wants sherbet? Give me some chocolate, ma!

Anyway, here is the link to B&J's web site to find a participating location near you:

http://www.benjerry.com/index.cfm

Enjoy!

First Shipment of Expired Coupons - Out The Door!

For the money saving mama, this is a verrry exciting day. I am mailing out my first batch of expired coupons to an overseas military base! The $ amount of the coupons I'm sending today totals $32, and I am sending them directly to a US Army Base in Ansbach, Germany. My husband was in the Army and stationed in Germany in the 80's, so I wanted to send my coupons there for that reason (nostalgia!). I've decided to send a batch every month, and I have a May pile growing by the minute!

The web address for the organization I am working with for this project is:

http://www.ocpnet.org/

I encourage you to check it out if you are interested in participating!