Monday, June 30, 2014

Free Gas with Giant Food Stores (PA) Gas Rewards

I'm not sure how long gas rewards were out before I started paying attention to them.  I think it was at least a year.  A YEAR OF FREE GAS I MISSED!  It wasn't until I was running our soccer club's snack stand with another mom that she told me how they hadn't paid for gas in months that I started to pay attention.  I've never been one to stock up too much.  I save money on groceries by only buying things on sale (with exceptions like milk) so I wasn't too keen on buying things in a box in a circular just to save money on gas. I also only like to buy things that I'll use up in the next month or so, unless it was going in the freezer. After my fellow soccer mom pointed out my error in reasoning, I did the math.  This week, if I buy 9 boxes of brownie mixes at $1.39 a piece, I'll save 40 cents per gallon on gas.  Nine boxes of brownie mix cost $12.51.  Forty cents off 25 gallons saves me $10.  So, I'd essentially be getting the brownie mix for $2.51.  Adding in coupons to this mix would be super.  I still keep it to things I'd normally buy or are a substantial deal.  Last week I got Milk N Cereal bars (which we'll save for fall when we are running late for school) and Panko bread crumbs (which I buy regularly to make my own chicken fingers).

But it gets better.  This week there is also a 300 bonus points (30 cents) for a $50 purchase and 4x gas points on Visa gift cards.  If I put $500 (the max) on a visa gift card and pay the small fee (a few dollars), I'll now have 2700 gas points.  This is $2.70 off a gallon of gas and this was all in one shopping trip for a gas savings of  $67.50, more than the groceries I just spent. True, I just spent $50 in groceries and $500 on a gift card, but I'll use that card in place of a credit card until it is used up.

And here is the kicker that will probably not last too long:  not all gas stores use the same ratio for points.  Which means that my $2.70 I'll earn this week at my store, is actually worth $5.40 at another store nearby.  Yep, a free tank of gas and then some.  At current prices, this is a savings of $135 on gas - in one week!

My advice: pay attention to the gas rewards!

Friday, June 6, 2014

How to Make a Frog Cake


Meet Mortimor Frog...in cake form.  For her third birthday, our youngest daughter requested a frog cake. Now, this is not just ANY frog, but the cartoon frog that her dad has been drawing for 23(ish) years. Of course no cake pan exists for this specific design, so we had to improvise.


We used a sheetcake, and cut around the the edges with a knife for shape.  The eyes are cupcakes.  The star tip works great for the rough edges left behind from cutting, but you could also do a crumb coat (thin layer of frosting) throw the cake in the freezer for a bit, and then frost again (thus sealing the crumbs in the crumb coat!).


To view more about Mortimor Frog, check out his home at www.amphibian.com