Thanks for a great Festival!

99 Cent Chef and Bargain Babe

Finally caught my breath after the super busy Frugal Festival Food! We have tons of photos from the event and a video. Festival goers gobbled up delicious fresh fruit from Albertsons, relished the Coupon Challenge contest sponsored by Shortcuts.com and Albertsons, and went home with sooo many raffle and door prizes.

Listening to feedback, next year we will make significant changes:

• Have three separate check in lines for VIPs, Goldstar, and day of ticket sales
• Begin checking in guests as soon as they arrive
• Limit door prizes to Goldstar members only
• Display a map of the Festival grounds at the entrance
• Have more vendors and classes!

See you next year!

You CAN buy tickets at the door!

Win this $300 Albertsons gift card in our free raffle!

It will be possible to buy tickets to Frugal Festival Food! tomorrow at the event, though you’ll have to wait in line. We strongly suggest getting tickets in advance through Goldstar.

Come hungry! There will be lots of free food from Libertine (bacon-wrapped tater tots), The Stand (chili and dogs), Albertsons (CA-grown fruit), and Yozen Frogurt (frozen yogurt).

We have more than 100 Raffle and Door prizes worth $3,000 waiting for you! Come at 11 a.m. when the Festival starts as the door prizes are first come first serve!

The FREE FOOD SWAP starts at 11 a.m.

Kids are welcome! We have face painting and chalk coloring ready for ya!

There is limited free parking at the Festival (or park across the street at the mall).

SEE YOU THERE!

Frugal Fest in the News!

Tune in 7pm Friday to see me on NBC!

Frugal Festival Food! is all over the news!

The Bargain Hunter column in the LA Daily News wrote us up, as did NBC LA’s The Scene. LA Weekly had something to say and so did yesterday’s Yelp email!

Listen to CBS KFWB later this morning, at about 10:30 a.m., to hear me on Money 101 with Bob McCormick.

Tune in Friday, June 24, at 7 p.m. to see me talking about the Festival on NBC 4!

Winners of The Coupon Wallet swag!

No more messy coupons with The Coupon Wallet!

Wow! Couponers commented in droves to win The Coupon Wallet basic organizer, deluxe organizer, and tote bag. Winners shared their current organization systems below. If you didn’t win, consider buying one! The basic organizer is just $12.95 and the deluxe model is $19.95.

Lindsey wins the tote bag:

I shove all coupons in a special place in the purse I use but most of the time, they get ripped, ruined or shoved so far down, I forget about them and they expire. A new cute organized would be perfect to help contain one little thing in my life!!!

Ailsa Y. will receive The Coupon Wallet basic organizer:

Currently, my coupon filing style consists of what I would like to call “creative squishing.” That is, squishing them into the pockets of my jeans when I go grocery shopping, squishing them in between my mascara and my lipstick in my makeup bag, randomly dropping them into my purse so that they become squished…the list goes on. Needless to say, regardless of the method of creative squishing organization, I always have shame-facedly to give the crumpled up little money-savers to the cashier.

I don’t mean to say I haven’t tried methods of non-creative squishing. I’ve tried envelopes (the entire thing gets squished), bullying the boyfriend into carrying them (risking the worst -losing all of them!), and those clear insert sheets in binders (to which I get the weirdest stares at the grocery store -I’m not weird I swear!).

Any of your giveaway items, O’ very organized people of The Coupon Wallet, would be great! Those stares of “what is wrong with that girl” will turn into “wow that girl with that amazing coupon organizer is quite stylish!”

Markeitia Ledbetter nabs The Coupon Wallet deluxe model:

I bought my first coupon organizer about 20 yrs ago, I loved it , made things so much easier. But sad to say, I’m still using it. Not as great when it is falling apart, taped together and I’ve had to write over the words where they have faded away. Really Need A New One !!

Winners, please email me an address where you would like to receive your prize. Starting at 11 a.m. this Saturday, we are giving away five Tote Bags and 15 Basic Organizers as door prizes at Frugal Festival Food! in Canoga Park. We have 10 more Basic Organizers to giveaway in the 1:15 p.m. Raffle. Nancy from The Coupon Wallet will also have a few on hand if you’d like to purchase one.

Get your tickets now!

Final ONLINE giveaway – from The Coupon Wallet!

Sea Coral: One of my favorite Deluxe Organizer patterns from The Coupon Wallet.

Couponing may be getting a bad rap thanks to TLC’s Extreme Couponing, but there’s no reason why you can’t coupon sensibly – and stylishly!

The Coupon Wallet makes coupon organizers in dozens of patterns and prints. From fuschia paisely to a giraffe pattern, florals, stripes, and polka dots. A little known-fact about The Coupon Wallet is that they still manufacturer in LA.

Today, we are giving away a Basic Organizer (retails for $12.95), a Deluxe Organizer (retails for $19.95), and a Tote Bag (retails for $5.95) from The Coupon Wallet.

To win, comment on this post about how you currently organize your coupons. Winners will be announced Thursday, June 23, 2011.

If you’re coming to Frugal Festival Food! in LA on Saturday, June 25, we’ll have five tote bags and 10 basic organizers from The Coupon Wallet as first-come first-serve door prizes starting at 11 a.m. Plus, 10 The Coupon Wallet basic organizers will be given away in the 1:15 p.m. raffle!

Get your tickets now!

Reader Winners: The $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook

Below you’ll find the names of the two lucky winners of “The $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook.”

If you missed my review, author Erin Chase shares delicious and inexpensive meals all for under $5. Chase also shares her recipes at $5 dollar dinners, a blog she began when she challenged herself to cook more frugally to help her family save money. In the cookbook you’ll learn about strategic grocery shopping, couponing, and meal planning. The cookbook includes 200 recipes of nutritious meals with cost breakdowns and frugal facts.

I asked you to share your’re go-to meal for busy weeknights and this is what the winners are tossing together for dinner when they’re busy.

Amanda goes for quick and easy meals.

I need to learn some quick on the go meals. My quick meals are simple peanut butter & jelly sandwiches with slices fruit for the kids, or instant noodles soups.

Chris921 is a working papa who helps his wife with dinner. Ahh… how sweet!

Being a working dad with a wife who works late my go-to dinner is beef tacos. Prepping tacos if great and my 4 year old daughter loves to help grate the cheese and put the toppings in bowls in preparation for fill the tortillas. She also can make the tacos any way she wants!!!! It’s quick, easy and clean up is a breeze.. Plus they are so tasty!!!

Winners, I hope you enjoy the meals in this cookbook and it helps you build your repertoire. Send me an email with a shipping address so I can send you your copy of “The $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook.”

If you didn’t win, you can buy the cookbook on Amazon for $9.86 or win one of 8 copies that will be given away as door prizes at the festival in LA on June 25. Many thanks to all of you who commented on our lighting book review giveaways. Hope you had as much fun as we did.

Complete list of Raffle and Door Prizes

A $300 Albertsons gift card is our top raffle prize!

We have more than 100 raffle and door prizes valued at $3,000 waiting for you at Frugal Festival Food! THIS Saturday, June 25, in Canoga Park. Here is how to be a lucky winner.

DOOR PRIZES

Door prizes are first come, first serve! Be there when the Festival starts at 11 a.m. and pick one door prize from the list below. Getting a door prize in no way prevents you from winning the Early Bird Raffle or 1:15 Raffle. Door prizes include:

• The Coupon Wallet Tote Bags (5)
• The Coupon Wallet Basic Organizers (15)
• “$5 Dinners” (8)
• “Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half,” signed by authors Steve and Annette Economides (20)
• “Vegan on the Cheap” (8)
• “Gluten-free on a Shoestring” (8)
• “Poor Girl Gourmet” (20)
• “Wildly Affordable Organic” (8)
• “Money-Saving Recipes” (8)

EARLY BIRD RAFFLE

A $100 Target gift card courtesy of Shortcuts.com will be raffled off at 11:30 a.m. Make sure the free raffle ticket that comes in your swag bag is in the raffle drawing box by the time we draw this prize! You may purchase additional raffle tickets for $1 each or $5 for 8 at the Festival.

1:15 RAFFLE

The 1:15 Raffle starts at 1:15 p.m. Make sure all your raffle tickets are in our raffle drawing box by 1:15 p.m. Here are the prizes you can win.

• $300 Albertsons gift card
• $250 Pyrex/Chicago Cutlery gift basket
• $175 Restaurant.com Night on the Town Restaurant, Wine, and Babysitting Package
• $100 gift cards to Drugstore.com, Restaurant.com, and ChefsCatalog.com (3 winners) from Shortcuts.com
• $50 Am Ex cards from LOZO.com (5 winners)
• Easy Lunch Box kits (10 winners)
• AllRecipes gift basket
• The Coupon Wallet Basic Organizer (10 winners)
• Starbucks gift prize (2 winners)

Everyone is eligible to win a raffle prize as long as they put their free raffle ticket that comes with admission in the raffle collection box. You may purchase additional raffle tickets for $1 each or $5 for 8 at the Festival. Winning tickets will be drawn at random.

Get your tickets now!

Everything you need to know about Frugal Festival Food!

Free food alert! Munch on Libertine’s bacon-wrapped tater tots, chili and dogs from The Stand, CA-grown fruit from Albertsons, and frozen yogurt from Yozen Frogurt.

We have more than 100 Raffle and Door prizes worth $3,000 waiting for you!

The FREE FOOD SWAP starts at 11 a.m.

Tickets are $5 with a canned good and include a high-quality Envirosax swag bag that is worth $9 before it’s stuffed with goodies!

Kids are welcome! We have face painting and chalk coloring ready for ya!

There is limited free parking at the Festival (or park across the street at the mall).

We’ve got a lot planned for you, including an Early Bird Raffle, a coupon class, and more. You won’t be late with this timeline of events.

Test your coupon know-how in our Coupon Challenge to win a $300 gourmet gift basket from Albertsons and Shortcuts!

If you missed the online recipe contest, you’ll have a chance to submit an original recipe at the Bargain Babe table at the Festival!

The Festival supports the LA Regional Food Bank.

Get your tickets now!

Final Online Giveaway: $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook

If you rely on fast food to feed your family because it is cheap and convenient, have we got a cookbook for you. Author Erin Chase shows you how to cook delicious and inexpensive food all for under $5 in “The $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook.” To win one of two signed copies we are giving away, see below.

Chase, who blogs at $5 dollar dinners , has shared her savvy cooking tips on national TV shows including The View and The Rachel Ray Show. She began blogging after taking on the challenge of reducing her family’s grocery spending. She writes:

It became my “job” to create and execute a plan in which I spent less of my husband’s hard-earned money. I considered the amount saved each week at the store to be like my earning. That summer, I implemented a number of strategies to help me save more money at the grocery store. I found great pleasure and felt fulfilled spending less at the store, putting coupons to use, and having a plan for dinner each week.

In the cookbook, Chase teaches you about strategic grocery shopping, couponing, and meal planning. She includes 200 recipes of nutritious meals with cost breakdowns and frugal facts. The recipes are for a family of four, but you can double them depending on how many mouths there are to feed. Feeding your family well-balanced meals for less is a possibility!

If you’d like to win a copy of “The $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook” leave a comment letting us know what your go-to weeknight meal is. Winners will be revealed tomorrow, June 22. You can also win one of 8 copies we are giving away as door prizes at Frugal Festival Food! on June 25 in LA or purchase the book on Amazon for $9.86.

Reader Winners: Money-Saving Recipes

Below you’ll find the names of the two lucky winners of “Money-Saving Recipes.”

If you missed my review, this tiny cookbook is packed with 127-paged of recipes for breads, desserts, main entrees, soups and salads, and sandwiches. “Money-Saving Recipes” is a compilation of the authors’ favorite frugal recipes. Each recipe comes with an introduction that includes thrifty tips. Most of the recipes are one-pot meals, which reduces clean up.

I asked you to share who does the dishes in your home and this is what the winners responded.

Lynda Del shared her families rule.

Our rule is if one does the cooking, the other does the dishes. I tend to be the one who cooks more often

Nina K said she does the dishes, but doesn’t really like it.

im the dishwasher at my house. im patiently waiting for the day that my kids are tall enough to reach in the sink!

Winners, I hope this tiny cookbook cuts down on your clean up time and your grocery bill. Send me an email with a shipping address so I can send you your copy of “Money-Saving Recipes.”

If you didn’t win, you can buy it on Amazon for $7.95 or win one of 8 copies that will be given away as door prizes at the Festival in LA on June 25. Thanks to all of you who participated in our lighting book review giveaways.