Free (or $5 for non-members) Bike Tune-Up at Easton Community Center in Connecticut–Well Worth It!

This is one free event we can’t wait for! My son’s bike has a problem chain that needs help.

Please support this great community service at ECC.

Tune-a-Bike 2012

Rusty chains? Wobbly wheels? Squeaky breaks?                                     Join us at the Easton Community Center for our Annual Tune-a-Bike!   Saturday, April 14th 3:00 P.M – 6:00 P.M Rain or Shine   Bring your bike to the ECC where the professional bike technicians from Bethel Cycle will help to get those wheels rolling for the Spring! We will have ramps set up in the gym so please bring a helmet! With a thorough inspection and a washing station, we will make sure your bike is in top shape for the riding season! If for any reason your bike needs equipment for a tune-up or repair, bike specialists will be selling equipment at an additional charge. This service is FREE for all Members of the ECC. Not a member?  We would love to have you! Non-member fee: $5.00 per bike Limit of one bike per participant. No Registration Required. 364 Sport Hill Road Easton, Connecticut 06612 203-459-9700 www.eastoncommunitycenter.com

Organic Strawberries Now on Sale at Shoprite (and Stop & Shop)

You may not be able to see the difference between conventional and organic strawberries. Image via Wikipedia

Why is the $3.49/lb sale for organic strawberries at Shoprite in Fairfield a great price?

Organic strawberries can be found as one of the “Dirty Dozen” list for being one of the most pesticide-laden produce, according to the Environmental Working Group. Download the app or wallet-sized list here: http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/guide/

But do you know why it’s on that list? Conventional strawberries are sprayed with a chemical called Methyl Iodide, a most deadly pesticide. Methyl Iodide is the chemical scientists have used to deliberately cause cancer in laboratory cells for research purposes. That is how powerfully dangerous it is! Experts are calling for its ban in agricultural practices.

Until then, Frugal Fairfielders, head to Shoprite for your organic strawberries this week!  It happens to be $.50 cheaper than Stop and Shop’s sale price.

Better yet, learn how to grow strawberries yourself.  It’s on my list to try, but that is for a post for another day…

~Aimee, TFF

Good Article on Where to Find Freebies

This article on Yahoo‘s Financial Fitness channel

Image via Wikipedia

has some new information (at least for TFF!) about where to get free products and when to get them. Enjoy!

~Marilyn at TFF

Surprise Sale on Chicken at Whole Foods Market Friday, February 17th, 2012

If you want a good buy on whole organic chickens, head over to Whole Foods Market’s one-day-only sale.

Limit 10 chickens at $1.99 lb. Remember, they are organic chickens!

More info, click here.

Free Kindle Books Listed Here

Amazon Kindle (Photo credit: agirregabiria)

Anyone with an e-reader will appreciate Kindle on the Cheap, a site which lists free Amazon Kindle books.

The site lists books that have a limited time free offering.

~TFF

Shopping the Sales & Coupons at Whole Foods Market

I bought nine packages of antibiotic-free chicken drumsticks at Whole Foods because they were affordable at .99 cents a pound thanks to a 70% off sale. Good to know that even Whole Foods has super sales! Photo: TFF

TFF Takes a Value Tour at Whole Foods Market in Fairfield, CT. Surprise! If you have the right strategy, you can shop frugal here.

We’ve heard it thousands of times: Whole Paycheck. But Whole Foods Market also has good sales and good coupons. Who knew!! I sure didn’t until my TFF partner told me. If you are at least semi-concerned about where you buy your meat, fruit, and veggies, listen up!

Directly from the mouth of one of the down-to-earth check-out associates: “If you shop the sales, you can clean up this place.” She is right. (And by the way, the Fairfield store’s check-out associates are extremely nice, approachable, and they totally understand the frugal mindset.)

For example, the Fairfield store has chicken drumsticks on sale for .99 cents a pound. Okay–you can get the same deal at the other grocery stores, but well, you know the yuck factor when it comes to buying mainstream chicken that may have wallowed in waste and been fed a diet of unhealthy feed and antibiotics. Whole Foods’ drumsticks on sale are what the store calls a “level 2″ product and these chickens are supposed to have been raised in an “enriched environment” on a 100 percent vegetarian diet without antibiotics. (I sure hope so!) Usually, these particular drumsticks go for $3.39 a pound – so I bought them for 70 percent off the original cost.

I also bought Stoneyfield organic strawberry yogurt cups that were on sale: 3 packages (4 cups per pack–small cups, though) for $5. Not great until you add in the coupon of $1.00 off each pack! So, for .66 cents each pack, I had good organic strawberry yogurt for the kids–.17 cents a cup.

And, since my purchase was just a bit over $25, I was able to take advantage of the freebie package of organic baby carrots that would have cost $2.99.

If you’re interested in learning more, take a Value Tour at any Whole Foods in the country. The tours are meant to show customers that the store has healthy brands, meats, etc. that fit every budget. Even if the product isn’t necessarily organic, it is still supposed to be held to extremely high quality standards, said my tour guide and Fairfield store manager, Troy, so we shouldn’t have to worry about buying tainted or unhealthy food.

Troy said that generally ever week, there is a great sale on meat, fish, fruits, and vegetables. The bottom line is this: It can be expensive to do a lot of shopping there, but Whole Foods has pretty good sales, and if you can match the sale with one of their own coupons, or a manufacturer’s coupon, you can get some notable deals.

I plan to go back next week to see what meat is on sale…

~Marilyn, TFF