Randoms

Wouldn’t you know Kellogg’s would recall cereal after you just stocked up at Safeway not that long ago? Today, Kellogg’s issued a voluntary recall of select packages of Corn Pops, Honey Smacks, Froot Loops, and Apple Jacks cereals.

They are recalling products packaged in white foil bags due to an off-flavor and smell coming from the bag. Only products with the letters “KN” following the Better If Used Before Date are included in the recall. The Better If Used Before Dates to be on the lookout for are dates between MAR 26 2011 and JUN 22 2011.

You can read more about this recall and find exact UPC codes for the boxes under recall on the Kellogg’s website. If you have one of these recalled products, you can call the Kellogg Consumer Response Center at 888-501-4163.

Good Luck!

Sorry I’ve been a little MIA the past couple of days. We’ve had one tragedy after another around here and the blog took the back burner for a while. But I’m back to business today and should have deals for you shortly.

I’m working on the Randalls and Kroger matchups now and should have those up before too long. Then I’ll start in on all the deal posts clogging my inbox and regular Friday postings. And maybe if you’re really lucky, I’ll throw in a giveaway!

Thanks for your patience with the sporadic posting. I love that my family is so supportive of this site but sometimes I just need to take a break and support them. I’m so thankful that I’m able to do that.

When you logged on today, you probably did a double take thinking you were on the wrong site. But no, you’re in the right place. Saving with Shellie just had a little makeover this weekend!

I did my best to make the site user friendly and a little more fun while keeping the simple look you’ve told me you prefer. I’ve moved things around to make them more accessible to you and easier to find.

Here’s a quick tour of the new site and where you’ll find all your favorite features:

:: Navigation menu

You’ll see a bunch more options in the light blue navigation menu at the top of the page. This is where you’ll find all the Categories on the site. They are grouped together so it’s easier for you to find precisely what you’re looking for instead of searching through the long list I used to have. Looking for Target deals? Simply hover over the Store Deals category and links to Target deals as well as all the other stores I offer will pop up.

:: Social Buttons

The top right has easy to spot buttons that will help you find me. The first two buttons offer free updates for you to subscribe to. You can opt for these daily updates via RSS or email.The next two buttons make it easy for you to visit and interact on my Facebook and Twitter pages. The last button is if you’d like to email me. My goal with these was to make it easy for you to find me.

:: Single Side Bar

One of the things I regularly hear fro readers is that they love how simply laid out this site is. When working on the redesign I thought going from two sidebars to one would make it even better. The new single side bar features my site sponsors as well as resources for you like a search bar, printable coupons and a button to place on your site.

:: Footer

One big change you’ll notice is the footer at the very bottom of the page. I hope you will really enjoy this section. The first column offers quick links to common resources like Coupons, Deals Around Town and the abbreviations I use. The second column offers easy access to the current hottest deals. This list will be ever changing as new hot offers, coupons and other deals pop up. The third column is just a little bit about me and the types of deals you’ll find on the site.

:: In Post Links

Below each post you’ll notice a few small buttons. These are great tools to help you share the deals with others. The Facebook and Twitter links allow you to share deals with your friends. The email button lets you email the deal to anyone (including yourself!) and the print button allows you to view a printer friendly version of the post. Finally, there’s a new “like” button at the bottom. This is just like the “like” button you see on Facebook. Do you really love or are you particularly excited about one of the deals, you can “like” it straight on the post. This helps me see what types of deals you might  enjoy seeing more of.

That’s the grand tour of the site. If you can’t find something or encounter an error, feel free to contact me. I’m open to feedback. There are quite a few things that changed and while I did my best to keep things simple and fix all the broken links  I may have missed something. You are welcome to email me or leave a comment.

P.S. If you’re reading this in a reader or via email, you’re missing the new look! Just go HERE to visit the site and see all the changes I mentioned.

I hope you and your family have a blessed Easter today. Now, stop hunting deals and go hunt some eggs!

If you’re not a fan of Saving with Shellie on Facebook then you may be missing out. I occassionally post things on the fan page that I don’t post on the blog like local grocery deals or very limited time offers.Plus, if you spot a great deal you can post about it on the wall so everyone can take advantage.

On Friday (3/19), I’ll be revealing a new feature here at Saving with Shellie. But I’ll be announcing it on the fan page because I need your help to get it started and make it successful. I will also be rewarding one lucky fan with a $20 Starbucks gift card. This fan will be chosen randomly from current fans on Friday at noon.

To make sure you’re a fan and not missing out, check out the page on Facebook HERE.

You’ve probably noticed I haven’t been posting as much the past couple of days. We’ve had a pretty rough couple of days and since family comes first, the blog had to take a backseat to everything else that’s been going on.

Normally I don’t share much about our lives but I thought I’d give you a glimpse into our rough week – not as a “poor me” but hopefully to inspire those of you who aren’t already saving to begin working on an emergency fund.

Wednesday I got home from work to find Stan cleaning out the freezer in the garage. It died and took all my stockpiles of meat and veggies with it. I was really sad that I lost some of my hard earned meat stock pile! I was sadder about that than the fridge. Why? Well, because we have a 4.5 month emergency fund and spending $400 on a new fridge is really not a big deal. Sure, it sets us back a little and we’ve got a little further to go to get to my goal of 6 months but the fact is we don’t have to go into debt to replace the appliance.

Thursday I had to skip work to drive to Nacogdoches for a funeral. It was already a pretty sad day. Stan wasn’t able to come with me because of work obligations. I called him when we arrived in Nac to let him know that we were there safe and sound. Then he dropped the big bomb. His truck had been stolen while he was eating lunch. I thought he was kidding at first. But no, he was meeting with the police officer right then. So now our 4.5 month emergency fund is going to take a HUGE hit.

We have to buy Stan a new truck. I doubt the insurance company will give him exactly what it was worth. Plus we have to pay the deductible. Then to make matters even more complicated, all his tools and everything in the truck is covered on our home owners insurance policy. So that means another deductible and a lot more haggling.

Stan’s rocking a rental car for a while and we dropped a big chunk of change at Home Depot this weekend replacing the essential tools he needs for work. Since he works in construction he can’t wait 2-3 weeks for the insurance settlement to replace his drill.

This whole situation makes me so very thankful that we have an emergency fund. It doesn’t matter that it wasn’t quite up to six months yet. It doesn’t matter that after this mess it will be down to three months. What matters is that the stress of these situations isn’t further complicated by the fact that we have to go into debt to replace these things. Knowing that money isn’t yet another problem is a big relief.

So yeah, it stinks. I lost a lot of food. Stan lost a lot of his belongings but the main thing is we are both safe and sound. Plus, we’re not in debt and another bomb could drop and we’d still be okay.

If you haven’t started an emergency fund yet or have thought about it but just aren’t sure how to get going, I encourage you to check out Dave Ramsey. On April 5th he’s even offering a free class just to get you started. Find out more details HERE. Dave has helped thousands and thousands of people get out of debt with his Financial Peace University and if they can do it, so can you.

You don’t even have to be in debt to get started. Stan and I had already done Steps 1, 2 and 4 so we plunged in at Step 3. It doesn’t matter when you start as long as you have a path. It doesn’t even have to be Dave’s path but I encourage you to start with something.

I’d love to hear, how many of you use Dave Ramsey’s method? What step are you on?

I spent the past three days in Nashville at the Opryland Hotel attending the Blissdom conference. I had such a fun time meeting and reconnecting with all of the bloggers I talk to regularly. Plus I got to meet several new ones too!

It was a great opportunity to network and have fun with some of my favorite people but it was also exhausting! Please bear with me today as I get caught up on my inbox and posting deals. Usually Sunday is my catchup day but I was so exhausted I didn’t even watch the Super Bowl!

If there’s a great deal that I haven’t mentioned, feel free to post it on the Facebook fan page so others can take advantage of it too. Hopefully I’ll be back up to speed by tomorrow.

I just wanted to extend a huge thank you to each of you who linked up and commented on my post about Haiti. Together we were able to give a significant amount to Compassion International and The Red Cross. I thank you from the bottom of my heart and thank you for all that you continue to do to help those less fortunate.

I urge all of you to continue to pray for the nation of Haiti. They will need them long after people have stopped donating money.

Thank you again for your overwhelming support!