Saving Families Money Since 2007
Here are the freebies that arrived in my mailbox in the past week:
:: Colgate toothbrush
:: 2 Tide samples
:: Tums samples
:: Breathe Right samples
:: Eight O’Clock coffee sample
:: Garnier Fructis samples
What freebies have arrived in your mailbox this week?
By the way, if you want to start getting great freebies in your mailbox, just start signing up for the freebies I post every day that interest you. Within 4-6 weeks, your mailbox will start filling up with great freebies!
Jessica emailed in the following tip:
My husband and I signed up for the Shop Your Way Rewards Program last year and it has been our biggest contributor to purchasing free or close-to-free gifts for birthdays, holidays, Christmas, etc.
Shop Your Way Rewards is the rewards program for Sears, Kmart and Lands End. Without ever spending a cent at any of these store, we have received regular emails of free points — anywhere from $3 to $7, with no minimum purchase.
These points can then be redeemed in-store or online. If you are near a Sears or Kmart, you can purchase an item using points and elect for free store pickup. You can also take advantage of Shop Your Way MAX which gives you 3 months of free shipping.
Additionally, through May 26th, there is an online matching game giving you the opportunity to earn up to 1000 points a day, or 5000 points total. That is $1-$5 in free points! -Jessica
Are you joining us for the 12 Months to a Healthier You Challenge? If so, it’s time for our weekly check-in to post our progress.
We’re focusing on developing the habit of getting more rest. I encourage you to set a simple and doable goal for getting more rest and to stick with it.
New to this challenge? Read more details on the plan for this year here.
My Get More Rest Goal for May
My goal for May is to get at least 7.5 hours of sleep every night.
I’m also hoping to keep up with January’s habit of exercising at least 4-5 times every week, February’s goal of eating a big salad at least six times a week, March’s goal of drinking 8 glasses of water every day, and April’s goal of eating dessert once a week.
I pretty much bombed the challenge this past week. It was just one of those weeks. Lots of great things went on. Lots of wonderful time with wonderful people… and well, sleep just got bumped really low on the priority list.
In fact, I think I only got at least 7.5 hours of sleep two nights this past week. Bad, I know.
But that’s just life sometimes, isn’t it? I don’t recommend living like this on a regular basis, but there are times when you just have to power through and know that you’ll catch up on sleep the following week — which is my hope for this week!
I hit my water goals five days, exercised four days, ate a salad five of the days, and had dessert three times. So yes, I’m not hitting all of my goals perfectly, but I’m going to celebrate the progress I’m making!
How Are YOU Doing?
Leave a comment telling us how you did on your exercise goals this past week. If you’re blogging about this challenge, leave the direct link to your blog post about the challenge below. Are you on social media? You can also share your progress on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter by using hashtag #12MonthstoaHealthierYou.
Guest post from Sarah of Sidetracked Sarah
A couple of years ago, I was browsing Pinterest, when I ran across a genius idea that I now know as Crockpot Freezer Meals. If you’re not familiar with Crockpot Freezer Meals, here’s a quick description.
1. Find several of your favorite slow cooker recipes (I prefer to do 6, which works out to be a week’s worth)
2. Prepare/chop all the ingredients for those recipes at once.
3. Assemble each individual recipe into a gallon size freezer bag.
4. Label that bag with the name of the recipe and any individual instructions and lay it flat to freeze.
5. Get the bag out the night before you plan to cook it (if possible) and then follow the cooking instructions on cooking day.
What I love about this plan is that I get freezer meals, without the processed freezer meal taste.
The recipes that I originally found were not a fit for my family, so I set out to find recipes that would work better for us. I was absolutely amazed at the results!
My family was better fed than they had been in a long time. We were eating dinner on time and not at erratic hours. Dinner preparation time was shortened by a lot!
Typically, I can assemble 6 meals in about 1-2 hours, depending on how complicated the recipes are.
Summer time is a great time to be using your slow cooker because it won’t heat up your house. Here’s 3 recipes that will help you get your freezer meals started!
Ingredients:
Instructions (to cook immediately):
Instructions (to freeze and cook later):
**It helps to at least have the sauce thawed out when you’re putting it in the slow cooker, but not required.
Ingredients:
Instructions (to cook immediately):
Freezer to Slow Cooker Instructions:
Ingredients:
Instructions (to cook immediately):
Instructions (to freeze and cook later):
Please Note: It is best to have your recipe thawed out, by removing it from the freezer and putting it in the refrigerator the night before.
Each recipe serves approximately 6 adults.
Sarah loves finding ways to make life easier for herself and others. She blogs about it at Sidetracked Sarah. She has 8 weeks of Crockpot Freezer Meals on her blog and she’s giving away a free one week printable menu to subscribers.
Done-For-You Dinner Recipes With Simple Ingredients and a Grocery Shopping List!
Psst!! Want to write a book, build your blog platform, take your writing career to the next level, or just learn more about being an online entrepreneur? Do yourself a favor and go sign up for the Author Platform Summit today!
These videos are only available online for FREE through May 15-18, 2014. After that, they will be available to purchase.
There’s an amazing line-up of speakers who are sharing at this Summit, including the following:
I had so much fun recording the video for this and have really enjoyed watching and learning from the other videos, too. The videos are packed with practical tips, down-to-earth ideas, and real-life inspiration.
And did I mention this is FREE through May 18, 2014? Yes, it is. What a great value!
Dillons
Transaction #1
2 Pull-Ups – $8.99 each (On Sale Buy 2, Get $5 catalina), use 2 $3/1 printable – $5.99 each after coupons
6 Giant Green canned Green Beans (On Sale Buy 6, Get $3 catalina) – $1 each
Total: $17.98, Received $8 back in catalinas
Transaction #2
2 Quaker Granola Bars – $1.67 each, used 2 $1/1 coupon from the 5/4 RedPlum insert – $0.67 each after coupons
2 Nabisco Triscuits – $1.99 each, used 2 $1/1 coupon from the 4/13 SmartSource insert – $0.99 each after coupons
1 Kroger Donuts – Marked down to $0.59
1 Romaine Lettuce – $0.99
1.08 lbs Broccoli Crowns @ $1.59/lb – $1.72
1 Kroger Barbecue Sauce – $0.89
1.09 lbs Tomatoes @ $0.99/lb – $1.08
1 Green Bell Pepper – $0.89
1 Clif Bar – $1, used Free catalina coupon – Free after coupon
2 Horizon Mac & Cheese – $1 each
1 Kroger Unbleached Flour – $1.99
1 Kroger Butter Quarters – $2.50, used $0.40/1 mailer coupon – $2.10 after coupon
2 lbs Sterling Silver Ground Beef – $3.99 each
1 Tyson Frozen Chicken Breasts – $7.47, used $1/1 printable – $6.47 after coupon
3 Breyers Ice Cream – $2.99, used $3/3 coupon from the 5/4 RedPlum inset – $1.99 each after coupon (Such a great price for one of our favorite brands of ice cream!)
1 gallon Dillons Milk – $2.79
1 Kroger Cheddar Cheese – $1.99
Used $8 catalinas from Transaction #1
Total after coupons and catalina: $32.77
Total for both transactions: $50.75
Cereal, Banana Muffins, Baked Oatmeal, Applesauce
Cheese Quesadillas, Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches, Macaroni and Cheese, Tossed Salad, Cheese/Crackers/Veggies
Salad Bar, Peaches (We canned these last fall.)
Chicken Fajitas, Peas
Hamburgers, Chips, Tossed Salad
Breakfast for dinner (Pancakes, Eggs, etc)
Grilled Pizza, Steamed Broccoli
Leftovers
Dinner with friends
My coffee table right now: a book I loved (Bread & Wine), a book I can’t wait to read (The Nesting Place), flowers I bought for a song, and fingerprints from little people I cherish. Love it!
It’s been an interesting and full few days. I flew home with Kaitlynn and Silas on Sunday while Jesse and Kathrynne stayed back for Jesse to tie up a few loose ends with his business in Kansas. He and Kathrynne drove our second vehicle back on Tuesday afternoon/evening.
They arrived home around 3:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning… and we were SO glad to see them (And I breathed a sigh of relief as it was hard for me to be at home waiting up for them while they were driving at night hoping they stayed safe!)
We all slept in late on Wednesday morning and then got up and around quickly for the busy day ahead of us. We had a big strategy/planning meeting scheduled with the new publicity team we recently started working with here in TN and my business manager, Joy, was flying in from Colorado for that.
Our friend, Lexi, came over to watch our kids while Jesse, Brian (my other business manager), Joy, and I headed to downtown Nashville for the all-afternoon meeting. We are so excited to be working with this publicity team and we all pretty much instantly connected and bonded!
In fact, and in a very short time, we were talking about our love languages, crazy quirks, swooning over Aldi, and introducing one of the gals who wasn’t feeling well to essential oils. In between all that, we also mapped out some short-term and long-term plans for the business. It’s always fun to brainstorm, discuss, and dream!
While we don’t know what all the future holds, we are so honored to be working with such amazing people on the journey. I love how they challenge me to think big, aim high, keep growing and learning, and strive for excellence.
After the publicity meeting, Joy, Brian, Traci (Brian’s incredible wife) and their son came over to our house and we all hung out, ate P.F. Chang’s, laughed over crazy things, shared our hearts, and did a lot more business brainstorming.
I am so grateful for the wisdom and experience Brian and Joy bring to MoneySavingMom.com as my business managers, but, more importantly, I am so grateful for how they (and their spouses) pour into our lives and love us for exactly who we are and yet challenge us to be the best we can be. Friendships like these are such a gift… and ones we don’t take lightly!
Breakfast courtesy of Kaitlynn this morning
By Wednesday evening, we were all exhausted and we went to bed early and got a really good night’s rest (which felt SO good!). Kaitlynn made bacon and eggs for breakfast for us this morning (her first time to make breakfast all by herself — I was so proud of her!) and then we spent the morning and afternoon hanging out as a family, reading together, working on homeschool lessons, cleaning the house, and taking care of some other random things that needed to be done.
Waiting to board our flight at the Nashville airport.
Joy came over in the afternoon to meet with Jesse about some projects they are working on while I packed and got ready to leave for the Teach Them Diligently conference that I’m speaking at in DC this weekend. Joy and I left for the airport around 3 p.m. to catch our flight to DC tonight.
By the way, while the Nashville airport takes a little more time to get to and navigate, it’s so nice to now have the option of direct flights to some cities! Direct flights were almost unheard of in Kansas and getting to DC would have taken me at least half a day, as opposed to a few hours!
I’m excited to be speaking twice tomorrow and twice again on Saturday and I look forward to meeting some of you at the conference. {If you’re attending, be sure to come find me after one of my sessions or stop by our booth. One of my very favorite things about speaking at conferences is getting to meet my readers!}
Guest post from Katie of Embracing a Simpler Life
It’s the same old story; a closet full of clothes and nothing to wear.
My kids, and most kids I presume, have an over-abundance of toys. Nonetheless, they eventually lose interest. There they stand, bored, surrounded by a room full of delights. We’re left wondering what else we could buy to keep them entertained.
Over the years, I’ve resisted this temptation out of both necessity and principle. Instead, I’ve experimented with how to re-interest them in their toys.
Here is what I’ve found helpful:
This tried and true method is one of the best I’ve found. Box up toys and stick them in closet. After a few months, trade them out for others. This takes only a small effort and works wonders in reestablishing interest.
Kids need new ideas for old toys, not new toys for old ideas. Fifteen minutes of fully engaged, imaginative play on your part will likely produce hours of new material for your kids.
They never imagined that basket as an oven or those blocks as cake. They never saw the afghan as a picnic blanket or the stacking cups as teacups. Open their eyes to new possibilities through pretend play.
Restricting toys to certain areas allows children to change environments throughout the day. My daughter plays dress up in her room, cars in her brother’s room, puzzles in the family room, coloring and stickers in the kitchen, etc.
Also, feel free to switch toys from room to room every so often. Seeing them in a new environment gives toys new life.
Figure out which toys would work in the bathtub, even if that’s not their original purpose. Which would work with play dough? Allow children to explore new applications of their existing toys.
One of my fondest memories of my grandmother was when she and I made a baby doll bed from an empty oatmeal canister. This was a special memory, totally free, and it piqued my interest in baby dolls for months to come.
My dad tells stories of taping cardboard boxes to his Radio Flyer wagon and decorating them to look like race cars. Simple paper and cardboard accessories can be a great way to expand the use of toys without buying new ones.
How do you build your kids’ interest in old toys?
Hi! I’m Katie. I’m a young-ish, stay-at-home mom of two adorably-fun little ones, and I live a life devoted to Jesus. I love to write, and I focus my energy on living simply and well. My husband works for our church as a tech guy, I blog at Embracing a Simpler Life, and together we have a photography business.
The Prudent Homemaker shows you how to grow green onions and collect the seeds.
Do you have a fun and frugal DIY idea to share? I’d love to hear about it! Read the submission guidelines and submit it here.
Target Shopping Trip
3 Mars Twix Ice Cream Bar (6 pk) – $2.50 each, used 3 $1.50/1 printable – $1 each after coupons
2 Soft Scrub – $2.79 each, used 2 $1/1 coupon from the 5/4 RedPlum insert AND 2 $1/1 Target printable AND 10% off Cartwheel coupon – $0.61 each after coupons
1 Up&Up Hydrogen Peroxide – $0.89, used $1/1 Target Mobile coupon (Text OFFERS to 827438) – Free after coupon
Total before coupons and sales: $13.97
Total after coupons and sales: $4.11
A testimony from Shawna who blogs at Not The Former Things
It’s not something you want to hear, but I expected it. When the pediatrician said I needed to take my son in for an evaluation for autism, I wasn’t surprised (I had done my research and had seen the signs and symptoms for years).
Then, to make matters worse, she said, “Your insurance will not cover the evaluation and they can be very expensive.”
After calling her top three referrals, I knew exactly how expensive: $1,700, payable in full and cash only. By God’s grace, I was able to make the appointment, knowing we had the money in savings.
Less than six months later, my youngest son was also referred to a neuro-psychologist for a dyslexia/neurological processing evaluation. We were also able to pay cash (a total of $2,000 this time) when our insurance didn’t cover the cost.
So, how did we do it?
We paid for both, a total of $3,700, from our emergency fund. Because my husband is self-employed, we keep our emergency fund at $5,000. This helps us with fluctuations in his business and ultimately, is back-up in case he is not able to work.
It was tempting to just pay the doctors with credit card advances to preserve our savings, but we knew that God wouldn’t give us these boys with their unique needs, without providing a way to take care of them.
In the months between and following the two evaluations, we worked twice as hard to build back up our savings to the $5,000 mark. I will admit, it was so frustrating to finally get close, and then have another expensive evaluation required.
We had to cut back on everything – the boys and I stopped eating out and my husband only did so as work required, my husband sold his car to fund our Christmas and increase our savings, we cut the grocery budget by 30%, and we didn’t take an anniversary trip we had planned.
The thing about having your son diagnosed with high functioning autism and then your other son diagnosed with a learning disability/processing disorder is that it really puts things in perspective.
When one of us would get frustrated with our financial situation, we would remind each other how grateful we are to finally know what is going on with our boys, and how much help we are receiving as a direct result of those costly evaluations. This made the desire for a new couch, or even extras at the grocery store seem silly in comparison.
It may not have been easy, but truthfully, we would have paid more for the peace and direction these evaluations have given us. We now know how to help our boys and what resources are available to our family.
The reality is that we continue to dip into our emergency fund again and again for various, not covered by insurance, therapies for the boys. The good news is that we are getting more practiced at how to live in the flux, and accept this as part of our financial life.
I am so thankful that we committed to create and maintain that fund. Staying out of debt and funding that account literally changed our family’s life.
Shawna loves Jesus, her husband and her two, uniquely challenged little boys. She finds herself daily, required to live beyond the limits of herself and serve a wonderfully complex family…and she is crazy rebellious in this most of the time. She blogs about the messy and the beautiful at Not The Former Things.
Have you saved up and paid cash for something — large or small? Submit your story for possible publication here.
Today’s questions is from Kim:
Do you have any suggestions for frugal lunches? My husband needs a break from PB & J, so I’m trying to find some other options. He doesn’t have access to a microwave, so leftovers aren’t an option, unfortunately. -Kim
Do you have a question you’d like to ask Money Saving Mom® readers? Read the submission guidelines and submit it here.
Walgreens Shopping Trip
Transaction #1
1 Neilmed Wound Cleanser – $5 (Buy 1, Get $5 Register Rewards)
Total with tax ($0.36): $5.36, Received $5 Register Rewards
Transaction #2
2 All Laundry Detergent – $2.99 each
Used 2 $1/1 coupon from the 5/11 RedPlum insert3 M&M Candies – $0.59 each with in-ad coupon
Used Buy 2 Get 1 Free printableUsed $5 Register Rewards from Transaction #1
Total with tax ($0.55): $0.71
Total for both transactions before coupons, sales and Register Rewards: $25.52
Total for both transactions after coupons, sales and Register Rewards: $6.07
CVS Shopping Trip
3 Purex Laundry Detergents @ $5.99 – On Sale Buy 1 Get 2 Free
Used $3/2 coupon from the 5/4 RedPlum insert2 Colgate 360 Toothbrushes – $3.49 each (Buy 1, Get $2.50 ECBs)
Used 2 $1/1 coupon from the 4/27 SmartSource insert1 Wet & Wild Nail Polish – $0.99
Used $1/1 coupon from the 5/4 RedPlum insert2 Total Home Facial Tissue – $0.88 each (I wanted to use my $10 ECBs and they were out of several other sale items so I bought a few “filler” items to make my total $10. We desperately needed Kleenex so I was happy to get them “free” with my ECBs.)
1 Milky Way – $0.77 (Treat for my hubby!)
Used $10 ECBs from previous shopping trip
Total before coupons, sales and ECBs: $34.21
Total with tax ($0.49) after coupons, sales and ECBs: $1.83, Plus received $5 ECBs (for buying toothbrushes)
If you don’t have $10 ECBs and don’t want to pay that much out of pocket, you can split this shopping trip into 2 transactions. Buy the 2 Colgate Toothbrushes in Transaction #1 and pay $4.98 out of pocket. You will get $5 ECBs for buying the toothbrushes. In Transaction #2, buy the Purex, Nail Polish and Facial Tissue and use the $5 ECBs from Transaction #1 making it all free.
So, I ventured out to do my first real grocery shopping trip in Tennessee tonight. I had Silas and Kaitlynn in tow and had planned to go to Aldi. However, for some reason, I was thinking ALDI was open until 9 p.m.
I waited to go until later so that we’d miss the crazy traffic. Well, we waited a little too long, because by the time we found the ALDI, it was 8:03 and they were standing at the door locking up.
Gulp. On to Plan B.
Which was, um, non-existent. Yep, I’m all organized like that today!
{Word to the wise: Not having a Plan B is never a good plan for grocery shopping!}
Since we were completely out of some essentials and we have guests coming over to our house all afternoon and evening tomorrow, I knew waiting until tomorrow to go to Aldi wasn’t going to work.
So, I got on my phone and starting searching for nearby grocery stores. I was so excited to locate a Publix nearby.
In fact, I let out a little cry of excitement, “Yay! I’ve never been to Publix before!!”
We trooped in, armed with a list and lots of excitement.
And I started looking at the produce section for the produce deals. I kept looking, and looking, and looking.
In fact, I spent so much time looking, that a kind Publix employee came over and asked what he could help me find. I wanted to say, “The good deals. Can you help me find them? Because I’m having a little trouble locating them.”
But alas, I held my tongue. 🙂
Here’s what I ended up buying:
Publix Shopping Trip
Ground Turkey — $4.49
Ground Sirloin — $6.31
Frozen Veggies — $1.59
Frozen Veggies — $1.25
Frozen Veggies — $1.25
Spaghetti Sauce — $1.39
Parmesan Cheese – $2.79
Milk — $3.59
Carrots — $0.99
Cheddar Cheese — $2.50
Mozzarella Cheese — $5.99
Eggs x 2 — $2.79 each
Romaine Hearts — $3.49
Apples ($1.69/lb.) — $5.51
Bacon — $5.49
Yogurt — $1.50
Supergreens — $3.69
Pepperoni — $3.69Tax: $4.47
Total with Tax: $66.06
Clearly, I need some help in learning how to find good deals at Publix as these prices are almost all quite a bit more than I’d typically pay. But I price-compared everything and am pretty sure I got the best deal Publix had to offer tonight.
So, help a girl out: how do you get bargains at Publix? Are there certain items you find regularly to be well-priced at Publix? What sites have the best Publix deals match-ups? I welcome all tips and suggestions.
Also, for those of you in Nashville area: What are your favorite grocery stores to shop at? Should I just stick with ALDI?
Thanks so much for your help — I so appreciate it!