Every week in 2013, I’ll be sharing a different way you can save $100 this year. If you do all of these things, you’ll be able to save over $5,000 this year alone! Many of these things will likely be things you’re already doing, but hopefully all of you will pick up at least a few new ideas or some inspiration from this series.

One way we stretch our dollars is by buying deals from daily deal sites. They can be a way to get amazing deals on restaurants, local attractions, family fun, local stores, and more!

Here are three things to keep in mind when shopping through daily deal sites:

1. Stick With Your Budget

I don’t care how good the deal is, if you can’t afford it, it’s not a good deal for you. Daily deal sites only save you money when you actually buy deals that are for things you will use and have room in your budget for.

For instance, if you allot a $50 monthly budget for eating out/family fun, you can stretch those dollars much further by buying Groupons or AmazonLocal vouchers for restaurants, bowling, and local attractions. But you still have to stick with the $50 budget.

No cheating is allowed just because it’s a “great deal.” Otherwise, you’ve defeated the purpose and it’s not saving you money but encouraging you to spend more money.

How to Save $100+ Per Year

If you want to guarantee that you save $100 per year by using daily deal sites, cut your current eating out and entertainment budget by $10 per month for the next year and try to make the lower budget stretch with vouchers from deal sites. Unless you live in small town or you are really particular about what types of restaurants you’ll eat at or things you like to do as a family, I bet you can make the reduced budget work just fine!

2. Read the Fineprint

Always, always, always read the fineprint carefully before purchasing a voucher. Check the details on whether there’s a purchase minimum. Be sure that the voucher is good at your local store. And double-check that you’ll actually use the voucher before it expires.

One good thing about Groupon is that they have amazing customer service and money-back guarantees. So if you do end up accidentally buying something that isn’t what you thought it was, you can usually get your money back. But I still recommend reading the fineprint with a fine-toothed comb and then taking a little time to think through the purchase and make sure it’s a good use of your money.

3. Shop Through Rakuten (formerly Ebates)

Once you’ve determined that the voucher is, indeed, a good deal for you, be sure to purchase it through Rakuten. If you’re unfamiliar with Rakuten, basically it’s a site that rewards you with a small percentage of cashback on your online purchases. All you have to do is sign up for an account and then go to Rakuten.com, search for the online store you’re planning to purchase from, and click through to the site to make your purchase.

You’ll usually receive anywhere from 3% to 8% cashback on each purchase. It might not seem like much, but I think it’s worth earning a few dollars in cash back for taking an extra 30 seconds to click through to Rakuten.

Each quarter, Rakuten will send you a check for your accumulated cashback amount earned over the past quarter. It’s always a fun little bonus — and it’s FREE money that you’re earning for making a purchase you were already planning to make!

My Top 4 Favorite Daily Deal Sites

• AmazonLocal
• Zulily
• Living Social
• Groupon
• See a full list here of daily deal sites.

What are your favorite daily deal sites? What tips and tricks do you have to add to my list?

(Note: The links in this post are my referral links. Read my disclosure policy here.)

Every week in 2013, I’ll be sharing a different way you can save $100 this year. If you do all of these things, you’ll be able to save over $5,000 this year alone! Many of these things will likely be things you’re already doing, but hopefully all of you will pick up at least a few new ideas or some inspiration from this series.

Menu Planning Saves You Stress and Frustration

Do you dread 5 p.m. because it’s when you have to try to pull something together for dinner or feel guilty about ordering takeout yet again? Do you often find yourself running to the store at the last-minute in a frazzled state rushing through the aisles and throwing random things into your cart in hopes it will magically create a five-course dinner?

The truth is, you could throw away the 5 p.m. dread and almost completely eradicate the frazzled last-minute grocery store trips if you sat down at the beginning of the week and made a menu plan.

Menu Planning Saves You Money

I can’t even begin to calculate how much we’ve saved over the years through the simple act of menu planning.

By planning ahead and buying all the groceries we’ll need for the week in one shopping trip, we save numerous trips to the store throughout the week. In addition, when you have a plan in place for what you’re supposed to be eating each meal and you’ve already purchased the ingredients for those recipes, it’s a lot harder to justify chucking the plan for takeout.

There’s No Perfect Way to Menu Plan

Everyone is going to plan their menu a little bit differently — and that’s perfectly okay! What matters is that you do it, and that it works for your family.

For the record, I’ve tried multiple menu-planning methods. Some have worked better than others and some have worked better for us in certain seasons than in other seasons.

Free printable Weekly Meal Planner from Gifts We Use

My Current Menu-Planning “Method”

I always start by planning my menu around what I have on hand and what’s on sale at the store. I’ve found that freezer cooking definitely makes menu planning easier since it means you have meals already in the freezer ready to go.

I also keep a running list of Recipes I Want to Try on a Pinterest Board. I always consult this when making our weekly menu plan to get some fresh ideas and inspiration.

Finally, I add in things that I know I can get inexpensively — either at Aldi or elsewhere. I’m so thankful we have the luxury of having an Aldi close by!

There are times when my cupboards and freezers are pretty bare and it seems the sales are sparse. If that’s the case, I see how much grocery money I have to work with, and I usually pull out some cookbooks to get the wheels in my head going. Or I’ll go to some of my favorite food blogs for ideas. (You can also check out Menu Plan Monday for a plethora of menu ideas from around the blogosphere.)

We keep our meals simple around here, so that makes menu-planning a lot easier. I also pretty much never follow the menu plan to a tee — I’ll usually shuffle some things around, nix a recipe or two for lack of time or because I discovered another recipe that I think will work better.

Find a Method That Works For You

You might find it helpful to take 30 minutes and make a list of 30 meals your family loves to serve as inspiration if you’re ever feeling a lack of creativity while menu-planning.

Or, you could have pre-established themes for dinners each week. Tsh, over at SimpleMom, does this and here’s an example of what her Themed Menu Plan has looked like:

Mondays – pasta
Tuesdays – soup, salad, and/or sandwiches
Wednesdays – stir fry
Thursdays – crock pot
Fridays – pizza
Saturdays – something new
Sundays – something easy

Jenna from the Newlyweds blog left a comment sharing how she plans her menus:

I try to plan two meals around items I already have at home in the pantry or freezer, and then plan some meals based on what’s on sale, and some based on what we would like to eat. I keep my plan flexible and allow for anything that will pop up. I also like to keep items on hand all the time for a few quick meals like taco soup and spaghetti. This way, if some comes up, I can whip these up in a jiffy. –Jenna @ Newlyweds

It might seem like a daunting task at first — especially if this is all new to you! — but don’t be overwhelmed. Do the best you can do and remember that it’s never going to be absolutely perfect. Over time, though, you’ll likely begin to realize significant savings just by taking a few extra steps and putting the effort forth to make a plan.

Free Menu Planning Worksheet and Grocery Shopping Lists

To aid you in your menu-planning and grocery-list-making, Joy from FiveJ’s and I put together some free downloads for you. (By the way, Joy put together a snazzy free downloads page here so you can access all the free downloads we currently have available. Enjoy!)

Meal Planning Worksheet :: This brainstorming form contains spaces to write down store deals, coupons, items on hand, and recipes that can be made from those items.

Shopping List :: Contains space for the items to purchase, the cost of the item, whether there is a coupon for it, and how much the coupon is for. Also includes a space for notes where you can record extra information about your shopping trip.

Two-Store Shopping List :: Two separate shopping lists on one page, each of which includes space for the items to purchase, the cost of the item, and whether there is a coupon for it. Also includes a space for notes where you can record extra information about your shopping trip.

Psst! If you don’t have the time or energy to mess with planning a menu, but you really would like to benefit from the organization and cost-savings of having a menu plan, I’d recommend checking out eMeals.

Do you have some menu-planning tips & tricks to add to my list?