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Shared Jun 26, 2013 comment

Freebies in My Mailbox: Gluten-Free Cookie Mix, Ovaltine, Garnier, Pond’s, and Gud

Published: by Crystal Paine on June 26, 2013 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Here are the freebies that arrived in my mailbox in the past two weeks:

:: Free Ovaltine samples

:: Free Pond’s sample

:: Free Gud sample

:: Free Garnier sample

:: Coupon for a free tub of Betty Crocker Gluten-Free Cookie Mix

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!

Shared Jun 26, 2013 comment

How to Survive on an Allergy-Free Diet

Published: by Crystal Paine on June 26, 2013 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Guest post from Bethany of All Natural Savings

I’ve had to go on a few different allergy-free diets in the past… and I’m currently on a dairy-free diet while I nurse my son, as he doesn’t react well to dairy. It didn’t take long for me to realize that allergy-free diets can be expensive and time-consuming. However, I soon adapted to my new lifestyle and found ways to make it affordable and manageable.

If you or a family member are dealing with a food allergy or intolerance, here are a nine ideas that should help you make the transition a little easier.

1. BYO”F”

I’ve found that it’s a lot more convenient for myself (and the host) if I bring my own food. I bring along my purse-style cooler, which doesn’t attract much attention, and pack food that doesn’t need to be heated up.

This saves having to read labels of every ingredient they used in their cooking. It’s a bonus if I find something allergy-free there that I can munch on.

2. Use coupons.

Allergy-free diets can often mean higher grocery bills. This doesn’t necessarily have to be the case. There are many allergy-free coupons available and when paired with a sale, make for some cheap, allergy-free food.

Online coupon sites such as MamboSprouts.com, Coupons.com, and SmartSource.com offer many gluten-free, dairy-free and other allergy-free coupons.

3. Ask to read labels.

When we go out to eat, I’ll ask to read the labels on their bread packages, and other items that could contain dairy. They are usually happy to oblige and I still get to enjoy the food, knowing I’ll be safe from any dairy ingredients.

4. Find allergy-friendly restaurants.

I’ve found Outback Steakhouse and Applebee’s to be two of the best allergy-friendly restaurants. Outback Steakhouse has a gluten-free menu, and Applebee’s has a paper list of all of their food that is allowable for each allergy-specific diet.

I’m always impressed at Outback, as everyone from the hostess to the manager usually acknowledges it and assures me that my food does not contain any dairy.

5. Shop online.

Amazon and Vitacost are a great, frugal choice for buying allergy-free pantry items such as gluten-free flours, allergy-free snack bars, cereals, chips, and even allergy-free makeup. By using Amazon’s Subscribe and Save program, you can receive a percentage off discount on top of their already low prices.

6. Host a party.

I always find it much more convenient to host. I know what ingredients I used, and I don’t have to worry about reading labels or packing my own food.

7. Eat healthfully.

Because there are so many options, it can be tempting to eat a lot of allergy-free packaged foods. Use this as an opportunity to clean up your diet by replacing the allergy foods with more fruits and vegetables.

8. Know the lingo.

While many packages of food will specifically state if an allergen is used, some packages still do not. Brush up on all the different ingredients that contain your specific allergen. Printing a list and keeping it in your purse or walled can also be helpful for use at the grocery store or restaurant.

9. Don’t deprive yourself!

There are so many recipes and products that allow you to still indulge in your favorite foods. With my dairy-free diet, I really missed whipped cream, cream cheese, and ice cream… however, I’ve replaced these with whipped coconut milk, soy cream cheese, and the occasional treat of soy ice cream.

Stores like Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods offer a ton of allergy-free substitutes. Pinterest and other online sources are a great resource for allergy-free recipes. Get creative with other ingredients you have on hand and substitute them in your favorite recipes.

With a little creativity, being on an allergy-free diet doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive.

What are some ways that have helped you on an allergy-free diet?

Bethany is a stay at home wife and mom to her husband, Chad and sweet baby boy, Silas. She is passionate about living a healthy lifestyle and encouraging others on how to eat healthy, frugally. Her blog, All Natural Savings, offers tons of information on eating healthy, living healthy on a budget, healthy recipes and natural health.

Shared Jun 26, 2013 comment

Gretchen’s CVS Shopping Trip: $58.92 worth of products for $10.76 out of pocket!

Published: by Crystal Paine on June 26, 2013 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

CVS Shopping Trip

Transaction #1

2 Crest 3D White Rinse – $4.99 each
Used $1.10/1 printable(I had 2 coupons, but in looking at my receipt at home, I realized the cashier only took off 1 coupon. I’m wondering if they were stuck together since printable coupons sometimes do that. I’ll try really hard not to let it bother me…)

2 Colgate Max Fresh Toothpaste – $2.99 each
Used $2/2 printable
And used $2/$10 Toothpaste and/or Mouthwash CVS coupon from the in-store coupon machine

1 Venus Razor – $11.49 (I was disappointed that our store was out of the $6.99 razors.)
Used $5/1 coupon from the 6/16 RedPlum insert

Used $6 ECBs from my last shopping trip

Used $5 ECBs from Beauty Club Rewards

And used $5 CVS gift card from Viggle

Paid $2.99 out of pocket (total plus 7.3% tax), Received $8 ECBS (for buying 2 Crest Rinse), $4 ECBs (for buying Venus Razor) and $4 ECBs (buying 2 Colgate Toothpaste) – $16 ECBS total

Transaction #2

3 Huggies Diapers – $9.49 each
Used 3 $3/1 printable here and here

1 Desitin Diaper Cream – $3
Used $1/1 printable

Used $16 ECBs from Transaction #1

Paid $7.77 (total with 7.3% tax) out of pocket, Received $12 ECBS (for buying $30 in participating baby products)

Total before coupons and ECBS: $58.92

Total after coupons and ECBS: $10.76, plus $12 ECBs leftover!

See the full list of deals at CVS this week.

Shared Jun 26, 2013 comment

Ask The Readers: All You magazine subscription?

Published: by Crystal Paine on June 26, 2013 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Today’s question is from Rebecca:

My All You magazine subscription is about to expire. I used to love getting it when it was first published because of the high-dollar coupons. However, now I find that it doesn’t have very many coupons that are relevant to me. I’d like to know if other readers have continued to renew their subscription. Do you think it’s worth it? -Rebecca

Do you have a question you’d like to ask Money Saving Mom® readers? Read the submission guidelines and submit it here.

Shared Jun 25, 2013 comment

Video Interview with Robert D. Smith: How I Manage My Time

Published: by Crystal Paine on June 25, 2013 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

When my husband and I spent the day with Robert D. Smith, he asked if he could interview me on how I manage my time. He has the clip of our interview up on his blog today and I thought I’d pass along the link for those who might be interested.

We talk about my daily schedule, how I juggle homeschooling and blogging, and the importance of goal-setting and living with intention. Head on over to Robert’s blog to watch it.

Note: There was so much that I didn’t have time to say in the interview and Robert played me up to be a lot more amazing than I am in the interview and blog post, so for anyone who watches and feels a little discouraged or thinks that I have it altogether, please go watch this video and take a deep sigh of relief. {Oh and you can also laugh that I have the exact same thing on in both videos. Remember that I kind of have a limited wardrobe? ;)}

WANT TO SAVE $100 FAST?!Join the FREE 14-Day Savings Challenge!

Click here to sign up!

Shared Jun 25, 2013 comment

Gretchen’s Target Shopping Trip: $37.72 worth of products for just $6.39 after gift card!

Published: by Crystal Paine on June 25, 2013 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Target Shopping Trip

2 Kandoo Flushable Wipes (50 ct) – $1.79 each (price cut), used 2 $2/1 printable – Free after coupons

4 Reynolds Baking Cups – $0.97 each, used 2 $1/1 coupon from the 6/23 SmartSource insert and 2 $0.55/1 printable – $0.19 each after coupons

1.05 lbs Gala Apples @1.29/lb – $1.35, used $1/1 Target mobile coupon – $0.35 after coupon

1 Vidal Sassooon Hair Styler – $3.99, used $2/1 Target mobile coupon AND $1/1 coupon from the 6/2 P&G insert – $0.99 after coupons (There were $2/1 peelie coupons on almost all the Vidal products, but my store had put plastic over the bottles so you could not peel them off right there in the store and use them.) 🙁

4 Bayer Aspirin (36 ct) – $2.24 each, used 2 $4/2 coupon from the 6/23 RedPlum insert – $0.24 each after coupons

2 Up & Up Paper Towels – $0.99 each, used 2 $0.50/1 Target printable – $0.49 each after coupons

2 Coppertone Oil Free Sunscreen Lotion – $6.99 each, used $5/2 coupon from the 6/23 SmartSource insert AND 2 $1/1 Target printable – $3.49 each after coupons, Received $5 Target gift card for buying 2 (Like paying $0.99 each)

Total before coupons: $37.72

Total with tax (7.3%) after coupons: $11.39 AND received $5 Target gift card (Like paying $6.39)

See the full list of deals at Target this week.

Shared Jun 25, 2013 comment

Gretchen’s Walgreens Shopping Trip

Published: by Crystal Paine on June 25, 2013 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Walgreens Shopping Trip

2 Lever 2000 Bar Soap (2 ct) at $2.79 each – On Sale Buy One Get One Free
Used 1 $1.50/1 printable and 1 $1/1 printable (I wanted to use 2 $1.50/1 printables but the cash register would only take one.)

2 Mitchum Deodorant – $3 each
Used 2 $1/1 coupon from the 6/2 SmartSource insert

1 Go Fish Game – Marked down to $0.25 (filler item)

1 Jolly Rancher – $0.49 (filler item)

Used 2 $2 Register Rewards from last week’s shopping trip

Total before coupons and Register Rewards: $12.32

Total with tax (7.3% pre-coupons) after coupons and Register Rewards: $1.73, Received $4 Register Rewards (for buying 2 Mitchum Deodorants)

See the full list of deals at Walgreens this week.

Shared Jun 25, 2013 comment

Swagbucks Paid for Our Cloth Diapers

Published: by Crystal Paine on June 25, 2013 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Today’s Swagbucks success story is from Carmen:

I have been an avid user of Swagbucks for the past four years, saving up my points and always cashing them in for Amazon gift cards. This perk came in handy recently as I saved my codes for a couple of months (cashing in enough each month to get the $25 of Amazon gift cards) to purchase a cloth-diaper stash for my now-newborn daughter.

I’d always known that I wanted to cloth-diaper my children, and after doing a lot of research before she was born, I found all the essentials could be found on Amazon.com. I picked out six diaper covers (Thirsties brand) and two dozen high-quality, unbleached prefolds.

On Amazon you can make a baby registry and once your due date draws near, they email you a code to get 10% off any remaining items on your registry. That discount alone made for a great deal, but since I’d saved up my Swagbucks, the deal only got sweeter. I was able to get my daughter’s cloth diapers (and some cloth-diaper friendly laundry detergent, too!) for absolutely nothing out of pocket!

It took a couple of months to save up enough of the codes to cash them all in, but it was worth the wait because now I don’t have the dreaded cost of disposable diapers. (Not to mention my daughter sure looks cute in the cloth diapers!) All it took was simply switching my search engine!

Carmen is a brand-new mom to three-month-old Claire. She blogs about these early days of parenthood (turns out it’s a lot harder than it looks!), her faith, marriage and more at Life Blessons.

Have you saved up and purchased something using your Swagbucks? If so, you could get a $50 gift card just for sharing your Swagbucks success stories with MoneySavingMom.com readers!

Shared Jun 25, 2013 comment

Do It Yourself: Sun Catchers With Crayon Shavings

Published: by Crystal Paine on June 25, 2013 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

BuggyandBuddy.com shows you how to make a homemade sun catcher with crayon shavings.

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.

Shared Jun 25, 2013 comment

10 Fourth of July Crafts & Activities

Published: by Crystal Paine on June 25, 2013 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Jenae from I Can Teach My Child has 10 different Fourth of July Crafts & Activities posted.

We did the Fireworks in a Jar activity last summer and my kids are still talking about it!

OVER-SPENDING EVERY SINGLE MONTH?Grab these FREE Budgeting Sheets!

Click here to download!

Shared Jun 24, 2013 comment

8 Goals For This Week

Published: by Crystal Paine on June 24, 2013 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Goals from two weeks ago (since I skipped posting last week):

Family/Marriage/Mothering Goals

~~1. Read two chapters of The Trumpet of the Swan to the children. Start Number the Stars with Kathrynne, start A Nest for Celeste with Kaitlynn, read a few picture books with Silas.~~

~~2. Write a love note to Jesse.~~

Personal Goals

~~3. Memorize Romans 1:16. Review Romans 1:1-15.~~

~~4. Exercise five times.~~

5. Finish a few books in my current book stack. {I didn’t end up finishing any, but I did make some good headway on a few of them.}

6. Get at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep every night. {I almost did this every night.}

Homemaking Goals

~~7. Start our new summer routine.~~

Business Goals

~~8. Finish the copy edits for my manuscript.~~

This week’s goals:

Family/Marriage/Mothering Goals

1. Read three chapters of The Trumpet of the Swan to the children. Read three chapters of Number the Stars with Kathrynne, read three chapters of A Nest for Celeste with Kaitlynn, read a few picture books with Silas.

2. Write a love note to Jesse.

Personal Goals

3. Review Romans 1:1-16.

4. Exercise six times. Run 12 miles.

5. Finish The Charge, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, The Resolution for Women, Hidden Places, and I Still Believe.

6. Get at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep every night.

Homemaking Goals

7. Work for 30 minutes on my embroidery project.

Business Goals

8. Finish making the edits to the recipes for the new recipes page (I’m hoping to finally finish this project!)

How did you do on last week’s goals? What are your goals for this week? I’d love to have you share your progress on last week’s goals and your goals for this coming week in the comments. Of, if you’ve blogged about it, leave your direct link below. Let’s cheer each other on to live purposeful and productive lives!

You can download a free customizable weekly goal-planning sheet here.

Shared Jun 24, 2013 comment

This Week’s Menu (and 5 new Pinterest recipes I’m trying this week!)

Published: by Crystal Paine on June 24, 2013 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

I’ve missed getting to tinker around in the kitchen these past few weeks as I’ve been working feverishly on finishing up my book, amongst other things. So I’m remedying that this week by trying five different recipes I found on Pinterest.

I’ll post a report each evening on the new recipe I made and let you know how it goes. It should be fun!

Breakfasts

Oatmeal, Cereal, Eggs, and/or Fruit

Lunches

Mac & cheese, fruit
Snack-y lunch
PB&J, carrot sticks, apples
Cheese quesadillas, carrot sticks
Leftovers x 3

Snacks

Fruit/veggies
Popcorn
The Best No-Bake Bars
Boiled eggs

Pinterest Recipes to Try (I’ll report on how these work!)

Homemade Bath Bombs
Chocolate Chip Cookie in a Cup
No Knead Make Ahead Dinner Rolls
The Best No-Bake Bars
No Knead Dinner Rolls

Dinners

Smoothies & mac n’ cheese (yes, it was one of those kinds of Mondays!)
Breakfast for dinner: Pancakes, scrambled eggs, fruit
Steak on the grill, potatoes, veggies, fruit
Meatballs, steamed veggies, grapefruit, No Knead Dinner Rolls
Dinner out
Dinner with extended family x 2

What’s on your menu this week? Tell us in the comments or leave a link to your menu plan post.

Want to cut your grocery bill? Try these 2 simple tips -- they're SO ridiculously easy!

Shared Jun 24, 2013 comment

Two Simple Ways We’re Cutting Our Grocery Bill

Published: by Crystal Paine on June 24, 2013 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Guest post from Amy

My husband and I are saving money to buy a home, so we have been cutting back on our expenses. Right now, we are tackling our grocery budget and trying to make it smaller. Crystal has often mentioned a book called Miserly Moms.

I was curious to check it out, so I ordered a copy for $0.01. It’s been the best cent I’ve spent in years.

I have been implementing two of the book’s principles so far:

1. Make things from scratch.

2. Don’t waste food.

After reading those chapters, I realized we throw away food all the time! My two young children often only eat half of their meals. We save the food in the refrigerator for “later”, but later never comes. So we end up throwing it away. This book suggests that we re-purpose that food for later use by freezing it.

We also buy unnecessary items in order to “make things from scratch”. I make things from scratch all the time, but I buy convenient foods to make those things. We love smoothies and I’ve been buying frozen fruit to make them. As I show in the following example, I could buy in season fruit at a cheaper price and cut it up myself, then freeze it for later.

Based off of these two principles, I would like to share my recent savings.

Make things from scratch:

I love buying organic whenever possible. My warehouse club is currently carrying delicious, sweet organic strawberries at 2lbs for $4.99. Let’s just round it out and say it costs $2.50 a pound. When I buy frozen organic strawberries for smoothies, I spend $4.65 for a pound!

Buying it fresh (and in this case in bulk), and spending 5-10 minutes washing and cutting it myself gives me a savings of $2.15. Imagine the savings if you don’t buy organic!

Don’t waste food:

My children ate strawberries for a snack, and didn’t completely eat any one. So I took those half-eaten strawberries and quickly chopped them up and added them to my frozen strawberries bag. That adds up to a lot of strawberries that would have normally been thrown away!

My daughter always takes the crust off of her toast, and instead of throwing it away as normal, I’ve been putting them in a freezer bag to make bread crumbs, French toast, or for use in casseroles for the future. You would not believe how many bread crumbs I save in only a few days!

Through this book I’ve realized that there is more we can do to save money and stretch our dollars. I hope these principles will be helpful to someone as it was to me.

Amy is a stay-at-home, part-time working mom of two adorable and precocious preschoolers. She loves saving money, gardening, and reading good books.

photo credit

Shared Jun 22, 2013 comment

Where I’ve been the last 10 days (and a little sneak peek of my exciting book project!)

Published: by Crystal Paine on June 22, 2013 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

You may or may not have noticed, but I took the past week and a half “off” from blogging. I still posted deals and shared a few guest posts, but I didn’t write any personal posts or the regular weekly features.

I started the week feeling very much in need of a “brain break”. I usually am very inspired with post ideas, but I just felt creatively tapped out this week.

And I know exactly why.

You see, the last nine months, I’ve been pouring my heart and soul into my book-writing project. I finally got the last of the copy edits turned in on Monday evening, so it’s officially “done” on my end.

By the time I reached the book-writing finish line on Monday, I had nothing left in my creative juices tank. So I decided to followed my own advice to not worry about what the right or wrong way to blog is, and just took an unannounced break from all blog-writing.

Instead of my usual blogging hours, I spent a lot of time offline soaking up the sunshine, reading, hanging out with friends, celebrating our birthday girl, camping out with friends (even a little target practice), and just enjoying more intentional quiet.

It was exactly what my brain and spirit needed and I’m feeling so refreshed and ready to get back into the swing of my usual blogging again. So be prepared for lots of posts coming your way again on Monday. 🙂

Wondering what my new book is about? After years of mulling over this project and months of work, I can finally give you a little sneak peek…

Say Goodbye to Survival Mode is the story of my struggles and journey from living in survival mode to finding margin, passion, and purpose in life. It’s filled with practical strategies and big picture perspective to help exhausted and overwhelmed women climb off the hamster wheel of survival mode and get on the path of living all of life on purpose.

This book is slated to release in January 2014 and will be a hardcover book. And yes, I’m kind of a wee bit excited about it — if you can’t tell. 😉

For more information, you can check out the description on Amazon here. More details and all sorts of fun things coming closer to the launch date.

Thank you so very much for sharing in my excitement. Your support and cheerleading of the past many months of working on this project means the world to me!

Shared Jun 21, 2013 comment

Johanna’s Shopping Trip: 11 items for free at Kroger, Dollar Tree, and Walmart!

Published: by Crystal Paine on June 21, 2013 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

I thought you’d enjoy seeing Johanna’s shopping trip that she emailed into me. Here’s what she wrote:

I just wanted to share with you my shopping trip from tonight. I haven’t been using coupons for a while due to the all of couponing changes in several stores. But this trip, and another shopping trip I had earlier this week, really got me back into couponing 🙂 Thanks for all you do, I really appreciate it!

All of these items were free – only paid tax 🙂

Kroger
Bought 3 Kotex Tampons – $3.99 each
Used $4/1 on Facebook – (no longer available)
4 Huggies wipes – $1.99 each
Save $4.00 when you buy 4 (Kroger Mega Deal) -$4.00
Used 4 $1/1 coupons from Facebook link
FREE

Dollar Tree
2 Colgate toothpastes – $1.00 each
Used $2.00 off 2 Colgate coupon
FREE

Walmart
2 Langers Juices (only one pictured since kids drank part of the 2nd
juice!)
Used 2 FREE Langers coupons that came in the mail
FREE

Have you gotten a great deal thanks to a tip you’ve found here on MoneySavingMom.com? Take a picture of your deal/purchase and write a short post on the deal details and submit it here. If your submission is chosen to be posted, I’ll send you a $25 Amazon gift card! Note: the more creative, unique, and well-written your post, the more chance it will have of being posted.

Summer Bucket List

Summer Bucket List

FREE Summer Bucket List!!

1. BYO”F”

2. Use coupons.

3. Ask to read labels.

4. Find allergy-friendly restaurants.

5. Shop online.

6. Host a party.

7. Eat healthfully.

8. Know the lingo.

9. Don’t deprive yourself!

CVS Shopping Trip

WANT TO SAVE $100 FAST?!Join the FREE 14-Day Savings Challenge!

Target Shopping Trip

Walgreens Shopping Trip

OVER-SPENDING EVERY SINGLE MONTH?Grab these FREE Budgeting Sheets!

Breakfasts

Lunches

Snacks

Pinterest Recipes to Try (I’ll report on how these work!)

Dinners

Make things from scratch:

Don’t waste food:

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