This looks so fun! Creative Carissa shows you how to grow your own Easter grass using wheat berries. What a great alternative to the plastic stuff that’s usually in Easter baskets.
Summer Bucket List
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How to Move Past Marketing & Advertising at the Grocery Store
Guest post from Audrey of Mom Drop Box
When I go grocery shopping, I often feel bombarded – and at times overwhelmed – by advertising and marketing. How do you sort out whether an item is really a good purchase, or just marketed as such?
Here are five easy steps to make sure that what you’re putting in your grocery cart is a good buy for your family:
1. Focus on needs.
Think about nutrition. What foods will help your family to be healthy? Focus on that, and (mostly) leave out the processed stuff.
2. Know the price per pound.
This is one technique has totally changed my shopping mindset. With package sizes all over the place, it is useful to think in terms of price per one pound (16 ounces). This allows an easy comparison of costs between different types of food. Many healthy foods, including in-season vegetables and grains, often cost around $1 a pound.
3. Compare apples to apples.
Often, I’ll have a certain ingredient for a recipe on my list that I need to purchase that week, or I’ll just have a craving for something, like olives. It’s easy to compare the cost of different brands, even if they don’t have the same package size: just look at the cost per ounce, pound, or per unit shown on the price tag. Checking this out will ensure that you are truly getting the best price.
4. Don’t be distracted.
Try to go to the grocery store when you’re not hungry, with kids, or tired. Non–peak hours provide the most pleasant environment for taking your time and not feeling rushed.
5. Only buy what you’ll use.
If you’re not sure if you’ll be able to use what you’re buying, why not leave it for someone else, even if it’s a great deal? It can be a blessing for the next person who comes along.
How do you get past advertising & marketing to make sure you’re getting the best deal at the grocery store?
Audrey loves thinking about how to make motherhood easier, relationships better, and money more effective; so she blogs about those things at Mom Drop Box. She works part-time as an urban planner, but her most important job is being mom to her two young kids.
Shared Mar 23, 2012
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Tip from ALL YOU: Be a hair model and get your hair done for free!
Tip from ALL YOU: Be a hair model and get your hair done for free!
I saw this tip in the most recent issue of All You magazine:
“I answer Craigslist ads looking for hair models to be used for salon interviews or for people who are building hours toward their certification. I no longer pay for hair cuts, straightening, hair color, or even highlights, and I always have nice results.” -All You magazine (April 27, 2012), page 117
I thought this was a very creative idea and wondered if any of you have ever tried something like this before? Do you have other tips for saving money on hair cuts, coloring, and/or upkeep? I’d love to hear!
“I am still determined to be cheerful…”
We Paid Cash: Nursing Degree
A testimony from Elizabeth
My husband, Christian, was a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), and wanted to further his career by becoming a Registered Nurse (RN). We had paid off his student loans completely from his LPN program and had no credit cards or debt of any kind. We had worked hard to be debt-free and we wanted to stay that way!
I have been blessed to be a stay-at-home mom (our boys were 2 and 4 at the time). Staying at home meant that with only one income, we’d have to be extra creative with how we would save and afford nursing school on top of everyday expenses. It took a lot of dedication (especially on his part!) to stay afloat.
Christian studied through Excelsior College of Nursing, a school designed specifically for working professionals. He would study the information required, and take each exam at a testing center. Once he completed all of the necessary exams, he had to fly to New York (a long way from Oregon!) and take a 3-day clinical exam (CPNE) that cost several thousand dollars.
There were many tuition fees, textbooks, exam fees, uniform costs, and travel expenses. There was a great deal of stress involved as well — especially since the CPNE only had a pass rate of 68%!
Normally the program would take several years or more to complete, as the student is working at the same time. With his amazing dedication, Christian accomplished it in only twelve months!
Here’s how we did it:
Working full-time, including a lot of overtime.
A lot of honest, hard work was involved for Christian! This meant evenings and weekends for study time (and not much time for anything else.) Almost every moment not spent at work was study time — dedication and focus was key!
Preschooling at home.
This meant no childcare or schooling expenses for the boys! Lots of frugal adventures to nearby parks or play dates at friends’ homes kept us busy!
Coupons, coupons, coupons!
I made use of couponing blogs (such as MoneySavingMom.com) to aid me in matching store sales with coupons in order to get the best deals on groceries and household items!
Sacrificing space.
We moved into a two-bedroom apartment, and doubled up our bedroom as a study space for Christian as well. We chose a “middle”, downstairs apartment to save a bit on heating/cooling bills, as well as the monthly rent amount.
Moving close to work.
We chose an apartment that was only one mile from his job, saving gas money and travel time (meaning more time to study)!
Owning only one vehicle.
We sold one of our two vehicles, cutting down on gas, insurance, and maintenance costs. Since we lived so close to his job, he was able to walk or ride his bike to work on the days that the boys and I had to go somewhere during his work hours. For the most part, his “study days” were the days that I would take the kids to go run errands/activities so that it’d be quiet for him to concentrate!
Garage sales, Craigslist and Amazon.com!
Throughout the summer months, the boys and I scoured garage sales for clothing in sizes that would fit them for the entire upcoming year. When they outgrew clothing, we sold it on Craigslist to make back our money! Once Christian was done with his textbooks, we were able to sell some of them to Amazon.com.
Getting work involved.
Once Christian’s boss learned that he was bettering himself for his profession, he offered to help a bit with the education costs. Every little bit counts!
Vacation Time.
During Christian’s 3-day clinical exam in New York, as well as several days reserved for studying, we used all of his vacation days saved up to carry us through.
Dedication, determination, focus!
I have never met a more dedicated person than my husband! He sacrificed personal time, sleep, family time, and so much more to be as efficient as possible at achieving our goals. God has blessed me with a husband who inspires me every single day!
As Christian wrapped up his RN schooling, we were able to purchase our first home. Being debt-free and not owing a dime for his Registered Nurse associates degree, it was quite simple to obtain our home loan! We’ve been in our new home for 10 months now and guess who’s back in school!
Christian has just begun school once again to earn his Bachelor’s degree in Registered Nursing (the associates’ degree was required first in order to work towards the bachelor’s degree.) We are now using all of our money-saving tips to make it through another round of school…. once again debt free! 🙂
Formerly a member of the Air Force National Guard, Elizabeth went from working on fighter jets to staying home to raise their two little boys. She and Christian, along with their boys Josiah (5) and Judah (4) live in Oregon and are working hard towards their dreams and goals — one debt-free day at a time!
Have you saved up and paid cash for something — large or small? Submit your story for possible publication here.
Money-Saving Menu-Planning
Guest post from Lisa of Cooking Up A Sale
Most of us know by now that more menu-planning equals less grocery spending. But it’s how we menu-plan that can really make the total on that receipt come down.
There are many things we take into consideration as we plan meals for our families. Some of us have to plan around sports schedules and others have to plan around food allergies. In spite of our different situations, there are a few things that all of us can consider while menu-planning. These three simple concepts will aid you in the ever-present “battle of the grocery budget.”
1. The cheapest places to shop are your fridge, freezer, and pantry.
You probably have the ingredients in your house for one dinner, or at least most of one dinner. Maybe you just need to pick up a fresh vegetable to supplement the main course.
This also means checking your fridge drawers for any produce that needs to be used up this week before it goes bad, and scanning your pantry shelves for that box of instant potatoes nearing its expiration date. Make sure to include those items on your menu for the week.
2. What’s on sale is what’s for dinner.
If chicken is on sale this week and there’s no ground beef in your freezer, don’t plan to make lasagna — unless it’s chicken lasagna! If there’s a new recipe you’d like to try or an old favorite you’re dreaming about, wait to add them to the menu until next week or whenever the main ingredients go on sale.
3. Plan two-fers.
If most of the ingredients for your favorite ham casserole are on sale this week, make two of them. Eat one this week and freeze the other one for next month.
Another interpretation of the two-fer is to use your leftovers for another meal. For example, if you plan beef roast for Tuesday night, that means you plan vegetable beef soup, french dip sandwiches, or beef BBQ for Thursday night.
What money-saving ideas do you take into consideration as you plan your menu?
Lisa is a Michigan wife and mother who loves to spend time in the kitchen. She enjoys the challenges of menu-planning around grocery sales and creating delicious food using on-sale ingredients. Lisa blogs about two of her favorite topics ~ FOOD and saving money on groceries ~ at Cooking Up A Sale.
Shared Mar 21, 2012
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Supermarket Savings Tip #11: Set a target per-person price for the meals you make
Supermarket Savings Tip #11: Set a target per-person price for the meals you make
One of the things that has helped me over the years in keeping our grocery budget low is to not only calculate the costs of meals, but to also set a target per-person price for all meals I make.
For instance, I try to have our breakfast and lunches cost no more than $0.50 per person and dinners cost no more than $1 per person. I don’t always follow these to the penny, but they are my ballpark figures for every meal I make.
Not only does it help us save money to stick with the target per-person price, but it’s also just fun to calculate things like this. Or, maybe I’m the only weird one who likes to tally up exactly how much dinner costs while I’m in the middle of making it. 🙂
Find more Supermarket Savings Tips here.
How to ruin a batch of Reese’s Peanut Butter Bars
I feel like this whole dairy-free, gluten-free experiment is definitely challenging me in my cooking. I’m finding plenty of recipes that are DF/GF, but when I try to adapt a recipe to make it DF/GF, I don’t have a good track record. In fact, it seems like most of them have ended in failure.
But at least I’m learning a lot of things that don’t work. 🙂
After my allergy ordeal yesterday, I needed a chocolate fix and I knew just what would do the trick: these amazing-looking Reese’s Peanut Butter Bars. So I excitedly set to work making them, my mouth watering all the while.
I tried substituting coconut oil for the butter, crushed corn puffs for the graham cracker crumbs, and raw sugar for the powdered sugar. I think the corn puffs would have subbed just fine, but the coconut oil and the raw sugar pushed this recipe right over the edge into flopdom.
Oh well. They are still semi-edible, so we’re slowly working our way through the pan. I guess there’s one benefit that they didn’t end up tasting like the original recipe: at least it’s easier to have self-control! 🙂
Reader Tip: How I “Found” $800 a Year!
Sarah emailed in the following tip:
If there was a dollar bill lying on the ground in front of you, would you just step over it and keep going, or would you stop and pick it up? It seems like a no-brainer, right?
Wrong. Let me tell you how my family was spending over $800 a year that we didn’t need to. That was “free” money that we were just walking right past every single day. It all started when I was complaining about my cell phone bill to my brother… When I told him how much my husband and I pay per month, he remarked that the amount seemed way too high for the services we were receiving.
Upon a close inspection of my bill, he was right! For example, we were paying $6.99 per month for insurance on my husband’s phone, which was eligible for a free upgrade in 3 months. It didn’t make sense that we had paid $6.99 for 9 months already for coverage that was only worth $50.
The phone bill was just the start. Once I realized that there could be ways to cut charges, I attacked all our other monthly bills. Here’s how I saved:
Phone Bill: Downgraded texting & voice plan to one that reflects our actual usage. Amount Saved: $10/month
Landline Bill: We eliminated this altogether after we realized we didn’t use or need it. Amount Saved: $35/month
Cable Bill: Got rid of second receiver for a TV on the third floor that we rarely use. Amount Saved: $10/month
Newspaper Delivery: Switched from daily to weekend only. My husband gets a paper delivered to his classroom everyday, so instead of discarding it at the end of the day, he brings it home. Amount Saved: $7/month
Movie Service: Cancelled Netflix. You can read why here. Amount Saved: $4.99/month
Lesson learned: Even though I consider myself a pretty frugal gal, I couldn’t believe how much extra money I “found” just by looking over the bills and making some easy adjustments that don’t affect our quality of life.
These small changes add up to $887 per year!!
Shared Mar 21, 2012
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A swollen face, an allergic reaction, and how meeting Laney has changed my perspective
A swollen face, an allergic reaction, and how meeting Laney has changed my perspective
I woke up yesterday morning and immediately knew something was very wrong. My face felt hot and swollen and I was having trouble opening my eyes.
I ran into the bathroom to look in the mirror and check out what on earth was going on only to be startled by my appearance. My eyes and half of my face were very swollen.
A wash cloth with ice cold water did little to alleviate the swelling and we ended up heading into the doctor. After examination, they determined I’d had a severe allergic reaction to something. We’re not sure what, but the allergy medication has slowly been reducing the swelling and relieving the pain–gratefully.
It was inconvenient, it looked bad, it was a little disconcerting, and it was definitely painful. And yes, I’ll admit that I worried about seeing someone I knew when I was at the doctor’s and I also worried about what my swollen face might look like when I head to Texas on Friday!
But truthfully, it was hard for me to stay stressed out about my swollen face. Instead, I kept thinking of Laney–one of the moms in our CSP that I met in the DR last week.
She’s a mother of three and lives in the home pictured above. Her home does have an outdoor toilet, refrigerator, and stove, but it provides little protection from the elements–and it’s only a little ways from the dump.
{One of Laney’s adorable daughters}
Her home was hot and fly-infested, but Laney didn’t seem to notice. Instead, she talked about how thankful she was to have a part-time job and three children.
Her face beamed as she told us how thankful she also was to have a leg. I was having trouble understanding through the interpreter until she pulled up her pant leg to reveal that a large section of her ankle and calf was missing. She had been in a motorcycle accident and had almost lost her leg.
I also noticed her face had a large scar on it. I assumed this was from the motorcycle accident, as well. But she told her us it was from her husband–he had been really abusive and had bit her one night. He left two months ago and she hasn’t seen him since.
As I stood in front of the mirror yesterday morning looking at my swollen eyes, I looked at them with new perspective. Instead of being stressed about what was going on, I realized what blessings I have: money to visit a doctor, a husband who cares for me, health, clean water, access to medicine… the list is endless.
A swollen face is a small problem to deal with in light of the burdens and difficulties so many are struggling with right now.
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A simple way to give: A handwritten note
I’m over at RooMag today sharing about how I’ve recently been rediscovering the lost art of writing handwritten notes. Here’s a snippet:
Back when I was much younger, I was a voracious letter writer. I had upwards of 50 penpals from around the world and spent hours of my life penning letters. Looking back, it seems a little excessive–and it probably was!–but these days, sometimes weeks will go by without me writing even so much as one handwritten note.
And I’m guessing I’m not alone. In this culture of texting, Facebook, and email, writing a handwritten note is almost a lost art. Sure, texting or emailing might be faster and more efficient, but there’s just something special and meaningful in receiving a handwritten note in the mail every once in awhile.
With this in mind, I set a goal to write two handwritten notes each month in 2012. To be honest, when I set that goal I wondered if I’d be able to keep it. Afterall, I’ve gotten really lax in writing notes in recent years. To my surprise, I’ve found that it’s not been difficult at all. In fact, I’ve enjoyed it so much that I’ve been writing more than two notes each month.
Read the full post at RooMag.com.
Ask The Readers: What’s a good price for children’s clothing?
Today’s question is from Amy:
We’ve never spent much on kid’s clothing before since we were blessed with lots of hand-me-downs. However, we are planning to purchase some clothing for our two-year-old daughter at local consignment stores and I’m wondering: what is a reasonable budget for a couple of seasons’ worth of children’s clothing?
Do you have a question you’d like to ask Money Saving Mom® readers? Read the submission guidelines and submit it here.
3 Ways I Save Money on Groceries as a Single Person
Guest post from Nancy of Counting Dollars and In the Black
As a single person, I’ve learned many ways to save money on groceries. Here are three of my favorites:
1. Cook Meals Ahead and Freeze in Single-Serving Portions
As a single person, I eat mostly home-cooked meals but I don’t spend a lot of time in the kitchen. My secret? Freezer cooking! When I make a meal, if it is freezable, I freeze it in individual portions to either eat another evening or take for lunch the next day.
Here are some of the meals I make in larger quantities and freeze in individual servings for lunch or dinner:
- Meatballs and meatloaf
- Lasagna or spaghetti
- Soups and chili
- Hot dishes or casseroles
- Baked goods
2. Reduce Waste by Freezing Extra Ingredients
Another dilemma for those cooking for one or two is worrying about ingredients going to waste. Many things can be frozen and used when you need them. Some of the items I freeze and take out as I need them are:
- Cheese
- Butter
- Cream cheese
- Vegetables such as green and colored peppers and onions
- Fruit such as strawberries, pineapple (cubed), bananas (sliced).
3. Join a CSA
This past summer, I subscribed to a CSA group (Consumer Supported Agriculture) and have subscribed again this year. In our case, we pay a monthly fee the first part of the year and for five months during the summer we receive a weekly box of produce. Besides the weekly boxes we also have opportunities to pick more of certain items.
The half share box I got is meant to be enough for two people and comes to about $80/month. I froze some of the extras and what I picked.
Now, several months later, I have needed to buy very few vegetables because of what I have in my freezer. Last summer, some people were wondering if the CSA fee was worth the money to me, but for $20 per week I have vegetables all summer and most of the winter.
Nancy Kvamme has spent several years learning about ways to make her money go further and now wants to help others through her blogs, Counting Dollars and In the Black. Nancy also feels it is important to teach kids about money and finances before they get out on their own. She enjoys traveling, which is easier to budget for when finding ways to save money on everyday expenses.
Shared Mar 20, 2012
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Q&A Tuesday: How can you effectively use coupons without it taking over your life?
Q&A Tuesday: How can you effectively use coupons without it taking over your life?
I am wondering if you have any tips for how to be an effective couponer without it taking over your life! I am about to have my fourth baby and for most of this pregnancy I have totally fallen off the coupon bandwagon because I just can’t seem to keep up the schedule of clipping, organizing, coupon train, printing coupons, planning weekly shopping trips, and so on.
I can’t seem to find the balance between “all” and “nothing”! I’m not opposed, in my mind, to a happy medium, but I can’t seem to figure out how to do that, practically speaking. -Kiersten
Thanks for asking such an excellent questions, Kiersten! Here are some of my thoughts:
1. Give Yourself Grace
There are seasons of life when I can focus more seriously on couponing. There are other seasons when using coupons takes a back burner.
It sounds like you have a lot on your plate right now, so I just want to encourage you not to stress too much over always getting the lowest price on everything. Do the best you can do with the time and energy you have and don’t worry about the deals you’re missing out on. Your health and sanity is worth more than saving a few dollars.
2. Focus on Stocking Up on the Best Deals
If you don’t have a lot of time, focus your dollars on stocking up on the best deals that can be frozen or have a long shelf life. Instead of worrying about getting those 35 different decent deals, pick 2-4 really exceptional deals and buy extras of those. While you might still end up paying full price for things sometimes, by getting 60-75% of your groceries at exceptional deals, you’ll still come out way ahead.
3. Stick With Simple Meals With Inexpensive Ingredients
If the majority of the meals you make are really inexpensive, you’ll save a lot of money–without even using coupons! Make a list of some of your family’s favorite inexpensive meals and use this list as a go-to when you are short on time and energy and just don’t feel like messing with coupons.
4. Consider Price-Matching at Walmart
If you’re finding it exhausting to shop at more than one store, consider price-matching the best deals from your local store at Walmart. This way, you’re still getting great deals, but it’s less time-consuming.
How I Plan Our Weekly Menu and Shopping Trips in Less Than 30 Minutes
1. Print great coupons as they become available throughout the week. I don’t print all the coupons that I post, only those that I know will be a good deal at the stores I regularly frequent.
2. When I’m ready to plan my menu (usually on Saturday or Sunday), I quickly review the printed coupons and divvy them up by store.
3. Then, I glance through my local store’s sale fliers, what coupons I’ve already printed, what I already have on hand, and inspiration from Pinterest and jot down a basic menu plan for the week.
4. While I’m planning the weekly menu, I also make a grocery list at the same time.
5. After I’ve planned the menu and grocery list, I double-check my store’s coupon match-ups to see if there are any deals I’ve missed or coupons I’ve forgotten to print.
6. Then I take the jotted down list of groceries I need to buy, look at my schedule and tentatively plan when and where I’ll do my grocery shopping that week. I don’t always follow this perfectly, but having a rough plan in place that I’ll swing by Walgreens when I’m my way to something else, or that I’ll block out an hour to hit three stores on Tuesday helps me to stay organized and on track during the week.
What advice do the rest of you have for Kiersten?
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Shared Mar 20, 2012
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Supermarket Savings Tip #10: Make it from scratch, provided it’s worth the time & effort
Supermarket Savings Tip #10: Make it from scratch, provided it’s worth the time & effort
You can save so much money off your grocery bill by cooking from scratch. However, if you’re cooking from scratch solely for the purpose of saving money (not for the health benefits or because you enjoy it), make sure it’s worth the return on your investment of time.
Consider How Much You’re Saving Per Hour to Cook From Scratch
If you spend hours in the kitchen and it’s only saving you a $1 or so per hour to make things from scratch, it’s likely not worth your time. That’s why I don’t make homemade tortillas.
I have a personal policy that I must be saving at least $20 per hour to invest my time in any money-saving tactic. This helps me to focus my energy and effort on those things that are really going to make a difference in our budget, instead of exerting half a day on something that really doesn’t change our bottom line.
{Freezer-Friendly Breakfast Burritos}
Don’t Knock Something Until You’ve Tried It
It’s easy to think that cooking from scratch has to be a huge time investment, but that’s often not the case. In fact, in 10 minutes, you can easily throw a big batch of beans in the crockpot to cook and a loaf of bread in the bread machine.
You’ll never know how much time something will take you or how much you’ll enjoy making it until you’ve actually experimented with it. So go ahead, try making homemade refried beans, homemade go-gurts, freezer-friendly breakfast burritos, homemade baking mix, or homemade pizza.
Become Adept at Multi-Tasking
Constantly be looking for ways to make the best use of your time in the kitchen. If you love frozen waffles and you’re already going to be working on another project in the kitchen, go ahead and whip up a triple batch of homemade frozen waffles to be cooking while you’re working on your other project(s). When your other projects are done, you’ll also have a few bags of waffles to pop in the freezer for quick and easy breakfasts in the next few weeks.
What are your favorite time-saving tips and tricks for cooking from scratch?
Find more Supermarket Savings Tips here.