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Shared Sep 15, 2010 comment

In the Land of No Double Coupons: Skip Junk Food & Shop at ALDI (Part 2)

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In the Land of No Double Coupons: Skip Junk Food & Shop at ALDI (Part 2)

Published: by on   |  This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Guest post by Clair Boone

This is part 2 of Clair’s series, In the Land of No Double Coupons. You can find Part 1 here.

2. Skip Junk Food

Research has proven that impulse buying increases your spending by about 20%. For me, that’s $40 per month of waste that could go towards bills or put into the savings account.

A major area where impulse buying occurs is junk food. Run into the grocery store hungry and you’re bound to grab a bag of chips to munch on in the car. While standing in line with fussy kids you cave into the pleas for candy and buy suckers.

Those items are only $1 each but if you impulsively put 10 such items in your cart, your bill just jumped $10.

One thing that’s helped us is to simply avoid junk food. Rarely do we have soda pop in the house and although we always have some snacks on hand, most of them are from ALDI where they’re very cheap.

As a mum, I’d rather give my child water or milk over soda pop any day of the week. Why wouldn’t I treat my body in the same way? Unless it’s a real treat (i.e. Dr. Pepper from a drive thru!) then I skip soda pop altogether.

3. Shop At ALDI

Once an unclean, unkempt place with more MSG and high fructose corn syrup than is healthy for any normal person, ALDI has come a long way! If you haven’t stepped into an ALDI recently, you need to.

  • Planning a diet or just love eating healthy? ALDI has an inexpensive diet range named Fit n Active. With salad dressings galore, rice cakes, and great brown rice, there’s no need to spend more money on good food.
  • I’ve tried ALDI diapers and they work! At only $5.99 a pack, it’s worth experimenting on them.
  • You can’t find cheaper pie crusts, sugar or most other baking products anywhere else.
  • At around $1 for a giant bag of chips or tortilla chips, there’s no need to pay more for snacks.
  • ALDI has roses for $3.99 for six and bunches of flowers for about $2.99. If you’re rolling your eyes and thinking the quality lacks, then you’re just like me…until someone bought me some from a florist and at the same time Hubs came home with some from ALDI. No word of a lie the ALDI flowers outlasted the florist’s by a whole week!

Stay tuned for Part 3 tomorrow…

She bought diapers for 20 cents a pack prompting her friends to ask her to start www.mummydeals.org to teach others how to save money. She loves to use her couponing powers to buy things and donate them. Originally from England, Clair Boone is wife to an amazing man, Mum to a toddler and lives near Chicago.

Do you have an idea for a guest post? I am always looking for high-quality, original (i.e. not published anywhere else online) content with tips and ideas Money Saving Mom® readers can use. If you would like to submit a guest post, please follow the Guest Posting Guidelines.

Money Saving Mom
Shared Sep 15, 2010 comment

My Freezer Cooking Accomplishments (and come link up yours!)

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My Freezer Cooking Accomplishments (and come link up yours!)

Published: by on   |  This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

I did a mini-Freezer Cooking session last week and here’s what I ended up getting accomplished:

A triple batch of Whole-Wheat Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Three meal’s worth of Marinated Chicken

Two big bags of chicken cooked and chopped/sliced

One loaf Whole-Wheat Bread

Next week, I’m planning to tackle making a big batch of Homemade Baking Mix and plan to also make meatballs and meatloaf. I’ll share the Baking Mix recipe once we’ve tried it.

__________

Did you have a chance to do any baking or cooking this week? If so, post about it on your blog and leave your link below to your direct blog post. Thanks for joining us!

Money Saving Mom
Shared Sep 14, 2010 comment

In the Land of No Double Coupons: Skimp on Meat (Part 1)

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In the Land of No Double Coupons: Skimp on Meat (Part 1)

Published: by on   |  This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Guest post by Clair Boone from Mummy Deals

In a land far, far away lives a group of people. While they’ve heard the stories of how others are getting free food by a practice known as “double couponing”, they’re not sure how it works. They’ve seen the phrase “Do Not Double” on select coupons but if asked to explain, they aren’t exactly sure they could.

Their budgets are stretched, their creativity is exhausted and when these “doublers” talk about their small grocery bill, the people in the land faraway roll their eyes and smile.

Welcome, folks, to the Land of No Double Coupons.

Whether it’s because I live right outside a big city or because the grocery store choices are too vast and therefore nobody needs to double, I’m not sure. But one thing is for sure: Nobody’s doubling around here, 35 minutes outside of Chicago.

A few months ago I participated in a focus group with Crystal and when asked the question, “What would you say if a big grocery store discontinued the double coupon program?” I didn’t hesitate and responded, “I’d say: Welcome to my world!”

Over the years I’ve learned to be creative with the budget, skimp and save. Even without doubles, our family of 3 lives on a weekly grocery budget of $50 including toiletries and diapers. For those of you in the same boat, here’s some food for thought:

1. Skimp on Meat

I have a man who loves meat and lots of it. Although my hubby would rather eat steak for every meal, it’s expensive and not healthy every night! I’ve learned how to skimp on meat without making it look like I’m doing so by stretching the meal. In other words, I add other cheap yet healthy ingredients and take out some of the meat.

  • I’ve been known to add rice or beans to a pan of taco meat to stretch it. I’m not a fan of beans but I know how good they are for me and disguising them in meat cuts down the cost and gets in some of the goodness.
  • Many people use Italian sausage for a whole variety of meals and yet by buying it as that, it’s more expensive than if you buy it as a whole sausage, take the casing off and cut it down.
  • Instead of defrosting a chicken breast/pork chop per person, if it’s going into a casserole I’ll add a little less and then just add more vegetables or side dishes.
  • Meatless Days are great to keep the budget in line and plain spaghetti with whole wheat noodles and homemade spaghetti sauce will bring a family of 4 way under $4 for the whole meal, even with salad!

A lot of these tips are depression era tips that I’ve learned from a group of older ladies at a Bible Study I attend. Back then, skimping on food and yet trying to be healthy was a way of life.

To be continued tomorrow…

She bought diapers for 20 cents a pack prompting her friends to ask her to start www.mummydeals.org to teach others how to save money.  She loves to use her couponing powers to buy things and donate them.  Originally from England Clair Boone is wife to an amazing man, Mum to a toddler and lives near Chicago.

Do you have an idea for a guest post? I am always looking for high-quality, original (i.e. not published anywhere else online) content with tips and ideas Money Saving Mom® readers can use. If you would like to submit a guest post, please follow the Guest Posting Guidelines.

Looking for ways to spread frugal blessings? Try freezer cooking for the elderly!
Shared Sep 13, 2010 comment

Freezer Cooking for the Elderly

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Freezer Cooking for the Elderly

Published: by on   |  This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Looking for ways to spread frugal blessings? Try freezer cooking for the elderly!

A guest post by Jody

My grandmother is ninety-eight years old, and until she fell six months ago she was still living relatively self-sufficiently at home. Her independence was important to her, and so she was still making most of her own meals.

Like the ideal farmer’s wife, she had spent a lifetime making spreads of pot roast, mashed potatoes, applesauce, green beans, corn, gravy, rolls, apple pie, pecan pie, butterscotch pie and cherry pie – the woman could make some pie!

At ninety-eight she just didn’t have it in her to do all that anymore. About twice a week she would make enough Cream of Wheat to last for a few days. For lunch and dinner she resigned herself to making simple things like a grilled cheese sandwich or bread and butter. Besides that, she just couldn’t eat very much, so it seemed pointless to cook an actual meal. She had been about 5’9” in her “prime”, but now she was barely able to make the scale read 100 pounds.

During this time she started paying a service to provide meals a few times a week, but couldn’t quite boast of the flavor. We knew it was bad when during a visit, my parents’ dog (who eats everything from cupcakes to coffee cans full of bacon grease) got left in the car with one of the meals. They found that the side dishes had been consumed, but he had refused to touch the main course. When even the dog won’t eat your meat, you know it’s bad!

Living over fifteen hundred miles away I was at a loss as to how to help. I was concerned that she was not getting enough variety or nutrition in her diet, and I knew that it was quite a feat for her to pull together the simplest of meals.

The main factors were:

  • Lack of variety
  • Lack of nutrition
  • Lack of energy
  • Lack of appetite

An Idea!

Last November when I was there for Thanksgiving, we had our usual feast at her house, though the kids and grandkids did the cooking. Despite the gluttony, there were still plenty of leftovers. That’s when I had an idea.

I pulled out her muffin tins and went to work. Using one leftover at a time, I filled the muffin tins with all the typical Thanksgiving fixings. When a tray was full I put it in the freezer and pulled it out a couple of hours later. I would let it sit a couple of minutes to loosen the food from the edges, then I would dump out the cubes, put them back into the freezer and move on to the next leftover.

I thought about putting all of the little circles into Ziploc bags according to what they were, but then decided that would be too complicated for her to get all of those bags out for one meal. Instead, I utilized her endless collection of empty cottage cheese containers. I put a cube of each item into each container, so that all she would have to do would be to pull one container out of the freezer, arrange the items on a skillet or a plate for the microwave and presto! She would have a nutritious meal of very little portions with plenty of variety and hardly any work to get it.

I happened to be there at Thanksgiving, so I didn’t need to do any extra food preparation for this, but I started wondering if other people would want to incorporate this kind of thing into their freezer cooking days. It could be helpful for the elderly or even a single person who wouldn’t likely be able to eat an entire lasagna or casserole if it was offered to them.

Extra Tips

Some tips I would have for doing this would be to:

  • Be sure of dietary restrictions.
  • Label the container with large print.
  • Attach any directions.
  • Write a note of encouragement or a smiley face.

Compared to all of the meals my grandma has made me over the years, I know this is just a drop in the bucket, yet I hope to bless her as she has blessed me.

“Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.”  James 1:27

Jody loves cooking in huge portions and is still learning to try a recipe out in a multiple of one before doing eight batches at once – and then realizing it’s not such a good recipe – and then eating that from the freezer for a very long time.

Do you have an idea for a guest post? I am always looking for high-quality, original (i.e. not published anywhere else online) content with tips and ideas MoneySavingMom.com readers can use. If you would like to submit a guest post, please follow the Guest Posting Guidelines.

photo by ex libris

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Shared Sep 11, 2010 comment

How to Shop With Little Children — Part 3

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How to Shop With Little Children — Part 3

Published: by on   |  This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Last time, we talked about creative alternatives and simplifying things when it comes to shopping with children. While I hope that some of those ideas were helpful to many of you, when you find yourself in a situation where you need to head to the store with little children, here are some ideas and suggestions which have worked well for us:

Have a Very Organized Plan

::Plan a menu and a detailed grocery list. If you want a recipe for disaster when it comes to shopping with little children, go shopping without a plan. Failing to plan is planning to fail.

Before you even so much as get into the car to head to the store, make sure your grocery list is complete. I’d suggest you go as far as to even make an aisle-by-aisle grocery list. I also find it helpful to have a separate list for each store in a separate envelope along with the coupons I’m planning to use at that store.

::Plan your method of operation. Think ahead of time where each child will sit and what they will do while you’re shopping.

::Rehearse what is expected of your children ahead of time. I personally think it is very important for children to know specifically what is expected of them. We can’t just assume they know how we want them to behave if we’ve not spent a great deal of time training them in this. Almost every single time before we head into the store, we review our family’s ground rules for shopping before we even get out of the car. This ensures that they know and I know that they know what is expected of them.

::Don’t shop at lunchtime or naptime. It will just make for cranky children and a frazzled mom. Plan your shopping trips when everyone is rested and fed. In addition, I’d recommend not shopping during peak hours — such as right before dinner. Not only will the store be less crowded, but likely you’ll find the other shoppers are a little more patient if it’s not dinner-hour rush.

::Have a back-up plan. If a child becomes fussy while you’re at the store, what’s your plan? Perhaps you can have a stash of snacks or suckers or travel games to dole out, depending upon what you feel is best. Whatever the case, definitely come prepared for possible diaper blow-outs, thirsty/hungry children, spills, etc. If you plan for the worst-case scenario, it won’t catch you by surprise if it happens!

Be Flexible

::When shopping with your children, they are your first priority. This means that sometimes you need to cut your shopping trip short or you need to completely revamp your plan or switch to Plan B or Plan F. Go into the shopping trip with a clear-cut plan, but also be prepared to roll with the punches, expecting that things likely aren’t going to go according to plan. Doing so will allow you to be a lot less stressed when the unexpected arises.

::Prioritize your shopping trip. I don’t know about you, but I often go into a shopping trip with a clear-cut list and plan, but I also have some extras on there as well. Things that I don’t necessarily need to buy, but which I want to price-check or a coupon which I think might possibly make for a good deal. Since it’s inevitable with children that mishaps will occur, starting your shopping trip with the must-do’s and must-buys and then move onto the extras if you have time and things are still going smoothly. If not, these extras can always be bumped until the following week or shopping trip

Relax and Enjoy the Ride

::Smile! 🙂 It’s amazing how far a cheerful attitude can go. The sooner we can learn to laugh instead of cry as moms, the calmer we’ll be.

::Praise your children. Children thrive on praise and I believe we should be showering them with it. So while you’re shopping, look for ways to give positive encouragement to your children instead of just constantly scolding them for misbehaving.

::Involve your children. Young children love responsibility. Give them little tasks to help you with while shopping. Maybe they could get the items on the lower shelves. Or look for blinkies. Or cross the items off the grocery list. Give them a job to do and praise them for a job well done!

::Enjoy your children. Lastly, have fun with your children. Talk with them. Laugh with them. Make shopping a fun outing, instead of a dreaded experience.

For Beginners

If you’re new to using coupons and shopping at multiple stores and feeling overwhelmed at how to juggle it all when you’re also bringing young children with you, here are some tips:

::Start Slowly. Don’t try to convince yourself you’re superwoman. You’re not. If you’ve never used coupons before, keep it very simple and slowly ease into it.

I’d suggest picking one store to shop at and working on planning a menu around the sales as well as using a few coupons to start out with. As you feel more comfortable and accustomed to things, you can slowly start adding in new stores, using more coupons and so on. But it’s much better in the long run to take it very slow than to try to juggle everything at once and quickly frustrate and burn yourself out.

::Choose Wisely. You don’t have to hit every deal. You don’t even have to hit most of the deals. Pick a few deals each week on items which are things you need and use and stock up on those. Even stocking up on a few month’s supply of just one item each week when it is at a rock-bottom price, can make a big dent in your grocery budget over time.

::Give Yourself Grace. This is something I’m learning afresh right now. You can’t do it all — but you can sure wear yourself out trying! Do the best you can do with the time and energy you have and be satisfied with that.

What are your best tips and tricks for shopping with young children? I’ve barely scratched the surface in what I’ve shared here so I’d love to hear your ideas — and I know others would like to as well!

photo by AlwaysBreaking

Money Saving Mom
Shared Sep 11, 2010 comment

Super Savings Saturday: Raw honey, chicken stock-up and potatoes running out our ears!

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Super Savings Saturday: Raw honey, chicken stock-up and potatoes running out our ears!

Published: by on   |  This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Freebies:

3 packages of WASA crackers from my mom

1 bag of apples our friends picked at a local farm

24 bags of frozen Green Giant whole potatoes

Aldi Shopping Trip:

3 bags chocolate chips

5 cantaloupe

Peaches, plums, nectarines, avocados

4 bags of frozen veggies

5 big bags of whole chicken breasts

1 loaf of bread

Other Purchases:

2 dozen farm-fresh eggs

2 jars of Organic Raw honey from Tropical Traditions

2 loaves of fresh bread from a local bakery (using a Groupon)

All totaled, we spent just under $80 on groceries this past week. We used some of our leftover grocery money from the last two weeks to make the raw honey purchase and the chicken stock-up.

____________

Did you snag any great deals or bargains this week or save money in other ways? If so, be sure to post about them on your blog and leave your link below. Please remember that this weekly round-up is to share deals you personally got and/or money you were able to save this week. In order to keep this weekly round-up focused on helping and inspiring others in their efforts to save money, links which have little-to-no content other than promoting affiliate links, etc. will be deleted. Also, to make it easy for everyone to navigate quickly through the links, your link must link directly to your Super Savings Saturday post.

Money Saving Mom
Shared Sep 10, 2010 comment

My Freezer Cooking Plan (and come link up yours!)

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My Freezer Cooking Plan (and come link up yours!)

Published: by on   |  This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

FishMama and I are Freezer Cooking again this week. This time around, I’m not dedicating much time to it, just squeezing in a little extra baking/cooking throughout the week during our afternoon quiet time.

If you’re new here, you may be wondering “What is Freezer Cooking?” Basically, it’s just doing some prep work in bulk of meals, parts of meals or baked goods to save you time over the next few weeks. You can cook up an extra pan of lasagna or you can cook up thirty meals. It’s your choice. I just like to encourage you to consider doing a little extra cooking and baking at the beginning of the month to help make the rest of the month a little easier for you. Plus, it saves time, energy and money!

Since we’re keeping our meals so simple right now, it also cuts down on the time I need to spend in the kitchen and greatly simplifies Freezer Cooking as most of our meals don’t require much beforehand work other than making a salad or cutting up veggies or fruit.

My Freezer Cooking Plan

::Whole-Wheat Chocolate Chip Pancakes (I’m taking the recipe times six and will share it on Monday. The girls love these and they make for very quick and fairly healthful breakfasts and snacks.)

::Homemade Baking Mix (I’ll share the recipe on Monday.)

::Whole-Wheat Bread

::Two big bags of chicken breasts cooked (some diced, some sliced — to serve over salads that we eat every day for lunch)

::Three meal’s worth of Marinated Chicken (I’ll share this new recipe on Monday.)

All the recipes will be coming on Monday along with pictures, a vlog and a link-up opportunity for you to share about your Freezer Cooking accomplishments.

If you’re new to Freezer Cooking, you can check out my detailed tutorial and planning worksheets here. And FishMama has a very simple step-by-step post if you’re feeling overwhelmed and don’t know where to start. You also might enjoy checking out past posts on my Freezer Cooking Days.

Need Some Freezer-Friendly Recipes? Here Are a Few Favorite of Our Favorites:

Are you participating in Freezer Cooking? If so, post about your cooking plan on your blog and then come back here and leave your direct link below so we can all be inspired! Please note: links which do not link directly to your freezer cooking post or which do not contain your freezer cooking plan will be deleted.

Money Saving Mom
Shared Sep 10, 2010 comment

We Paid Cash! :: Our Wedding

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We Paid Cash! :: Our Wedding

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We paid cash!

Three years ago, we got married. We budgeted $10,000 for the wedding, but only spent about $8,000! Here’s how:

1. By growing my savings account.

I was a school teacher at a private school, which didn’t leave much of a margin for savings. But when I graduated from college, I sat down with a mentor, and we worked out a budget. In five years, my car and school loans were both paid off, which meant I started a more general savings fund.

I also found other ways to grow my savings because of the hospitality of close friends who allowed me to rent, very cheaply, a room in their home.

When we got engaged, I had the budgeted $10,000 already saved up.

To make the most of that budget since the wedding was about a year away, I put about 80% of that into a 6-month CD, just to earn a little more without the risk of stocks; I actually had the account with an online company which offered a much higher rate than the local banks. I still had enough for down-payments on the photographer, DJ and event site.

2. By networking and finding the best deals on everything wedding.

Our photographer, videographer, event site, DJ, hairstylist, make-up artist, calligrapher, instrumentalists and wedding-day coordinator were somehow related to my circle of friends or colleagues. They gave me discounted rates or even provided free services.

Don’t be afraid to ask around – a former student’s mother had made decorations for the chapel we were to be married at, and she allowed me to borrow those and even came to help us decorate.

3. Decide what you’ll splurge on and what can be saved.

We paid cash for our wedding 1We splurged on the venue and its catering – I didn’t want to deal with $0.25 for each piece of silverware or renting chairs. But I made my own boutonnieres, flower girl pomades and bridesmaid bouquets from silk flowers.

I also bought my gown off the rack and found my own seamstress to take the size 10 to a size 1, for $300. I bought invitations and programs to print our own, and a friend with a nicer printer did those for us.

The final results were still a classy and chic wedding that reflected who we were, down to the final penny!

Esther, along with her husband and one-year-old, continue to be good stewards, consistently deciding how to save & splurge! She also is a new blogger at Discovering the Me in Mommy, documenting her growth now as a mom.

Have you saved up and paid cash for something — large or small? Submit your story for possible publication here.

Money Saving Mom
Shared Sep 9, 2010 comment

How to Shop With Little Children — Part 2

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How to Shop With Little Children — Part 2

Published: by on   |  This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

If you missed it, read Part 1 of How to Shop With Little Children here.

After my third child was born, I waited a few weeks to try shopping with all three at the store at once. When I finally did, I realized that it was doable, but it was a lot of work. In fact, it felt more like a three-ring circus act I was trying to oversee.

“Be careful, you’re going to smoosh the whole loaf of bread.”

“Sit down in the cart, please.”

“No, honey, we’re not going to buy those. Put them back on the shelf.”

“Please do not push your sister.”

“Has anyone seen the coupon for the ice cream? It was just right here.”

We’re working on first-time cheerful obedience, but we’ve far from completely mastered it at our house. And I’ve decided that I’d rather choose other places than the grocery store to work on child-training right now.

I know there might be women reading this who are just shaking their head in disbelief that I can’t get my act together as you effortlessly shop at five stores every week with your seven children under four. More power to you! 🙂

But personally, I don’t find it easy to shop at multiple stores, use coupons and bring three children with me. So instead of beating myself up over this, I’ve decided to rethink my Grocery Shopping Gameplan for our current season of life.

1. Simple is Good

To be perfectly honest, since having three children, I’ve cut way back on shopping and using coupons. Whereas it wasn’t uncommon at all for me to shop at four to five (or even more!) stores many weeks back in the earlier years of our marriage, I now rarely go to more than two stores in one week.

I try to have one or two weeks each month where I put forth some concentrated effort on stockpiling and then I usually stick with the barebones shopping the other two to three weeks, occasionally even skipping shopping entirely for a week (outside of a few things like milk).

We’re keeping our meals extremely simple, too, so that makes shopping easier as well. We usually just have oatmeal or cold cereal for breakfast, smoothies of some sort for a mid-morning snack, veggies/fruit and some kind of protein for lunch, and for dinner we just rotate between a beef or chicken for the main dish, and have salad, fruit and maybe some bread made in the bread machine for sides. Other snacks are usually yogurt, cereal, fruit, veggies, muffins (from the freezer), hard-boiled eggs, protein bars, peanut butter toast or something else which is equally simple.

I know that this menu plan probably wouldn’t work for many people as it’s just so Plain Jane and redundant, but my husband is happy, the children are happy and we’re eating a balanced, nutritious diet (well, at least it works for us and we feel energetic and healthy!).

2. Flexibility is Key

Instead of having one afternoon a week dedicated to marathon shopping, I’m learning to be more flexible and stick with fitting in shorter shopping trips whenever they fit in. If we’re going to be getting together with friends on the other side of town, I might swing by a store while we’re out. Or, if we have a free evening and my husband gets home early, I might run out to do a quick shopping trip with one child after dinner while my husband is home with the other two.

Some weeks, we have a free afternoon, I’m feeling energetic and things are running pretty smoothly so I’ll load up all the kids and we go do a marathon shopping trip. However, freeing myself up from feeling obligated to do a big stock-up trip with all the children every single week has been so helpful.

While we might not be as stocked up on everything as we once-upon-a-time were and while there are weeks when I feel like I wish I were more organized and always did the shopping on the same day like I used to do, rolling with the punches and fitting shopping in when it works is getting us by.

3. Help is Wonderful

I think the biggest shift in my thinking about grocery shopping (and life in general) since having three children has been that it’s okay to accept help. After Silas was born and I was struggling a great deal with postpartum depression, my husband hired a wonderful young lady from church to start coming over one day each week and helping our family. This has been one of the greatest blessings in my life and I’d highly recommend something like this to every mom who has young children!

Our helper comes over each Tuesday and does laundry, cleaning and whatever else I need done. After our morning school lessons are finished, I’ll often take one of the girls with me on a quick shopping trip while our helper stays with the other children and feeds them lunch/plays with them. It gives me the opportunity to get some quality one-on-one time with a child and also allows me to get some efficient grocery shopping done!

In addition, Jesse’s step-grandma comes over every Thursday morning to spend time with us and I’ll occasionally run errands or do some grocery shopping while she’s here, too. And on those really busy weeks, Jesse also will gladly stop by the store — sometimes even taking some (or all!) of the children with him!

Creative Alternatives to Hiring a Babysitter So You Can Go Grocery Shopping

If hiring a babysitter or helper is not an option and you don’t have family nearby, don’t despair! Here are some other ideas:

::Swap With a Friend — Know another young mom who is also struggling with grocery shopping with young children? How about asking her if she’d like to swap babysitting with you so you can both get your shopping done each week?

::Shop With Your Husband — If your husband is game, find a time that works to shop when he can come along with you. It can make it much easier for you and can be a fun outing, too!

::Shop When Your Husband is Home –If there’s a time which works out for your family, consider shopping when your husband is home and able to watch your children.

::Bring a Friend/Helper Along — If you have a friend who’d love to spend time with you and would willingly be an extra set of hands, ask her about coming along with you. If you have a few quick in-and-out trips, perhaps she could even just sit in the car with your children while you run in. Or, if you know a mature teenage girl who is looking for a small part-time job, you could ask her to come along with you. For a small hourly pay, you may be able to provide a lot more sanity to your shopping trips.

While these things I’ve learned might be helpful to some of you, there are others of you who have no alternative but to shop every week with little children. So for those of you, stay tuned for tomorrow’s post for my ideas and tricks for pulling off a successful shopping trip with young children in tow. And come prepared to share your tips, too. (I already know that my readers are going to have dozens of amazing ideas to share!)

Do you have a creative alternative to hiring a babysitter not listed? Have you changed your gameplan when it comes to shopping as a result of having young children? I’d love to hear your thoughts and input!

photo by AlwaysBreaking

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Shared Sep 9, 2010 comment

31 Days to a Better Grocery Budget: Buy in Bulk

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31 Days to a Better Grocery Budget: Buy in Bulk

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One way we save at least $100 or so per year on our grocery bill is by buying select items in bulk. While I think that buying in bulk can definitely save you money, you need to be mindful of three things:

1. Bigger is Not Always Cheaper

It’s easy to get suckered into thinking that purchasing in bulk is always going to be cheaper. Oftentimes, the larger size is the same price — or even more than a smaller size. Always analyze the cost per ounce of items you are considering purchasing in bulk to determine whether or not it truly is a good deal to buy in bulk.

2. It’s Not a Good Deal If You Won’t Use It

I’m sure this is a no-brainer, but it’s not a good deal to buy 25-pound bag of coconut which expires in a year if you routinely only use four cups of coconut per year. Yes, I’m sure you could get creative and dig up a hundred new recipes which use coconut, but unless you got that 25-pound bag for a few dollars, it’s like better to save your money and buy items in bulk which you use on a very frequent basis.

3. Just Because You Buy Something in Bulk Doesn’t Mean You Should Use More

The biggest pitfall I’ve found to buying in bulk is that it’s easier to use more when you have more of something. For instance, I once bought a five-pound bag of chocolate chips at Sam’s Club. Usually, we go through around five pounds of chocolate chips in an entire year because we only buy a small bag or two at a time as needed. Instead, we’d used up that entire five-pound bag of chocolate chips in four months or less!

Now granted, we’re talking chocolate chips here, but I do think it’s important to make sure you aren’t consuming more of something because you’re buying it in bulk. If this is the case, you might consider portioning out the bulk package or else possibly just not buying that particular item in bulk.

How To Get Started Buying in Bulk

::Set Aside a Small Amount of Grocery Money for Bulk Purchases

The simplest way to slowly integrate bulk purchases into your grocery budget is to squeeze a little extra money out of your grocery budget each week and set it aside for bulk purchases. If you’re on a really tight budget, this might not seem feasible, but even $2 to $3 set aside over the course of two months can give you a large enough amount to make one bulk purchase.

And I’ve found that the more bulk purchases I make, the more it frees up wiggle room in my grocery budget to be able to set aside more money for more bulk purchases. It’s a domino effect — in a good direction.

::Prioritize Your List of Possible Bulk Purchases

I’d suggest writing down a short list of possible bulk purchases you’d like to make and then researching out the best places to purchase in bulk and how much the savings would be. Prioritize the list based upon the savings you’ll reap and the money you are able to set aside each month.

If it helps, you might even set goals. For instance, within two months, set a goal to have purchased two pounds of yeast. In four months, aim to have purchased a 50-pound bag of wheat. And so on. Start with the item(s) which you can afford with the money you’ve set aside.

Prioritizing your list and breaking it down into bite-sized goals will not only help to keep you organized, but it will also enable you to stick with your budget. Sure it might be nice to go plunk down $500 and have a completely stocked bulk pantry, but that’s just not really doable for most people.

Where To Buy in Bulk

There are many different options for buying in bulk. I’d suggest you start with perusing what’s available in your local area as well as online. Ask your friends, check the phone book, search on Craiglist, look for local co-ops and Amish Food Stores and contact local farms which sell to the public.

Getting a membership to Sam’s Club or Costco might be worth it for your family, but I’d encourage you to explore other possibilities before just settling on either of those stores as your only bulk purchasing option.

I’d also suggest you talk to your local grocery store or health food store or couple who run the farmer’s market stand you purchase from and ask what discounts they would give you if you’d purchase items in bulk. They might not give bulk discounts, but you never know until you ask!

If you’re really ambitious, you might even consider starting your own co-op.

What are your best tips for buying in bulk? I’d love to hear!

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Money Saving Mom
Shared Sep 8, 2010 comment

Good Reads: Choosing to SEE by Mary Beth Chapman

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Good Reads: Choosing to SEE by Mary Beth Chapman

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I stayed up way too late the other night because I had started Choosing to SEE: A Journey of Struggle and Hope and couldn’t put it down. The book chronicles the story of Steven Curtis and Mary Beth Chapman and their five-year-old adopted daughter’s tragic accident in 2008.

The story will make you laugh and cry — and will ultimately touch you at a very deep level. I especially appreciated Mary Beth’s raw honesty. She didn’t try to come across like she has it all figured out or has it altogether. Instead, she shares openly about her many struggles throughout her life.

After finishing this book, I was not only motivated to make sure I am cherishing each moment with my children, but I was also inspired to do more for orphans. I was especially excited to learn about the work of the Chapman’s ministry, Show Hope, an organization dedicated to providing support and help for orphans, in addition to giving financial assistance and grants to families who are raising money to adopt needy children.

After reading the book and researching more about Show Hope, my heart was very moved to support them. My husband and I discussed and prayed about it and felt that the Lord would have us be a part of this ministry. So I am thrilled beyond words to to tell you that, in addition to supporting Compassion International, beginning this month, MoneySavingMom.com will also be supporting Show Hope and helping to provide financial grants for families seeking to adopt.

I’m humbled to be a part of this and thank you from the bottom of my heart for the difference you are making in the lives of children around the world by reading here.

Discovered any Good Reads recently? Tell me about them in the comments and I’ll consider adding them to my long and ever-growing book list!

Money Saving Mom
Shared Sep 8, 2010 comment

How To Shop With Little Children — Part 1

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How To Shop With Little Children — Part 1

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As a mom to 3 little ones, aged 3, 20 months and 3 months, I would love some tips and suggestions on getting through my shopping with them along. Right now, I typically wait until their daddy gets home from work and they’re in bed to get my shopping done. However, Daddy has taken a 3rd job to help us get out of debt, so that won’t really be an option anymore. Help! -Abbie

Great question, Abbie!

When we had one child, grocery shopping was fairly simple. We could get ready and out the door pretty easily (though it seemed like quite a bit of work back then!) and when we got to the store, I’d strap Kathrynne in a back carrier and we’d mosey through the store at a leisurely pace.

Grocery shopping was a nice diversion from our little basement apartment and I often shopped multiple times per week because I had more time than money in those days and was playing the Drugstore Game really hot and heavy in order to lower our grocery bill.

When child #2 came along, we were living with one car so we usually did our grocery shopping as a family — either in the evenings or on Saturdays. It was wonderful to have my husband along! He would push the cart and help entertain Kathrynne while I manned the coupons and grocery list with Kaitlynn in the sling.

As our social life was pretty nonexistent at the time (we had just moved to Kansas City and knew next to no one outside the people in the small church we attended), shopping together made for a fun family outing.

When we moved back to our hometown for my husband to start his own law firm, our quiet life changed dramatically. Not only did my husband’s firm take off at a much faster rate than we were anticipating (and soon he had to hire a full-time secretary because his workload was so heavy!), but we had so many social opportunities that we had to start turning some invitations down!

Gone were the days of slow-paced family grocery shopping outings. Instead, I started taking both little girls with me one day each week to hit two to four stores. This took an entire afternoon and it was a bit of a juggling act, but it worked fairly well and I came up with many different ideas for how to shop effectively with little children.

I thought I had a pretty good handle on things and was anticipating that adding in the third child wouldn’t be too much extra effort. But then I had baby #3. Contrary to what I had originally anticipated, I had to rethink my entire Grocery Shopping Game Plan from the ground up.

Stay tuned tomorrow for details on the creative compromise I’ve come to with grocery shopping at this season of my life. And on Friday, I’ll be sharing tricks and tips for successfully shopping with little ones.

photo by AlwaysBreaking

Money Saving Mom
Shared Sep 3, 2010 comment

We Paid Cash! :: A Trip to Singapore to Meet My Navy Submariner

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We Paid Cash! :: A Trip to Singapore to Meet My Navy Submariner

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We paid cash!Story submitted by Kristen

My husband, a Navy Submariner, is deployed. On submarines, communication is extremely limited — no phone calls, IM’s or Skype sessions. We get email, but we go weeks, even months, without it. But there is one upside – port calls!

In the past, I would fly out to meet him in port, and charge up a storm to get there. This time, I made a goal that if the chance arose, I would be prepared, pay in cash and not touch my savings.

How I Did It

When he left, I:

  • Shrank the grocery bill and shopped in my pantry.
  • Ate out less, and split meals with friends.
  • Grouped errands together to save gas.
  • Read books when I was bored instead of shopping.
  • Worked longer hours so I could go home for lunch.

With only one person home, these small changes added up fast!

The Goal

Soon I learned he would port in Singapore. I cringed. Singapore is expensive!

I researched tickets, studied exchange rates, read about cheap/free things to do and sought advice on prices for everything.

When ticket prices dropped, I bought them straight from the checking account. Then I bought travel insurance that covered military cancellations. If there is one thing you learn in the Navy, it’s that the schedule is written in the sand, and the tide is coming in fast! I wanted to be covered in the event of a change.

The next big purchase was the hotel. I watched every day, and when prices dropped, I paid in full, saving me $220 per night! I chose carefully – free Internet, breakfast and drinks in the room, none of which is common there. It was also strategically located by the transit system, the cheapest way to travel.

Then it was budget crunch time. Meals, drinks and events are all more expensive in Singapore. And, I wanted to be able to shop for unique items.

For the first time, I successfully used the envelope system! Every time there was money leftover, I put it in a jar. Two days before the trip, I took the jar to the bank and had $250 for traveler’s checks!

A Great Trip Plus…

We Paid Cash Meeting My Submariner HusbandWhen it was time to go, I had $3,000 for food, taxis, shopping and sight-seeing for eight days and two people. But we didn’t spend near that much; I returned with an extra $1000!

Some may think this is too extravagant of a trip. But to see my husband, touch his face and talk to him, it’s worth every penny. To do it all with cash, stick to a budget and come home with wonderful memories and leftover money too? That is icing on the cake!

I should be clear – I’m not a mom, unless two big black dogs count. I read MoneySavingMom because the advice is practical, and the stories are motivating. Someday, I hope to be a mom. For now, it’s just me and the dogs, waiting on our sailor to come home safe! ~Kristen McDonald

Have you saved up and paid cash for something — large or small? Submit your story for possible publication here.

Money Saving Mom
Shared Aug 31, 2010 comment

Q&A Tuesday: Do you ever take a day of rest?

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Q&A Tuesday: Do you ever take a day of rest?

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I’m a new stay-at-home mom to a 5-week-old baby boy. I have been following your site for several years and I’ve always admired how much you accomplish in a day. At the time, I had full-time job and seemed to use that as my excuse to not do everything, but now that I’m a stay-at-home mom, I still can’t seem to do everything.

Do you ever have a day that you just relax and not worry about getting everything done? Your blog makes it seem like you always have everything put together. I know you probably have your own days but I feel like most days I stress out if I’m not getting to the one store where they have the “free” item, or if I’m not preparing a bunch of meals to put in the freezer, etc.

Just wanted to know if you just have more extra energy than the typical person or if you are seriously exhausted, but know that you have to keep going for your family. – Ashley

Edit: Somehow I read Ashley’s note as saying she had a five-month-old baby instead of a five-week-old baby. So I completely failed to address the very important fact that she needs to focus on keeping it super simple and just recovering and caring for her newborn. At any rate, be sure to read the comments from my readers as they are packed with words of wisdom concerning this!

Ashley, congratulations on your new baby boy and how exciting that you’re able to stay home with him.

Now, I need to set the record very straight: I do not accomplish even a tiny sliver of what I’d like (or hope!) to accomplish.

There are days when I fantasize about a to-do list which has everything crossed off and then I quickly realize that that is just not going to happen. So I have two choices: I can do the best I can do with the time and energy I have or I can spend my life frustrated at everything left undone.

I try to be real as a blogger: to share my struggles and my difficulties as well as my triumphs and victories. I don’t share a lot of pictures of my dirty laundry piles or my windows with sticky peanut butter fingerprints on them, though, because I want to keep this an upbeat place. And I doubt that most of you really would like to read post after post about the bodily fluids I cleaned up or the messes my children made in the last hour. 🙂

Since I am a minimalist and try to be organized, we tend to have fewer messes because we have less stuff. But believe me, we have plenty of messes — regardless of the lack of lots of stuff. And there are plenty of days when I want to pull my hair out and cry just because it’s so much work to be a mom to three young children. There are times when I get really tired of doing the same thing over and over and over again and feeling like my work is never done.

However, by God’s grace, I’ve purposed to embrace each day — spilled milk, dirty laundry and sticky peanut butter fingerprints — instead of concentrating on the difficulties of life (and we all have them in one shape or another). My desire is to focus on how blessed I am (though I don’t always succeed, just ask my husband!) and seek to live in the moment and make the most of it.

Simple Tips for Being a More Joyful and Productive Wife and Mom

::Realize you can’t get it all done. Give up on being Superwoman and be okay with that.

::Stop comparing yourself to other women who might seem like they have it altogether. I promise you, no woman does.

::Cherish each moment you have with your precious family.

::Make a simple routine for your days. Simple is the key word here. Don’t make some elaborate plan that is likely unattainable. But having a routine in place can make life go much more smoothly.

::Before you go to bed or when you get up in the morning, make a short list of five to eight things you’d like to accomplish that day. I’ve found I get so much more done when I have a plan instead of just being aimless. At the same time, though, remember that your list is just a guide. You likely won’t get everything done off of it — you may get nothing done off of it! — but you’ll probably be a lot more productive and focused throughout the day just by having some goals set.

Back to your original question: Do I ever take a day off? Mothering is a 24/7 thing, so I’ve quickly learned that there’s no such thing as a complete “day off.” That said, I definitely know my limits and try to take a few hours of respite and refreshment at least once a week. This might be sitting and reading a good book, snuggling and reading for an hour with my children, watching a movie with my husband, going to a coffee shop or shopping by myself, doing something with a friend, taking a bubble bath or a leisurely afternoon nap.

I also make it a point to get 7-8 hours of sleep almost every night and I try to exercise and put nourishing foods in my body, drink lots of water and get fresh air and sunshine every day. I think just as it is important that we be wise stewards of our finances, we also need to seek to be wise stewards of our bodies.

My Three Biggest Keys to Productivity

1. My Relationship with the Lord — I get up every morning and spend time reading God’s Word, praying and dedicating my day to the Lord. Throughout the day, when trials and difficulties come my way, I often just stop and pray and ask God to help me in my weakness and time of need. He always is faithful — even in the little things.

2. My Relationship with my Husband — I’m blessed to be married to an amazing man and the longer I live, the more I grow to love and admire him. Jesse loves me deeply, listens to me whole-heartedly, prays for me caringly and encourages me unceasingly. He is my biggest cheerleader and my best friend. We share everything together, we love to be together and he is constantly inspiring me to dream big dreams, set big goals and not settle for mediocrity.

3. Observing Media-Free Sundays — A few years ago, we made the commitment to keep Sundays media-free days at our house. This was one of the best decisions we ever made. Tuning out the noise for a whole day every week helps us to re-focus, re-energize and refresh. We spend the day worshiping in our local church, talking, reading, resting and spending time with family and friends. We look forward to this day all week long.

Related: If you’re a young mom, I encourage you to read a post I wrote a few weeks ago with a few words of encouragement for young moms.