I need your help! I have a lot of things in the works behind the scenes of Southern Savers and I need 40 of you to help me test something. If you are up for getting a sneak peek and trying out something fun leave a comment below. I’ll pick the 40 winners tomorrow and send you an email.
(I am also planning on sending you a small gift for your time too…)
Also, here are the winners from the recent giveaways.
The Giveaway Giveaway
keat06@
(this person got to pick which food bank got this month’s Food Bank donation money of $6,200)
Editing.com Giveaway
onefrugalgirl@
lexism81@
Betty Crocker: FLIP Camera
nutrition_utopia@
Thirty-One Giveaway #2:
lisanole78@
jaggreer@
juliebear73@
joyoussunsets@
jcavender4@
A Guide to Shopping at Kroger
Many of you ask if I will go to the store with you. That’s not really an option unless you want my three kids to go too. So let’s head to the store through video. This is the first of many store specific videos I’ll be adding.
Give me a little leniency on quality it’s very hard to control the inside of a store and we kept getting interrupted by over head announcements!
How to Reduce Time Spent Couponing
Many people say couponing is not worth the money you save because it takes so much time. Using coupons can take a lot of time, but it doesn’t have to. The amount of time it takes is really up to you.
Limit Deal Finding Time
Your time is valuable, don’t spend it all on the internet. There are a ton of frugal websites, and you do not need to go to every one of them. Just pick three or four of your favorites and check those regularly. Beyond those three or four sites you probably will not find any new deals – the deals just get repeated. If you spend 4 hours looking for every possible deal, you may find something like free mustard, but you have to evaluate whether it was really worth the time you put into it just to find that extra free mustard.
A way to make looking at your favorite sites easier is to read them through a feed reader such as a Google reader. I use Google reader and love it. It makes it so easy to quickly look and see what is new in the blogging world. Just so you know, you’ll still need to visit these sites from time to time since you can’t comment or enjoy any of the advanced features (like printable shopping lists) in a feed reader. Want to follow Southern Savers in a reader? Get started here.
Don’t spend a ton of time driving all over town. Remember you only really need to shop at one grocery store and one drug store. Things will go on sale at every store at some point, so you do not need to go to six stores to find what you need. This will save time getting ready to go shopping as well as when doing the actual shopping. There might be a crazy deal at another store, go for it if you have the time, but don’t run yourself ragged for one deal.
Remember, the coupon organization method you pick can greatly determine how long it takes you to get ready for shopping. For many useful tips on all of the different methods of coupon organization go here.
Get Ready Before You Go Shopping
If you have everything ready to go when you hit the stores you will spend a lot less time doing the shopping. Having your coupons cut and put together saves you from walking aimlessly around the store hunting for products and fumbling through your coupons.
Print your shopping list and your printable coupons, then pull/clip your coupons. As you get everything ready, save yourself a few extra minutes in the store by writing on your shopping list how many of an item you plan to buy. For example: I’ve got (2) coupons that are $1/2 Kraft Cheese, put on our shopping list next to the cheese that you want to buy 4.
Did you know that you can add additional items to your shopping list on Southern Savers?? After selecting your items, click create list. At the bottom of each category on your shopping list you’ll see the box above. Just type what you need in the blank, then click the + and your item will be added. This will be very helpful in remembering to grab another good deal or anything else you need.
Decreasing Time At The Store
As the first day of school rapidly approaches and all of you are seeking out the best deals on pens, paper and school supplies, I am sure that one other thing is in the front of your minds: clothes. Odds are your kid is a little bigger than last year and his or her clothes have suffered at the hands of playgrounds, ketchup, and brightly colored markers. As you head to the stores to help your kid look sharp I hope I can help point you in a good direction.
I have posted a lot in the past about awesome deals at T.J. Maxx and Marshalls and they must have noticed. Recently I was asked to be one of their back-to-school spokespeople!!! I’m giddy just typing it. First I love their stores, but to get to be spokesperson for anything is just awesome.
Why T.J. Maxx & Marshalls??
They are the leaders in “Off-Price” clothing. Everything is the name brand, and same-as quality of the department store but the price is between 20-60% lower than in a department or designer store. That means your kids get exactly the look they want and you save a ton!
Some people think it is because they are have small flaws or off season. Wrong! All items are exactly the same as the item in the more expensive store and each store gets over 10,000 new items each week and they work hard to stay in season and with the trends. To stay in season they have buyers out all year working with designers. They like to call themselves “opportunistic buyers”. This means that are always looking for any opportunity to help you score a deal. An example: A Top name shoe designer makes too many shoes for an order with department stores, Marshalls swoops in and buys what’s left to put in their store!
Over the next six weeks we are going to have some fun contests and I will share some tips on truly getting the most for your money shopping TJ Maxx and Marshalls!
A Savings Challenge::
Over the next 3 weeks when you head out to T.J. Maxx or Marshalls and find an awesome deal (like the dress we found a few months ago), take a picture of it with your phone or bring it home and take a photo. Email me your photo and we are going to have our own contest. You guys will get to vote on all the entries and decide the best Marshalls T.J. Maxx deal.
The winner will receive $250 in giftcards for T.J. Maxx or Marshalls (winner’s choice).
Two things to not miss today:
- $1.50 off Planters Flavor Grove Almonds printable (available every Wednesday)
There are great deals on school supplies at Publix this week. Throw in two new coupons and it gets even more fun:
Sharpie Highlighters B1G1 at $2.99
-$1/2 Sharpie Highlights printable (makes it 99¢)
Pilot Pens 50% off
-$1 off Pilot Pens printable (makes it FREE)
Don’t have a Publix? That’s okay these coupons are bound to come in handy for other deals!
(thanks Stacey!)
Tips for Back to School Shopping
With school just around the corner and kids needing so much it can be a very stressful time when shopping on a budget. Here are some tips to help you get your kids back to school without breaking the bank!
Make A Plan: Starting early make a list of everything you need and spend a few minutes each week seeing if there are any deals out for your needs. Grab a little at a time over the next few weeks as items come on sale. (Using the school supply round up might help too).
Shop tax free days: Many states have days before school starts where you can get clothing and school supplies tax free. Many stores take advantage of this and offer very good sales. So, you can shop on these days to get discounts and not pay tax.
Buy Better Backpacks: As children get older, buying a better quality backpack can save money in the long run. It cost more upfront, but it will prevent you from having to replace it after a year or two. Some brands such as L.L. Bean will even replace your back pack if it messes up.
Limit Branded Items: While your child may love to have a princess notebook, a plain colored one will cost much less and still do the job. Avoid buying items that cost more just because of the brand or the character on them. Compromise on one branded item if need be.
Compare Ads & Price Match: For school supplies it is important to look at all your local circular ads to see where you can get items the cheapest at. Then, pick one store and have that store price match the other stores to avoid going to a ton of different stores.
Look out for coupons: Around back to school shopping time, many stores will put coupons in their ads. So look for coupons for clothing and school supplies in store ads.
Do you have any other great tips for back to school savings??
H-E-B has a great summer reading club. Just have your child read 10 books or read 10 books to them if they are too young. Write each book on the form and initial it as the child reads the books. After your child has read 10 books mail in this form by October 1st. Your child should receive their t-shirt in 3-4 weeks.
(thanks savethecoupons!)
This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Mission Foods. All opinions are 100% mine.
Sometimes the best meals are the simplest. Mission Foods recently sent us some tortillas and a challenge to cook a meal for a large group for under $10. This became even more challenging adding in our new healthy eating diets. When I think of tortillas my brain instantly goes to melted cheese and sour cream. So I tried to rethink a fajita and make it as healthy as possible.
My plan:
- Load up on the peppers and onions! These are zero points for us weight watcher folks (super healthy for everyone else).
- Don’t use Olive Oil from a bottle, but instead Olive Oil or Vegetable oil spray. You will use a lot less and thereby not add a ton of fat and calories.
- Grab Fat Free Sour Cream and Cheese made with 2% milk.
- Most Salsas are also zero points (super healthy) but we went another step with black bean salsa to add some more fiber and protein.
- Skip the chips or rice, just add steamed green beans or another vegetable on the side.
Ingredients:
1 lb of boneless skinless chicken breast
1 teaspoon of honey
1 teaspoon of Chili pepper
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 onion
1 second spray of Olive Oil Cooking Spray
Mission Tortillas
Sour Cream
Salsa
Shredded Cheese, 2% milk,
First put the meat, honey and chili pepper together. Then throw it all in one big pan.
7 minutes later dinner is ready!
The grand total for this meal: $6.64 and it made enough to serve 5 people easy.
Total points for the meal = 5
If you are up for a tortilla menu challenge then check out the Mission Menus Challenge. Now through August 9th, you can enter for a chance to participate in a cook-off in The Hard Rock Cafe in Los Angeles. The winner of the cook-off will receive a $10,000 kitchen makeover!
To enter, send in a “budget-friendly” recipe. The meal must cost less than $10, be able to feed 5 people, include Mission Tortillas, and be your own unique creation.
I know you guys can handle the $10 part of the challenge so get your gears working. Let’s see if a Southern Saver can win a round-trip to LA and hotel accommodations for two and then win that kitchen! Feel free to use the comments below to do some brainstorming.
