How to Save Money at the Drug Store - Show #20
January 11, 2008 | 3 Comments
Don’t be fooled into thinking you can only get prescriptions at the local drug store! If you have avoided getting your regular grocery items at drug stores like CVS, you are missing out on saving serious cash!
My guest this week is Lisa Braverman of Picadil.com who shares with us the story of a shopping trip to CVS that cost her only 16 cents. That’s it! By looking in the CVS sales flier, using manufacturer’s coupons and CVS Bonus Bucks (in-store coupons) from a previous trip, all Lisa had to pay was 16 cents.
If you would like to learn how to save the most money on your shopping trips, listen to the show and get your own copy of Lisa’s guide below.
Resources mentioned for coupon/bargain hunting today:
- Lisa’s Getting Started Shopping at CVS Instructional - Lisa will set you up to start serious savings on your first two shopping trips to CVS! (Printable PDF file)
- Grocery Game - Not a free service, but it’s Chele’s preference. Using chele@momsloveshopping.com as a referral makes her smile!
- Coupon Mom - Free, comparable service. Listen to show for differences.
Aftermath of Holiday Shopping
January 9, 2008 | 1 Comment
Because Weird is Fascinating
January 8, 2008 | 3 Comments
A few days ago (yeah, I’m dragging my feet) I was tagged by one of my favorite listeners, Sharon McMillan of New Urban Mom to share 7 randomly weird things about me.
I’ll try to list them without giving you nightmares:
1. I make tea for my family in the microwave. I can never get it right on the stove. I always get distracted before it’s time to turn the burner off. When I come back, the water is gone and the tea bags are crispy! I have never gotten it wrong in the microwave and my family jokes that I should sell it. LOL
2. I never had a teddy bear as a small child. I had an orange stuffed dog. I still have the poor ugly critter, too!
3. I prefer being barefoot with one exception - I hate the way concrete feels on my toes. I will walk with toes pointed straight up when I’ve placed myself in this situation. It’s definitely a good distraction for people to stare at instead of my swim suit!
4. I’ve never liked James Bond movies. I think he’s a crappy role model for boys and men. I’ve never liked men that tried to use a James Bond line, look or move to flirt with me, either.
5. I’ve never thought Tom Cruise was hot. Really, I don’t get it. Sure, I saw Risky Business and thought his dance was sexy, but other than that? Much more appealing eye candy is available! =)
6. My most disgusting pregnancy craving/meal was spaghetti, lemonade and gummy bears. Trust me… no matter how pregnant you are and how delicious it sounds at the time, don’t try it!
7. I love peanut butter and banana sandwiches.
I’d tag someone in return, but since I took so long to think up 7 things, everyone that I can think of has already named theirs! How about you? Did you post yours, and if so, where?
Mom Goals and Resolutions: Meal Planning
January 4, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Being a mom is a rewarding job, but it’s also a difficult one. Between all the cleaning, homework help, laundry and motherly advice, we struggle to find time to cook meals that are both nutritious and appealing to the kids. If we don’t have a game plan, it’s almost next to impossible.
That’s one reason that meal planning is often overlooked in favor of convenience foods. While kids often like frozen pizzas and microwavable items, they are usually low in nutritional value. If we plan meals in advance, we can reduce the amount of convenience foods our families eat, improve the amounts of important vitamins and minerals they get, and save time and money shopping at the grocery store. So why not make meal planning one of your New Year’s resolutions?
How Do I Go About Planning Meals?
Meal planning does take a certain amount of time and thought, but it makes things much easier when it is time to cook. When you plan ahead you know that you’ll have all the ingredients you need and you can plan simple meals for several days when you know you won’t have much time. Here’s how to do it:
1. Start your meal plan the day after you plan to go to the grocery store. You don’t have to go by exact calendar weeks, but planning for 7 days at a time makes it easier to keep up with.
2. Decide what you will serve for breakfast, lunch and dinner each day. Be sure to include at least one of everyone’s favorite foods each week. You could make a separate list of favorites for easy reference.
3. Don’t forget to add some variety now and again. Trying new things is good for us!
4. Make sure that each meal is nutritionally balanced. If you’re not a nutritional expert, locate a food pyramid chart online and print it to refer to for the proper number of servings per day of each food group. You may not be able to hit a perfect balance every day, but you should be able to come reasonably close.
5. Once you’ve planned the meals for the week, make your grocery shopping list. Go through your menu plan and decide which ingredients you need to buy for each meal.
6. When you go to the grocery store, don’t forget to pick up some healthy snack options. Fresh fruits are popular healthy snacks among kids and they are loaded with beneficial vitamins.
Simple meal planning allows us to feed our children healthy food with less fuss. It also saves us time and money in the long run. Of course, the best part is that it helps make everyone happy because they’ll enjoy their favorite foods on a more regular basis. Planning meals is a great way to start off the New Year… make it one of YOUR resolutions!
Learn How to Love Grocery Shopping- Show #19
January 4, 2008 | 1 Comment
Saving money and getting out of debt are two of the biggest resolutions moms make for the new year. Many moms also complain about not having time to plan meals for their family or do large grocery shopping trips and these two things can lead to overspending at the grocery store.
This week’s guest is Sandra Jensen, host of the Family Foodies podcast and the author of the ebook Freezing It and Loving It. Sandra shares many tips with Chele for saving money at the grocery store, how to take inventory of the food items in your home, creative ways to “stretch” the food you have into multiple meals and why the front page of the grocery store fliers are so important to look at.
Sandra is very creative when it comes to making easy, inexpensive, yet tasty meals to feed her four children. She gives very concrete recipe ideas that any busy mom can use and she encourages all moms to try cooking rather than depending on the expensive and unhealthy fast food restaurants.
If you want to learn more of Sandra’s secrets to saving money on your grocery bill and awesome recipes, simply click on the photo of her ebook.
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