12 Creative Ways to Save

I have 12 creative ways for you to save money today!  Everything feels more expensive these days so I hope you find a couple of new ideas to save yourself some money. I'm doing the usual consigning things we out grow or no longer use, use apps for all the coupons and stock up when I find things on sale.  Here are some creative ways to save money:

1. Order kid's meals!  They are usually under $10, come with an entree, side and drink and sometimes dessert.  Culvers is the perfect spot to try this trick out.  You get a generous meal and can add a family cheese curd to share.

2. Buy cat toys at Dollar Tree.  We found the cutest cat chip bags at Dollar Tree for $1.25 each.  They are crinkle toys and have cat nip in them.  I'm saving them for Pumpkin for his birthday in June.

3. Borrow when you can.  Leo had a character day at school and instead of spending $40 on an Amazon costume for him to wear once, we borrowed a costume for free.

4. Homemade birthday treats!  We love Nothing Bundt Cakes, but I do not love paying $30ish per cake for a dessert.  I made homemade buttercream and added some extra ingredients to a boxed cake mix.  They cost me about $5/cake to make at home.

5. Birthday treat bags instead of a birthday party.  Leo is young and was happy to bring in birthday treat bags for his whole class instead of a big party.  We spent around $35 for treat bag supplies which is way cheaper than hosting a class party.

6. Party supplies at HomeGoods + homemade treats.  HomeGoods had the cutest Reese's Pieces party decor this Spring.  It worked perfectly for our Reese's Pieces loving guy.

7. Say YES to free fun!  Go for a walk, play outside, go to a park, meet friends at a local school park, invite friends over to your house to play, etc.

8. Teachers, I know it's tempting to buy all the things for your classroom, but opt for the free class incentives when you can.  My class has LOVED the following free class rewards.

Reading Mouse and the Motorcyle & watching the movie in class.

Water color painting anything they want.

Extra recess.

Pajama Day.

Bring a stuffed animal to school day.

Stinky feet day - go shoeless in your classroom.

9. Going out to breakfast can add up quickly.  Instead, grab some new breakfast foods to try at home for much cheaper.  We did Aldi canned cinnamon rolls cut up into bites for a cinnamon roll bite casserole.  The kids loved it and it cost me around $4.

10. Splurge on something at the grocery store and it's still a lot cheaper than going out to eat.  Grab a pack of giant muffins at Sams for $6 and enjoy them for a fun breakfast treat for several days.  These giant blueberry muffins are our favorite.  They aren't expensive, but they were a fun thing to add to our weekly shopping trip.

11. Save gift cards for a fun dinner out!  My parents gave the kids Azzip gift cards for Easter.  We used them last Friday night for a delicious dinner out.  We only had to pay $6 for our meal that night.

12. Switch some of your name brand products out for store brands.  I tried this Equate contact solution since my usual Renew Contact solution is now $12/bottle.  I loved the Equate version and it's just $5.82!  What a great swap!  I'm also enjoying several ELF beauty products. I'll have to do a make up saving recap for you soon.

Let me know some creative ways you are saving money these days!

12 Ways to Save Money During the Holidays

I don't know about you, but it's an expensive time of year at our house!  The kids have been invited to lots of birthday parties, holiday events, work events, holiday food, parties and Christmas shopping.  It all adds up quickly.  I have some money saving ideas for you today.  I hope it helps save you a little money this month.

1. Clip fresh things from your yard to bring inside for holiday decor.  I have two beautiful holly bushes and I can't wait to trim some for Christmas.

2. If you go out to dinner, save your leftovers for lunch the next day.  I ordered the never ending pasta bowl meal at Olive Garden and couldn't finish my second bowl.  I boxed it up for an easy lunch the next day.

3. Teachers or room moms, if you need help, ask for it!  I know this won't apply to all teachers or won't work at all schools, but if you have parents who are willing to help, ask them for help.  We have snack time every day and my snack stash was running really low after passing out extra snacks to kids who forgot their snack.  I mentioned it in my weekly newsletter and parents were SO generous to restock my snacks.  It saved me tons of money and I was so thankful for the help.

4. Cash in your food rewards!  I have apps to all of our favorite food spots and instead of going to buy food, I'll shop my rewards.  I got a free coffee thanks to rewards points here!

5. Say YES to hand me downs.  Leo's current favorite slippers were a gift from a friend.  We don't get tons of hand me downs anymore, but I love when we do.  I also try to pass on favorite pieces to friends with younger kids.

6. Learn how to groom your pets to save money.  I'm the nail trimmer and cat groomer at our house.

This also applies to the people at our house.  I run my own family hair salon and it saves us at least $100 a month when I cut the boy's hair at home.

7. Pay attention to prices as you are checking out!

Walmart has been especially bad with this on clothing lately.  We got these snow boots for Fletcher.  They were marked $24.98 and rang up $29.98.  I was watching closesly, caught the error and my cashier was able to fix it right at the register.  I've noticed many clothing items at Walmart don't have prices on them so read the signs, scan in the app and know the prices you are paying.

8. I mentioned above to get all the food apps to your local favorite spots.  I love earning rewards to places we go to regularly.  One of my favorite money saving apps that I've been using since 2020 is Fetch.  It's the easist way to save.  You link your email, connect your Amazon account and it'll scan your emails for receipts.  You earn points from grocery purchases, Amazon purchsaes and more.  The rewards add up pretty quickly.  I always cash them in for Amazon gift cards or Starbucks gift cards.  It's a free app and you can upload your receipts one at a time with a simple photo or link your email accounts.  Either way works to earn rewards points.

I have a referral code if you are interested.

Turn basically anything you do into gift cards with Fetch. Earn at stores, restaurants and shopping online. Even playing free games. Download Fetch with my link or use code C8K71 to get a bonus when you submit your first receipt.
https://referral.fetch.com/vvv3/referralqr?code=C8K71

9. Splurge on fun things at Costco for dinner instead of going out to eat.  We grabbed these Crab Cake Minis at Costco for $19.99, made $5 worth of sides at home and ate a nicer meal for $25.  Going out to eat costs us about $25/plate so this Costco dinner splurge still saved us tons of money.  We really enjoyed these crab cakes in the air fryer.  I assumed they came with the dipping sauce, but they didn't.  Next time I'll make sure to make my own sauce to go with the crab cakes.

10. Compare prices.  If you are tempted to grab something in store, check the price at Amazon, Walmart or Target to see if you are getting a good deal.

For example, Fletcher loves these funny food socks.  They are $1.25/pair at Dollar Tree.  I looked for some more options on Amazon and I could get a six pack of food brand socks for $30.  That's much higher than Dollar Tree.  I just stopped in a couple different Dollar Trees to collect some socks for his stocking instead of overspending on the Amazon ones.

11. Read your credit card statements very carefully this time of year!  We just finished resolving a scam issue on one of our credit cards.  It looked like we were buying a lot of things - 45 different things - on itunes when we had only authorized 2 itunes purchases.  We caught it about the same time our credit card company did, but we had to double check accounts and call to dispute those charges.  They were all under $10 so it took a bit to flag our account as getting scammed.  Especially since it was listed as a shop that we purchase from.

12. Shop your closet first!  I know the matching family Christmas pjs are darling, but do you need them?  This year, two people in our family did not need any new Christmas pjs so we only bought pjs for the people who needed them.  Same thing with dress up days at school - we have elf day, candy cane striped day, Christmas sweater day, etc.  I'm shopping our Christmas closet first and will fill in the gaps as needed.  Try not to get pressured into buying holiday apparel to wear for the next 3 weeks.  I bought the kids each one new holiday sweatshirt and then we are using what we already have on hand for the other holiday things that pop up.

Happy Shopping!  I hope you find some great deals this season!

Amazing Aldi Deals

Hey friends!  I know that it's been a long time since I have put together an Aldi post for you.  I decided I'm going to start going once or twice a month to stock up on my favorite items to save us money in the grocery department.  The Aldi closest to my house isn't my favorite so for all of you that have told me you don't love shopping at your Aldi because it's old, run down or dingy - I get it.   

I'm going to encourage you to power through and get the deals!!  

Aldi prices are hard to beat on so many things.

I'll start with my favorite dairy and end with my favorite purchase of the day!

Favorite Dairy:

Gallon of milk $2.48

Blocks of cheese are $2 and then $3.89 for the fancier blocks

Bags of shredded cheese were $2.99 for 3 cups

String Cheese is $2.79

Favorite Snacks:

Apple cinnamon pouches $5.75

Gushers $2.68

Freeze dried apples $2.99

Pub style pretzels $1.99

Banana bunch $0.99

Favorite Meat:

We LOVE this beef shaved steak.  It's so good with some teriyaki sauce, roasted broccoli and rice.  We've also eaten it as fajita meat for tacos.

It's $6.13 a container.  I always stock up and freeze them.

Favorite Chips:

Tortilla chips $1.79!!  Tostitos have gotten so expensive at about $5 a bag sometimes.

Aldi wheat thins $1.05 - we love name brand wheat thins normally but these are good and a fraction of the price of name brand!

Favorite Dinner Staples:

Chicken broth $1.29

Black beans $0.71

Mini Naan Flatbreads $4.29 - great as a pizza crust!  They freezer perfectly so I stock up and freeze them.  Then thaw them on the day we need them.

Farfalle - $0.92 - My store was out of rotini and angel hair.  It's all a good deal so I just stocked up on Farfalle this time.

Tortilla shells $1.75

Favorite Baking Staples:

Brown sugar $1.69

40oz Jar of Creamy PB $3.39

Vegetable Oil $3.15

Other Favorites:

Green olives - $1.35

Premium Vodka Sauce - $3.99 - so good!!

I love their seasonal items!  They're great for charcuterie boards.

Artisan Crisp $3.59

A friend tipped me off to these cute lunch box notes!  They're perfect to add to your kids or your maybe even your spouse's lunch box.  You get 180 notes for just $4.99!  I got the girl and boy packs and can't wait to use them.  I found them near the cooler bags and lunch box stuff in the aisle of fun.

Did any of those prices surprise you??

What good deals did you see?  Each of these is at least $1 more per item than other stores near me so it's totally worth it for me to go and stock up at Aldi.

Go and check out an Aldi near you!

8 Creative Ways to Save Money

It seems like everything has gotten more expensive the past couple of years so I'm trying hard to get creative to save my family money.  Let me show you some simple ways - they really add up!

1 // Free Bouquet

I needed something pretty for my table over the weekend so the kids and I headed outside to make our own bouquet.  The kids helped me and easily saved me $10-15 on a fresh bouquet.  I trimmed everything down and it looked nice in a ball jar vase on my counter.  They were very proud of their cuttings.  All of our landscaping is very new so I'm eager for things to grow up more to give us more to cut for bouquets.  I'm also hoping to plant a cutting garden full of flowers next year.  Stay tuned!

2 // Stay In for Dessert

While we were on vacation, we opted to stay in for dessert.  Kevin grabbed these pint size Blue Bell ice creams in new flavors for us to try.  The kids loved getting a scoop of each one to sample.    They were under $5 each and fed us all easily a couple of nights.  Eating dessert at the condo saved us lots of money!

3. Free Fun at the Library

Are you visiting your local library??  We are getting into a good routine with ours.  The kids love to see their grab bag craft activities each time we visit.  They're totally free and fun to do at home.  The first kit we got was a fish craft and then they built these neat robots with their last kits.  Every library is different, but I bet your library would have free options for your family!

4 // Don't Waste Food

I have been working on this for the past couple of years.  I try very hard to save, freeze and eat up every bit of food we buy.  I found myself saving the very end of the tortilla chip bag to add to my taco bowl leftover lunch.  I also plan to finish up the random chip bags in the pantry on a charcuterie board or pair them with sandwich night to ensure they get eaten up.

5 // Leftover Shelf

I know I talk about this one often - but you really need a leftover zone in your fridge!  It will save you lots of money by keeping all the leftovers in one spot.  Then you can use them when you pack lunches or make more food throughout the week.  I chopped these veggies for a dinner side salad then saved all the leftovers for a yummy big salad lunch for me.

6 // Return Your Things

Whether it be Amazon returns or clothing returns or bad produce returns - RETURN IT!!  Don't let your money go to waste by missing your return window.  I keep my returns on my passenger front seat so that when I'm near the UPS store or when I'm out and about I can get my money back.  If you buy something online and don't love it, take the time to take it back.  Amazon usually gives you several weeks so put that on your weekly to do list.

I recently did a Sams Pick Up order and one bag of nectarines had gone bad.  It was drippy and totally gross.  I called Sams right away with my order number handy and asked for a refund.  They would like for you to bring items into the store for returns (which is fine for home or clothing or boxed items), but this was rotten produce that I did not select for myself.  I told them it was too much trouble to go into the store for a return and they refunded my card over the phone.  It took me 5 or so minutes to take care of it and saved me about $7 from going to waste.

7 // Freeze It

When you end up with the last bit of fruit salad that isn't getting eaten or you're heading out of town and have some fruit that will be have gone bad when you get back, chop it all up and freeze it!!  We try hard not to waste fruit - pop it in a freezer bag for smoothies.  I have a bag for ripe bananas and a bag for all the other fruit.  My kids pretty much love any smoothie as long as it's pinkish.  It's a great way to get in a healthy after school snack.

8 // Stay Home

Let me explain - I know myself and I know that if I stroll through HomeGoods or Target I will always find things that I want to buy.  So I'm trying hard to stay focused with my errands and stay home to tackle projects here instead of shopping.  Work on all those things you already have the supplies for or organize the things you already own before buying more.  Of course I still run errands.  I'm just working hard to stay focused with my spending so that we can save for some really fun projects!

Which of these could help you save the most money??

Happy Saving!

10 Creative Ways to Save Money

An important part of my stay at home mom life is to find great deals for my family. 

I'm the one who does the majority of the paying bills, shopping and planning for us right now while Kevin is the primary income earner in our house.  I'm super thankful to be home with the kids in this stage of life and I look forward to finding extra ways to save us money.  There were seasons in our family where I brought home the biggest paycheck and contributed the most financially, but the season we are in right now Kevin has taken over that role.  We balance each other out nicely!

I love a good deal and am happy when I can save us money to get things that we love.  I'm not a crazy coupon/deal hunter.  I don't watch prices 24/7 or deal hunt tons of places.  I just do a reasonable amount of deal hunting and enjoy the savings.

I've got some creative ways to save money to share with you today.

1 // Grocery store flowers & plants

Kevin loves to surprise me with flowers.  He grabs them at Meijer or Kroger on his way home from work.  They're always so pretty and so affordable.  They usually have a really affordable plant selection, too.  Keep this in mind the next time you want to order flowers or a plant for a friend.  Save money and deliver it to them!

2 // Eat Your Leftovers

If you Door Dash food or have leftovers from dining out, be sure to make plans to eat them.  They're going to taste best if you reheat them in your oven or air fryer.  We enjoy Panda leftovers!  I've mentioned this before, but add a leftover night to your menu each week to ensure that you are eating up all the leftovers and not wasting food each week.

3 // FREE

If someone offers you something for free, take it!  Ask around, check with your family or friends, join your local buy nothing Facebook groups or join a local moms group.  All of these are great options to find free things.  My sister offered me this giant can of Crisco and I said THANK YOU!

4 // Buy the size that makes sense for your family

The boys are I are the only guac eaters.  We rarely can finish a big container of it before it goes bad so these single serving cups of guacamole from Sams are perfect!  We grab them for lunch or for taco night.  This Member's Mark Classic Guacamole from Sams is under $7 for 14 cups and it's delicious!!  You'll always find it in my fridge.

5 // Art for Kids Hub

My kids like these art classes on youtube.  They're free and so much fun!  They do them at school sometimes and like to do them together at home.  Yay for free fun!

6 // Breakfast at Home

Save yourself some major $$$ by making a big breakfast for your family at home on the weekends.  My kids love things like muffins, scrambled eggs, omelets, waffles or eggs in a basket on the weekends when we have a little more time in the mornings.

7 // Plan Ahead for Parties

If you have the gift of time, you can save yourself lots of money in the party planning department.  Party store prices are often much higher than Amazon or Walmart.  I found these cool $100 bill napkins on Amazon a few weeks before I used them for a party and they made a big party statement without breaking the bank.

8 // Shop Around

If you want to buy a big ticket item - like a bike or a grill or patio furniture - shop around to compare prices.  Sometimes I'll price compare when I'm in the store and other times I snap a photo of the item and the price so that I can compare prices when I get home.

9 // Contact Customer Service

When something breaks, instead of just replacing it right away, contact customer service for that company and see if they can help you.  My kids like these Pogo water bottles and use them daily for school.  Both kids had issues with their lids snapping at the hinge.  I took a picture of the problem and reached out to the company.  I found all the contact info through a quick Amazon and google search.  Pogo customer service was very responsive and ended up sending me 4 brand new water bottles to replace the ones that broke.  I was impressed!

10 // Just Buy What You Need

If you just need 3 donuts, buy 3 donuts.  You don't always have to stock up or buy large quantities.  It's cheaper per donut to buy 6 or 12, but if you don't need 6 or 12 then you are spending more money than you really need to.

Which idea would be easiest for you to try this month?