There is no better feeling than getting both girls totally outfitted for the summer (including spring clothes and Easter dresses) for around $100 total. Yes, there will be a few items here and there that I will still need to pick up, but the bulk of their clothes are ready to go when the weather gets warm! I had a mission to prove that I could get quality, name brand clothes for the same price (if not cheaper) than cheaper department stores or places like Target/Wal Mart. I love Target and will probably buy a bunch of play clothes there, but I do love Carters, Gap, Old Navy and Children's Place for nicer clothes for things like church, dinners out, etc. So my mission yesterday was to buy the bulk of the girls' spring/summer clothes for around $100. I was so excited that I was actually able to accomplish this!
Carters Outlet at the Legends had some awesome prices! Right now on their website they have 2 printable coupons, one for $5 creepers for infants (1 piece outfits, normally around $12.00 each) and also a 20% off your entire purchase over $40. I happened to have a 25% off coupon that was mailed to me that I used instead, but 20% off is great too. Their Easter dresses are all 50% off right now, so when I added the 25% coupon equaled out to the dresses being 75% off each!! The two matching dresses I got for the girls were normally $32 and $36 each...after my discount I got them for $8 and $9 a piece...$17 for two dresses is an awesome awesome deal!! Everything I bought yesterday was mostly for Olivia since Mia has outgrown many of their clothes...but everything I bought was at least 50% off in store with my 25% off coupon...which added up to a whopping savings!! I also got another 20% off coupon to use for my next purchase at checkout. We will be making a return trip for sure!!
All girls pajamas are BOGO right now as well. We waited on those this trip, but will probably be going back for some new nightgowns for Mia. One nightgown at $26 with the second one free, plus 20% off works out to be around $10/nightgown for good, quality pajamas. That's a great deal.
Old Navy rounded out Mia's wardrobe with all of their cotton and knit dresses marked down to $8.50-$10.00 each. She LOVES dresses (anyone that knows her isn't shocked by this!) so if I can load up on dresses for the summer for her, it eliminates the morning fight of what we are wearing :0) Old Navy also had their Capri leggings on sale for 2 for $6 (normally $8.50 each). I grabbed a couple of pairs of these to throw under her dresses from last year that still fit but have gotten a little too short on her. This helped round out her wardrobe so she has more dresses to choose from without showing the world her cute little rear end while playing! Old Navy little girls flip flops are also $2.50/pair when you buy 2 or more. Of course we ended up with pink and silver. It looked like there were several great deals for Adults as well, however both kids were hungry and I bypassed shopping for myself.
GAP outlet had some adorable outfits for girls but not great on the markdowns right now. We did get a few pieces because I can't resist GAP, but will be waiting for better deals there. Last year at the end of spring I was able to get winter clothes from $.99-$2.99 a piece. I bought bigger sizes and that's what the girls had for this year.
Stride Rite has some great deals on shoes (and if you haven't tried Stride Rite shoes for your kids you are missing out!!) These are GREAT quality shoes that hold up through anything. I got Olivia a new pair of Robeez for $19.00, cheaper than most places I could find them. We will be going back for Mia closer to summer because her feet keep growing and growing!
My greatest feeling yesterday was knowing that I didn't pay full price for anything, and most items I got were at least a 50% savings if not more!! Why pay full price when I can get the same items much cheaper??
This did take some planning/organizing. I spent the last week or two watching store websites/emails and writing out a list of what we have, what we need and where the best deals are. So I basically knew what I was looking for at each store before we went. This helped me to stay on budget and not go crazy...because lets face it, shopping for little girls is a LOT of fun!
Happy Shopping!
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Coupons Part 2 - Organizing Your Coupons!!
So now that you have started clipping and organizing coupons, the question becomes "how the heck do I organize them so I don't spend a ton of time searching for them when I need them??"
There are several different types of organizational tools you can use to get your coupons organized and functioning for you. Here are the 3 most common ways that I know of:
1. A coupon binder - this is my favorite for me. It's a big 3 ring binder with tons of baseball card type holders to slip each coupon into. Each sleeve has a tab dividing them up into sections, ie: produce, beverages, meats, dairy, bread, canned goods, pasta/grains, cereal, snacks, home products, baby products, soaps/lotions/deodorants, cleaning supplies, hair care, dental, etc. This makes it super easy to flip to each section and see if I have a coupon for a product in that category. There are several websites you can order these binders already put together or you can make one yourself, whatever works for your budget!!
I always pull coupons out that I know I'm going to use and keep them in an envelope. I still bring my binder to the grocery store along with my calculator, grocery list, highlighter, pen/pencil, copy of the store ad and print out of my digital coupons already loaded to my Dillons card. Having my binder with me helps me check for coupons if I see an item marked down that I might not have known was on sale. I ordered mine from www.Thecouponbinder.com, however i have heard reports that she's not producing them right now. There are several other websites with the same concept though!
The other benefit to my coupon binder is that everything fits in one place. My coupons, Meal Plans, grocery lists, pencil holder with pens, pencils, and calculator and blank paper are all in one binder. So there is never a question of "what was I planning for that dinner??" when I'm at the store. I like having everything together so I don't miss items and have to make a return trip back to the store.
2. Accordion Style Folders - I started with this method but found it annoying to have to sort through stacks of coupons in the middle of the store just to see if I had a coupon matching an item. For the non-serious couponer however, this works well because they are generally small and can fit into your purse.
3. File Folder - I tried this method for about two weeks and gave up. You can get a file folder system and instead of clipping coupons on Sundays, you just file the entire coupon inserts into the folder. Then when you see a deal come up that is referenced by which newspaper it was in you can pull the entire insert out, clip just the coupons you need and go to the store. I missed a lot of good coupons by doing this so it didn't work for me. Many people have had a lot of success with it though!
So the best way to maximize your savings with coupons is to find a system that works for YOU! Just because it works for someone else, doesn't mean it's going to be the most beneficial to your style of organization/shopping.
If anyone needs help getting started with coupon organizing, I'd be happy to help set up a binder!! I've also been asked by many if I would ever do a coupon-teaching class. If there is interest I would totally be open to doing this! Leave me a comment and let me know :0)
Happy Shopping!!
There are several different types of organizational tools you can use to get your coupons organized and functioning for you. Here are the 3 most common ways that I know of:
1. A coupon binder - this is my favorite for me. It's a big 3 ring binder with tons of baseball card type holders to slip each coupon into. Each sleeve has a tab dividing them up into sections, ie: produce, beverages, meats, dairy, bread, canned goods, pasta/grains, cereal, snacks, home products, baby products, soaps/lotions/deodorants, cleaning supplies, hair care, dental, etc. This makes it super easy to flip to each section and see if I have a coupon for a product in that category. There are several websites you can order these binders already put together or you can make one yourself, whatever works for your budget!!
I always pull coupons out that I know I'm going to use and keep them in an envelope. I still bring my binder to the grocery store along with my calculator, grocery list, highlighter, pen/pencil, copy of the store ad and print out of my digital coupons already loaded to my Dillons card. Having my binder with me helps me check for coupons if I see an item marked down that I might not have known was on sale. I ordered mine from www.Thecouponbinder.com, however i have heard reports that she's not producing them right now. There are several other websites with the same concept though!
The other benefit to my coupon binder is that everything fits in one place. My coupons, Meal Plans, grocery lists, pencil holder with pens, pencils, and calculator and blank paper are all in one binder. So there is never a question of "what was I planning for that dinner??" when I'm at the store. I like having everything together so I don't miss items and have to make a return trip back to the store.
2. Accordion Style Folders - I started with this method but found it annoying to have to sort through stacks of coupons in the middle of the store just to see if I had a coupon matching an item. For the non-serious couponer however, this works well because they are generally small and can fit into your purse.
3. File Folder - I tried this method for about two weeks and gave up. You can get a file folder system and instead of clipping coupons on Sundays, you just file the entire coupon inserts into the folder. Then when you see a deal come up that is referenced by which newspaper it was in you can pull the entire insert out, clip just the coupons you need and go to the store. I missed a lot of good coupons by doing this so it didn't work for me. Many people have had a lot of success with it though!
So the best way to maximize your savings with coupons is to find a system that works for YOU! Just because it works for someone else, doesn't mean it's going to be the most beneficial to your style of organization/shopping.
If anyone needs help getting started with coupon organizing, I'd be happy to help set up a binder!! I've also been asked by many if I would ever do a coupon-teaching class. If there is interest I would totally be open to doing this! Leave me a comment and let me know :0)
Happy Shopping!!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Coupons: Part 1 - Types of Coupons
Ok, So I've been promising a quick overall coupon lesson so I'll do my best to make this as easy to follow as possible! I'm going to break these posts up to make it easier to follow (and because Olivia will only sit still for so long before she wants my attention...so I might not get everything typed all at the same time!). I will start today with going through the different types of coupons :0)
First I'm going to start off and say that it takes time, patience and a little extra time to really get the hang of this! I was so overwhelmed that I threw a fit that even my 5 year old would have been impressed with the first time I tried putting together sales and coupons. But the longer you stick with it, the better your results will be!
First, to get started you need to understand the types of coupons available to you. I will be honest, I used to view coupons as a pain and not worth the hassle. Then we came into financial hardship and I didn't have a choice but to cut back our grocery budget. I mean honestly, did we really need to spend $800-$1000 on FOOD each month?? That seems like such a waste. Pretty soon I couldn't believe that I used to shop without ever checking on coupons or sales!! All of this time I could have been saving SO much money and been able to cut our bills in half...for a family of 4 I spend around $400 a month now, down from my previous $800-$1000!!
A few coupon myths that I'm guilty of believing in the begining:
myth:"coupons are for poor people" - truth: coupons are for SMART people! If a company or store is offering you an item for $.50, $.75, $1.00 or more off for an item you buy anyway, why not take advantage of that??
myth: "I don't have time to clip coupons" - truth: "I don't have the time to NOT clip coupons" - Lets face it, the economy is tough right now. Trying to support a family with small children on one income isn't an easy thing to do. Because I'm so blessed to be able to stay home with my kids instead of working full time, then it's my job to make every dollar that my husband brings home stretch! So when I break it down, for an extra 6 hours of my time a month (usually an hour and a half a week) I save around $400-$600...that's like getting paid $100 an hour for doing this particular job :0) I'll take that any day!
myth: "coupons are only for junky, processed foods" - truth: "There are coupons for all kinds of things!!" - I will admit, there aren't many coupons out there for fresh produce, meat, dairy, eggs etc. I try my very best to buy the freshest, most wholesome food I can for my family. And the reality is that fresh, organic food is expensive! The bulk of my coupons that I use are for household items (toilet paper, paper towels, laundry detergents, cleaning suppllies etc), health and beauty items (shampoos, soaps, toothpaste, toothbrushes etc), baby items (diapers, wipes, formular and other things) and popular food items at our house such as yogurts, cereals, breads, deli meats, granola bars, frozen veggies, crackers, soups and other various snack food items. Because I can use these coupons to buy all of these items for practically nothing and then stockpile them, the bulk of my grocery budget is left available for fresh produce, dairy, meats and other wholesome foods.
Coupon Types:
1. Traditional coupons clipped from the newspapers on Sundays. Generally every Sunday there are anywhere from 1-3 coupon inserts in the paper. Some weeks are better than others. During the first phase of couponing I would buy 4 papers every Sunday to get multiple coupons. Then when that item goes on sale, I have a nice stack of coupons to get several of those items at a cheaper price. People vary on how many papers to buy...I've known people to buy 6-10 papers while in "stockpile" mode (which can get up to a 90% savings!), or some people choose to work with just one paper a week (usually a savings of around 5-10%), it's totally up to you. I generally get 3 or 4 papers a week and that seems to be working for me (I'm averaging about 60% savings on my grocery bills with 4 papers a week)
Example: Last month featured a coupon for buy one "Old Spice" deodorant, get an Old Spice body wash free. I had 4 of these coupons which equaled 4 free bottles of body wash for my husband! The deodorants that I had to purchase to get the body washes were on sale for $1.99 at Dillons. I had 4 coupons for $1 off 2 Old Spice Deodorants. Add an E-Coupon onto my Dillons card to take even more money off and I was able to get 4 Old Spice Body Washes and 4 Old Spice Deodorants for around $2. Not bad!! If I had paid full price for those items, even on sale, I would have spent around $20 total. So an $18 savings was wonderful, plus I'm stocked on enough of those items for my husband to not need to purchase more until the next great sale/coupon match up happens!!
2. Printable Coupons from the Internet - I use these frequently as well! There are several sites that you can print coupons right from home on your own printer!! These coupons re-set every month and you are usually allowed to print 2 copies of each coupon until the coupons are re-set. The websites I generally use for these are http://www.dillons.com/, http://www.coupons.com/, http://www.redplum.com/ and any company website offering coupons (such as Kellogs, Kraft, Betty Crocker etc). You will have to install a "coupon printer" but this can be done in a matter of seconds!
3. Digital or "e-coupons" are coupons that can be loaded straight to your store loyalty card. For me, I load these e-coupons onto my Dillons card and they are applied while I'm checking out. One swipe of my Dillons card and any product I have purchased will automatically be deducted off of my bill. The nice thing with these is that they can be used on an item that you have a paper coupon for as well!! The sites I use to load my e-coupons are http://www.dillons.com/, http://www.cellfire.com/ and http://www.shortcuts.com/. All you do is sign up, register your loyalty cards and start loading them up with awesome savings!
4. Others - Magazines are another great place for finding coupons, though the only magazine I subscribe to specifically for coupons is "All You". Catalina coupons are the print-out coupons that the cashier generally hands you along with your receipt at the end of your check out. These can sometimes have great savings on them to apply to a future purchase of that item. Loyalty coupons are another great thing that stores are giving away now...Dillons will look over my review of the items I'm frequently purchasing using my Dillons card and will send me coupons for those items every few months. I love that I'm getting coupons for items I buy almost weekly anyway!
Manufacture VS Store Coupons
On the top of each coupon next to the expiration date it will usually say mnfc cpn or store cpn. The manufacture coupons are usually good at any stores because they come directly from the company that makes that product. Store coupons are usually only good at that particular store. A lot of stores will let you stack these and use a store coupon along with a manufacture coupon on the same item, which equals double the savings!! Every store is different though so you have to check with your individual store to find out what their specific coupon policies are. Target is one store I often am able to stack my store/company coupons to get great savings!
So that is a brief overview of the types of coupons available to you. I have SO much more information to give but the baby is up from her nap :0) So I will post more later!! When I do have a second later I will start in on the basics of organizing coupons as well as shopping with them!!
Stay Tuned....
First I'm going to start off and say that it takes time, patience and a little extra time to really get the hang of this! I was so overwhelmed that I threw a fit that even my 5 year old would have been impressed with the first time I tried putting together sales and coupons. But the longer you stick with it, the better your results will be!
First, to get started you need to understand the types of coupons available to you. I will be honest, I used to view coupons as a pain and not worth the hassle. Then we came into financial hardship and I didn't have a choice but to cut back our grocery budget. I mean honestly, did we really need to spend $800-$1000 on FOOD each month?? That seems like such a waste. Pretty soon I couldn't believe that I used to shop without ever checking on coupons or sales!! All of this time I could have been saving SO much money and been able to cut our bills in half...for a family of 4 I spend around $400 a month now, down from my previous $800-$1000!!
A few coupon myths that I'm guilty of believing in the begining:
myth:"coupons are for poor people" - truth: coupons are for SMART people! If a company or store is offering you an item for $.50, $.75, $1.00 or more off for an item you buy anyway, why not take advantage of that??
myth: "I don't have time to clip coupons" - truth: "I don't have the time to NOT clip coupons" - Lets face it, the economy is tough right now. Trying to support a family with small children on one income isn't an easy thing to do. Because I'm so blessed to be able to stay home with my kids instead of working full time, then it's my job to make every dollar that my husband brings home stretch! So when I break it down, for an extra 6 hours of my time a month (usually an hour and a half a week) I save around $400-$600...that's like getting paid $100 an hour for doing this particular job :0) I'll take that any day!
myth: "coupons are only for junky, processed foods" - truth: "There are coupons for all kinds of things!!" - I will admit, there aren't many coupons out there for fresh produce, meat, dairy, eggs etc. I try my very best to buy the freshest, most wholesome food I can for my family. And the reality is that fresh, organic food is expensive! The bulk of my coupons that I use are for household items (toilet paper, paper towels, laundry detergents, cleaning suppllies etc), health and beauty items (shampoos, soaps, toothpaste, toothbrushes etc), baby items (diapers, wipes, formular and other things) and popular food items at our house such as yogurts, cereals, breads, deli meats, granola bars, frozen veggies, crackers, soups and other various snack food items. Because I can use these coupons to buy all of these items for practically nothing and then stockpile them, the bulk of my grocery budget is left available for fresh produce, dairy, meats and other wholesome foods.
Coupon Types:
1. Traditional coupons clipped from the newspapers on Sundays. Generally every Sunday there are anywhere from 1-3 coupon inserts in the paper. Some weeks are better than others. During the first phase of couponing I would buy 4 papers every Sunday to get multiple coupons. Then when that item goes on sale, I have a nice stack of coupons to get several of those items at a cheaper price. People vary on how many papers to buy...I've known people to buy 6-10 papers while in "stockpile" mode (which can get up to a 90% savings!), or some people choose to work with just one paper a week (usually a savings of around 5-10%), it's totally up to you. I generally get 3 or 4 papers a week and that seems to be working for me (I'm averaging about 60% savings on my grocery bills with 4 papers a week)
Example: Last month featured a coupon for buy one "Old Spice" deodorant, get an Old Spice body wash free. I had 4 of these coupons which equaled 4 free bottles of body wash for my husband! The deodorants that I had to purchase to get the body washes were on sale for $1.99 at Dillons. I had 4 coupons for $1 off 2 Old Spice Deodorants. Add an E-Coupon onto my Dillons card to take even more money off and I was able to get 4 Old Spice Body Washes and 4 Old Spice Deodorants for around $2. Not bad!! If I had paid full price for those items, even on sale, I would have spent around $20 total. So an $18 savings was wonderful, plus I'm stocked on enough of those items for my husband to not need to purchase more until the next great sale/coupon match up happens!!
2. Printable Coupons from the Internet - I use these frequently as well! There are several sites that you can print coupons right from home on your own printer!! These coupons re-set every month and you are usually allowed to print 2 copies of each coupon until the coupons are re-set. The websites I generally use for these are http://www.dillons.com/, http://www.coupons.com/, http://www.redplum.com/ and any company website offering coupons (such as Kellogs, Kraft, Betty Crocker etc). You will have to install a "coupon printer" but this can be done in a matter of seconds!
3. Digital or "e-coupons" are coupons that can be loaded straight to your store loyalty card. For me, I load these e-coupons onto my Dillons card and they are applied while I'm checking out. One swipe of my Dillons card and any product I have purchased will automatically be deducted off of my bill. The nice thing with these is that they can be used on an item that you have a paper coupon for as well!! The sites I use to load my e-coupons are http://www.dillons.com/, http://www.cellfire.com/ and http://www.shortcuts.com/. All you do is sign up, register your loyalty cards and start loading them up with awesome savings!
4. Others - Magazines are another great place for finding coupons, though the only magazine I subscribe to specifically for coupons is "All You". Catalina coupons are the print-out coupons that the cashier generally hands you along with your receipt at the end of your check out. These can sometimes have great savings on them to apply to a future purchase of that item. Loyalty coupons are another great thing that stores are giving away now...Dillons will look over my review of the items I'm frequently purchasing using my Dillons card and will send me coupons for those items every few months. I love that I'm getting coupons for items I buy almost weekly anyway!
Manufacture VS Store Coupons
On the top of each coupon next to the expiration date it will usually say mnfc cpn or store cpn. The manufacture coupons are usually good at any stores because they come directly from the company that makes that product. Store coupons are usually only good at that particular store. A lot of stores will let you stack these and use a store coupon along with a manufacture coupon on the same item, which equals double the savings!! Every store is different though so you have to check with your individual store to find out what their specific coupon policies are. Target is one store I often am able to stack my store/company coupons to get great savings!
So that is a brief overview of the types of coupons available to you. I have SO much more information to give but the baby is up from her nap :0) So I will post more later!! When I do have a second later I will start in on the basics of organizing coupons as well as shopping with them!!
Stay Tuned....
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Moms on the Run: Time Saving Meal Tips
It's always amazing to me how much time seems to speed up in the midst of every day chaos. After running to doctors appointments, pre school, dance class, swim lessons, jazzercise (one little thing I manage to get in for myself because lets face it...who doesn't love to dance AND burn a ton of calories all at the same time??) and juggling household chores, all of the sudden its 5:30 and I haven't started dinner yet. With my husband working night shifts I have to be organized to get dinner ready on time before he leaves for work.
One way I have been really successful with this is to plan and prep for the week. I already talked a little bit about the importance of meal planning from a budget/shopping standpoint...but it's also VERY helpful in making sure I'm on track throughout the day.
To keep track of my meals I have 3 pleaces I always have them written down: 1. The entire weeks worth of planned menues written down on a meal planning work sheet with which cookbook and pg to find the recipe, what side dishes to have with it, and what method of cooking (crock pot, oven, stove top, etc). 2. On my Daily "To-Do" list that goes into my household management binder and 3. on my monthly calendar white board in my kitchen. That one helps the most because I can glance up and see what I had planned for tonight and then my family knows what to expect for dinner :)
I generally do my grocery shopping on Fridays. On Friday or Saturdays I look over my weeks worth of meal plans and try to prep as much of the meal as I can, especially meals that are planned for busier days. I will cook up the chicken overnight in the crock pot, shred and freeze in zip-lock bags. I will also brown hamburger or slice meats and freeze those as well. Onions, Peppers and other items like those can also be prepped ahead of time and frozen.
I have played around with the once-a-month freezer cooking and found that it doesn't work for me as my main method of cooking. I LOVE to cook and try new recipes (yes this is still a shock to my mother who thought for the longest time I was a lost cause in the kitchen...which I was!), so cooking all in one day just wasn't a good fit for me. That being said, I do love having a few meals already put together and waiting in the freezer for a night that I get behind. One way I've been able to do this is to pick a recipe each week to that freezes well and double it, so I can serve that meal and freeze the other half for a later date. I also do this with breads, muffins, cookies, mashed potatoes and other items that take a bit longer to make from scratch. It's so handy to have those ready to go!
Example: Tonight I had to switch my menu plan around a little bit due to schedule changes. I had planned on Savory Beef for our dinner on Tuesday but ended up serving it tonight. So when I chose that recipe for this week, I bought double of everything and was able to "batch" cook tonight, meaning I made extra, served one meal for dinner and froze the other to pull out some night in the future when I need it. The even bigger bonus was that I was able to pick up the meat during Dillons' BOGO (Buy-one-get-one-free) meat sale a few weeks ago and freeze it until I needed it. So I got two meals for the price of one, which worked out to each meal costing about $4.50. That's an awesome price for feeding a family of 4!! (And yes, baby Olivia counts as the 4th despite being 8 1/2 months old...she can eat like a champ with her two tiny little teeth!)
The other benefit to having a few meals on hand in the freezer is for when things come up: A friend with a new baby, illnesses, surgery etc. It's nice to have a good, home cooked meal ready to bring over when someone needs it!
Cooking Ahead:
One of the most cost effective ways to use large amounts of chicken or meat is to not let them go to waste! I recently was able to buy a few bags of frozen chicken breasts for around $5/bag (an AWESOME price for giant bags of frozen chicken!!) I stocked up on these bags of chicken. I took one entire bag and tossed all of the breasts (still frozen) into the crock pot along with roughly 1/2 cup of water, a little salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Cooked on low around 6-8 hours (overnight). In the morning I shredded half and cubed the other half and froze in one pound baggies. So anytime I have a recipe calling for cooked chicken, all I have to do is pull a bag out of the freezer and it's ready to go! No cook time required!
I also do this when meat goes on sale. If I can get a giant roll of ground round at Dillons for around $2/pound, I will buy 2 or 3 3-pound rolls. I will fry up 3-6 pounds of hamburger with some onion and garlic and freeze these in 1 pound baggies. These are great for throwing into soups, chili, tacos, spaghetti sauces, casseroles and other things called for browned ground beef.
Tomorrow I will try to put together some recipes/ideas for things that can easily be cooked and frozen in batches, saving you tons of time and money!! Happy Cooking!!
~*~ Erica ~*~
This book is a great addition to any cooks kitchen...This book started me on the basic concept of freezer cooking. It is full of TONS of great, healthy and affordable meals with a wide variety. I try to pick a recipe or two from this book every week to build up my freezer stockpile of ready-to-go meals. She lists out the recipe, the prep work, grocery list and even what containers work best for storing these meals. All of the work is done for you except for the cooking :0)
One way I have been really successful with this is to plan and prep for the week. I already talked a little bit about the importance of meal planning from a budget/shopping standpoint...but it's also VERY helpful in making sure I'm on track throughout the day.
To keep track of my meals I have 3 pleaces I always have them written down: 1. The entire weeks worth of planned menues written down on a meal planning work sheet with which cookbook and pg to find the recipe, what side dishes to have with it, and what method of cooking (crock pot, oven, stove top, etc). 2. On my Daily "To-Do" list that goes into my household management binder and 3. on my monthly calendar white board in my kitchen. That one helps the most because I can glance up and see what I had planned for tonight and then my family knows what to expect for dinner :)
I generally do my grocery shopping on Fridays. On Friday or Saturdays I look over my weeks worth of meal plans and try to prep as much of the meal as I can, especially meals that are planned for busier days. I will cook up the chicken overnight in the crock pot, shred and freeze in zip-lock bags. I will also brown hamburger or slice meats and freeze those as well. Onions, Peppers and other items like those can also be prepped ahead of time and frozen.
I have played around with the once-a-month freezer cooking and found that it doesn't work for me as my main method of cooking. I LOVE to cook and try new recipes (yes this is still a shock to my mother who thought for the longest time I was a lost cause in the kitchen...which I was!), so cooking all in one day just wasn't a good fit for me. That being said, I do love having a few meals already put together and waiting in the freezer for a night that I get behind. One way I've been able to do this is to pick a recipe each week to that freezes well and double it, so I can serve that meal and freeze the other half for a later date. I also do this with breads, muffins, cookies, mashed potatoes and other items that take a bit longer to make from scratch. It's so handy to have those ready to go!
Example: Tonight I had to switch my menu plan around a little bit due to schedule changes. I had planned on Savory Beef for our dinner on Tuesday but ended up serving it tonight. So when I chose that recipe for this week, I bought double of everything and was able to "batch" cook tonight, meaning I made extra, served one meal for dinner and froze the other to pull out some night in the future when I need it. The even bigger bonus was that I was able to pick up the meat during Dillons' BOGO (Buy-one-get-one-free) meat sale a few weeks ago and freeze it until I needed it. So I got two meals for the price of one, which worked out to each meal costing about $4.50. That's an awesome price for feeding a family of 4!! (And yes, baby Olivia counts as the 4th despite being 8 1/2 months old...she can eat like a champ with her two tiny little teeth!)
The other benefit to having a few meals on hand in the freezer is for when things come up: A friend with a new baby, illnesses, surgery etc. It's nice to have a good, home cooked meal ready to bring over when someone needs it!
Cooking Ahead:
One of the most cost effective ways to use large amounts of chicken or meat is to not let them go to waste! I recently was able to buy a few bags of frozen chicken breasts for around $5/bag (an AWESOME price for giant bags of frozen chicken!!) I stocked up on these bags of chicken. I took one entire bag and tossed all of the breasts (still frozen) into the crock pot along with roughly 1/2 cup of water, a little salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Cooked on low around 6-8 hours (overnight). In the morning I shredded half and cubed the other half and froze in one pound baggies. So anytime I have a recipe calling for cooked chicken, all I have to do is pull a bag out of the freezer and it's ready to go! No cook time required!
I also do this when meat goes on sale. If I can get a giant roll of ground round at Dillons for around $2/pound, I will buy 2 or 3 3-pound rolls. I will fry up 3-6 pounds of hamburger with some onion and garlic and freeze these in 1 pound baggies. These are great for throwing into soups, chili, tacos, spaghetti sauces, casseroles and other things called for browned ground beef.
Tomorrow I will try to put together some recipes/ideas for things that can easily be cooked and frozen in batches, saving you tons of time and money!! Happy Cooking!!
~*~ Erica ~*~
This book is a great addition to any cooks kitchen...This book started me on the basic concept of freezer cooking. It is full of TONS of great, healthy and affordable meals with a wide variety. I try to pick a recipe or two from this book every week to build up my freezer stockpile of ready-to-go meals. She lists out the recipe, the prep work, grocery list and even what containers work best for storing these meals. All of the work is done for you except for the cooking :0)
Great Savings at the Store Today!
I actually got an hour free to go to Dillons alone...yes alone, that means *NO KIDS* with me!! It's amazing how much easier it is to focus and follow my list without constantly being distracted and saying "don't touch that, stay here, watch out you are blocking the aisle, because I said NO" etc etc. So I took my time and went down each and every aisle...sometimes looking at things simply because I could stop and look at them.
In the end I managed to take advantage of my coupons matched up with the great Cart Buster Sale going on at Dillons (Sale prices are good through 3/15). In addition to getting my weekly groceries I was able to stock up on house hold items like toilet paper, Tide, Body Wash, Deodorant, Diapers, Wipes, Toothpaste and Toothbrushes.
When I got to the checkout with my overflowing cart I was a little nervous...and continued to be nervous as I watched my total climbing up up and up. There is always that moment of self doubt, wondering if I did my math correctly with my coupons. I had my budget set for this week to be $150. At the end of the check out my total bill was $255 (yikes!) She swiped my Dillons card and all of my coupons and I was able to get my total bill to be $143!!! So that was $112 savings on items I would have been buying regardless of sales or coupons. I don't know about you, but I'm perfectly happy to hang on to that extra $112!!
Now I know many people have been asking how to get started on Couponing. I plan to type it all out tonight for you. But for now, first step is to get a couple of newspapers and start clipping! Check back tonight or tomorrow for a complete lesson how to get started and organized with coupon clipping!! This week I will post daily on my routine for the day in order to be organized and ready to go shopping again on Friday!
~*~Erica~*~
In the end I managed to take advantage of my coupons matched up with the great Cart Buster Sale going on at Dillons (Sale prices are good through 3/15). In addition to getting my weekly groceries I was able to stock up on house hold items like toilet paper, Tide, Body Wash, Deodorant, Diapers, Wipes, Toothpaste and Toothbrushes.
When I got to the checkout with my overflowing cart I was a little nervous...and continued to be nervous as I watched my total climbing up up and up. There is always that moment of self doubt, wondering if I did my math correctly with my coupons. I had my budget set for this week to be $150. At the end of the check out my total bill was $255 (yikes!) She swiped my Dillons card and all of my coupons and I was able to get my total bill to be $143!!! So that was $112 savings on items I would have been buying regardless of sales or coupons. I don't know about you, but I'm perfectly happy to hang on to that extra $112!!
Now I know many people have been asking how to get started on Couponing. I plan to type it all out tonight for you. But for now, first step is to get a couple of newspapers and start clipping! Check back tonight or tomorrow for a complete lesson how to get started and organized with coupon clipping!! This week I will post daily on my routine for the day in order to be organized and ready to go shopping again on Friday!
~*~Erica~*~
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Getting Started this week: Meal Planning!!
Weekly meal planning for the family can feel like such a daunting task! There are times I sit and stare at my mountain of cookbooks feeling just more than slightly overwhelmed at the idea of planning an entire weeks worth of meals!! But in the back of my mind I know that our budget (and waistlines!) will thank me for taking the time to plan before I shop for the week. There is nothing better than a home cooked meal and a family dinner to end the day! By being prepared I know that I'm feeding my kids the best food possible...and enjoying the very entertaining and somewhat random conversations at the dinner table from my very talkative 5 year old.
So my challenge to you this week is to get a meal plan in place and grocery shop for the entire weeks worth of meals! I plan my meals on Wednesdays and Thursdays and always do my weekly shopping on Fridays.
Here is a list of my weekly meals for next week to get you started and give you an idea of how I put together my menu.
Sunday: Herbed Chicken, Rice, Green Beans, Apple Sauce
Monday: Creamy Garlic Chicken over Pasta, Mixed Sauteed Veggies, Rolls
Tuesday: Savory Beef Tips, Egg Noodles, Peas, Cottage Cheese
Wednesday: Greek Chicken in the Crock Pot, Orzo, Mixed Veggies **Crock Pot Meal**
Thursday: Grilled BBQ Chicken and Shrimp, Fresh Green Beans, Pasta Salad
Friday: Lasagna Casserole, Garlic Bread, Peas, Cottage Cheese
Saturday: Tacos, Corn, Chips and Salsa.
Before I sit down to plan out my menu for the week, I do a couple of things. First I make a list of everything I have stockpiled, in the basement, pantry and freezer. If I have meats or things frozen that are needing to be used up I will find a recipe to use that particular item. For example, this week I need to use a package of frozen boneless chicken thighs. So I chose the Greek Chicken recipe to use that package up. Because it's a crock pot recipe I planned to cook that Wednesday which is our busy day with Play Group, Pre-School and Dance.
Another thing I do is pick up the store ads to look over them and see if there are any cuts of meat on sale for that week. I use this time to stock up on meat and incorporate that cut into my weekly meal. Last week Dillons had a great sale on boneless pork loin. I bought a 3 1/2 pound pork loin and was able to make 3 meals from it: BBQ pork sandwiches, pork taco cups, and bbq pork turnovers. I froze 2 of these meals to be able to pull them out on a busy night when I run out of time to cook. So my pork loin that I paid around $6 for works out to be around $2 per meal...a great deal to feed a family of 4! We'll get into all of that soon though, for now, go through your old cook books and recipes and start planning!
A fantastic website for downloading forms to use for menu planning and grocery shopping is www.moneysavingmom.com. Another website I enjoy using is www.saymmm.com.
Happy Planning!
Next Post: Making the Most of your menu planning: COUPONS!!!! Learning to clip coupons and stack them with sales can equal great savings and become a fun little game.
So my challenge to you this week is to get a meal plan in place and grocery shop for the entire weeks worth of meals! I plan my meals on Wednesdays and Thursdays and always do my weekly shopping on Fridays.
Here is a list of my weekly meals for next week to get you started and give you an idea of how I put together my menu.
Sunday: Herbed Chicken, Rice, Green Beans, Apple Sauce
Monday: Creamy Garlic Chicken over Pasta, Mixed Sauteed Veggies, Rolls
Tuesday: Savory Beef Tips, Egg Noodles, Peas, Cottage Cheese
Wednesday: Greek Chicken in the Crock Pot, Orzo, Mixed Veggies **Crock Pot Meal**
Thursday: Grilled BBQ Chicken and Shrimp, Fresh Green Beans, Pasta Salad
Friday: Lasagna Casserole, Garlic Bread, Peas, Cottage Cheese
Saturday: Tacos, Corn, Chips and Salsa.
Before I sit down to plan out my menu for the week, I do a couple of things. First I make a list of everything I have stockpiled, in the basement, pantry and freezer. If I have meats or things frozen that are needing to be used up I will find a recipe to use that particular item. For example, this week I need to use a package of frozen boneless chicken thighs. So I chose the Greek Chicken recipe to use that package up. Because it's a crock pot recipe I planned to cook that Wednesday which is our busy day with Play Group, Pre-School and Dance.
Another thing I do is pick up the store ads to look over them and see if there are any cuts of meat on sale for that week. I use this time to stock up on meat and incorporate that cut into my weekly meal. Last week Dillons had a great sale on boneless pork loin. I bought a 3 1/2 pound pork loin and was able to make 3 meals from it: BBQ pork sandwiches, pork taco cups, and bbq pork turnovers. I froze 2 of these meals to be able to pull them out on a busy night when I run out of time to cook. So my pork loin that I paid around $6 for works out to be around $2 per meal...a great deal to feed a family of 4! We'll get into all of that soon though, for now, go through your old cook books and recipes and start planning!
A fantastic website for downloading forms to use for menu planning and grocery shopping is www.moneysavingmom.com. Another website I enjoy using is www.saymmm.com.
Happy Planning!
Next Post: Making the Most of your menu planning: COUPONS!!!! Learning to clip coupons and stack them with sales can equal great savings and become a fun little game.
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