Saving Money on Groceries without Clipping Coupons

Crystal from Biblical Womanhood asked for readers to list some tips for saving money on groceries without clipping coupons. I think this is an important topic. I do clip coupons, but I'll be the first to admit, it can be a pain. It can be stressful. It can be time-consuming. But I love the thrill of getting something for free or almost free! I know that coupons are not for everyone, so that's why I wanted to post on this topic.



In addition to all of Crystal's tips, here are a few more....



1) Aldi Queen - This mom has a whole section of a blog devoted to Aldi shopping! Aldi's is a great place to shop, if you are lucky enough to be near one. Our Aldi's is clean, well-organized, and has very friendly staff. Aldi Queen has several menu guides and tons of recipes from just products bought at Aldi's! You are bound to save money if you follow her advice.



2) Angel Food Ministries - This is a food relief program that is distributed by local area churches. You can get a big box of food for $30 (worth $65). It is enough to feed a family of 4 for a week. You can buy as many boxes as you want. You pick it up once a month. Go to the website for each month's menu, order what you want, and where to pick up your boxes. And there are blogs that post recipes using Angel Food Ministries food for each month! Here's one: Hillbilly Housewife's Angel Food Menus


3) Shop for marked down groceries - Kroger is awesome for marking down items in their bakery and produce area that are fixing to expire. Since we have gotten several Publix stores in our area recently, Kroger is marking down a lot more. I always go through the bakery/produce areas and scan for orange clearance tags first. I have gotten broccoli slaw, hydroponic lettuce, cut-up veggies in bags, fresh herbs, vegetable trays, fruit trays, dip trays, cheese/beef stick trays, chicken tenders, fried chicken, rotisserie chicken, lots of bread, pies, cookies, cakes, Hawaiian rolls, specialty cheeses, and much more marked down half price or even more. And the "sell by" date does NOT mean that you can't eat it after that date! It usually will last up to a week past that date.

Big Lots is another place that marks down their grocery items. It's usually cheap to begin with, but then half-off of that makes it even better! Last night I went to Big Lots and got brand name Graham Crackers for $1, Apple Jack cereal straws for $1, and saw but didn't get the new Kraft Mac-n-Cheese crackers for .75 or so.



So it can be done. Be sure to read Biblical Womanhood for lots more tips on saving money on groceries without clipping coupons!

Reading Rainbow Book Contest

My kids have recently started watching "Reading Rainbow", which they love! And I am surprised all the time by what they learn on there! Today on RR, he advertised a book contest that ends sometime in March. The link is here. The contest is for K-3rd graders, each grade having 3 winners. The prizes are awesome - flat screen TV, digital camera, and a MP3 player! Anyway, you child must write an original story with at least 5 colorful illustrations. There are word minimums and maxes for each grade. Invented spelling is accepted! My kids were so excited! They wanted me to look it up right away. Princess dropped to the floor immediately and started her illustrations. Prince thought about it, and decided to write about Egyptians. He asked me for some books on Egypt and went to work. He came and showed me his book. I read it, and with a sinking heart, asked him, "Did you copy the words from the books you looked at?" He said yes. I had to explain that he couldn't do that, what plagiarism is, why you wouldn't want someone copying your words, etc. He immediately burst into tears. I totally understood - all that hard work! I convinced him that his pages could be his "research" on Egyptians, and he could write a new story using his research. That led to a discussion of research, fiction/non-fiction, beginning/middle/end to a story, etc. It was actually a good lesson. I just hope he doesn't get discouraged. This contest is right up his alley. He is always writing his own stories and books. I hope that having parameters won't stifle his creativity, you know?
I let all of this writing count towards our Language Arts today! :)

Look What I Won!

Look what I won at the blog, Shopping Without Money! (click on blog name to see post of picture of what I won) It's a Ziploc organizational pack! Woo hoo! I never win anything!! Okay, well, I did win a lawn mower last year. But I've never won anything besides that! LOL! Check out her blog, too. There's lots of frugal tips on there - my favorite topic right now!!

I went a little crazy yesterday

Yesterday was just one of those days. I needed to do several errands. But right before we are ready to leave, Prince hangs his pinky toe on a door. He had already hurt it two nights before by bending it back. So as he is bawling, I call my sister and she graciously agrees to watch the kids while I go.

I first went to the library. I love going to the library alone. I get to wander and meander and take my time. I even found "The Shack" yesterday that my DH has been wanting to read. It was put out by mistake because it had a ton of holds on it. But they let me have it since it was their mistake (don't you wish stores were like that?).

I go to Target to get a couple of things for the All About Spelling curriculum that I'm starting. I needed a 2'X3' magnetic white board and 2 3X5 index card holders. Well, struck out on both at Target. Nada. As I was leaving, I remember I had something in the van that I wanted to return. As I'm leaving, I notice there is no one in the Return line. Yay! I go into the rain, grab the bag, and come back. I swear, there was now a line of people returning stuff. And lucky me, there is a man returning stuff off of 5 different receipts. (sigh) I wait forever, finally get up there, and get my $$ back.

Now I have to go to Wal-Mart, my LEAST favorite place in the world. I go to the one I hardly ever go to since it's closer. Let me ask you a question...if you were just going in for office supplies, wouldn't you park on the regular Wal-Mart side, not the Food Center side? Makes sense, right? I park and go in, and wander around forever trying to find the office supplies. I can't find them!!! By this time, my back is hurting, and I seriously contemplate crying. I can't even find a hardworking, gracious Wal-Mart employee. As I stand in middle of an aisle, muttering to myself, I try to think like a Wal-Martian - where would I put office supplies if I was Wal-Mart? Oh, YEAH! I would put them in the FOOD CENTER!! I go over to the Food part, and sure enough, found the Office Supplies. Like I said, makes so much sense, right? Anyway, I did find the white board (Thank you, Wally World) and found ONE 3X5 index card box. I pick it up and notice it won't even close and catch. Of course. I go to the check-out, and guess who I'm behind? The 5-receipt man from Target! Of course. At least he was't returning anything. He did use a gift card, cash, and a debit card to pay for some Nyquil. Go figure.

So I call my sister in a panic, asking if she has any 3X5 card boxes laying around. She doesn't but assures me it's okay if I go and find one. So I go to Office Max. That's where I have a little meltdown. This is where I'm a little embarassed to admit how I acted. I go into Office Max straight to the index card aisle. There is ONE 3X5 index card box. I pick it up...and shake the lid up and down and it will NOT CATCH CLOSED! I said a not-so-nice word and slammed it down back on the shelf. I picked it back up again and THREW it on the shelf! Yes, I am embarassed. My only excuse is PMS.

I leave and go to another office supply store. They had only 2, with only one half-way working. I buy it. It will have to do for now.

I almost run out of gas on the way home.

I still didn't get to go to Michael's and get ebony pencils for out new Artistic Pursuits curriculum. And I didn't get to go into Lifeway and pick up our Fireproof movie copy that we pre-bought and got $10 gift cards (great deal and even better movie!). And the weather is nasty today. Oh, well. It can wait another week. :)

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog! There are a couple of reasons I am starting a new blog. No, I'm not trying to run and hide from anyone. LOL! ;) First, I realized my old blog was called "Homeschooling Hearts for God" but I never talked about homeschooling. So I thought about just changing the name on the blog, but that would mean I would have to leave the web address, which still has "homeschooling" in it. And since I'm a matchy-matchy type of girl, I really wanted the title and web address to match.

Second, I just wanted a fresh start. This is a new year, and I want to change a lot of things, and my blog seems the easiest place to start.

Third, if you know me outside of web world, you know that I like to change things all the time. I even like to change houses every couple years! LOL! I get tired of paint colors, comforters, themes, etc really quickly and always want to change it up (I usually don't have the money to change them all the time, but I *want* to!).

So I apologize for once again changing blogs on you. But if you aren't surprised I'm doing this, then you know me too well. ;)

Christmas Open House

I am posting pictures of my Christmas decorations in response to my friend Sonia's Christmas Open House on her blog. I only decorated our Christmas tree, the mantle, and the black iron railing of our dining room this year. I will post some pictures of my favorite ornaments later! :)

A Little Fluff Goes A Long Way

We finally got our tree up this weekend. It happened in stages. On Thursday, Preach and the kids put the tree up while I was on errands (yes, I planned it that way). Then life got in the way, and we didn't get to work on it until Sunday afternoon. I was a nervous wreck as usual. Preach got out my 7 Rubbermaid bins (nope, not 12. I apparently consolidated last year). The kids kept going through them and getting stuff out, with me yelling, "Hold on! That's breakable! That was my grandmother's! Don't drop it! JUST STOP!!!" I guess they have a really short attention span, because 5 minutes later, we were going through the whole thing again.

Little did I know, Preach did not "fluff" the tree when he put it up on Thursday. Now, I know Preach can fluff. We both worked at a flower shop eons ago, where fluffing was a requirement, and we both became expert fluffers. He *knows* each year the tree gets a good professional fluffing. So after he gets the extra colored lights on it (it is a pre-lit tree but we add extra lights - another lesson we learned from the flower shop - can't EVER have enough lights!), I attempt to fluff it. Well, a section of the clear pre-lit lights go out when I jiggle a branch. No amount of plugging, unplugging, flashlights, anything could make them come on. So you know what that means. I now have a huge dark spot right in the middle of my tree. THEN I attempt to drape my beautiful bead garland on the tree, which *always* goes on the tree. BUT since it had not been FLUFFED, it would not drape right! And I said it looked "stupid" and jerked it all off. Unbeknownst to me, little Prince had the video camera on, taping all of this. (sigh) I think a little rewinding and taping over will be in the near future.

So it just goes to show you that a little fluffing will go a long way.

Now my living room looks a wreck. We didn't get to finish the tree because we had to go to church and practice for the Christmas play (don't even get me started on that). I have overflowing Rubbermaid bins everywhere. My sister and I have made each other promise that we will not let the other one buy any more Christmas stuff at the after-Christmas sales this year! I am serious.

Simplify! Simplify! Simplify! (just trying to practice my New Year's mantra for 2009)