Friday, March 23, 2012
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Arby's Coupons
Get a free regular Roast Beef Sandwich with purchase of a drink just for signing up for the Arby's newsletter!
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
North Country This Week
We are in the paper! You can read about my family here.
Leave a comment, and let me know what you think!
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Frugal living is all about making the most with what you already have. Here are 11 tips from LivingOnADime.com to help you get started:
- Barter for services when possible. For example, we exchanged lawn mower repair from our neighbor for a table (garage sale find) that he was looking for.
- Learn to fix things for yourself. These days, with the Internet making information so easily available, you can fix most things yourself. We do 95% of the repairs around our house and we aren't that handy. We just keep looking for the information about how to do it and keep working until we get it fixed!
- Stop eating out. I know you hear it all the time but STOP!!! The "average" family spends $300-$500 a month just eating out! Eating out truly is one of the biggest causes of debt! I am always amazed how someone can be "totally broke" and can't pay their bills but are still able to go to the drive-thru of their favorite restaurant.
- Study nutrition information and find out what you need to eat to have a healthy and balanced diet. Then stop eating the junk and eat healthy inexpensive meals at home. We have a lot of menu ideas here at LivingOnADime.com that can help you get started.
- If something breaks and you don't have the money to fix or if you are out of something and you don't have the money to buy more, figure out a way to live without it. If the lawn mower breaks, can you borrow a friend's lawn mower? If your washer breaks, go to the laundromat. If you break your tea kettle, use a saucepan to heat water. In most instances, you can find a way to make do or do without something until you have the cash saved up.
- Do things for free. Go to the library, have a picnic or read a book. Kids are just as happy playing with mom and dad in the backyard as they are going to the zoo. If you can't pay cash for the "fun stuff" you can always have fun at home.
- Buy items used. We buy 90% of the items for ourselves used. Going to yard sales and thrift stores does not take any longer than going to a retail store but you can save 90% off the retail price!
- Just say no...to your kids. Let kids buy their own toys and extras! Our kids pay for all their own soda, candy, treats like nail polish, their own computers and extras. You are not the Bank of Mom so just say no!
- Find a cheaper way to do things. Go to a beauty school to get your hair colored (or don't have your hair colored at all it isn't something you need to survive). Go to a mechanic school to get your car fixed. Hire a kid instead of a lawn service to mow your yard (only if you can't do it yourself for medical reasons. :-) Paint your own house instead of hiring someone, cut the cable and the cell phone (gasp!), and have birthday parties at your house. There is almost always a cheaper way to do things so try to find the cheapest way and save some money!
- Cut kids' activities. Most kids are in way too many activities and they're often expensive. I know families who pay $175 a month for gymnastics lessons but can't pay the mortgage. There is a problem with this kind of thinking! Kids won't die if you don't give them all the lessons and activities you can't afford.
- Get it for free. When the landscapers were laying sod in our new neighborhood, I asked for the scraps and we were almost able to put in our entire backyard for free. When they were building houses, I asked for the 2x4's that were going into the dumpster and got enough wood for our shed. When they were pouring concrete patios, I asked for the leftover concrete and they just poured our entire cement pad for our shed for free!! If friends have kids older than your kids, ask if you can have their hand me downs when they are done.
Get as much as you can for free and you can save thousands of dollars!
-Tawra
Jill Cooper and Tawra Kellam are frugal living experts and the authors of the Dining On A Dime Cookbook. Dining On A Dime will help you save money on groceries and get out of debt by cooking quick and simple homemade meals. For free tips & recipes visit http://www.LivingOnADime.com , sign up for our free Living On A Dime Newsletter and learn to save more!
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Sendearnings
Send Earnings has so many awesome benefits; including being paid everytime you use a coupon that you printed off from their site! What an awesome deal! Get great coupons, plus get paid to use them!
Friday, March 16, 2012
Thursday, March 15, 2012
The Spaghetti Warehouse Coupons
The Spaghetti Warehouse wants you to join their club!
Sign up for their newsletter and get coupons, promotional offers and up-to-date information ONLY available to members!
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Writing Wednesday
Writing emails is the best way to request coupons from manufacturers.
It's quick, easy and there's no postage!
I LOVE to get coupons in my mailbox.
Don't be afraid to give these companies your phone number. This just shows that
you are legitimate. (I have never had a company call me.)
Some of the companies respond to my email with a big, fat NO, but I don't let
that discourage me. The YESes far outweigh the NOs.
Here's a list of some manufacturers to get you started:
Wish Bone Dressing
Bertolli
ConAgra Foods
Ronzoni
Morton Salt
Want to find some more companies to email?
Start by checking your OWN freezer and pantry to see what products you actually use.
Still need ideas?
Visit Couponing To Disney! Love, Love, Love this site!
~Candy~
It's quick, easy and there's no postage!
I LOVE to get coupons in my mailbox.
Don't be afraid to give these companies your phone number. This just shows that
you are legitimate. (I have never had a company call me.)
Some of the companies respond to my email with a big, fat NO, but I don't let
that discourage me. The YESes far outweigh the NOs.
Here's a list of some manufacturers to get you started:
Wish Bone Dressing
Bertolli
ConAgra Foods
Ronzoni
Morton Salt
Want to find some more companies to email?
Start by checking your OWN freezer and pantry to see what products you actually use.
Still need ideas?
Visit Couponing To Disney! Love, Love, Love this site!
~Candy~
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Baking Mix
9 cups flour
2/3 cup dry milk
3 Tbsp. baking powder
2 tsp. salt
1 cup shortening or 1/2 shortening and 1/2 butter*
Mix flour and other dry ingredients. Cut in shortening. Use a mixer on low to cut in the shortening to save time. Store in an airtight container up to 6 months. This recipe uses a 5-pound sack of flour when doubled.
*Refrigerate if using butter.
Baking Mix Pancakes
2 1/4 cups baking mix
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cups water
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
Mix ingredients until moist. The batter should be lumpy. Cook on a hot greased griddle. Flip when bubbles break on the surface and the edges begin to dry. Makes 15-18 medium pancakes.
Baking Mix Biscuits
2 1/4 cups baking mix
2/3 cup water or milk
Mix lightly until dough forms a ball. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Knead 10-12 times. Roll dough about 1/2 inch thick. Cut with a 2-inch cutter or the rim of a glass dipped in flour. Bake at 450 degrees for 10-12 minutes on an ungreased cookie sheet. For drop biscuits, use 1 cup water and drop by tablespoonfuls onto a baking sheet. Makes one dozen.2/3 cup water or milk
*For cheese biscuits, add 1/4 cup cheddar cheese.
Baking Mix Muffins
2 1/4 cup baking mix1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
Mix dry baking mix and sugar. Add egg, water and vegetable oil to dry ingredients. Mix only enough to moisten flour. The batter will be lumpy. Fill greased muffin tins two-thirds full. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
*For an added surprise fill muffin cup halfway and then add a spoonful of jelly. Top with more batter. Add raisins, cinnamon or nuts for gourmet muffins. Makes 12-15 muffins.
Butterfly Ring
2 1/2 cups baking mix
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 egg, beaten
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
Grease a jellyroll sheet and preheat over to 375. Mix first four ingredients until well blended. Dough will be sticky. Knead on a lightly floured surface 18 times. Roll out into an 11x14 inch rectangle. Spread butter on the dough, then the filling on the dough. Serves 12.
Filling
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup nuts (optional)
1/2 cup cherry jelly (raspberry, strawberry or any other jam or jelly will work)
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 Tbsp. flour
Add the ingredients to the melted butter. Blend until smooth. If necessary, heat jelly 30 seconds in the microwave if you need to make it smooth. Spread filling onto dough. Roll the dough lengthwise and seal the edges by pinching them together. Form into a circle on the jellyroll pan. Cut 4 to 5 slits in the top to release steam. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool and frost with butter cream frosting.
Breakfast Puffs
2 cups baking mix
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
2 Tbsp. butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 24 mini muffin cups. Mix baking mix, sugar, nutmeg, margarine, milk and egg. Beat vigorously for 30 seconds. Fill muffin cups about 2/3 full. Bake 10 minutes. Mix sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Quickly roll the puffs in melted margarine, then in the cinnamon and sugar mixture. Makes 24 puffs.
Jill Cooper and Tawra Kellam are frugal living experts and the authors of the Dining On A Dime Cookbook. Dining On A Dime will help you save money on groceries and get out of debt by cooking quick and simple homemade meals. For free tips & recipes visit http://www.livingonadime.com/go.php?offer=footemom12&pid=3 , sign up for our free Living On A Dime Newsletter and learn to save more!
Warehouse Stores
Are Warehouse Stores Wearing Out Your Wallet?
Do they save you money or just create more work?
by Jill Cooper
Do they save you money or just create more work?
by Jill Cooper
It's Saturday morning. With grocery list in hand, you drag a very unwilling family out to the car where you proceed to take them on a mega shopping spree at Sam's or Costco.
Marching down each isle you tell your family members "We need 3 cases of corn, 4 cases of green beans and -- Oh! That's a good deal on peanut butter so let's get 3 gallons. Of course Susie, your can get a bag of cookies. They are so cheap! ...and Billy you can have a few bags of your favorite chips! Yum! Oh look -- samples! These taste great. Let's get some! What a great buy on chicken - we need 20..."
At the dog food aisle the excitement mounts as each member of the family grabs a corner of the 50 lb. bag of dog food to stack on top of the basket. (We won't mention you only have 1 toy poodle at home.) After waiting in line and waiting in line and waiting in line you push your agonizingly heavy and overloaded baskets out to the car. Getting everything into the trunk of the car makes putting together a 1,000 piece puzzle seem like a breeze but, finally, home you go.
After you lug everything into the house, it's time to spend the next few hours repackaging things for the freezer. You double wrap your 20 chickens (they could be in that freezer for quite a while) and frantically try to find places for everything else in your cupboards and pantry. By the time you are done, you are so exhausted that you couldn't begin to lift a finger to cook, so you all go out to eat.
A few weeks later you gingerly sniff the gallon of half used peanut butter as you try to decide if that strange taste is because it has gone rancid or simply because you are sick of peanut butter. You threw out that partially used gallon of maple syrup yesterday because it had sugared and was looking really strange. You still have ten of your chickens left but if you bathe them in some spicy sauce you are pretty sure your family won't notice the freezer burned taste. In spite of having to throw out most of the 50 lbs. of dog food (after a growing family of mice had invaded it), you're sure you saved money because "they" said you would.
People constantly ask me, "Can you really save more money at warehouse stores?" I usually answer, "Not any more so than at other stores." I have checked prices at various stores on many different occasions and factoring everything in, I haven't found any exceptional savings at warehouse stores.
Here are some tips to help you decide if a warehouse store is for you:
- Do your homework and compare prices. Buying in bulk is not always cheaper. You can really save by checking and comparing prices. I was at Costco one day where there was a display of two Clorox one gallon bottles for $1.98 AFTER rebate. I stood there amazed as people frantically grabbed this "great deal." I knew I could get that same Clorox for $.98 a gallon at my regular discount store and I didn't have to mess with a rebate, pay postage or lug two gallons of Clorox shrink wrapped together to my car.
- Don't buy impulsively just because it sounds like a good deal. Say you can get 12 bottles of sunscreen for a great price. Think it through before you buy. If your family only uses one bottle of sunscreen a year, that means you will be storing sunscreen for 12 years, not to mention that most of the sunscreen will expire long before then.
- In most homes, one quarter of the food people buy gets thrown away. If your family of four eats pancakes once a week, that gallon of syrup is going to last you a VERY long time. You might also consider that unless dry goods and freezer items are very carefully stored, they will go bad or get bugs in them. Remember to buy the size that is appropriate for you.
- You need to be very well organized to buy in bulk. Finding places to store everything and then carefully keeping track of what you have is critical if you want to use it all before it spoils.
- Most people usually spend more than they originally planned on things they don't need. This never saves money. We taste samples and so often end up buying. If this is you, be careful. Maybe sampling is a bad idea (unless you're making lunch of it)!
If you have ten kids, run a day care or are buying for an organization then you almost have to buy in bulk. If you have a small or average sized family, you will probably save as much shopping for sales at your regular grocery store or discount store. The key is to do the math and evaluate your practical needs. You have to decide for yourself if buying at warehouse stores actually saves you money or just creates more work.
-Jill
For more easy and practical ways to save money and get out of debt, check out Dig out Of Debt and learn more about how to keep more of your money!
Jill Cooper and Tawra Kellam are frugal living experts and the authors of the Dining On A Dime Cookbook. Dining On A Dime will help you save money on groceries and get out of debt by cooking quick and simple homemade meals. For free tips & recipes visit LivingOnADime , sign up for our free Living On A Dime Newsletter and learn to save more!
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