1. If you haven't filled up your freezer with all of those amazing sale items you find, you might want to find a way to fill up that empty space. Freezers are most efficient when they are full. One way to do this is to fill up plastic jugs with water. This way, you save money on your electricity bill and have a storage of fresh water in case of an emergency.
2. Zip-top bags  make the best freezer containers because they waste less space than plastic storage containers. Be sure to buy bags that are specifically for freezer storage. You might be tempted to save money and buy regular zip-top bags, but you will regret it when your food quickly gets freezer burned.
3. If you buy meat in bulk packages, divide it into meal sized portions before freezing. This way you don't have to use the whole package when you defrost the meat. I also like to flatten and or slice the meat before I freeze it. If you like the convenience of individually frozen chicken breasts, wrap each one in plastic wrap and store in a zip-top bag.
4. Properly wrap foods! I can't stress this enough. All of your freezing success will depend on how well you remove excess moisture and air.

From The Complete Cheapskate by Mary Hunt, pg. 116

Mr. Free Stuff is an awesome website that I just found out about. It lists lots of free stuff samples and offers that you can sign up to receive. I especially like to sign up for free diaper and food samples. Often, samples will come with a coupon as well. Be careful about entering your personal information for any offer. Never give out your credit card/bank information. Also, use a different phone number or birthday if possible.

By now you know that you can use your freezer to store produce, bread, and some dairy items, but did you know that you can preserve the freshness of much more? Check this list out!

Brown and powdered sugar-Prevents lumps
Coffee-Maintains freshness
Nuts-Prevents them from turning rancid longer than if you keep them in your pantry
Popcorn kernels-Freezing keeps kernels fresh and encourages every kernel to pop
Marshmallows, potato chips, pretzels, and crackers-Store in original, unopened containers

You may be thinking, "I don't have that much freezer space to begin with-how am I supposed to fit my brown sugar in there too?" If you do not have enough room in your freezer and you have enough room in your budget, you might want to consider purchasing an extra freezer. My parents bought a small one for me when I was in college. It wasn't too expensive, and it has more than doubled my freezer space. You really do save money when you can stock up on sale items, but only if you can keep those items without spoiling.

From The Complete Cheapskate by Mary Hunt, pgs. 116-17

Now through Thursday, you can get a free 8x10 print from Walgreens Photo Center. Click here to access the coupon. Walgreens has a different digital photo deal every day this week. Check it out here.

Yesterday, I made a delicious Sunday dinner for some of my extended family. Before I get to the menu, I have to share that it required no extra trips to the grocery store. I opened up my freezer and pantry and put together a fantastic spread.

The menu:
Garlic Crusted Pork Tenderloin
Roasted Red Potatoes
Honey Glazed Roasted Carrots
Hawaiian Sweet Rolls
Cantaloupe
Apple/Cherry pie

A meal like this could have cost a pretty penny, but because I stocked up when things were on sale, I didn't feel the pinch. I bought the pork when Albertsons had their buy 1 get 2 free deal. The red potatoes and carrots came from a Sunflower Market sale. Normally, I would have made the rolls, but I got the Hawaiian Sweet Rolls a couple of weeks ago for less than what it would cost to make them myself. The cantaloupe was on sale this week, and the pie was from the Safeway bakery and reduced to $0.99 (again, no way I could have made a pie for this)!

This just goes to show you that by shopping the sales and stockpiling food in your pantry and freezer, you can quickly put together a great meal for company without breaking your budget. Check out my recipe for the pork below.


Garlic Crusted Pork Tenderloin
2 cups Panko bread crumbs
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 TBSP dried thyme
1/2 TBSP onion powder
1 TSP black pepper
1/2 TBSP coarse salt
4-5 lb. pork tenderloin
olive oil

1. Sprinkle the bottom of your roasting pan with olive oil before adding the pork to the pan.
2. Mix bread crumbs, garlic, and seasonings together in a small bowl.
3. Spread bread crumb mixture over the pork and pat into the meat.
4. Cover pan with foil and bake at 300 degrees Farenheit for 4 hours (or until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees).
5. Let meat rest for 10-15 minutes before slicing to maintain juiciness.
6. Enjoy! If you want to, use the pan drippings to make a delicious gravy.

This article is fascinating. When you wonder if it is really worth your time to cut and sort coupons, check this math out. http://customsites.yahoo.com/financiallyfit/finance/article-108816-4123-3-how-to-save-100-in-an-hour?ywaad=ad0035. Thanks Renee!

As spring draws near, stores are gearing up for warmer weather by putting winter merchandise on sale. Winter clothing, snow shovels, ice melt, ice scrapers, boots, and even toys can be had for a steal. Did you know that February is the best time of year to buy big screen TVs (before the Super Bowl), cameras motorcycles, boats, air conditioners, tools, and recliners? If you think you might need an air conditioner this year, buy one before the warm weather drives the demand and prices up.

Have leftover baked potatoes and ham? This is a great English recipe that is traditionally eaten on Boxing Day (the day after Christmas) to use up leftovers from Christmas dinner. Its name comes from the sound it makes while it cooks. My husband-who is not a big fan of ham or potatoes-loved it! It has lots of fiber and is very filling. Even if you don't care for cabbage much, give it a try. The seasonings and ham give this dish wonderful flavor.

Ingredients

• 1/2 medium head cabbage, sliced
• 3 slices bacon, diced (optional-I leave it out because I use honey glazed ham and I don't want the bacon to overpower the yummy flavor of the ham)
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 1 cup cubed cooked ham
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 cups potatoes - baked, cooled and thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon seasoning salt
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan, cook cabbage in a small amount of water for about 5 minutes, or until tender. Drain, and set aside.
2. In a well-seasoned cast iron skillet (I actually used a big wok), cook bacon until crisp. Add onion until onion is soft (If you are omitting the bacon, add the olive oil now to the bottom of the pan to brown the onions). Add ham, and cook until heated through. Add the olive oil (if you haven't already), then mix in the cooked cabbage and potatoes. Season with paprika, garlic powder, seasoning salt, salt, and pepper. Cook until browned on bottom, turn, and brown again.

These five steps are taken from the LDS visiting teaching message for February 2010. They are inspired and will lead to financial security and happiness.

1. Pay your tithing
2. Spend less than you earn
3. Learn to save
4. Honor your financial obligations
5. Teach your children to follow your example


“When we go into debt, we give away some of our precious, priceless agency and place ourselves in self-imposed servitude. We obligate our time, energy, and means to repay what we have borrowed—resources that could have been used to help ourselves, our families, and others. …To pay our debts now and to avoid future debt require us to exercise faith in the Savior—not just to do better but to be better. It takes great faith to utter those simple words, ‘We can’t afford it.’ It takes faith to trust that life will be better as we sacrifice our wants in order to meet our own and others’ needs.”

Elder Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Now is the time to stock up on Valentines Day candy. While chocolate will probably not last until next year, there are several things that you can do with it: chop it into chunks and use it in baking, melt it and drizzle over your favorite dessert, or use a vegetable peeler to make chocolate shavings and use as a garnish.

You might also find Valentines Day baking supplies on sale. Frosting, sprinkles, and non-chocolate candy will last until next year.

Dear Readers,

I apologize for the lack of posts this weekend. We drove out to Utah to visit family for the holiday. Things got crazy, but I am back now and ready to give you some great tips on saving money. The first one is: pack your own lunches when you travel. It will be a lot more healthy and save you money. We had gourmet sandwiches and wraps both going out and coming back. If we had stopped at Subway, we would have paid double or triple what it cost us to make our own.

Uddercovers.com is having a special through March 1st where you get a "gift pack" that contains one nursing cover, pair of milk bands, nursing bracelet and a set of breast pads for $5 + S&H. The set is usually $46 so a 90% discount!

Use promo "Valentine" at checkout.

Uddercovers.com LINK

This year, save money by cooking dinner for your Valentine at home. You could make heart-shaped mini meatloaves (use my recipe here), pink mashed potatoes (add a few drops of red food coloring to your favorite recipe), a tossed salad, and heart-shaped garlic bread (use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out shapes from slices of bread, spread with butter, sprinkle with garlic salt and parmesan cheese, and bake). For dessert serve heart-shaped cookies or brownies or a chocolate fondue.

Tomorrow (February 13) only, use a 15% off coupon at Walgreens to buy a pack of Huggies diapers. Huggies are on sale for $8.99/package. Use a $2.00 off printable coupon found here and a $1.00 off coupon found in the Walgreens Coloring Book. This will bring the cost down to $5.59 a package (which isn't a bad deal by itself), and then you will get $3 in Register Rewards! Total cost: $2.59!!!!!

Valentines Day is all about showing your love, but you don't have to break the bank to do it. Here are a few gift ideas that you can make for your significant other that will really show how much you care.

• Prepare a scrapbook with all the pictures of both of you right from when you first met. Decorate it with heart stickers and bind it with a red ribbon and a red rose.
• Make an 'I Love You' box to show your love to your partner. Take a shoe box; decorate it with hearts, bows and pictures of your both. Fill the box with small pink notes containing your love messages.
• If you know the fine art of embroidery, you can embroidery your names on a blanket with small hearts and stars around it symbolizing your glowing love for each other.
• List down all the reasons why you love your partner and post them on the walls of your home. You can use pink or red heart-shaped paper to make it even more romantic and appealing.
• Make a CD full of both of yours' favorite romantic songs.
• Prepare a personalized photo calendar by selecting and pasting 12 of your best and favorite photos on the calendar.
• Collect some old newspapers and magazines. Cut out words and phrases to combine into a romantic, sexy and humorous Valentine's message. Now cut out a large red heart-shaped thick paper and paste your message onto it.
• Bake Valentine's Day treats for your lover and spend the evening in those cozy arms. Cookies, cakes, cupcakes, squares, muffins, candies, the list is endless.
• Get some saplings from the local nursery. Plant them in your garden in a way that it shows both your initials. With time, they will grow into lovely plants that signify your growing love for each other.
• Make love rocks and carve special messages in them. Make around 8-10 such love rocks, put them in a crystal bowl and keep it in your bedroom.
• Make a gift certificate for your honey. Gifts could include a massage, breakfast in bed, or slave for the day.

Thanks http://festivals.iloveindia.com/valentines-day/valenines-day-gifts/homemade-gifts.html

Coupons are only useful if you can find them when you need them, right? The method you use to organize them should be a help and not a nuisance. I bought a little plastic coupon organizer at Target for $1.00. I arranged my coupons in the following categories:

Spices/condiments
Baking goods
Cereal/Breakfast items
Dairy
Frozen foods
Canned goods/helpers
Household cleaners/products
Beauty Products
Snacks/Treats
Baby items
Miscellaneous

My method works fairly well, but there are times when I am at the store and see an unadvertised special and want to find a coupon quickly. While I know which category to look in, it does take a minute to thumb through every coupon in that pocket.

A dear friend of mine said that she puts her coupons into a small photo album with pockets. That way she can quickly flip through the book and find the coupons she wants. This method will be most effective if you do not have a large volume of coupons. It can be time consuming to put them in the sleeves, and you may not be able to quickly organize them into categories (unless you attached divider tabs on the sides of a few pages).

If you don't have a coupon organizer or a small photo album, you can use envelopes that are categorized; however, you run the risk of misplacing an envelop or having coupons fall out.

If you have found a great way to organize your coupons, I would love to hear about it.

I have Jay to thank for this post. He found this cool website called RepairPal. You enter the year, make and model of your car as well as your zipcode, and the website will give you a range of repair estimates from several shops in your area. That way, when you get a car repair quote, you will have an idea of how much it should cost and avoid getting ripped off. Thanks honey!

Jay and I have been having a streak of car problems over the past few months. We would love to buy a new (or at least NEWER car), but we are hesitant to lock ourselves into a monthly payment until we are absolutely sure that we can afford it. A wise friend of mine told me a trick. Each month, put the amount of money you would spend on a car payment into a separate bank account. Then, in a few years, you will have enough money to pay for the car in cash and avoid paying interest. This also decreases your risk in case you get laid off or have a large unexpected expense. Even if you don't quite save enough money to pay for the car entirely in cash (which will likely be our situation), at least you can put a substantial amount of money down which would lower your monthly payment. Thanks Becky!

If you haven't taken advantage of the Megaevent at Kroger stores, then you still have time. Tomorrow is the last day. I went on Friday and got some amazing deals. Some of the deals are better than others. When you pair the sales with coupons, you can get several free items. The prices reflect the added $0.50 off each item because I purchased 20 products. Here is what I bought:

7 cans of Hunts diced tomatoes for $0.49 each, used 2 coupons totaling $1.90=$0.22 each
4 cans of Rotel tomatoes for $0.49 each, used 2 coupons=$0.18 each
4 bottles Sobe Life Water for $0.49 each, used 2 BOGO coupons= money maker of $1.00 (the register took off $1.49 for the free bottles)
1 package of Goldfish crackers for $0.88-$1.00/off 1 coupon= money maker of $0.12
Quilted Northern Bath tissue for $5.49-$1.00 coupon=$4.49
3 bags of Green Giant Fresh Steamer frozen vegetables at $1.49 each-3 coupons for $1.00/off 1=$0.49 each
2 Colgate toothpastes for $1.67-2 coupons for $1.00/off=$0.67 each

I rounded out my shopping trip with cool whip (not really on sale, but I needed it), 4 bricks of melting chocolate which was on clearance for $0.80 each (75% off) and 2, 8 oz. cartons of sour cream which were reduced to $0.59 each.

Total Spent: $15.19
Total Saved: $46.32 (75%)

 

Beans are one of nature’s healthiest foods – they are naturally low in total fat, contain no
saturated fat or cholesterol, and provide important nutrients such as fiber, protein, calcium, iron,
folic acid and potassium. National and international expert bodies, including the National Research Council, the World Health Organization, the World Cancer Relief Fund, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood
Institute, and the U.S. Surgeon General, have reviewed scientific evidence and concluded that
eating beans can be an important ally in maintaining health and may reduce the risk of heart
disease and certain cancers. Other studies suggest beans are useful in managing diabetes, may cut
risk for high blood pressure and may help in losing weight. The USDA recommends that adults eat more than three cups of beans each week for maximum health benefits – three times more than the current average American consumption. From http://americanbean.org/bean-facts/ 

Beans are a great and inexpensive source of protein. Our family has been eating them a lot more frequently. If you purchase dry beans, they are much cheaper than canned. I used to be intimidated at the thought of soaking beans overnight and then boiling them for hours on the stove. Then one of my friends, said, "Why don't you put them in the crock pot?" Hello! That suggestion has made all of the difference. In the morning, I put beans in the crock pot, cover them with an inch of water, and turn it on high. You can add salt or other seasonings like chili powder if you want. It is soooo easy and we get more fiber and protein in our diet for less money.

What can you do with beans? My husband and I add black beans to hamburger meat, add taco seasoning and use the mixture in tacos, burritos, or taco salads. We even like to make burritos using whole black beans, cheese, salsa verde, and avocado slices. Yum!

If you have a favorite bean recipe, please post it.

 

 

My husband and I have been watching a lot of movies on the weekends since our baby was born. It has become our in home date. We like renting from Redbox because it is so inexpensive. I have used a few codes to get free rentals, but I just learned about how to get even more free rentals. Sign up here for the weekly email from Redbox, and they will send you a free code each Monday.

You can also visit code sharing websites, such as insideredbox.com to get more codes. Each code can be used once on a credit card. So, if you have 2 credit cards, you can rent 2 movies using the same code.

Enjoy your movie night!

Last month, I was shocked to open up our electricity bill and find that it had gone up $50!!!! After I recovered from my surprise, I vowed to make some small changes to cut costs on energy.

What I did:
Unplugged my cell phone charger, toaster, and other gadgets when they weren't being used
Turned off my computer, printer, scanner, etc. over night.
Put my computer in "sleep" mode if I was done using it for the moment, but would be back within the hour
Kept the thermostat below 70 degrees
Turned off lights when not in the room
Washed most loads of laundry in cold water (I don't think it is sanitary to wash towels and underwear in cold water, but that is just me)
Opened the blinds during the day to let in natural light

The results:
My bill went down by $7.00. So, I did save money, but not as much as I had hoped. I called the power company to find out what was the biggest drain on energy: the dryer, the oven and cooktop, space heaters, electric hot water heater, basically anything that produces a substantial amount of heat. Although I didn't save as much money as I had hoped, a little is better than nothing, right?

For more energy saving ideas go here

Timing your purchases correctly can help you save cash. Here are examples of the best time to buy when your goal is saving money:

Electronics: TVs, computers and cell-phones are generally deals when new models come out. Laptop computers, in particular, tend to be cheaper in back-to-school sales, says DealNews.com. Cameras tend to be cheapest in February. TV sales are often best in December and January.

Grocery shopping Sunday through Tuesday. Store sales often start on Wednesday, but coupons to match some sales don't come out unti llthe Sunday newspaper. Stacking coupons with sales leads to the best deals.

Vehicles: Buy cars in the fall, after new models come out. You can save 10-20% on the previous year's model. But the longer you wait, the few choices you will have in colors and options. Visit the dealership at the end of the month when salespeople musst make quotas. Buy boats and RVs off-season, in winterton

Wedding: You might dream of a June wedding, but a winter one might mean more cash for the honeymoon.

From Gregory Karp, The Morning Call (Allentown, PA)

 

Have you ever heard of Family Fun Magazine? It is full of cute crafts, recipes, and activities for young families. My mom subscribed to it and has been sending them to me when she is done reading them. Right now, you can get a full year's subscription (10 issues) for only $3.99! Lucy and I are going to be making some of the Valentines Day crafts from the February issue. If you are interested in subscribing, go to BestDealMagazines.com You can also purchase other magazines from this site at a discount. At checkout, type in the code PINCHPENNIES15 to save an additional 15% off of the consumer price.


Cover Price: $29.90
Publisher's Price: $9.95
Consumer Pays: $4.69
After code: $3.99/year
60% Savings Off Publisher's Price

Do you have items that you don't want to hang onto, but you don't want to throw away? Do you need something, but don't have the money to purchase it, try Freecycle. Freecycle's mission "is to build a worldwide gifting movement that reduces waste, saves precious resources & eases the burden on our landfills while enabling our members to benefit from the strength of a larger community." Basically, the website allows people to post items that they are giving away or that they are looking for. No money is exchanged.

I have used freecycle myself a few times. Recently, a lady was giving away a really nice wrapping paper container, and she gave it to me. You need a Yahoo account to use Freecycle, but they are free and easy to sign up for. Go here to learn more about the Freecycle group nearest you.