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5 Ways to Save Money on Purchases

June 12, 2018

I’ve always been a thrifty girl, not drawn in by flashy, name brand things. I get pretty excited when I find a great deal on something that I need. After becoming a homeowner and then a mother, I found new ways to save on necessary purchases. If you haven’t fully embraced technology and all the ways it can help you save money, I’ve got a helpful guide below to get you started!

woman holding shopping bags

1. Coupons

This is obviously nothing new, but the days of clipping coupons from the Sunday paper have definitely evolved. With websites like Coupons.com and Groupon, you get much more variety. If you eat very healthy, organic food and are convinced coupons do not exist for these things, think again! Mambo Sprouts and Common Kindness are two of my favorite websites for organic coupons. You can also visit the websites and Facebook pages for your favorite brands to find discounts and coupons.

2. In-Store Apps

Most department and and grocery stores now have their own apps you can download and use in the store. My favorite department store apps are Kohls AppKohl’s and Target. Both of these allow you to scan merchandise and see eligible discounts. The Target app now has Cartwheel built in, which allows you to add manufacturer’s coupons and store discounts you find in Cartwheel to your Target wallet in the app. In the wallet, you can sometimes find additional coupons such as $5 off a $25 beauty supply purchase. When you get to the register, just pull up the wallet in the app and the cashier will scan the barcode, automatically taking off the Cartwheel coupons and discounts. The Kohl’s app will show you if the item is on clearance as well as your discounted price if you’re enrolled in their Rewards program, and discount offers the item is eligible for. If you shop at Kohl’s, do yourself a favor and get this app! One time I paid under $5 for a very cute dress that originally was priced at $50! Be sure and download your favorite grocery store’s app also. For most stores, you can link your club card to the app and add discounts and coupons while you’re shopping.

3. Rebate Apps

Most popular with grocery store purchases, these rebate apps allow you to submit your receipts and receive cash back for eligible purchases. My favorite apps are Ibotta and Checkout 51. These started a little shaky, but are now very easy to use. You can usually find at least a couple items each shopping trip since offers sometimes include any brand products like any brand of cereal or produce that is in season and an Any Item offer. It only takes a few minutes to browse through the offers, scan a few barcodes, and upload your receipt. In Ibotta, you can withdraw funds in the form of gift cards or through PayPal or Venmo. Checkout 51 will send you a check and will soon have the option to transfer funds to PayPal.

4. Facebook Buy/Sell/Trade Groups.

This is where I get most of my kids’ clothing, shoes, and baby/toddler gear. Since babies grow so fast, it makes sense to buy things used. I’ve found some great deals on baby clothes, shoes, strollers, high chairs, and other baby items that I’ll only use for a year or two. Things like baby slings and carriers are nice to find used since you don’t always know if a particular brand will work out for you. And if it doesn’t work out for you, go ahead and re-sell it! I’ve also found furniture on these groups. Until I’m confident my kid will not draw or spill on my couch, I refuse to buy something brand new. You may even be able to find a “Buy Nothing” group in which people in your neighborhood are giving away things for free.

5. Buy In Season and On Sale.

When planning your meals and grocery shopping, always check out the store ads first. Check out the store’s app or download the Flipp app to find most retailers’ weekly ads and match them to digital coupons. You can usually tell what’s in season because it’s featured and heavily discounted. In late summer sometimes you’ll see 10 ears of corn for $1. I like to plan my meals around things that are in season to get the most out of my shopping trip. You’ll also find that seafood and meat are discounted depending on the season and occasion. For example, on Memorial Day weekend you’ll find hot dogs, BBQ meats, ketchup, etc. on sale.

Don’t forget – you’re not really saving money if you buy something that isn’t a necessary purchase or that you weren’t already planning on buying.

 

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Filed Under: At Home, Budgeting, Meals Tagged: budgeting, coupons, groceries, meal plan, money, rebates, sales, saving, shopping

Cut Your Grocery Costs | How to Make a Meal Plan

August 10, 2015

One of the biggest areas families can save money is on food. Many times, life gets busy and before you know it, dinner time is fast upon you. Without a real plan, you decide to order a pizza, head to the drive thru or to have a nice mid-week dinner at a restaurant. Maybe this happens a few times a week. Add in the cost of eating out every day for lunch and the forgotten groceries that are wasting away in the fridge, and the money spent on food can really sneak up on you!

A simple plan for the week’s meals and a list can really go a long way when you’re trying to save on groceries. It will also help you avoid spending money eating out.

The first thing I do every week when making our meal plan is to get out the grocery sale ad from our local store. I like to use the flyer from the mail, but you can also pull it up on your mobile or tablet using the Flipp app. Knowing what’s on sale and what’s in season is the first step in making a meal plan that will save you money at the checkout. You can get a good idea of what’s in season by visiting the Sustainable Table Seasonal Food Guide.

Next, I go through my pantry and freezer to see what I have already. Have some ground beef in the freezer and know that bell peppers are in season? Stuffed peppers are an easy meal that won’t cost you much! A good way to keep track of your pantry and freezer stash is to keep a list on paper or on your phone. That way, you don’t have to keep opening doors to check what you have.

Now, the fun part! Get your favorite cookbooks out and pull it all together. Now that you know what’s on sale and what you have, you can start making your meal plan. Here’s what ours looks like this week:

Sunday: Chicken Tikka Masala, creamed eggplant, Saffron rice

Monday: Pasta with Italian sausage in marinara

Tuesday: Chopped salad

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Bison burgers and french fries

Friday: Date Night

Saturday: Open/Leftovers

We always make enough to have leftovers for lunch the next day and we usually have a leftovers night during the week. We like to keep Saturdays open in case we need to finish off leftover meals or we have a family event to go to. To make things easier for ourselves, we’ll cook some things ahead. For instance, since we are grilling chicken and eggplant on Sunday, we go ahead and grill the Italian sausage for the next day’s meal also. Now on Monday, we just have to cook pasta and heat up our sausage in the marinara sauce.

If you like going to warehouse stores like Costco and Sam’s Club, you can make your meal plan for two or more weeks at once. Know what is worth buying in bulk and what freezes well.

While you’re creating your meal plan, write out your grocery list. Make sure you account for breakfast and snacks. When you get to the grocery store, use your list and don’t buy anything else! If you do this right, you can cut your grocery cost down significantly. Our trip to the grocery store for the week only cost us $52 for a family of two plus baby. That includes all the meat for our meals.

So here it is in a nutshell:

1. Shop in season and use the sale flyer

2. Shop your pantry and freezer

3. Make a realistic meal plan from #1 &2

4. Make a shopping list and stick to it!

What are some things you do to save on groceries? I’d love to hear from you!

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Filed Under: At Home, Budgeting, Meals Tagged: budgeting, groceries, meal plan

Paleo Challenge {Week 4}

August 27, 2013


Well, the Paleo Challenge is officially over and I think I did pretty well considering my wedding dress stress.  Since I saw such great results with my skin, I’m continuing a good portion of this diet until my wedding day.  I’ll be strictly staying away from dairy and most sugars, pasta, and processed food.  I’ve started incorporating rice and beans back into my diet and just a tiny bit of whole grains.  Of course, my birthday weekend will be tough – tradition calls for chocolate swirl cheesecake.  I’ll have to limit myself to half a piece of cheesecake for the weekend to avoid any pre-wedding breakouts.  

So what helped me along the way?  It was a little tough coming up with good Paleo meals every week.  These cookbooks (which I checked out from the library) really helped with our weekly meal planning:


My favorite go-to Paleo meals would be spaghetti squash with meatballs and anything grilled: hamburgers, brats, ribs, salmon.  Add some veggies to the grill and you’ve got a great Paleo summer meal!  Also, having eggs on hand all the time helped.  Boiled eggs are a nice breakfast or snack to take to work when there are no other tasty options.  After the second week we were not missing bread or pasta.  Those two things will continue to be very rare in our diet moving forward.  

The past four weeks have not been easy, but it has been well worth the trouble.  I’m sure having to cook for children or a very picky adult would have made things much more complicated.  So, for those Paleo parents who are not cooking several different meals per day for your young ones; I applaud you and your kids.  This does take some getting used to, but it’s possible to do if you really put your mind to it.

Just joining and want to take a look back at my 4 Week Paleo Challenge?  Look below for the links to all my Paleo posts:

Prep Week
Prep Week: Why Paleo?
Prep Week: Meatloaf and Mashed Faux-tatoes
Prep Week: Introducing the Spaghetti Squash

Week 1 Daily Updates 
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4 (My Shopping List)
Day 5 (Paleo on a Budget)
Day 6
Day 7 (Week 1 Lessons)

Weekly Updates
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
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Filed Under: Meals, Uncategorized Tagged: diet, healty, meals, Paleo

Paleo Challenge {Week 3}

August 15, 2013

I am very much in favor of the Paleo Diet to get healthy and lose weight.  If it is possible for the diet to work too well, then that is exactly what happened in my situation.  My goal going into this challenge was to clear up my acne from the inside out – with a better diet.  This adult acne issue came up out of nowhere just two summers back.  I have been using two different creams for the past two years and I was still not seeing the results I wanted.  My dermatologist then prescribed a pill in addition to these creams.  The first time I took it, I became nauseous for over an hour.  There was not a second time.  I knew I had to think of another solution quickly because my wedding was approaching.  With a strapless gown, I knew anything other than smooth skin just wouldn’t work. Oh yes, I’m talking about the dreaded back-ne.  I tried decreasing my dairy and sugar intake, and I did start to see results.  I still wasn’t satisfied; I wanted more drastic results.  I could not have any new breakouts and my scarring had to be gone in just under two months.  The answer: Paleo!

Paleo really was the answer and it worked in just a few weeks.  My scarring is almost completely gone and I have not had any new breakouts.  However, I did have a side effect that I was not anticipating-rapid weight loss.  I figured a couple pounds would not hurt.  With the huge amount of meat I was eating, how could I possibly lose more than that in a month?  I did not weigh myself before the diet, but I kept seeing my pants getting baggier and baggier.  My bridal gown seamstress also noticed.  From prep week to the end of Week 2, I lost about 4 inches from my hips and an inch from around my ribs.  Luckily, the shape of my dress allows for some freedom at the hips.  Any more off the rib area, though, and I would risk losing my dress during our vows! 
So, I’ve decided to start incorporating legumes and some whole grain back into my diet.  I’m really just grasping at straws here, hoping to halt the weight loss.  After the wedding I’ll be able to experiment a little and find a good balance.  I worked pretty hard to get up to my ideal weight, but if I’m not healthy on the inside, it really doesn’t matter what I look like on the outside.  

Just joining and want to take a look back at my 4 Week Paleo Challenge?  Look below for the links to all my Paleo posts:

Prep Week
Prep Week: Why Paleo?
Prep Week: Meatloaf and Mashed Faux-tatoes
Prep Week: Introducing the Spaghetti Squash

Week 1 Daily Updates 
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4 (My Shopping List)
Day 5 (Paleo on a Budget)
Day 6
Day 7 (Week 1 Lessons)

Weekly Updates
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
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Filed Under: Meals, Uncategorized Tagged: diet, healty, meals, Paleo

Paleo Challenge {Week 2}

August 7, 2013

This week has not been as exciting as the last, but we’re still following the diet pretty well.  During Prep Week and Week 1, we were all pumped up to do a whole month of Paleo meals.  Although the meals have been really fun, they are sometimes a lot of work.  The good news, though, is that we did get our grocery bill down a little to just barely over $85 for this week’s groceries.  Here’s a run down of our dinner menu this week:

Monday – Curry burgers topped with a curry sauce, with green apple slices for buns
Tuesday – Korean BBQ Chicken, Fried “Rice” Cauliflower, Korean Spinach Side
Wednesday – Paleo pork sausage stuffing with Butternut squash cube bake
Thursday – Paella with a side salad
Friday – Open
Saturday – Leftovers
Sunday – Chopped salad

To make things a little easier for us, we grilled both the chicken and burgers on Monday and warmed up the chicken the next night for our Korean dinner.  I think the most complicated thing for us still is condiments and sauces.  I tried my hand at making mayonnaise and it just didn’t work out.  I found a healthy mayonnaise option at our Sprouts market so I’ll just use that if we ever need mayonnaise again.  Ketchup is a breeze to make, but I did get organic ketchup at the store as well, just in case we need it.

If you haven’t tried fried rice using cauliflower, I highly recommend it.  It tastes better than the real thing, and my fiancé actually agrees with me!  You can make it any way you want – just process fresh (uncooked) cauliflower florets in a food processor until it looks like rice.  Fry it up in a skillet or wok for 5-10 minutes and then add your favorite ingredients.  We used 1 tsp sesame oil and a couple teaspoons of Bragg’s Liquid Aminos for flavoring.  This is what it looked like part of the way through cooking before the Liquid Aminos were added:


This was tasty as a side, but you can beef it up by adding more veggies like peas, carrots, celery, and bell pepper.  You can also make it a chicken fried rice or add some shrimp into the mixture.  It is amazing!

Week 2 is almost complete, and no major complaints.  I did lose some inches from my hips, which is fine, as long as my wedding dress still fits!  Overall, we’re both feeling pretty healthy and happy. Just joining and want to take a look back at my 4 Week Paleo Challenge?  Look below for the links to all my Paleo posts:

Prep Week
Prep Week: Why Paleo?
Prep Week: Meatloaf and Mashed Faux-tatoes
Prep Week: Introducing the Spaghetti Squash

Week 1 Daily Updates 
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4 (My Shopping List)
Day 5 (Paleo on a Budget)
Day 6
Day 7 (Week 1 Lessons)

Weekly Updates
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
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Filed Under: Meals, Uncategorized Tagged: diet, healty, meals, Paleo

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Hi there!

Hi there!

Hello and welcome! I’m Jen, a proposal writer by day, blogger by night, happy wife and mommy. I live in SW Virginia with my husband, Jacob and our sweet girls, Julia and Jocelyn.

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