Did you know that you can get a 30 day free trail of Amazon Prime? This is the perfect time to take advantage of this deal, with all of the online shopping we are all doing during the crunch for Christmas gifts. Some of the perks you can enjoy with Amazon Prime membership include not only FREE two day shipping with no minimum order size, but unlimited, ad-free streaming of over a million songs, you can watch over 40,000 movies and TV episodes, borrow Kindle books, etc. If you do any of these things regularly, it’s worth the $99, anyway, but the free trial is beyond worthwhile & affordable even for the dead broke among us. 🙂
Please follow my referral link below and take advantage of this terrific offer! If you don’t want to continue the membership by paying, simply cancel within 30 days (if you join today, Christmas is a good reminder that it’s time to go ahead and cancel if you don’t want to pay up). Easy peasy! 🙂
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“Dinner for a dollar?!?” they exclaim, “It can’t be done!!”.
Let me tell ya, honey, it most certainly can! Tonight I made this delicious pasta dish for less than a dollar. It fed my five year old, two year old and me with leftovers…and we all ate seconds!
I am challenging myself to stretch our grocery money as far as possible, and cook from the pantry as much as I can to help with a money crunch while my husband is taking a career furthering class for several weeks and missing a lot of work to do so. I haven’t been shopping in about a week and a half, so I am doing pretty well with it thus far.
I found some pasta with no crazy ingredients, just semolina and durum flour, marked down for 25 cents each when I was shopping a couple of weeks ago, so I grabbed several packages. I used half a pack of those noodles for this dish, plus a can of Italian diced tomatoes (66 cents), a sprinkling of parmesan, a handful of mozzarella cheese and the last few slices of ham lunchmeat we had in the pack before we go grocery shopping tomorrow.
Dinner For a Dollar? It’s Doable!!
I mixed the cooked pasta with the tomatoes, let my oldest sprinkle on the cheese and the shredded lunchmeat and warmed it in the oven for about five minutes. TADA!!!!A super cheap and yummy supper created in less than 10 minutes! 🙂
While this cost me less than a dollar, with more average prices it might cost closer to two dollars. Even still, it’s a budget friendly and speedily prepared meal for the penny pinching parent who is crunched for time.
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Here is a great deal from Vistaprint! I just ordered some adorable little business cards for my blog from them. From past experience, they have nice products at very reasonable prices. I’m excited to share these terrific deals with you.
First, choose a code for the product you are most interested in purchasing:
Free shipping on your entire order: VPSHIP341
30% off customized t-shirts and 15% off all other products: VPSHIRT30
40% off the highest priced item in your shopping cart: VPDEAL817
25% off invitations and cards: VPINVITE25
20% off and free shipping on an order of $25 or more for new customers only: VPFIRSTORDER
You can also get 250 free basic business cards without a code through their site, as well. Just look for “Free Business Cards” under the Business Cards tab. I did that, then added 250 for just over $3 when that option popped up after my order went through. 🙂
Next, use my link to get $10 off the finest business cards, stationery, invitations, and more at Vistaprint.com. Make an impression.
Ideally, we’d all have time to cook a balanced and delicious dinner every single night. Since we don’t live in an ideal world, and many of us just plain enjoy going out to eat at a restaurant with our family now and then, I’ve scoured the web for resources for finding those infamous kids eat free specials that make eating out with children so much more affordable. I’m sharing a few of my favorite links here.
Kids Eat Free This site lets you search for your state and city, giving you a list of restaurants who have any sort of free kids meals, including details about times and eligibility. Really great site!
Kids Eat 4 Free Super duper user friendly, this site allows you to either search by city & state or by zip code and distance. It also gives clear details about the when, where and how of all the bargains listed.
Kids Meal Deals Not only listing free kids meals, but also places with super special bargains, this site has a simple search engine where you type in your zip code, select a day of the week (or all days) and there you have your results. Click for details of each. 🙂
Out to Eat With Kids This site has a similar search system to Kids Eat 4 Free, but each of these sites seem to have slightly different lists of restaurants where munchkins can eat free. It’s worth doing a quick search of each to see which you can take advantage of.
What restaurant do you wish had free kids meals? Which are you happy is participating? What is just plain your favorite restaurant to eat at with your kiddos?
I decided to come up with healthier versions of premade snacks my kiddos can just open the fridge and get out when I’m in the middle of something.
My kiddos are always munching away, and often get hungry when I really don’t have time to make even a quick snack. By the way, I actually do tell my kids when their food is healthy, because I want them to know they are eating well and still enjoy what they’re eating instead of thinking junk is better. It sounded cute, though. 😉
Here are a few of my ideas for quick and healthy snacks…
One idea I came up with for inexpensive premade snacks of the healthy variety is to chop up some veggies into little stick shapes, get some ranch dressing or other preferred veggie dip and put it all together in a two sided container. In this case, I used a KFC Go Cup, because it is about the right size and already divided into two sections for the two parts. I have a lot of cucumbers from the garden and carrots are cheap, so that was my choice for this particular cup. Some other suggestions would be celery sticks, cherry tomatoes, sugar pea, broccoli, cauliflower or baby carrots.
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The above suggestions have to be refrigerated if not being used immediately, but the ideas below are good for a snack drawer or shelf the kids can free range graze. 🙂
In small sandwich baggies, put in handfuls of homemade snack mix. One that I tried recently was Taco Seasoned Chex Mix. It could be adapted with your own seasonings you’d normally use in tacos, I was just trying it following their recipe to start. I like that it has very little sugar (a small amount in the cereals) and is fairly filling.
Another sandwich bag filler is GORP: Good Old Raisins and Peanuts. I mix two parts each of raisins and peanuts with one part M&Ms or chocolate chips, and it is soooooo yummy! I wouldn’t call it a health food, but it will fulfill your kiddos’ junk food cravings without allowing them to completely binge on sugar.
You can whip up a batch of my Yummy Oatmeal Banana Healthy Cookies and put a couple in each baggie for a great quick and healthy snackeroo that will satisfy even a hungry hubby. 🙂
This premade healthy thing can be applied to simply putting various fruits, veggies or nuts into serving sized containers for your kids to grab at will. Children tend to eat what is easily accessed, just like adults, and it is up to the grownups in their lives to provide them with solid choices.
What are some of your favorite homemade convenience snacks? Need more snack ideas? Check out After School Snacks!
If you are like me, you make an honest attempt at feeding your family healthy meals, but sometimes…you settle for kinda sorta healthy. One of my “I’m too busy to be truly healthy” meals is to make souped up Ramen noodles.
One beyond easy option? Merely fix a box of the teriyaki flavored noodles in the microwave while sauteeing some fresh spinach and mushrooms in a pan with a bit of butter. When the noodles are finished, just stir it all together and eat. I only use half of the seasoning, because the sodium content is through the roof and it tastes fine without it all.
Fancy Pants Ramen Noodles
Another way? Get the regular type of ramen you have to boil. The flavor doesn’t matter because you aren’t going to eat it. While the noodles are boiling, shred a carrot, slice a few mushrooms and toss some mushrooms into a pan with a little butter or olive oil. Saute until just tender, then push to the edges of the pan and scramble an egg or two in the middle. Add the noodles. For seasoning, I either saute some minced garlic with the veggies, sprinkle a generous ammount of parmesan with the finished product or spritz it with some soy sauce. Whichever way you choose, it’s yummy and even moderately healthy. 🙂
Yet another yummy Ramen twist? Make it into tuna casserole. Cook the noodles while you mix a dollop of mayo, dollop of sour cream, handful of cheddar cheese, diced celery, and sliced mushrooms (canned or fresh). Stir it all together in a small baking dish and top with either crushed Ritz crackers or cheese. Bake at 400 degrees F until warm through, usually about 20 minutes.
One last version for the day? Boil two packs of the noodles at the same time as microwaving a steam bag of broccoli florets. When they are both ready, throw together in a large pot with a can of cream of chicken soup, half a cup of sour cream, and about a cup of cheddar cheese until warmed through. Supper is served!
What are some of your favorite twists on Ramen noodles?
For some great recipes, please click the Chef’s hat!
For a great way to earn even more while spending even less, please see my post on Swagbucks!
During the summertime, I know alot of parents are looking for inexpensive activities to fill the days with fun. Alot of those activities are available in the great outdoors, but sometimes you might prefer a cooler way to beat the heat. There are alot of awesome programs for seeing great family movies with your munchkins this summer without going through lot of change! Here are a few summer movie deals I have found for the kiddos:
Carmike Cinemas have different promotions according to location. The one closest to me is offering a movie, drink and popcorn for just $4 total. You’ll have to look up your location for their times and promotions.
Regal Cinemas is not free, but they have $1 movies certain days during the summer at participating locations. Check the link for details, to see if your local Regal Cinema is participating, and what their specific schedule is.
With summer dawning, alot of folks are hitting the road for family vacation or visiting relatives. Since most of us are on a budget, I thought I’d share a few of the little things I do to save big when we travel.
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We like our caffeine when we’re on road trips, so instead of stopping everywhere for drinks, I make a big jug of sweet tea (Lipton, of course!)ahead of time and put it in mason jars in the cooler. It’s extremely inexpensive, and easily poured from jar to travel cup. We also pack jars of milk and juice for the kiddos, as well as water if we’re going somewhere with questionable water quality.
Anyone who travels with kids knows that plenty of snacks are a must. I make things like cookies (Try my recipe for Healthy Oatmeal Cookies here. They travel well for a few days.) and snack mixes, plus take things like boxes of raisins, apples and bananas. I also pack some emergency treats like lollipops for when the little stinkers start howling about being stuck in the car. Since they are a treat to our kids, they work well at buying some peaceful time. We still sometimes stop for an icecream cone or some local delicacy as a treat, but we aren’t tempted to grab convenience treats for inflated prices at bathroom stops when we already have plenty of yummy goodies to munch on.
If you can, pack some sandwiches, canned goods, and breakfast items to eat for breakfasts and lunches while traveling. Also, gather up coupons for various restaurants you may stop at on your travels. Often, you can sign up for birthday clubs (see my post here: Happy Birthday Freebies) and get some really high value coupons for various restaurants just for signing up, even before your birthday comes around.
If you have pets, and know someone trustworthy nearby who also has pets, try to work out a pet sitting trade with them. You watch their pets while they travel, and they watch your pets while you travel. This way, neither of you has to actually spend any money on pet care. Just make sure to walk them through how to care for your furbabies, leave a list of the basic necessities of their care, and leave everything in plain sight that they will need to taking care of your critters.
Always look for the coupon books that are available in any tourist area, and search online for savings ahead of time at any attractions you intend to visit. You can rack up some serious savings on tickets and shopping this way.
I think most of us know to check the coupon books or make reservations online at discounted prices to save on hotels,and I’m really trying to focus on the more obscure little ways to save, but it must be mentioned. Also, if you are a government employee, in public safety or any career like that, inquire into what discounts are available to you. You may be surprised at how much of a savings some hotels will give you for those careers.
What are your favorite little tricks for saving big while traveling? Traveling with little ones, check out my post Traveling With Little Riders!
My hair has been getting so heavy it’s like a torture instrument during my migraines, and I also just plain wanted a change. I really wanted layers. However, penny pinching peach that I be, I also didn’t want to pay bakoodles for a stylist, wind up with shorter hair than I want to have or any other scary scenario that was running through my stringy haired head.
I decided to research cutting my own hair into long layers.
I did some research online and became entirely overwhelmed, so made an inquiry on a homesteading site about whether anyone there had cut their own hair. I got alot of great advice, and viewed a few videos they shared. I picked the one I’ll share below that I particularly liked due to the simplicity of the method, but adapted it to be softer by taking the advice given not to pull my hair too far forward or to cut at too sharp of angles or take off too much at once to start off.
I took a risk and cut my own hair!
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I bought a pair of decent Hair Cutting Scissors while I was out running errands, then both of my munchkins miraculously took a nap at the same time after we got home. I went to work, washing and conditioning my hair and then following the basic techniques from the video until I was fairly satisfied with the results.
It was actually pretty easy to cut my own hair, to my surprise, even for someone who had never cut human hair before! I am rather happy with the results, too, since my hair is much lighter and has more “bounce” to it. 🙂
Here is the after photo of my new hair cut!
(Excuse the cruddy selfies, but noone over the age of 4 was around to take a before or for a few days to take a photo after.) What do you think?
After I cut my own layers
Have you ever cut your own hair or someone else’s, without formal training?
Would you like to try? It isn’t for everyone, so please don’t blame me if you try it and wind up looking like a hairless chihuahua with those craaaaaazzzzzy sprigs sprouting off the top of your noggin! 🙂
I’m pretty artistic by nature, and can draw, cut and trim paper, fabric and other materials accurately with ease, so that made me a little more comfortable attempting my own hair cut. If I couldn’t draw a stick figure or cut in a straight line or curve at will, I would swallow my penny pinching tendencies and cough up the dough for a professional hair cut every single time. It’s not worth winding up in a book like this one full of hilarious memes of the world’s worst hair cuts! to save a few bucks! 🙂
Also, please note that on my first attempt I didn’t do anything super drastic. Keep in mind that you can always cut more hair off if your hair isn’t quite the shape you want or as short as you’d like, but you can’t just tape those locks back on. 🙂
Here’s the video I used as a sort of guideline, if anyone wants to watch it themselves.
I don’t know this person. Someone on Facebook shared the video with me, among others, and this one I liked because it was so easy to follow.
Black Friday week savings are AMAZING at CVS!!! There are over 30 freebies, and I was able to score quite a few of them. It’s really easy compared to usual, since they’re mostly free even without any extra coupons. There are even more terrific deals than I’m sharing, if you want to do some research and scan ads, but this was what was simple for me to take advantage of with two less than patient planning and shopping companions. I riproaring tickled with my bounty as is! 🙂
I walked into CVS with $13 ECB leftover from a previous shopping trip. I paid $21.93 out of pocket, have $12 in Extra Care Bucks leftover, and still have a $12.99 rebate to send in. That being said, I am eventually going to be paid $3.06 for buying $135.40 worth of great stuff!! Can anybody give me a “WOOHOO!!!”?? LOL My four year old is not very cooperative with searching for sale items, so I had her hunting for things and toting a basket, all with the goal of earning a (free) pack of gum if she was helpful instead of acting up. Yes, she earned her gum. Yes, that is the part of the trip she bragged about the most. That and the fact that she believes we saved enough money in this shopping trip to buy her most desired gift for Christmas. 🙂
So, to break it down:
$13 Extra Care Bucks walking in
$21.93 paid out of pocket
4 Transactions (I put some of the higher priced items on the first two purchases to carry the ECB to the next)
$135.40 Value
$12 Extra Care Bucks and a $12.99 rebate leftover
PAID $3.06 for taking these goodies off of their hands!!!
Here is your list of things you can buy for free, nearly free or even be paid to take home! I printed my list off and gave myself a rough list on the back of the main items to put on my transactions (I planned on 3) so I wouldn’t pay a ton out of pocket…
99¢ ECB wyb Ricola Extra Strength, 4 ct 99¢ Limit 1 Final Price: FREE
99¢ ECB wyb CVS Training Pants 2 ct or CVS Ultra Soft Cleansing Cloths, 12 ct., 99¢ Limit 1 Final Price: FREE
$3 ECB wyb (2) Starbucks Refreshers or Doubleshots 2/$3 Limit 1 Final Price: FREE
$2.37 ECB wyb Children’s Advil 1 oz., $2.37 Limit 1 If you can find an Children’s Advil coupon, this is a moneymaker. Final Price: FREE/MONEYMAKER!
$2 ECB wyb Right Guard Total Defense Deodorant, $2.99 Limit 1 Use coupons you can print at Swagbucks earning points or at coupons.com without signing up or earning points, plus you can ear Saving Star money on this. Final Price: Around 50 cents after Saving Star payment.
$12.99 ECB wyb CVS True Result Blood glucose monitoring system $12.99 Limit 1 Mine had a rebate in it to get the complete price back. Final Price: FREE or a $12.99 moneymaker
Colgate Total 4-4.2 oz., $3 Use $2.50/1 Colgate Total CVS COUPON Printer and there are Colgate coupons in prior papers, if you have them. Final Price: FREE or 50 cents
I was also able to get some bags of Christmas Reeses candy for pretty much free after their deals and stacking grocery & in store coupons. Supreme protein bars for the hubby were only about $1 each, which is less than 1/3 of the price, after in store coupons, Extra care bucks and a printed coupon. Sodas are 69 cents apiece, so I just threw a couple of those in. I wanted toothbrushes as stocking stuffers for the kiddos, and the Clifford ones you see were extremely cheap after in store coupon and Extra Care Bucks. The coupons on the protein bars and Reeses candy coupons are available on coupons.com and Swagbucks, as well.
What are you most excited about getting for free?
If you want to join Swagbucks or Saving Star, check out my posts on those programs:
, as low as free!
while I was out running errands, then both of my munchkins miraculously took a nap at the same time after we got home. I went to work, washing and conditioning my hair and then following the basic techniques from the video until I was fairly satisfied with the results.
to save a few bucks! 🙂
Penny Pinching Peach 