3 Ways We Eat Healthier and Save and more...

Here's What's New 3 Ways We Eat Healthier and Save How to Make 20 Busy Bags for only $5 :: 3 Ways We Eat Healthier and Save Guest post from Alex of Good Steward Club Two goals my husband and I are always working on are saving money and eating healthier At a glance, it appears these two goals are at odds. But our use of coupons has actually enabled us to meet both of those goals in an unexpected way. Here's what we do: 1. Clip coupons for all toiletries and household expenses. I watch for deals at CVS and Target on paper products and stock up when I can get them below my price points. CVS will often send me coupons that I can add to my card for dollars off my entire purchase, such as $5 off $15 or $10 off $30. This sweetens the deal when I already needed toilet paper! Using Target's Cartwheel app often results in further savings on cleaning products as well (and just about anything else you can think of). I've found that while there is sticker shock when you look at the price tags for cosmetics and personal care items at drugstores, they are the absolute best place to shop for toiletries. Between the cashback programs (ExtraBucks at CVS, +Up Rewards at Rite Aid, etc.) and the store coupons that can be added to your card or printed to stack with manufacturer coupons, I have walked out of the store with countless free and moneymaker shampoos, body washes, and facial care products. Yes, please! 2. Use discounted gift cards. This is one of my favorite savings methods because it doesn't require much work at all. Gift Card Granny is a great search engine for available gift cards at discounted prices. Because grocery store gift card discounts are on the lower end (1-2% off), I like to purchase drugstore gift cards to further save on toiletries and household expenses. At the time of this writing, CVS cards are selling at more than a 17% discount! 3. Shop the manager's special section. Meats are some of the most expensive products you can buy. Even as we have removed grains from our diet and begun purchasing more meats, our grocery budget is lower than it has ever been because I load up on the manager's special meat cuts and plan our meals accordingly. I've gotten grass-fed beef, steak, seafood and more for 30-50% off the lowest price marked. Since meat coupons are few and far between, this is the best way for me to use coupons on your actual food purchases. We have cut out all processed foods (with the exception of an occasional carton of ice cream when we have company), and I've been amazed to see that our grocery expenses have actually gone down. Even though I'm no longer using coupons on most of our food purchases, I'm saving so much money by using coupons and discounted gift cards, that I've been able to allocate more of our budget toward eating whole, healthy foods. Our wallets and our waistlines thank us! How have you been able to save on healthier food choices? Alex is a full-time homemaker and blogger at Good Steward Club. She is passionate about educating others on the many ways to save money as an act of good stewardship out of love for God. photo source :: How to Make 20 Busy Bags for only $5 Sara in Shanghai shows us how to make 20 busy bags for only $5 using items from the local dollar store. You received this email because you are registered on www.moneysavingmom.com with the email address panatllc1.kate@blogger.com. If you believe this has been sent to you in error, you can easily unsubscribe here. Money Saving Mom 2020 Fieldstone Parkway, Suite 900 #313 Franklin, TN 37069 © 2008-2015 Money Saving Mom, LLC. All rights reserved.

3 Pieces of Advice I Wish I Could Give My 23-Year-Old Self and more...

Here's What's New 3 Pieces of Advice I Wish I Could Give My 23-Year-Old Self 48-Hour Giveaway: $50 Mixbook Credit (5 winners) One Week Grocery Shopping Haul for a Large Family Save $2 on AXE + enter to win a $50 Walgreens gift card (4 winners) Gretchen's $36 Grocery Shopping Trip and Weekly Menu Plan Whole 30 Freezer Cooking Plan :: 3 Pieces of Advice I Wish I Could Give My 23-Year-Old Self Guest post from Angela of Setting My Intention If you told my 23-year-old self that, 20 years in the future, I would be writing a blog about decluttering, I would have laughed. When I was 23 years old, I had just graduated from college and traveled across the country (with only one large suitcase) to serve in an inner city ministry. How did I get from one large suitcase to a house full of things that need to be decluttered? I moved into an apartment… got married… had kids… moved into a home… In other words, life happened. If I could give my 23-year-old self advice, here is what I would tell her: 1. Invest in Experiences, Not Things. You will be tempted to "nest" many times: when you get a new apartment, move into your first home, have children. Along with that temptation, you will want to buy many things. Try to resist that temptation. Experiences and time are the best gifts to give and receive. Instead of making a wish list of things you'd like as gifts, try making a wish list of experiences that you'd like to give and get on your birthday and/or holidays. When you do decorate your new spaces, only keep and purchase things that you love. Invest in a few lovely pieces. Use your local thrift stores - they are often goldmines if you look carefully. Keep open spaces in your home. 2. Be a Thoughtful Consumer. Wait to purchase things until you know what you need and will use. When my husband and I were getting married, I naturally assumed we should have a wedding registry. However, we were clueless as to what we would actually use and need. We registered for many items that "we might be able to use" because we had that nifty handheld scanner that made it so easy! The same thing happened to us when we were having our first baby. We registered for the things listed in the baby books that told us what we absolutely must have. Can I just give you a heads up? You will NOT need a diaper genie. Wrapping them up tight, or plastic bags work just fine. You might even consider cloth diapering. Again, wait to purchase things until you know what you need. It will save you the time later when you end up donating or consigning the pieces off of your registry! Another tip: kids' consignment sales have great, barely used items for a fraction of the price. 3. Don't Get Emotionally Attached. What your priorities or life circumstances change, don't be afraid to get rid of the things that are no longer relevant or important to you. Here are some areas to consider and declutter on a regular basis: Clothing/purses/shoes Books Papers/yearbooks Photos The memories have been made, the mementos can be let go of. If you are in your twenties, what advice has been most helpful to you? If you older, like me, what advice would you give your 20-something-aged self? I'd love to hear your thoughts. Angela blogs at Setting My Intention. She is a wife and mom to three boys. She works part time outside the home, and full time inside the home. She loves to spend time outside with her family, read, write, and most recently, run. She writes about simplifying life and developing healthy habits. :: 48-Hour Giveaway: $50 Mixbook Credit (5 winners) I'm not a scrapbooker… but I love the idea of having physical records of our memories over the years. And that's why I LOVE photo books! They are so much easier, less messy, and less time-consuming to create. I also love that you can order more than one if you want to give them as gifts to grandparents or to have to give to your kids some day. Plus, there are often great deals and sales available for them. Mixbook is giving away 5 $50 gift certificates to my readers this weekend. You can use this to create any of the photo products they offer on their site so that you can capture your memories, too. They are also offering 50% off any purchase from their site when you use coupon code AGST15 at checkout. This coupon code is valid through August 31, 2015. Would you like to win a $50 off gift certificate from Mixbook? Click on the graphic below and type in your name and email address. 5 winners will be chosen and posted next week. Giveaway ends Monday, August 31, at 11:59 pm, CST.   :: One Week Grocery Shopping Haul for a Large Family Jamerrill has a great post up sharing her grocery shopping trip for her large family. If you have a large family, I think you'll be inspired by her post and video. :: Save $2 on AXE + enter to win a $50 Walgreens gift card (4 winners) As the men in your life grow older, their look should mature with them. Walgreens carries just the right AXE products to help them with this transition, especially when it comes to hair care products. These newly redesigned AXE hair and styling products are great for encouraging the men in your life to look, feel, and smell their best. Through September 24, 2015, you can clip a coupon to your Balance Rewards card to save $2 on any two AXE products at Walgreens. Coupon is valid through October 31, 2015. Some of the AXE products offered for men at Walgreens: Axe Apollo 2-in-1 Shampoo + Conditioner: AXE Hair Apollo is a 2 in 1 Shampoo + Conditioner with a masculine fragrance that combines crisp fruit notes with a creamy background, making hair smell and feel irresistible. Axe Natural Look Hair Cream: With this AXE Hair Cream, your hair will have a little bit of control while still looking natural and feeling soft to touch. Axe Clean-Cut Look Pomade: Clean up your hair - and your act. Give your hair polish without looking wet with our pomade hair styling product. Would you like to win a $50 Walgreens Gift Card? I've got four $50 Walgreens gift cards to give away this week! To enter to win, just head over to this post on my Facebook Page and leave a comment sharing which product you like most and want to save on. I'll choose four winners from the comments to win a $50 Walgreens gift card! {This post was underwritten by Lunchbox. Read my disclosure policy here.} :: Gretchen's $36 Grocery Shopping Trip and Weekly Menu Plan Homeland 2 Ragu Pasta Sauce - $1.50 each, used $0.75/2 coupon from the 8/23 RedPlum insert (doubled) - $0.75 each after coupon Mt Olive Sweet Relish - $1.19, used $1/1 printable (doubled) - Free plus overage after coupon 2 Yoplait Yogurts - $0.50 each, used $0.40/2 printable (doubled) - $0.10 each after coupon 2 Herbal Essence Bodywash - $2.50 each, used $0.75/1 printable (doubled) and $1/1 coupon from the 8/23 RedPlum insert (doubled) - $0.75 each after coupons 2 Planters Peanuts - $1.69 each, used $1/2 printable (doubled) - $0.69 each after coupon 4 cans Libby's Green Beans - $0.75 each, used $1/4 coupon from the 8/23 RedPlum insert - $0.25 each after coupon 1 Wishbone Salad Dressing - $2.19, used $0.75/1 coupon from the 8/23 RedPlum insert (doubled) - $0.69 after coupon Buy 4 General Mills items, Get Free gallon of milk: 1 Golden Grahams Cereal - $2, used $1/1 printable (doubled) - Free after coupon 1 Honey Nut Cheerios - $2, used $0.50/1 printable (doubled) - $1 after coupon 1 Cheerios - $2, used $0.75/1 printable (no longer available) (doubled) - $0.50 after coupon 1 Go-Gurt - $1.99 1 gallon Milk ($3.75) - Free after sale Total with tax ($1.69) after coupons and sales: $11.43 Dillons 1 pkg Grapes - $1.85 1 pkg Kroger Tortillas - $1.50 1 loaf Nature's Harvest Bread - $2.50, used $1.05/1 e-coupon - $1.45 after coupon 2 Kroger Cottage Cheese - $1 each 5 Muller Yogurts - $1 each, used $1/5 e-coupon - $0.80 each after coupon 1 Kroger Tortilla Chips - $1.25, used $0.40/1 mailer coupon - $0.85 after coupon 1 Green Leaf Lettuce - $0.99, received $0.25 Checkout 51 rebate - $0.74 after rebate 1 Cascadian Farms Granola - Marked down to $0.99 1 Hormel Turkey - $3.99, used $0.50/1 e-coupon - $3.49 after coupon 1 Kroger Cream Cheese - $1 1 bag Apples/Peaches - Marked down to $0.99 1.60 lbs Tomatoes - $1.58 1 bag Kroger Brown Rice - $0.89 1.76 lbs Bananas - $1.04, received $0.20 Ibotta rebate - $0.84 after rebate 2 Cucumbers - $0.50 each Total with tax ($2.05) after sales, coupons and rebates: $25.22 Total for all grocery items: $36.65 Menu Plan for This Week Breakfasts Easy Breakfast Roll-ups Protein Waffles Eggs & Toast Oatmeal Cereal x 2 Egg & Cheese Quiche Lunches Baked Potatoes, Broccoli Vegetable Soup, Crackers Tossed Salad x 2 Apples, Cheese, Crackers, Veggies Turkey Sandwiches, Fruit Lunch with my family Dinners Brown Bag Burritos (from the freezer), Steamed Cauliflower, Chips and Salsa Easy Baked Ziti, Tossed Salad, Homemade Bread Chicken Pockets, Green Beans, Fruit Salad Grilled Chicken, Tossed Salad, Mashed Potatoes Chicken & Rice Casserole, Steamed Carrots Homemade Pizza, Veggies Leftovers :: Whole 30 Freezer Cooking Plan Jessica from GoodCheapEats has put together a Whole 30 Freezer Cooking Plan. Check it out here. You received this email because you are registered on www.moneysavingmom.com with the email address panatllc1.kate@blogger.com. If you believe this has been sent to you in error, you can easily unsubscribe here. Money Saving Mom 2020 Fieldstone Parkway, Suite 900 #313 Franklin, TN 37069 © 2008-2015 Money Saving Mom, LLC. All rights reserved.

20 Healthy Fast Breakfast Ideas for Busy School Mornings and more...

Here's What's New 20 Healthy Fast Breakfast Ideas for Busy School Mornings Free e-Course: Developing a Faith-Filled Family One Simple Thing That Has Completely Changed My Mornings Sign Up for Blogelina's Build Your Own Profitable Blog Class for just $0.99! 3 Things To Do When You Feel Hopeless and Discouraged :: 20 Healthy Fast Breakfast Ideas for Busy School Mornings Don't Waste the Crumbs has a great list of 20 healthy fast breakfast ideas for busy school mornings. :: Free e-Course: Developing a Faith-Filled Family Faith Passed Down is offering their Developing a Faith-Filled Family e-course for free through the end of September. This course helps you develop a simple, practical plan to growing spiritually in one area as a family. :: One Simple Thing That Has Completely Changed My Mornings Visit Sarah at The Orthodox Mama to read about one simple thing that has completely changed her mornings. :: Sign Up for Blogelina's Build Your Own Profitable Blog Class for just $0.99! Create Your Own Profitable Blog in 2015 for Just $0.99! Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have your own money-making blog? You want to start - but you just don't know how? Or, maybe you have a blog that would like to take to the next level and start earning an income from it? Through September 1st, Blogelina is offering a special deal for my readers who want to start a money-making blog. Enroll in their popular 4-week blogging class-Build Your Own Profitable Blog-for just $0.99! If you want to learn the basics of how to set up a blog, how to take your blogging to the next level, or how to begin earning money from your blog, you'll want to check out this class! When you sign up for this class, here's what you'll get: A 60-Page How-To Manual - packed with information that will help take the overwhelming out of starting your own blog 4 weekly online class sessions where you can ask your questions and get personalized feedback A FREE Year of Web Hosting Blogelina Does Your Blog Set-Up For You - they'll take care of the techie side of the set-up so you don't have to. All you have to do is just have to start blogging! Blueprints, step-by-step tutorials, networking with other bloggers - everything you need to grow your blog. This class will cover: How to Get Your Blog Started on the Right Foot Questions to ask as you begin blogging How To Actually Set Up A Blog Why Your Blog Design is So Important 9 Different Ways to Easily Monetize Your Blog How to Draw Visitors to Your Blog and so much more! Blogelina has been featured on the Dave Ramsey show, and is well-known for their ability to help bloggers make a successful start. Many of my readers here have gone through this course in the past and have great reviews to share with me. And for $0.99? That's a steal! But this offer is only valid for the next 5 days! Sign up for the Blogelina Build Your Own Profitable Blog class today! *If you're not 100% satisfied with your experience with Blogelina, you are free to walk away at any time during the class session! PLUS, you'll get to keep your copy of the class manual and your free year of hosting - Blogelina will refund your money! Note: This post was underwritten by Blogelina. Read our disclosure policy here. :: 3 Things To Do When You Feel Hopeless and Discouraged As many of you already know, this past week was a whirlwind of unexpected, frightening news for me and my family. A routine doctor's visit turned my life upside down, and it left me sort of reeling. (You can read the details in this blog post, if you'd like more of the backstory.) Through this experience over the past week, I have a newfound appreciation and empathy for those of you who are enduring major life struggles each and every day. I know that what I went through last week pales in comparison to some of the situations you find yourselves in, but in these moments I felt emotions I have never felt before. I did not have the emotional or physical strength to do much of anything. I had no appetite. I couldn't bring myself to really blog and had no desire to get online and tackle tasks I needed to - which is very out of character for me because I love this community here! As I reflected on all of this, I thought about lessons I'm learning in the middle of this and I wanted to share them in hopes that they might encourage someone else who is going through a rough season. Maybe you have a difficult child, financial struggles, a broken relationship, medical issues, marriage problems, or you just feel plain stuck in life right now. If you're struggling today, here are 3 things that helped me last week: 1. Choose Joy. Focus on your problems and you'll feel discouraged. Focus on your blessings and you'll feel encouraged. We can't always choose our circumstances, but we can always choose our response to those circumstances. We don't know what tomorrow will bring, or if the news we receive will change the course of our lives. We do know that we have today to embrace life and live as vibrantly and fully as we possibly can. Choose to live fully today. Because today is all you're guaranteed. Dwell in the present, and embrace the beauty surrounding you. When I experienced my surprise medical issues, I had four blogging friends staying with me. I felt, at first, like it was the worst timing possible. I realized very quickly, though, that God had brought them to me at the perfect moment. Having them surround me with love, prayers, support, and encouragement was exactly what I needed and exactly when I needed it. And I realized how much I had to be thankful for: not only my friends surrounding me, but also for my husband, my children, having 33 years of life - and a very healthy life, at that! There is always, always something to be grateful for. Sometimes we have to really look for it, but when we do, we'll find it - and probably a lot more than just one thing! 2. Reach Out for Help. I'm a very driven, Type-A, do it all by myself kind of person. Allowing people to help me can be very difficult sometimes, but I'm beginning to really learn the beauty in reaching out and letting people pour into you and help you through times when you're struggling. We were made for community. Sometimes it feels easier to keep our feelings and hurts and struggles locked away inside, but sharing vulnerably with others gives us an opportunity to open up and have authentic relationships. If you don't feel like you have someone to reach out to, think about the people around you who seem like they are caring people, even if you don't know them extremely well. I encourage you to reach out - today. If you cannot think of anyone to reach out to, I'd love for you to reach out to me. You can e-mail me, tweet me, or leave a comment on this post. I do not want you to feel alone, and I would love to pray for you and give you a virtual hug. I'm sure others here at the MoneySavingMom.com community would love to do the same for you. I want this to be a community where we are here to help, inspire, bless, and encourage one another. 3. Do the Next Small Thing. I will never forget hearing Elisabeth Elliot's story after her husband, Jim Elliot, was brutally murdered by the people group they were trying to serve and love. After an elaborate plan to minister to this people group ended in radio silence, Elisabeth Elliot said she had a choice in that heartbreaking moment - a choice to keep moving. She chose to do the next small thing, which was changing her daughter's diaper. For me this past week, when I wanted to feel overwhelmed with emotions, I challenged myself to just get up and do the next thing - loving on my family and being a host to my friends. When you do the next thing, even if it seems so small, it will give you courage to keep taking the next small step. It usually feels so much easier to sit, wallow, and be discouraged. But if we just get up and do the next thing - whatever that might be - we will be able to start moving forward and not feel so stuck. For those of you going through a seemingly hopeless time, I wanted to recommend two books to encourage you. Being the minimalist that I am, you know that I do not own many books. If a book stays on my shelf, it has deeply impacted me. Both of these books have been on my shelf for a long time, so you know that I really love them. Evidence Not Seen by Darlene Deibler Rose. This book shares the story of a woman's miraculous faith in the jungles of WWII. I read it for the first time when I was about 13 years old and have since read it multiple times because it had such a profound effect on me. To read of this woman's faith in the middle of confinement and horrendous situations as a prisoner of war was incredible. She chose joy over and over again and reminded herself of the truth instead of giving to seemingly hopeless situations. Even in some of the lowest points in my life, I always told myself that if Darlene could find joy and hope, so could I. Calm My Anxious Heart by Linda Dillow. This is one of the absolute best books I've read about having a calm, restful, and trusting spirit during the trials of life. I highly recommend it. What helps you when you are struggling or feel discouraged? Leave a comment and let us know! You received this email because you are registered on www.moneysavingmom.com with the email address panatllc1.kate@blogger.com. If you believe this has been sent to you in error, you can easily unsubscribe here. Money Saving Mom 2020 Fieldstone Parkway, Suite 900 #313 Franklin, TN 37069 © 2008-2015 Money Saving Mom, LLC. All rights reserved.

7 Items You Should Always Look for at Goodwill and more...

Here's What's New 7 Items You Should Always Look for at Goodwill Why We LOVE YouNeedABudget Reader Tip: Earn Free Gift Cards with the Shopkick App :: 7 Items You Should Always Look for at Goodwill Whether you're a new or experienced thrift store shopper, you'll love this post from Laurie at Passionate Penny Pincher on 7 items you should always look for at Goodwill before shopping retail stores. :: Why We LOVE YouNeedABudget Around Christmastime, Jesse was chatting with his sister's husband, Justin, about budgets. They are both what I'd lovingly refer to as "nerds". You know the kind of people… those people who think spreadsheets are fun. And who geek out over features in Excel. Yup, those kinds of people. You might as well poke my eyeballs out with a hot iron rod than get to me be giddy over creating spreadsheets. But nevertheless, I love Spreadsheet Nerds because they help keep people like me in line and on track! Anyway, Justin started telling Jesse about YouNeedaBudget (YNAB). We'd both heard of it before had been good with using Quicken for so long that we'd not considered changing to anything else. Well, when Jesse saw the features of YNAB, he was intrigued enough to sign up for the free trial. And it was pretty much love at first sight. Truthfully, I can't even begin to tell you how often I've heard him exclaiming to me, to friends, or just to himself something about, "How cool and helpful YNAB is!" I'm such a pen and paper and cash girl, but after all his raving reviews, I finally gave in and downloaded it on my phone and had him show me how it works. It's really, really impressive. I'm pretty sure I'll forever be connected to my green cash, but I love how we can see exactly how we're doing in every budget in just one glance. And since we have multiple budgets for our businesses and personal, it allows us to track them all in one app. Which is so handy! I asked Jesse to share what he loves about YNAB most. Here's what he said: I love having mobile access to my budgets. I love being able to access all of my budgets on demand. YouNeedABudget makes budgeting easy by assigning each expense to a category and automatically takes it out of the budget when you record the transaction. If you record the transaction from your phone using the mobile app, YNAB will update the balance and display the new category balance once the transaction is entered. All budgets stay synced on all devices through Dropbox so you always look at the most recent numbers. You can easily import transactions at one time from your bank by importing a downloaded statement on your computer. I asked the folks at YNAB to share what sets their Budgeting Software apart from others out there and here's what they shared: 1) You only budget money you have right now. 2) It is flexible. Rule Three: Roll with the Punches - removes any shame in overspending in a particular category any given month. It will happen. All the time. That doesn't make you a failure. Just adjust, address it and move on. 3) There is a manual component. We are asking you to be hands on, to be aware of every dollar, to be involved with your budget. This requires a little bit of time (although once you get used to it, it's super quick and easy), but this is also why it works. Without awareness nothing will change. 4) We want you to live on last month's income. Yes, this takes some time to achieve for most people, but once you can do this you will be shocked at how little stress you have about money. Once you live on last month's income, you'll never go back! 5) A lot of people think of budgeting as restriction, but what YNAB will give you is control over your finances, and that control translates to freedom. 6) A lot of people come to YNAB because they are drowning in credit card debt or paying overdraft fees every month - and YNAB changes their lives. 7) YNAB has a killer support team and offers free, online daily budgeting classes. {The four screen grabs above are fictitious examples provided by YNAB.} Sign Up for a Free Trial Want to try out YouNeedABudget? Sign up for a free trial here. {Psst! YNAB is free for college students. Details are here.} Have you used YNAB or another budgeting software before? I'd love to hear about your experiences - both positive or negative. This post was underwritten by YNAB. We were so happy to share honestly about a product that we've found to be a wonderful tool in our home and for our finances. Read my disclosure policy here.  :: Reader Tip: Earn Free Gift Cards with the Shopkick App Ramona emailed in the following tip: I use the Shopkick App to earn free gift cards to my favorite stores, and thought many of your readers might be interested in using it as well. It's kind of like Swagbucks where you earn points and then redeem those points for gift cards - however, you earn the points simply by walking into various stores and scanning product bar codes. I recently earned a $50 gift card to Lowes' (for 12,500 points) which I used with a $20 Lowes' coupon and a price reduction of $20 to save myself a total of $90 for a miter saw. It takes some time to earn point, but I am willing to work at it for a good gift card! You received this email because you are registered on www.moneysavingmom.com with the email address panatllc1.kate@blogger.com. If you believe this has been sent to you in error, you can easily unsubscribe here. Money Saving Mom 2020 Fieldstone Parkway, Suite 900 #313 Franklin, TN 37069 © 2008-2015 Money Saving Mom, LLC. All rights reserved.