Wednesday, February 24, 2010

I Share With You Inspiration, Not Perspiration...

So, I openly admit I am not crafty (crafty in the crafting sense, I will leave my otherwise conniving bag to your judgment), I don't scrapbook or sew or make fantastically awesome holiday crafts of cuteness or anything like that. Well, I bake, make truffles...no wait so I am not crafty BUT...I do like a good deal, and trying to figure out how to save money. See? By my not crafting I save money automatically!

Anyway...just thought I would whip out that tiny thread of serious domestic DNA in my otherwise droll body and share with yous guys some of my totally original, no-one-ever-thought-of, AMAZING and totally true and the greatest money-saving tips EVER! *cue awesome fanfare*

Milk: Milk does a body good, but it drop kicks and plants a sharp elbow in your budget, especially if you're buying organic, and especially if you have a growing boy in the house, and especially if you like an afternoon latte made on your fancy home espresso machine...wait.

OK so milk. To make your milk last longer, buy whole milk and add water to it! Yes! Pour half of what you would normally drink/use, and add water to the rest. You get two gallons for the price of one and you automatically reduce the fat! And, by the way, all you IBS suffererererers, you can digest whole milk easier than 1% or non-fat. Just sayin' because I know...

And juice! Sheesh, really good juice can be expensive too, especially if you're trying to avoid colored sugar water masquerading as a juice cocktail chocked full of "vitamin C". What I like to do is first, get a coupon for REAL juice, like a nice concord grape juice, which packs a true nutritional punch, and then buy a store brand real apple juice along with it, and mix the two together. While water would be cheaper, the truth is you can't tell any difference in the taste, and you're still saving money if juice is popular in your house. Apple juice can be mixed with any real juice yet not ruin the flavor.

Coupons! This may be old news for some, but I bet a lot of you don't actually put this little money-saving tip into practice like you should be. I use a site called The Coupon Clippers. I totally love them. A SAHM and some of her family members started this lil' business of clipping, and now they're a big fancy on-line business and I love them. Go check them out, and better yet, since they often have a limit of 5 coupons per item order, you can get in on it with a friend and split the coupons and clipping fees (which are VERY small!).

And they have great coupons guys, not just for random stuff you never buy. I have read about people buying $900 worth of groceries and only spending $200, but, I don't want 30 boxes of Hotpockets or 25 Bic pens, OK? I don't use coupons just to use them. But, I just shaved $47 off my grocery bill and I bought all organic/free range milk, eggs, meat, chicken AND fruit! Not that I had coupons for all of that stuff, but, the other coupons allowed me to get those things which I would otherwise pass up on.

Annnnnnd, many large grocery chains will have double coupon days, which means they will automatically double any coupon that is 50 cents or less. Check with your favorite grocery store for their in-store deals and their coupon policies. Imagine if you could save $50 every time you go shopping, still buying everything you want/need. SQUEEEEEEEE!

And my last tip? Learn to make your own pizza! When we moved and changed our lifestyle, we realized that our weekly purchase of pizza was out of the budget, seeing as we spent about $40 a week just on pizza! So, my hubby, who is uh-ma-zing (let's just get that out there right now), makes his own dough (and he doesn't even need to throw it in the air, which is good because the ceiling in the kitchen is only 7 feet high) and we buy all our own ingredients. We have figured out that with buying all the ingredients bulk, the cost for a "pizza" night for our family is about $6. Yes. six.dollars.per.pizza.night.

See? AND, he makes awesome bread, cinnamon rolls, bagels and pretzels. No, you can't borrow him. Well, let me think about that...yeah. No.

So, if you tend to go out weekly or order in for pizza, or Chinese, or whatever your fave is, consider learning how to make it at home. We have pizza every Friday night, and it is such a treat! You can even have your family get in on the baking process! We went ahead and invested in a pizza stone and pizza peel and it was totally worth it.

And there you have it folks. It don't get much more domestic than that for me so, relish it, and, find a coupon for relish. And use it. The end.



19 comments:

w said...

you know how i save money? i don't buy savary foods. and i purchase day old bread. and i eat that with manernaise.

what's wrong with 30 boxes of hotpamkets? i'll tell you what. they're greedy. and they fail out of school.

i wish i could have heard you live on the radio. i bet your voice was angelaic.

Anything Fits A Naked Man said...

These are really, really great tips! Thanks!

Creative Junkie said...

Considering that the coupons in our paper are a big massive SUCKFEST lately, I might look into that coupon site, although the thought of paying for coupons doesn't sit well with me. Then again, I basically pay for them when I buy the paper. Obviously I need to get over myself.

And I need to learn how to make healthy pizza at home and save money and my cholesterol at the same time.

Anonymous said...

I LOVE pizza. YUM.
Great creative post.
I'm diving into Wordpress right now. That's right. I have blogger blogs and now Wordpress. I am an insane woman for sure.
But I like wordpress. Very user friendly thus far.

Cluttered Brain said...

i am cluttered brain.
up there i posted as vlogging mama. same girl, in case you are wondering.

SurferWife said...

Shit. Kim is suddenly a domesticated blog. Out to make me feel all bad for my lack of craftiness.

Pshsshshhhh

Dee at Pedestrian Palate said...

I am a loser at coupons and crafty. But I am a winner at having an old douche sitting in front of me at work, who gives me the hairy eyeball and does not say thank you when he sneezes and I say bless you. (this just happened and I need to vent or I will go postal. Sorry that your blog had to be the recipient.

PS. Loved you and Kelly on the radio. I am talking exclusively in whale song forever.

Unknown said...

Yep yep I agree with it all....*wiping off milk mustache*

Homemade pizza rocks...and..its better for you

Kearsie said...

I found a way to save money at home. I just don't buy groceries or feed anyone.

I KNOW. GENIUSY.

Matty said...

I love your ideas and tips. If only my wife was on the same page as you. She just doesn't want to be bothered with all the effort (as she perceives it) in looking for coupons, buying in bulk, mixing things to make it last longer, etc. I'm all alone here when it comes to trying to save money.

said...

WHAaaaa??? You have a tres cutey blog with awesome pictures! How can you say that you're not crafty!!!!

Vanessa said...

You are too crafty. And super domestic. I'm a little more intimidated by you now. *cowering*

Joann Mannix said...

Great ideas, although, alas, I am very much a disorganized mess and I've got to work up to coupons. I'm trying.

I, too, have an AWESOME husband who not only brings home the bacon, he also fries it up in the pan. He makes his own dough and oftentimes we have Make Your Own Pizza nights at our house. The kids bring their friends and it's just a hell of a good time. The main thing I love about making your own pizza is we're pretty healthy eaters in our house. So here at home, we can fill our pizzas with broccoli rabe, pine nuts, feta cheese, caramelized onions...all the fun, good stuff.

Love your ideas!

Stephanie said...

Make our own pizza nights in one of our fave things to do around here!
great tips:)

SPEAKING FROM THE CRIB said...

wow. love the milk one. where do you buy your groceries. i want to buy the free/range organic stuff too but all we have is walmart and giant eagle and kmart to grocery shop. maybe if i knew the name of something i could find one close to me.

Lynn said...

Well you DO sound domestic. You've got some great tips here. I never thought to mix milk with water. Hey here's another one for ya: This may never happen in your house since you have a milk-drinking young 'un around, but we often end up with a little milk at the end of the carton that's about to go bad. Did you know you can freeze it, in ice cube trays, and use it in smoothies?

Lynn Kellan said...

You are so right - I've gotta start making my own pizza, cause it's expensive! By the way, merci for the sweet bloggy award. If I were to ever ask someone to babysit my doggy, it would be you! :)

The Retired One said...

Great tips..thanks!!

tristan said...

homemade pizza is a possibility. question: do you have the recipe for coors light?

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