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The Freezer Is Your Best Friend

When it comes to saving money on food the freezer is one of your best friends, if you have two freezers consider yourself lucky. Someday I will have a second deep freezer! One the easiest ways to slash your meat cost is buying either on sale or manager’s special. They key is that you go home and immediately freeze what will not be used before it goes bad. Make sure you date your meat and freeze it is usable portions. Manager’s special meat needs to be used the day you defrost it because remember it was about to expire, but as long as you are using it in time there is no reason not to buy manager’s special meat. Buying meat the day before it expires can lead to some huge discounts and ultimately allow you to buy nicer cuts of meat too. I suggest buying in bulk when a meat you use often is on sale. For example when fresh chicken is $1.99/lb. I do not only buy what I need for that week but I usually buy double. That way I do not have to pay full price the following week for my chicken thus keeping the cost down for me.The same for managers special meat if it is a great deal I buy it as long as there is room in my budget even if it will not be used for a week or two.

The freezer is not just a great pace for extra meat either, you can freeze all kinds of things to make them last. Vegetables and fruit can be easily frozen simply chop them up for their future use and freeze them accordingly. In the summer I freeze the extra vegetables from my garden for soups and other dishes. I specifically make bags for each dish fro example for chili I have a bag of diced onions and peppers. If your fruit is going to go bad before you can use it dice and it and freeze it for future use for things such a  smoothies, applesauce, pies and more. The key is to keep an eye on your food so nothing goes bad and gets wasted. You can also buy in bulk when fruits and vegetables are in season and then enjoy then year round at a lower cost. If you have questions on how to freeze food HERE is a great site that tells you step by step how to freeze almost any fruit or vegetable.

You can also freeze other items such as butter and breads. Personally I do not like to freeze baked goods but I know people who do. Again it is all about stabilizing your cost and buying when prices are low in bulk so you do not have to buy when the prices are high. So what do you freeze that is unusual? I would love to know.

Giveaways Galore

Who doesn’t love giveaways? I know I do and so do my readers so please provide a direct link to your family friendly giveaways in the Mr.Linky below and make sure to enter all of my great giveaways while you are here. Want more places to list your giveaways…check out my list of sites who host weekly giveaways.

Are you on Twitter? Be sure to join me every Monday Night at 10pm EST for Live Giveaways on Twitter #LiveGive.

Winners…

Mommy Pads & More winner #120 Kim

Bravado nursing bra #111 The Jacobsen Family

Kolcraft 2-in-1 Booster Seat #3 Andrea

Saving Money on Water

We all know that drinking water is cheaper then any other beverage and much healthier too, but if you want purified water it gets really expensive. Years ago we stopped buying bottled water and switched to buying jugs and using reusable water bottles. At our house we love CamelBak BPA-Free Better Bottle with Bite Valve they do not leak and they are easy to drink one handed since you don’t have to unscrew a top ( we do not like the kids ones though the leaked). So using reusable water bottles to save money is nothing new but we have since gone farther and now have a PUR water filter on our faucet. I personally love the taste of PUR water so it helps me to drink more water, but it is also very inexpensive. I have used Brita pitchers before and for various reasons wasn’t crazy about them. PUR has been a great solution for us. It is convenient since it is always on the faucet you just flip it over to get purified water plus the refills last us on average 3 months and they always have coupons in the newspaper inserts. The initial investment can be a bit daunting fro some, we bought the PUR Faucet Mount with Bottle – 2pk which is $38 right now on Amazon plus it comes with a FREE water bottle which is a great deal (ours did not have the free bottle we bought it years ago). If you watch the newspaper for coupons this is the everyday price at Target, plus there is usually a coupon fro refills as well. Now if your refrigerator has a filter in it than you don’t need one of these but for those of us without refrigerator filters we love our PUR!

Tons of Hasbro Printable Coupons

Just in time for Easter you can get tons of Hasbro printable coupons to help you save on toys for the kids Easter Baskets! Some of these coupons have been around for a while but some are new. My girls really love My Little Pony so we will be using the B1G1 My Little Pony coupon and they also love Strawberry Shortcake so the $5 off a $20 Strawberry Shortcake coupon looks good to me too!

#LiveGive The Free Food Edition Tonight 3/15 at 10 pm EST

To kick off my TC Mom Kitchen Carnival I am giving away lots of FREE food tonight  Monday 3/15 during Live Giveaways at 10 pm EST. Check out these fabulous companies and their great products! No RSVP required this week just show up and tweet see you tonight!

Healthy Choice All Natural Entrees: Healthy Choice recently came out with some new All Natural entrees in delicious flavors. My husband and I got to try out some and they are definitely much better than any frozen meal I have had before. I really liked the tortellini primavera parmesan yummy! The entrees are made with no preservatives, artificial flavors or colors. They use extra virgin olive oil, whole grains and fresh vegetables. Plus they have 8 vegetarian options. One lucky winner will win 3 FREE entrees of your choice!

Nature’s Own Sandwich Rounds and Bagels: My family was sent some of Nature’s Own sandwich rounds and thin slice bagels to tryout. The thin sliced bagels came in 100% whole wheat and original. They are made with no artificial colors or flavors and no high fructose corn syrup plus only 150 calories per serving. My girls and I really enjoyed thee toasted with peanut butter for breakfast yummy! The sandwich rounds were a surprising hit with my husband he really enjoyed the whole wheat and  I liked the multi-grain. Both of the sandwich rounds have only 100 calories per serving and taste delicious as a substitute for bread or buns on any sandwich! One lucky winner will receive a Nature’s Own prize pack!

Country Bob’s: Have you tried Country Bob’s All Purpose Sauce? I was recently introduced to this unique sauce and we love it.My husband likes to dip his fries in it and we both like it on our hamburgers! I recently tried it in baked beans and that was a hit as well. You really can use this sauce on everything! Two lucky winners will each receive 2 bottles of Country Bob’s sauce.

Make sure and tweet with the #LiveGive hashtag during the party HERE. Of course be sure to follow me @ThriftyChicMom during the party as well! I will draw winners during the 10 PM EST hour from those who have met the requirements and are actively participating in our discussion. For complete rules go HERE.

My Final Thoughts on Exer-Walk #earthfootwear

So it has been 30 days of wearing my new Exer-Walk shoes from Earth Footwear and I am proud to announce……. MY PRE-BABY JEANS FIT!!!!!! That’s right I lost  about 5 pounds in the last 30 days which isn’t all that impressive, but considering I didn’t change my exercise plan I am excited. All I did was add in the Exer-Walk shoes to my daily routine. Mostly I wore them around the house but it added up to some great changes. 30 days ago I could not get these jeans on and then 15 days ago I could squeeze into them. Now I can comfortably wear them and they fit like they should.  So here are my final thoughts on the Exer-Walk shoes. They are amazingly comfortable and even though I hat how the wide front makes my already big feet look bigger it makes them extra comfortable. I really love how it improved my posture and helped to tone my body with out any extra work on my part. The price is fantastic ($69) especially since all the competitor shoes are around $100 or more. My only criticism is the one I had from the start the look. I just really wish they were more stylish! Thanks to Earth Footwear for providing these great shoes for me to try out and thanks for helping me fit back into my pre-baby jeans!

Made By Mom: The Ginger Baby

This weeks featured Made by Mom company is The Ginger Baby, while I am not a redhead my sister is. Be sure to check out the adorable products they make.

Name of company and what you sell.

The Ginger Baby. We sell a line of children’s clothing that is designed especially for red haired children (and the children of redheads.)

How you came up with your product idea?

When Gillian (my daughter-in-law who is married to my red haired son) was pregnant, we would talk about whether the baby’s chances were good for being a red head, and wouldn’t it be cool to have a shirt that said something about being a ginger. There are tons of onesies about being Italian or Irish, but we couldn’t find any “Ginger pride” type products. The idea and logo literally came to me one day at my desk job and I immediately called Gillian and asked her what she thought.

Gillian was also researching a lot about natural, chemical-free products and we’d discuss how I wish I’d had the organic/natural choices she had when I had my baby. My son’s sensitive, freckled skin would have appreciated the products that are out there now.

What is you favorite thing about being a mom entrepreneur?

Definitely getting to be home (for both of us) versus being behind a desk. We both tend to immerse ourselves in the project we’re currently working on, so for Gillian, trying to balance the long hours, strict deadlines and high pressure of her corporate job in the interior design field with the day-in-day-out of raising a baby would have been near impossible for her temperament. For me, it’s the joy of finally finding a niche that’s home based and satisfies my entrepreneurial spirit after so many years of sitting behind a desk for 8 hours a day.

What is the toughest part of being a mom entrepreneur?

Probably, it’s doing things you’ve never done before. Each step is an entirely new learning experience. Since we had to start with VERY little money, we couldn’t afford to hire out things like web design, so I learned some HTML and CSS and created our website. It took months of trial and error to find the right t-shirt and onesie manufacturer whose products met our high standards. I personally drove to the printer to see the facility, learn about the process and make sure he understood our commitment to earth friendly inks.

Among other jobs, Gillian is our designer and fortunately, we live in the time of e-mail, Skype and I-phones, so it’s possible to brainstorm, send designs back and forth and run the company from two different cities.

Anything else you want people to know about your product/company?

Yes! From the beginning, we’ve had plans to expand our product line. We’ve already started the ball rolling on a “limited edition” production of older children’s shirts designed by local artists as well as “new baby” gift sets and some maternity designs. By year end, we’re expecting to have a ginger “couture line” – including baby wearing gear and blankets, all hand screened by a budding fashion designer/professional dancer and new mom-preneur we’re adding to our team. We’re hoping to add sunscreens and hats as well. We’re always looking for other mom-businesses to partner with! If your readers join the Ginger Baby mailing list, we’ll send a code for 20% off on their first order.

Plum Organics Baby Food Saved Me!

As I went through the very emotional transition from breastfeeding to bottle last week Plum Organics literally saved my sanity. Initially Little C refused to take the bottle but she happily ate the Plum Organics baby food. She loved the bananas and the pears and just today I gave her the spinach, peas and pear baby food which she also loved. Of course I love that it is certified organic with non-GMO ingredients. I love that the packaging is so convenient. The twist top bags are so amazingly convenient, they seriously are so cool! They are mess free and very easy to throw in your bag plus you don’t have to worry about them spilling with the child safe cap. I was really excited when I saw Plum Organics at the checkout lane at Toys R Us the other day. I normally make a majority of my own baby food and buy only a limited amount for travel and foods that are difficult to make. Plum Organics Baby will definitely be my go to for baby food for traveling plus they have prunes which I always need for my kids. I am so glad I had some Plum Organics on hand to help me feed my baby until she figured out the bottle, it eased my mind to know she was getting healthy organic food.

I received product free of charge in order to obtain my honest opinion, all opinions are my own.

Story Time Felts Cut & Play!

My girls really love to play dress up and they really like to dress up dolls as well. When Story Time Felts sent me the Girl Clothes plus 3 felt dolls I couldn’t cut them out fast enough. These fabulous dolls with an array of vintage clothing are providing hours of fun for my girls. The 2 of them love to dress up the girls and play and then switch outfits. I love that it comes with a bag to hold it all keeping the pieces all together. As a mom I love that the dolls from Story Time Felts provide creative play that I can do with my girls. We all really enjoy changing the outfits and coming up with new stories to fit each outfit. Story Time Felts is one of my favorite companies, I suggest you check out there fabulous selection of products. One of these days I will make a  giant felt board for my girls!

Story Time Felts provided products free of charge in order to obtain my honest opinion, all opinions are my own.

Great Sale at Children’s Place Plus Coupon Code

The Children’s Place has new Spring clothing 25% off plus you can get an additional 15 % off with promo code FAMILYA9.

Ty Pennington 16 pc Dinnerware set $19.08!!

Do you need new dishes? How about this fabulous Ty Pennington Style Bamboo 16 pc stoneware dinnerware set in earth? The set is originally $79.99 at Sears on sale for $31.80 add it to your cart and it will automatically deduct another 40% bringing it down to $19.08 plus if it is available locally you can pick it up in store and avoid shipping fees.

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