Saving Money on Groceries: Using Rainchecks to Your Advantage

When you are shopping for groceries or household supplies, are you disappointed when you find the shelf bare? Well, I maybe do a little, if I were planning to use the item right away, but often times, I do a little happy dance (at least on the inside.)

Ask your cashier or customer service person for a raincheck! Here's why.

If I am buying Yoplait Yo-Plus for example, on sale for $1.25 each. I have a small stash of awesome $1 off coupons, making the yogurt 25c each. They are in-stock of some flavors, but our favorite vanilla is out of stock. I choose the in-stock flavors that I like (using my coupons), and ask for a raincheck on the vanilla. Half the time, the raincheck will not specify the flavor, but if it does, that's okay, too.

Now I go home, wait, and look for more coupons. Guess what! There are new printables out the next week. I receive some more through trades. My mom or MIL sends me some more! I can trade for more on my trading forums. Now I have cheap yogurt in the short-term from the yogurt I did buy, and I can come back in a couple of weeks and buy more yogurt for 25c per pack!

Another tip: If you have to specify a quantity on your raincheck, ask for way more than you think you think you will need. You are never obligated to buy that many. Asking for a larger quantity gives you the flexibility to buy more if you find a big quantity of coupons.

Happy dance indeed!

(BTW, I'm buying yogurt this week with my Publix raincheck. They were out of vanilla.)

Thrifty Tip: Printing Target Coupons

I really like using Internet Printable Coupons when I shop (IP for short). These are almost free. No need to buy a Sunday newspaper. No need to trade with friends. All that is required is a little paper and ink. I'm very fortunate to have a SuperTarget one mile from my neighborhood. I'm also blessed to have a Publix one mile in the other direction, so this Publix will accept Target and SuperTarget IP coupons.

The original source for Target IPs, is of course the Target or SuperTarget website. Target issues a new batch of IPs about every two weeks, sometimes more frequently, sometimes less. You can print these out here, but there are a couple of drawbacks. When the company posts a new set of coupons, the old ones are no longer available. If you didn't print them last week, you can't get them from Target's website any longer.

I prefer to print my Target IPs from one of the Coupon Forums out there. My faves are

Hot Coupon World and A Full Cup

These forums are free to join and both support Target Coupon Generators. Target permits them to supply all unexpired coupons on the forums to coupon users, even if they are no longer available on Target's website. No more wasting ink to print Target IPs that you will not use. No more missing out on deals with Target IPs because you didn't print them. Just go to the forum, click on "Target Coupon Generator." You can see coupon images, enter the number of each coupon that you need, and print multiple coupons on each page. Isn't technology grand?

On a side note about Target IPs, each Target IP usually states "Limit one offer per transaction." My Target cashiers will allow me to use multiples of these in one transaction. I have read that many coupon users will split their order up into multiple transactions, using one like coupon per order, if the cashiers require it. Fortunately I have not had to do this ;D).

Blessings, and happy coupon shopping.

Favorite Frugal Breakfasts: Blueberry Oatmeal

Super Healthy and Super Frugal

Here is one of my all-time favorite breakfasts! A few years ago, my husband gave up eating the little oatmeal packs because they usually contain so much sugar. I started buying quick-cook oats, and then we moved to the old-fashioned rolled oats. I'll never go back, and it is so very simple to cook in the microwave!

Blueberry Oatmeal

1/2 c. old-fashioned oats

1 c. skim milk

1 t. brown sugar (or sucanat)

1 pinch cinnamon

1/4 - 1/2 c. blueberries

Mix the first 4 ingredients in a wide-rimmed bowl. Microwave at 50% power for five minutes. (This is a good time for me to unload the dishwasher from the previous night's dishes!) Add blueberries, and enjoy!

This breakfast is packed with a full serving of dairy (1/3 of daily calcium requirement), fiber, whole grains, and a full serving of fruit. This really seems to power me up if I have a strenuous workout planned for later in the morning.

I've also eaten it with raisins, strawberries, cherries, or just plain.

Healthy Eating: Super Scrumptious Lentils & Rice

One of my favorite ways to pump up our family's nutrition and to reduce our grocery bill at the same time is by preparing a vegetarian dinner once per week. Meat is usually one of the highest dollar items in our grocery budget. Vegetarian meals are usually based around low-cost protein such as whole grains, legumes, and eggs. Vegetable-based dinners are packed full of fiber, vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and antioxidants. Most Americans are sorely lacking in at least a few of these departments.

I also find that going vegetarian once per week helps to add more variety into our diets, so there is less of, "Mom, why do we have to have chicken again?" or some similar complaint. I find that by adding a little shredded cheese atop most of our vegetarian fare makes the dish delectable (or at least palatable - LOL) to my young ones. Additionally, teaching our children to eat healthy vegetarian foods, like beans and rice, paves the way for healthy eating habits into adulthood.

There is another benefit to eating vegetarian once per week, it reduces the amount of energy consumption and thus greenhouse gases pumped into the atmosphere. Bringing meat to our tables includes a long energy-intensive, and frequently chemical-laden, chain of raising livestock on farms: Animal feed and fertilizer to grow the feed, big transportation energy consumption, meat processing, etc. According to New York Times food writer Mark Bittman in his new book Food Matters: A Guide to Conscious Eating, "Switching to a vegetable based diet only one day a week is equivalent to driving 1,160 fewer miles in a year." So next time you savor a forkful of beans and rice, know that you are doing something good for your body, good for your wallet, and good for your planet!

Savory Lentils & Rice

1 c. lentils

1 c. brown rice

2 c. vegetable broth (or chicken broth, or water plus bouillon granules)

1 c. water

1/2 chopped onion (or 1-2 T. onion powder)

2-3 T. olive oil

Bring water and broth to a boil, add lentils, rice, onion, and seasonings. Reduce heat to simmer, and cook 45 minutes.

Top with cheese or homemade salsa. I made the salsa in the photo above from tomatoes from my parents' garden. Super-duper delicious.

Thrifty Tip: Getting More Milage out of Kids' Pants

It seems I am frequently looking at the clean load of laundry and finding holes in the knees or legs of my children's pants. (This especially seems to happen to my son more often!!)

(1) I could throw them away.

(2) I could patch them. I have done it, but it doesn't usually look very good.

(3) I could donate them to charity, but who wants hole-y pants anyway?

(4) I could turn them into something else just as useful!

About 20 minutes of cutting, pressing, and hemming, and ...

Viola! A "new" pair of shorts! My son will get a lot of mileage out of this, especially since they have an adjustable waist!

Healthy Eating: Refreshing Summer Beverages

It is so very hot in the South now. One of the best ways to cool off is with a cool, refreshing iced drink. Although we do occasionally drink sodas and powdered drink mixes, some of our favorite summer beverages are simple, all-natural, and low in calories!

Ice Water with a Twist of Lemon or Lime

Perk up your ice water with a bit of citrus. It's so hydrating and very cooling.

Juice Water

Add 1/4 cup or so of your favorite dark juice to a glass of ice water. It gives a nice, light flavor to the cool, hydrating water. The glass in the photo has been made with cranberry-pomegranate juice.

Celestial Seasonings Iced Herbal Tea

This is probably my favorite. (You could use another brand, but this is what I usually have.)

Grab a few of your favorite herbal tea bags (4-8 individual sized bags).

Add 2 quarts of boiling water. Steep for 30 minutes to several hours.

I enjoy such flavors as raspberry zinger, true blueberry, and peppermint. I frequently mix flavors, too.

Chill, and serve over ice. For a nice sweetener, add a splash of 100% fruit juice such as apple, grape, blueberry-pomegranate, or whatever you have.

Grandma's Classic Southern Sweet Tea

This is a favorite at mealtimes with hubby.

Add 4 family-sized tea bags to pitcher. Add 2 quarts just-boiled water. Steep for 20-30 minutes.

Remove tea bags and add 3/4 to 1 c. sugar. Cool completely to room temperature before chilling in refrigerator.

Thrifty Tip: Going Green by Doing Away with Paper Products!

Here is one of my favorite ways to go green and save money too.  About a year ago I gave up paper napkins for cloth ones.  Originally I started using cloth napkins everyday because I thought they looked more elegant for our evening meals, and then I noticed how much fewer paper napkins we consumed, which also meant less paper waste going to the landfills.  

I also switched out paper napkins for cloth ones at breakfast and lunch.  I even pack a cloth napkin in my kids' lunch boxes.  It's funny.  I still have half a package of paper napkins in the top of one of my cabinets.  It's over a year old.  we will probably use it up on our camping trips.

I love using cloth napkins.  They seem so much nicer to wipe your mouth on, and they make the table so much more appealing.  Another surprising aspect of using cloth napkins is that they actually do not take any more work to use them.  Since I am doing at least one load of laundry every day, I just add the used napkins to that day's load.  I do not iron them (except for special occasions) and just pop them back in the drawer right next to the kitchen table.  (I have a set of napkins in the washer right now!  LOL!)

Hand in hand with using cloth napkins, I also love to use cleaning cloths instead of paper towels.  I find them to be more absorbent and better at those things that need a little more scrubbing power than paper towels.  I keep a few stashed in each bathroom for handy cleaning.  When they are wet or dirty, I just lay them on top of the washer to wait for the next day's laundry load.  

I do still use a few paper towels.  I still find them handy for really greasy jobs such as cooking sausage or bacon.  I bought a six-pack of paper towels last summer, and I still have half of them unused.

Have you substituted cloth for paper in your home?

Thrifty Tip: Buying Meat in Bulk

It's difficult to get coupons for fresh meat and poultry.  So, when meat goes on sale, I like to buy larger quantities to take advantage of the cheaper $/lb. price!  For example, smaller packages of ground beef were $2.49/lb., but if I bought 5 lbs, I could get it for $1.99/ lb.  How do you deal with bigger quantities of meat that you can't use it right away?

Freeze it of course.  I pulled out some of my free Glad Wrap from Publix, my kitchen scale, and my ground beef.  I freeze it in little patties of 4 to 5 oz. each.  They freeze and thaw so easily.  One patty is perfect for adding to spaghetti sauce.  For hamburgers, I pull out as many patties as I need burgers, and for meatloaf I thaw out 5 or 6!