Save money – make your own baby food!

I don’t think most moms realize how easy it is to make your own baby food.

Think of the money saved!  Plus, you control the ingredients and know exactly what your little bundle o’ joy is eating.

Want to start with green peas?  No problem.  Cook peas as normal.  Put them in the blender – add a little of the cooking water, breastmilk or formula.  Blend until smooth.  Buy little containers or use ice cube trays to store and freeze.  When you are ready to use, thaw and serve or briefly warm in the microwave.

Done!

Apples, carrots, spinach – any other fruit or vegetables your baby likes – exact same process!  I bought a butternut squash and peeled, cubed and roasted it and then pureed it with a little water.  I had more then 10 servings that I could freeze.

Trust me, you will be amazed how easy this is – and you will save those last minute trips to the store as you are about to use up your very last jar of baby food.  And to top it all off, the baby food tastes SO much better!

Here is a wonderful online resource for making baby food:

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/

Ode to Zappos

My new shoes - clearly, not kid-friendly!

I just have to take two seconds to rave about my latest experience with Zappos.com.

Saturday night, my husband and I were watching TV and it suddenly occurred to me that I had no pool sandals for an upcoming trip.  I shredded the last pair I owned.  I sprang up from the couch and grabbed my computer.  Ten minutes later, I had found a pair of reasonably priced sandals and put in my order.

Now, I have to point out, it was 10 o’ clock on a Saturday night.  I chose standard shipping when I checked out and got an order confirmation email that instant.

Not kidding – the shoes were on my front doorstep at 5pm Monday.  I could not believe it.  I still can’t figure out how it was even possible.

On top of all of that, Zappos gives free return shipping if your purchase doesn’t work out and 1 YEAR to return it.  I can’t think of another store that has a return policy that even touches that.

Just had to share.  It made me happy.

Best Bargain Shopping

Photo by gingerbydesign

Lately I’ve been feeling a touch dated in my current wardrobe, yet I don’t want to break the bank buying new things.  I’ve spent the last couple weeks trying out various discount stores to see what I could do with a little cash.

Here are my top 4 stores/websites of the moment:

1. TJ Maxx

How can you not love this place? If I can invest the time, sifting through the racks upon racks of clothes always nets me something of value. And, oddly, I seem to be able to find things that are relatively unique.  They also have the new designer area that while a bit pricier, does have great jeans and other stellar finds.  Plus, never overlook the children, toy and home departments.

2. Loehmanns

This is a new spot for me.  I always felt I couldn’t find things there in the past so I gave up going.  I’ve now gone a few times over the past month and have found some great things.  I love their clearance racks.  I got a rockin new shirt for under $15.  It is also a great spot for bras, underwear and shoes.  They even have quite a nice selection of salon products.

3. Bluefly

I didn’t have much luck with Bluefly in the past, but lately I have found some basics, including a new swimsuit!  I get their emails and wait for an extra discount to come through.  Recently I took advantage of an extra 15% one-day sale they had and saved even more off their already discounted prices.

4. Gilt Groupe

This one is a little trickier.  They send you emails once a sale is about to open, then it is a mad dash to get the deeply discounted designer clothes.  I typically don’t use them, but when I saw a sale for my favorite brand of jeans, I scored three pairs for the price of one! Needless to say, I was psyched!

Have other favorites?  Leave a comment – I’m always looking for new bargain spots!

How to Take Advantage of Daily Bargain Sites

Beautiful photo by Brandon Godfrey

Daily bargain websites that send you an email with a local deal of the day are cropping up everywhere.  In addition to Groupon, I have come across several new websites:

• My Daily Thread currently covers Atlanta & New York City, but is soon to start in Chicago, Nashville, Boston and more.
• DailyDealsForMoms currently in Denver, Boston,& Chicago, and even has a version for Online Moms.
• Woot! is a daily national site that features mostly electronics, but they now have Kids.Woot! which features great bargains on kids items.
• YoloDeals & Weekly Plus are both currently in Denver, but adding more cities quickly.

Search for sites like these in your area.  And don’t worry if you can’t take advantage of the localized versions yet. One thing I discovered is if I am planning a trip for a city that does have these sites, I can sign up for those emails and get my dinners at half (or more) off! Or if I want a massage while I’m on my vacation, I can watch for those deals to arrive in my email while I wait for my upcoming trip.  You’ll be amazed at some of the deals you can find.

Do you know of any other daily deal emails I missed?  Please leave them in the comments below.

Coupon Organization Conquered.

Ever gone to the grocery store, filled you cart and discovered at the check-out that you had forgotten all your coupons? I have.  All too often.  That was until I discovered my ultimate system of coupon organization.

After delivering my son and getting ready to leave the hospital, the staff gave me a gift diaper bag that was full of samples, etc.  In there was this handy little wallet/organizer.  I’m not sure what its intended original use was, but I knew immediately what I would be using it for.

Now, I load all my coupons in this and carry it in my purse wherever I go.  The only time I take it out of my purse is when I am clipping coupons on Sunday morning, loading printing coupons or using them at the store counter.

Here is what it looks like:

So, I keep grocery coupons in the left-hand side, and bigger, more random coupons in the right pocket (Bed, Bath & Beyond, oil changes, etc).  I can’t tell you how many times I used to make a quick stop into Bed, Bath & Beyond and be cursing at myself in the check-out lane when I realized I had forgotten my 20% off coupon.  No longer!

The big thing about this system is that you must carry the same purse, or be diligent to move your wallet and the coupon organizer into your other purse every time. Because, you know the day you forget will be the day you make that stop into the grocery store.

Get a Free Bagel & Shmear!

Get a free bagel & shmear when you fan Einstein Bros Bagels on Facebook!  I personally love these bagels and am partial to the honey wheat bagel.  I especially like this promotion because they include the shmear instead of just giving you a free plain bagel.   That cream cheese is pricey!

Just head over to their fan page and become a fan for your free bagel!

Enjoy!

10 Ways to Cut Your Travel Budget

Image from Flickr by malias

Check out this article from the New York Times: 10 Ways to Cut Your Travel Costs This Year.  They outline some great new resources you may not have thought of and suggest things like signing up for a Twitter account, using services like Yapta and Farecompare.com.   Also included are other websites that will help you find the cheapest days to fly.

They also take a look the cost of home rentals vs. hotels and even taking the bus.  Check it out, it is definitely worth the read!

Best Times of the Year to Buy Things

Head on over to Lifehacker and check out this post about the best times of the year to buy things.  I have been looking for a list just like this and was thrilled to find it.  It covers anything from computers, furniture, cars, houses, grills, and even wedding dresses!

Make sure you read down to the end where they also talk about when to find fresh food in your region and how long you can store various food items.

Great resource!

New Low Prices on Groceries

As we start the new year, many of us have a renewed urge to save more money.  Safeway contacted me to tell me they are currently rolling out new, lower prices on thousands of items.  They still do their normal club card special savings, but with the new everyday low prices you are already ahead of the game.

I put this to the test and checked some of the items that I normally buy.  Because I often buy organic, I wondered if these prices would apply to my shopping list.  Here’s what I found (I apologize for the quality of the photos – they were taken on my phone!):

Good start: $0.15 off Earth’s Best Baby Food.

Horizon Milk: $0.40 off!

This was more significant: $0.70 off Barilla pasta.  This is a big deal for our house as we eat tons of pasta.

Overall, I was really impressed.  Usually, when a store touts something like, “We’ve slashed all our prices!” it generally applies to random things that won’t apply to you and me.  Safeway (Vons, Dominicks, Pavilions, etc) seems to have done this right.  They have cut prices on many of our everyday necessities.  Obviously, the prices will vary based on your location.  If you don’t have a Safeway in your area or you shop a different store, check if they are planning a similar program.

Every little bit helps!!

Download Free Organizational Forms Before the New Year!

Image from Flickr by Sir_Adavis

Quick, before the holidays, get yourself ready to be organized!  I always have the highest hope that I will be more organized and agendas, planners, and to-do lists always help me think I’m somehow going to do it this time.

That’s why I got all giddy when I got an email from Mommy Tracked that sent me to their website for all these free organizational downloads.  Menu planners, dailies, weeklies, carpool to-dos, baby schedules, you name it.

Go check it out.  You owe it to yourself to be organized!