Monroe MI sales fliers June 27

My sales and deals reports are for the Monroe, Mich., area:
Early July is usually the end of the season for sales for picnic food and summer toys. Look at the sales I posted Saturday and the ones that will be posted Monday, and plan your shopping list accordingly. It is absolutely OK to buy this [...]

Continue reading Monroe MI sales fliers June 27 …

From Monroe on a Budget.

Aldi Meal Planner – a recipe and shopping list

If you think of Aldi as a place to buy cheap snacks or milk, yes, it is that.
But think outside the cookie box and you may be pleased with what you can serve for dinner on a budget from that store’s merchandise.
A couple years ago, I served a buffet of Aldi Chinese foods to some [...]

Continue reading Aldi Meal Planner – a recipe and shopping list …

From Monroe on a Budget.

May Digest and Member Pages are Up!

Hi all you Molly Members! Just a note that the May Digest and Member page are now ready for download. Just log in at the upper right corner to access your Digest and freebies!

This month’s Digest is titled Centsible Celebrations and offers lots of ideas for gifts, celebrations and entertaining. Begin with the Basics focuses on fruits and veggies and includes a recipe for a homemade produce wash and Lorrie Flem’s Periodic Table of Produce. We have an amazing Feather Your Nest article that you won’t believe unless you see. I almost hesitate to share here, without pictures, for fear it will sound tacky. Trust me, it’s not. We’ll show you how to make gorgeous, realistic looking roses, using coffee filters. No kidding!

In fact, this Digest is full of gorgeous photos to go with our several how-to articles. Learn to make lovely mini-cakes from recycled cans and see a beautiful wedding with homemade favors and decor. And, of course, all our regular articles; kid’s corner, weekly menu and shopping list, helpful forms, What’s On Sale, This is My Story and more. Enjoy!

Oh! And I’d better not forget the Member Page. This month, you’ll receive the newly available Inexpensive Organization E-book from Molly writers Dena Wood and Eleanor Joyce as well as A Baby Shower for Jesus by Deborah Wuehler. And, of course, lots and lots of hospitality and celebration related links and resources, including Freezer Cooking info and forms, freezer and pantry inventory forms, a burger cookbook and lots more.

Continue reading May Digest and Member Pages are Up! …

From Econobusters.

A Really Neat Video and a Giveaway

I found this really awesome video of a lady explaining her home management notebook. She uses Keeper of the Homes, which comes highly recommended by the Duggar Family (it is the same one that they use for their family).

Do you have any thoughts on this system? Watch this video at how organized this lady is!

If you have a system of your own don’t forget to include our monthly Money-Saving Digest Pages in your binder. Our weekly menu plan with shopping list, monthly forms, list of monthly sale items and  inspirational/organizational ideas are all great additions to your home binder. We even have fun binder covers you can grab here. We’ve reorganized our Digests for 2010, specifically to include lots of practical and useful forms and tips, perfect for a home management binder.

Now–let’s talk giveaway! It is time for another Amazon giveaway. Simply go to our Amazon Store and browse around and find a book that has your name written all over it! Then come back here and let us know which one it was. Next Tuesday I will be choosing a winner, and then your book will be shipped to you.

If you are on Facebook or Twitter reading this post, please post your comment in the original post on the blog.

Good luck!

Continue reading A Really Neat Video and a Giveaway …

From Econobusters.

Monroe News: Some food prices easing

Charles Slat, who is one of my co-workers at The Monroe Evening News, does a food price survey every three months based on a sample shopping list.
Today’s headline: Food prices easing.
But it’s probably temporary.
A snippet:
Federal food analysts say overall costs for groceries this year might rise at least 2.5 percent as slight economic recovery [...]

Continue reading Monroe News: Some food prices easing …

From Monroe on a Budget.

Optimizing Your Grocery List

A few weeks ago, I went to the grocery store in the afternoon to take care of grocery shopping for the week. Sarah had written a list for me (in all fairness to her, it was actually closer to a set of notes for a meal plan rather than for grocery shopping; it wasn’t really a complete and finished list), but I hadn’t looked at it very carefully. However, I did know from what she told me that I would have to do at least some of the grocery shopping at a different grocery store than our usual one because there were a few unusual items on the list for special meals. As a result, I decided to pick up most of the stuff at a different grocery store than our usual one, in order to save some time.

After the shopping was over, though, I left the store in a painful daze. It had actually taken far longer than it ever should have – and the shopping list was the big problem.

First of all, the items weren’t categorized well. There were several fresh fruits and vegetables on the list, but they were often separated by things like flour and spices and eggs and milk – items in completely different parts of the store.

Second, some of the items were simply names of complete recipes that we knew well. In a rush to complete the list (which, as I mentioned above, was closer to notes for a meal plan), Sarah simply jotted down two complete recipes by name that we both know cold. Of course, in the store, that means spending the time to think about the items required for the recipe – and also possibly buying extras of a particular item.

Third, the list annotations were unclear. Sarah had included a few notes that would have made perfect sense to her – but didn’t make any sense at all to me. I made some valiant guesses and, in a few cases, made the right guess, but I spent a lot of time puzzling them out and quite often I made the wrong guess.

Why is this an issue worth writing a post about?

First of all, it cost time. I spent a bunch of extra time in the store because of the items on this list, whether it was simply trying to figure out what they are or rushing from one end of the store to the other to find them.

Second, it cost us money. I bought a couple of unnecessary items along the way due to redundancy and also due to not understanding the list fully.

Third, it convinced me to make a few impulse buys. As I spent so much time wandering back and forth in the store, I was continually exposed to shelf after shelf of items that weren’t on my list and I didn’t need. Thanks to that exposure, I bought at least two unnecesary items.

So, how can I solve this problem? My goal, quite simply, is to save as much time and money as possible compared to this shopping trip. Here’s the plan I put in place.

First, I made a bunch of custom blank meal plan sheets. These are basically sheets that enable us to fill in full meal plans for the week ahead. These can easily be stuck on the fridge with a magnet, enabling us to fill in the blanks as we so wish.

Second, I made a bunch of custom blank grocery lists. Instead of just using a blank sheet of paper, I made a sheet that had a few distinct groups on it – “fresh fruits and vegetables,” “dairy products,” “meat counter,” “bread aisle,” and “other,” to be specific. If an item falls under one of the first four categories, we put it there. Otherwise, it goes in the “other” area.

Third, nothing gets added to the grocery list unless it’s out until we’re ready to go to the store. The only thing we put on the list during the week are items that we’re out of (or very close to depleting). This way, there is no confusion about what’s on the list.

Finally, the meal plan is finished (and the grocery list completed from the meal plan) just before we leave to go shopping. By keeping all complete meal ideas on the meal plan and not on any grocery lists, no one will have to stand in the store and piece through what the ingredients are for “jambalaya.”

What I learned from all of this is simple: doing that prep work ahead of time actually saves time in the store, and it certainly saves money, too. I learned this the hard way from that day with the confusing list.

Continue reading Optimizing Your Grocery List …

From The Simple Dollar.

Kroger shopping cart Jan. 30

It’s been awhile since I went on a bargain-picking supermarket shopping trip. I did one today at Kroger in Monroe, Mich.

You will not find on my blog detailed coupon scenarios that show how much product one can get for free, or 10 items of the same product for which multiple transactions were involved. What I show you are the groceries I buy and use in my own home, using the tricks I explain in the Grocery Shopping on a Budget sidebar.

This is my shopping cart. I paid $31.89 and submitted nine coupons at checkout. You will notice that some items are from the 10 Mega sale, others are store brand, others were couponable products, others were just the sale of the week.

That’s how you do it, shoppers. You don’t rely on just one money-saving trick at the supermarket. You use as many as possible.

A couple of points to make:

• We were completely out of cereal as of this morning. We normally don’t go through it as fast as we have been; but cereal has been a quick breakfast and sometimes quick lunch during what has been a more hectic few weeks than usual. But I bought only two boxes of Special K strawberry today. It was the best choice out of what my husband and I like and I could get a good price on. This will do for now. There was no need to pay full price today for additional varieties. After all, the grocery sales turn over on Sunday and Monday in the Monroe area.
• I was extremely flexible today with my shopping list. I made my decisions based on what I could get good prices on, what I knew I had at home, and what we would eat. The refried beans and salsa can go with chicken, beef, tortillas and cheese that I already have in the freezer.
• The granola bars, and candy bars you don’t see, are for my husband and I to take to work. You may think it’s pricey to buy snacks at the supermarket, and it can be. But are you going to the vending machines instead when you are at work or on the road? Stop that. Be your own vending machine.
• Fresh fruit prices do vary throughout the year, and I liked the prices I found on bananas and grapes. Buying fresh looked like an even better decision today once I saw what the canned and frozen fruit prices were posted at.

Continue reading Kroger shopping cart Jan. 30 …

From Monroe on a Budget.

Molly’s February Digest is Here!

You are saving the menu plans/recipe/shopping lists from each Digest and saving in your home binder, right? This is such a huge time saver! Do this each month and you’ll soon have several attractive meal plans, complete with recipes and shopping lists to choose from! I hope you’re also enjoying our new Kid’s Corner with money related educational activities you can print out and do with your children. Teaching them about money is SOO important! I know you’re going to love this issue!

Has winter left you waning?
Does your budget need a boost?
What’s for dinner, anyway?
What keeps your abode bright, beautiful, and bouncing along?

Relax, rejuvenate, and get real! Each month take the wonderful opportunity to learn along with Molly (and her special guests and experts), and make the most of your time and money in 2010.

Molly’s Money-Saving Digest
February 2010

The special feature for February is:
Living the Good Life—Frugally

Do you agree that much of your time is spent serving others in one way or another? While it’s a high calling and privilege to be sure, doing so in love day after day can sometimes be a challenge. That’s our featured topic in this Digest—simple ways to share the love without running ourselves ragged or straining the budget.

Check out some highlights of this issue:

• Learn almost everything you wanted to know about the simple but versatile potato—with 6 spud-tacular recipes!
• Utilize four new printable forms to keep you organized.
• Set up a “gift closet” and take the stress out of blessing those you love, while saving a bundle!
• Fix your family a “love fest” of meals—another great weekly menu with recipes, tips, and a shopping list!

Take a quick glimpse at the features you’ll find in the February 2010 Digest:

• Monthly Feature: Living the Good Life—Frugally

“45 Ways to Say “I Love You”: What’s a “love language”? Need suggestions for simple, inexpensive, or free opportunities to show your loved ones just how precious they are? You got it!

Gift Closet Strategies: Have you spent far more on a gift than you wanted to or could afford? This could be your answer! Stock a year-round gift closet from which you can shop as needed, and you’ll possibly save hundreds of dollars, hours of time, and loads of stress in a single year!

Eight Ways to Survive Cabin Fever With Kids: Is your home a cozy, happy place—even when you’re “stranded” in uncooperative winter weather? Liven up the day when you share these fabulously fun ideas with your youngsters!

• Begin With the Basics: Get started with a potato primer! What are the nutrition, health, and thrifty facts? Baked, boiled, roasted, mashed, scalloped, fried, or whatever way you cook them, count on potatoes as a healthy staple in a frugal family diet!
• On Sale This Month: You could probably do a complete remodel of your home or just pick up a few fashionable home accessories with many of the items you’ll find on sale this month. Plus, plan for a romantic evening or two with your spouse!
• Tips and Tools for Organization: Is your home management binder ready to go? Don’t miss this issue’s ready-to-print practical tools; one of the forms will help you with the gift closet project you’ll be starting!
• Feather Your Nest Frugally: Has cabin fever set in? Perk things up with this cheap and simple, 1-2-3 process for freshening your home.
• In the Kitchen With Molly: Plan for an especially delicious week right before Valentine’s Day—with five hearty meals and two special desserts that will please any palate (and your wallet)!
• Special Dates This Month: Don’t stop at Valentine’s Day—use the ideas in this Digest and show your love in a delightfully different way. You’ll find a whopping 27 special days listed in February to commemorate.
• Kids’ Corner: Help your kids understand concepts about thrifty living. What do children need to be taught about money? We’ve included sample bank deposit slips in this Digest for practicing.
• Something Old, Something New: Seven Things to Do With an Old Flannel Shirt—Looking to make a simple, great gift to show your love to someone special? Try a few of these upcycled ideas.
• This Is My Story: Can you truly be content even when you have to be frugal? Stories like this will inspire you in whatever situation you may be facing.
• Directory of Links: For those of you who print and bind your Digests (cute binder covers are free), you’ll have easy access to all of the fantastic links worth saving in the back of this issue. It makes your Digest easier to use!
• And even more!

Trying to economize? At $4.95 for each downloadable E-Book, you can apply just one tip from each issue to easily save the cost of the Digest! Place the monthly purchase within your home management (or personal sanity) budget—and reap the rich rewards!

Still not convinced this E-Book is for you?
Click HERE to view a sample of this item.

Put smiles on your loved ones’ faces; put a BIG smile on yours.
Learn to live “the good life”—frugally!
Order NOW—only $4.95!

Note: If you’d like even more organization help, see our Organization Bundle which includes this Jan 2010 Digest as well as all the organization articles from our 2009 Digests! Find it HERE.

Continue reading Molly’s February Digest is Here! …

From Econobusters.

A New Year, A New Molly!

I’ve made some changes to my monthly Money-Saving Digest in 2010 and can’t wait to tell you about them! Especially since the January 2010 Digest is now available. I’m so excited about the changes! First, a peek at the new cover. The 2009 Digests had a blue grid background, while the 2010 Digest sport a yellow notebook page as the background. That way you can tell them apart at a glance. Isn’t it pretty?

The cover isn’t all that’s changed, though. There are big differences on the inside as well. I’ve decided that I would like each Digest to function as a “tool” to help you in your quest for frugality. So, along with the usual helpful and inspirational money-saving articles, you’ll find all kinds of goodies that you can put to immediate use. “Like what?” you ask. Here are the biggies:

• Each and every issues will have 4-5 forms for you to print out and put right in your Home Binder. If you don’t have your free Molly binder cover, grab one! These forms will help you organize and save money.
• I’m really excited about our new Kid’s Corner in each issue. The Kid’s Corner will offer two money-saving lessons or projects for you to do with your children. One activity for younger kids and another for older. Finances are often an overlooked subject in education is such an important area to feel competent in. We hope these lessons help.
• And, as a time-saving and planning help for Mom, each issue now contains a full week of menu plans WITH a shopping list. Save these up and build a wonderful menu plan library.

You can view specifics on the January 2010 Digest HERE. I just know you’re going to LOVE the updated format. If you take advantage of even a few of the tips in each Digest, you’ll recoup your investment in no time. Guaranteed! Here is a sneak peek:

I also have some fun new changes for the blog (and future Digests). I’m going to start using a “Molly Meter” in my posts. I realize that not everyone wants to go all-out when it comes to saving money. Even baby steps can make a huge difference in the budget. On the other hand, some of you are seasoned savers and want hard core saving tips. The new Molly Meter will rate blog posts and Digest articles by the amount of money they can save you.

Continue reading A New Year, A New Molly! …

From Econobusters.

Finding the Perfect Gift Without Spending Too Much

As I write this, I’ve spent about five hours online hunting down “perfect” gifts for various people on our Christmas shopping list.

In almost every case, I wound up spending less than our target dollar amount on our list. In almost every case, as well, I found a gift that I think is utterly perfect for the recipient.

Just a few years ago, I would have spent a crazy afternoon at a shopping mall taking care of my list in roughly the same time period. Two problems with that: I would have spent a lot more and the gifts would have been a lot worse.

What exactly did I do this year that was so different? This year, I tried an approach that I’ve been slowly building over the last few Christmases.

Instead of just coming up with gift ideas for each person right off the bat, I spent some time just thinking about each person on my list. What do they care about? What interests do they have? I used the internet to help me in this regard to research a few people and see what they were talking about.

If I didn’t know much of anything about them, I realized that (a) maybe I shouldn’t be buying them gifts in future years or (b) I should spend some time getting to know them better. After all, if you can’t come up with at least some framework of what the person is passionate about or interested in, what basis is there for the relationship? Why give a gift at all?

So, one result out of this is that I know a few gift exchanges I’m going to drop out of next year and I know a few relationships I need to work on in 2010.

Back to the main point.

For each person on my list, I tried to write down five to ten words that describe them in some fashion. I’ll list the eight words I came up with for someone on my list: funny, board games, video games, quiet, smart, chemistry, outdoors, bicycle, camping.

I dropped that list of words into Google and read the first few pages of links.

Virtually every time, one of those pages pointed me straight to an idea I hadn’t even considered before as a gift – something that just worked perfectly for that person. It worked on the order of 90% of the time. The best part was that, once I had that gift idea in mind, I was often able to find that gift for an amount less than I expected to spend on them.

On the occasions when it didn’t work, I just went back to the list of words again, eliminated half of them that didn’t seem to fit as well, and then worked on other ones. I would try different smaller sets of the words. Each time, within two or three tries, I found myself on some path towards a really great, surprisingly inexpensive gift.

Here’s the real truth: great gifts come from caring about people as individuals and thinking deeply about that person, not from just trying to find something so you can knock another person off of your Christmas list. Lead with the person, not with the gift, and let the tools we have at our fingertips lead you towards the right gift. Time and time again, you’ll find something perfect – and you’ll save money.

And no, I won’t mention the gift idea I found. That person is a Simple Dollar reader, after all.

Continue reading Finding the Perfect Gift Without Spending Too Much …

From The Simple Dollar.

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