I am always so excited to share good savings tips!  I love to cook homemade dinners, but of course I also love to eat out!  When we do go out I am always looking for a deal and coupons if available.  With the economy in the state that is is there are so many restaurants with great deals and coupons.  Well with Valentines Day coming up I got to thinking about going out to eat, while I may not do that this actual Valentines’ weekend – as I hate a crowd – we will probably go out next weekend. 

Restaurant Coupons

So I started searching around for restaurant coupons and found this http://www.savings.com/c-Restaurant-coupons.html and they have links to great restaurant coupons!  Good restaurants too like Melting Pot, Cheesecake Factory and Ruby Tuesday.  Some of them require you to fill out a form or survey but then you get a great coupon!

Restaurant Reviews

Do you like honest restaurnat reviews – not just those ones that are written up in the paper by food critics?  Real honest to goodness people out in your community that have opinions on local restaurants?  Then check out Yelp! http://www.yelp.com - on my computer it magically knew what city I was in, but you can tell it to go to a particular city.  And when Charlotte popped up – then it even narrowed restaurants down by neighborhood areas!  So the next time you are dying to try out that new Thai place in town and want the real scoop on it – this is a great place to check it out before you spend your hard earned money there!

Free Online Coupons

If you are looking for tons of coupons on a variety of items - check out  http://www.savings.com - as they have access to terrific coupons.  I just started getting into the coupon thing this year, and it can be addicting once you start saving money!  There is many coupon categories to choose from housewares, clothing, kids – from stores like Target, Gap and Macy’s.  Again there is a link to the sites to fill out forms, but if you are in search of a coupon this site is a good way to narrow it down.

I am a saver by nature – not a spender.  But when I do spend – I want to spend wisely and use a coupon when ever possible!

  – Helping you achieve your Domestic Success!

To start I first I check my pantry stock items and freezer and see what I have to work with.  Then I check my grocery store’s weekly flyer via email to see what meat/seafood/poultry is on sale.  For a typical week of menu planning it looks something like this: out of the 7 days one night is seafood, two nights are chicken, another night a lean meat, then one night vegetarian/pasta, and one night ground turkey/chicken and one of my favs – one night a dough based dinner – pizza, Stromboli, or calzone.

So after looking at my panty and freezer then seeing what meat/seafood/poultry is on sale then I can plan what recipes to make for the seven nights.  Sometimes I can think of things off the top of my head – but most times I need a little inspiration from my recipe collection.  I have two binders in my kitchen, one for savory recipes the other for sweet recipes.

Inside my savory recipes I have a separate section for meals I make during the holidays and not the rest of the year.  You can be as detailed as you want by even separating them out further – meats, chicken, pasta recipes etc.

The binders are also great for when my family and friends email me recipes – I print them off, three whole punch them, and in they go!

Also for inspiration I keep all my good cookbooks close by in the kitchen – the ones that actually have recipes in them that I will use.  I have been fortunate enough that every year for Christmas my mother has given me a cookbook – last year she even got me an autographed Ina Garten one!  One of my favorite ones she got me is the “How to Cook Anything” by Mark Bitman – as the name describes it really does have it all!

So keeping in mind what grocery items are on sale, I look through recipes and cookbooks and find seven dinners to make, check the ingredient list then check my panty and see what else I’ll need to make the recipes.  Sounds easy enough – it IS!

Then if you want to take it one step further prepare your coupons!  I will admit it does take work to do couponing, but it is worth it especially if your grocery store does doubling up to .99 cents – that $.75 cent coupon just became a $1.50 and those can add up quickly to save you a lot of money!  Never mind the excitement about the Triple Coupon times!  All my friends get so excited – like we are getting ready for a big party – then brag about our big savings!

My goal right now my goal is to save $40 to $50 a week between the store sales and using coupons.  It’s the best feeling to save that much!  And by using coupons it does not mean to use them on items you wouldn’t normally buy anyways.  As you get more advanced you can time the use of your coupons to go along with the sale of an item and even be able to get it for free!  The last two weeks between my grocery stores sales and my coupons I have saved $70 and $89! 

The easiest way to get coupons is from the Sunday Paper.  If you don’t get the paper – maybe a neighbor does and they toss those coupons out – ask them to give them to you!  Another source I love is coupson.com and smartsource.com after downloading quick software you are connected to tons of free coupons for grocery items, household and health & beauty.  Another trend that is popping up is purchasing coupons online through a clipping service– I haven’t tried that yet, but if you really like to stock up and you see a great sale in the weekly flyer you could buy coupons online and stock up for low prices!

Up until recently I use to flip through my coupons on a Triple coupon week and see a coupon that says Do Not Double or Triple and then I would think, well I don’t really need that right now and don’t want to use it, since I didn’t think it would triple.  That was until I learned about the magic number 5!  On a coupon that says Do Not Double or Triple look down at the Bar Code – then look all the way over to the left – do you see a 5?  Well it’s up to your grocery store if they want to double or tipple that coupon.  My grocery store (Harris Teeter) does and maybe yours does too!  If you don’t want to ask someone there if they do double those ones – just try it one day – and look at the receipt and see if it got doubled!

For club warehouse shopping not only do they send out their own coupon books they will also take coupons from the Sunday paper and coupons.com type ones.  Be sure to check online to find online coupon sites and blogs about couponing – there are tons of free coupons and resources out there! 

I feel great Domestic Success when I walk out of the grocery store reviewing my receipt and look down to see how much I have saved that week – free money you can’ beat it!

-Wendy

Helping you achieve your Domestic success!

Recently I was reminiscing with my husband about our first few years of marriage and I was laughing at myself at the silly things I had done incorrectly saying I WISHED someone had told me sooner. 

Like for instance the fact that it took me a good five years to realize that I needed to keep onions and garlic as a STAPLE in my pantry.  I can’t tell you how many times I would be in the middle of cooking a meal/recipe and had made sure to purchase all the main ingredients of a recipe and poof – the cooking would  come to a dead halt and I was now running next door to ask a neighbor for a head of garlic.  So now it’s a part of my Par Stock List.  I will post my full list.  Everyday pantry items – garlic, onions, beans, sauce, pasta, rice are on a list (in a permanent computer file), that I have on my fridge, and when something is low it get’s marked off.  Then the next time I am making a fabulous dish – no more running next door for garlic! 

Here’s another thing that changed a lot since first being married.  I DREADED the grocery store.  It depressed me every time – I hated going.  Hated making a list, hated unloading it all.  Then I realized WHY I hated it so – it was too much work – there HAD to be an easier way.  So I needed to make it faster, more organized and FUN!  Faster grocery shopping by using my par stock list combined with my grocery stores’ online sale list – see part 2.  If you haven’t already – get your grocery store frequent customer card – and sign up for their weekly email list.  When you get the email click, click; click your way to organization.  Not only do you see photos of the items on sales when you click on them, they get added to a list – and the best part is that when you print your list it will be in order of the store!  Follow me here.  When you walk in the store you land in the produce area (BTW – the most expensive area of the store) then that flows to the deli/cheese area which is next to meat/seafood, etc.  Well guess what – when you print out that list – it follows the flow of the store.  So I print the list, then under each category/department I draw a line to separate out the areas, then I add the items from my par stock list and viola – I am super organized!  Not only do I know what’s on sale – I have everything I need and it prevents me form running back and forth between isles like a kuku-nut. 

Now for the grocery shopping FUN!  Three tips – this one is weird but it works – dress nice to go to the grocery store.  What?  No sweats?  Exactly – how do you feel when you wear sweats out in public – slouchy, bummy, not put together?  I am not talking dressy – maybe Capri’s, cute shoes and a pretty top.  The concept is to look good and you will feel even better!  Then I bring along my IPOD and play upbeat music to get me going – of course I take it off at the Deli/Meat and check-out areas, but during the trip feel free to bop away.  Lastly, get a treat – many grocery stores now have a café or coffee station at the entrance – so treat yourself with a flavored coffee or sweet tea!  Hey if you’re going to be there awhile, might as well try to make it enjoyable.  Even something to look forward too!  Instead of that “I hate it feeling”! 

-Wendy

Helping you achieve your Domestic success!