Money Saving: Straight from the Mummy’s Mouth Part 1
November 8th, 2009
This week, I have the pleasure of introducing you to my friend in blogging AND in real life, Clair. Clair is the author and bargain shopper behind Mummy Deals. I like Clair for more than her sweet English accent and that she also has a son named Isaac, she’s my go to girl for frugal living! Here’s what Clair has to say about her money saving skills:
“Some have called me cheap, others just plain frugal and either way I’ll take it because what it means is that our family is able to live within our means, enjoy life and even have money to bless others. I’ve become notorious among my friends for spotting a bargain and using coupons to make money. Mummy Deals is a place where I scout out the greatest deals around, the bargains that aren’t advertised or are but require a little digging. It’s a place where I offer frugal recipes and other fun finds. Why? Because I want to help others live within their means too.”
I asked Clair to share some money-saving ideas with me that I could easily share with all of you. Obviously, with our unemployment situation we are looking to penny-pinch in any way we can, and I know that all of you can benefit from these practical money-saving ideas as well!
Part 1: D.I.Y. – Do It Yourself!
There’s a new commercial out right now for Perdue Chicken Perfect Portions and while they look easy and delicious you are simply paying Mr. Perdue to do something you can do for yourself. When we buy meat we usually buy a lot of it. If I can get the Family Pack or Supervalue pack it will generally save you around $.50 which isn’t huge but it adds up when you think that by buying 10 you just saved $5!! I buy a lot of it and once I bring it home I take 1/2 an hour to sort out my groceries. Instead of immediately freezing all the meat, I portion it off for our family. If I place all the meat straight in the freezer in the big pack, when I try and pull it out I’ll have to bash it on the countertop to separate it! (got the mental picture of me smacking chicken??!!!) Instead I know we need 3 pieces of chicken per meal or 2 big pieces of pork. I line up opened Ziploc bags and portion the meat out. Then I label it and freeze it flat for next time.
We love hosting and don’t always know how many people are coming over so sometimes I’ll freeze it individually so that in a pinch we can just take out 1 or 2 portions for dinner. The way to do this is to Flash Freeze. Lay your meat on a cookie sheet and place in the freezer for 2 hours until frozen. Pull it out and then place it in a Ziploc. That way if you want 1, 2 or 5 chicken breasts/chops/steaks they’ll be ready. If you think you may forget that you put it in the freezer, set an alarm clock so it doesn’t get petrified.
Finally, we like to eat roasts but can’t eat a lot. However, I don’t want to go to the grocery store often so I’ll buy big roasts. When I get it home I’ll cut it into 2 or 3 portions. One portion I’ll cut into pork chops/steaks and freeze like that. One portion I’ll throw in a Ziploc and throw a marinade over it like Italian dressing and the final portion will just be placed in a bag ready for the crock pot. I then label them and freeze. When you buy in bulk but do the work yourself, it doesn’t take a lot of time but will save you money. If you’re going to do a lot of this, I’d recommend a vacuum sealer. We don’t have one yet but my MIL swears by hers. It keeps the meat fresh for longer and is super easy to use.
Thank you, Clair, for sharing these practical ways to save by Doing It Yourself! Check out more deals, bargains, and money saving tips at Mummy Deals (www.mummydeals.org) and stay tuned next week for Part 2 of Money Saving: Straight from the Mummy’s Mouth!
What are some ways YOU manage to D.I.Y. to save money?
One thing I do every Sunday when the paper arrives is go through all the ads and write down all of the good sales on the items we frequently use and then make my grocery list… As much as I don't love WalMart, they do price matching so I can make one trip to a single store and get all the deals! The price matching combined with the weekly coupons I get saves me approximately $30-$40 per week plus time and additional gas it would take to shop at a variety of stores. It takes a little time to get organized, but the savings is well worth it to me!!
We are a family of two so we ALWAYS make a meal that would feed at leasr four people and make it for last two dinners and at least one lunch!
Also, we partner with our 2 neighbor families (who have two people per home)and go to Costco and stock up on paper towels, TP, mustard, etc. that way we save on space and spend SO much less per visit.
Most of all we shop local farmers markets and get really yummy fresh stuff.
I am a huge coupon shopper. I match the sales with the coupons and 80-90% of what I buy is bought that way. I save at least 50% every shopping trip and sometimes as much 80% a trip! The store I shop at has 'gas points' too so the money spent in the store helps me at the pump. This month I get 50 cents off per gallon of 4 fill ups!
I also wait for meat to go on sale and then stock up!
Clearance, Clearance, clearance! I buy a great deal of items on clearance from stores like Kohls's, JcPenny's, etc. I also go to "Mom to Mom Sales" – A type of rummage sale in our area catering to moms and kids. I get most of Vi's clothes there (hi end stuff too) and lots of gently used toys.
I cook my own dry beans instead of buying cans. We eat a lot of beans (they make meat go so much farther) and I save a lot of money this way. It isn't really very time consuming. You just have to get in the habit of putting a pot on to soak the night before you want them. Them put them in a container in the fridge and use them within a week.
I do the same thing with hamburger meat. When the 2 lb chubs are a really good deal (like $1.57/lb) I buy a ton and cut the chubs in half and freeze them. I never pay full price for meat. I also bottle my own fruit when I can get it free from someone or really cheap somewhere. My two year old loves canned fruit. This year I did peaches and apple pie filling.