Aldi

Do you have an Aldi grocery near you? If so, it can be a good way to make your food dollar stretch even further. We go a couple times a month, and stock up on staples ~ flour, non-fat yogurt, shredded cheese, salad dressing, etc. Trips in and out are quick, since there is only one brand ~ none of that standing there for 20 minutes trying to figure out which brand of cereal is the best buy! It's worth trying ~ most of the things we've tried have been pretty good, and leave us enough extra pennies to splurge on the name-brand things that we're really picky on! Most stores only take cash, debit (and maybe food stamp cards, I'm not sure), so leave the checkbook at home.

A couple of my favorites:

~ Ginger sesame salad dressing (makes a great marinade)
~ Plain, non-fat yogurt (cheap in 32 oz tub, great as sour cream substitute)

Happy eating!

Cashduck Proof of Payment

Advertisers paid for our Winnie the Pooh nursery redecoration!

We just finished up the Classic Pooh nursery! Had such fun repainting, doing Pooh bear silhouettes, finding great Pooh bear border and bedding to go along with it, too! And the best part was that someone else paid for it :-)

Last month was the big GPT (get-paid-to-try) experiment. I'd been reading about these sites that pay you to complete surveys, try products, etc., and thought that I'd give it a shot. I was hoping to at least earn enough to buy a couple packs of diapers! Having read a few hints, I got a gmail account (to handle all the spam that comes), a free voice mail number and learned how to clear cookies from my web browser.

WELL......... it turns out that it was even better than I'd thought it would be! I joined 3 sites, made sure not to repeat offers, and focused first on the freebies. These are things like filling out surveys, giving your email address for contests, etc. I tried a few paid trials ~ you can get paid to try out Blockbuster Online, or sign up for some online photo sites, etc. One of the sites (Deal Barbie Pays) was running a great contest where you could get up to $1.00 extra for each offer you completed in a day ~ since I was fairly new to this, there were LOTS of offers I hadn't done yet, and was able to earn an extra $100! Another site, Cash Lagoon, offered payout very quickly ~ within 24-48 hours to your Paypal account ~ great for funding some of my ebay purchases!

Between the 3 sites, I was able to earn enough to totally redecorate the nursery! Paint (with scotchguard, so the crayon will wipe right off!), painting supplies (rollers, brushes, drop cloths, etc.), a super cute bedding set, new baseboards, wallpaper border, etc. In just 3 weeks I was able to earn around $500!

This won't replace my main WAHM job as an online tutor, but it's definitely a great resource for some extra cash for specific projects, with minimal time investment. :-) If you never tried it, now's a great time to give some freebies a shot and just see how it goes!

Another contest.......

http://www.5minutesformom.com/1411/sick-bear-contest/

What to do when the stomach flu hits your little ones? A mom has come up with a neat idea, a Sick Bear cup just the right size to handle the onslaught from little tummies. It comes in pink or blue, with handles so that little ones can hold it themselves. Great for car sickness, too! Maybe they need one for mommy-bears-to-be as well!

Head on over to the site to enter and win by Tuesday!

Diaper savings

When DD#1 was born, we brought home that little pack of Pampers Swaddlers from the hospital.....then used Huggies..........and eventually realized that diapers were costing us a small fortune! A friend told us that she was using the Parents Choice diapers from Walmart with good results, so we decided to give them a try. For us, they've worked out great ~ very absorbent, even for toddler overnights, with very few leaks. In fact, in the last year and a half, most of the leaks that we've had came when we picked up another brand of diapers. And at $10.56 for 68 Size 4 diapers, that's not a bad price!

Win a Dyson!

Now who can resist a good contest, especially if you're on a budget? The mommies over at 5 Minutes for Mom are giving away a Dyson Slim Vacuum! Want to enter? Go check it out before 1pm EST on Wednesday, April 4 for your chance to win. Is cleaning more fun when the vacuum was free? If you win, let me know!

Short on food $?

If your grocery bill seems to always be running too high, check out Angel Food Ministries. For just $25, you can buy a box filled with meat and side dishes. You order approximately two weeks before pickup at a location near you (churches, etc.).

What will you get? Our April box will include: 6 hamburger steaks with bacon, 4 pork chops, 2lb. breaded chicken breast fillets, 1 lb ground beef, 1 lb meatballs, 2 lb breaded chicken tenders, 1 pizza, 1 pkg corn dogs, 1 bag french fries, 1 bag frozen corn, 1 bag frozen green beans, 1 can pork & beans, 1 lb pinto beans, 1 gravy, 1 bag rice, 1 pancake mix, and 1 pie!

For us, I can use that in quite a few meals. We've been ordering since January, and have found most of the food to be pretty good. Like anything, there are a few things we loved, most were good, and a few just weren't to our taste. But for $25, it's a great deal (unless you are dealing with lots of food restrictions/allergies). The food boxes make a great gift to pass along to someone else who could use it as well.

Although most pick-up sites are churches, there aren't any requirements to join/attend or even volunteer. There are no income requirements ~ poor, rich, somewhere in between, all are welcome to purchase from Angel Food Ministries. If you are on food stamps, most sites accept EBT. So give it a try, and watch your grocery bill come back to earth!