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Today’s Grocery Shopping Challenge is to buy in bulk and avoid those “single serving” convenience packages.  The grocery stores are tempting everyone with foods packaged up in those 100 calorie packages, but you are paying premium when you could just be doing it yourself.  And let’s face it, buying a 100 calorie pack of chocolate cookies really isn’t doing anyone any favors, especially your waistline, even though the marketing companies want you to think those packages are “healthy” with “only” 100 calories… not to mention many people end up eating more that one pack at a time!!!

So the challenge this week is to buy anything that you might buy in those handy single serving packs, whether it is baby carrots, cookies or single serving soup packages, and buy them in the larger size.  Then, when you are at home, go and and divide them into single serving sizes into plastic containers or ziplocs. 

Don’t forget to check out the prices… that package of six single serving packages will cost just about as much as the large package that you can usually make two or three times the number of packages when you do it yourself. 

Don’t fall into the trap of just thinking it is “easier” to buy them packaged in the single serving sizes.  It is easier, but you are probably paying someone the equivelant of about $100 per hour to package them when you do buy them that way, when you can take 5-10 miunutes and do it yourself - and it is also a great chore to have your kids do for their allowance too!

All this week we will be giving great tips and ideas to help you stay on budget by taking your own lunches to school and work, so be sure to subscribe to get all the tips!

The number one reason why people hate to brown bag their lunches is because it seems like it is the “same old, same old”.  And when you are faced with eating the same kind of ham sandwich every day, the temptation to make a lunch run out to McDonalds or to go to a local restaurant is that much stronger.  So variety is important!

So, what ways can you vary up the brown bag routine?  The same deli ham you bought on the weekend will seem different depending on how it is served… maybe whole wheat bread one day and a pita the next.  Or cut up the ham and make a mini pizza with it instead.  Sometimes something as simple as adding cheese or making it with mayo one day and sandwich spread the next can turn a boring sandwich into something new and exciting.

Think the same for the extras in the lunch.  Switch up the juice you include.  Or if you are sending veggies and dip, send ranch dip one day and nacho dip the next.  The same goes for veggies too… if its carrots on Monday, make it brocolli on Tuesday and cucumbers on Wednesday. 

Don’t forget to get input from your kids too… they might happily eat cauliflower with dip every day, rather than switching up with different types, because all kids have veggies they love and veggies they would rather do without, and it is better to increase the odds that any veggies get into their tummies rather than discover that anytime you send carrots they end up in the garbage.

Have you inspected your teflon coated pots and pans lately?  If you are like most, probably not!  But if your Teflon coating has become scratched or flaking - caused by using metal utinsels when cooking, by overheating, or by heating an empty pot or pan for too long - you should replace it immediately. 

Of course, when you are on a budget, it can be hard to throw out something that seems perfectly fine except for one spot on the skillet, when you can “work around it”.  But in actuality, those little flakes and bits that come off wherever the teflon is damaged, even if you can’t see the flakes, are actually toxic to ingest.  And some research has shown that it can cause cancer.

You can prevent damage to your teflon coating by only using silicone or plastic utinsels on the cooking surface, and save the metal ones for your stainless cookware or the barbecue.  And never allow your teflon cookware to sit on high temperature without planning to immediately cook something when it heats up.  Teflon coating releases noxious chemicals into the air if it is allowed to sit on high for too long, so be sure you are ready to start cooking once you begin to heat it up.

If you find that you are still damaging it, or you just don’t want to use teflon anymore, consider investing in stainless steel cookware.  It will be more expensive to buy, but you won’t be replacing it every 6-8 months when the cook surface gets damaged.

Instant oatmeal packets are like a staple of many household’s breakfast routines.  But many people (unless your kids are about 6 or under) end up eating two packets at a time, since the serving sizes are pretty small.  But at two packets a day, and especially when you are multiplying by multiple family members, can add up to a budgeting disaster, and with this economy, the last thing you want to do is waste money!

Here are some tricks you can do to make those packets stretch - or do away with them altogether - when your family loves them so much!

Buy in bulk
the first key is to buy your Quaker (or whichever brand you prefer) instant oatmeal packs in the larger quantity sizes.  You will save a lot more money when you buy the boxes of 50+ packets than when you are buying the small boxes of only 8 packets at a time.

Supplement with Quaker Quick Oats
You can buy large backs of Quaker Quick Oats, which are the exact same oats used in Quaker’s Instant Oatmeal packs.  For every packet, add the same amount of plain Quaker Quick Oats to the bowl, and you now have double the amount of oatmeal, but are only use one of the expensive oatmeal packets.  And as a bonus, you are also reducing the amount of sugar the family is eating in your oatmeal, since there is only half the amount there would be if you were using two packets of instant instead.

Add extra “stuff”
If your kids complain about not having as many raisins or apple pieces, simple add some of your own from the pantry.  The raisins are exactly the same (except for all that added sugar powder on them) or chop up dried applie slices into small pieces and toss into the oatmeal before cooking.  You can use any kind of dried fruit, just cut the pieces up small enough so they will cook.

Skip the instant oatmeal packets all together
You don’t actually have to use the packets at all.  Use Quaker Quick Oats, or your preferred brand of quick cooking oats and make your own oatmeal packets.  Doing it this way you can double the portion size for family members as needed, and you can ensure what you include in the oatmeal is healthier.  Experiment with different types of dried fruit to make your own creative oatmeal blends.  If your grocery store doesn’t have a wide variety of dried fruit, check out your local health food store, which will also have more unusual dried fruit such as canteloupe, mango and pineapple.  Just remember to chop them in very small pieces so they have time to rehydrate in the microwave.

Use coupons
Keep your eye out for coupons to cut your costs on oatmeal.  We have some Quaker coupons (both for quick oats and for instant oatmeal packets) right now in our coupon section, on a first come, first served basis.

Think back to when you put those dirty dishes from Christmas dinner into the dishwasher… or other recent days you’ve used the dishwasher.  How many dishes did you pre-rinse before putting into the dishwasher.  If you rinsed any, you rinsed too many!

Dishwashers today (those manufactured since 1995 or so)  are designed to clean dishes even when they haven’t been pre-rinsed to “look” clean.  Now think about how much water you used to rinse those dishes… that was just wasted water, not to mention how much money that cost you, especially if you are in the habit of pre-rinsing dishes with hot water.

Are you certain that your dishes won’t come out looking nearly as clean?  Do a test run one evening without rinsing anything, and see the result… chances are pretty good that everything will come out just as sparkly clean as if you pre-rinsed too.  And don’t forget that many dishwashers also have a “pots and pans” or “heavy duty” cycle… and yes, these cycles will still use less additional water than pre-rinsing would use!

It is also worth hauling out the manual to check and see what the optimum loading instructions are - sometimes dishes that aren’t getting cleaned well enough in the dishwasher is simply because the dishes aren’t loaded correctly to provide optimum dish cleaning performance.  This is especially valuable if you tend to go through a lot of bowls.

Do you not use enough dishes to run a load every day?  Check to see if your dishwasher has a “rinse and hold” cycle on it that will do a quick rinse of the dishes without running a regular cycle, giving the dishes a pre-rinse to prevent the dishes from become crusty with dried food. 

Following these tips will keep you from wasting water when it comes to cleaning your dishes.  Try it and become convinced, and stop the extra work pre-rinsing routine today!

Ever since we have been warned against cooking the stuffing inside the turkey, people have been getting creative with what to put inside the cooking bird.  There is always the beer can route, ala beer can chicken.  Others will stuff the stuffing inside the bird for cooking during the last half hour or so, when the turkey is nearly done, so you can ensure the turkey will be cooked through and the turkey won’t be contaminated by raw poultry juices.

But an amazingly easy thing to do is simply stuff your turkey with fresh herbs right when you are preparing it for the oven.  The fresh herbs will infuse the flavor right into the turkey as it cooks, leaving a turkey with a uniquely aromatic taste.. and your house will smell wonderful while it cooks!

You can buy fresh herbs at the grocery store, even during winter months.  So next time you are at a loss of what to put inside the turkey, consider using this great combination of fresh herbs instead.  Or you can adjust some of the herbs that work well with poulty in place of the ones we suggest.

• Thyme
• Rosemary
• Sorrel
• Savory
• Sage
• Dill
• Margoram

You only need a few sprigs of each for an average size turkey, doubling the amount of herbs for a large (25+ lbs) turkey.  When the turkey is finished roasting, you can simply discard the herbs, or you can use them in another dish, provided you are certain the turkey has been completely cooked through, so no uncooked juices remain.

Certain smells just make you think of the Christmas season.  And something as subtle as the scent in the house can make everyone feel more festive… especially if you have had to cut back this Christmas, or even if you are snowbound!

You need a medium saucepan filled with one quart of water.  Then add 3 cinnamon sticks, 1/4 cup whole cloves (buy in bulk to save money), 2 tbsp lemon juice, zest from one orange, 1/2 tsp nutmeg and two bay leaves.  Place on the stove and simmer to leave your house smelling like Christmas.  If you plan to simmer all day, be sure to check the water level and add more as needed.

You can also adjust the recipe to your own personal preference.  Like orange scents?  Add zest from two oranges instead of just one.  Not a fan of nutmeg?  Drop it back to 1/4 tsp instead of the 1/2 tsp the recipe calls for.  Love allspice?  Add 1/4 or 1/2 tsp of allspice to the pot.  It is all about making it smell like Christmas to you, so don’t be shy about incorporating coordinating scents into the recipe.

We hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season and is keeping safe while all these winter storm are hitting just about everywhere.  Merry Christmas!

The coupon stash we post has quickly become one of the more popular spots on MomsBudget, and we were quickly getting stashes that were 300-400+ coupons with both US and Canada coupons.  So we have decided to place all those fabulous coupons in their own section, which also includes a search function so you can search for specific coupons, as well as browse coupons based on categories (so you can browse just the breakfast product coupons, or even the breakfast product coupons for Canada).

We have a bunch of coupons expiring 12/31/08, so while we normally only allow one coupon for each type, we are lifting the limits on these, great if you plan to grab groceries before ringing in the new year.  Our next mail date for coupons is Dec 22, so plenty of time to get them to you before they expire.

We only have about 1/8 to 1/4 of all our coupons online so far (400+ are entered so far), so watch daily (even hourly!) for all the new coupons being added, we have hundreds here waiting to be entered, which we hope to have done in the next few days.  But in the meantime, order away

If you are new to our coupon stashes, think of it as a coupon train but with less work… you pick out coupons and we mail them to you, and we ask that you mail back at least the same value in coupons (at least one month prior to the expiration date), so that we can post them and others can get them.  We also ask that you recommend it to others, since the more people that use it, the larger number and variety of coupons we will have available.  Please remember that if you have received coupons from us previously, you must have sent coupons back before you can place your next order

Go to the MomsBudget coupons here.

There may still be some kinks to work out, so if you notice anything wonky, please make a note of it in your order comments.  We are still working on adding all the product photos as well as adding all the companies.  So still a WIP we hope will be completed over the next few days

So happy couponing!  And watch for some freebies being included to some of the lucky customers along with the fabulous coupons.

Trying to figure out what to do for a centerpiece for Christmas, without spending an arm and a leg, and without having to rush out Christmas Eve to buy a bouquet of holiday flowers that will still look fresh on Christmas Day?  Here is a super easy and inexpensive idea to dress up the holiday table.  And it is a fantastic way to use cranberries for something other than cranberry sauce

First, you need a clear glass vase.  Then, head out to your garden or go for a walk in a park, and pick up small fir branches, holly sprigs, and any other festive-looking greenery.  Trim them at home, ready to be placed in the vase.

Fill the vase with fresh water, about half way full.  Then add a generous helping of fresh cranberries to the water for decor (about 1 cup or so, you may need more or less depending on the size of the vase).  Then add the various holiday greenery to the vase, and you have a great looking centerpiece.

The arrangement will last for days, as long as you change the water daily, and give the cranberries a quick rinse as you do it.  This also makes a wonderfully inexpensive hostess gift if you are visiting someone’s house over the holiday season.

When you think of redeeming points, do you automatically think only of air miles?  Well, chances are pretty good that you have more than one “points card” that you get for being a frequent shopper at favorite stores.  And many of those stores will allow you to redeem those points for free products you can choose from a catalog, discounts on purchases and even exchange for gift cards.  But most of these companies don’t exactly volunteer that you can exchange those shopping points for anything good, so you need to get on it!

First, go through your wallet and find all those frequent shopper cards you have that track how much you spend (and no, you probably don’t want to know how much you have spent on each of them!!!)  Then, armed with your cards, check out the websites for each company and see what kind of perks you can get with those points you have earned.

If it isn’t a card that you receive a statement for, chances are pretty good you have probably racked up a fair bit without even knowing it, especially if it is something you use frequently, such as while grocery shopping.  You may need to phone their head office to find out your points balance, if you don’t have access to it, then find out what those points are worth.  You could be surprised at what you could exchange those points for.  Or next time you are in each store, a customer rep can help you find out about what your points balance is, and what you can get for it.

This is a great way to stretch your budget over the holidays, especially since it is essentially “free money”.  So be sure to take advantage of it, especially if there are people on your gift list you weren’t able to afford to buy anything for.

And don’t forget, if you are in the giving spirit, most places have charities they work with where you can simply donate all your unused points to charity…. this is what I have done on multiple occassions to support everything from a local children’s hospital to the SPCA, and I know the donation is appreciated by all.