Thrifty Tells

Learn Money-Saving Strategies and Couponing with Us in Idaho (Plus Free Workbook, $3 Off Early Registration and Ticket Proceeds Going To Charity)

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy here.

by Cassie on May 14, 2012


Each attendee receives a handbook to remember everything you’ve learned!

We have finally worked out the details for this month’s money-saving classes.  Our classes this month will be in Idaho Falls, Idaho on May 23rd (our hometown) and on May 31st in Twin Falls, ID.

Not only are we privileged to be teaching classes in these two locations and excited to come meet you, but we have joined up with local charities to support – the net proceeds from ticket sales from each class will be given to these respective causes.

May 23rd in Idaho Falls (only 50 total seats available):

Location: Stevens-Henager College (901 Pier View Dr in Taylor’s Crossing)
Time: 7 pm
Cost: $10 (Use coupon code IDAHOFALLS for 60% off – only $4!!)
What you get: 2-hour money saving/coupon class, FREE glossy workbook to take all that information home, and opportunity to support cancer research
How do I register? Click HERE and register online to lock in your spot and save $6 on ticket price!


Picture from last year’s race

The net proceeds from the ticket sales will be going to the Hometown Heroes Bike Ride to raise funds for the Huntsman Cancer Institute for cancer research.  We are supporting the bike rider, Eloise, to help her reach her goal! The Hometown Heroes program is designed to help participants reach their endurance goals while raising much-needed funds for cancer research. Since 2003, Hometown Heroes have raised over $1 million dollars from donors like YOU. Huntsman Cancer Foundation relies on the generosity of community members to support cancer research programs. Be a part of it by attending a money-saving and coupon class and help further fund cancer research and change your household finances at the same time! It is an opportunity to be blessed and to bless others! Photo Credit

May 31st in Twin Falls (only 50 total seats available):

Location: Litehouse Christian School: (960 Eastland Dr. in Twin Falls)
Time: 7 pm
Cost: $10 (use coupon code THRIFTYCOUPLE to receive $3 OFF)
What you get: 2-hour money saving/coupon class, FREE glossy workbook to take all that information home, and opportunity to support Bulgarian mission trip
How do I register? Click HERE and register online to lock in your spot and save $3 on ticket price!


Picture from last year’s mission trip!

The net proceeds from the ticket sales will be going to 13-year old Barak and his dad who are going on a Bulgarian Mission Trip, where they will spend two weeks remodeling and building church buildings, outhouses, painting, repairs and many other tasks for the Bulgarian Community, as well as spending time in the Bulgarian Gypsy villages and conducting Vacation Bible School for the children there. This one is near and dear to our hearts as we had the opportunity (after also raising funds) to do a very similar 2-week mission trip to Romania the summer before we married with a group of 8 to serve the orphans, villagers and gypsies in Romania! It was a life changing experience and so we were excited to hear of this opportunity for Barak and his dad to do the same and really wanted the ticket sales to support this mission trip! You can be a part of it too by attending a money-saving and coupon class and change your household finances at the same time!

Both of these classes are an opportunity to be blessed (learning how to shrink your family’s budget) and to bless others (supporting these great causes) by attending!

Here are some key things that are important to note about our style of couponing and our Grocery Savings Classes:

  • We make it real, accessible and doable for every family – we come from the unique perspective of a couple who has worked out the kinks in this area (remember, we struggled with this for 3.5 years until we finally figured out how to make it work for us)!
  • We do not encourage you to change your eating habits, but rather buy the things you have always bought, just for much less – even if your goal is to be healthier for much less (we can offer tips there :) )
  • We will teach you how to build your own family’s stockpile and pantry with a several month supply while dropping your budget dramatically at the same time.
  • There are many methods and ways to coupons and save money at the grocery store and we have tried them all – so in our classes we will share with you different ways that will work for different families and ultimately what we do (we each have a different methodology and so we have a unique system that works for us!)
  • We are not Extreme Couponers BUT we are a Real Family of Seven that lives healthier and for less as a family of seven than we did when it was just the two of us! The key to this is based upon “secrets of the trade” that we have discovered, followed and applied and will share these simple tricks of the trade with you so they are no longer a secret :)  
  • Plus, being in person also allows us to answer your questions, address your concerns and help you and your family in a real way more than ever!
  • Some of the additional topics we cover are:
    • Giving tips to families that want to eat and live healthier
    • How to save money without even using a single coupon
    • Helping those that deal with dietary restrictions and allergies
    • Sharing many meal planning ideas, plus our personal unique approach to meal planning
    • And yes, even providing tips and resources for those that want to use as many coupons as possible!

Register for the Idaho Falls Class HERE.  Use coupon code: thriftycouple for $6 off!

Register for the Twin Falls Class HERE.  Use coupon code: thriftycouple for $3 off!

For other Savings Nation classes taught by other Deal Pro Ambassadors across the country, you can visit the Savings Nation Event page.  This is an ever growing list of dates and locations, so keep checking it to see if your area comes up!

Plus, we will be in Utah in June! We are working out the final details, but fill out the form below to be one of the first to be informed when we are personally teaching one of these classes in your area.  In addition, please let us know if you have an idea for an affordable facility that can be utilized for the classes as well.

We can’t wait to meet you!

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Alex & Cassie

What We Bought This Week: Lots of Treasures and $30 Under Budget

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy here.

by Cassie on May 12, 2012

bountiful baskets may 12 findings

It’s been a bit since we have shared our shopping trips! We have all these pictures and then we run out of time and don’t get a chance to share! But we love to share our coupon shopping trips and especially our main weekly purchases – the produce!

With the introduction of our new homepage, we have many things we will be sharing, including much more on how we coupon, shop and cook to meet our budget and our family’s needs.  We are so excited to be finally sharing all of this stuff we have been doing for so long and love to just keep those things growing and sharing more and more each week.

So with all of that, our shopping was quite fun as we love to get those produce items for cheap and take them home to use up in our eating and snacking!

First, we picked up a basket of produce from our community produce co-op called Bountiful Baskets today. We paid $15 for a conventional basket of produce, and like we have mentioned, you never know what you will get! But we were pleased with the findings in this week’s basket for $15 and it is all things we love and use regularly!

So here’s what was in that basket!

  • 1 5 lb bag of grapefruit
  • 5 bananas
  • 10 apricots
  • pile of red potatoes (probably about 2.5 – 3 lbs. worth)
  • 2 mangoes
  • 1 bunch of spinach
  • 1 bunch of lettuce
  • 4 tomatoes
  • 3 avocados
  • 7 green apples
  • 1 pint blackberries

Then today, after having some Mother’s Day celebrations and time as a family and with extended family, we hit the local Kroger store on our way home! We needed some milk and a few more produce items (the above basket does not last our family a week until the next pick-up!).

Well, we were super excited that they had a ton of markdowns, and markdowns on our favorite items – the fresh items!

Here’s what we bought at Kroger:

 

  • 2 2lb. packages of strawberries (we love strawberry season!) for $2.99 each = $5.98
  • 1 red onion for .42
  • 2 bags of coleslaw for $1.39 each = $2.78
  • 2 gallons of milk on markdown for $2.00 each = $4.00
  • 1 bag of sauerkraut sale for $1.99
  • 1 Litehouse Cilantro dressing on markdown for $2.49 (normally $4.99)
  • 1 Litehouse Coleslaw dressing on markdown for $2.49 (normally $5.99)
  • 1 head of living lettuce on markdown for $1.69 (normally $3.19)
  • 4.56 lbs. of bananas on sale for .55 lb. = $2.51

Then they had this cart chock full of produce for $1.00 a bag.  It was packaged there in the store and kind of a grab bag style, but we didn’t mind and found some excellent deals (the pictured bags of produce in the middle of the picture were only $1):

  • 3 bags of oranges for $1 each = $3
  • 1 bag of 2 eggplants for $1 = $1
  • 1 bag with 4 orange and yellow peppers = $1
  • 1 bag of green apples = $1

Summary: At Kroger, we spent $30.35 on all of the above pictured items.  We don’t know how much we saved as they don’t show savings on markdowns, but we think that the cost would be at least double, so we roughly saved 50% on perishables!

Then we spent $15 on the basket from our co-op for a total of $45.35 – well within our $75 weekly grocery budget (we often come under as you can see from our previous shopping trips HERE).

And yes, the above items is all we need to have a well balanced diet including a diet filled with protein! All of the details on how we function in the kitchen and for feeding our family as just one part of our thrifty budget and lives (while doing it healthily as well!) will continue to be shared here on our site!

We really wish we had unlimited time to just write and share all of it at once.  But since we have 5 young kids that we homeschool and run several family businesses, it comes in steps and is shared in steps to save our sanity and meet our family’s needs :) We know you can’t wait!! And now that we have contributors to help with the all of the 20+ deals each day, the two of us get to spend more of our time focusing on the content found on our new homepage and get this information out faster!

BUT… we did want to share with you some resources to help you save on produce:

First, don’t miss our article on 30 Ways to Save Money on Produce.

Second, we have also posted this information before, but we wanted to keep posting it in these posts so that everyone reading can have some ideas on how to get involved with a produce coop:

First, our specific co-op is Bountiful Baskets and they are available in many states across the nation (mostly Western states). You can find information about Bountiful Baskets and if they are available in your area.

Second, there are many produce co-ops and grocery co op groups and it’s various forms across the nation that you can join and be a part of.  A good place to start looking is at a the site localharvest.org (which is going to help you get organic local food) or coopdirectory.org (I am not sure how updated this site is as our area’s listings were old and many not listed, but at least worth a shot!) or search produce co-op your state under google and see what listings come up.

For more fun and informative frugal reads, don’t miss these posts:

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Alex & Cassie

Just Can’t Get Enough? Please Give a Warm Welcome to Our Thrifty Couple Contributors

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy here.

by Alex on May 5, 2012


Alex and Cassie (The Thrifty Couple) and our 5 kids

We announced a few weeks ago that many awesome changes are taking place here at The Thrifty Couple! We continue making changes to make our site better, more efficient, more user friendly, and easier to get the information you have wanted that never expires (like our recipes, articles, money savings tips and budgeting tips).

We made the first big change and announcement last week and we enjoyed hearing your encouragement on the change.  Nearly everyone was super excited about the new homepage and all of the timeless information being easier to access and find without having to wade through dozens of posts, while at the same time still posting all of those wonderful deals, savings, coupons and FREEBIES – just one click away on our blog (HINT: the blog is easy to bookmark for direct linking)! :)

We had been posting around 10 deals, savings ideas, coupons, and freebies every day for many months now – but we know many of you are just looking for many more posts to help you find those deals, coupons, savings tips and freebies/samples that will fit your family.  We haven’t been able to bring you more than the 10 posts as we’ve been trying to run our household, manage our many family businesses, and homeschool our children.  But we had an idea!

We know many other “Thrifty Couples” that each come from different stages of life, family dynamics, and budgets.  Why not have them share some of those daily posts with you to help give you some variety and perspectives each and every day?  So we asked and they excitedly said YES!  You might have even noticed that the number of daily posts are starting to increase!  And its only going to get better!

Honestly, we are super excited about this! Why?  There are many reasons, but here are the top three:

  1. You get even more deals, coupons and freebies!  With five other “Thrifty Couples” helping to find the deals, savings, coupons and freebies – you will find that the normal 10 posts per day will be increasing to 15, 20 or more – it means that you will find an even more complete list of things you can take advantage of to help you save more in every area of life where it makes sense for your family! That is awesome to have that resource more than double it’s normal posting capacity!
  2. Hear from other perspectives even possibly closer to your own – You will see posts and deals from other perspectives than just our own! As you can notice from the bios below, each family brings a different family setting, their own set of financial goals, a unique family dynamic and even their own personality – meaning you will be able to find more  information than just coming from our own thoughts on deals!
  3. You get even more household finance and frugal living information – Now that we have some help with the daily savings posts – we are extremely excited to start spending more time writing the timeless articles, sharing our recipes, sharing thrifty and frugal living tips, budgeting, finance, and tips on making extra income or starting family businesses.  Pretty much everything that you see on the new homepage is going to grow and grow.  We will keep sharing our personal story and our unique and personal financial plan to help your family reach upcoming financial goals!

Cassie and I will also be able to start adding videos on couponing specifically and our unique approach to it (as referenced in the coupon corner on our homepage) plus you will soon find some really handy downloads for “Family Financial Focus” and “Healthy Harmonious Home” coming soon as well! We have been wanting to do all of these things for a very long time and so we are so ecstatic to bring you even more every week!

Here’s what you can continue to expect from our site:

  • Growing list of “never expires” resources to help you build your “Family Financial Focus” and “Healthy Harmonious Home” that will be put in a blog post like they always have, but also now filed and easily found on our new homepage as well (look for this on our home page):

  • The Recipe of the Day and the Article of the Day that are now located on our home page each day for more ideas in the kitchen and information you can find on the site (see example daily recipe and article below):

  • The new “Couponing Corner” on the new homepage which will be growing massively to help you be the best and most efficient coupon shopper for your family’s needs.

  • The Store Deals page to find many local and national grocery and drugstore shopping lists with coupon matchups!
  • Finally, you will now find 15-20+ posts six days a week for that day’s savings which will include: store deals, online deals, coupons and freebies located on our blog (see the menu option below) to help you save in every area of life, for every stage of life and for every budget all with the  help of our different contributors.

In our posts, you will now note who it is that has researched and brought this deal right to you by noting the author right under the post title.  Cassie and I will still be doing many of them, in fact probably about 10 a day from us still!  Want to know who is writing the post?  Make sure to check out the author on the top of each post.  See this one is written by me :)

So the next question is, who are all of these new Thrifty Couple Contributors??  Well let us introduce them to you! Don’t forget to stop by our About Us if you don’t know who we are or our background from being the Very Unthrifty Couple to becoming The Thrifty Couple.

Welcome to Our New Thrifty Couple Contributors:

Jake and Kiz Jake and Kiz live in a house with 5 bedrooms, 4 children, 3 goldfish, 2 felines, 1 dog, and a dove in a dying spruce tree. They spend their time playing in the garden, coupon shopping, and running their kids to and from trumpet lessons, piano lessons, and swimming lessons. Kiz is a Spanish teacher at a Christian school and enjoys donating her time at the local Pregnancy Care Center. They love their kids and know first hand the financial reality of raising a family in today’s society with four kids – the last two being twins. They used Dave Ramsey’s system to pay off their consumer debt many years ago and do their best to stretch their tight budget as far as it can go to enjoy life as a family of six.
Mark and Desiree Mark and Desiree are parents of 6; Mark teaches college philosophy and Desiree is a homemaker and homeschooling mom. We’ve survived (and even sometimes thrived!) for many years on a very tight budget while raising a large family and while Mark finished his Ph.D. at the same time; we know up close the trials of the current economy, and are excited to share with you some deals and strategies that can help make ends meet, pay off debt, and meet your goals.
John and Darrelyn John and Darrelyn were just recently married. Darrelyn has been couponing for a couple of years, starting when a friend introduced her to the idea of saving money through the use of couponing. At first she started just as a hobby, and then it turned into a major way to save some money. Darrelyn is a Christian school teacher, and John has just recently earned his teaching degree and is currently looking for a teaching position. More than ever, John and Darrelyn need to save money because of their single income, and couponing has been a great way to save and make the ends meet. Darrelyn loves to find great deals online and at her local stores to save money on groceries, gifts, and some of the fun things in life.
Mark and Lynda Mark and Lynda are a couple of baby boomers who love the Lord, life, fun, and cannot resist a deal. We really like saving money! Lynda has returned to college after raising children for 30 years to learn about computers and Mark is a CPA. We are a thrifty couple because we are trying to position ourselves to be ready financially for retirement and to be able to help others who are less fortunate, and to constantly discover ways people can save money and live life in service. Lynda and I would ultimately like to be in a good position financially and spiritually to be able to serve the Lord on some missions.
Kael and Calli Kael and Calli are a deal-seeking newlywed couple loving married life together. As busy and fiscally conscious college students, we are constantly on the lookout for useful and easily accessible deals. We want to thrive in our community and share our experiences with others who may have similar desires. We work throughout the summer and save our income to pay our living expenses throughout the school year which requires a lot of creative frugality. Some of our hobbies include: outdoor activities, college life, electronics, home crafts, cooking, and planning fun date nights.

And please feel free to welcome each of our new “Thrifty Couples”!  We are excited to have them on board and hope you are too!

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Alex & Cassie

Easy Homemade Skin Moisturizer and Soothing Cream: Great for Eczema and Other Skin Conditions

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy here.

by Cassie on April 30, 2012

easy homemade skin moisturizer and eczema cream

Are you are looking for a nice recipe for a simple, yet luxurious homemade skin moisturizer containing oatmeal for a soothing, skin softening and moisturizing cream?  Possibly one that can be used as a a great option for eczema and other skin conditions without paying the hefty price? Then check out our personal homemade recipe for our easy homemade skin moisturizer. We have a son with eczema and the creams you buy can be very pricey! So I combined many of the common components used in many eczema and other skin moisturizer creams to create this soothing skin cream.  And at least for our son, it works well for his eczema!

In addition to treating our son’s eczema, this has been an amazing treatment for our dry skin.  If we are experiencing some really dry weather causing those dry, cracking hands, we’ll lather this cream on our hands and cover with a pair of socks or gloves to soak it in all night.  It works amazingly well in our dry climate!

Here are the ingredients needed:

Now that you have your ingredients  together – let’s get started on making a super Easy Homemade Skin Moisturizer!

How to make Easy Homemade Skin Moisturizer:

  • You will first need to finely ground the oatmeal to a powder/flour consistency.  You can use a blender, food processor or a Magic Bullet type of appliance to finely ground the oats.
  • Over low heat, melt the coconut oil until it has a liquid consistency.
  • Add a few drops of Rosemary Essential Oil
  • Then mix in the oatmeal flour until well blended.
  • Mix in the olive oil until well blended.
  • Once the ingredients are mixed, pour into a small storage container or glass baby food jars, etc. Let harden for several hours.

After it hardens, simply apply to hands and skin as needed for skin softening, moisturizing, soothing and healing.  This stuff also lasts forever!

homeade skin moisturizer lotion eczema creamAs you can tell from our picture, the kids like to get the cream from the middle. :)
It has almost a Carmex lip balm consistency!

See our everyday frugal living section of our site for more tips and recipes and other do it yourself ideas!

Disclaimer: Please note this has not been tested nor advocated by a medical practitioner and is not intended to be medical advice. Yada yada…

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Alex & Cassie

Join Us For Our Money Saving Classes In Idaho Falls and Twin Falls In May – Plus Other Nation Wide Classes

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy here.

by Cassie on April 30, 2012

We wanted to remind you about these money saving and coupon classes that are coming up! If you would like to attend and learn first hand and hands on how to change your family’s budget and the healthy approach to using coupons, then consider joining us!

We’ve mentioned a couple of time that we have teamed up with Savings.com first phase as Deal Pro Ambassadors to actually bring the things we have learned right to you in person through Savings Nation! You can read more about this announcement on the previous post HERE.

Don’t forget to fill-out the form below to express your interest in attending one of these classes.  We will be teach classes in Idaho Falls, ID (our hometown) and Twin Falls, ID both locations during the last couple of weeks in May.   We are still finalizing the location and exact dates as we are trying to make this as affordable in cost to everyone as we can and trying to fish out the most affordable locations to hold these classes.

For other Savings Nation classes taught by other Deal Pro Ambassadors across the country, you can visit the Savings Nation Event page.  This is an ever growing list of dates and locations, so keep checking it to see if your area comes up!

Fill out the form below to be one of the first to be informed when we are personally teaching one of these classes in your area.  In addition, please let us know if you have an idea for an affordable facility that can be utilized for the classes as well.

We can’t wait to meet you!

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Alex & Cassie

Savings Nation Classes All Over Plus We’re Teaching In Idaho Falls and Twin Falls In May – Join Us

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy here.

by Cassie on April 26, 2012

We’ve mentioned a couple of time that we have teamed up with Savings.com first phase as Deal Pro Ambassadors to actually bring the things we have learned right to you in person through Savings Nation! The savings celebration is kicking off in May with dozens of classes all over the nation and taught by one of the Savings.com Deal Pro Ambassadors.  You can read more about this announcement on the previous post HERE.

We wanted to let you know about classes that may be going on in your area and also announce the first two locations of where we will be at in May.  We will be teach classes in Idaho Falls, ID (our hometown) and Twin Falls, ID both locations during the couple of weeks in May.   We are still finalizing the location and exact dates as we are trying to make this as affordable in cost to everyone as we can and trying to fish out the most affordable locations to hold these classes.

But you can at least fill out the form to be informed when we do finalize the details then we can email you with them in case you or someone you know is interested in attending!

For other Savings Nation classes taught by other Deal Pro Ambassadors across the country, you can visit the Savings Nation Event page.  This is an ever growing list of dates and locations, so keep checking it to see if your area comes up!

Fill out the form below to be one of the first to be informed when we are personally teaching one of these classes in your area.  In addition, please let us know if you have an idea for an affordable facility that can be utilized for the classes as well.

We can’t wait to meet you!

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Alex & Cassie

FREE Online Quick and Secure Way To Organize All Of Your Bills

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy here.

by Cassie on April 20, 2012

We’ve recently had a number of you ask us for a quick and easy way to organize bills and so it has been a while since we have mentioned this program that we use and thought we would repost this.  Not only is quick and easy important to us, but so is SECURE and FREE! Read below to find out what we use!

We posted about this free way to organize your bills last October.  We have been using it since then and have been very impressed and appreciative of the free, secure program.  We love to use anything that makes our lives easier, but don’t like paying for it and this is PERFECT!

You probably know we receive offers on a normal basis asking us to pass them on to you.  Honestly, a majority of them just aren’t that great and we don’t bother.  But as I started looking at this one – I couldn’t quite contain my excitement!  Best of all, this high quality service is completely FREE!

Right now I have a spreadsheet to manage all of our bills.  Our bills are divided by month which means I manually log into each separate website (gas, utilities, cell phones, etc), view each bill and then update my spreadsheet.  Thankfully my browser has my login information cached for each as it would be even more of a hassle, but its still a hassle to update each balance manually – and that’s hoping that I’m logging in after the new bill has posted.

Now my life has just become simpler.  Manilla is offering a unique, easy, secure and FREE way to manage your bills in one simple place online.  Here’s the deal.

Sign up for a free account HERE (took me less than a minute).  After that, you add each account by typing the company’s name into the dropdown and enter your login information for each account – this is a one time process.  Manilla takes care of the rest:

Within seconds my account information showed up with date due, balance and my full bill was available to view.  From now on, I’ll be able to login and view all my bills from one location – and configure each account individually to notify me via email or text message prior to the due date for each bill! Plus they offer a mobile app for both Android and iPhone users to download and provide those reminders as well!  I’ll be downloading that as soon as I’m done with this post. :)

So you might be asking yourself how Manilla can offer this service for FREE.  They don’t offer ads (other than from the businesses you have in your accounts) and this is not a 30-day trial trying to lock you into a long-term commitment.  As we mentioned before when we recommended on-line bill pay through your bank and going paperless with your bill statements, companies pay a lot of money for printing paper bills and sending them out.  When you sign up for Manilla, they stop sending your paper bills so companies actually pay Manilla a small fee every month to save money.  As there are so many companies, this is offered for free to us and paid by the companies.  I did check though and Manilla states they will keep your bills for as long as you have your account – giving you 30 days to download or print your bills later if you ever decide to close your account.

In the short time that I spent researching this morning, I’ve already setup most of my accounts and configured my notification settings for each bill.  Instead of going to all my different biller’s websites, I can now go to one place and review all my account information.  Plus I can even pay a majority of my bills through Manilla as well.  I’m tickled pink (wow, that says a lot for me, doesn’t it?) and can’t believe just how easy it was to get started!

If you’re interested, use this link to sign up for your FREE account at Manilla and start importing your bills as well!

Disclaimer:  This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Manilla.  Please note that my “neater-than-sliced-bread” review is all my own – I really am a believer!  Please know our continual goal is to provide you good values and save you both time and money.

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Alex & Cassie

Upcoming Money-Saving Classes and Request to Help Us Find a Facility Near You

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy here.

by Cassie on March 29, 2012

We announced exactly one month ago that we will be starting to teach a new kind of money-saving class – a unique, hands-on, money-saving class that will not cover just how to use coupons.  The classes will be something that every household can utilize and implement, even for those that don’t want to use a single coupon.

Some of the topis we cover are:

  • Giving tips to families that want to eat and live healthier
  • How to save money without even using a single coupon
  • Helping those that deal with dietary restrictions and allergies
  • And yes, even providing tips and resources for those that want to use as many coupons as possible!

We want to see household economies change positively in America! We have teamed up with Savings.com first phase to actually bring the things we have learned right to you in person through Savings Nation!

You can read more about this announcement on the previous post HERE. We remind you of these classes to start generating interest and to get your help too! Our first two classes will be in Northern Utah and Southeast Idaho (Idaho Falls area) in May. We are gathering a list of those of you interested in attending, so feel free to fill-out this form to be included in the notification on the details.

But we also need your help in letting us know of any facilities in either of the two areas that we can gather together and learn! We want to keep the costs as low as possible for everyone! So in our effort to find a place to gather – we thought we would ask you for ideas!

In addition, if you are not in Northern Utah or Southeast Idaho, more coupon-specific classes will be popping up all over the country for you to attend. Right now there are three additional classes available taught by other DealPros to attend in three different parts of the country.

San Antonio, TX
March 30, 2012
6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
REGISTER here for this class

Orlando, FL
April 12, 2012
7 pm – 9 pm
REGISTER here for this class

Cincinnati, OH
April 18, 2012
6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
REGISTER here for this class

Fill out the form below to be one of the first to be informed of one of these classes in your area and to receive personal invites to the upcoming Northern Utah or Southeast Idaho classes that we will be personally teaching. In addition, please let us know if you have an idea for an affordable facility that can be utilized for the classes as well.

We can’t wait to meet you!

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Alex & Cassie

Now is the Time to Join: Changes to PerkStreet Financial Means More Benefits for More Customers

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy here.

by Alex on March 27, 2012

Earlier this month we received an email from the PerkStreet Financial CEO, Don O’Mally, regarding some changes to the PerkStreet program.  If you recall, PerkStreet is an awesome way to earn cash back by using their PerkStreet FinancialSM debit card – something we learned about from Dave Ramsey and have loved just how much money we have earned!  But two things blew us out of the water with his email.  The first is PerkStreet’s commitment to provide more customers access to more benefits (see below).  The second was Don O’Mally’s request for us to email him personally with any questions we have regarding the changes.  That is a company that knows how to serve their customers – personal service and availability when we have a concern or even simply a question.

But back to the changes in benefits we had mentioned.  The original offer provided 2% cash back for every non-PIN transaction if your balance exceeded $5,000 and 1% back for balances less than that.  Many of you commented how difficult it is to just have $5,000 sitting in an account just for the additional benefit.  We get that.  And more than that, PerkStreet gets that to.

With this, there are two main changes PerkStreet has made to their program:

1. Giving more people the ability to earn more cash back

This is probably the main thrust of their changes – trying to give more benefits to more customers because they mentioned that over 90% of their customers were receiving 1% for each purchase.  Here’s the new ways to earn:

As you note, at certain stores and in certain situations (e.g., having dinner with friends) you will be able to make 2% back on many purchases just because you are making a non-PIN charge.  There’s no need to have $5,000 in your account for those purchases.  And just as before, you still get those 5% PowerPerks – which means for certain stores that you vote on each month you will get 5% of your purchase back to you!  Just this month any purchase at Dollar General, Barnes & Noble, or NewEgg.com will yield you those 5% benefits; plus right now you can even vote to choose your April PowerPerks (signing up?  vote away!) with stores such as Groupon, OfficeMax, and Ace Hardware to name a few.

2. PerkStreet is offering more ways to redeem your perks

When you earn those 1%, 2% and 5% rewards, you are actually earning “Perks” – mean that for each dollar of perks you earn you get $1 of perks to spend!  And what PerkStreet is doing is expanding their number of ways you can redeem those perks, including:

Amazon.com Applebee’s Best Buy Walmart
Chili’s Dunkin’ Donuts GAP iTunes / Apple
Macy’s Marshall’s Olive Garden Sears
Starbucks Target T.G.I. Fridays T.J. Maxx

 

Yep, when you earn those perks you’ll get more choices to redeem those perks for an even better selection of gift cards.  You are now even provided the option to have those perks deposited right into your account ($22 perks for $20 deposit).  What this does is gives you the purchasing power to buy more for less at a later point while giving you more for your budget!

What we love

Remember that what we love about this is that you have full control of your budget by paying all your bills and everyday expenses just by using a new card – not a credit card but rather a debit card.  In our minds, there’s something that mentally clicks when you are spending money out of your balance rather than watching a credit card balance pile up through the month.  It just seems to make it easier for us to keep to our budget.

We will continue to occasionally include our savings in our shopping trips and other places we save – because remember those perks you earn count as savings off your total bill as well!  We would love to hear from you – do these changes make it more likely for you and your family to sign up and start earning these perks?

And if you want a secret from us: We love redeeming our perks for Amazon.com gift cards – we just apply the balance to our Amazon account and never have to think about it again.  Then when we buy items (see our Best Deals on Amazon) on Amazon, that balance is ready for us to use!

Click HERE to go directly to PerkStreet FinancialSM and sign up for FREE!

The PerkStreet FinancialSM Debit MasterCard® is issued by The Bancorp Bank pursuant to license from MasterCard International Incorporated.

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Alex & Cassie

Cooking Healthy Pasta: 3 Simple Tips from Our Kitchen to Yours

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy here.

by Cassie on March 26, 2012

cooking healthy pasta

We have been wanting to write up a post on cooking healthy pasta – tips and tricks that we have learned over the last year and use in our own kitchen! We are posting these tips because pasta can be a very frugal and affordable way to eat and feed a large family for less especially! Plus, there can be these awesome pasta sales and coupons for all types of pasta: regular or wheat and in a dozen different shapes.  But the question we are continuously asked is that no matter how frugal the pasta is, how can you make it into a healthy meal?

No matter the pasta stock-up supply you may have on your shelf, you can do a few simple tips to cooking a healthier meal with your cheap pasta!  This may also make it a little easier to serve those affordable pasta dishes more often!

We have learned most of these tips from The Doctor Oz show and we started implementing them immediately as they are so easy!

Tip #1: Cooking Healthy Pasta Just by Cooking Under Al Dente
Cook your pasta until right before Al Dente! Why?  Well, this is a healthier way to cook the pasta as when you cook the pasta to it’s very soft form, the sugars have been broken down for you and you get a high spike in your glucose levels.  When cooking to just under al dente, you do not experience such high glucose spikes.  This is good for anyone to consider when eating, not just diabetics!  It will also leave you fuller longer, which means not needing to eat as much (which saves money) and not having to refuel on food again so quickly.

Neither one of us are health experts, just a frugal family trying to eat as healthy as we can on our tight budget, so we will leave further explanation to the following sites:

How do we ensure cooking this way:  I boil the water first, then I dump all of the pasta into the boiling water and set the timer for 1 minute under the recommend Al Dente cooking time.  Most pasta boxes will give 2-3 recommended cooking times – we just choose the shortest and cut another minute off!

Tip #2: Dashing Cooked Pasta With Balsamic Vinegar
We love this one! We literally do this every time we cook pasta, and the kids have no idea (and they hate vinegar because they can smell it on our salads!).  This recommendation comes right from Dr. Oz.

From the Dr. Oz Show HERE:
Vinegar’s acetic acid slows down how quickly you digest and absorb glucose from starch; this helps to control hunger and makes you less likely to eat later. Add 2 tablespoons of vinegar to a starchy dish to stabilize your post-meal blood sugar.

As soon as we are done cooking, we throw the pasta in a bowl and toss with a few dashes of balsamic vinegar, then continue the preparation like normal! We even do this in the kid’s Annies Organic Mac and Cheese before adding the cheese sauce :) Shhhh!

Tip #3: Mixing Fresh Veggies to “Expand” the Pasta
We’ve been doing forms like this for a while, but our ideas expand as time goes on for tips on how to expand the pasta! :) We recently watched the Dr. Oz show where he had Hungry Girl on the show and she was giving ideas on how to “expand” your pastas with fresh veggies.

Hungry Girl’s Mac and Cheese made with 1/2 elbow macaroni and 1/2 cauliflower.

Again, it was something we already were doing, but the list of items we are adding is continually growing.  It is a brilliant idea to add veggies to your pasta and slip it in for the kids to eat and for the family to eat healthier without anyone really noticing the difference!  The newest veggie idea that we got from Hungry Girl was adding cauliflower to your elbow, rotini, etc. shaped pastas! FABULOUS!

After adding your “fresh veggie expanders” then just prepare like you normally would or the recipe that you were going to do originally!

So, with this in mind, here are some ideas that we have now on veggies to add to pasta to “expand” it! But we want to expand this list too, so share any ideas that you might have in the comments below.

  • Fresh Tomatoes (all types!)
  • Carrot Shreds
  • Zucchini Shreds
  • Sweet Pepper strips thinly sliced for spaghetti or in chunks for shape pasta
  • Broccoli chunks
  • Cauliflower chunks
  • Mushrooms
  • Peas
  • Corn
  • Squash
  • Spinach
  • Replacing half (or all if you have enough!) of your spaghetti with 1 spaghetti squash.
  • Fresh herbs are a nice addition too for some extra healthy spice
  • What other ideas do you have?

Our family can eat 2 boxes of spaghetti/pasta each meal, so by doing any of the above, it means 1 box and then a good serving of veggies quite easily!

Depending on the dish, we also add beans for a cheap healthy protein too! It actually works well!

We hope this post and these 3 Simple Tips to Cooking Healthy Pasta will help your family to eat a bit healthier while on a budget and incorporate that affordable pasta. You can literally do all three at each pasta meal you make.  But even if you don’t incorporate the veggies, the first two are simple and will make a big difference while not costing extra (or at least verry minimally as a cheap bottle of balsamic vinegar will go a very long way!).  Share with us any tips you have on cooking health pasta!

Also, don’t miss our Dr. Oz section to find Dr. Oz recommendations for less!

Photo Credits: LucioRestaurant.net, Cafemom.com, DoctorOz.com, StartCooking.com

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Alex & Cassie

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