shoppingonabudget

Next week, those in the United States will celebrate Thanksgiving. For most, this means quality time with family and great food. If you are hosting a Thanksgiving dinner, you want to cook a good meal, but you may be worried about the costs. If so, continue reading on for a few moneysaving tips.

1 – Keep an Eye on Sales

Around this time of the year, grocery stores start having good sales on holiday foods. For example, I was able to purchase two frozen pies for $5 (it was a buy one, get one free sale). I am saving them for our Thanksgiving dinner.

2 – Shop at Stores with Low Prices

When I shop for food, I target two stores. They are a local grocery store and a Wal-Mart. One of our Wal-Marts is a cross between a traditional store and a Super Wal-Mart. They have a large food section, which includes frozen foods. For me, it is cheaper to buy cranberry sauce, stuffing mix, boxed potatoes, and canned vegetables from Wal-Mart. They also accept coupons too.

3 – Use Coupons

Speaking of coupons, they can help you reduce the cost of your Thanksgiving dinner. Visit online coupon websites, the websites of your favorite product manufacturers, and check your local weekend newspaper coupon inserts. If you find a coupon for a product you need for Thanksgiving dinner, use it!

4 – Ask Family to Help

Many Thanksgiving hosts feel like they need to do it all. I was one of those hosts. Unfortunately, this is not only difficult, but costly. If your dinner guests include close family, don’t be afraid to help. Ask your mother to pickup a package of rolls, your brother to bring a few bottles of soda, and so froth. Chances are your family won’t mind and it reduces the cost of your Thanksgiving dinner.

Do you need to buy cheap Christmas gifts for friends and family? If you are on a budget, you may be at a loss for ideas. There are plenty of ways to shop for Christmas gifts on a budget, but I believe I have a very helpful tip. That tip is a jar of cookie ingredients.

What you do is put ingredients inside a jar to make cookies. The jar itself can come from the dollar store or you can purchase a case of canning jars. These are available for sale at most department stores, including Wal-Mart.

When using this gift idea, you have two options. You can put the ingredients in from scratch yourself or purchase the bags of Betty Crocker cookie mixes. Simply cut open the bag, pour into the jar, and you are good to go.

So, which approach should you take? I depends on how many jars of cookie mixes you want to make. Only want to make one? Unless you will use the leftover ingredients yourself, opt for a bag of Betty Crocker cookie mix. They retail for less than $2 and it is easy to find coupons for these bagged mixes.

If you want to make five or more cookie ingredient jars, I recommend starting from scratch. You can find a good recipe, like the original Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. Add in each ingredient, but leave out those that are perishable, such as butter and eggs. Your gift receipt will add these themselves.

Once all ingredients are inside, you need to write instructions. For example, does your recipe call for water, eggs, or butter? Always state what needs to be added. Also, provide the cooking temperature, cooking length, and cooling time. Write this on a small card and attach to the top of the jar with a hole puncher and red or green string.

With today’s economy, many parents are Christmas shopping on a budget for their kids. Whether you want to save money or need to, you may be concerned. Of course, parents want to provide their children with the best, but it is important to think about the bigger picture. For example, food on the table is more important than a lot of Christmas gifts under the Christmas tree.

With that said, if you must do Christmas on a budget for kids, I have a great tip for you. That tip is to visit your local dollar stores. I have a few local dollar stores that I shop at, but my favorite is the Dollar Tree, which operates all across the country.

Dollar stores are good for Christmas shopping for kids because items are affordable. What you will find for sale varies, but you are likely to find a lot of good stocking stuffers and gifts themselves.

Newborns and Infants: Most dollar stores have small toys for newborns and infants. You can find teething rings, stuffed animals, rattles, and more.

Toddlers and Preschoolers: Most dollar stores have many items that make good Christmas gifts for this age group. You can find puzzles, toy cars, books, dress up clothes, and more.

Elementary School Aged Children: As with toddlers and preschoolers, you will find a lot of puzzles, books, and toys.

Teenagers: As for this age group, you can find a lot of gift ideas, including picture frames, health and beauty products and more. If your teenager is of driving age, I recommend buying a pail and filling it with car care supplies, such as tire cleaner, wipes, and so forth.

Free Sample of Splenda No Calorie Sweetener for Coffee or Splenda No Calorie Sweetener with Fiber

I cannot guarantee you will receive a free sample. This free sample was available as of November 19, 2008, but its availability is subject to change.

I think that I may have previously recommended EverydayEating.com for moneysaving coupons on Nestle products. I visited the website last month and printed coupons for Nestle Pure Life water, Nestle hot chocolate, Coffee-Mate creamer, and Lean Cuisine Meals. If you haven’t visited this website, I recommend doing so.

I just received their “bi-yearly,” magazine in the mail. It is small in size, but contains a lot of information. On the back, there were more moneysaving coupons. They are the same coupons available for printing on their website, but I feel you can never have too many coupons for products you use.

I am not sure when their magazine comes out, as it just says “bi-yearly,” on the website, but there is a lot of good information inside. In addition to the coupons, there were a number of good recipes, healthy eating tips, and more.

So, if you aren’t already a member, www.everydayeating.com, and signup for a free account.

If you have a large family, you may use a lot of toilet paper. Over time, this necessity can get expensive. Of course, you can save money by searching for the lowest prices, finding great sales, and stocking up, but you can also save money by using toilet paper coupons.

On average, I see Scott and Cottonelle toilet paper coupons in my weekend newspaper insert about once a month. If these are brands you like, be on the lookout for the coupons, clip, save and use.

If you prefer printable coupons, I have a few links for you. Unfortunately, most of these coupons do not have a value amount listed. They just say “get a coupon.” My printer isn’t working so I can’t test to see the value. But, if you opt for a brand of toilet paper that you use, any bit of savings should help.

Cottonelle - Bottom Right-Hand Corner, Make a Pledge and Get a Coupon

Angel Soft Coupon

Quilted Northern Ultra Plush Coupon

Print a Coupon for Scott Tissue or Paper Towel

In my last post, I highlighted a few ways that you can save money on toothpaste and other oral healthcare products. Below you will find a few links to printable coupons and other moneysaving offers.

Save $1 on Crest Pro-Health Whitening Toothpaste

Save $1.50 on Crest Total Advance Whitening Toothpaste

Save $1 on Colgate Sensitive Toothpaste

$15 Mail in Rebate on Oral-B Pulsonic

Save $5 on Crest White Strips Premium

Save $5 on Rembrandt 2-Hour Whitening Kit

Signup for Special Offers for Mentadent Toothpaste

These oral healthcare coupons were available online on November 17, 2008. Their availability or value is subject to change.

Oral healthcare is important, but it can get costly. If you are looking to save money on toothpaste and other oral healthcare supplies, I have a few helpful shopping tips.

1 – Buy Items on Sale

All retail stores, including department stores and grocery stores, have weekly sales. You are likely to find a sale on toothpaste, toothbrushes, floss, mouthwash, and so forth. If so, consider stocking up.

2 – Shop at Affordable Retailers

My favorite place to buy toothpaste from is Wal-Mart. They have a large selection of toothpastes and good prices on all brands. Although caution is advised, many dollar stores, like the Dollar Tree, are known for carrying the cheap tubes of Colgate toothpaste on occasion.

3 – Use Coupons

It is easy to find moneysaving toothpaste coupons. Often times, you need to look no farther than your Sunday newspaper. About once a month, you will find a coupon for Colgate toothpaste. Toothpaste coupons for other brands are found on occasion.

You can also use the internet to find coupons too. Aquafresh, Colgate, and Crest are known for posting moneysaving coupons on their websites. You may also get lucky and find a free toothpaste sample.

If you need to buy Christmas gift for kids, I recommend visiting KBToys.com. I was browsing their website today and liked what I saw. They have a banner on their main page (which you can get to by using the link above) that says they have thousands of toys that qualify for free shipping with no minimum purchase.

This is nice, but usually when a retailer offers free shipping on certain products, the prices are high. This isn’t what I am seeing with KB Toys, which is why I am getting ready to start shopping now.

Personally, my daughter is 4 ½ years old, so she loves Barbie dolls, Polly Pocket, and so forth. So, I checked to see if some of these items qualified for free shipping. Some did, but I was also surprised to see that many items where on sale. For example, as of November 17, 2008, KB Toys had these items on sale (and each item also has free shipping):

Polly Pocket: Glitz and Glam Trendy Pets Spa – Was $39.99 Now $19.99

Holiday Flight Jet Plane Play Set – Was $24.99 Now $14.99

Bob the Builder Ultimate Tool Set – Was $39.99 Now $19.99

High School Musical Fashion Doll: Sharpay – Was $14.99 Now $7.99

Moon Sand 2-Pack Refill Kit – Was $7.99 Now $3.99

Yukon Express 100-Piece Wood Train Set – Was $79.99 Now $49.99

If you want to save money this Christmas shopping season, I recommend checking out Black Friday sales. Personally, I shop on Black Friday, but I am not one of those shoppers waiting out in line at 3 in the morning. Instead, I don’t hit the stores until later. A lot of stores, like Wal-Mart, still have good sales at around 9 or 10 in the morning. Although their early bird sales are done by this time, I am still able to get what I need, which is usually just Christmas toys for my daughter.

The week of Black Friday, you will start to see advertisements in your local newspapers. If you want to start researching deals and mapping out your game plan early, I recommend checking out the website Bfads.net. This is one of my favorite websites to get Black Friday ads from. They have a good collection of Black Friday Ad scans now, but more will be added as they are distributed.