My KVOA Birthday Freebie Segment

For those of you who missed it, here is the clip from my appearance on KVOA's 4 p.m. news! Huge thanks to Paul, the amazing cameraman who helped me film the first of the clip! I also have to say that Kristi Tedesco is as nice behind the scenes as she looks on camera. What a sweet heart! I look forward to working with the team at KVOA in the future. Next appearance will be Friday, August 28th on KVOA's 4 p.m. news!

Ten Ways to Save Money at the Grocery Store

1. Have a weekly meal plan. Go through the store ads and plan your meals accordingly. If chicken is on sale, plan 2 meals that week that include chicken that week. Remember all store ads can be found online.
2. Make a shopping list according to your weekly plan. Stick to the list. I allow myself 1 indulgence purchase per trip. If you stick to the list with 1 variation, you will save lots of money!
3. Track prices of items that you buy regularly and stock up when they hit their lowest prices. For example, I stock up on my favorite name brand spaghetti sauces when their price hits $ .99. I know they only are sold at that price 3 or 4 times per year.
4. Know the regular price on your favorite food items for the 3 stores you shop at most. You can find a printable tracking sheet at GrocerySavingsTips.com. To the side note the lowest sales price that you generally see on the item. Link at http://www.grocerysavingtips.com/printgrocerypricelog.htm
5. Try to limit your shopping to only one day a week. You would be amazed how much the little trips to the store add up! Also remember that most Walmarts price match when you bring the ad in to their store!
   
6. Avoid crisis shopping especially when hungry. It's 5 p.m. and you are starving, you run into the store to just grab some things. Those are generally the most dangerous events on your pocketbook. Eat before you ever step into a grocery store.
7. Coupons! Coupons! Coupons! Safeway, Bashas, and Frys double coupons taking up to $1 off. Pair coupons with sales items to get amazing deals. PinchingYourPennies.com is a free site that lists the Arizona Free/Cheap weekly deals using coupons. Using this resource and my coupons, I get free or next to free food, toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap, etc...
8. There are many ways to find coupons. The Arizona Daily Star offers their Saturday and Sunday with coupon papers delivered to your home for $5 per month or $60 per year. Coupons.com offers free printable coupons right from your own computer. You can print each coupon you like twice. Sign up for store mailings. I get coupons every couple months mailed to me from Frys. Most food companies have websites where you can print off coupons as well.
9. When your coupons come, do not cut them until you are ready to go to the store. Place them in a file folder noting the date they arrived and the coupon insert initials. SS stands for Smart Source. RP stands for Red Plum. Pinching your pennies lists the deals telling you which insert and which Sunday it was delivered. I copy and paste what deals I want to take use into a document. Then, I cut the coupons and place them into an envelope labeled with the store where I plan to shop.
10. Don't forget about CVS and Walgreens freebies using coupons, Extra Care, Bucks, and Register Rewards. I list the coupon deals for each week on my Savvy Savings Tucson blog. Click here for information on how to get started saving at CVS.

If you live in the Tucson area, I list all the grocery deals on Savvy Savings Tucson!

Summer Fun- Part One

You may have noticed a lack in my posting over the summer! These 4 kiddos and keeping them anxiously engaged this summer preoccupied most of my time. But now that school is back in session and I'm down to one during the day, you should hopefully hear a little more from me!

One of our favorite activities this summer was attending all the fun events at our tiny little library. The kids were able to meet Ronald McDonald, see animals from the zoo, and learn how to make pizzas all this summer at our local library.

Our neighbors and good friends, the Deggingers, moved to Alabama this summer. We have been taking care of their pool since they moved and have had lots of fun this summer swimming. It's been fun to see how much my kids swimming abilities have improved this summer.


I implemented Julie Mills' kids list this summer including chores and fun things. Liz was my multi-tasker! Here you see her playing Suduko and hula hooping for exercise all at the same time. What a woman!


Then there were the 3 birthdays blogged about below. Devan had a fun water party! He was so excited to have all his friends together. I was pretty happy about all the Lego toys he received as well.

We were also able to attend so many wonderful baptisms this summer. Danielle Westra, Donna Capman's daughter, was baptized in June. We enjoyed attending both her baptism and the celebration at Donna's. We were so happy for her.

Once I download the rest of our summer pictures, I'll post some more!