Are you looking for some more affordable or cheap snacks for kids? This list of 14 different easy-to-serve snack foods should do the trick. Some are homemade and others are store-bought, but all are inexpensive.

These snack options have been time-tested with our five kids and should do well for your family.

Do you ever feel like you’re feeding a bottomless pit?We’re talking about those kids or teens with “hollow legs.”

Remember when they were babies and we fed them every two hours?  Well, the two-hour feedings start all over again in the pre-teen and teen years.

You want to provide nutritious and healthy snacking … Read more »

Are you wondering how to save money on eggs? In the past 12 months, egg prices have shot through the roof! And we’re getting asked regularly by friends and media people, “Why are eggs so expensive and how can I get eggs for less?”

In Arizona, we’ve seen prices as high as $10 per dozen.

Are you wondering how you can still eat eggs without going broke? Or are you wanting to find ways to still have eggs in your weekly menu, but stretch them further? Or do you want to reduce the number of eggs in a variety of … Read more »

Are you wondering which grocery stores offer senior discounts in your area? Do you know which days and what ages qualify for the senior discount?

Grocery shopping can be one expense that is difficult to trim down. Luckily, there are many ways to cut back on your grocery costs.

With the use of store sales and coupons, you can dramatically reduce this line item in your budget. However, these money-saving grocery tips can be even more powerful if you are able to combine them with a senior discount. 

Watch the video at … Read more »

The price of groceries is constantly changing. But how do you survive when grocery inflation drives the price of groceries in your area through the roof? Or how do you adjust when you have changes in your family size?

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 A Reader Asks about Grocery Inflation and Our Grocery Budget2 How Inflated Grocery Prices have Changed our Grocery Budget3 Grocery Inflation Chart 20224 What Hasn’t Changed with Our Grocery Expenses5 What is ShrinkFlation and How to Spot It?6 What You Can Do About Grocery Price Inflation7 Our Grocery Goal
A Reader Asks … Read more »

Are you concerned about food expiration dates on meat? Want to see people question your sanity? Just mention that you often purchase expired meat or meat that is going out of code.

“Code” refers to the date placed by a grocer or manufacturer on a grocery item revealing its use-by, sell-by, or freeze-by date.

We did an interview on ABC’s 20/20 with Elizabeth Vargas. When she saw a video clip of Steve selecting some discounted ham in a grocery store, she was puzzled.

She said, “You are picking up bargains on items most of us would avoid, like expiring meat.”

She continued, “Most … Read more »

Are you looking for Thanksgiving Grocery Deals? You’ve come to the right place. It’s time to stock your pantry and freezer!

Even with prices soaring due to inflation and supply chain issues, we’re still seeing some loss leaders and great sales.

Buying up Thanksgiving grocery deals is a great way to save money and make those savings last for several months.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 Get Those Holiday Loss Leaders2 Using a Freezer for Thanksgiving Deals3 Look For Thanksgiving Sale Pricing on These Items4 Annette’s Thanksgiving Menu for 20225 Thanksgiving Savings Video
Get Those Holiday Loss Leaders

Grocery retailers … Read more »

Knowing the Grocery Store Sales Cycles by month and for each holiday is a great way to save tons of money on food and to fill your pantry and freezer with bargain-priced groceries.

One of our best money-saving grocery strategies is to stock up on loss leaders around the holidays. Grocery stores drop the price of various food items each month and on each holiday to entice shoppers to come to their stores.  That’s the time we swoop in and pick up deals to last several months.

Every holiday brings an opportunity to find great bargains because most grocers put traditional foods … Read more »

Meal planning seems to be one of the trendiest things to be doing now. Whether you’re into weight training, catering to a specific lifestyle choice (vegan, keto, paleo, etc.), eating organic or just doing menu planning to save time—this will help you eat healthier for less.

Annette and Steve started meal-prepping more than 30 years ago to feed their growing family of seven. Annette has tried many different ways of doing meal planning and has fine-tuned it to be efficient and tasty.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 What the Difference Between Meal Planning & Meal Prepping2 6 Easy Steps to Meal PlanningRead more »

If you’re looking for a Grocery Budget Makeover – start by changing how you shop for groceries.

Because most of us go to the grocery store several times each week, making a few changes in how you shop is one of the fastest ways to rehab your finances.

How can I lower my grocery bill so I can get ahead on my budget?

Question from a Free Email Newsletter Subscriber:

I want to start rehabilitating my finances which will include a grocery budget makeover for my trips to the store. So following your advice, I’m revamping my grocery shopping. I homeschool our 4 … Read more »

Do you know what Grade B Eggs are? And do you know how Grade B Eggs can save you money?

Eggs are a regular breakfast food in our house and millions of other homes across the country. But Egg prices go up and down on a regular basis and can sometimes rise as high as $7.00 a dozen. This can put a strain on the family’s food budget, especially if you like eggs.

How to save money with Grade B Eggs

How can a family enjoy a breakfast favorite without breaking their budget?

We’ve discovered a few ways to save on eggs that you … Read more »

Learning to manage your food budget is one of the fastest ways to start turning around your family household budget. We see so many families practice grocery shopping habits that drive their food costs through the roof.

If you’ve never been shown how to master the art of food shopping and meal prep, don’t feel bad.

It’s a much easier game to learn than you realize.

Take the Quiz and See How You Do

Put a checkmark next to any statement that describes something you’ve said or done in the past six months:

 1) I go to the store several times each week.

Going to the … Read more »

Are you looking for ways to eat healthier organic food on a budget? Have you ever asked, “How can I save money on organic food?”

We are always asked about how to save money on organics every time we do a grocery seminar or take phone calls during a radio interview on grocery savings.

Why Does Organic Food Usually Cost More?

Organic food products, on average, cost 50 percent more than standard foods. But you could end up spending 100 percent more, especially on dairy products and meat.

According to Fox … Read more »

Are you looking for tips on couponing for beginners? Have you ever wondered how to start couponing so you can begin saving some money?

Or are you just a beginner in couponing and want to up your coupon game to save even more money?

Learning how to maximize the use of coupons is a great skill. Because the retail landscape is always changing – learning about coupons will be an unending journey.

Couponing for Beginners Quick View

There are 5 Tips to becoming successful as a beginner couponer

Start Slowly – Focus on one area at a time

Set Up Your Filing System

Organize Your Coupons … Read more »

Have you ever thought long and hard about the eggs we eat?

What About Questions Like:

How long can eggs last unrefrigerated and refrigerated?

Or, “How can you tell if the eggs you have are going bad?

Does the nutritional value of an egg change as it ages?

How long can eggs be left out on the counter?

In this article, we’ll answer all these egg questions and more.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 Egg Storage Around the World2 Why We Care About Eggs on a Money Site3 What Are USDA Rules for Storing Eggs?4 How Long Can Eggs Be Left Out … Read more »

If you want to make eating together as a family fun, you’ll love some of the things we do around the dinner table.

The family dinner hour is going the way of the dinosaur and black & white movies. But is the desire to eat meals together an old-fashioned, outdated notion? And with today’s faster-paced, non-relational lifestyle is it even possible?

Eating meals together is a mainstay of a cohesive family unit. Without this time of connection, you could end up with a group of disconnected people just living under the same roof.

Many families aren’t able to do a sit-down family dinner … Read more »

There are dozens of uses for a home meat slicer and the savings you can bank are amazing. In this article, we’ll talk mainly about how much money you can save using a meat slicer to cut your own lunch meat.

With food prices soaring, we’ve got to use every strategy possible to save money!

And we’ll also share other things that we use a meat slicer for — you may be surprised.

Plus we’ll tell you how much our meat slicer cost and what you can expect to pay for a new one.

This is the fourth article of a 5 Kitchen Tools … Read more »

Are you looking for ways to save money on lunch meat?

Steve wanted to see what kind of “deal” we could get on ham lunch meat if we sliced up a smoked, shank ham for our sandwiches. Could we get quality sandwich slices for less?

We bought our shank ham on sale for 97 cents a pound. Because the Smithfield ham we bought was smoked, it was ready to eat (no need to cook it.) So we’ll show you how we sliced it and let you know what our final cost was after removing the bone and fat.

In this article we’ve also … Read more »

The concept of shopping in a wholesale club or warehouse and buying directly from a distributor is an appealing idea for money-saving-minded people. But do today’s warehouse clubs really save you money or are they merely a carefully marketed retail store that has lots of stuff in it, designed to separate you from your money?

We’ll discuss the pros and cons of shopping at the warehouse clubs AND we’ll tell you how you can do it without buying a pricey membership.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 What is a Warehouse Club?2 The History of Warehouse Clubs3 Warehouse Clubs in the … Read more »

Using a crockpot for a year could save you a ton of money. But even if you used it just a few days each week, it could still save you more money than you ever imagined.  We’ll show you how this works and give you some other tips too.

This is the third of a 5-part Kitchen Tools series that will empower you to save thousands of dollars on your food budget.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 What’s at stake when it comes to feeding a family?2 The Savings from a Year of Crockpot Cooking no Crock!3 Crockpot Cooking IdeasRead more »

If you pack a lunch consistently you’ll be surprised how much money you can save.

Glass Bowls Provide Lunch Values

Having Glass Bowls so you can bring leftovers for lunch, is the second of our Kitchen Tools series. It will empower you to save thousands of dollars on your food budget.

Why glass bowls? When it comes to feeding a family, there is a lot of money at stake. The average family is spending $200 per person each month on groceries. That means that a family of four will spend nearly $10,000 on food this year! And using glass bowls for lunch can help … Read more »

If you’ve never heard of a spoonula, hang on because you’re going to love it. In this article, we’ll tell you what a spoonula is and how it can save you money and we’ll introduce our kitchen tool series.

5 Kitchen Tools That Will Save $6000 #1 Spoonula

Saving money on groceries could revolutionize your family budget! Really, it’s no hype. And kitchen tools such as a spoonula, can certainly help save time and money!

As a matter of fact, there are dozens of simple strategies that can cut your grocery bill in half without clipping a single coupon. But, instead of shopping … Read more »

Have you heard of Once-A-Month Cooking—where you prepare a month’s worth of meals in one day?

How about Bulk Cooking where you prepare large batches of several meals that are divided and stored for later? 

Or lastly, freezer meals which are essentially the same as Once-A-Month and Bulk cooking, with all meals being stored in the freezer.

Do these ideas sound impossible or just too overwhelming? We’re talking about making meals super efficiently so that you can experience Cooking Freedom! 

Well, Annette felt completely overwhelmed with the idea of Once-A-Month cooking when Steve first mentioned it to her more than 30 years ago. But … Read more »

Are you looking to save money and find cheap meat near your home? These strategies could save you thousands of dollars this year.

In this article, we do mention prices, but with the current inflation cycle, you’ll need to establish your own pricing table for your area of the country or world.

Putting Meat on the Table History:

Years ago, it was the man’s “job” to hunt for the meat to provide for the family. All it cost was a few days’ trudging through the forest, and some bullets or arrows. Then there was time to clean and dress the meat, a man’s … Read more »

Have you ever wondered which dish soap works best and gives you the best value for the money?

We love saving money and were wondering if we should buy the cheapest dish detergent or a more expensive one. Our curiosity finally got the best of us and we put together this test.

Have you ever thought, “Hmm, this name-brand product costs twice as much as the generic; is it twice as good? Oh, it’s all just advertising hype, there can’t be that BIG of a difference — I’m going to save the money and buy the generic.”

Well, when it came to dishwashing … Read more »

We have always thought about buying meat in bulk online, but have never jumped in until now. We were recently introduced to The Savory Butcher and their local fresh meat deliveries.

You know that we are bargain shoppers. However, the quality and the pricing that The Savory Butcher offers really piqued our interest. This is a really great way to lock in a good price on a large quantity of quality meat. If you don’t have time to hunt for meat bargains in the traditional way, this could save you a lot of time and money.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 What … Read more »