Send Smiles for Less with Hallmark & Walmart

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #SendSmiles #CollectiveBias

Are the months from May to August the land of never ending birthdays and anniversaries for anyone else besides me? It quite literally starts with my sister's birthday at the end of this month and then runs the gamut clear through to the first day of September which happens to be my own birthday. ;) While I love celebrating birthdays and anniversaries and milestones and achievements, I am not necessarily a card giver. I haven't always been this way, folks. I used to run into the store a week or more before the celebrated event and spend a good half hour pouring over cards until I had found just the right one. I literally couldn't wait to give that special person their card and see their reaction. So, what changed for me?

I was visiting a family member once about a week after their birthday party and went into the kitchen to throw away a napkin. Guess what I saw sitting there on the top of their trash can? The very card I spent so much time picking out. The very card I had plopped down almost $5 for a little over a week ago.  And that is when I became greeting card jaded, friends...  I became that person. The person who never has a card with their gift who either has to verbally tell the recipient it was from them or who would quickly write out a To/From on a note card and toss it into the gift bag. I didn't like it. I hated that I didn't have a card to present with my gifts, but I just stopped buying greeting cards. When I did the math, I figured out that I was spending on average $40-$50 from the months of May to August buying greeting cards that were just being tossed out in the garbage less than a week later. Spending the time and money to pick out the perfect card no longer made sense to the frugal side of me. 

But recently I have had a change of heart, and it is all thanks to my recent discovery of the Hallmark cards starting at 47 cents at my local Walmart...

Groupon Coupons- A New Way To Save Even More!

I am partnering with Groupon Coupons today to share with you all one of new favorite ways to save money online and in stores...

I think by now you all know that I am always on the look out for good deals and for new ways to save even more money on products and services that I would be purchasing anyways. I have been a long time fan of Groupon for finding fabulous deals on restaurants, attractions, and getaways when we travel, so I was beyond thrilled to learn that they have a new extension of their money-saving site- Groupon Coupons! 

Groupon Coupons has partnered with over 8600 stores to bring you all more than 55,000 coupons- all 100% free to use! :) And finding the coupons that you need is super easy. You can easily search by specific store before you head out to shop or click over to their site online...

Slow Cooker Balsamic Beef Stew

This shop has been compensated by #CollectiveBias , Inc. and Sam’s Club. All opinions are mine alone.

I think one thing that you all have learned about me by now is that I like to feed my family well, but I like to do so without breaking the bank.  One way that I ensure that we stay within our grocery budget and save money too each month is by using our Sam's Club membership. :)

Our annual Sam's Club membership cost has paid for itself over and over already.  Just about every month we receive savings fliers in the mail from our local Sam's Club.  I pour over these before our next trip and make note of all the Instant Savings for Sam's Club members, and start planning out our meals for the upcoming month...

A Few Frugally Fabulous Tips...

I asked some of my lovely July/August sponsors to share some of their favorite frugal tips with my readers.  Here are their #1 money saving tips:

Tips for a Frugal Kitchen-

Sara from You.And.Me. Are.We:  The most enjoyable way I am frugal is by making our own bread. The loaves of bread we used to buy in the store set us back at least $3.50 so we'd freeze them and just pull out the slices as we needed them. This worked for awhile and we ended up just putting up with freezer-burnt bread all of the time. When I got a bread maker, things really changed! It was so easy for me to load a few ingredients into it and start baking. Now, we make smaller loaves and use it up within a week.

For my favorite bread recipes, check out this post! Stop over at You.And.Me.Are.We and find more posts about our budget living. Looking forward to seeing you there!

A little tip from your's truly: One of my favorite money saving tips for the kitchen is to USE YOUR FREEZER!  It is no secret around here that I just hate throwing anything out.  This is where your freezer can become your grocery budget's best friend.  Some of you may remember my chiles in adobo cubes from my Don't Toss That! Freeze It! post.  Have fruits and veggies that about to become overripe?  Get them in the freezer.  I will do a quick boil then an ice bath with tomatoes, peel and chop them, and freeze them flat in a freezer bag.  Then I can defrost them later to use in homemade pasta sauce or in chili.  I peel bananas, roll them in aluminum foil, and freeze them to use in smoothies later.  I even freeze coffee leftover from the morning! (<<<Be looking for a post on this one VERY soon. ;) )

Tips for a Budget Friendly Closet-
Janelle from Domestically Seasoned:  Save money by going to thrift stores, consignments, and end-of-season sales for your family's clothing.  To me, it is more fun finding a bargain than just choosing what's in front of me.  Bargain shopping encourages contentment in children and helps them to become a better steward of their money.  Resale/consignment shopping is not only cost effective, it's environmentally friendly.  Thrift stores are almost always run by a charity.  So whether it's at the Salvation Army, or a local church or school, your shopping is actually a donation to a good cause.  So go shopping for used clothing!

Christa from Crisduh:  One in, one out rule. I am guilty of buying more clothes than I'll ever be able to wear.  So when I see a shirt that I really want, I ask myself if there is a shirt, or another article of clothing, in my closet at home that I can part with.  The answer is usually yes, and often times I end up finding more than one item that I decide I really don't need anymore.  Then, I keep these discarded items in a big bag and go to a consignment store about once a month to sell the items I don't wear.  I usually make $40-$60 on what I sell back, which I put in savings or use for groceries.  This rule helps me live more simplistically, which I think is the root of frugal living.

A Tip for Saving Money With Baby-
Nicole from Me & the Moon:  Make sure you know what stores will accept competitors' coupons/sales/prices.  That's a biggie for us- especially with baby stuff.  We were really amazed at how helpful some of the baby stores' staff has been in letting us know different ways we can get deals.  My best example is a Buy Buy Baby associate letting me know that they would in fact honor a sale on food pouches at Babies 'R Us, and that they will often accept a lower price you find on a QR reader app on your smart phone.  Handy to know for moms!

What is your favorite money saving tip?  I would love to know, so please comment below and share! :)

Pinspiration in the Kitchen- "The One" Chocolate Mug Cake

I don't think it is any big secret now that I possess a mean sweet tooth.  This chocolate mug cake from Budget Bytes has become a staple in my home over the past couple of months... 

CLICK HERE for the recipe.

This recipe is so crazy simple and actually quite versatile.  We favor our chocolate mug cakes with a big spoonful of peanut butter and few chocolate chips plunged into the middle, but jams and jellies are also pretty yummy. ;)  And Nutella would probably be crazy good... Oh, the possibilities with this one!

Prep time through the 1 minute microwave cooking time is less than 5 minutes!  Everyone gets their only little moist chocolate cake in their own mug with whichever filling they prefer.  We often top ours with a little dollop of whip cream.  It is perfect when we are short on sweets in the house, and just need a little something.  Plus, it is ridiculously budget friendly.  ;)  

To go directly to this pin for repinning, CLICK HERE.

What will you put in the middle of your Chocolate Mug Cake? :)

Have a Pinspired recipe or kitchen project post?  Get linked up with the Pinspiration in the Kitchen party! :)