frugal

2022- Summer Fun on a Budget

Abby H.3 Comments

681517ea18b6760354438c6a7f6190f1.jpgIt’s time for kids to finish up school, and be let loose on the world. But, instead of hours of screen time and endless whining, let’s fill the summer with some fun stuff!

If you are looking to beat the heat and need something free, check out the Waterfront Park downtown. They have a great splash pad area for kids, a really fun playground, and a big grassy area for picnics. Only downside- no shade trees.

 

Info on Free Summer lunches is rolling in very slowly. A lot of the sources for information (211 and the USDA) sites have not been updated with summer information. I’ll keep updating this post as new info is available on more sites throughout the county.

Save Money on Gasoline with BPme!

Abby H.

If you have a BP or AMOCO gas station near you, check out this amazing money saving app!

Because gas never goes on sale, I’m always looking for ways to save money on gas!

Download the BPme app using the promo code OFFER to receive an introductory one-time 50₵/gallon additional discount (via email) on your next fuel up after you complete your first in-app transaction of $10 or more.

When you register for BPme Rewards you will start saving 5 cents on every gallon.

I’ve been using this app for over a year and we’re saving money left and right!

June 2022: New Healthy Freebies From Social Nature!

Abby H.

 If you are into Organic/Natural/Healthy products, then Social Nature is right up your alley. Sign up and apply to sample products that you are interested in. I get probably 1-2 products to sample each month. And most of the time it’s full-size products, not just a tiny sample.

Social Nature has rounded up products that are available to try at a local grocery store or mass merchandiser near you.  Apply to Try the products that interest you to see if you’re a match here.

Here are some of the new sampling opportunities:

  • Mac and Cheese by GOODLES
  • Veggie Pasta by Veggiecraft Farms
  • Cocoa & Blonde Truffle Bars by Honey Mama’s
  • Meatless Breakfast Patties by Nature’s Fynd
  • Gluten-Free Mochi Ice Cream by Bubbies
  • Plant-Based Ice Cream by Eclipse Foods
  • Plant-Based Alternatives by Big Mountain Foods
  • Plant-Based Ice Cream by Wildgood
  • Oat Crackers by Bob’s Red Mill USA
  • Various Comvita Health products

 

And More!

And one of the things I love about Social Nature is that they don’t leave our friends with food allergies out.

There are sampling offers for Gluten-free, nut-free, meat-free foods frequently.

Canadian Friends- You are in luck, there are sampling opportunities for you too! So if you love trying new products, check out Social Nature!

Summer Movies for Kids!

Abby H.1 Comment

One of the kid’s favorite summer activities is to hit up the local theater for a showing of one of their favorite movies.

Big buckets of popcorn, snuck in candy (shhhh), and a drink and they are ready for 2 hours of fun in the Air Conditioning.

In my search for theater chains offering this fun this summer, several of our old friends are not participating as of the writing of this post.

Select Reading Cinemas will have the Reel Kids program, where throughout the summer (June 21-August 9) there will be kid-approved movies for the reduced price of $2/ticket!

And perhaps my kids’ favorite, 2022 Regal Summer Movie Express is back! Express tickets are just $2 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays featuring summer movies the whole family will enjoy. Availability varies by location. My kids are excited to see Lego Movie 2, Lego Batman, Scoob, and Shrek.

AMC has information about their $5 Fan Favorites on their site, but no information or schedules for the summer.

Cinemark (No locations near us) has 8 weeks of Movie Fun planned. More Details can be found here.

Talk Back: What summer movies are you looking forward to seeing?

 

6/6/22 Weekly Meal Plan!

Abby H.

0a5e9dab796cea8a07eabe4eb4795b9e.jpgIt’s Monday Morning, and that means Meal Plan time! Can you tell I’ve had my coffee already?

I shopped over the weekend and did some meal prep as well. We should be set for the week!

School is over on Wednesday, and we’ve got two weeks off before summer school starts. I’ve got two lazy days planned for the end of this week, but after that, we are starting fun activities and we’ll be out and about!

Saturday is Bitty’s Birthday Party and we are having a fairy themed affair. Snacks, wands, and wings (fairy wings that is).

Our veggies and fruit are delivered by Yasukochi Family Farms CSA. For $28, it’s a great deal. I don’t have to pick anything, go to the store, or carry it upstairs. I can’t go to the store and get the same amount we get weekly for $28. Seriously. It’s a deal. They email a preview of what will be in the boxes over the weekend, so I can start thinking about what I’d like to make.

With the increase in food costs, we are leaning more and more on our CSA box each week as the base of most of our meals.

We’ve been trying a lot of new foods lately, thanks to the really great freebies from Social Nature lately too. It’s fun to try new foods. On Friday night I ran to Sprouts and picked up the monthly freebies, and redeemed all of the Social Nature Coupons I had in my wallet. We’ve got all kinds of yummy snacks and treats!

For those of you that are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101 style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.

I’ve gotten a pretty good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and fridge done (I try to update it after every shopping trip), so I’m able to plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste.

I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same each day.

Breakfast: Coffee with 1/2 and 1/2  for me, and pancakes or something along those lines for the kids. They are also into fruit and bagels for breakfast. Lately, the big kid has been digging protein shakes in the morning. This is his favorite kind. 

Lunch: I have a plastic tote in the cupboard full of self-serve snacks. I buy treats and snacks in bulk and fill up snack-sized zip-top bags. I’m back to packing lunches again. However, school lunches are free this year- Little Bit has been buying her lunch and expanding her palate.  The big kid still brings lunch from home.

Dinner: We’re still working our way through our Dream Dinners order for the month, and I’ve got two meals ready for this week.

Focus Group Connections: Consumer Research Project $125

Abby H.

Focus Group Connections is a research company located in Southern California. They conduct studies and surveys all over the US.

Currently, Focus Group Connection is looking for Parents of children age 7-12 years old to participate in an online Consumer Research Project taking place on June 9th (times vary) on the topic of “Television.” Both Child and Parents will be needed to participate. This study will be One hour & 45-minutes in length. To participate, you must have a working Desktop or Laptop computer with high-speed internet, audio, and a working Webcam. The total Incentive will be $125.00 for your time and insights.

If you’re interested, please click here to complete the pre-screener survey.

Crafts and Fun DIY with Dollar Tree!

Abby H.

Wednesday is the last day of school for us. And we’ve got two weeks of fun and frolic before summer school starts, so that means it’s time to bulk up our craft supplies and try out some new crafts.

Dollar Tree does not disappoint. Since they’ve increased prices to $1.25 per item, I’ve seen a huge increase in the quality and variety of craft items, including cotton fat quarters, which are great for all sorts of sewing and crafts.

If you are looking for some ideas for fun, inexpensive summer crafts, check out the Dollar Tree Blog here.

I picked up one of their bottles of dye for tie-dying, and I took pics for Instagram. I’ll post a final pic this morning. Overall I’d give it 5/10. I chose dark purple, and it came out more of a wisteria color. There is a lot of fading, but if you use some of my tie-dye tips here (especially the washing soda pre-soak), you may have greater success. Colors available include Green, Pink, Purple, Red, Turquoise, Yellow.

And I made this cute sign the other night. All the supplies came from Dollar Tree!

The wooden sign, The butterfly stickers, one of the colors of paint (white), and the black permanent marker I used to outline the leaves.

All told, this craft cost less than $6 and I have a cute welcome sign for the front door.

There are all sorts of fun crafts available at Dollar Tree! I’ll be posting more of our crafting adventures on Instagram this summer, if you see a craft that interests you, please comment and I can do a tutorial!

 

6/3/2022 Friday Freebies and Deals!

Abby H.

Woo Hoo! It’s Friday and next week is the last week of school! The kids are ready for adventure. And so am I.

There are so many awesome freebies and deals this week, and the weather this weekend is supposed to be AWESOME (AND WARM) here in San Diego.

Mask Mandates are changing constantly in California and can vary by city and county, so please do your part if you are going to any in-person freebies.

2022 Birthday Freebies are here!

Freebies:

Free Subscription to Bon Appetit
Panera Members – Free Bagel Everyday in June
Free Pride Flag Paint Pour Craft Event
Free Museum Admission – Bank of America/Merril Lynch Cardholders
Free Soul Snacks Product – $4.97 value
Ulta – Free Tula the Cult Classic Cleanser for Your Birthday
Free Bloomingdale’s Little Freebies Box
Free IT Cosmetics Bronzing Brush
FREE Personalized Children’s Book & Stickers – Only $1 Shipping
Possible Free Crest 3D White Strips
2 Free Bottles of Vivazen Women’s Health Herbal Supplement
Free Oikos Pro Yogurt Product at Meijer
Free Avarelle Acne Cover Patches
Free Light & Lean Recipe Booklet
Free Doughnut at Krispy Kreme Friday
Mack’s Free Ear Plug’s Giveaway – Every Weekday at 11am EST
Free Famous Amos Cookies at Select Stores
Free Sample of Moon K Tea Kratom Powder
Sephora – Free Laura Mercier, amika, Tatcha or Ilia Mini Set

June Sprouts Farmers Market Monthly Freebies!

Abby H.

Sprouts is hooking us up and helping us stay healthy! Every month on the Sprouts app in the Digital Coupon section, there are between 4-6 free items (they are marked “SAMPLING PROGRAM”).

Quantities are limited on the app, so if you are interested in any of these, I recommend that you add these coupons (by opening the Sprouts app, click on digital coupons, and click on each coupon in the lower corner where the little green circle is) to your app ASAP.

Not all Sprouts locations will have these freebies, so I suggest trying larger Sprouts locations in your area.

These are full-sized freebies- not small sample-sized products. they are located in the store with the other products of the same type.

Not all accounts will receive all the same products.

Free Food Resources for June 2022(San Diego County)

Abby H.

Woo! A new month means a reminder about all of the free food options there is here in San Diego County.

Keep in mind there are still supply chain issues, so there may not be a lot of food at some distributions, especially those that serve a large portion of the community.

I recommend showing up a little early with a bottle of water and a book and waiting in line. Time passes quickly in these lines, and it’s a great time to learn from others about community food options. Remember to socially distance and follow local masking regulations.

You can find resources here for Central and East County, and Here for North County.

Our friends at Faith Chapel are super ahead of the game and sent out information regarding their 2022 food distributions early on in the year.

If you are located outside San Diego County, call 211. If you are not familiar with 211, here is their website and it can point you in the right direction.

San Diego Food Bank Distributions for June 2022 can be found here. Enter your address (or just your zip code) and the map will show you all of the distributions in your area or closest to you. You can filter by the days of the week to find food when you are available. If there is an income requirement/limit to participate, each location/listing will say such. You can learn more here about the Feeding San Diego Together Tour.

Neighbor distributions are intermixed with the San Diego Food Bank Distributions, however, they have no income requirements, and you come as you are. These Distributions are primarily fruits & veg, however, some locations may also distribute canned goods, dairy, and bread.

Super Pantry Locations can be found here (this listing is countywide). The San Diego Foodbank website also has resources for Diaper banks, free food resources for seniors, and more.

All kids in public school K-12 in the State of California are eligible for free breakfasts and lunches at school. More information can be found here. I’ll have more information on 2022 summer feeding programs as soon as they are available. 

If you know of other resources, please leave a comment! And feel free to share this post with anyone you may know in need.