**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links.
If you know me in real life, you know that I LOVE Madison Reed. The hair color is amazing, gentle, and gives me a great red color. I also love their hair care products! Their shampoo and conditioner are great for making colors last and stay bright.
Imagine my excitement when I learned that Madison Reed just launched their new STYLE and TAME products! STYLE is a lightweight styling cream that provides frizz-fighting hold, while conditioning and protecting hair. TAME is a lightweight smoothing emulsion that makes hair more manageable and adds shine before and after styling.
Here are just a few reasons I can’t wait to try out the new Style and Tame set!
Lightweight, frizz-free hold with STYLE
Smooth and shine with TAME
Nourishes hair with natural hydrating oils
Create both smooth waves and sleek straight styles
It’s an intriguing look at how arbitrarily beauty standards have changed over time. Of course, ModCloth knows that every body is a beach body — the only requirements are a beach, your bod, and a swimsuit you can’t wait to flaunt!
And in case you were wondering, this is my fav. suit…
And if you’ve never shopped with ModCloth, make sure to join their email list to score a $20 off $100+ purchase coupon code!
Not familiar with Tea Collections? They sell all kinds of awesome baby and kids clothes with an international flair. Prints and designs from Right now they have some super cute designs and prints inspired by India!
Memorial Day is the 25th (this upcoming Monday), and that means there are going to be all kinds of really great deals and sales.
I try not to post a lot of sales and deals, but this week I’ll be posting 1-2 per day when I find some really great deals that I personally think are worth taking advantage of.
These companies are all ones that I shop at regularly, and really like.
So hold on to your hats, It’s about to get crazy and frugal.
I’m sure by now that you know one of my major pet peeves is food waste. That’s why buying in bulk can be such a dangerous proposition. If you can’t use up all of something before it goes bad and you have to throw it away, that’s the same as throwing away money.
One of the ways we save money is by purchasing cheese in bulk. I buy the pre-shredded cheese. There are a few reasons.
I love cheese. I will eat an entire pound block of cheese in a few days. However, I have never sat down and ate pre-shredded cheese straight from the bag.
I don’t own a cheese grater. I don’t want to own a cheese grater. I don’t own a food processor. I don’t want one. I’m not a huge kitchen gadget fan.
For me, it’s a trade off. I would rather pay a few more cents per ounce for the convenience of shredded cheese. My time is worth a few cents per ounce.
Once I’m home from the store, I set up my cheese packaging station. All you need is a stack of ziploc bags, a glass, a salad plate, and a measuring cup. (stack of bags not shown in this photo)
I measure my cheese out into 2 cup packages. That’s the size of most grocery store sized bags of shredded cheese. I keep 1-2 bags of each kind of cheese in the fridge, and the rest of the bags go into the freezer. Yes, you can freeze cheese.
Put the bag into the cup and wrap the top of the bag (the part with the zip top) over the mouth of the cup. Using the measuring cup, measure however much cheese you plan to store per bag.
After my last trip to Smart & Final, I came home with a 4 lb bag of Mozzarella, and a 5 lb bag of cheddar.
I ended up up with 6 2 cup bags of Mozzarella, and a little left over, and 9 2 cup bags of Cheddar with a little leftover. I used the leftover cheeses to top a pizza. It was a little under 2 cups with both leftover cheeses combined.
Trying to figure out if this is a good deal? Let’s do some math…
The same brand of cheddar cheese in a 2 cup bag at Smart & Final is $2.59.
The 5 lb bag of cheddar cheese was $12.49, and it contained roughly 19 cups of cheese. That makes each cup of cheese .66, making each zip loc bag of cheese containing 2 cups of cheese $1.32. That’s a savings of $1.27 per bag over the pre-measured zip-top bag. When I’m not sure which is a better deal while I’m in the store, I check the price per ounce on the shelf label. Here are two examples of a shelf tag that shows the price per ounce for two separate products (Uncle Ben’s Rice and Carnation Instant Breakfast).
Different stores have different shelf tags, so it may take you a few minutes to decipher each stores tags.
Now you have to factor in the cost of the ziploc bags. We re-use our cheese bags, so after they are empty, I wipe them out, put them inside another bag (marked “for cheese”) and stash them in a drawer. I buy ziploc bags en masse when they are on sale. I don’t always re-use bags, but I try to as often as I can.
There you have it. Shopping smartly, taking advantage of a good deal, and how to store your food with little to no waste. That’s what being a savvy shopper is all about.
One of the ways that we save money is to cut down on food waste. For me that means once we are home from the store and all of the perishables are put away, I pull out the cutting board, a sharp knife, the spiralizer, some zip top bags, and reusable storage containers.
This was last weeks fresh fruit and veggies (plus 3 bags of baby carrots and a cantaloupe- not pictured).
I set to work, chopping, packaging, and spiralizing. In less than 30 minutes I had all of the fresh fruits and veggies prepped and measured into small bags to be dropped into lunches, or packed into plastic containers.
This of course is only for the fruits and veggies that require prep. The oranges, apples, and bananas require no prep to eat, so they just go into the fruit bowl.
Fruits and veggies all ready for a week of healthy lunches!Cantaloupe chopped up and ready for my belly!! The bottom container has 3 spiralized Italian zucchini squash, ready to be made into “pasta” salad.
By spending a little time each week getting veggies and fruit ready to eat, you’ll cut down on food waste, because the food is all ready to eat. No scrambling to cut up cucumbers for lunch early in the morning, no putting off eating something because you are short on time in the evening.
You will also be saving money over purchasing pre-chopped and pre-packed vegetables and fruit. All of this produce was purchased at 99 Cents only for less than $12.00. So you can eat well (and healthy) on a budget!!
And if it turns out atthe end of the week that you aren’t able to eat all of your veggies and fruit and they can be frozen (pretty much anything except melons), toss the bags in the freezer and you now have veggies for a casserole, or fruit for a smoothie!
The average American family of four throws away $25.00 in food a WEEK! Here are a few more tips to help your family curtail food waste!
Eat your leftovers: this seems like a no brainer. When you divvy out your portions for dinner, make yourself your lunch for the next day. If you won’t eat it right away, pop it into the freezer- label it, so you don’t forget what it is.
When it looks like your fruit is about to go south, freeze it. This includes bananas! You can use defrosted bananas in banana bread or frozen bananas are great in smoothies. Other frozen fruit can also be used in smoothies.
Citrus fruits can be juiced and frozen or the juice can be consumed for breakfast or put in smoothies. Apples can be peeled cooked into applesauce or made into apple butter.
When I buy fresh tomatoes and they get just a little too ripe- I freeze them whole, then I bake them with chicken breasts and herbs and top with fresh parm- Yummy!
Buy less. I know it seems like a strange concept, especially with all of the really great deals you will be finding, but, the one proven way to waste less is to bring less home to waste.
If your kid’s are like my guy, clothes never last long. rips, stains, oh yeah, and growing like a weed!
That’s one reason I love shopping at consignment shops, thrift stores, and online second hand stores like Schoola. Right now Schoola is offering $15 free and free shipping when you sign up here.
In addition to offering awesome gently worn kids clothes, Schoola also gives a percentage (40%) of each sale to a school. So you can feel good twice: Once while your saving $$, and again because you are helping support a school in need.
To get started, click here. And I can’t wait to see what you have scored! I got Lil’ Man 3 shirts!
For those of us living in CA, NV, AZ, TX we have the opportunity to save money by shopping the great deals at 99 Cents Only. 99 Cents Only is different from other discount/dollar stores in that the majority of locations feature a refridgator and freezer case with a variety of name brand foods, including fresh fruits and vegetables. In addition to fesh and frozen foods, most locations have a great diverse stock of shelf stable foods too.
And 99 Cents only has more than food, they carry the same types of items that you have grown accustomed to seeing at discount/dollar stores, such as health and beauty aids, school supplies, and kitchen tools.
While 99 Cents Only does not accept manufacturer coupons, they frequently send out coupons that are good for a free item when you purchase X number of items (most recently they have been buy 5 items, receive one free). And there are a few apps that are not retailer specific (such as checkout51, snap by groupon, Mobisave, berrycart, shrink,and shopnimium) that you can submit your receipts to to earn a little extra cash back!
Not everything is .9999/each, many of the items are .7999/each, .6999.each, 2/.9999, or 4./9999. .9999? What? That’s right, after many years in business, last year 99 cents only had to increase prices just a fraction to keep up with inflation. So at .9999/each (or really, rounded up to $1.00), many things are still a screaming deal.
Here are just a few of the great deals that you shouldn’t pass up:
Carrots. A 20 ounce bag (that’s 1.25 lbs) of baby carrots is .9999. At most regular grocers The same bag is upwards of $2.50.
Bagged greens. Most locations carry multiple brands including Dole, Ready Pac, and Earthbound Organics (just to name a few), which can sell at most mainstream grocers for upwards of $4.00/bag!
Disposable person care items, such as cotton swabs. 1000 cotton swabs for $1.00! That’s a lot of clean ears! A box of 500 or so can run upwards of $5.00 at most mass merchandisers.
Men’s dress socks. I’m serious. At $1.00/pair, you’re saving approximately 75-80% over department store prices. Most of hubs socks come from 99 cents only, and he’s been wearing them for about 2 years.
Cake mix. I’m talking name brand here. Unless there is a sale and you have a coupon at the local grocery store, you’ll be spending a few bucks for a cake mix. Drop by your local 99 cents only and take a gander, you’ll be surprised by the variety and brands of cake mixes available. Last time I stopped in to my local store, they had Pillsbury cake mixes!
Bananas. Most grocery stores in San Diego charge .65/-.80/lb for bananas! Most 99 cents locations have bananas for just .49/lb. some select locations have 3 lbs/$1.00!
School/art supplies. Perfect for the parent of an artistically minded kiddo or a homeschooler, most locations have a great selection of construction paper, paint, craft kits, and bulletin board supplies. We get most of our craft supplies at 99 cents only!
Party Supplies, from disposable plates and utensils to goody bag filler, most locations have a decent variety. Not just plain colors, but fun themed goodies as well. Our local store has princess, pirate, minion, TMNT, frozen, sweet 16 themed party supplies.
Bread. This photo isn’t the best representation of what they have most of the time,cut most stores have a variety of fresh breads from companies like Sarah Lee, Orowheat/Arnold’s, and bread in the freezer case too from brands like Ecce Pannis and Texas Toast. Don’t forget to look for bagels and buns too!
Ethnic spices. Making a batch of menudo? Trying your hand at curry? Need Jugo? Don’t forget to check your local 99 cents only for ethnic spices before you start cooking! I get a large bag of bay leaves twice a year and split it with a friend. Perfect for soups and stews!
There is a lot of stuff that may be a good deal, depending on what your rock bottom price for specific items is. To determine if something is a good deal for my family, I keep a price book with the prices of the top 20 items I buy most often at the 5 stores I shop at most in my area. You can learn more about price books here.
Yummy fresh strawberries- right off the truck!
Recently I spied .79/can Starkist Tuna can, 10 lbs of potatoes for .99, 1 lb packages of fresh Dole Strawberries for just .99, and name brand ketchup, mustard, and BBQ sauce for just .69/each.
If you are hesitant to buy produce at a discount store because you are concerned about freshness, call your local store and ask them what day their produce truck comes. Most of our local stores receive their produce truck on Thursday mornings, so I am ready to shop for fresh fruits and veggies as soon as I drop the Kiddo off at school.
For my family, 99 Cents Only is the starting point for my shopping each week. I start by filling my cart with tons of fresh fruit and veggies, checking the freezer case for any deals, and picking up any needed canned goods that are not on sale elsewhere. By starting my shopping at 99 Cents Only, I am able to keep our food budget at $50/week! When there are really good deals (like the case of Larabars for only 99 Cents!) I tend to spend a few extra bucks and stock up, since quantities are limited and 99 Cents Only doesn’t offer rain checks.
What’s your favorite thing to purchase at 99 Cents Only?
One of the ways I am able to keep us so well dressed (or in kiddos case, just dressed- that kid grows like a weed!), is I am always on the hunt for a good deal on clothes.
Here are a few ways we save:
I am always looking for coupons for department stores. JCPenney’s and Kohl’s are notorious for having dollar off (for example $5 of $25+ purchases) or percent off coupons. These coupon are either paper coupons mailed to you, or available to print on their website. In the case of JCPenney’s, these coupon codes can be used online too! Both Kohl’s and JCPenney’s give you the option of ordering online and having items shipped to the store closest to you for either free or a reduced shipping.
I order most of our clothes online, for a few reasons:
Better selection than most stores, in terms of sizes and clearance goodies.
I can search for extra discounts and coupon codes while I’m online.
I can shop whenever (yes, even at 2am!).
I can go through a shopping aggregator for extra savings.
Which brings me to my next tip: Use a Cashback/Points site. Two of my favorites are Topcashback or Mypoints. You will earn cash back in the form of a paypal payment, an Amazon.com gift card, or points that can redeemed for gift cards. You can use these sites along with a coupon code to save even more!
Most of these sites work with thousands of stores, so you’ll find a store that you like to shop!
If you have a rewards credit card, use that too. I do not ever use ATM/Debit Card online. While our bank account is FDIC insured, there is a long process involved in getting your money back in cases of fraud, whereas with our American Express, I make a few calls, and fill a form out online, and it’s done. PLUS- I earn extra cash back when I shop online at certain retailers or types of retailers.
Use Gift Cards (or Paypal)! If you have a pre-paid gift card from a rebate or gift, or if you have a Paypal Balance (I usually have a few bucks in my paypal account from doing surveys online), use it! Most online retailers accept Paypal.
Here is one of my last JCP.com purchases, using some of the tips above:
Kiddo needed new shorts. He keeps growing, so it was time for new shorts!
3 pairs of shorts $5.49/each
Polo Shirt $8.99
Subtotal: $25.46
Sales Tax .80
S&H: $3.95
_____________________________
Discounts:
-$10/$25 purchase coupon code (was available on the JCP website)
-$10 Gift Card (from the JCP rewards program) Total Out Of Pocket $10.21 (I used my Paypal Balance to pay this)
I shopped through Topcashback to earn an extra 3% cash back (approx. .15. Every penny helps!)
Now hopefully the kid will stay the same size long enough for him to wear these new clothes out!
**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links.
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**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links. 
Once I’m home from the store, I set up my cheese packaging station. All you need is a stack of ziploc bags, a glass, a salad plate, and a measuring cup. (stack of bags not shown in this photo)
Here is one of my last JCP.com purchases, using some of the tips above:
Hewes Family Fun 