Leftovers

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I know some people have this thing against leftovers but it doesn’t bother me in the least. I get a kick out of seeing how far we can stretch one meal. And since there’s only two of us, most dishes I make feed us for two dinners, if not more. One of my favorite recipes, Mexican Cornbread Casserole, will feed us for three days (dinner only) and costs about $12 total, which is only $2 per person, per meal. It does get a little more expensive when you factor in fresh avocados, which we like to add on top of the casserole (after it’s been cooked or reheated), but that’s usually only an additional $1.50-$3.00 total depending on whether they are on sale. And it’s so good that we don’t get sick of eating it. The same goes for the Baked Cream Cheese Spaghetti I like to make. That tends to feed us for four dinners, so it comes out to about $1.50 per person, per meal (and that’s over-estimating beef at $5 per pound and using two jars of spaghetti sauce (it’s too dry with just one jar in my opinion)).

I will usually make these multi-meal dishes on a Monday so we can eat them for dinner Monday through Wednesday or Thursday since we’re a little more relaxed regarding eating out on the weekends. Unlike some people who feel one should never eat out (and I get where they are coming from since it’s almost always more expensive to eat out than make the same dish at home), I see nothing wrong with it as long as it’s not excessive and you’re not sacrificing saving for your future just so you can eat out all the time. For me, going out to eat is an adventure. I like trying out new places and just relaxing with with my husband in a new environment. After a week of working and eating at home, it’s nice to get out on the weekends and do something different.

If you’re going out to eat on a daily basis, though, that’s just foolish. Not only is it wasting money, it’s not healthy. Portion sizes are always bigger and you can’t control the fat or salt content of your dishes. Plus home-cooked meals can often be even yummier than restaurant food. Sure, there are some things I prefer not to make myself (like steak tacos and Thai food), but pasta? Why pay for that at a restaurant when I can make tastier and way cheaper spaghetti at home? It’s a no-brainer if you ask me.

What are your favorite dishes that yield leftovers?

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Inexpensive Holiday Lights Fun in the Chicago Burbs

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If you don’t have a ton of money to spend, or you just don’t care to spend too much money this holiday season, but you still want to have a little fun with your family and friends, I’ve got a few low-cost suggestions on ways to enjoy the holiday lights this year:

Cosley Zoo is a small zoo in Wheaton that waives its admission prices for the month of December so you can check out their Festival of Lights. Here’s a sampling of some of the lights when we visited in 2011.

Aurora offers the Festival of Lights which is a free drive-thru attraction.

In addition, if you do a little Googling you will often find lists of homes in your area known for going all out for Christmas. Put together an itinerary and take the kids on a drive to check out the lights. We like to make some hot cocoa ahead of time to sip on while we make our rounds.

Candy Cane Trail (Carol Stream) – This home goes all out every year at both Halloween (when it’s called Canyon Trail Cemetery) and Christmas, including music synced up with their decorations. It’s a must see!

Holiday Lights at Lilacia Park (Lombard) – This park boasts tons of lilacs and tulips in the spring but in winter it’s lit up to celebrate the season.

Illinois Tacky Light Tour – This is a new find for me, but it looks promising.

Feel free to share your tips in the comments for places to see holiday lights.

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Bonus Deals on Gift Card Purchases

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It’s that time of the year again where companies offer bonuses for buying gift cards; you might want to consider grabbing some for yourself if your budget allows it as you’ll save money in the long run if you stick to the places you visit frequently throughout the year anyway.

Here’s just a few examples I’ve come across:

Classic Cinemas – Free movie ticket when you purchase a $50 gift card (this is available to Classic Reward members, so sign up now and you might get an email as you need to bring that in to get the deal).

Half Price Books – $5 bonus when you buy a $25 gift card.

Jamba Juice – Free small smoothie or 12 oz juice when you purchase a gift card for $25 or more.

Lou Malnatis – Free $10 certificate when you purchase a $50 gift card or a free $25 certificate when you purchase a $100 gift card.

Red Robin – $5 Bonus Buck reward when you purchase a $25-$45 gift card

SmashBurger – $5 Smashbucks when you purchase a $25 gift card

We personally take advantage of the movie theatre and pizza deals to get a little extra bang for our buck as we know we’re going to spend the money anyway. Might as well get something extra out of it!

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Easy Mashed Potatoes

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This may come as no surprise to anyone else, but I recently learned that the fastest and most cost-effective way to make mashed potatoes is to buy whole potatoes in the can. I store them in the pantry and can whip up a batch of mashed potatoes with no pre-planning. I love that!

All you have to do is heat up the pre-cooked potatoes, drain them, and add butter, milk, and/or sour cream and mash those babies up. Look, the recipe is even on the back of the can!

Canned Whole Potatoes

Sure, it’s cheaper if you buy a bag of potatoes, peel them, and boil them, but who has time for that these days? Even if I use two cans of whole potatoes (which serves at least 4 people) I’m still saving at least a dollar, if not more, versus buying the frozen Steam and Mash potatoes from Ore-Ida. Plus I’m not taking up valuable space in the freezer. I can’t believe I didn’t think of this sooner!

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Subscriptions

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Recently I saw a deal for a reduced annual subscription to one of my favorite magazines, ShopSmart, which is issued by Consumer Reports. I always find some great tips in that magazine and truly enjoy reading it. I was tempted to purchase the subscription when I stopped myself. I can read this magazine for free at the library; I don’t need to spend $15 on a subscription for a magazine that takes me less than an hour to read and would quickly find its way to my recycle bin.

I think this is how people get themselves in trouble financially as little purchases over time do add up. Particularly subscriptions which tend to stick around far past their usefulness because it’s so easy to allow the company to keep deducting that amount from your account. This is why as tempting as it is I’ve been able to stop myself from buying a premium subscription to the streaming music services I like to listen to at work. Sure, the semi-frequent commercial interruptions can get a little annoying, but is it really so bad I need to add an unnecessary expense to my budget? I don’t think so.

What subscriptions do you have, and more importantly, are they still adding value to your life or would you be fine without them? It’s worth re-evaluating them to see if you can free up a little money in your budget if you’d like to save more.

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Couponing & Saving Money For Busy People

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Checkout51

Do you put aside a little time here and there to clip coupons or look for deals online before making a purchase? I try to do it, but I know that for many people working full-time and raising a family it can be tough to find the time. There never seem to be enough hours in the day! This is why I like certain smartphone apps that I don’t have to spend more than five minutes using to be rewarded.

Checkout51
This app awards you money in exchange for showing proof via scanning your receipt that you purchased items they are offering cash back on. I don’t ever look at the app until I’ve returned from a shopping trip, then I pull it up to see if I happened to buy anything they are featuring. If so, I scan my receipt, check off the offers that are included and I’m done. I’ve already built up $4 of credit in just over a month. The only drawback is you need to have amassed $20 before they will transfer the money to your PayPal account.

Groupon
Did you know the smartphone app has coupons that can be used when you’re out shopping? It’s under the Coupons heading and you can pull up the coupon on your phone while in the store and have them scan it. I’ve done this at Michael’s to get a quick 20% off. There are a bunch of stores in there so it pays to pull it up and do a quick search before heading to the checkout.

Shopkick
This app awards you points for checking into stores and scanning products. The points can then be used to get gift cards. I typically get 35 points (and on some special days more) just for pulling up the app when I walk into my SuperTarget (where I shop weekly) and more points if I feel like scanning stuff (which often I don’t). There are other stores in the app like Walmart, Macys, etc. Right now I’ve got enough points to get $10 worth of Target gift cards for spending very little of my time using the app. I will say, though, that it is very particular with certain stores and it’s best to temporarily turn on bluetooth so it can pick up your location. I have to be at a certain point within the store before it realizes I’m there (so there’s no cheating trying to check in as you drive by).

Obviously none of these things are going to make you rich, but these little amounts DO add up over time and why spend more than you have to on everyday items and groceries when you can use those savings on something fun?

Other Ways to Save

If you have more time on your hands, I recommend checking out the following sites as well:

Free Stuff Finder
Not every deal posted here is free, but I follow the new posts via my feed reader to see what’s on sale and if it’s something I need or have been wanting to buy anyway, I consider that a win-win!

Totally Target
If you’re a Target addict like myself, this site is a must visit! I’m always learning about different deals and match-ups that has me getting the stuff I need at a discount, or sometimes even free!

Walmart Savings Catcher
I have to give props to my blogging friend, Kay, over at A Pair of Bartlett’s for making me aware of this one. Basically you enter your Walmart receipt (it has to be less than seven days old) at the site and within 72 hours you will find out whether anything you purchased at Walmart was cheaper elsewhere. If so, they give you back the difference on a gift card. I can’t comment on how beneficial this one is yet since I haven’t heard back from the receipt I entered yesterday, nor do I shop at Walmart a ton, but it definitely has potential especially if you’re buying groceries there.

Feel free to share your favorite apps and sites that help you save money! I’m always looking for more ways to save.

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Work Perks

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Work Perks

If your company is like many others, including mine, they offer a host of benefits aside from the typical medical, dental, and vision. I didn’t realize how many of them we have taken advantage of over the years until I was perusing the list.

Does your place of employment offer anything good? Have you checked? It’s a great way to save some $$$.

For example, here are the ones we’ve taken advantage of, which in some cases have literally saved us thousands of dollars.

Biometric Screening – Each year by taking a survey, as well as a blood test, we receive a credit of $150 for Nicole and another $150 for myself. They reduced this recently and it’s now down to $100 each but it couldn’t be easier and doesn’t take much time at all.

Mortgage Closing Costs – This was a big one; our closing costs when we refinanced were just a few hundred dollars.

New Vehicle Purchase Program Discount – We used this to purchase our last vehicle and saved about $2,500 off the sticker price.

Bike Helmets – My wellness program reimbursed us for new bike helmets we purchased. Bam! Another $50 saved.

Wireless Services – We get a 15% discount each month on our AT&T bill thanks to this one. We’ve had this one going for years.

It all adds up!

There are a host of others we haven’t taken advantage of too, including electronic purchases, theme park discounts, travel discounts, and financial services. With my wellness program we’d also be reimbursed a portion of our yearly health club fees. That would be handy if we used a health club, but many people do, so it’s worth checking into!

It pays to take a look to see what offerings are available, so why not take advantage?

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Souvenirs

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We recently took a day trip to an amusement park in Indiana where my brother decided he wanted to purchase a souvenir. As we browsed the gift shop, I couldn’t help but notice how tacky everything seemed and I wondered whether the souvenirs in this particular shop, which I’ve visited nearly annually since I was a small child, had always contained the same cheap junk and I only recently began to see it for what it truly was, or if they just didn’t care anymore.

When I got home I was still thinking about souvenirs in general. I think it’s pretty normal for people to want a memento from a place they’ve visited, but ever since I’ve gotten into digital photography (you can visit my photo site here if you’re so inclined), I feel like my photos are my souvenirs for the most part. My husband and I did start a tradition of collecting magnets from places we’ve visited. They cover our refrigerator and are a daily reminder of all the places we’ve been together. I like this because a) they’re inexpensive and b) they take up no additional space. In fact, the only other times I can even think that we’ve purchased souvenirs other than a magnet was when we got married in Florida and purchased two Mickey Mouse souvenirs and when we went to New York we purchased a commemorative coin at the Statue of Liberty for Joe’s son.

My point is, you don’t have to break the bank collecting souvenirs that will likely just clutter up your home.

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