managing money

Best thrift stores in the Twin Cities

April 27, 2011

I’ve long been loyal to Neighbors’ thrift store but I visited Valu Thrift Center in St. Paul’s Sun Ray shopping center today on my friend Kate’s recommendation. I thought I died and went to thrift heaven. I was almost to overwhelmed to start shopping. Almost. First of all, this place is huge. Second, they have an extensive selection of pretty much everything. Third, and most important, everything is really really really well organized and displayed with sizes and prices clearly marked. I went in looking for a rain jacket for Grace and shoes for Connor. I only liked one...

Organic vs. conventional produce: Cost of the dirty dozen

August 10, 2010

The past several months, I’ve been dancing along the line between better-for-your-health and better-for-my-pocketbook food. The following ‘Dirty Dozen’ are the produce found to contain the most pesticides. I’m aiming to buy organic for these items, so how much more does one have to pay to do that? These are the best prices I’ve found for conventional and organic produce in the St. Paul area. Because produce prices vary so much by time of season, this is a list of what produce goes for in early August, whether it’s advertised as regular price, sale or a in-ad coupon. For...

I love my thrift store shoes. And the $80 ones too.

August 6, 2010

I’m going to write about clothes/fashion for the first time ever. I’m not very fashion savvy, despite my love of What Not to Wear. I’ve even been known to ask Mark if an outfit looks OK. This is the man who once wore a red T-shirt, green and gold Packer Zubaz and cowboy boots in public. I’m not lying. I used to have only a few basic pairs of shoes — tennis shoes, sandals, boots, black heels. But in the past year or two, I’ve caught the shoe bug. And now I volunteer weekly at a thrift store so...

My save-a-bundle grocery list for the week

March 21, 2010

Here’s our weekly shopping list, put together with weekly ads a little help from lists at Minnesota Coupon Adventures and Pocket Your Dollars. I didn’t list where my coupons came from, but you can find sources for most of them at those two sites. Tomorrow, I’ll figure out what I can make from these things and what we have on hand and I’ll publish a weekly menu. Maybe we’ll actually eat something off it this week. Update: My meal list is now up on Facebook but I need suggestions for Saturday’s meals. Rainbow (on double coupon day, Wed) Zucchini...

Gifts for kids that don’t mean clutter for parents

December 4, 2009

I was going to wait till next week for the next installment of my gift guide, but this Frugal Friday post about stocking stuffers dovetails nicely with my ideas for a post about kid consumables, because most of them fit in a stocking and aren’t expensive. Though they are certainly gifts that would be good for any young kids, not just for your own and not just for stockings. By consumable gifts, I don’t mean just food; I mean anything that gets used up instead of sitting around taking up space forever. These are things we go through often...

Getting back to meal planning

September 23, 2009

My freezer just exploded. I ended up with chili all over myself and the floor. Why? I buy meat when it’s on sale but never make a plan to cook it. Or a freeze half of a large meal and never make a plan to reheat it. So here’s the plan for the rest of this week: BreakfastsW-SmoothiesTh-Oatmeal with fresh peaches/pears (but what will Grace eat?)F-Blueberry muffins and yogurtS-Pancakes and baconSu-Cereal LunchesW-Fried egg sandwiches with cut-up fruitTh-Mac and cheese with broccoliF-Grilled cheese and tomato soupS-Sweet skillet chicken with peas and cornSu-PB&J and applesauce DinnersW-Chicken Biscuit stewTh-Pork chops with BBQ...

To do: Save even more on groceries

July 9, 2009

One of my new favorite Web sites is momadvice.com, especially the blog The Motherload. If you are into saving money, organizing, doing craft projects or just getting fun ideas for things to do with or without kids, check it out. Amy recently reposted her list of 35 ways to save on groceries on the blog. I had been thinking about trying them all. And now that my income has been halfed and my time doubled (sort of), there’s no better time, right? Here is the list and my thoughts on it. I’ll update you on how I’m doing sometime...

The movie is free, but the popcorn …

June 17, 2009

Mark and I took the kiddos to their first real movie today. Shrek 3 was showing as part of the Regal Cinema’s Free Family Film Festival.Both kids love Shrek 2 and I though a free showingwould be a good time to test Connor’s ability to sit it through awhole movie. The theater (in Eagan) has arm rests that push up out of the way,which was nice for squirmy kids. The four of us used three seats, andthe kids sat together part of the time, rested their heads in our lapspart of the time, etc, without disturbing anyone else. Also,...

“Oh, you are not”

March 12, 2009

That is what a coworker said when she saw me sorting coupons a few weeks ago. (It probably looked like an overwhelming task because I hadn’t been doing much with bargain shopping since before Christmas.) She asked how much I saved and if it was worth the effort. I really couldn’t give her an answer. A couple of friends have since asked how much I save because they are looking for ways to cut costs, like the rest of the U.S. population. Three weeks ago (when the big cereal deal was going on) was a good week for bargains...

to do: stock up on cereal

February 16, 2009

This week I’m stocking up on cereal as part of the drug store game. Here’s my plan: At Walgreens, buy 4 selected Kellogg’s cereals (on sale 4/$10), Get $3 Register Rewards. I’m getting two Rice Krispies and two Frosted Flakes using a $1/2 internet coupon from here and a $1.50/2 coupon from the Sunday ads.Total: $4.50 ($1.125 per box) At Cub, buy 10 selected General Mills products, get $10 off. Cheerios are on sale for $2.50 each. I have two $1.50 coupons from cub and a $1 coupon from the Sunday ads. (I was expecting a $1 coupon from...

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