Shop for Groceries to Save on Gas

If you shop at Giant, there is a way you can save on gas without trying too hard. Just shop. That’s it. Seriously. It wasn’t too long ago that ridiculously fluctuating gas prices sent many of us online to find competitive gas prices. A membership to BJ’s boasts a pretty competitive price for gas too. But this little deal can rival discount gas prices, and you can use it at any Shell station in the Maryland Giant shopping area.

Here’s how it works: For every $100 spent at Giant, you can save ten cents per gallon of gas at any Shell station. If you spend $300 in a month, that results in saving thirty cents per gallon! That’s as good as what I can get at BJ’s! The points do expire and last only 30 days, but you can track your points on the Giant Food website after registering your Giant Card.

Getting to the savings may not be initially obvious. To use the discount at the Shell station, look for the “Use Giant Card” prompt BEFORE you pay for the gas. You will have a chance to scan your Giant Card or enter your phone number. After this, you can then pay for your gas using your credit or debit card. If you swipe your card for payment first, you will not have a chance to apply the Giant discount. (Yes, I’ve actually cancelled a gas transaction or two if I’ve forgotten the Giant Card prompt). If there are Giant savings, the pump will show the gas savings after you have prepaid for the gas.

To maximize your savings, use Coupon Mom to find coupons get the best deals at Giant. Giant will also have coupons in their circulars for gas friendly items and even more gas savings. In one shopping trip, I only spent $50 dollars, but managed to get 300 gas points because of the coupon in the circular that week.

I have even checked my savings totals on Giant website using my smartphone to see if it would be worth the trip to BJ’s instead. On weeks when I have a lot of savings, I fill up the tank. For weeks when my savings points are low, I pump less gas. Now you can save money at the grocery store and getting there too.

Maribel Ibrahim always has her eyes open for easy savings. Subscribe to this feed or follow her on Twitter @TheFrugalWriter to find great deals around town.

Frugal Food: English Muffin Pizza and Protein Packed Tuna Melts

You may have read my previous post about doing battle with your kid’s school lunchbox. Here are two great recipes that make great, healthy, filling snacks when your crew comes home hungry:

English Muffin Pizza

Ingredients:
1 Whole Wheat English Muffin, split in half (two pizzas)
1½ T Marinara sauce
½ mozzarella stick

Directions:
Spread the marinara sauce on each muffin half. Grate the mozzarella stick over the pizzas. Note, you can double the recipe (2 English muffins to make 4 pizzas) in order to use the whole stick. (You could grate any mozzarella, but I always have mozzarella sticks on hand to pack in lunches…) Now, place it in your toaster oven or convection oven or broiler and heat through until the cheese is melted.

I started doing this with bagels, but when I realized that I could buy English muffins for cheaper and that the muffins had less calories, I made the switch. My son devours these! DO NOT microwave these. It is faster, but the bread will get rubbery.


Protein Packed Tuna Melts (4 sandwiches)

1 can Tuna packed in water, drained
1 can Sardines, drained
1 T Ranch Dressing (or Mayo)
1 t Season All Spice (or our family favorite, Adobo, a traditional Spanish spice)
8 slices Whole Grain Bread
4 Cheddar Cheese slices (the real stuff, not the processed cheese food)

Combine the first four ingredients together in a bowl and mix well. Be sure to break up the sardines to disguise them! Spread the mix on a slice of bread and top with cheese slice. Top with another slice of bread and place in your sandwich maker or Panini grill. I actually use my George Foreman grill. If you don’t have any of these, you can go old school and just grill it in a pan spritzed with cooking spray. Use a plate to press the sandwich and repeat after flipping the sandwich with a spatula.
Many thanks to Missy Chase Lapine, The Sneaky Chef, for the idea of adding the sardines. Mixed in with the tuna, it is a great way to boost protein intake and Omega 3 fatty acids and it only subtly affects the taste.

If you are watching calories, you can use less filling or half a slice of cheese for each sandwich.

I enjoy eating these quick meals just as much as my kids do after a long day at school!

This post originally appeared in Maribel's Frugal Families blog for Chesapeake Family in October 2010.

Use Your Neck to Try on Pants

The weather is still great for taking advantage of yard sales and gearing up for the fall. What’s a mom to do when she wants to outfit her brood without the luxury of a fitting room? A tried and true method of checking whether a pair of pants will fit you is to zip and button the front and wrap the waist around your neck.

While you may look silly pretending the pants have turned into a cape, this method really works. If you can get the sides of the pants to meet comfortably, the pants fit! If the sides don’t meet, the pants will be too tight. 

How does this work? It might not be scientifically precise, but the size of your neck does tend be approximately half the size of your waist. Additionally, as a person gains or loses weight, the proportion remains consistent. A body builder or a really thin person might not fit these sizing parameters, but for the rest of us, this is a great way to ensure that a good deal on pants is really a good deal.

My sister has known of this method for years and has advised her yard sailing buddies about it. In fact, some of the sellers in the New Jersey flea market she shops at are now dishing out this advice - because it really does work.

This article first appeared as one of Maribel's blog posts on Chesapeake Family in September 2010

Saving Money with School Lunches and Snacks

Lunchbox battles start early on in the school years, but here are some tricks of the trade that keep my first grader happy and decently fed without too much hassle.

Many school cafeterias offer healthy options, but that’s not really helpful if he can still choose to have hot dogs with those chips for lunch. I’ve decided that it is worth the effort to pack the boy’s lunch, save a few bucks and make some attempt at giving him healthy choices.

Here are my lunch packing rules of the road. Based on your child’s preferences, some of these may not work for you. The key is to find what does work and use that to leverage healthier eating options at a fraction of the cost.

1. Don’t pack the fruit! Let’s face it. It’s too easy for kids to just dump unwanted food in the garbage can and trust me, they are doing it. So, since I know my guy won’t eat the fruit while he’s at school, I don’t even bother to put it in there. Instead, I pack raisins, dried fruit, granola bars, dried cranberries or yogurt covered raisins. Yes, there is a high amount of sugar, but the kid is also getting the fiber and carbs from the fruit also. Apple & Eve Fruitables are the juice box of choice in our house because I can buy them in bulk at BJ’s, they have no high fructose corn syrup and contain 2 servings of VEGGIES, that’s right, veggies such as carrots ingeniously disguised with berries, banana, orange or other fruit.

2. Pack snacks you know they like, even if it’s not a meal. Great options here are cheese sticks, dried cereal, pudding (calcium!), portable yogurt and a favorite sandwich. Some kids hate bread, so flatbread is a great way to make many interesting sandwiches with whatever filler they prefer. Pack crackers and lunch meat and they can assemble their own sandwiches. Again, the name of the game is to get them to eat the food you actually pack. The next tip will allay your fears that your child is not properly fed.

3. Flip the script. My son has a nice hot snack as soon as he gets off the bus. Some great ideas are tuna melts, grilled egg salad sandwiches, leftover spaghetti, and homemade bagels pizzas. The key here is that I can see that he is actually eating the food. Also, since I packed snacks that are not too hateful and that I know he loves, I’m sure he’s eaten those also. Here is where the leverage comes in – he’s already had all his “goodies” for the day, so now you can clamp down and serve hearty food at home. Again, when the boy says he’s hungry, I offer the fruit, whole wheat, protein and the other “good stuff” that was missing in his lunchbox. Wham…. Got him!

4. Dipping sauces are magic! Peanut butter, ketchup or ranch dressing, hummus are condiments that can encourage a picky eater. I will slice an apple and arrange it on a plate with peanut butter in the center. This does not pack well for lunch, but is great for an at home snack. Chicken and veggies may also be tastier with a bit of dressing. Again, for our crew, these things don’t pack well, so I make sure to serve them at home after the portable snacks have been polished off.

5. Prepackage it yourself. Those 100 calorie snacks are convenient, but they are nothing but a portion controlled size of the regular thing. Save a few bucks by buying snacks and prepacking them yourself in snack bags. Doing a week’s worth of bags afterschool one day makes lunch packing a snap. Also, you have a wider variety of snacks to choose from this way.

This article originally appeared as one of Maribel's Frugal Families blog posts on Chesapeake Family.

Make Your Own Microwave Popcorn

I love a good deal and it’s even better when it involves healthier eating and improving the environment. But when my hubby suggested popping popcorn in a regular paper lunch bag, I was skeptical. He’d read a tip online and decided to give it a try.

Armed with regular popping corn and paper bags, we did our first test run. The first time, he used 2 tablespoons of corn. Expecting the bag to be bigger, we kept letting it pop until we realized it went too long. Although the popcorn was approaching the “cooked too long” phase, there were not too many kernels left unpopped. For Round 2, we used half a cup of popping corn and it came out great. In our excitement, we just watched the microwave and added minutes as needed until the popping slowed down. We forgot to keep track, but it was probably 4 minutes and change.

Hubby salted the popcorn in a bowl to taste and we ate it without butter. It was pretty good. Unlike the prepackaged microwave popcorn, there are no extra ingredients. Even the light popcorn contains partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Not only is it healthier than the prepackaged popcorn, it’s a lot cheaper after the initial $3 investment of paper bags and popping corn. Additionally, all the packaging is biodegradable. There you have it, a triple win – cheaper, healthier and greener!

For safety, you may want to add butter to the bag or spray with cooking spray before microwaving, since overheated paper could otherwise catch on fire.

Now, you can enjoy healthy snacking convenience and save a buck and the planet too!

Feel free to try out this tip and post your comments here. If you have any other cheap and healthy snacking ideas, please share!

This article first appeared as a post in Maribel's Frugal Families Blog at Chesapeake Family in September 2010.

Fashionably Frugal - An Introduction

Six years ago, my work friends thought I was insane when I told them I took out forty dollars every week. I took the train to work in Virginia and that weekly allowance was earmarked for train fare and lunch money. While I did get out for an occasional lunch out, most of my savings resulted from packing lunches and saving a little bit each week to purchase the monthly commuter passes I needed. (It didn’t hurt that I received a Metro credit as a work benefit).

I was always of the frugal persuasion. I remember saving for my first Walkman in high school. That big, clunky, gold (yes, it was gold colored, yikes) cassette player set me back fifty bucks. But I dutifully paid the store each week until I could take my baby home.
Being frugal was never glamorous. But I did what my mom always taught me: Always save a little bit and don’t spend more than you have. Wiser financial advice could not have been spoken. I’ve been ridiculed for being miserly and have pinched pennies to stay home with my children. Now, the world could not have prepared enough for the financial devastation experienced by our housing and banking industry.

Lots of folks are feeling the pinch and I’ve gone from cheap to chic. In order to save money, my husband agreed to one packed lunch a week and a reduction in his weekly allowance in order to get more satellite TV channels. Now, instead of getting surprised looks at the mall when I pull out lunch for the kids, others are wishing they did the same thing. Hubby now regularly checks out craigslist and brags about the reduced priced sales he gets at Macys. One friend actually spoke about getting rid of her cleaning lady and doing her lawn herself in order to save money. (I’ve always been my own cleaning lady! Thankfully, hubby does the lawn!) I have no shame in admitting that quite a few of my kids’ clothes have come from consignment shops and clothing giveaways held at neighborhood churches. My daughter has inherited her brothers clothing, as long as it involves solid colors and no construction tools or trucks.

This recession has been an equalizer of sorts. People are no longer afraid to admit they are having a tough time making ends meet. I have trimmed expenses and led a threadbare existence as a normal way of life. Now, I can be fashionable with my commonsense ways of spending (or not spending) money. Living within your means is going to become a matter of necessity since it will be harder to qualify for credit. With that, I leave you with 4 fashionably frugal tips:

1. Set up a weekly allowance for yourself and stick to it. If it’s good enough for the kids, it’s good enough for you.
2. If you must buy something, buy used: eBay, Amazon, craigslist. Never, ever pay retail!
3. Freecycle.org is a great way to inherit treasure for free!
4. Cook once, eat twice! Leftovers or lunches, this saves time and money.

Frugally Yours,
Maribel

This post was originally published as the Frugal Families blog on Chesapeake Family in September 2010.

My Top 4 Christmas Cookie Recipes

Those of you who know me know that I can cook as long as the recipe doesn't involve too many steps or ingredients.  The following are my Frugal Writer tested recipes that are pleasing to the pocketbook, easy to make and yummy too.  If you are counting calories, well, uh, just eat less.

My oldest elf dusting the Easy Chocolate Truffles

The Fab Four criteria for making this list:

• 5 non-exotic ingredients or less
• easy to do in 5 steps or less
• awesome tasting
• can be done with or around kids

So here goes....  

1. Fake Thin Mints
2. Easy Chocolate Truffles (thank you Kraft!)
3. Saltine Cracker Brittle
4. Reindeer Chow - aka Chow Mein Cookies

Even with only two more days 'til Christmas, you can whip up a batch of these cookies and look like a champ in the kitchen.

For fun, let's have a virtual cookie exchange!  Post a recipe here or or add your link to a recipe that adheres to the Fab Four criteria.

Merry Christmas and Happy Baking!

Freebie Friday: Sunglass Hut Gift Cards

Gang,
Here is your chance to earn something for free!  And it's pretty easy to do!

I have two Sunglass Hut gift cards to give away.

First Prize: $50 off your purchase over $200.

Second Prize: $20 off your purchase.

To win one of these cards, do the following:

1. Follow The Frugal Writer on Facebook
2. Follow @thefrugalwriter on Twitter

Leave a comment here indicating that you have completed #1 and #2 with your email address.  Two lucky followers will win one of these gift cards!  The contest ends on midnight on 12/23/10. 

Best wishes!

Fake Thin Mints

This is the easiest Christmas cookie recipe that I know of.  Many thanks to my sister for sharing it with me.  One Christmas a few years ago, she had me close my eyes and open my mouth.  When I bit into this delightful confection, I thought she had placed an order with the Girl Scouts.  When she told me that she made these herself, I started to drool.  The recipe is so easy, it's a crime.  I'm pleased to share it here with you. 

This cookie has since become a staple in our house for spreading Christmas cheer at cookie swaps, gift giving and just noshing right out of the freezer.  If I can make these while carrying a baby and having two young assistants help me out, anyone can make them.

Ingredients:
2-3 sleeves of Ritz Crackers (or the off-brand of butter crackers)
1 bag of Andes Candy Mints (or the Baking Chips)

Directions:

1. If using the individually wrapped candies, unwrap and roughly chop them.
2. Using a double boiler (or a metal bowl over a saucepan with simmering water), melt the chocolate slowly, stirring occasionally.
3. Once the chocolate has melted, dip the cracker and shake off excess chocolate.
4. Place chocolate covered crackers on a baking sheet covered with wax paper to cool.
5. For faster cooling, place baking sheet in the refrigerator to set chocolate.

This will make about 6 dozen cookies.

These knock offs don't look exactly like Thin Mints, but they taste pretty close and are a cinch to make!  Store a bunch in the freezer and you have a delectable treat ready in a pinch.

This year is the first year I tried the cookies using the Andes Candies and they worked great.  Previously, I used the Wilton mint chocolate melting wafers.  While you can use a Michael's coupon and get a bag at a discount during the holidays, the Andes candies are more readily available and less expensive.  ALDI has a great knock-off of Ritz crackers and carries the Andes baking chips on seasonal clearance during Christmas.

Quick and Easy Snacks: Muddy Buddies

I may not be original, but I sure know how to find and use great ideas that are already out there.  If you are struggling with a neat snack idea for a potluck, the kids or a quick playdate, look no further.
 
Chex® Muddy Buddies® from Chex.com - Home of General Mills' Chex Cereals and the Original Chex Party Mix

9	cups Rice Chex®, Corn Chex® or Chocolate Chex® cereal (or combination)
1	cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2	cup peanut butter
1/4	cup butter or margarine
1	teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2	cups powdered sugar

1. Measure out cereal and put in a large bowl with lid or plastic bag
2. Melt chips, peanut butter and butter in microwave safe bowl for a minute or two.
3. Stir it smooth and add the vanilla.
4. Pour mixture in the large bowl with the cereal and shake it up until covered.
5. Add powdered sugar and shake well again.  Spread on waxed paper to cool and store in an airtight container.


OK, the recipe does have 6 ingredients, one more than my requisite 5, but it's so easy to make this and the kids can help and have fun with it.  Also, I get my rice/corn square cereal from ALDI, saving a tidy bundle in the process with no coupons.

If there are peanut allergy issues, use butterscotch chips instead.

Amazing Giveaway at Today's Mama Blog

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme

TodaysMama and GameStop are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

1. What is your holiday wish for your family?
That everyone would come to know Jesus, who came as a baby at Christmas to connect us with God.

2. What is your Christmas morning / Hanukkah Nightly tradition?
Checking with the kids to see if Santa ate his cookies and helping them open their presents.

3. If you could ask Santa for one, completely decadent wish for yourself, what would it be?
A week's stay at a spa or a cruise with something for everyone in my family.

4. How do you make the holidays special without spending any money?
We spend time together as a family and tell stories of Christmases past and growing up.  I've also participated in a cookie swap as an adult and plan to continue spreading cheer with cookies.

5. What games did you play with your family growing up?
I don't remember games, so much as going caroling Puerto Rican style, called Parandas.  It was sort of like a progressive dinner, with carolers gathering steam and picking up new carolers as we stopped at their houses.  The last house would have plenty of food, drink, games and music.  It was usually an all night affair and I remember getting home at 6am.

6. What holiday tradition have you carried on from your own childhood?
We play Christmas music and enjoy hot cocoa while watching Christmas specials, like The Year Without a Santa Claus.

7. Where would you go for a Christmas/Hanukkah-away-from-home trip?
I'd love to go to Puerto Rico so I could see both my mother and mother-in-law.  Another choice would be Australia.

8. Check out GameStop and tell us, what are the three top items on your GameStop Wish List this year?
I'd get Rock Band so we could all jam out as a family, Zumba so I can still work out and dance off the extra holiday calories and uDraw, so my younger kids can enjoy the Wii as much as Papi and the eldest do!



I hope I win this giveaway, but even if I don't, I hope you get the greatest gift of all, Jesus Christ coming into your heart and changing your life.  It's free for the taking.

Dollar Days at Maryland Science Center

Our Brachiosaurus Buddy  (c) M. Ibrahim

At the risk of dealing with mobs of people, we decided to plow ahead and attempt Dollar Days at the Baltimore Inner Harbor.  For one weekend in December, Baltimore reduces the admission to many of it's museums and attractions to a dollar.  (Thanks to @worldtravelmom on Twitter for the reminder!)

Of course, The Frugal Writer has taken advantage of this deal before.  At the Aquarium one year, it was frenzied madness.  Port Discovery was also jam packed one year, and I had to get my heart out of my throat many times as I attempted to keep track of two preschoolers in the ensuing multilevel chaos.  No thanks....

This year, I decided to plot my course for the Maryland Science Center.  The third, red headed stepchild of the museum trio attracted me because:

1. There was no ticket sale limit, so I could go after church and not risk being denied admission.
2. Population levels would be less than the "more popular" aquarium and discovery siblings.  (My theory anyway).
3. The exhibit spaces are wider and you can take a more leisurely pace.
4. There is off-street parking nearby.

I was greatly rewarded for my efforts.  We all had a blast and there was something for everyone.  We didn't have to deal with the sold out crowds at the aquarium or losing body parts in Port Discovery.  The Kid's Room at the Science Center has an awesome water table and just enough manipulatives that rival Port Discovery without the mob scene or multilevel heart attack waiting to happen.  The pace was our own since you could spend as much or as little time in an exhibit area without being "herded" to the next spot.

The Water Table at MD Science Center

I was able to manuever a stroller comfortably, but was also able to ditch it in convenient parking spots, along with our cumbersome jackets, if need be.  Food was a non-issue as well and we were able to enjoy our own brown bag goodies in the cafe downstairs.  I did splurge on parking, since the streets were jam packed and it was cold.  I was appreciative of that big ticket expense later on when we ended up staying for three and a half hours.  I didn't have to worry about my car and the walk in blustery winds with three in tow was a snap.

In hindsight, I would have planned the trip a little better.  We spent so much time in Newton's Alley and the Dinosaur exhibit that we missed the Planetarium show and only had 20 minutes in the Kid's Room.  The kids didn't mind and there was plenty to see and do.  The pace was nice and unhurried, which was great since I could stop and nurse while the other two explored.  Crowd control was a non-issue, so my theory on population levels was correct even though there was actually a birthday party in session.

My budding scientists!

Of course, the kids want to come again.  And we will, on the next Dollar Days.  If this place gets too crowded, we may steal away to the Museum of Visionary Arts instead, which may prove to be another under-appreciated jewel in Baltimore.

5 Reasons Frugal Mamas Should get a Smartphone This Christmas

Think a smartphone is an unneeded luxury? The Frugal Writer thought so as well, until she received one as a birthday gift. (My previous flip phone was falling apart, too). Although I fought the urge to get a smartphone and pay the extra data plan charge, I have become a convert. Here are 5 ways that mom can save time and money juggling life with a smartphone. (Let’s face it, dad probably already has one, but these tips can apply to him as well.)

• Instant camera and video: This alone was the main reason I opted for the smartphone when replacing my phone. Mom no longer has to lament, “I wish I brought the camera..” or miss another Kodak moment. Even if you are terrible at taking pictures (like me!), the high resolution cameras available on phones these days makes almost any picture a good one. Those priceless memories are worth a few extra bucks for a data plan, especially if you have fast growing preschoolers.

• Using Online Coupons – Moms can use smartphones to generate serious savings for shopping and entertainment. My favorite internet coupon manager is Coupon Mom. You could use your laptop for these coupons, but nothing beats saving on the fly while you are at the store! Restaurants also provide coupons and you can search online with your phone to find deals while you are out. Ruby Tuesday has their “So Connected” program. Sign up with them and you’ll get legitimate coupons and discounts in your inbox. Think I’m kidding? Now, I never pay for a second entrée at Ruby Tuesdays because they gladly honor the coupons displayed on my smartphone. Which leads to #3….

• Manage your calendar, emails and address book right on your phone. Once you sync the phone to your computer, you can have access to your personal contact information and email with minimal effort. I sync my iPhone with Outlook, so I can manage my calendar and address book with either the phone or my computer and just sync the devices together. You can also sync email the same way, or access your internet based email (Google, Hotmail, etc) via the internet browser. Now, Mom can remember and confirm appointments, practice schedules and school closings with no problem. She also doesn’t have to carry around a bulky planner, calendar or address book. Let’s face it, even if you’re doing business in slippers and pajamas, you’ll impress folks with your organizational prowess.

• Fast and easy “scrapbooking” with zero guilt. The Cozi online calendar is accessible on the internet, using your phone’s mobile browser or app. Also, the calendar is private but can be accessed by family members and color coded by person so everyone can keep up with what’s going on. No time for scrapbooking? Cozi’s journaling feature is hard to beat. You can share milestones, photos, family memories and other news with a few taps on your smartphone. No more expensive scrapbooking supplies needed!
  

• Manage To Do’s like a pro with Intuition. This free iPhone app was designed by busy moms to help you customize and keep track of lists. While there is a bit of overlap with Cozi, the “nearby” feature in Intuition reminds Mom of things to do based on her location. That saves car trips and time. Pretty nifty…

My readers know I love a bargain, which is why I’m including a bonus reason (or #5 if you don't get an iPhone...):

• Streaming music with Pandora! Now you can stream all kinds of music based on your tastes with your smartphone. Plug in an AUX jack from your phone to your car speakers and you no longer need a satellite radio subscription or to remember your kid’s selection of favorite CDs. Pandora is available for free for most smartphones and streams music based on a favorite artist or song. The best thing is that you can be a hero for having such a great selection of children’s music and yet blame Pandora for not allowing you to repeat a song! Hee, hee…

Of course, there are a ton of things you can do with a smartphone, but these are my top uses. If you have other reasons why mom (or dad!) should have a smartphone this Christmas, please comment below!