We always hear, buy in bulk and save! Even though there are exceptions to this rule, dog food is not one of them!

For a while, I had coupons and rebates making the 3.5lb bag a better deal. Then, those ran out and I continued to buy the smaller bag because of the convenience of the smaller bag size.

Now lets do some math, if I buy three 3.5lb bags (at $3.99 each), total is $11.97 for 10.5lbs of dog food.

Or, I could pay $9.99 for 16lbs of dog food! That is like getting 5.5lbs of dog food for FREE. The big bag is the BEST deal by five and a half pounds.

Then, I use an old pitcher for storage and convenience.

Also Read: Money Savings Tip: Ask Your Bank For Coin Wrapper Rolls (couponingtodisney.com)

Sometimes you have to spend money to save money and this is one of those tips.  The math checks out though, so hang out with me a second.

Keep frozen fast food on hand.  Frozen pizza, fish sticks, chicken nuggets, whatever you like- make sure you have it.  When your meal plan goes sideways, or you’re just tired or sick or stressed or whatever it is- go to the freezer, and make your frozen fast food.

It’s still cheaper than letting McDonalds heat up some nuggets, or going to Pizza Hut. Because let’s be honest, when you’re having one of those days that kicks your butt from the time you roll out of bed, you don’t feel like cooking from scratch.  Rather than trying to pretend it will never happen, just go ahead and have some things on hand so that when it does, you still save some dollars!

A quick easy meal is a frozen lasagna, some garlic toast and an easy side salad, if you’re feeling fancy.   Make chicken tenders and fries, or throw a few potatoes in the microwave for baked potatoes.   Shoot, I’ve got no problem with pizza rolls and carrot sticks, I’m not here to judge you.  We’ve all been there.

In my area an entire bag of Ore-Ida fries is $2.44.  A whole bag of Tyson Chicken Strips is $6.68. That will feed my entire family of 3 for 2+ meals for $9.12, and we’re talking name brands and not a coupon in sight.  Meanwhile, a typical McDonald’s order for my family runs $13.56- and that’s without buying drinks (we typically grab our food and head home, AND we split a medium French fry). In all honesty, if I catch the mobile deals right, I can probably shave that down to $11.50ish.   This is for one meal and I promise you that our food at home will taste better- at the very least I can guarantee it will be hot.   Just having the frozen food on hand saves us $2.38 on one single day.  Since the frozen fries and strips will make at least two meals, we’re looking at a total savings of $13.88.

This keeps us saving money until I get back on the cooking train.

Typically, the most frugal thing you can do is eat at home.  Let’s be real though- sometimes we’re tired, or there is a special occasion, or we are away from home at meal time.

I like to keep a note on my phone (though it used to be a spreadsheet on my computer) that keeps track of our favorite restaurants and their specials.  It may be kids eat free, or cheaper meals.  Maybe your favorite place offers a free dessert on a certain day.  Whatever it is, keep track of it!

Recently we went to the next town over for a zoo trip.  They happen to have a great sandwich shop that we don’t have nearby- and because it was Wednesday, one of their super premium normally-$7-sandwich was on sale for $5, making it the cheapest thing on the menu.  Multiple meats, multiple cheeses, it’s a dreamboat of a sandwich.  We packed a bag of chips, brought along some drinks and we all got the same sandwich, making our special meal $15 instead of $21+ drinks+ chips.  That’s no small savings.  My daughter thought its as wonderful to have a car picnic eating fancy sandwiches too!

Prepared with your handy dandy list of where to eat and when, you’ll be able to indulge in your favorites for a little cheaper.

I like to keep track of mine by days, like this:

Monday:
Favorite Restaurant- Kids eat free after 6pm.
Place with the good breadsticks- Free breadsticks all day
That One Pizza place- Kids meal $2.

Tuesday:
That place we rarely go- Kids eat free

Keep your eyes out for offers and grow that list, you’ll be happy you did when the “ugh, let’s just grab something out” bug hits you!

@MissingMoney

One way to grow your Disney Fund (or whatever you are saving for), is to check for lost money! Did you know the U.S. Government has a free website to enter your name and check for unclaimed money?

It’s easy to use, simply search by your name. It’s worth the couple of minutes to check! Did you have unclaimed money?!

Also Read: Money Saving Tip: Save Soy Sauce Packets

Transform an odd wall in your home easily with chalk paint!

Chalk paint can easily jazz up any space and its inexpensive. Consider adding an area in the kitchen for a menu, or in your kids room (as we did)!

Time & Cost:

My daughter and I used FrogTape (already had on hand) and chalk paint to transform this odd wall in just a couple of hours and under $20.00! We also purchased Chalk Markers. As soon as the paint dried, my daughter immediately started using it. I am pleased with how this DIY project came out.

Also Read: Money Saving Tip: Save Soy Sauce Packets

My family and I enjoy Chinese food every now and then. One thing we always have an abundance leftover are soy sauce packets!

Recently, my saved soy sauce packages came in handy. As I needed soy sauce for a recipe and only had these on hand! Meaning, I could cook my intended recipe (Chinese Beef & Broccoli) without heading to the store.

For your information, 1/4 cup = 5 Soy Sauce Packets! I had 10 in my fridge, meaning I have enough leftover to repeat the recipe.

Do you save soy sauce packets? What recipes do you use soy sauce in?

Also read: Money Saving Tip: Request Yearly Credit Report At No Charge

Photo: Getty Images/Aleksander Rubtsov

It won’t be much longer until gardening folks start thinking about what to plant! So let’s look at how to save on plants!

Trade Seeds!  
I don’t know about you, but I don’t do a giant farm every year.  My vegetable garden may be a little larger than some, but still, a packet of seeds is way more than enough even when I’m planting extras “just in case” something happens to one of my seedlings.  Rather than buying a bunch of seeds, chat with your friends, your family, your neighbors!  Often people are happy to trade seeds- so you take care of the tomato seeds and your friend can provide the zucchini seeds and both of your will be knee deep in produce this summer!

Trade Clippings- or just ask for them!
Speaking of trading seeds, have you ever been walking your neighborhood and saw a beautiful plant? Don’t be afraid to to ask your neighbor if they would let you have a clipping!  When we first moved to our new home, my husband met one of our neighbors while admiring her elephant ears- and she was happy to bring a trash bag full of plants to him when she thinned them!  Considering Tim already wanted to plant his own, this saved us having to spend our money on them!  I have given out my own clippings, bulbs and baby plants when thinning around my garden, and it makes me feel better to know “my babies” are going to people who want them, rather than trashing them or composting them!

Buy Smaller Plants:
If you don’t mind putting in a little extra work or thinking ahead, buying smaller plants is a great way to save!  I see it every year- a small tomato plant may run you $3-4 depending on your area, but an older plant in a larger pot can be every bit of $20 or more!   Normally these larger plants are closer to producing (in terms of vegetables).  The same holds true for followers though, especially perennials.  If you are willing to wait a year or two, your small little pot of flowers can be just as beautiful as those larger and more expensive pots!

Don’t forget, you can also regrow some plants from vegetable scraps!

Do you have any tips for how to save on plants? Let me know!

Have you ever bought a new pair of shoes, wore them for a day and then decided you absolutely hated them?  Unfortunately they are worn now, the soles are dirty and many stores aren’t too keen on letting you return obviously worn shoes.

Next time you get a new pair, try this trick.

Cover the soles of your shoes with glad press and seal, then wear them around the house!  Try going up the steps of your house a few times.   Get a feel for how they fit- and if you don’t love them, you can peel off the press and seal and return them, still clean!   This way you don’t get stuck with a pair of shoes that are uncomfortable and lose your money on something you’ll never use.

*NOTE*  This is not a trick to buy fancy shoes you intend to wear to one event and then return them after wearing them.  It’s not a trick to keep a week’s worth of wear out of shoes and then return them to the store for a new pair.  This is just a tip to help you decide if you truly like and will wear the shoes beyond the three minute back and forth you do in the store to see if they fit!

@Snapfish

If you have hundreds of photos on your phone taking up space, consider printing some with this monthly Snapfish deal!

Simply download the Snapfish App and you get a monthly Free Photo Prints allowance of 100 4×6 photo prints! The app makes ordering photos from your phone so simple. The Free Prints App is available for iOS and Android mobile and tablet devices.

You will have to pay shipping on your monthly 100 4×6 photo print order. For 100 photos shipped, it will cost $11.49.

This breaks down to roughly $0.11 a print! This seems like a great deal since my local Walmart charges $0.25 per print.

Also Read: Look For Hidden Coupons

I have to admit friends, I don’t send out Christmas cards.  It’s generally due to laziness, but also it stems from expense- when we were first married, we had some pretty hard times and I didn’t want to spend the money on stamps and cards to send them out to acquaintances.

Despite my lack of card sending, some of my dear friends faithfully send us cards, or we get some hand given at church.  It leads me to think- what can I do with these when the holiday season is over?   How can you save a few dollars and get a little more use out of a one use product, helping the environment in the process?

1.) Singled sided cards.  Remove the back of the card.  If the card is only signed on the back, you can make a clean cut and have single sided cards to share among friends and family next year!  After all, it’s about the heartfelt message, right?

2.) Use them as gift tags! This works whether you have a cricut or not!  Again, remove the back of the card and you can cut beautiful gift tags out of the scene on the front of the card!  You could get several beautiful tags depending on the design and the size you cut. (I got four out of one card, as you can see above!  If I wanted to cut plain white ones, I could have done several more.)  As a bonus, you won’t have to buy as many (or any) for the next year- plus they are really stinking cute!

3.)  Kids crafts! My daughter loves to make art- so rather than buying paper just for her to cut up, she can cut special shapes out of old Christmas cards and give her creations some extra pizazz!  The bonus is when they will be recycled later anyway.

Picture from Shutterfly

4.) Make Christmas Bunting!   Whether you do it early in the season, or save it for next year, you can make beautiful Christmas bunting!  This could be a fun project for the kiddos to do.

I don’t know how y’all grew up, but in my family whenever we we opened gifts growing up it was “be careful, save the paper!”

Y’all.  No.  I don’t make my kiddo save the paper.  We rip that mess right on up.  However, I am absolutely guilty of saving not only the gift bags, but the tissue paper as well.  Does that make me cheap?  Maybe.  Thankfully my family and my husband’s family is the same way.

It’s very simple! Just smooth out the tissue paper, fold it and put it in your Christmas wrapping box for next year!  Same with the bags- we actually have jokes in my family about how many times certain bags go around before the poor things just fall apart.   We just pop the name tags off the handles and away we go.  You can attach new tags any way you’d like, from tying them on, to using the little adhesive tags.

This is a big savings- we all buy new bags to help shore up our supplies (but only when they are deeply on clearance), but passing around bags from the previous year saves a fair amount of money- and at Christmas time, we could all use those savings!

This weeks money savings tip is to be on the lookout for hidden coupons!

It was Thanksgiving day and I was opening the butter when what would you know appeared?!

Inside was a coupon! I have found coupons inside products before, however it has been a while! I am glad to see companies are still doing this.

Take note and a quick glance before recycling your food containers, there may just be a coupon inside.

Even better is the generous expiration date, over 2 years away! That is plenty of time to pair this coupon (at a grocery store that doubles) with a sale, to maximize my savings.

Also Read: Write to Companies you LOVE