Many of you will be hosting Thanksgiving dinner at your house this year. It doesn’t take long to figure out that this feast can break your food budget.  Here are some tips to help you to spend less and hang on to that money for upcoming Christmas expenses.

Prepare the foods yourself.  Don’t go out to the ham store and order a precooked ham or turkey.  I’ve heard of some people paying $30-40 for a precooked ham.  Yikes!
Shop the pre-Thanksgiving sales.  Some stores offer tremendous weekly specials to lure you in.  Look for buy 1 get 1 free specials on vegetables, …read more

Christmas is not only overly expensive but can be totally stressful too. In fact the issues usually go hand in hand. Really it’s time to end this stressful holiday nonsense and get back to holiday celebrations that actually matter and that are actually fun, don’t you think? Here are some ideas to cut your budget and your stress level this Christmas…

Stay put: Holiday travel is more expensive than traveling at other times of the year and bonus, it’s hyper stressful with long lines, crowds, and layovers due to nasty winter weather. Stay put. Call your family on the holidays to …read more

We’ve officially been in our new home for two months now.  We’re pretty settled and it feels like home, however, we’re still working on finding a place for everything.  Today I tweeted saying, “Putting away more stuff and organizing a little more.  Will we ever be totally unpacked?”.
Finding a place for everything is definitely a challenge.  Another challenge we have faced is affording the organization supplies that we need. Here are some tips for saving.

1)  Plan out your purchases.  This month we bought closet organizers.  Next month, I’m hoping to purchase some shelving for one of the closets.  An extra …read more

Reward clubs come in many forms from warehouse shopping clubs, to store rewards, to roadside assistance, to movie rental rewards and more. BUT they’re not always worth it. Most cost a fee, sometimes monthly, sometimes annually, and once in a while a flat join rate fee.

To work out whether a reward club is worth it to you, consider the following.
Are you compulsive when shopping or do you carefully consider each purchase? If you’re compulsive (be honest) warehouse shopping clubs like Costco may not be the best deal. These stores are set up to get you to buy more AND to …read more

A 2007 study from the Stanford Graduate School of Business notes that shoppers who are forced to pay separately for each item purchased spend less that shoppers who buy a lot all at once. The study states that people who spend more may be doing so because they’ve built a “shopping momentum” with an initial purchase. Researchers found that for most people buying a first item leads to a “purchasing floodgate.”

In one of the field tests, students were given the opportunity to buy discounted items from the researchers as compensation for their participation. Some students initially were offered a light …read more

We’ve covered all sorts of ways to save big time on holiday goodies and celebrations here at Thrifty Mommy – here are six new bonus holiday saving tips…

Don’t waste money on gifts you can’t send – the post office will have a heart attack if you try and send gifts like perfume or items with batteries (both are considered hazardous materials). Don’t even bother.
Get one gift in bulk and go nuts – wine retailers, for example and other retailers who specialize in one item only (say chocolate truffles or poinsettia plants) will give you a nice friendly discount if you …read more

For holiday gift giving, kids sometimes need a little push. I’m not a fan of giving gifts galore, but that’s mainly because I’m interested in more meaningful and less expensive holidays. That said, I also think it’s smart to include your child in what gift giving you do participate in, because kids tend to get, get, get during the holidays, so a little giving can go a long way at forming their mindset about the holidays. Also, this creates a good opportunity to discuss money and budgeting issues.

How to pull it off:
Give each child a set budget for gifts. I …read more

Many families end up celebrating Christmas all year round due to major bills built up during the season. Christmas may be one day a year, but families spend so much it becomes an all year hassle. This year vow to do things differently.

PLAN AHEAD: Think about how you want your Christmas to look. Do you want piles of gifts of maybe a little more celebrating by planning family activities and making more meaningful memories. To get some ideas about how to have a less commercial, more meaningful Christmas read the following:
I’m Dreaming of a Green Christmas: Gifts, Decorations, and Recipes …read more

I’ve never been one to spend a bunch of money on books. I might spend $50 per year. I know there are some of you that spend hundreds or maybe even thousands. Hopefully you will find a few tips from this list that you can try to save money on books.

1.  Borrow books from friends. Of course, be willing to let them borrow your books too.
2.  Shop yard sales and thrift stores. Sometimes you can find some great deals in those stores.  Once while shopping at Good Will, I found a bunch of Scholastic books and some curriculum.  It was …read more

Since having kids, I find myself buying quite a bit more bread. The kids enjoy sandwiches, toast, and other sorts of things made with bread. Here are some ways to save on your bread purchases.

1)  Shop at day old bread stores and close out stores. Sometimes you can find great deals at Merita stores, Big Lots, and Dollar Tree has even had some Nature’s Own bread.
2)  Look for coupons.  Just last week I was at Food Lion and found a great coupon.  It was to get a free bag of Sara Lee bagels with the purchase of a loaf of …read more