Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Last week, my local grocery store had hamburger on sale for a really good price.  I bought a large family pack.  I cooked ALL of the ground hamburger and added some ground turkey to help cut down on the fat. 

After the hamburger/turkey combination was cooked, I divided the meat up into 1 – 1 1/2 lbs and put it into freezer containers. I let the meat cool for a little bit, wrote the dates on them, and froze them.

Sunday this really saved me some time.  We had a covered dish meal at church Sunday that I didn’t know about in time to prepare.  I pulled two pre-cooked hamburger containers out of the freezer and made a Shepherd’s Pie.  (I’ll give you that recipe later.)

The pre-cooked hamburger is certainly a time-saver.  With it you could cook spaghetti, lasagna, taco salads, tacos, dirty rice, Hamburger Helper, Shepherd’s Pie, and more.  Of course, I wouldn’t recommend eating hamburger every night, but this method is a sure time-saver for the nights that you do eat it.

Do you have any tips for making meals easier?

Picture from shoplocal.com.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

5-6 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and sliced
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1-1/2 cups milk
1/2 stick butter or margarine
salt, pepper, or other seasoning

Peel and slice potatoes.  Place in a microwavable casserole dish.  Pour cream of mushroom soup on top of potatoes. Fill empty cream of mushroom can with milk and stir to remove rest of soup from can.  Pour on top of potatoes.  Top with 1/2 stick of butter.  Add salt, pepper, Mrs. Dash, or other seasoning to taste preference.  Microwave for 15-20 minutes or until potatoes are soft, stirring every 5 minutes.

To make this recipe a bit healthier, use skim milk, reduced fat butter or margarine, and reduced fat soup.

I made this recipe and found that it was a little bland for our liking, so I suggest using some Mrs. Dash or other seasoning you like.  This is a very easy recipe.

For cheesy scalloped potatoes, use nacho cheese soup mix.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

The Mr. Clean Magic Eraser also cleans tile grout, soap scum, refrigerators, car wheels, microwaves, marks on walls, and more.  The great thing is, it’s a thrifty buy!  I wish I had tried the eraser first.  Definitely a time saver too!

Click on the Mr. Clean site and you can get a free coupon. 

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

The Sili Sling is a silicone lifter for turkey, roasts and fish. The large surface is ideal for lifting large poultry and roasts – holds up to an 18 lb. turkey. Also works well for delicate foods such as fish that often break apart during cooking. The Sili Sling stays in the oven while you cook. It is heat resistant to 600°F. The silicone turkey lifter will always retain its shape and will not stain or absorb odors. The Sili Sling is easy to clean, as it is dishwasher safe.

Click on the picture below to see more about this time saving gadget.

Thanks to fabulousfoods.com for the tip.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

With two kids, many times I find it difficult to go shopping.  Finding a time when they’re not at preschool, napping, or eating is hard.  Free shipping is definitely a time and money saver.  You can shop at your convenience (when they’re in bed!) and not feel guilty about shipping costs.

Visit the Circuit City website for more information about this and other offers.  There is also some information about 0% interest purchase offers.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Teri’s List reveals the lowest sale prices at stores and tracks manufacturer’s coupons to tell you when to use each coupon so that you can get the best price.  It saves you a lot of time and money.

My friend Darlene does great with The Grocery Game.  Many times she pays very little or nothing for items.  She says that she is spending the same amount each month, but she is stocking up and has a lot more groceries to show for the money.  Thanks Darlene for the tip.

Right now you can get a 4 week trial of The Grocery Game for $1.00 and when you refer friends you can get free weeks of Teri’s list.  This seems like a sure way to cut your grocery spending and save on your budget.

If you would like to join The Grocery Game, please use my email address so that I can earn free weeks.  knowhimwell at hotmail dot com   Thanks!  

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Well, being pregnant with my first child, my DH and I went to Target and got the scanner because we were going to register for things that we later found out we didn’t need.  LOL  We knew we needed a diaper pail of some sort and a Diaper Genie was the only one that Target had available, so we registered for it. 

I received a Diaper Genie from my MIL and soon realized the Diaper Genie was not all I thought it would be.  For some reason, the cutting blade on mine didn’t seem to work very well and I would have to get the scissors out every time I had to change the bags, which was very often, I thought.  Then I became annoyed by how often I had to change the bags, the poor cutting system, the length of the snake like things, and soon after I became aware of the costs of the bags!!!  I was just not impressed. 

One day while my DH and I were at Babies R Us we discovered the Diaper Champ. We were impressed that it took regular kitchen trash bags, had an easy to use flip handle, and had a seal to keep out the odors.  According to the description, it even holds cloth diapers. 

We are now using our 3 year old Diaper Champ with our second child.  We have definitely gotten plenty of use from it.  A year or so ago the seal broke, but it still keeps the smell contained.  We only change the bag once a week and we don’t have to fight with refilling it or cutting anything.  It a time and money saver, plus you don’t feel bad about yourself later for having bad thoughts while changing the bag.  The diaper champ wins my vote!

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

So when I started seeing the commercials for Netflix, I was interested.  My sister loves it and my friend at rookiemoms enjoys the service too.  Must be something about the selection combined with the price.  I would love it if for nothing else than NO LATE FEES!  And there is nothing more frugal than getting a movie without ever having to leave your house and no late fees.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

None the less, I decided to make a list of my 13 things to do today.  My list was very boring and generic and I had nothing I wanted to put higher on the fun scale other than picking up my little one.  The sad thing is that when I looked back on my list, there wasn’t a single thing on there about playing with my little girl or relaxing.  The reality of my list is that probably only half of the things will get done.  I am working on that.  Organizing your time is a great way to get alot done in a short amount of time.  What’s on your list of things to do today?

1.  Get up and get everyone out of the house.

2.  Make my physical therapy appt at 9am.

3.  Make my orthopedic appt at 10am.

4.  Do some blogging before noonish.

5.  Pick the baby up from the sitter.

6.  Accomplish lunch.  (My least favorite task is figuring out what it is.)

7.  Unload the suitcases from vacation.

8.  Manage to get the baby to take an unwanted but needed nap.

9.  Clean the living room and bathrooms.

10. Finish the laundry.

11. Fix dinner.

12. Make it to church on time.

13. Manage to get to bed before 10pm.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy