SALE!!!!!

Okay that was dramatic. Just like every store  I walk in to, how come everything seems to be on sale but the only real deals are on the clearance rack? Because SALE! motivates you to buy. I mentioned this before. The thing is with clothes shopping, go in with an agenda, and a price range. If you have to buy new (and I would REALLY suggest checking out Goodwill, Savers, Plato's Closet, Clothes Mentor, or Once Upon a Child) say to yourself "I want a pair of Jeans that looks good for under $20" and hunt.  I'd also like to point out Goodwill has a toddler day on Thursday where a good majority of their kids clothes are a dollar or less.

This weekend.

Exciting stuff this weekend for St. Cloud area parents. The boat house at Lake George is opening. St. Patrick's Day is coming, and of course the art crawl is this weekend as well. he art crawl is a great event for kids and parents, you get a chance to check out some amazing down town businesses and quite a few of them have free food. There are lots of demo's for the kids to see how things are done, and a free look at what art is for the young, and the young at heart.

Minnesota Children's Museum

What??? Costly??? Never check out this need based membership program....one year for free, if you're a low income parent this is a great deal. Want some arts and culture on the sly locally check out the St. Cloud State Art Department as well as the Paramount and the theater series at St. Johns and St. Ben's .

Shopping much?

     So, lots of my friends disparage shopping being naturally as spendthrift as the author of this blog. The worst complaint (from my friends who pay cash for groceries,) is the cost of food. I figured I'd throw out a few tips for grocery shoppers to cut costs.
    Tip 1: Meal plan, don't just indiscriminately buy what you're hungry for, plan meals. When I buy and cook chicken breasts I divide it in to three portions, that's meat for three meals. I plan meals that include chicken, usually one pasta with chicken, one salad with chicken, and one savory barbecue dish or casserole. If you know exactly what you need, your not going to grab everything off the shelf at random, and load up on cupboard place holders like fruit snacks or doritos. Also I use all my leftovers when I meal plan for new dishes, which means less waste. 

     Tip 2: Check your ads twice. Your grocery store puts stuff on sale all the time, only it's not ACTUALLY on sale. It's the same price it was last week with big bold sale letters on it, or it's a whole penny cheaper. This works for people who go "ooo what a deal we'll stock up!" Stores have been doing this FOREVER. So don't be fooled.

     Tip 3: Stock up ONLY if it is incredibly cheap. Stores run sales, like 5 for $25 or $20 meat sales. This is a good time to stock up. Other than that buy what you need and get out. The longer you linger the more stuff you don't need you'll end up buying. I spend roughly forty bucks a week, and then do one big stock up shop for dry goods, and meats for the month. When I stock up on meat my grocery bill including my weekly $40, is around $100. When I stock up on dry goods it's between $60-$80 that also includes my weekly $40.

     That means I spend around $260 a month on a family of three, mind you this is just on food. It doesn't include diapers, or toilet paper, or any of those types of things. I rarely use coupons, I use these tips and buy fresh fruits for snacks. My kids are light eaters too. I know how much they eat, I don't over buy for their appetites. I don't buy prepackaged treats and junk. I do however let them pick out a candy or ice cream every time we go shopping. Now depending on how much your family eats you may not get off so easy, but you'll definitely shave off more than pennies doing it this way.

Spring Break

    Spring Break has officially sprung. Lot's of families go on fancy spendy vacations for this week long holiday. What's a cheap mom to do? Staycation. With lot's of very cool budget friendly things to do here in the St. Cloud Area, it's a cinch. The Stearns History Museum is running an exhibit on the history of the girls scouts in the Minnesota and Wisconsin area, which is sure to make any little girls excited. They are also running a piece on Natural Disasters. The Library is running Teen Tech Week this week for those of you with bigger Kids, and they are running a special Spring Story Time event for those of you with little ones. Also there is still Ice Skating going on just not on the lake, luckily there are some ice rinks right in town. By all means don't forget to go sledding/tubing you can either pay the piper and go to Powder Ridge, or just hit up a park with a decent sized hill in your neighborhood.