Save Money on Everyday Life

Before my fiance and I got engaged I used to joke that we would need to get married at a rec center, a bingo hall, or a local park because our budget was just that small. Once the ring was on my finger I realized that there were aspects of the wedding that were very important to me and that would cost money. It was then that we looked over our monthly budget and cut everything we could to pay for our wedding in cash. Here are some of our tips and tricks to save!

• Cut your man's hair. We bought a $40 trimmer from Target (the Wahl chrome deluxe multi trimmer works like a dream). My fiance loves it, it saves him a bi-weekly trip to the barber and saves us $40 a month! Total average savings=$440 a year!
• Cancel your gym membership. I know, brides everywhere just gasped. You can get a bride perfect body for much much cheaper than a monthly gym membership. Pick up a pair of dumbbells, jog, walk, or even search for workout videos online! Total average savings=$360 a year
• Combine your car insurance. When combining our car insurance and adding renters insurance, we saved over $300 a year. Call your insurance agent today!
• Garden. Grow your own produce, herbs, and spices. Freeze veggies and dry herbs to last you far beyond growing season. Average savings varies of course, but we have saved about $20 a month on veggies and spices.
• U-pick berries and freeze them to last you all year. We love blueberries especially for baking. They are way cheaper if you pick them from a local farm.
• Pay off debt. If you have money in a savings acct and a balance on your credit card you are losing more money than you are earning! Pay off that debt!
• Make your own household products! Making my own laundry soap, fabric softener, carpet cleaner, and window cleaner can save a ton! Total average savings=$300 a year.
• Stop wearing makeup. My friends will tell you that they would have never guessed this tip would be coming from me. I love makeup, prior to this I wore a full face every day. To gradually go natural, I first nixed the foundation, then the powder. These were my biggest expenses. Now most days I use moisturizer, eyeliner, a swoop of mascara and a lip gloss. Total average savings= $600 year plus healthier skin!
• Groom your own pooch! Total average savings=$240 year
• Eat home cooked meals every night and menu plan each month.  This has been our biggest savings and has saved us over $200 a month. See the recipes link for great ideas.
• Lots more tips and tricks to come so stay tuned as we continue to save!

Monthly Menus=Big Savings!

So its been a super long time since I have posted anything! As the wedding nears (9 months and 6 days away!) I have been more and more focused on saving money to pay for the wedding. Our goal is to pay for it 100% cash and zero credit cards. Looking at how to cut down our monthly expenses we realized that though we rarely eat out, one of our biggest monthly expenses was food. Every afternoon we would call each other and say "What should we have for dinner?" then decide who had to go to the store to pick up ingredients. Stop the madness! 

My solution? A monthly menu, shopping list, and only ONE monthly shopping trip. This is our first month doing it so I will let you know our triumphs and struggles in September!

Tips before you begin
Use your BBQ and/or crockpot for most meals to avoid using my oven in the hot summer weather
Only cook what you will eat, or plan for leftovers to take for lunch ONLY if you will eat them
Prep and freeze veggies when possible

• Wednesday Aug 1- Crockpot Chicken and Salsa with tortillas
• Thursday Aug 2- Use leftover chicken for Chicken Taco Salads
• Friday Aug 3-BBQ Hamburgers with potato salad
• Saturday Aug 4- Spaghetti and side salad
• Sunday Aug 5-Family dinner with at the future in-laws
• Monday Aug 6-Crockpot roast with baby carrots and potatoes
• Tuesday Aug 7- Leftover roast sandwiches with swiss cheese
• Wednesday Aug 8-BBQ chicken and veggies
• Thursday Aug 9- Chicken stir fry and brown rice
• Friday Aug 10- Crockpot chicken enchiladas
• Saturday Aug 11- BBQ Chicken Salad
• Sunday Aug 12- Turkey meatloaf and side salad
  
• Monday Aug 13- Crockpot pulled pork sandwiches
  
• Tuesday Aug 14- Leftover pulled pork and homemade mac&cheese
• Wednesday Aug 15- Ground turkey tacos with fresh salsa
• Thursday Aug 16- Turkey chili and cornbread muffins
• Friday Aug 17- Steak salad with dried cranberries and blue cheese 
• Saturday Aug 18- Teriyaki chicken kabobs
• Sunday Aug 19- Family dinner with the future in laws
• Monday Aug 20- Crockpot lasagna
• Tuesday Aug 21- Basil chicken pasta
• Wednesday Aug 22- BBQ chicken and pasta salad
• Thursday Aug 23- Leftovers night
• Friday Aug 24- Angel hair pasta with broccoli alfredo sauce
• Saturday Aug 25- Mashed potatoes, grilled chicken, green beans
• Sunday Aug 26- Grilled chicken salad
• Monday Aug 27- Beef stroganoff
• Tuesday Aug 28- Leftover night
• Wednesday Aug 29- Pesto chicken pasta
• Thursday Aug 30- Ground turkey tacos with fresh sals
• Friday Aug 31- Turkey taco salad

Grocery list
Costco
10lb Bag of Foster Farms Chicken
4 pack ground Turkey
Canned Black Beans
Package of Romaine Lettuce
Tomatoes
Bag of Onions
Bag of Potatoes
Baby Carrots
Bell Peppers
Canned Pineapples
Canned  Olives
Tortillas
Bag of fresh Broccoli (freeze 3/4 of it)
Fresh Green Beans (freeze 1/2 bag)
Cream of Chicken soup
Classico Marinara sauce
Classico Alfredo sauce
Canned Tomato Sauce
Pesto sauce (or make your own with fresh basil)
Ground beef

Safeway
6 pack Jiffy Cornbread Mix for $4.99
Barilla wheat pastas
Lasagna Noodles
Can of enchilada sauce
Cucumbers
Salad Dressing
Jalapenos (or grow your own!)
2 packages of steaks (check the clearance meat section)
Pork
Pot Roast

Happy Menu Planning! I would love to hear success stories!

Bridesmaid Dresses

Tips for Saving Money on Bridesmaid Dresses

• Look at non-traditional stores. I found my bridesmaid dresses in the juniors department at Nordstrom for $31.90 each!
• If you do find a sale, make sure you have the right sizes! Spendy alterations can completely negate out a great sale price.
• Choose a basic dress and customize with accessories! Check out Forever21 for affordable and adorable items for your girls. My plan is to go for a fun and chunky pearl necklace like these!

• Hit up the sales! Right now is the Nordstrom Half Yearly and the Victoria's Secret Semi-Annual Sales are in full swing. Also, Macy's has coupons in nearly ever Sunday paper with additional savings!
• Let your girls choose their own! Choose a color and let your ladies shop to fit their budget and figure.

Target Registry

If you haven't registered at Target yet, do it now!

Within a week a week of creating our registry (and adding 20 items) we got mailer inviting us to pick up a $20 Target gift card at the customer service desk. Free money just for telling people what presents to buy us? Amazing. To top it off when I went into Target to pick up the gift card, they gave us this adorable little registry packet that included a $20 Shutterfly gift card! We are going to use this for our engagement photos and it will double as the guestbook at our wedding!

Gotta love free stuff!

Customize Your Wine!

Make your event unique! Get 6 bottles of Boutique Northwest Wine with customized wine labels for only $69 (a $150 value). You can choose all red, all white, or 3 of each. This is PERFECT for your wedding, rehearsal dinner, or even bachelorette party!
How to get this deal:

·        Go to www.pnwc.com, click on Wine Store, add the personalized label wine to your cart (#1001) – all red, all white, or 3 of each.

·        Create your personalized labels and fill out info

·        Enter the code knot1236 and hit ‘recalculate’

·        Also shipping is FREE!

 

Rehearsal dinner food

Omaha Steaks provides delish food for any event but with today's deal it would be PERFECT for a backyard BBQ style rehearsal dinner!

This would normally be $150 but today you can get it for $48!
How to get this deal:
Go to www.ebates.com and sign up or sign in
Search for Omaha Steaks
Order The Perfect Barbeque (details below)
 
The Perfect Barbeque
4 (5 oz.) Top Sirloins
4 (4 oz.) Boneless Pork Chops
4 Boneless Chicken Breasts (1 lb. pkg.)
2 (4 ½ oz.) Stuffed Sole with Scallops & Crabmeat
8 (3 oz.) Gourmet Jumbo Franks
4 Stuffed Baked Potatoes
Order today and get  68% off PLUS 6 free burgers!!!

Shoe Love

Its an excellent time to buy your bridal shoes! DSW Rewards Members get free Standard Shipping on online orders March 22-25. Log into your acct and use offer code SHIP4FREE at online checkout. If you are not a DSW member sign up today for amazing discounts!

Panty Sale!

Every Bride needs cute undies! Today through Monday is Victoria's Secret's 7 for $26 panty raid! Also if you go through Ebates.com you get 4% cash back on all Victoria's Secret purchases!

Win your dress!

I enter every and all contests that I can for free wedding stuff like this one from Jordan Fashions:

http://www.jordanfashions.com/FreeSignUp.aspx
 It's worth a try for a free dress right ladies?

Beautiful skin=beautiful bride

Great deal on skincare products on Plum District today! http://www.plumdistrict.com
$15 for $35 worth of Natural Skin and Hair products from Yes To

Triple Points at Nordstrom!

Today is the LAST day to earn TRIPLE points on any Nordstrom purchase made on your Nordstrom debit or credit card! Visit http://shop.nordstrom.com/c/rewards-chart to check out the money saving benefits. This is a perfect time to buy your accessories, shoes, mother of the bride dresses, or even bridesmaid gifts! Plus there are a lot of clearance items right now like these beautiful earrings which are perfect for any bride.

This Weekend Only!

Save on your dress this weekend at the Fabulous Bridal Affair in Bridgeport Village!
Like their facebook page at www.facebook.com/fabulousaffordablebridal and get a FREE VEIL with gown purchase!

Amazing deal!

Living social has an AMAZING deal for Vista Print! $10 for $50 worth of product including Save the Dates, Wedding Invites, or even programs! Sign up at LivingSocial.com to purchase but hurray! Only 5 days left to buy!

http://www.livingsocial.com/deals/288658?rpi=52063350&ref=personalized-link-box-52063350&rui=13195046

The littles

Zulily.com offers adorable clothes and accessories for the littles of the wedding! 

Great discounts on perfect flower girl and ring bearer fashions!

Bat your lashes ladies

False eyelashes look fabulous in wedding photos but putting them on and keeping them on can be stressful. They can also be expensive! At a department store you are looking at twenty bucks and if you have them done at a salon they can be a hundred dollars! Instead head to Ulta.com for these wonderful Eylure lashes for only $6 a pop! They come pre-glued so they are easy peezy to put on and they will stay all night. They could also be a great little gift for bridesmaids! Always check the Ulta website for discounts and savings. You can also get 4% cash back by going through eBates!

Daily Deals at Plum District

Join Plum District! It is like Groupon for women and it has amazing daily deals on everything from wine tours (perfect for bachelorette parties) to spa packages to primp for the big day! Sign up now!

http://www.plumdistrict.com

Save the Date Postcards

Minted.com just came out with these adorable new save the date cards! They are beautiful AND postage on postcards is $0.13 cheaper than first class mail!

Go Green and Save!

No need to spend extra money on postage! Send paperless shower invites through http://www.paperlesspost.com! Most are free and all are fabulous!

More Registry Ideas!

Crate and Barrel offers great discounts for newlyweds!

So does Kohl's!

Macy's Registry Rewards = Amazing!

If you didn't already realize this...getting married is pretty awesome. You get to throw a party for all of your loved ones, eat all your fav foods and desserts, hear everyone toast and say wonderful things about you, and if that wasn't amazing enough then people give you nice gifts to start you life with your new hubby! All of this on top of the fact that you get to spend forever with your man! Be smart about where you register and you can actually earn rewards on the gifts that you receive! I promise its not too good to be true! Check out http://www1.macys.com/registry/wedding for terms and details.

Save the Dates for less!

At only $0.28 each for photo save the date cards AND envelopes, Walmart.com is a frugal way to get your wedding date on calendars! Plus they are available for one hour pick-up for those who wait until the last minute :)