No-Spend Month Series

Hello again, savvy savers! A new day, a new challenge! So for today, I want to discuss a way that you may be able to get food, goods, and toiletries this month for free, and that is with a coupon swap!

So, you may be thinking, why a coupon swap? Well that’s easy… using free coupons this month, for items you may anticipate needing, and only having to pay applicable tax, can still fall within the No-Spend Month Challenges! So, here are a few suggestions:

1.  Simply put it is a box of coupons that is set up at a central location, that allows people to swap and share coupons.
2. Those who contribute to the swapbox have the privilege of taking coupons from the swapbox.
3. Before you set up a coupon swapbox, you need to find a good location.
4. Think of locations where there are a lot of people.
5. Good examples are daycares, preschools, churches, libraries, schools, community centers, work, local children’s museum, etc.; be sure to ask permission to start a coupon swap box!
6. When starting the box, post a note outside the location telling people you are starting a swap.
7. The beauty of this challenge is that by donating your unused coupons to the swapbox, you can look through the coupons donated by others.

Once you have a location, simply:

• Cut out all the Sunday coupons.
• File the coupons you wish to keep in your coupon binder. 
• Put the remaining coupons in a Ziploc bag along with an index card, listing the coupon sources, your name, and date.
• Add your bag to the swapbox. 
• As time goes on, check the box for coupons you might need.
• Maintain a list of coupons for freebie grocery items, meaning coupons that you will only pay applicable tax for, at store such as Target, Walmart, and the Dollar Tree, and keep an eye out for them at the swap box.
• You can also post a note asking for specific items, such as a brand of coupon.
• Even if you don’t coupon, add inserts for those you might!

Once you have an established box, you can advertise at your local grocery stores, laundromats, PX’s, library, or other areas where people will see listings. That’s it! Also, be sure to take an half hour a month to clean out expired coupons from your box, too! 

For those with less drive, but still looking to participate in this challenge, you should check out a Facebook site, that I use often, Christine’s Coupon Swap! This awesome group allows users to post messages for coupons you need, as well as postings for coupons you wish to donate or trade. Group members pay for their postage. This is a great way to find the coupons that may not ordinarily be delivered to your region each week, without having to buy an excessive amount of newspapers weekly!

So today I challenge you all to consider physically, or virtually, working on starting coupon swapping practices, to donate the coupons you won’t be using this month while not spending, to help purchase free groceries this year during No-Spend Month challenges!

Here’s to saving,

Hello again, savvy savers! Welcome back! I hope you are all well rested and ready for a new daily challenge. So, today I want to tackle one of the biggest budget busters of each planned No Spend Months, menu planning.  

So, why menu plan? I generally consider menu planning a staple in my home buegting arsenelo, but for those who may now, here are three key points to keep in mind.

1) Your Health: Your health should be one of your main concerns, as with most people,  and one way to ensure your health and well being is in good working balance, is healthful food preparation. Having a menu plan in place helps you avoid sodium and fat-laden take out and fast food, and instead opt for a more balanced and nutritious diet.

2) Budgeting: Groceries cost a lot, period.  Even with coupon shopping and app rebate deals, constantly going to the store can negate all of your best budgeting plans. Save yourself some financial stress by planning your meals in reverse; shop for cyclical deals, plan meals around what you have on hand, and essentially plan “pantry-ready meals.”  By shopping in reverse, I generally spend $30.00 or less per week, for a family of four on groceries.  

3) Time Management: Your time is important. Whether you work outside the home, from a home office, are a busy entrepreneur, or you’re a stay-at-home parent, we all juggle an endless task sheet on a daily basis.  While planning a menu in the first place takes a bit of time, it will save you double that amount of time in the end. For when you have planned, purposed meal lists and ingredients on hand, you essentially eliminate the need to run to the store for a last minute item, saving you both time and money in the process. With a plan in place, all you have to do is to look at your proposed weekly menu, prep, and serve! 

So today, I am challenging you all to come up with a list of a list of meals, with all of the staples being comprised of your freezer, deep freeze, stockpile, and pantry items.

You will need to come up with:

• 13 Breakfasts
• 13 Lunches
• 13 Snacks
• 13 Dinner Options
• 13 Desserts

Each option will be eaten twice for the remainder of the month, as the entire month will be rotated bi-weekly. Now, this task may seen daunting to you all, but consider the following:

1. No-spend months are a great time for 5-can soups, dump cakes, casseroles, and pot pies. 
2. This is also a great time to consider “Food Swapping,” with family, friends, and neighbors, where you will prep meals and then exchange the meals accordingly. 
3. This is also the time to consider menu streamlining; eating the proper amount of meals, as well as small snacks throughout the day, as well as cutting your dependency on carbonated beverages, and instead eating healthier options all around, will not only fill you up more, stave off food cravings, which will ultimately end up costing you less the month over. 
4. Consider using “Meatless Monday,”  food options; you can save up to $240.00 annually using this method once a week!
5. You can also check out sites like SuperCook, where you can add the ingredients you have on hand to their database, to find recipes to suit your stockpile of goods!
6. My best tip for today’s challenge, “Rollable Meals,” or meals that leftovers can be made into different meals using the same ingredients; for example on day 1 you make double the amount of hamburgers and a pan of brownies for dessert. On day two, you can take one patty, broken up and make breakfast tacos, and as a beef topped salad(s) for lunch, and using your additional reserved patties, make crockpot beef patties and gravy for dinner, and using your leftover brownies you can make two additional desserts to last the remainder of the week, brownie parfait cups, brownie flurries, or brownie and berry trifle!

So, just get out a tablet, make a boxed grid; 11″x 8″, divide into a calendar, with seven boxes across, and four boxes down, and there you go! 

For further ideas, be sure to check out my Weekly Menu Section and Pinterest Menu Idea Boards!

Be sure to check Instagram tonight for today’s review!

Here’s to saving,

Hello again, savvy savers! A new day, and a new challenge! Today, I want to switch topics, and discuss a way you can save money, and that is by taking a refresher course from one of America’s best colleges and Universities. As part of today’s No-Spend Challenge, I want to post about an awesome at-home learning tool many users may be interested in using, Coursea.com.

• Coursera is a for-profit educational technology company offering massive open online courses founded by computer science professors, Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller from Stanford University.
• This online course directory offers persons from all walks of life the ability to sample, full-length classes, webinars, refresher courses, or to browse syllabi and test prep, in a full range of Liberal Arts topics, from many of the national top colleges and universities, including Duke University, Yale University, Vanderbilt University, and Johns Hopkins University.
• There are also courses focused on music education, art appreciation, small business management, and anthropological studies.

For those interested in this site, click here. So, for today’s challenge, I encourage you all to check out this site, and see if you may be interested in taking a new online course on for size! Good luck! Be sure to check back tomorrow morning for the final day of this months No-Spend Challenge!

Here’s to saving,