Since it is that time of year and Mother’s Day is just around the corner, I have decided to make a post to help all the moms out there, not just at Mother’s Day, but all throughout the year. I am a busy mom of 3 children, two boys and a girl, and I also work outside the home, so trying to balance life is not easy. Sometimes you are in a rush (well sometimes quite a lot) between work, all the sports activities, shopping, running around etc.. every family has to do. My very own dear mother helped me at a time in my life when I needed it due to an accident I endured, and I would like to share it with you.
A few months ago I was playing a sport with one of my children’s teams (hockey against the moms night) and I ended up breaking my wrist from a fall on the ice. I am right handed, and of course my right hand broke. I ended up having surgery and everything. So needless to say, I could not do a whole lot. Even getting dressed was a problem for a while. I needed to rely on others whereas I never needed to before. My mother had given me a recipe book a couple of months before that, and I had tried some of the recipes inside it and they were very good. It is called “The Big Cook”. It is discounted at Chapter's Indigo Book Store right now for $21.74 or you can purchase it at http://www.thebigcook.com/
I am not sure if any of you have heard of it or not, but I would highly recommend it. You can cook healthy meals for your family that do not take too long to prepare or a lot of work. Kids love it and you can make as many meals as you want at one time and then you can freeze them for later. The book recommends getting together with friends and making a lot of meals. Then you can socialize and end up with lots of meals at the same time. And it ends up saving you a lot of time in preparation. You just take it out when you need it. My family loves it too. My kids especially love the Cantonese chicken recipe and the Lazy Man’s Lasagna. Do you know of any other great recipe books for families? Let me know.
Also, when I broke my wrist, my mother came over and we made a bunch of recipes and labeled Ziploc bags (with the recipe and the page number on top of the bag so you know which recipe you have) and put them in the freezer for a later date. Then when I needed them I would just put them in the crockpot or the oven and my family and I could still eat healthy plus save time. It was a lifesaver! But it is not just for those that injure themselves. It is for the regular family. Anyone can use this book!
If you are looking for other ways to save, that’s not all. When you do your grocery shopping, there are a few tips to learn:
1. Stick to your grocery list. You can save a lot of money this way.
2. Do not impulse buy or shop when you are hungry. Then you will end up buying a lot of junk food or things you do not need.
3. Coupons also help you to save money. Sometimes the stores have them right in front of the products.
4. There are some websites that offer coupons on a regular basis: Save.ca Websaver and Brandsaver. You sign up for the coupons you want (and there are lots of brand name product coupons), and they will mail them to you within a week or two. It’s that easy. You can end up saving lots of money by using coupons when you shop.
5. If you are on Facebook sometimes companies offer free products just for “liking” them. I do this a lot!
6. I love to save money by using rewards cards! I save TONS of money over the months and years by using these cards. There are many rewards cards such as Airmiles, Shoppers Optimum, Aeroplan, Club Sobeys and I am sure there are many more. You save the points until you cash them in for rewards such as gift cards, merchandise, or even trips. I just recently cashed in some of my Shoppers Optimum points for $100 worth of free merchandise of anything I wanted in the store. It sure is wonderful.
7. See if you can sign up to be a product tester. I am a Bzzagent and sometimes get free products for buzzing about it to other people (usually there are coupons to hand out to others. There are other places you can find that look for people to try their products. Companies sometimes have “try me free” where you buy the product and send in the UPC and you will get a refund. This will save you money in the long run as well.
I have saved quite a lot of money over the years by getting freebies, entering contests (which is one of my hobbies), trying new products by product testing, etc. I hope I can help some of you to save or become better at your shopping skills. If you have any other tips to help you save money or time, I would love to hear them. Hopefully your families will appreciate all you do for them, so I wish you all a very happy Mother’s Day, and happy saving!
I would like to thank Mom Central Canada fortheir blogger grant program as I was chosen to be one of their spring recipients!
