3 Ideas for Picking A Hotel

Picking a hotel that fits my families needs USE to be difficult. I would go with the cheapest place no matter what. All we needed was a beds, right?

WRONG!

Now a days my family is getting bigger. I'm not talking about adding more people. I mean my babies are now teens/pre-teens. We need more space!

We're planning a weekend trip to Vegas soon. It's close enough to Salt Lake that we can get there in 6 hours. And it's a nice change of pace from our daily routine.

So when I look for a hotel this is what I look for.

#1. A room big enough for everyone.
 So staying on the Strip is out of the questions. Something about being split up from my family on a family trip doesn't make sense. So I'm looking for family rooms or suites. Sure the cost might seem more but in reality it's the cheaper route.

1 single room on the strip can cost $60 a night (we're staying 3 nights) x 2 rooms (praying these rooms are adjoined) + $20-$30 hotel fees for each night = I'm looking at $540 minimum for hotel cost!
So we stay off the strip. But still close enough that we can walk or shuttle (if the hotel offers). So staying off the strip can cost us about 40-50% less since we are not paying those nasty hotel fees.

#2. BREAKFAST INCLUDED!!!
Look below....

I use bookings.com for my hotel searches. There's tons of searching sites but this is the only site I've found where I can book now and pay when I get to the hotel. And I can cancel up to the day before just in case my plans change with no charge. 

Anyways this is my search for Vegas and family of 6. The sites my cost will be around $268-$310 for the weekend at these hotels. And this is a great price for my size family. 

But looks what happens when I add breakfast included in my search.

Now the cost is $325-$347! The cost is around $40 more but knowing my family this is a great price. For $40 more I'm paying an average of $13.33 a morning for breakfast. That's like paying $2 a person.  Even if my family goes to a dollar menu for breakfast I'm looking at spending around $5 a person! So this is a great price. Plus we can eat as much as we want. So we fill up on breakfast! 

#3. Kitchen! 

Mini fridge and microwave are a must! I can usually read this in the room description but sometimes I get surprised to find a kitchenette or a full size kitchen in my room.  The reason why I look for a kitchen is.....remember that cost for doing to a $1 menu- Now cut that cost in HALF! All thanks to using the kitchen items provided in our hotel room.

On the first day we arrive at our hotel our family just chills. We relax, unpack, shower, and stretch our legs for driving so long.  And I assess the kitchen area. Once everyone is cleaned and refreshed  we go to the grocery store. My husband insist on finding a Super Target. This way we can get the food and whatever else we might have forgotten. Like swim trunks, sun screen, socks, toothbrushes, whatever. Plus we're all about saving with cartwheels and red cards. 

So while at the hotel I will make my list of items we'll be using for the next few days. 

Wraps: our go-to meal 

-tuna pouches (high protein) 

-tortillas 

-pre cooked frozen chicken

-small mayo

-produce

( apples, celery, lettuce, avocado, oranges...

 things what won't smash in my bag while we're out exploring)

And added yummies for our kids:

-cup of noodles

-yogurt tubes

-juice boxes

etc. 

So my family will fill up at the hotel breakfast. Then we go out and enjoy our destination. 

While at Vegas our kids want to go to the M&M store and the Coke store. Last time we tried the Cokes of the world and we all loved it! And they want to do this again. 

Anyways my husband and I budget to eat out at a restaurant 1-2 times and know we'll pick up a few snacks here and there. 

For restaurants we plan to take advantage of lunch specials.  Cost of restaurants are about 50% less during lunch hours which are normally from 11-3pm. We sit down around 2-2:30 and enjoy a great meal at a fraction of the cost. But most days I will pack up my daytrip bag with waters, snacks, and wraps so my family doesn't get the HANGRY! After we eat we explore some more. While my husband and I can go long into the night exploring and finding the cities treasures our 6 & 7 year old are sleepy and cranky by 8pm. So we head back to our hotel, give them bubble baths, and enjoy an easy microwave meal. 

Hotel picks can vary. Based on where we are going my family likes those little extras:

Pools for Vegas are nice. But pools for California are dumb. Seriously the ocean is a few miles away. 

Exercise room- we will never need!

Parking cost- I only find places that offer free parking.

Internet access- doesn't everywhere have this. Even if not our iPhones is all we need since we're vacationing to unplug. 

TV/DVD player- we don't care. We never watch the TV anyways. 

High Security- We've got the highest protection; God! 

Well that's what my family and I do pick the best hotel for us. Good luck on your searches and go adventuring! 

Red Bag Produce

Here's another money saving tip.

My family and I TRY to eat healthy. We always have a ton of fruits and vegetables in our home at all time. 

This can be really expensive. Before this tip I would spend about 50% of my food budget just in produce. 

But now I have cut that cost I half.

My secret:

Smith's (Kroger) stores sell marked down produce! And each bag is 99cents!!

At most my locations near me there are shelves or carts filled with red netted bags with the produce the store wants to get rid of. 

Talking to my produce guy he tells me that the fruit comes from when displays get changed and there's no room for those items. 

This week Smiths has a sale for Taste of Spain so all the peppers, tomatoes, etc have to be displayed leaving out those yummy $4 mini seedless watermelons that my kids love. So they get red bagged.

He also says items get red bagged when the original packaging gets damaged like the bag of organic apples that cost $6 each. The bag got a year in the netting so it has to be red bagged. 

So every couple of days I'll swing by my Smiths and grab whatever red bags they have. 

There are some items I don't care for like those potatoes. I can get a 5lb bag at walmart for $1. But other than this I will grab everything. 

What my family doesn't eat my bunnies will.

Most of the produce will get eaten with 48 hours. My family loves fruit. But the items I know they won't touch as fast I cut up into cubes.

Freeze in a pie plate. And once it's frozen it put the fruit in a freeze bag to use later for smoothies.(fastest way to get our daily recommended consummation)

So about 2 days a month I do this process. But when my husband is craving a milkshake he'll grab these bags of fruit instead and whip up something yummy for everyone. 

Plus I like the fact that every in our smoothies is fresh and organic since I'm the one who cut it. 

So look around the produce section and see if you can find those red netted bags. 

Walmart Greeting Cards

There's a coupon right now on coupons.com for $1 off 2 Hallmark greeting cards at Walmart with a minimum $1 purchase.

So last night while my family slept I went to my Walmart to see if I could find any hidden treasures.
I found a coupon but this was my best find.

The coupon said $1 off 2 Hallmark cards with the purchase of $1 minimum.  So this means that I had to get my total over $1 to use this coupon. I know there's 47 cent cards but then my total wouldn't be high enough to use this coupon so instead I did this deal.

1 Hallmark Card @97 cents

1 Hallmark card @47 cents 

Total $1.44 so minus the $1 coupon my oop was only 44 cents for 2 cards. I stocked up on every occasion I could think of. Birthdays, weddings, baby shower, etc. 

But what got my excited was finding this coupon too. 

$2 off 2 Hallmark cards with minimum $2 purchase. So again my total has to be over $2 to use this coupon. But I found some cards marked at $1.97. This is the deal

1 Hallmark card @ 1.97

1 Hallmark card @ 47 cents

total $2.44 so minus this coupon I will pay again only 44 cents for 2 cards!

So look at the greeting card section for these coupons. There was just a tear pad so I grabbed a few so I can go back tomorrow morning. (I only brought a few dollars)

I love when Hallmark brings out these coupons since this is when I stock up my greeting card box that I will use for the rest of the year. And it's costing me less than Hallmarks cheapest cards. 

1 Way To Always Save Big Bucks!

When I shop I walk out of every store saving anywhere between 75%-100%!!!
But I would never accomplish this task without doing this 1 thing!

It doesn't matter how many coupons I clip, how many times I check the websites, or how much I stalk the clearance; If I don't do this 1 thing my budget will get screwed up every time! 

My #1 shopping secret is PRAYER!

As I get into truck I say a prayer to my Heavenly Father. I ask him to help me find the items on my list, for my coupons to work properly, to help me find the items that my family needs or that others could use. I ask for helping finding items that cost pennies or will be free so I can either put in my stockpile or donate. 

And I testify that God answers my prayer every single time.

Last night I went to Walgreens to pick up toliet paper and paper towels. I budgeted $35 to cover the cost of everything plus tax. So while I was looking at the summer toys like water guns and chalk the employee came up to me and said that each items was ringing up 9 cents! Regularly each were 99 cents! So I grabbed a few items since I had an in-store gift card for $2. 

When I went to the register everything rang up cheaper and with God's help my total for $176 worth of items only cost me $33! 

So I was able to get the 4- 12 packs of Charmin and 2-6pack of Scott paper towels 

PLUS

4 boxes of cereal

2 spiderman alarm clocks

1 Crayola Star Wars box tin of crayons

1 Easter "Rejoice" Cross

1 large perfume that I'll use for Mother's Day

59 summer toys

(water guns, chalk, water balloons, parachute men, helicopters, flying disc, jacks, bouncy balls, etc)

So I was able to spend less and get more and this only happens when I prayed for God's help. 

And to tell you there are times when I forget to prayer and when I shop this is when I will miss or forget a coupon, something comes up the wrong price and I don't catch it, my coupons will beep at the register, or I grab the wrong item for my ibotta, etc. Then I have double the work fixing the mistake so I make sure I pray every time. 

Give it a try. Heavenly Father will not let you down. 

After Easter Clearance

After holidays are the best days to shop. And the longer you wait the cheaper items will be. 

A week after Easter my Target had non-food items at 90% off. And the food was 70% off. This is as low as the prices will go so it's stock up time. 

Of course I picked up a few candies to munch on but when I look through the holiday clearance I'm looking for 2 things:

1). Items I can use next holiday. In this case I'm looking at those adorable egg wreaths, bunny decor, dye kits, and anything I can use next year. It's cheaper now than next Easter when I'll have to pay full price. So I snagged a cute Happy Eastet banner for 30 cents, an egg stencil kit for 19 cents, and dye kit for 9 cents! 

2) Items I can use all year long. And these are my favorite finds. The toys, gift wraps, decor, craft things that have no hint of Easter but are still 90% off. 

And this is what I found. I found tons of Dr.Seuss items. All originally $1 that are now 10 cents! 

So when I seen all those bags and knick knacks I thought of my daughters summer birthday party. It will now be themed Dr.Seuss. So I grabbed tote bags to act as goodie bags. Posters to act as table decor. And after her party I will hang up in her room. I grabbed the rulers, erasers, stickers, bookmarkers, and keychains will act as goodie bag fillers. My daughter is so excited to have a Seuss birthday party. 

In addition to the Seuss items I picked up twine, felt flower kits, ninja turtle sticker books, candy gum tubs, chalk paint, and gift tags that all don't show a hint tht they were Easter clearance. All prices between 10 cents and 30 cents. 

So for my little Target adventure I snagged birthday items, stock pile candies, crafts, toys, and candies all for around $5! That's a huge savings!

So look around and see what your stores have. Think outside the box on ways to use those Easter clearances. Happy Savings!

Save 90% at Target

Sale cycles change out.

1 week it's groceries. 

Another week it's electronics. 

Another week it might be baby items.

Then clothes. 

Etc.

So when I grocery shop I'm buying for 6 weeks. Besides my normal weekly trip to get perishable foods like fruit,milk,eggs, cheese, etc. When I grocery shop I know that sale items will come back every 6 weeks. About every 4-6 weeks certain items will be back on sale. So I stock up on those items to last me until that next sale. 

This week Target had a crazy amazing sale. Buy $50 worth of food and get $10 gift card back automatic. So automatically I'm getting $10 off my order. And to lower that price down more I added coupons, ibotta, and cartwheel to my items. 

I looked on those coupon sites I mentioned before and seen what items I could get for free with coupons. I added those items to my shopping list of course. 

So my goal was to get my total to be at $50. Get my $10 gift card. Then hand over my coupons to get my total lower. So those free items would be key to dropping my amount to near zero. 

I repeated this process 5 times so I can maximize my savings. On some transactions actually walked away not paying a thing. 

Here's what I did: 

2 hours, 5 transactions, and close to 100 coupons later. I walked out of Target like I owned the place! Retail $230! Sales,coupons, gift cards,red card, cartwheel,ibotta= Out of pocket $21! 

My phone died while in the checkout lane so once I charged it I went back and they gave me the money back.

#1 

3 Pepperidge milano cookies @2.69 with cw

1 pataks sauce 2.06 -75q

2 King's Hawaiian rolls @1.14 with cw and $1/2 q

1 market pantry french bread 1.59-cw-50q

1 lipton green tea 2.19- cw- 40centq-$1 target q

1 5lb halo oranges 5.99-50cent q

2 evol sandwiches 1.99-$1q each

3 Starbucks viva coffees 6.39 each - (3) $2.25 q when you buy pepperidge cookies and starbucks 

2 rice krispies 2.75

1 jet puff marshmallow FREE with rice krispie purchase

6 Pantene curl gels 3.99- several different coupons

total 52.69 - a gift card from last week= $25.06 oop

gained $10 gift for food, $5 gc for starbucks, 2x $5 gc for pantene, $1 ibotta, $2.69 for cartwheel malfunction, $5 starbucks promo gift card

#2

3 glade aerols 1.02- 55 cent q each

2 popchips, crazy hot flavor. $2 each- cw- $1/2 q

3 Pepperidge milano to-go cookies $1-$1 q each

1 oceanspray juice 1.68-cw

2 kings hawaiian rolls 1.14-cw- $1/2q

market pantry rolls 1.19-cw-50cent q

bear naked granola-cacao and cashew 3.99-cw

4 green giant veggies $1e- $1/2q

1 evol sanwich 1.99-1q

2 nestle cookie dough 2/$4- 50 cent q- 55 cent peelie-ibotta

3 pillsbury cresent rolls 3/$5

1 pillsbury pie crust 2.50 -cw- (2) $1/2q

2 mp eggs .99-cw

3 dannon oikos 1.14- $1/3q-ibotta

2 soft soaps 3.02-$1q each

1 quattro razer 5.69-$4q

4 hotpocks $2=$8- (2) $1.25 q catalinas- $1/4 target q -cw

2 country crock butter 2.14- (2) 70 cent q- 50 cent off 2 target q

1 medal flour FREE with country crock purchase

4 cerave lotion/ointments 3.59 b3g1free-(4) $3

total 38.87-used giftcards from transaction #1= paid 8.34

got back $10 gc for food, $5 gc for personal care, $4.14 for cw malfunction, $1ibotta.

#3 

2 soft soaps 3.02- $1q each

4 tresemme gels 3.89- (2)$3/2q

total 21.60 minus coupons $13.60.used gc from #2 to pay so free. 

Got back 1 $5 gift card for person care, $5 for tresemme. 

#4

2 softsoaps 3.02-$1q each

4 tresemme gels 3.89- (2) $3/2q

total 21.60 minus coupons = 13.60. used gc from #3 to pay. oop 3.54. got back $5 gc for personal care. $5 gc for tresemme.

#5

1 extra gum 99 cents-cw

1 mp fruit snack $1-cw (both these items were added on since my total wasn't at $50 yet)

2 simply balance berry juce 3.39-cw- (2)75cent q for juice

3 justin almond butter packets 1.17 each

1 smuckers jelly 1.98

1 MP PB 2.04-cw

2 best foods mayo-cw-$1q each

4 MP tomato sauce 39 cents each -cw

2 udi's steak,rice burritos 2.99-cw-$1q each

3 milks 1.99-cw

2 mp dozen eggs 99 cents-cw -$4 off $20 purchase of Market pantry, archer farms, or simply balance,

1 mp large eggs 2.99- Free eggs coupon up to $2.49 with purchase of 2 best foods mayos tear pad

1 dannon smoothies-cw-$1q

1 dannon light and fit 3.54-cw

Used gifts from #4. oop $30.98. 

earned $10 gc for food. $3ibotta, $13.64 for cartwheel malfunction and missed coupons <---dont shop with 4 kids.

plus I got my bonus from ibotta for making the march madness so that's an extra $3 in my account. So doing the exact math I believe it was a total of $262.91. then out of pocket $21 since I have a couple of gifts left and my Ibotta app.

So these deals too some time to put together but SO worth it! Hope this helps you inspired to go out and cut those coupons and save those big bucks!

Be Brave!

While faxing at kinko's I seen the sign at how much my pages were going to cost. And for some reason the price was higher. So being frugal isn't only at the grocery store. So I stood in the long line figuring out how much I was overcharged.  When I got to the worker she tells me that the machine is right and I was charged more since there's a "1" in front of the are code. So I explain how my faxes were local so I should have been charged $xx. She tells that I was wrong still so this is when I get some courage and pose the question if the area code I'm faxing from is the same I'm faxing too how is this considered long distance. She looked at my fax numbers and asked for my card I paid with and gave me the credit back. 

I'm not one to walk away from my hard earned money so even the few dollars saved here is a victory for me. So when machines over charge talk to a human and explain what happened. I know we all are depended on machines and how they are never wrong. But in my opinion computers are only as good as their coding. And humans do the coding so there is always room for error. 

So talk to someone if something isn't right.