Deal Seeking Mom

tips and tricks

Frugal Feeding Tips for Babies and Toddlers

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When it comes to baby and toddler foods (among many others), manufacturers try to fool us into thinking that convenience trumps price. Don’t fall for this, ladies and gents! You can still totally have the convenience factor while saving some cash in the process.

In my first-ever vlog, I’m demonstrating with three different products just why you should pay attention to the price per oz. (or comparable measurement) on the “convenience” foods versus more traditional packages. Yes, I forced myself to be unfrugal all in the name of teaching my readers to save money! You can all thank me later . . .



So maybe those weren’t the most earth-shattering tips, but I’m willing to bet I have at least a few readers that are guilty of picking convenience over price without stopping to consider just what the bottom line is. Small savings like this can really add up!

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And before I go, there’s one last thing I wanted to mention that I forgot to tell you all in the video – hey, this is harder than it looks! Anyhow, make sure to buy the fruit that’s packed in fruit juice. Babies are sweet enough without any extra added sugar!!!

So what are your best moneysaving tips on baby and toddler foods?

Freebies 101: Protecting Your Personal Information

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One of my readers wrote to me the other day mentioning how she had noticed a significant increase in her spam emails, as well as telemarketing calls since she started signing up for freebies and surveys. This led me to the realization that I haven’t addressed this serious issue on my blog, and I wanted to make sure that everyone is fully informed on this important matter.

If you’ve been on the Internet for a while, it’s easy to fall under the mistaken impression that your personal information is secure. Companies generally post their privacy policies on their websites,and will tell you that your information is safe; however, in reality this is still not always the case.

For this very reason, it’s important to be very selective about what personal information you divulge when signing up for freebies and surveys. I would recommend having a “junk” email address that is used only for this purpose. Signing up for a free Hotmail, Gmail, or Yahoo! email address takes just a few minutes and will protect your personal email address from being bombarded with spam.

Also, I never give out my real home phone number unless I am absolutely sure that it is necessary, which in most cases it is not. Furthermore, if you haven’t registered for the National Do Not Call Registry, now would be an excellent time to do so! In case you didn’t know, you can register cell phones as well.

Some people go so far as to open a PO Box at the Post Office just for freebie purposes, but I haven’t gone to that length yet. Other areas to be selective about are birth date fields, as well as giving out information about your children. And please, never ever give out your Social Security Number on a form or by email.

As always, use your best judgment. If it doesn’t feel right, don’t do it. I try to only post legitimate freebies that are not trying to harvest your information, but you just never know what even large corporations are doing with it. And we’ve all heard the horror stories about databases being hacked.

You’re your own best defense against misuse of your personal information, so empower yourself with these tips!

Make Your Own Clorox Anywhere Recipe

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I fell in love with Clorox Anywhere a couple of years ago when I was part of a year-long test panel for it. I received free product coupons every month so that I could test it out and review it. It’s since become an indispensable part of my cleaning process, yet I just can’t bring myself to shell out $3.29 a bottle for something that is 99.9905% water!!!

I just used up the last bottle from my stockpile the other day, and I’ve really been missing it for all the little things I use it for. It occurred to me that I should just try to make my own, so after a little fancy math to convert the percentages of water and bleach to useful quantities, I came up with this simple recipe.

1 1/2 teaspoons of bleach

22 oz. water

How easy is that? I saved my pretty little Clorox Anywhere bottle to mix it in, but you could pick up any inexpensive spray bottle that holds just over 22 ounces to put it in.

My favorite use for it is to spray down the kitchen table and high chair after dinner. I let it sit to sanitize it while I clean up and load the dishwasher, and then I wipe it down with a dishrag. Letting it sit also helps “unstick” any sticky messes and makes for an easy cleanup all around!

For more Works for Me Wednesday tips, visit Rocks in My Dryer!

Sanity Savers: KitchenAid Kitchen Shears

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I won’t kid you. Being a mom to five children under the age of six is by no stretch of the imagination easy. Rewarding, yes. Easy, a resounding NO! And by far one of the most trying times is dinnertime. Everyone is usually cranky and irritable, and of course, they’re all hungry and want their food immediately.

This is where one of my little secret sanity savers comes in. Oh, I have lots of these little tricks up my sleeve, and I’ll share them all with you in due time, but this is one of my favorites. Some are frugal, and then some are not so frugal, but sometimes Mommy’s sanity is worth more than saving a dime. However, I always do my research to get the best price!

On to my secret . . .


Yep, that’s right – my trusty KitchenAid All-Purpose Kitchen Shears. Of course mine are red to match all my other KitchenAid utensils and appliances! Yes, not so frugal but very durable . . .

I use these babies for every task imaginable. They’re great for chopping up still-frozen chicken for stir-fry meals or other recipes that call for diced chicken or any other kind of meat for that matter. I use them to mince herbs, chop celery, cut up grapes – you name it. And the great thing is you can cut stuff right into the pan you’re using.

But the very best use I’ve come up with is quickly cutting foods up into bite-size pieces for the kiddies. It makes quick work of any meal, including pizza, hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken, etc. It lets me assemble their plates quickly and easily, getting them all served and ready to eat without the dangers of slicing or dicing my finger with a knife. (Who, me? I’ve never done anything like that.) My neighbor was an instant convert when she saw me quickly dice up a slice of pizza for my 2 year old at her birthday party.

I have at least four pairs of the shears so I always have a clean pair. I also have numerous pairs of their other styles, including the herb shears, poultry shears, bent shears, and utility shears, but the all-purpose kitchen shears will always hold a special place in my heart.

For more Works for Me Wednesday tips, visit Rocks in My Dryer!

Using Dollar/Cents Off Coupons to Score Free Items

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Back when I was a novice couponer, I had NO idea that you could get items free using what I would call regular, everyday coupons, i.e., coupons that aren’t marked as getting the item free. Most stores will accept your dollar and cents off coupons on items that are less than the value of the coupon. This happens more frequently than you think if you use a coupon to buy a sample size item or if your store doubles coupons.

For example, you can purchase many Johnson’s sample size items with the $1 off coupons that they frequently have out and receive them for free. You do have to read the fine print on the coupons, because some specifically state the sizes that they’re valid on, but if it’s not stated, samples are fair game!

Better yet, many stores will apply the “overage,” the difference between the value of the coupon and the price of your item, to the balance of your transaction. I never count on this happening, as it can vary from store to store and even cashier to cashier, but it’s always a pleasant surprise when it does happen.

This doesn’t have to apply to just sample sizes. For example, a few weeks ago CVS had Excedrin 24-ct. bottles on sale for $1.99. I printed some $2 off coupons from online and was able to purchase them for free, and in this case the cashier did apply the one-cent difference from each to the rest of my transaction.

This little tip has saved me quite a bit since I learned it, so I love to pass the info on!!!