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I have been reading lot on your site — especially about deals, target trips etc. and grocery budgets. I’m wondering when you describe grocery budgets — are you talking about food exclusively? What about things like dish soap, shampoo, and sponges etc. etc? We have 3 kiddos and wondering what you think is a reasonable budget for all that stuff? -a reader
Great question! And it’s one I get asked a lot. I figured it was high time I wrote a post answering this question! 1. Do What Works For You First off, what works for one person won’t work for someone else. Some families will find it works best to lump all of their food and household purchases under the Grocery Budget category. Other families will find it works best to have multiple categories — one for food only, one for household items, one for diapers, etc. Try a few different methods and then figure out what works best for you and stick with that. And don’t feel guilty if you’re doing things completely different than another frugal friend of yours! 2. Start With a Reasonable Figure One of the biggest mistakes people make when trying to lower their grocery bill is starting out with an unrealistically low budget. You can’t overhaul your grocery bill overnight — unless you want to find yourself frustrated and exhausted! Instead, pick a realistic-for-you amount. For most people, this will be somewhere between $20 to $40 per person per week. The amount will vary based upon where you live, what your dietary restrictions are, and whether you include non-food items in your budget. The best thing you can do is to pick a number that is actually doable — even if it feels a lot higher than you’d like it to be. It’s better to be reasonable and actually stick with your budget, than to try to adhere to an impossibly-low budget number and end up overwhelmed and stressed. 3. Slowly Shave 1-3% Off Per Month Once you’ve picked a grocery budget amount that is realistic for your family, challenge yourself to shave 1 to 3% off of it every month. This might seem like it won’t do much good — and it won’t really make a difference at first. But over time, if you continue to consistently shave an additional 1 to 3% off your grocery budget every month, you’ll start to see significant savings. And when you approach it at a slow rate, the savings are much more bound to be lasting. What advice and suggestions do YOU have for this reader’s question? I’d love to hear! photo credit    Related Stories 
This is the weekly list of Free Homeschool Curriculum and Resources compiled by Jamerrill from FreeHomeschoolDeals.com. If you aren't a homeschooler, but you're a parent, teacher, babysitter, or nanny, you'll probably find at least a few useful freebies in this list. You may also want to go through the Educational Deals and Freebies from earlier this week for more. 
Get a free 40 page Thanksgiving Lapbook and a Sampler Mommy Rescue from The Ultimate Homeschool Radio Network. Educents.com is offering several homeschool freebies right now that you’ll want to grab up: Free Fractions Math Lessons Download (save $21.99!), Free Grammar & Vocab Thanksgiving Freebie Bundle (save $12.00!), and Free Free Dinosaur Themed Math Center Printable Set. There are two new sets of free Thanksgiving Worksheets featuring coloring pages and activities from MeetPenny.com and TheHappyHousewife.com. 
Download the free My Gratitude Journal from Motherhood on a Dime! Here is a fun free science game called Habitat Adventure – Exploring Biomes and Taxonomy. Featured on MoneySavingMom.com this week you’ll find a free Thanksgiving PreK-K Printable Pack (Limited Time), free Thanksgiving Pre-K Fun Pack, free Sight Word Shake Printables, free Turkey Feather Matching Cards, and this free Learning to Spell Using Patterns Within Words Printable. 
Get this free updated and expanded Nativity printable set from This Reading Mama! This would go perfect with the 10 Activities to Prepare Your Family for Christmas printable. There’s a free Tinkerbell & Friends Printable Pack available. 3Dinosaurs is offering a free Shelf Elf Printable Pack. If you have older students who are studying WWII history here is a quick overview of the book The Holocaust Through the Eyes of a Child. Advent is just around the corner. If you’re looking for free Advent activities and printables get this free Printable Activity Advent Calendar, and free Ultimate Advent Activity List. Download these free Community Helpers Reading Pack Printables and this free Animal Classification Lapbook. 
With Thanksgiving in just a few days the rest of this week’s list is dedicated to free Thanksgiving-themed resources. Check out The Ultimate Online Guide for Thanksgiving and get this free Thanksgiving Hymn Study. Download these free Thanksgiving Themed Language Arts Lesson Here are free Thanksgiving printables: Get this free Ultimate Thanksgiving Day printable pack at The Better Mom. Mama’s Learning Corner is offering free unit study resources on the History of Thanksgiving. Click here thousands of homeschool freebies! *Don't forget! If you are looking for additional free homeschool resources please check the huge growing list of free homeschool curriculum and resourceson MoneySavingMom.com! Jamerrill is the homeschooling mother of a large and growing family. After seasons of spending $50 or less annually to homeschool her children, she started Free Homeschool Deals in 2012 to help all families afford the homeschool life. You can follow the homeschool goodness on Pinterest and Facebook.  Related Stories 
Guest post by Mary of Giving up On Perfect I’m 30 weeks pregnant and more than a little panicked. The nursery isn’t set up. We don’t have a stroller. And, although we have all the bedding, blankets and burp cloths we used with our first daughter, it’s still packed away in the garage. I could tell you how much time we’ve spent this year trying to sell our house, or demand that you cut me some slack after hearing about our plumbing disasters. But the truth is, I’m not really known for getting things done early. Making lists and plans? Yes. I can do that. But actually working in advance and entering situations feeling peaceful and prepared? Not so much. My only consolation at this point is a cabinet full of toilet paper and toothpaste. I’m not really a couponer. Or a grocery shopping expert. I don’t have the space to be a hoarder (though don’t ask me how long it took to completely declutter my house earlier this year). But when I’m pregnant, I stock up on staples and paper goods like they’re going out of style (especially if they’re on sale). When I was pregnant with my first baby, my cousin told me that she prepared by buying a pack of diapers every time she went to the grocery store. I thought that was brilliant, until my mom pointed out that I’d been seriously sensitive as a baby and perhaps my own child might not react well to certain brands or chemicals. Fine. Maybe buying diapers, wipes, and other baby STUFF wasn’t the best option for me, but surely I could do something! That’s why I decided to stock up on the everyday items we seem to run out of most often, the ones we can’t really live without and would force me out of my house no matter how much I dreaded facing the grocery store in my postpartum state. The best part about stocking up early (aside from letting me off the emergency grocery hook) is that while filling my cabinet shelves with toilet paper, toothpaste, and tissues would cost quite a lot if I did it all at once, doing it over time doesn’t hurt my weekly budget and can actually save me money. It doesn’t cost a whole lot to grab an extra package of this or that on each of my regular trips to the grocery store now, especially if I take a few minutes to check the sale papers and compare it to my “Buy Before Baby” list. Stocking up before our baby arrives will save me time, money and sanity — all rare commodities, if I remember those newborn days right! Here’s what I’ve got in my pantry (or on my list): - toilet paper
- paper towels
- napkins
- storage bags
- paper plates
- aluminum foil
- plastic wrap
- toothpaste
- soap
- shampoo
- deodorant
- laundry detergent
- fabric softener
- contact solution
- cleaning supplies
- dishwasher detergent
- tissues
- pet food and other pet supplies
If I’m really successful in stocking my pantry, I might even add extra jars of peanut butter, boxes of granola bars, bags of sugar, light bulbs, and batteries to my pre-baby grocery trips, too. How do you prepare for a new baby or other big change in your family? Mary Carver is a writer, believer, wife, mom and recovering perfectionist. She writes about her imperfect life with humor and honesty, encouraging women to give up on perfect and get on with life at Giving up On Perfect. Get a free ebook about romance and real life when you subscribe to her blog.
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Natural and Organic Coupons: $1.00/1 Living Now Gluten-Free Product, Free Little Ducks Organic Mighty Oats, $1.50 off Ian’s Organic Chicken Nuggets, and $1.00/1 Ronzoni Gluten Free Pasta. For a full list of Natural and Organic coupons, please click here. Free Alt or Uber Bar: If you shop King Soopers or Kroger, you can get a free Uber or Alt bar. You must take advantage of this offer today, Friday, November 22nd, to get your free bar. Save 60% on Happy Family Organic Foods: There is a fantastic sale with a great selection on Happy Family Organic Foods. Many of these products are at stock-the-pantry low prices! Earth’s Best Organic Pouches Under $1: Pay less than $1 per pouch when you shop the 10% off Earth’s Best Organic sale. KLUTCHClub Box worth over $75 for just $4!: If you enjoy surprise sample boxes, you’ll want to take advantage of this offer for a KLUTCHclub Best-Of Box for only $4! Items included in the box are from top-notch brands that focus on wellness. Save 20% on Essential Oils: Save 20% on Essential Oils plus you can get $10 off any $30 order and free shipping! Costco Grocery Shopping Price List for the Holidays: I went to my Colorado Costco and came up with a Costco grocery shopping price list on everything you might need for your holiday meal! Free Best Selling eBooks: Download the following titles free today: How to Cook Healthy in a Hurry Vol. 2, Superfoods Guide, and How to Use Aromatherapy.
Andrea Green of The Greenbacks Gal is an organic coupon expert. What if you could find affordable organic and eco-friendly products on a budget? Eco-friendly moms need affordable solutions. Andrea finds the best green deals, helping hundreds of families save on the frugal, green lifestyle. Nothing makes her happier than to help people realize being organic doesn’t have to cost more.
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Guest post from Brigette Shevy This was one of our favorite recipes that my Mom would make for special holiday meals! It was a regular on the table for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Valentine's Day. The rest of the year we ate store-bought, unsweetened applesauce – so this homemade applesauce was a treat we always looked forward to! We clipped the original recipe from a Taste of Home magazine many years ago, and have made it countless times since then. 
It pairs fabulously with traditional holiday foods like turkey and ham, plus I love the festive pink color it adds to the menu (am I the only one that likes having a variety of colors on my plate?). As an added bonus, it smells amazing while simmering on the stove! It can also be made up ahead of time, which is really important when we're talking about holiday meals. You won't find many recipes with a shorter list of ingredients! And apples are cheap this time of year. If you're looking for something simple-yet-elegant to add to your holiday menu, you must give this recipe a try! 
Chunky Cinnamon Applesauce - 8 medium tart apples, peeled and quartered
- 1 cup water (I use a little less)
- 1 cup sugar (or to taste – I think it's plenty sweet with half this amount)
- ¼ cup red-hot candies
Cover and cook apples and water in a 5-qt saucepan over medium-low heat for 20 minutes or until tender. Mash apples until desired consistency. Add sugar and candies. Cook, uncovered, until sugar and candies are dissolved, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; cool. Refrigerate until serving. Makes 12 servings (6 cups) Brigette is a full-time wife and mother who is blessed with three amazing bundles of energy (ages 6, 4, and 2). She enjoys music, experimenting in the kitchen, homeschooling her children, finding great deals, long-distance running, and anything chocolate.
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Sign up for the free Moms & Money Summit to be held online December 6-7, 2013. I’ll be giving a workshop on how to Say Goodbye to Survival Mode and live your life with intention and purpose. While the principles I’ll be sharing apply to many areas of life, we’ll specifically be talking about how you can be very intentional with your bank account.  Related Stories 
Today, November 22, 2013 only, Cents of Style is offering Winter Hats for 50% off with free shipping. Use the coupon code 50HATS to get 50% off the regular price—this makes all Winter Hats less than $10 shipped! 
Cents of Style has over 50 styles and colors to choose from. There are cadet style hats, beanies, trappers, and more. This is a great deal on a variety of hats, perfect for holiday gift giving. Don't forget, use the coupon code 50HATS to grab one of these Winter Hats for 50% off plus free shipping. (Note: The link in this post is my referral link. Read my disclosure policy here.)  Related Stories  Order a one-year subscription to Urban Farm Magazine for only $8.99 when you use coupon code MONEYSAVING at checkout.
About Urban Farm Magazine: A guide for those in cities or suburbs looking to become more self-sufficient by growing some of their own food and treadig lightly on the environment in the space they have. Articles include how-to projects, gardening basics, composting, beekeeping, roof-top gardening, preserving and freezing, and time and money-saving ideas. This offer expires tonight 11/22/13 11:59 PM EST. Are you looking for other magazine titles? You can use coupon code MONEYSAVING to save 20% off of most titles at DiscountMags! (Note: The link in this post is my referral link. Read my disclosure policy here.)  Related Stories | 
to download a free application that enables you to read Kindle ebooks on your PC.
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