Kohl's Sale

Did you know that Kohls sells carseats? In addition to the plethora of baby clothing they have a handful of other baby gear. So if you are looking to purchase a Graco Carseat or a Sunshine Kids Toddler seat this is a great place to look. And if you can do it during one of their sales you might be able to get a good deal.

Until October 7, you can use OCTOBER30 for a 30% discount. On a $149 seat you could save $44.

Old Court Giant

Have you been inside Giant lately? It's entirely confusing and my shopping trips are taking much longer then expected. In case you didn't know, you can get a sheet of where everything is located, but it won't be good tomorrow, since they are still figuring things out.

Another tip to save you money while you are there. Use the Scanner while you are going through the supermarket. It will save you time because you can bag as you are going. Also there are special deals under savings for just using the scanner.

During my last trip to Giant I was able to save even more money because as I was scanning, I noticed the scanner pulled up a higher price then what was listed on the shelf. I put the items to the side and then when I got to the self checkout I asked for help. They were able to correct the price for me. I probably wouldn't have noticed the price at the end of my shopping trip.

Menu Planning

The hardest thing I have always found about planning menus is taking all the ingredients I have and planning a menu based upon the ingredients in the pantry.  My goal this summer was to try to reuse the items we already owned and limit our shopping trips to once every two weeks. It means trying to plan more efficiently ahead of time and then trying to actually use the items we have in our pantry.

Tools I used:
Google Calendar. I have set up a separate Google calendar for Dinner, where I list what we are planning for meals over the next two weeks and then it syncs with mine and my husband's blackberries. I put in the notes a link to the recipe if it is online or a note of where I can find the recipe.

The new tool I use is SuperCook. It's probably one of the best tools out there. I list all of the items I have in my pantry and then I put them in. I then list things I don't want to use. So Ham, Pork, Bacon, etc. is on the exclusions list since I keep kosher. The website is great if you are part of a CSA (community supported agriculture). I really had no clue how to cook chard or kale the last few years And this year we were much better at finding things to do with out produce.

Reducing Household Waste

Do you think you could minimize your footprint on the world by only filling your trash can once a month? You could find alternatives to the trash such as recycling, reusing, composting, etc. 

Here is an interesting challenge: One Can a Month Challenge

Looking for Travel Deals

Several people have asked about finding good deals on Travel Tickets. I think the Best nights to find deals are Tuesday Evening to Wednesday. And you have to be willing to jump on the deals. Last week Delta had a sale on Tickets from Baltimore to Los Angeles for $177 (including taxes).

I have customized searches set up on a handful of sites that let me know of the regular places I need to Travel (Los Angeles, Florida) and also the dream locations (London, Spain, Israel, etc.)

Here is a list of the places I use:
Travelocity
Airfarewatchdog
Fare Compare
Airline E-mails
Southwest Ding Alerts