Summer is here, which means many of us will be traveling with our families! One easy way to save money when traveling is to use ShopAtHome.com when booking all your travel reservations! You can get cash back on your hotel reservations, airfare, and rental cars! Plus you can use some of the restaurant coupons available at Shopathome.com to save when you’re eating out on the road!

Personally, we have saved a TON of money by using ShopAtHome.com and Priceline for hotel reservations when we travel. I love Priceline’s “name your own” hotel price feature. We have been able to get a $145 hotel room for $40 a night! We’ve stayed in several higher end hotels that would otherwise not be in our budget! Other hotel deals we’ve gotten include a $110 hotel room for $50, and a $90 hotel room for $45!

It’s easy to save big money using ShopAtHome.com and Priceline for hotel reservations! Here’s how:

1. Go to the Priceline coupons page on ShopAtHome.com and choose the “name your price” hotel coupon.
2. Once at Priceline, put in your travel details (city, dates of travel, number of travelers) and then decide what Star Level hotel you want (TIP – the higher “star level” hotel you choose, the bigger discount you’ll get, so start with a 3 or 4 star hotel!), and then name your price. I generally start around $40 or $50 for a 3 – 4 star hotel, but you can bid as low or as high as you want!
3. You’ll know instantly if your price has been accepted. If it is not accepted, you can try again with the same bid in 24 hours, or you can try again right away if you change your bid or hotel star rating.

With Priceline’s “name your own price”, you do not know the exact hotel you get until after your bid is accepted, but we have NEVER gotten a bad hotel through Priceline. We’ve found some fabulous hotels that we otherwise would have never known about, and for rates cheaper than a Motel 6! Plus, we’ve gotten 3% cash back on our Priceline stays thanks to Shopathome.com! Now THAT’S a great deal!

Last week, we were lucky enough to spend time with four absolutely amazing bloggers (and one very wonderful baby to boot!) for a few days here in beautiful Denver, CO.

We spent some quality time working (and playing, of course!), and took a picture on our last night to share with you all:

L to R: Erin (CouponCravings.com), Krista (ShopAtHome.com), Jaime (EngineerADebtFreeLife.com), Tara (DealSeekingMom.com), Charlene (MyFrugalAdventures.com), Jaime (ShopAtHome.com)

We had an amazing time and learned so much from these four fabulous women… not only about blogging, but ways that we can work together to make ShopAtHome.com an even better site for all of you!

There are some huge things coming soon on the site, and we’ll be teaming up with each one of these fantastic women as a part of our new programs!

Haven’t been to their sites? Check each one out now:

Tara: DealSeekingMom.com
Charlene: MyFrugalAdventures.com
Jaime: EngineerADebtFreeLife.com
Erin: CouponCravings.com

Today’s Thrifty Chatter features the fabulous Jaime (or, as you may know her, Money Savin’ Momma) from Engineer A Debt Free Life. Jaime and her husband both write for the blog, giving it a fresh take – after all, there aren’t too many male frugal bloggers! – and a fun personality. You can tell just by reading it how excited they are about making the most of their money… and helping you do so with yours! Enjoy the interview!

How did you start Engineer A Debt Free Life?

My husband started the site as a way to keep us accountable for our spending and to share great freebies / deals. I started blogging on Engineer a Debt Free Life (EADFL) about 6 months later.

What has been the most rewarding part of writing on EADFL?

Sharing freebies, deals, and legitimate ways to make money online with our awesome readers! We’ve heard from many readers who been able to have “special date nights” or even get all their holiday gifts for free, as a result of the deals and income earning ideas we share on our site! It’s very rewarding to know we are making a difference in the lives of our readers and helping them save money!

Do you have a funny or interesting story about something that has happened because of your blog?

We post lots of freebies on our site, so we sometimes get people who leave comments with their full name and mailing address, because apparently they think we are the ones who are mailing the freebies directly to them!

How have you used ShopAtHome.com to save money, and what is your favorite store to shop from when you use ShopAtHome.com?

Before making an online purchase, I always check to see if cash back is available through ShopAtHome! Our favorite store to shop at is Target – ShopAtHome offers a great cash back rate and coupons for Target, including lots of special promotions when Cash Back is increased for Target! It’s great to be able to get cash back on online purchases we would have made anyway!

What do you think is the best deal you’ve ever found?

Wow, there is no way to name just one! We are *always* finding freebies and deals on something new!

If you could only give one piece of advice to someone who is just starting to coupon and save their money, what would it be?

Track your spending! Start by creating a monthly budget and stick to it! Track every single purchase you make, no matter how big or small, to see where your money is really going each month!

Any last comments? Let our readers know!

Thanks to Shop at Home for the opportunity to help us all save money on our everyday online purchases! We’d love to invite everyone to stop by our money saving website and be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter. We’ll help you find more great deals, and some hot freebies too!

Thanks so much to Jaime for taking time out of her very busy life – especially after the very recent addition to the family – to talk with us here at ShopAtHome.com! If you’d like to be interviewed as a part of ShopAtHome.com’s Thrifty Chatter series, email me at blog@shopathome.com for more details!

Irish or not, who can resist the fun that is St. Patrick’s Day? Between festive wear, shamrock crafts and kid-friendly reads there’s plenty of ways to spread green cheer with your little leprechaun.

Green Gear

No St. Patrick’s Day is complete without some green in your wardrobe – and this especially applies to kids. First stop for affordable holiday tees: Old Navy.  I love the Daddy’s Pot Of Gold shirt for the wee lasses (it shimmers… everyone say “ooooh”) and the Mom’s Good Luck Charm is perfect for every little one. At $7.50 a pop (plus 5% cash back from ShopAtHome) you can feel okay making this purchase even if your little one only wears it once or twice. If you insist on being more practical, a classic green polo or striped tee is perfect for the holiday.

Get Crafty

Anyone who knows me will agree that I am a bit challenged in the craftiness department. I just don’t have that gene. But, with a little inspiration even I can engage the kids in a little arts and crafts project.

Here’s an easy one that you can do with little to no skill and very few supplies: cut a piece of green construction paper into the shape of a shamrock. (If you’re as lame as I am, you can even print out a shamrock shape to use as a guide.) Have your toddler find green items from magazines and catalogs – he’ll love ripping the magazine up and you’ll love that this doesn’t require having actual craft supplies on hand – and then glue them onto the shamrock. I freely admit, this will not wow the neighbor when it’s hanging on your fridge, but it will cost next to nothing and is fun. And, of course, if you have actual crafty things, have your toddler decorate his shamrock with green glitter, felt, tissue paper or pipe cleaners. You can even raid your kitchen for green goodies like Fruit Loops.

Speaking of the kitchen, I prefer to eat my way through holidays so another great way to get your kids involved in St. Patrick’s Day is baking and decorating cookies. Grab an affordable shamrock cookie cutter, green food coloring, icing and sprinkles and you have an afternoon of messy fun with your kids. And, of course, all the fun that comes with eating your creations.

There are lots of amazing resources for crafts with kids online so my lame festive ideas are just a jumping off point.

Books o’ Fun

If your child is old enough to wonder why you’re suddenly celebrating all things green, there are a couple fun children’s books to consider adding to your library. And, as you know, the great thing about books is they’re relevant and fun to read year-round and regardless of the proximity to a holiday. The Luckiest St. Patrick’s Day Ever tells the tale of the Leprechaun family celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with a parade. The rhyming story and bright illustrations will delight preschoolers and young grade schoolers, in particular. Interactive, lift the flap books are always a hit, and Hooray For St. Patrick’s Day is no exception as your child searches for the hidden leprechauns.

I hope these ideas put a little spring in your step and get you in the St. Patty’s Day mood!

We were so excited to offer something as fun as the Savvy Blogging Shopping Challenge on ShopAtHome.com for all of you who participated in the Savvy Blogging roundtable. There are definitely some fun plans in the works, but this was one thing that really got us excited!

Of the eighty or so bloggers who went to the roundtable, about 27 entered the Challenge. One of them will be receiving $200 in their ShopAtHome.com account because they saved the most money with their $25 Gift Cards. Who was it?

Congrats to Julia of The Frugal Find! She went a little crazy… but it paid off, literally! Here’s what she got:

Ok I’m dying laughing – but here is what I purchased (crossing my fingers won!!):

I purchased (25) Cellulite Massagers from The Body Shop for $1 each (regularly $15 ea)

Here is the math -

25 items at $1 each = $25 Spent
Value = $375
Get 10% Cash Back through Shop At Home
Total Cost: $22.50 for $375 worth of products (that will make a great addition to gift baskets)!

That is a savings of 94% – WOW!!

Big congrats to Julia for this amazing find (and for how much it made all of us here laugh)! You’ll be getting that $200 in your ShopAtHome.com account shortly… great job!

If you missed out on Savvy Blogging this time and didn’t get to participate in the Savvy Blogging Shopping Challenge, don’t worry! There will be more fun and exciting promotions coming up very soon, so keep your eyes open for them!

We’ve covered a variety of topics in this Feeding Our Family for $40 a Week series—from menu-planning to using coupons to  buying ahead. Today we’re going to talk about one final key ingredient to keeping our grocery budget low: cooking from scratch.

While shopping the sales and using coupons allows us to get many products for pennies on the dollar, we save hundreds of dollars each year by baking and cooking from scratch.

Many people assume that from-scratch cooking has to equal dozens of hours each week slaving in the kitchen. On the contrary, it actually can be done with minimal effort.

1) Use a bread machine.

We love homemade bread and cinnamon rolls, but I don’t have hours to devote to this each week. Instead, my bread machine has become one of best kitchen friends!

I rarely use the bread machine to bake the bread, but I constantly am using the dough cycle on it. In less than five minutes, I can have a loaf of bread started. The bread machine does the rest of the work. All I have to do is pull the dough out and stick it in a pan to bake

See our favorite Bread Machine Bread recipe here. We also love this recipe for Bread Machine Buttery Rolls and this fabulous Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls recipe.

2) Cook in bulk.

While once-a-month cooking might intimidate you, cooking ahead really doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Start small: triple a casserole recipe, eat one for dinner, and stick two in the freezer. Or, mix up a double batch of your favorite cookie dough and freeze half of it in cookie dough balls.

Set aside one day a week to prepare food ahead of time and you’ll save a lot of time and a lot of money. Plus, homemade food trumps boxed and processed food every time!

You can see some of my freezer cooking recipes and successes and failures here.

3) Keep it simple.

Cooking from scratch doesn’t mean you have to have six course dinners every night. I recommend keeping it simple. Find some quick and easy recipes with only a few ingredients and stick to those most of the time.

We’ll often have some Italian Chicken (a bottle of your favorite Italian Dressing poured over chicken breasts and baked in the oven or crockpot), steamed veggies, fruit, and homemade bread (made in the bread machine) for dinner. This whole meal can be put together in less than 20 minutes. It’s nothing elaborate, but it’s filling, healthful, and delicious.

Who says homemade has to take hours?

For this week’s Thrifty Chatter, we’re talking with Amy, the owner of AmyLovesIt.com. Her site is an amazing resource for those of you who are thinking about starting a debt-free lifestyle or just want to learn a little more about saving money. Amy is also a Pastor’s wife, and shares bits of her life and knowledge every day with her readers.

A big thanks to Amy for participating!

How did you start Amy Loves It?

I began blogging in August 2008, and started out writing about my girls and homeschooling. In December, I decided to move into more “serious” blogging. I was discovering the joys of couponing and sale-shopping, and I wanted to help others learn what I was learning. I also felt a call to write and minister to others, specifically other pastor’s wives. I purchased my domain, and began writing at Amy Loves It in March 2009.

What has been the most rewarding part of writing on Amy Loves It?

The most rewarding part of writing on Amy Loves It would be the way I am able to minister to so many people! It is amazing the wonderful people I have met just through blogging. I have made some very dear friends through blogging. I have been blessed in so many different ways. Blogging is just an incredible blessing.

Do you have a funny or interesting story about something that has happened because of your blog?

As I said before, I have been blessed to meet several amazing people because of blogging. The very first blog I ever read was Keeping the Kingdom First. It was so awesome to meet Alyssa in person last March. We continued chatting on Twitter, and now I count Alyssa (and her family) as one of my very best friends. Without my blog, (and Twitter), this might not have been possible.

How have you used ShopAtHome.com to save money, and what is your favorite store to shop from when you use ShopAtHome.com?

I love ShopAtHome! I believe the last store I shopped through SAH was Old Navy, and it was double cash-back day, and I made a TON of money off of my purchase… and I did not spend a lot of money I was thrilled! I am new to SAH, but not new to cash-back sites. I always check before I shop to see who has the best cash-back offer, and many times, SAH is the best!

What do you think is the best deal you’ve ever found?

Oh, my! The best deal I have found? My husband loves the free food and free stuff, but I think the best “deal” I have gotten is going grocery shopping with my two oldest girls. They are 5 and 3.5, and use the terms, “coupon,” and “sale,” frequently when they play. They enjoy going to the grocery store with me and couponing. Both girls are learning the importance of wise shopping and frugal living. That is the best deal I could ever get!

If you could only give one piece of advice to someone who is just starting to coupon and save their money, what would it be?

My best advice to a new couponer and money-saver would be to start slow. Do not try to be a couponing expert on your first trip. Follow the great couponing blogs, and try to do only a few “deals” and scenarios. If you try to do it all on your first trip, it can be overwhelming. By starting slowly, you can learn the tricks of the trade, and you will see your savings grow with every grocery shopping trip.

Want to be interviewed for an upcoming Thrifty Chatter? Email me at blog@shopathome.com!

Wow!

It is over, can you believe it? The shopping craziness and hustle and bustle has finally come to an end.

Let’s all take a deep breathe. Breathe in…..1, 2, 3…..OK, Breathe out!

Don’t we all feel better?

I hope so. I truly hope you have relaxed and caught your breath, because it is time to start again! I am serious, to save the most you need to start NOW!

For my family, we save thousands a year by doing all of our shopping before the Holidays.. As soon as we are through the season, I sit down and prepare. And, if you also follow a few easy steps, you will find you can save an immense amounts of money next year, too.

So, let’s begin:

1. Create a list: This will keep you from overspending when you find a good sale. Keep your list on you at all times ( I personally have my spreadsheet saved on my computer and then keep a copy in my purse with me always ).
Sit down an put together a list of everyone you need to buy a gift for in the next year. Of course, you can mark down family members, but don’t forget teacher gifts, coach gifts, kids birthday parties, employee gifts, etc.
Next, mark down next to each person the occasion. So, if you need to buy a gift for a Birthday, Christmas and a Wedding for that person, list them three times w/each individual occasion after their name. Remember, if your children go to birthday parties to buy a few extra gifts for the random school friend parties they get invited to each year. And, what about the gifts you donate around the Holidays.

Above is a photo of my daughter giving her $25 valued gift to a 5 year old girl this Christmas. She was so excited. I paid $6.24 for it!
After each occasion, designate an amount you want to spend on the gift at full price. So, if you would normally get a $50 gift for a wedding, write that number down. If it is only $25 you spend for weddings, then mark that instead.
Finally, leave spaces to mark down what you bought, how much you spent, the saving percentage and the amount saved. Tracking your savings is very inspriring!

2. Once you have your list created, the next step is to decide your savings goal. For me personally, I always try to buy 75% or more. So, if I know I want a $50 gift for a wedding, I will end up spending $12.50 instead. If I want to spend $100 on my child for Christmas, I will instead spend $25 instead. I am comfortable with 75% off and know I can usually meet this goal.
If you are new to sale shopping, you may be more comfortable with a 50% off goal or even another number. But, whatever percentage goal you set for yourself, try to consistently find items in that savings range. If you know your goal, it is easier to meet it and finish your list.

3. Shop regularly! I know, ugh, who wants to think of shopping right after that mad Holiday rush! But, seriously, this is the best and quickest way to meet your goal for the year. I have a few favorite stores and then watch online for other great sales. Personally, I do very well at Target and JcPenney. On top of that, both of these stores are very close to my house, so easily accessible to me.
Think about your life. What stores do you enjoy shopping the most, are easy for you to get to and would have gifts you would feel comfortable giving. Once you shop at store on a regularly basis, you know where the clearance items are located. I try to run into my favorite stores quickly each week ( at least every other week ).
For me, I can run into Target and back out within 10 minutes. I only go down all the end cap of the aisles because I know that is where their clearance items are. They will usually have a few shelves in each department and I can quickly eye ball or go thru the shelves to see if there is anything 75% off.
If I find items I like, I pull out my handy list to see who it would work for as a gift. If I can match it up with someone, into my cart it goes. Yay! Another person marked off the list.

Last year, I hit the 75% off Target toy sale and stocked up on gifts for all of 2009 and am already half done for 2010. We had carts full and I split this with my family. We all went thru it later that day and split it up so that not only was I done, but so were other members of my family.

4. Utilize coupons, customer newsletters and discounted gift cards. These methods will save you more and can often bring you to your savings goal if the original sale price doesn’t meet it.
Personally, I keep a portable coupon filer in my car at all times. As coupons come in the mail, the Sunday paper, etc I immediately put them in my file. I alphabetize it by store so as I pull up to any store, I can immediately check quickly for coupons and take them in with me.
One of the best methods to get coupons is through store newsletters ( e-newsletters ) and loyalty programs. Even if I don’t shop a store regularly or for myself, I will still sign up. Often I can get great coupons that I can match with sales and get gifts for others.
$ off $ coupons are a great way to get almost free gifts. When stores send out $10 off $10 coupons or $15 off $15 you can walk out with items that are on sale for close to that amount. When you stack the savings from the sale with the additional money off from the coupon you will be well below your savings goal.
Since you will be planning on signing up for every e-newsletter and loyalty program available, I highly suggest opening an email up for strictly newsletters. This allows me to keep my emails from stores and manufacturers separate from my personal email. I can log in quickly to check deals daily.
And finally, don’t forget to use discounted gift cards. If you missed my previous post on the benefit of shopping with discounted gift cards and where to find them, you can click here to read the article.

5. Finally, keep those receipts! Most stores will do price adjustments for a set amount of time.. On average, it seems to be 1 to 2 weeks. I have an envelope I keep in my car marked with the month on it. As I get back in my car from shopping, I put all receipts in there. That way, when I go to a store and if the item I bought got marked down even lower, I immediately go get my receipt and wheel over to customer service to get the difference back.
If it is past the price adjustment period, I buy the product again at the new lower price ( make sure the SKUs match ) and then go to customer service and return it with the older receipt. Stores usually have a longer return policy than price match period, so this method can be used much longer. For returns, I have found three months to be about the norm, but please check your store for specifics.

Some of the questions I get asked often are how to I keep my kids happy and get them what is on their list. My eldest is now 7, and is pretty specific about what he wants.

But, I am also straightforward with my children. They each get to ask Santa for one gift. And, they know the rest of the gifts come from Mom/Dad, grandparents, etc. It isn’t hard to do, considering all the kids cartoons only show Santa bringing one toy per child.. Thankfully! This year, my son wanted Lego City. My daughter wanted a specific doll. My 2 year old wants Candy Canes (hmmm…that one will be easy).

Because I know that I want my kids to get their wish from Santa each year, I set aside part of their budget for whatever their specific gift may be and then try to get it as low as I can around the Holidays. So, for my son’s Lego’s I got them Buy 1 Get 1 50% off this year. That is no where near the savings I target, but I am OK with that because I had that money set aside and my overall total for the year is at my goal.

Does anyone else have any helpful tips? What about stores that you shop regularly and find great deals (please share!)

Here is to a successful shopping year in 2010!