Debt-Proof Your Christmas {A Review}

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If you’re like me you want to know how to Dept-Proof Your Christmas.  Imagine with me that you look back and your Christmas was the best yet. You think about the past few weeks leading up to it and smile.  It really was how you imagined it could be and you feel joy and peace at knowing that you had the Christmas you intentionally planned for.  Sounds great doesn’t it?

I love that Mary Hunt has written a book full of practical ideas as well as the inspiration we need to get ourselves in the mindset of a debt-free Christmas. Her book, titled Debt-Proof Your Christmas, is amazingly thorough on the subject of celebrating the holidays without breaking the bank.  She shares inspiration for having the right mindsets and developing a plan for your Christmas spending.  Mary doesn’t beat you up with past failure but rather encourages you that it’s never too late to start on a path towards a debt-free Christmas.

“You can decide right now that Christmas for you and your family will not be dictated by the retail industry, which has it’s sight set on your wallet and your wealth.”

Dept-Proof Your Christmas covers everything from budgeting, how to find great deals, homemade gifts, and holiday traditions to all kinds of creative gift ideas and even a section on holiday entertaining.  This book is sure to help you find ways to cut back, be more creative and give more intentionally thought out gifts.  I believe you will find it to be a very helpful book whether you are going into Christmas not sure how to make it all work or you are already on top of the budgeting and planning.

What are some of the ways you plan for a debt-free Christmas?

Available September 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

Disclosure: I received this book for free from Revell to review. Also, the links in this post are affiliate links that allow Mommy Kudos to earn a small commission on any purchase you make with them.  I will only share with you what I use and recommend. I hope you enjoy them!

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Over Undies Back to School Sale

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Over Undies is having a Back to School Sale with $2 off every pair of shorts.

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Ways to Save on Groceries: Salvage Grocery Stores

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My husband likes to call me the deal queen.  I love the title because I work hard to find the best deals and save our family money.  This past year I discovered a salvage grocery store in  my area that helped me take my love of deals to a new level.  What’s a salvage grocery store you ask?  It’s a store that buys overstock or slightly damaged items from grocery stores or manufacturers and sells them at deep discounts.

I did some research online before I went and found out that the one near me has organic items and that did it, I had to check it out!   My local store’s website claims to save you 50% or more on everything in the store.

It was a bit of a treasure hunt as the isles are packed with lots of different items.  They did a good job of sorting by like items though. I was shocked and happily surprised to find a good amount of organic items and even gluten-free items.  Both types of items are usually twice as much as non-organic or gluten-filled items so it was awesome to be able to purchase some of these products at deep discounts. 

You do have to check dates at these types of stores.  A good amount of the items are past their recommended sale by dates.  That doesn’t always mean they are bad but you have to use your judgement as to what will still be good.  They had a plenty of items that were dated a ways out still but they may have been overstocks or the packaging was slightly damaged.  Again, use your judgement and check cans for rust and packages for holes. 

So what did I get? Here’s a list of what I found:

  • boxes of Cherrybrook Kitchen Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies for $.99
  • Garden of Eatin Blue Corn taco shells (12 packs) for $.69 each
  • Stonyfield Farm Organic YoKids Squeezers (8ct)Yogurt sticks for $.99
  • Ian’s Gluten-Free Chicken Nuggets for $1.49
  • Chebe Bread Cinnamon Roll Mix for $1.25
  • Kiss My Face Sudz Body Wash with organic ingredients for $1.49 (these are normally 7.99!).
  • Alba Botanicals Hand wash for $2.49
  • Amy’s Organic Tomato Soup cans for $.99
  •  I also found some gluten-free flours for $1.25

Some of the things I didn’t get but I was impressed that they had are Bob’s Red Mill cake and scone mixes, Kinnikinnick gluten-free bread and cake mixes, organic canned vegetables and soups, Annie’s Bunny Grahams, Kiss My Face tinted moisturizer, organic pastas, Earth’s Best Organic baby food and cereals, plus several other things.

Now, I cannot promise that all of these salvage grocery stores are going to have organic and natural items but it is probably worth a phone call to find out.  If you are trying to save money on groceries and trying to eat organic these kinds of places may be helpful. Even if you aren’t trying to go the organic route they have lots of name brand food items for really great prices.

For a list of Salvage Grocery Stores listed by state check out this website here.  The list was updated recently but make sure to call the store first to verify that they are still open and what their hours are.  Happy Saving!

Do you shop at a salvage grocery store?  What’s the best deal you’ve found?

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