20 Things On Sale In January

January is a time for people to start the new year on the right foot. Some people are resolving to lose weight. Some people are going to read more. Some want to travel the world and some want to spend more time with family.

But, if you are one of the thousands resolving to save more money this year, then this is a great place to start!

[Tweet “20 things that will be on #sale in January! Stock up now for the lowest price! http://goo.gl/yAEbqs”]

Groceries

January is the time of year where people are thinking about Super Bowl parties so be on the look out for deals on foods like:

• Chili
• Velveeta
• Bacon
• Beer rebates (if your state allows)

It’s also National Oatmeal month so watch out for deals on brands like Quaker.

Canned food companies (like soups!) will be giving the winter season one last push for sales as well.

One of the biggest deals in the grocery store is going to be for anything weight loss related. This is going to include products like:

• Meal replacement shakes
• Protein Bars
• vitamins
• supplements
• diet frozen meals

Household

Looking to get a little more organized this year? Awesome because organizing products will be on sale! Find things such as

• planners (This is my favorite planner! I would be lost without it!)
• closet organizers
• plastic totes
• label makers
• calendars
• filing supplies

Another popular New Year resolution is to lose weight or get healthy. Not only can you save on those items in the grocery store, but these kinds of sales will translate into other savings opportunities as well! Think

• Gym memberships (many will waive fees or give a discounted rate)
• workout DVD’s
• workout clothing (Find our favorite and the cutest workout tanks here!)
• equipment such as treadmills or weights

Need a new pair of winter boots? Now’s the time! Coats, snow suits, boots, scarves and hats will all begin to go on sale along with winter related activities like sleds, snowman kits, snowboards, etc.

Dreaming of a new piece of furniture? In January the stores are making way for the New Year’s inventory and will begin to cut the prices of last year’s models!

Speaking of last year’s models – electronics are another item that stores will begin to put on sale. If you don’t mind last year’s version this is a great time to save some money. (I just ordered this Blu Ray player for $57! It’s factory refurbished and a prior year’s model, but I saved BIG time!)

Bedding and bath towels are going to be on sale at the stores! This is a great time to pick up a few new things for your house or to add to your gift closet. Many retailers stock up on these items for the Christmas season and the excess stock is usually marked way down after Christmas!

Office supplies will generally go on sale in January as well. Although they won’t be as cheap as they are in August around back to school time, if you are needing to replenish on something this is a good time.

Don’t forget to check your store to see if they have any seasonal clearance left over! Toys, ornaments, trees, even plastic baggies and candy can be found!

[Tweet “29 foods in season during January! #GetHealthy #EatClean http://goo.gl/yAEbqs”]

Produce in Season during January

• Apples
• Avocados
• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Celery
• Collard Greens
• Garlic
• Grapefruit
• Kale
• Kumquats
• Lemons
• Lettuce
• Mushrooms
• Mustard Greens
• Onions
• Oranges
• Peanuts
• Pecans
• Radishes
• Spinach
• Star Fruits
• Sweet Potatoes
• Swiss Chard
• Tangerines
• Turnips
• Walnuts
• Winter Squash

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Amazon is one of my favorite places to shop. There isn’t much that you can’t get on Amazon! With lots of categories, competitive prices, low shipping (and free shipping!), everything you could ever need is right at your fingertips. But did you know that Amazon has lots of different programs that you can join to make the most of everything Amazon has to offer.

Here is a quick guide to Amazon’s programs!

Amazon Prime is probably Amazon’s most known program. But there is probably a lot about it you don’t know!

What is it?

Amazon Prime is a members only club that offer’s multiple benefits including:

* Free 2-day shipping on most purchases.

* Prime Instant Video: This will include free online streaming of thousands of movies and television shows.

* Prime Music: Create play lists of your favorite songs. Add songs for free and enjoy ad free streaming of your music.

* Kindle Owner’s Lending Library: Borrow ebooks for free!

* Kindle First: Gain early access and download a new book each month for free!

* Prime Pantry: Get your groceries delivered to your home. In fact, you can load up a large box filled with grocery deals and it can be shipped for a flat rate of $5.99.

How much is it?

Amazon Prime is a yearly fee of $99. Monthly, that comes down to only $8.25 per month. As far as streaming goes, it is actually cheaper than Netflix who’s prices are currently $8.99/month for new members. When you factor in the other perks, it is a great value, if you will use it!

You can also purchase the new Fire Phone and get a free year of Amazon Prime!

Want to test out Amazon Prime? You can sign up here for a 30 day free trial.

How to make the most of it

Make the most of your Amazon Prime account by shopping there! Take advantage of the free 2 day shipping for everyday items as well as gifts. By shopping online you get competitive prices as well as the free shipping, saving you a bundle. Remember, Amazon is more than just books. I’ve bought some really awesome furniture and even a shed for our backyard. And you bet, they shipped for free!

Also, stop downloading music! Use your Prime Music to create your own play list!

Amazon Prime is also a streaming service. If you are already a member, why would you pay for another service? You can watch lots of great shows and movies!

Amazon Mom is a program that isn’t just for moms. It’s been created for parents and caretakers of small children. What does Amazon Mom include? Enjoy 30 days of free 2 day shipping, 20% off diapers when you subscribe and save, other great deals geared towards parents and a free trial of video streaming.

Amazon does great deals on diapers! And add an extra 20% off discount on top of that and free shipping and it’s convenient and financially smart.

Plus, Amazon Mom is free to sign up for!

Are you or someone you know a student who has a .edu email address? Sign up for Amazon Student! It is free to sign up and there are some really great benefits!

When you sign up you will receive 6 months of free 2 day shipping. With Amazon Student you also get the benefit of upgrading to Amazon Prime at a discounted rate of $49 a year. That is less than $1 a week! You can continue your discounted Prime membership for 4 years or until you graduate, whatever comes first.

Amazon released a new program recently called Kindle Unlimited. I subscribe to it and I honestly think it is worth the money!

What is it? For $10 a month you can download up to 10 ebooks at a time on your device. There are tons of participating books to choose from! New members also get a complimentary 3 month free trial to Audible.com which has audio books available for download!

This year my son is required to have an iPad at school. Every night before bed we download books for him to have for the next day’s reading time. School is only about 2 weeks into the year and I think he has probably read and downloaded about 40 books! While we could go to the library and check books out for free, for us at the rate he reads, this is much easier and convenient. Not to mention no late fees! 🙂 And with the free trial for the first 3 months to Audible it’s really a no brainer!

Not totally convinced? You can sign up for a free month’s trial to Kindle Unlimited here!

Looking for tips on how to save big on Amazon? Check out our secret ways here!

Are you ready for a huge number? 4,086. That is the amount that the average American family spends each year on entertainment. The average American family spends $1,367 of that at the movies. That’s a LOT of money! Luckily, I’ve got lots of tips for you to save big on your next family movie night! Here are tons of ways to save money at the movie theater!

Let’s Save On Tickets

Like everything else it seems, prices are on the rise for movie tickets. Here are some ways that you can save on your tickets!

Image by © Royalty-Free/Corbis

Buy your tickets in bulk.

This is my favorite thing to do each year! Close to our home is a Regal Theater so that is where I get my tickets. Each year I purchase a set of 50 tickets.

Pros:

– This is the easiest way to save money on tickets! A ticket to a 3D movie on a Friday night can cost $14. When I purchase my tickets in bulk it costs me $9.50. A regular ticket will cost $10.50 – with buying the tickets in bulk they cost only $8. That is a savings of $2.50 – $4.50 each!

– The tickets don’t expire and you can use them for any movie!

– 50 tickets is good for 25 date nights! 25 dates that are prepaid. If you don’t think that you can use all of those tickets (don’t forget to keep a few on hand for last minute gifts and for when the PTO calls for those silent auction donations!) go in with a friend! Going in with a friend means you each get 25 tickets – which is one movie night a month with an extra ticket left over!

Cons:

– Where we live children tickets are $7.25 for a Friday night movie. At $8 each for the prepaid tickets, it’s actually more expensive. Now, if you are going to a 3D movie, a child’s ticket is $10.75 so you would save $2.75.

– Sometimes it’s hard to come up with an upfront cost. 50 Premiere tickets will cost $400. (You can get a VIP tickets for $7 each, but these tickets will not be good on new releases – you will need to wait 12 days after the movie has come out.)

Have you joined the Ibotta App yet? Sign up here to download it onto your smart phone! Not only will you be able to save on groceries but also at the movie theater, restaurants and many other places! Just take a photo of your receipt (or movie ticket stubs) and the cash will be deposited into your account! It’s free to download! (Sign up here!)

You can even cash out your savings from places like the grocery store and restaurants as a movie theater gift card.

Use Your Memberships!

Movie theaters are giving discounts. You just have to know where to look!

AAA Make sure you check out the AAA website for your local theater to see if they are currently offering discounts.

Students If you have a student ID it could get you a discount!

Seniors Check your local theater to see if they offer a senior discount or Senior Day.

Warehouse Club Store Members Did you know that you can check your local Costco or Sam’s Club to see if they are selling tickets? You can currently get 10 tickets for $84 at Costco. That is $8.40 each (a savings of $2.10 per ticket).

Groupon and Living Social are also great places to check to see if there are any deals on tickets!

Change When You See

If you are able to change when you are able to go to the movie theater on a Monday-Thursday in the afternoon you can save big! Tickets cost about $8.50 each! That’s about 20% savings!

Change What You See

Those 3D movies can really bump up the cost! By going to see a regular 2D movie as opposed to a 3D movie can save you up to $3.50 each! If you have kids 3D movies are really cool, but those glasses are hard to keep on throughout the whole movie! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve purchased 3D tickets and my son wears them through the previews and as soon as the movie starts he takes them off and says “Here Mom!” No more 3D movies for us for a while!

Get Free Tickets

Yes, I said free tickets! Join Recyclebank! Recyclebank is an easy way to earn points for learning about going green. You can then turn your points in for gift cards and my favorite, movie tickets! Earning points is really easy and can be done in a few minutes a week.

Let’s Save On Concessions!

Buy Discounted Gift Cards

Now that we have gotten your tickets at a discount, lets use one of those discounted gift cards to get some concessions!

Where can you get discounted gift cards? Check your local theater! Especially at the holidays, your local theater may offer a bonus gift card or free concessions with a purchase. (Another thing to check for is if they have an discounted snack days. These are typically during the week and may include things like $2 candy or $1 drinks.) (Find out how to save on gift cards here!)

Currently our local theater is offering a free $10 gift card with the purchase of a $25 gift card. That’s almost a bonus 50%!

Discount gift card sites are another place where you can purchase gift cards. Card Cash has movie theater gift cards currently at 11% off their face value.

Use Coupons

Do you have an entertainment book? Be sure to check for coupons before you head out! (Get one here!)

Eat First

And speaking of before out head out, eat before the movies! I’m not saying skip out on the popcorn by any means!! But instead of a large popcorn going in full will make that small size completely satisfying.

Sign Up for Loyalty Programs

Sign up for the theater’s loyalty program! You can earn rewards such as free tickets or free concessions.

Now Your On You Are on Your Way To Savings

Make sure to follow your local theaters on social media to learn about special programs! Kid’s Summer Programs (many theaters will offer $1 movies in the summer!), programs for kids with Autism and other sensory disorders or discounted tickets for older movies.

And remember that friend you shared those bulk tickets with? Make sure to set up babysitting with them. Offer that when they are using their tickets you will babysit their children and when you are on your date you can drop off your kids to them. Trading on babysitting is a great way to save!

The movies are a great family activity and date night. With these tips you can easily save 30% (or even more if you trade off babysitting with a friend!)

It’s no secret that grocery prices have been increasing. Luckily, your grocery bill is one of the easiest bills to reduce! There are tons of tricks you can use to lower your bill, but today I’m going to teach you how to save money on meat.

Find Your Stock Up Price

The most important thing you need to know in saving on anything is to know when it is a good deal. Think about it, if you don’t know what a good sale price is, how can really know it is a good deal? This might seem a little intimidating at first, but just take it a few items at a time! Next time you are at the store, pick a few items that you regularly like to purchase and write down the regular price of each item. Then, write down how much they items were on sale for (if they are on sale). Each week, when your store circular ads gets delivered write down the new sale price (again, if they are on sale). After a few weeks, you will see begin to see how to store prices go in cycles.

Knowing your stock up prices and how often your store puts items on sale will help you determine when to buy and how much to buy until the next time that prices will hit your stock up price.

Which brings us to the second tip to save money on meat.

Buy in Bulk

Sometimes I feel like a stockbroker, buy low! When your stock up price comes up stock up!

– Many stores also will sell ‘Family Packs’ that are cheaper per pound. For our family, we just take them home and divide them up.

– Consider buying your meat from a farm. You can purchase a whole or a half of a pig or cow. If that is too much for your family or you don’t have access to a large enough freezer ask family members or friends to go in with you!

– Order online! Did you know you can purchase online? Zaycon Foods is a great place to get really fresh, great meat! You simply sign up and check which products they have available in your area. Then you place your order and drive to your local location to pick it up on delivery day! They seriously have TONS of locations – I bet there is one near you! (You can check here.)

Items are sold by the case (so again, if you need to go in with a friend!) and lots of times you can volunteer to work a few hours on delivery day to earn a credit on your next order! (In the past I’ve seen credits for $15 for each hour worked! Not too shabby!) The meat is fresh (their chicken is no hormones or additives added – LOVE that!) and at whole sale prices. You do have to go home and portion it out and freeze but you save a bundle!

(For more information and to see what foods are currently available in your area visit here.)

Be On The Look Out For Discounted Meats

Even though we buy in bulk, while I’m at the store I like to keep my eye out for discounted meats. You know the ones, with the sticker that says best if used or froze by tomorrow? You can get great deals out there on mark downs! Just be sure to use them that night or pop them in the freezer!

Ask your meat manager if they do their mark downs in the morning or in the evenings. Knowing when to shop can save you a bundle!

Try a Different Cut

Buying boneless, skinless is nice but did you know you can often save a BIG chunk by buying bone in and skin on? Or that if you buyer a cheaper cut of meat and cook it in your slow cooker it will come out nice and tender? Don’t be intimidated by the different cuts of meat. And if you have questions or want suggestions just ask your meat manager or butcher! They are always great for giving advice!

Make Enough – But Not Too Much!

We have a small household – just 3 of us. And I’m going to be honest – we are horrible about leftovers. They get packaged with the best intentions. And then they get thrown away. For us, we don’t need a whole big tenderloin. So when I get home, I cut it in half and freeze it! We have plenty for dinner, but not enough for leftovers. Which means nothing gets wasted! Which means you not only save money on meat, but you save money on all of your food!

Shopping at night?

If you find yourself making a dash to the store at night, check to see if the rotisserie chickens have been marked down! Since these are made daily stores often marks them WAY down later in the evenings after the dinner rush. Our stores will mark them down to 99¢ or $1.99! They are perfect for taking home and shredding to add to salads, tacos, etc for lunch the next day or even dinner!

Cut Back On How Much Meat You Eat

Try implementing a Meatless night or serving the meat as a side dish rather than the main course. (Think spaghetti with a side of meatballs or a yummy salad with some chicken.) You can also try using less meat and adding things like beans or rice to your burgers. Many times no one can tell that you added them!

What are your best tips for saving on meat?

Make sure to check out all of our articles on How To Save On Everything here.

Just a heads up you can pre-order Frozen on DVD or Blu-Ray right now on Amazon! The price is already crazy low! $14.96 for DVD or $22.96 for Blu Ray DVD combo! Remember Amazon Prime and Amazon Mom members will get free 2 day shipping! (Not a Prime member? Sign up for a free trial here.)

I love pre-ordering movies on Amazon! They come with Amazon’s low price guarantee! That means if the price decreases between the time you order it and the end of the first release date you will be refunded the difference! I’m not sure that the price will go any lower (ANYWHERE!) so make sure to pick this deal up while it lasts!

Frozen comes out March 18! Get it here.

If you are not a Prime member and would like to get to the free shipping here are some more fun Frozen items (if you are a Prime member they all ship free!):

Frozen Golden Book $2.74

The Frozen Soundtrack (includes a free MP3 Version as well) $14.88

Frozen Sparkle Anna Doll $14.99

I don’t share as many deals as I used to but this one caught my eye! With all of the snow and below zero temperatures we have been inside by the fire! We rented Turbo and Josh loved it! And now on Amazon you can get the Turbo Blu-Ray/DVD combo pack for only $10 shipped with your Amazon Prime/Mom account!! (No Amazon Prime? You can sign up for a free trial here.)

The holidays are coming which means extra shopping! During the holidays we buy extra gas for traveling to see our friends and family, extra grocery shopping for feeding guests and for our large holiday meals and don’t forget all of those holiday gifts! To help combat these extra costs, I use a lot of gift cards! In fact each new year, I start collecting gift cards and put them in a drawer. By the time the holiday season rolls around it’s like, well, Christmas!

Free Gift Cards? YES!!

One great way to save on gift cards is to get them for free! Here are a few of my favorite places to earn gift cards throughout the year.

– Swagbucks is probably my favorite pace to earn gift cards! When you sign up for Swagbucks (it’s free!) there are all kinds of things you can do to start earning your swagbucks. You can search (like you would on Google), answer a daily poll question, answer surveys, print coupons, play games, watch TV and so much more. I made Swagbucks my home page so whenever I turn on my computer I’m reminded to do a quick search. I honestly don’t put a lot of effort into collecting my Swagbucks. I typically search each day, earn Swagbucks and call it a day. A $5 Amazon gift card is only 450 Swagbucks! I am able to get at least (1) $5 gift card each month. I know, $5 doesn’t sound like much but I just add the gift card to my Amazon account and by the time Christmas rolls around I’ve got $60!

– Recyclebank is an online program that teaches you and rewards you for being green. You can trade in the points you earn for coupons, magazines or you guessed it, gift cards! I trade mine in for Amazon or iTunes gift cards or for movie tickets. Points are easy to come by and easy to get. They honestly only take a few minutes to get your points!

– Viggle is a free app for your smart phone. If you watch TV and have a smart phone you should be using this app! I use it each day during our TV time and have been earning at least $20 a month in gift cards! Choose from a multitude of places to redeem your gift cards for from CVS to Old Navy to just about everything in between! Plus, if you have more than one smart phone in your home you can really rack up the points!

Gift Cards at a Discount

One of my favorite ways to get gift cards for a discount is at CVS! Often they will have deals on gift cards in a promotion where if you spend say, $100 you earn a $10 Extra Care Bucks. Usually you can also get them in packs of (4) $25 cards. It makes great gifts and I saved $10!

Kroger also will occasionally have digital coupons for gift cards. Combine that with their fuel promotions and you can get a pretty good deal! For example, a few months ago I downloaded a coupon for $10 off a $100 iTunes gift card. Kroger was doing 4x the fuel points on gift cards as well. So I paid $90 for the $100 card plus got 40 cents off per gallon of gas (up to 25 gallons).

Gift Cards as a Bonus

Sometimes you can earn gift cards with your credit card purchases. I’m not a big credit card person, but they can help your credit if you can pay them off at the end of each month. So I have an Amazon Visa card where I earn points on every transaction I make. I use it to pay for all of our gas (2 times the points!) and groceries. (Credit tip: It’s good to only use about half of our credit limit. It shows you have credit available and will help raise your credit score). I generally earn $10 worth of Amazon credit each month (plus, you earn $30 when you sign up). So helping my credit and earning a gift card for paying things I have to pay anyways. Sounds good to me!

I like to shop for gifts all year. Many times I’ll see things that would make a great gift and it comes with a promotion! For example, Amazon had one of the new Marvel Lego video games for $49.99 (normal price) but you got a free $10 gift card with your purchase. Newly released video games aren’t likely to be discounted so getting the gift card back was a great deal!

Also, check for gift card promotions from banks (for opening a new account) or when you purchase a cell phone. There are lots of offers out there that reward you for things you would normally purchase anyways! Take advantage and save those gift cards for the holiday season! You would be amazed at how quickly it will add up!

Find out how to save on everything here! There you will find money saving articles on everything from ‘how to save on Amazon‘ to ‘how to save on clothes‘ and everything in between!

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