With Super Bowl XLVI not that far away, fans are starting to make plans for one of the best parties of the year. Anticipation for the big game doesn’t only surround the battle for supremacy between the NFC and AFC, but also the chance to consume large quantities of French onion dip and other salty snacks. This privilege is afforded just a few times a year, so it’s worth making the most of it.

Football fans — both fanatic and fair-weather — aren’t the only ones gearing up for Super Bowl Sunday. Grocery stores in particular view the event as an opportunity to mark up party must-haves, and with at-home food prices on the rise, it’s especially important to shop smart. To keep your pigskin party from breaking the budget, try these six strategies for saving on a winning Super Bowl spread.

1. Chips
White or yellow corn? Original or wavy? Kettle or baked? There are more tortilla and potato-chip options than there are teams in the whole NFL. Even die-hard Tostitos fans should give store-brand options a try. These generic chips are often taste just as good and are quite a bit cheaper. At the very least, compare prices of competing brands before reaching for your go-to.

2. Chicken Wings
It shouldn’t be surprising that the price of chicken wings tends to skyrocket around the Super Bowl. No party is complete without this sports-viewing staple. Avoid paying through the teeth by stocking up on frozen wings weeks in advance. Costs can be further reduced if you buy gift cards for your local supermarket at a discount from sites like GiftCardGranny. Shopping for party supplies this way will save as much as 35 percent over cash or credit.

3. Taters
What are wings without french fries to sop up excess hot sauce and Ranch dip? While frozen frites are the easy way to go, both your budget and taste buds will benefit from homemade potato skins. It doesn’t get much cheaper than a big bag of potatoes, and toppings can be as simple as cheese and salsa.

4. Veggies
Avoid the temptation to buy a prepackaged tray of veggies; you’re only paying for convenience and presentation. Those two features are easily attainable with a sharp knife and a big plate. Pick up a few fresh items that are easy to prepare such as carrots, peppers, celery and snap peas, and arrange them around a sumptuous bowl of dip. Since you choose what stays and what goes you’ll never get stuck with a pile of leftover cauliflower.

5. Dips
Just like veggies, you can get more bang for your dipping buck by going the homemade route. Ranch and French dips require no more than a package of seasoning and some sour cream. Guacamole is as simple as coarsely chopped avocado with garlic salt and lemon juice. If you consider yourself a true dip aficionado and are looking for something more advanced, check out these tasty recipes from The Huffington Post.

6. Drinks
Liquor stores are a madhouse during the days leading up to the game, so consider stocking up on your favorite liquid provisions a week out. Hit up Costco and Sam’s Club for up to 30-percent off grocery store prices. Keg beer is another money-saving staple for big parties. Better yet, make it a BYOB event.

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This week – Tracy has a great craft to help us bring alittle  sun into our homes :)  Plus there’s a wonderful recipe for Cola-Chicken – it’s a super, easy dinner that the whole family is sure to enjoy!

Head here to see this week’s Frugal Family Fun!

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I am always on the look out for yummy recipes – so when I saw this freebie – I thought I would share :)

Head here to grab your FREE recipe book from Jiffy Mixes

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Here is another GREAT magazine deal! It’s FREE and it’s filled with great mommy, baby everything. Grab your FREE subscription to American Baby here. No strings attached, no surveys to fill out – just give them your address and you’re all set!

*This is great one to just fill out and send to someone you know or your local Pregnancy Center!*

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Losing weight used to be the numero uno New Year’s resolution, but the ugly economy has shoved this lofty goal down to second place on 2012 lists. A survey commissioned by Fidelity Investments found 46 percent of respondents said their highest priority was to save more money.

Eating right and exercising are straightforward, however, in comparison to paying off debts and socking away rainy-day cash. Of late, it feels like slipping on a Walmart sidewalk is the only feasible retirement plan; yet the top long-term goal cited in the survey was to make retirement a financial reality.

If solvency and savings are at the top of your resolution list, you’ll want to give a gander at these 15 tips for 2012.

1. Cook It!
It’s the same thing every noon: The gang troops out to pick up lunch from the nearest deli or eatery. Then they get home from work and order out for dinner. What a senseless waste of money! With restaurant prices on a five-year increase in excess of 26 percent, cooking at home is truly the way to go.

Spend a little time on Sunday (perhaps before and during the football games) to cook for the rest of the week. It’s fairly easy to throw together a pot of spaghetti sauce that will translate into multiple meals throughout the week. Besides, one can only eat so much pizza.

2. Be Smart About Your Smartphone
Data and text-message plans eat up budgets faster than 4G connects you to Facebook. If you’ve already teamed up with relatives, call a family meeting and decide what you can live without, then cut back your plan when it’s time to sign another contract. You might even try creating a family plan with friends and neighbors, if the provider will allow you to do so.

3. Cut the Cable
Every year it’s another rate-hike email notification: “Due to increased overhead, we’re jacking up your cable/satellite bill another 15 percent.” Cut these money-hungry mongrels out of your life by switching over to free, streaming videos, sports, movies and television shows.

4. Coupon It Up
Thanks to TLC’s “Extreme Couponing,” all of America knows you can cut your bill with coupons at the grocery store. What you many not realize is these money savers can be used for nearly everything from hotel accommodations to office supplies.

Mobile coupons make the process even easier. Coupon Sherpa, for example, has an app that allows you to access coupons from your smartphone for use right there in the store. When grocery shopping, this same app lets you search for a preferred supermarket by ZIP code, then download coupons directly to your loyalty card. The savings are then deducted at checkout.

5. Use the Public Library
Modern libraries now have DVDs, CDs, video games, e-books and Internet access — all provided for free. Many allow you to place an online hold for an item you want and receive it within days. Naturally, you can also peruse the stacks, but that’s so 10 minutes ago. Check with your library, as well, for discounts on passes to museum, zoos, and other attractions.

6. Go Guttenberg
We’re not talking about the actor Steve Guttenberg here: This is a plug for Project Gutenberg, where you can download thousands of free e-books from a single website. You won’t find recent titles here as only copyright-expired books are posted, but surely you can find something in their 36,000 book selection to catch your interest. Books are downloadable to your PC, Kindle, Android, iOS or other portable devices.

7. Discounts through Gift Cards
There are a couple ways to save here. First, you can go to sites like GiftCardGranny.com and buy discount gift cards, sometimes saving as much as 50 percent off the face value. Secondly, you can exchange gift cards you don’t want for cash at the same site. That way, those cards don’t sit amoldering at the back of your dresser drawer.

8. Gift With Daily Deals
Daily deals are everywhere, from Living Social to your local paper, and they’re a great way to save on gifts, if you use your smarts. There are a lot of deals for spas, teeth whitening, restaurant meals, etc. that are so cheap it must pain the provider to provide these offers. Make sure you read the small print, however. You’ll want to consider expiration dates and whether add-ons are included, like restaurant tips and desirable services that aren’t included in the package.

9. Swap Stuff
There are tons (well, pounds) of websites where you can swap everything from books to children’s clothing. Swap.com is the mother of them all, but check here for a comprehensive list.

10. Sell Your Stuff
Consignment shops are ready to start laying in stock for spring and summer, so now’s a good time to get your gently used clothes, shoes and accessories ready for resale. You can sell other items on Craigslist or, for higher-end items, auction them on eBay. Make sure you read the selling tips for both websites so you can unload your belongings with the least amount of muss and fuss.

11. Host a Garage Sale
Garage sales aren’t just a form of entertainment for the shoppers — They’re a good way to clear out household clutter and make a few bucks. Since larger sales draw bigger crowds, begin organizing your neighborhood now to team up for a Godzilla-size event. Advertising is the most important aspect of a successful sale, so don’t forget to figure in the cost of a newspaper ad. Also check into promoting your sale at websites like YardSaleSearch.com and GarageSalesTracker.com.

12. Get With the Program
Heating and cooling accounts for 42 percent of home energy costs, some of which is pumped into empty spaces and empty houses. Installing a programmable thermostat helps control the temperature and your bill, with savings from 10 to 30 percent. Try turning down the thermostat by just 1 degree during the winter or up 1 degree during warmer weather months to cut an additional 5 percent. Space heaters can also help reduce the amount of heat used in empty spaces.

13. Transfer Your Money Out of Sight
A great way to avoid spending your entire paycheck is to have funds automatically transferred into some sort of savings account. Out of sight is out of mind, right? If you never see the cash, you’re less likely to spend it.

14. Spend Cash Only
It’s so easy to swipe your way to the poor house. Instead, hide those debit and credit cards and give yourself a weekly allowance. It’s human nature to part less easily with cash, so you’re less likely to splurge on little (or big) extras.

Of course, this means you’ll have to make regular trips to the bank, so make sure your account is housed at an institution that doesn’t charge extra for personal services.

15. Ask and You Shall Receive
If you have a credit card, ask for a rate reduction to trim those painful monthly interest fees. Simply call the customer service hotline and tell them that you want an interest rate reduction, or you’ll take your business elsewhere. If the customer service rep is unhelpful, ask to speak to a supervisor who has more authority over such requests. With a $5,000 balance, even a 3 percent rate reduction saves you $150 a year. Do the math to realize the savings potential of a quick call.

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Did you know that Williams-Sonoma has cooking classes? Each month brings a new lineup of cooking classes to your local Williams-Sonoma store. Learn about cuisines from around the world – and close to home – from their talented chefs and culinary experts.

Each 1½ – to 2-hour class includes a cooking demonstration, generous samples of featured dishes and printed recipes to take home.
Class fees vary by store location (SOME ARE FREE).
Participants receive a 10% discount on store purchases the day of the class.
Available at select stores; class dates and times vary by store location.
Space is limited and reservations are required. Call a participating store to register.

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If you are cleaning out your coupons for the end of the year – please consider donating them to the troops!

CouponstoTroops.com takes a slightly different approach than most. They encourage people to send their coupons directly overseas to a military family, and they’re happy to help put people in touch with overseas families.All you have to do is email us at admin@couponstotroops.comor post on our Facebook page.Some programs will tell you to adopt a base from their list of available bases. They have heard so many stories from people that are stationed overseas that often times the bases do not have the volunteer manpower needed to get those distributed and they end up sitting in a back room at the Family Support Center or at the Commissary and end up having to be thrown away because by the time they do get distributed they are older than that 6 month window.
Other programs ask you to mail your coupons to a collection point here in the US and they’ll combine them all and send them over for you.Our position on this is that with a middle man involved, not only does the process delay the delivery of coupons to those who need them, but essentially postage is being paid on the same coupons twice.Once for the clipper to send them to the collection point and then again when the collection point mails them overseas.That is not a money saving endeavor since it is the same postage cost to mail within the US as it is to mail to one of our overseas military bases.

**If you have a favorite place to send your expired coupons – please leave it in the comments so we can all see it!

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Saving & Making Money in 2012: fox10tv.com

Did you tune into the segment this morning!? Here is what we covered:

Was your New Year’s resolution to earn extra money this year for a special trip, put into savings, or purchase something special? We have some AT HOME ways for you to do just that this morning!

Coupon!

Of course this would be our #1 way to make extra money in the New Year! If you want to know more about how to save your family HUNDREDS each month, we are having our FIRST Coupon 101 class of the New Year THIS Saturday at 9AM in Foley. The class lasts about 3 hours and you will leave with all the information we know about couponing. You can head over to EasternShoreMom.com or Studio 10′s website to register and reserve your spot, seating is limited.

Survey Companies We Love

ESM Tip: Go ahead and create a special “survey” email address so that the email opportunities from these companies don’t overwhelm your personal inbox.

Valued Opinions- So far this has been a reader favorite, with several of you scoring the $50 survey opportunities that they offer. They also hold a contest for a $500 Amazon gift card, how cool is that!?

Nielson National Consumer Panel- This one is on of the harder companies to be accepted into but it pays some of the highest rates of an at home survey company. Once accepted, they will send you a scanner for you to scan items that you buy when you shop, and you rack up points for all the items to score gift cards & other items.

Inbox Dollars- This is a reader favorite company because they accept everyone and also give you a $5 bonus when you sign up! You can also earn money for referring your friends, searching the internet, reading special emails, etc. There are many opportunities beyond the surveys that they offer to get money in your wallet!

“Score FREE Stuff” Programs We Love

Swagbucks- Swagbucks is super easy, you use their search engine and earn “Swagbucks” to buy gift cards and stuff from the “Swagstore”. This is where I got all of my Amazon.com gift cards to pay for our entire Christmas shopping last year. Swagbucks is awesome, just join & you will see!

For those of you not in the viewing area, the video of this morning’s segment will be in this post when it becomes available!

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Before the holidays there was endless advice about setting a budget and sticking to a shopping list. Those who ignored the wisdom shared by experts will be in for a shock when credit card and bank statements arrive in the mail.

According to a Consumer Reports poll, six percent of us are still paying off holiday debts from 2010. That means any new purchases racked up over the past holiday season will inflate those interest charges and make paying down the old and new balances more difficult and expensive.

If the bottom line on your bills is looking ugly, it’s time to get a financial-management makeover. Consider these tips for balancing your holiday debt:

1. Double and Triple Up
Multiply your credit card minimum payments two or three times to reduce the amount of interest you’ll end up paying. Merely meeting the minimum means you’ll never see bottom.

2. Now’s the Time to Negotiate
Talk to your credit card company about negotiating a better rate on interest, fees and other expenses. If your interest rate is above 15 percent and they won’t negotiate, it may be time to transfer much of the balance to a lower-cost card. Just make sure you pay off the debt before the interest rate climbs again.

3. Go On a No-spend Diet
Stick those credit cards in the freezer, if you have to, but do what it takes to avoid impulse shopping sprees. Better yet, give them to a trusted friend or family member for safekeeping.

4. Get Couponing
Using coupons for necessary purchases not only saves you money, but the practice helps you make more educated purchasing decisions. You can find online and printable coupons for thousands of stores on CouponSherpa.com, or download their mobile app for instant access to coupons while you shop.

5. Stick to Cash
There’s something about parting with greenbacks that makes us less likely to spend. Keep a budgeted amount on hand and stay away from the cards. Using the envelope system is helpful in tracking your cash spending while working toward financial goals.

6. Cut Back on Luxuries
You’ve had your fun during the holidays; now it’s time to get serious. Cut out the restaurants, nail salon and triple shot mocha latte until the bills are under control. Of course, too strict of an economic diet is as easy to break as a weight-loss regimen. So figure in an occasional, small splurge to keep you going.

7. Set Small Goals
Don’t try to do everything at once. If paying off credit cards in three months means going hungry, you’re biting off more than you can chew. Set smaller, obtainable goals and you’ll appreciate the final results more. For those with multiple credit cards with high balances, try paying down one card at a time to feel that sense of accomplishment needed to push on to the next goal.

8. Meet With a Financial Planner
If you’re barely treading financial water, it’s time to get some assistance. A professional financial planner can help you establish a reasonable plan that won’t leave you paying off debts until next Christmas. You can find a qualified guide through the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards website or you might check for non-profit

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It looks like they have filled up for today, when it reopens we will post the new link :)

RUN!!! And snag a FREE $5 Amazon Credit from Clover iPhone app!

Download the Clover app to your iPhone or Android phone. I just did it, verifying by text massage, and it emailed my my $5 Amazon.com gift card INSTANTLY! WOW!

Then, you can invite up to 5 friends to join Clover (via email, text, Facebook, etc.) and you’ll receive a FREE $5 Amazon Gift Card for each one. You can earn up to $25 in CASH via Paypal or Amazon.com gift cards!

Hurry, this won’t last long I bet!

Thanks, The Dealyo!

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