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Save Money This Summer + Have More Family Fun

May 23, 2018 by Rachel 21 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #GiantEaglePerks #CollectiveBias #cbias

It’s hard to believe that Summer is just around the corner. Preschool has officially ended, our Spring activities are wrapping up… and I’m in disbelief that I’ll soon be on maternity leave for baby number 3!

One of many things that has had me nervous about this round of maternity leave is that I am no longer working in a full-time position. Which means my ‘leave,’ much like the maternity leave of most women in this country, will be unpaid. Which has made me get insanely creative, budget-wise, these last 9 months!

Because, believe it or not, I’m still planning for my family to have a pretty awesome Summer of fun. One of the ways I’ve been amping up our Summer spending budget is by simply doing the same things I already do everyday!

1. Shop for groceries, as usual, at Giant Eagle or Market District, using my Giant Eagle advantage card! 

Giant Eagle has long been my go-to place for groceries, but with their recent price slashing on everyday items, I’ve been scanning my advantage card even more frequently — and earning fuelperks+ — which quickly add up to savings at the pump and savings of up to 20% off groceries!

I’m lucky that Miss Remy is a really big fan of our frequent shopping trips! Ha! She loves filling up our cart with all of her favorites — yes, even those darn baby food pouches still make an appearance in our cart every once in a while! But how do I say no when it’s healthy AND helps me earn perks!?

Regardless of how many times we end up at Giant Eagle each week, it truly is helpful to see the savings pile on for future purchases, whether they be on more groceries or on a tank of gas!

2. Plan all of your meals — not just dinner!

When I first started meal planning, I was only planning out our dinners. I would (incorrectly) assume that we would have leftovers from dinner for lunches the next day. Not exactly. Either the dinner would be consumed by two tiny, children-sized vacuums at dinner; or they would have zero interest in eating it for lunch the next day.

Instead of heading out for donuts in the morning or a fast-food lunch, I started to really think about easy things I could keep at home for these meals. So in meal planning for dinner, lunch, and breakfast, we have seen a huge savings in our overall budget!

Often times our breakfasts consists of cereal, either hot or cold, and our lunches consist of fruits, veggies, crackers, and cheese (what can I say — my children are just like me!).

3. Purchase gift cards at the checkout for everyday expenses — like home improvement projects, travel, or clothes!

Whenever I know that I have a purchase to make, whether it be at Target or if we’re going out to dinner at Chipotle, I’ll go to Giant Eagle and purchase a gift card so that I also earn fuelperks+. I mean, why not, right?! I’m already going to buy the kids clothes at Target, I might as well also earn some perks from it!

The gift card selection is so big that nearly everything we need to purchase, whether it’s those darn kids clothes (because they just continue to grow nonstop) or items for the home or car, can benefit from a gift card purchase!

4. Fill up the gas tank while running your errands and scan your advantage card.

It’s inevitable. I will need to fill up the gas tank in our new minivan at least once a week — it just doesn’t have the same fuel economy as our smaller car. So when I do hit the pump, I go to GetGo and scan my advantage card first! Not only is their gasoline incredibly competitive as far as price is concerned, but in doing this task — which I have to do anyway — I am also earning those fuelperks+!

5. Cut out the cable and sign up for streaming!

In an effort to save a good chunk of change where we can, we cut our cable and switched strictly to streaming-only. My kids will watch TV entirely too much, if I let them; but, especially during the Summer, there’s just really no need to be tied up to the TV.

Sure, it’s nice to have for a rainy afternoon or, in my case, those soon-to-be late night feedings; but it’s also totally unnecessary. And do you know how inexpensive Netflix is!? Bonus — you can purchase Netflix gift cards at Giant Eagle and earn those extra fuelperks+!


As I continue watch the savings roll in, we’ll be treating our family to a staycation that we so desperately need. My husband will be taking some time off work this Summer in an effort to help our family adjust to life with a new little; but we’re also going to indulge the older kids with trips to the movies, playing at the trampoline park, and a trip to the north coast (that’s the islands off Lake Erie, for those of you not in the Midwest 😉 ).

What would YOU do with extra savings

 

from Giant Eagle’s fuelperks+ program

 

this Summer ??

 

Filed Under: #MomLife, ad, brews + food, busy mom, children, cleveland, deals, family, lists, maternity leave, mommyhood, money saving tips, Ohio, shop local, sponsor, tips + tricks Tagged With: #MomLife, ad, akron, brews + food, busy mom, children, cleveland, deals, family, money saving tips, ohio, shop local, sponsor, tips + tricks

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Karen

    May 23, 2018 at 9:39 am

    These are fabulous tips! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  2. Harmony, Momma To Go

    May 23, 2018 at 9:44 am

    Wow – this looks like a great way to earn points – good tip on the gift cards – BUT we don’t have this store in NY (Never heard of it actually)

    Reply
  3. Annette Dattilo

    May 23, 2018 at 11:08 am

    I love hearing new ways to save. Thank you for sharing…and congrats on baby #3 soon to be. 🙂

    Reply
  4. Ashley

    May 23, 2018 at 11:47 am

    Great tips.. With a toddler we are always looking to save some money!

    Reply
  5. Jenny

    May 23, 2018 at 1:22 pm

    We have something similar to this on the East Coast but I have never thought to do this. Thanks for this piece I might just have to get a move on and do it!

    Reply
  6. Leigh Suznovich

    May 23, 2018 at 3:39 pm

    I love these tips, I’m always looking for ways to save!!

    Reply
  7. Davi

    May 23, 2018 at 4:10 pm

    These are great tips. We also plan each and every meal and our snacks. My kids call it their food budget since mom makes it a spreadsheet just like dad does the finances.

    We don’t have many great grocery stores that slash prices but every once in a while Publix will have a discount on gas gift cards with a $65 purchase of food.

    Reply
  8. Diana Tidswell

    May 24, 2018 at 3:16 am

    Such a great tips and I love learning new ways in saving money. Thank you for sharing this with us.

    Reply
  9. Asma

    May 24, 2018 at 5:45 am

    I like the idea of buying gift cards!!!

    Reply
  10. candy

    May 24, 2018 at 9:33 am

    I think it is good you have gotten insanely creative in ways to save money. There are always ways to save money we just have to be motivated.

    Reply
  11. Kate Andrews

    May 24, 2018 at 12:52 pm

    I’ve just started really looking at what credit cards I have and use and rewards cards are definitely the way to go. This one looks pretty promising!

    Reply
  12. Amanda Martin

    May 24, 2018 at 3:58 pm

    Such great ideas! Planning meals is BIG in our house and saves so much!

    Reply
  13. Leslie

    May 24, 2018 at 7:00 pm

    The grocery perks card is a great way to get “free money”. I watch for the gift cards getting extra bonus points and check to see if there is anything on my list that earn bonus points. It is amazing how quickly you can get enough points for gas, groceries and sometimes even restaurants and other stores.

    Reply
  14. Patricia

    May 25, 2018 at 5:31 am

    I wish we had a Giant Eagle near us, but I love all these great money saving tips!!

    Reply
  15. Kim S

    May 25, 2018 at 3:53 pm

    That’s great to be able to do one stop shopping, gas, gift cards AND save money !

    Reply
  16. jessica

    May 25, 2018 at 4:43 pm

    great tips! Give me all the fuel points!

    Reply
  17. Nicole Banuelos

    May 25, 2018 at 8:00 pm

    I love saving money and these are such great tips to do it! Thank you!

    Reply
  18. Eryka

    May 25, 2018 at 10:05 pm

    yas, such great tips!!

    Reply
  19. Danielle

    May 28, 2018 at 9:02 pm

    I love all these tips. We could all use them.

    Reply
  20. Shannan Panganiban

    May 29, 2018 at 10:50 am

    We drive a TON so this is awesome! Thank you!

    Reply
  21. This Messy Season

    June 1, 2018 at 9:49 am

    These are such helpful tips! Thank you thank you thank you!

    Reply

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