10 Budget & Time Friendly Home Workouts

Source:StockSnap

I know a couple of the biggest reasons people don't workout out is because of lack of time and costs of gym memberships, workout dvds & equipment. I was one of those people. As a working mom of two, when was I suppose to find time to go to the gym? Especially as my husband would be working until 8 pm. I went to evenings at work then to overnights and I found myself tired all the time. I was ready to cuddle down right after tucking the kids into bed for the night.

Since I have started my journey I have found numerous fitness people that share some awesome workouts with the world free of charge or very in expensive.  I love that there are also so many great workouts 30 minutes and under. The most popular workouts are HIIT workouts (High Intense Interval Training). These workouts are great to squeeze in either before work, after work, before dinner or where every you can squeeze it into your schedule.

Here are some of my favorite people to check out depending on what kind of workouts you are looking for: (The links will open up into YouTube channels)

Erin Motz - Bad Yogi

Betty Rocker

Fitness Blender

Loinsgate BeFit

Popsugar Fitness

Yoga with Adriene

Casey Ho ~ Blogilates

Tara Stiles

XHIT Daily 

Jessica Smith TV

Disclaimer: Please check with your doctor before starting any workout program, never sacrifice form for reps, only push as far as your body can handle it. 
 

~*Disclaimer: This post was written by Genuine Jenn. All opinions are honest and my own.*~

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Homemade Healthy Hummus

For lunch today we are having squished beans.

That is all hummus is…squished chickpeas with a bit of flavouring. Hummus is easy to make at home and you will know exactly how fresh it is.

Big cans of chickpeas are cheap to buy and easy to store. The other ingredients are olive oil, lemon juice, and peanut butter. You can add seasonings such as chopped garlic, roasted red pepper flakes or curry. Hummus sounds very exotic but it a very quick and healthy meal idea. It packs well for school lunches too.

I drain my chickpeas first and rinse them in a colander. I prefer to do this to reduce the sodium content in my food but if you don’t rinse, that is also okay. I use my stick blender to mush the chickpeas, adding a dribble of water and a drab of olive oil until it is they are blended smoothly. I then add a glop of lemon juice and my seasonings. My final step is to swirl in a tablespoon of peanut butter.

I serve my hummus with torn up chunks of warm pita bread for a simple, low fat lunch. I also like hummus as a dip with crackers or carrot and celery sticks.

The flavour possibilities are endless. Try adding some cooked sweet potato or spinach to give it a little extra veggie punch.

Today's post is a guest post by my friend JoAnne, she is a back to basics homesteader type. She cooks from scratch and eats healthy food that is in season. She can squeeze a penny until it squeaks and has learned to need less, instead of buying more. Watch for more great posts from JoAnne in the near future.

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Checkout 51 iPhone App Review

I am always looking for ways to save money on our groceries, from coupons, to shopping sales, bulk foods and meat orders. We usually stick to our small food budget for the week and still have plenty of tasty food. Recently I was introduced to another way to save money while out grocery shopping. This is a bit different from the usual and it is only available to Canada and at the moment iPhone users - Checkout 51.

This is a user friendly app that has specials each week starting on Thursday at 12am EST. Getting started is very easy, add the app to your iPhone, sign in with a Facebook account or make an account with an email address.  

Check each week for the products that are available to save money on. It is sort of like couponing but you don't clip you just need to save your receipt. Then you upload a photo of your receipt in the app and check off which products are on that receipt. Each product can be claimed only once during the time frame (Thursday - Wednesday). You can use it even if you use a coupon in store or the item is on sale, add bonus!

When your account hits $20 you will be mail a cheque!

This week you can save on the following:  

• Delissio pizza, any variety, excludes garlic breads. Cash back: $1.50
• Tostitos Salsa, any size, excludes dips and Salsa Con Queso. Cash back: $1.00
• Popchips, 85 g or more, any flavour. Cash back: $1.00
• Club House products, any Club House product. Cash back: $0.50
• Unico olives, 375 mL or more in cans or jars. Cash back: $0.50
• Gay Lea Sour Cream, 250 mL or more, any variety. Cash back: $0.50 
• Carnation Evaporated Milk, 370 mL, any variety. Cash back: $0.50
• French's Mustard, any variety. Cash back: $0.50
• Ocean Spray Cranberry Cocktail, 1.89 L or more, any flavour. Cash back: $0.50
• VH sauces, any variety. Cash back: $0.50

My thoughts: I find this to be a super easy app to use and a great way to add some extra savings to our grocery budget. I figure with the check we will either add it to our savings/date night or throw it back into groceries when we want to spend a bit more or have a special meal. It is a 3 step process - check app, shop and submit receipt, just minutes. Also the people behind Checkout 51 have been super nice and helpful. They quickly helped me fix my account after losing my facebook (which is how I signed into the app).
 
Grab the Free app on iTunes today. Don't forget to follow Checkout 51 on Twitter @Checkout51 and on Facebook.

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5 Tips to Avoid Holiday Over Spending

15 days and counting. I have heard my son tell me almost daily how many days left until Christmas since about 59 days until Christmas. With the holidays coming, a lot of planning around what to get friends and family which can be very overwhelming and hard on our budgets. Don't get caught this year with the of guilt, remorse or the ‘holiday shopping hangover’. I have a few tips that may help.

Before I share my 5 tips for avoiding the Holiday Shopping Hangover I wanted to share some survey stats that were recently taken by Mobilicity. 

• 58% of Canadians say they spend more than they should during the holidays
• 59% find themselves making impulse purchases. 
• Young Canadians (under 35), women and households with children are at the greatest risk of suffering from the ‘holiday shopping hangover.’
  1 in 5 Canadians identify themselves as ‘binge shoppers’ saying their holiday shopping is a whirlwind activity that packs a lot into a short period of time. 
• Out of these ‘binge shoppers’, 71% say they tend to spend more than they should.
• 70% are not planning on using a variety of apps/features on their mobile phone to help with their holiday shopping, even amidst the growing number of apps that do everything from scanning product barcodes to locating retailers with the best prices to organizing store loyalty cards. 
• 46% of young Canadians said they plan on using their mobile phones as their holiday shopping sidekick this season.  

Now my tips on getting through the holiday spending and coming out feeling good amount your gifts to family and friends and your wallet will still love you! 

1. Budget - This is the first and very most important step in avoiding the Holiday Shopping Hangover. I have learned this the hard way and now have another way that I shop for the Holidays. As we approach the gift giving season I figure out how much we can afford to spend without using credit. If you can, start saving at the beginning of the year and put the money into a jar or envelope marked for presents. I make a "budget" of how much we can spend based on our monthly budgets. Then I decide how much we will spend on each person on our list.

2. Plan - Make a list of who you will be shopping for this holiday season. Once you have your list jot down ideas of what each person likes. Keep this list with your budget and as you pick up presents check off your list.
 
3. Shop ahead - Shop over the year with sales. As great deals come up all year round it is a great way to save money but also get a great gift for your loved ones. Keep your eyes open for online coupon codes and sales.
 
4. Gift cards - I find another great idea for gifts are gift cards. We have a ton of people on our Holiday shopping list that are hard to buy for, mostly the adults in the family. They already have a lot of things and when asked usually don't want anything or can't decide what they would like. This is a great way to stay on a budget is to find out what store they like and go back to our list we made on how much we will spend. Head over to the store or online shop and pick up a gift card in that amount.  

5. Homemade -Why not make gifts for your friends and family? Enlist the kids help to make hand painted picture frames, birdhouses, ornaments, bake goods in a jar, the list of ideas are endless. These are usually inexpensive gift ideas that are sure to please grandma, poppa, aunts and uncles, your babysitter, teachers, etc.

Looking at getting yourself, or family members a new cell phone for the Holidays? Check out Mobilicity for great unlimited wireless plans that are 50% off the regular rate for the holidays. For just $22.50 a month, you can get unlimited data, talk and text plus North American long-distance, caller ID, call waiting, call forwarding, three-way calling, voicemail, global text and 30 minutes of included North American voice roaming minutes a month. Unlimited monthly talk-and-text plans start at just $12.50 during the special sale.

 
Content courtesy of Mobilicity, Canada’s smart mobile carrier.  Find out how to avoid a holiday shopping hangover and reduce your monthly spending all year round with unlimited data, talk and text, without contracts and hidden fees at Mobilicity.ca.  Now that’s smart!

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Birthday Parties on a Budget

Now that my kids are school aged it seems that they have been invited to tons of parties between the both of them. Speaking of parties, they have two in the month of July! This can get quite costly especially if you have more than two parties in a month. I know my friend D who has 4 kids and I have talked about this a few times this past school year. Some of the things we have talked about were - What is a reasonable amount to spend on a child's party? Where can one find deals on toys that the kids will love?

If I know in advance I usually watch the flyers for sales. I will check out the clearance aisles/tables and I also check online. I have been a huge online shopper for years now and within the last couple years started using online coupons. It is very easy to save money online with coupons. Almost all the kids toy stores online have some sort of deal or online coupon available and this makes it very affordable to pick up gifts for family, friends or even your own children.

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Tweet with Kathy Buckworth about Money

Tomorrow at 12 noon eastern until 1pm, head over to twitter to chat with Kathy Buckworth (@KathyBuckworth) as she will be talking about navigating our everyday financial needs.

Recently there was a survey conducted by President's Choice Financial shows that while a majority of Canadians (56%) identify a male figure as "head of the household," 41% say that it is a woman who is responsible for managing day-to-day household expenses and bills. That compares with only 33% of respondents who cited a man and 22% who said family-finance duties are evenly split.

The survey also stated that many respondents said that when they were growing up their mother took responsibility for managing the household expenses and bills (42.8%), as opposed to their father (29.3%) or an equal split between the two (24.2%).

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Choosing the Right Credit Card

I have had credit cards since heading off to college, just over 12 years. Now I know credit cards have a bad rap as they can indeed find people in huge debt, but remember those people in debt with a credit card did that themselves. The most important thing is to learn how to use a credit. They are a great key to build a great credit report.

Do you have a college student or a high school student you would like to teach about spending money wisely and building credit? I remember my parents sent me off with x amount of cash and a credit card that I could buy my school stuff with. Looking back now, if prepaid credit cards were available I am sure my parents would have went that route. 

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Just Because I Coupon Doesn't Mean I am Broke

I have read a few comments recently on articles and segments posted online about savvy shopping, couponing whatever you would like to call it. These comments have been down right mean. The one comment that stands out the most and really has pushed me to write this post is this one on a CBC Savvy Shopper article this month.

"Yes, that's a wonderful thing to encourage - More hoards of bargain-hunters clammored around the bin of glucose-loaded junk food just before closing. The food that gets reduced is not food you should be feeding your family - this doesn't happen in the produce, butcher or freezer sections - just in the deli and bakery - and even then, not with the food that's worth eating. You want to know how to save money? STOP buying junk food you don't need! And maybe we should be trying to find better ways of saving money than cheaping out on what we put in our children's bodies. It's crazy - mom gets out of her $40,000 SUV, hangs up her i-phone, and then buys 10 boxes of pizza pops because they're $1.00 off for chunky little Billy to stuff his face with, and reasons that it's a good bargain and food prices are too high. I'm certain I could go into the average "bargain hunter's" kitchen right now and pull out about $20-$30 worth of processed junk food."

Yes, I know the reason this person posted was to get people talking and well it worked. I know there are people out there that do hoard and do buy junk food just because they have a coupon or it is 50% off. I also know there are people out there driving expensive vehicles and have iPhones that can't afford them but have them anyways. 

I think what gets to me are the people out there like myself who uses coupons, shops sales and 50% off when ever possible to save money, we get criticized for doing so. I do not hoard, yes I have a couple shelves in my pantry but I also have pots and bake ware on them. We eat pretty healthy and very little with heavy preservatives in them. We don't eat all organic but we don't eat many canned or pre-made foods. If I was to go downstairs right now I can tell you what we have there that is canned - tuna, mushroom soup, pineapples, pasta sauce, baked beans and a few soups with low sodium. I cook from scratch and have a huge cookbook library/database! 

Yes, found in the produce does get marked down and same in the meat and dairy departments usually this food needs to be consumed that day or the next. We have had some great deals on yogurt, banana's and 30% off meat which we freeze right away or use that night.

Both my husband and I make a good living but when we save money we can have more of the things that are luxuries, like my iPhone. I love how this person rips into the lady because she has a SUV, we have two cars, one we bought out right - we actually traveled 4 hours away to save $8000+ on it. Only spending about $350 for a nice weekend away for hubby and I. We have one on a loan - people should think before criticizing someone for driving a nice new car, there are loans for 7 years which makes the payments doing able. 


So as to not critize the people who do not want to save some money. I enjoy to save money on things that are edible and cleaning products especially as the food will be consumed within the week and who really likes to spend money on all those cleaning products anyways, don't get me wrong I love a clean house but it there are a lot of chemicals in those things. I also love to save money on other items like clothing and toys. Why not? They are usually always on sale at some point. I also love to receive store points when I am shopping there anyways. Great way to receive money off or free products.  

Why does this make me a bad person? Why am I not allowed the nice iPhone? I work very hard for my money, Why am I not allowed to spend it how I feel fit? My children eat well and do not eat a lot of junk food. I don't buy sugar filled products, we make our own oatmeal and bake our own snacks a lot of the time. We don't eat pizza pops or Pogo's and my children are far from overweight (not that I criticize anyone who does, we had those as kids and I like them). Ask my children what they want for snack and usually it will be a fruit or yogurt or even cottage cheese.

Sorry for the rant. Sometimes it just needs to be said and I hope I didn't offend anyone with my opinions.


~*Disclaimer: This post was written by Canadian Coupon Mom. This is not a sponsored post. All opinions are honest and my own.*~

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Credit Cards are not always a bad thing

I know a lot of people say it is not good to have a credit card but I disagree. This is just my opinion and I would like to share it with you. I have learned to use my credit card to benefit myself and my family. Nowadays you need a credit card to pretty much do anything online or make reservations. A lot of credit cards offer rewards for using them. Once you learn to wisely use your credit card, one can greatly benefit from there.

A few cards I love are Canadian Tire Mastercard, President Choice Financial Mastercard and Shopper's Drugmart. We only have a Canadian Tire Mastercard at the moment and we earn a lot of rewards for using it especially when getting gas from any Canadian Tire gas stations. We need gas to get to work. What I do is pay the credit card at the beginning of the month for what we would average on gas. If we use the credit card for other things I go to online banking and pay right away. 

I will give you some information on each of these three credit cards today to show you each of their benefits. I will not be getting into the interest and transfer fees etc, just the benefit of using the cards.
 

Canadian Tire Credit Card -With the Canadian Tire Mastercard you have 3 choices, you can choose the options, a cash advantage or a gas card.

We have the Options card and with this card we use it everywhere especially at the Canadian Tire Gas bar. With this card you earn Canadian Tire money on the card and can then redeem in store. Each and every time you use your card in a Canadian Tire, Mark's or Canadian Tire gas bar you earn Canadian Tire money. I have searched a few different spots and can't seem to pull up the point scale.

At the gas bar they have a scale that goes by the Litres you get and then each week there is a multiplier, usually 6-8X. We try to fill up on the 10X and this is where you will see the big earnings sometimes as much as $3 or $4. I have also noticed that we earn when we use our card to make other purchases else where. We had our jeep fixed and earn almost $30! Yes that is not much compared to the price we paid but it was something back, right?

This card also has member perks, when looking at the Canadian Tire flyer you may have noticed a sale on something but when looking closer it is for the Options Mastercard holders. We have bought numerous stuff at Canadian Tire free of charge thanks to this card.

The Gas card helps you save up to 10cents off a litre of gas, from what I see it looks like an average of 2cents off. Either way it is still money in your pocket when gas is not at all cheap anymore.

The Cash advantage is a cash back card that will help pay down your credit card at the end of each year or give you a credit. A card holder can earn 1.5% back on all eligible purchases everywhere and up to 3% back at Canadian Tire, CT gas bar and Mark's.

President's Choice Financial Mastercard - With the President's Choice Mastercard you can earn PC Points to redeem in store for money off your grocery bill. You can also now redeem points for Gift Cards to President's Choice stores. For every dollar spent with the credit card one earns 10 PC points. To redeem you need 20,000 for $20 off. The only catch I find is you can only redeem $20 or more. Nothing less.

If you would like to see how much you would earn over 6 months check out the website and to the right there is a tool to help. If you spent a $1000 a month on your card you would earn $60. 

Shoppers Optimum Mastercard - With this card you earn rewards called Shoppers Optimum Points. Shoppers has a store card that isn't a credit card. I would suggest signing up for this one. It is free. Once you have that card and the credit card you will earn more Shoppers point. The store card earns you 10 points for every $1 you spend. The credit card earns you 5 points for every $1 spent.

Now if you have both of these cards you will earn 25 points for every $1 spent! Shoppers also has Bonus points on certain items every week and also on certain days if you spend X amount. This greatly adds up when you are shopping there anyways.

The reward levels are as follows:

8,000 points = $10
22,000 points = $30
38,000 points = $60
50,000 points = $85
95,000 points = $170

There are also days when you can spend you points and actually receive double the money off. If you spend 22,000 points on that day you would get $60 off your purchase. Those are the days if you know there are bigger ticket items or lots you need. Always watch their flyers for the bonus sales and you will see your points grow so fast.

Other ways to earn - use your card to pay bills, buy gas, or even buy your groceries. Then just make use you go home and pay you bill right away. Earn points with no interest! Visit the Shoppers Optimum Mastercard site and use the interactive tool to see how many points you will earn for the money you spend.

If you want to stay up to date on the Optimum program and Bonus days join the Shoppers Drug Mart Facebook page. On an iPhone? There is an app for Shoppers Drug Mart where you can see the coupons, deals, order your medications or check your points balance.

I really feel it all depends on how and where you spend your money but I do feel it can be a good to have a credit card that does more than just pay your bills or reserve hotel rooms. Every little bonus counts even if it is a week of groceries paid for every 6 months or so.

I hope this helped give you an glace at some options to earn money when you are shopping at the store already. If you have any questions please leave a comment below, email me at jennifer@canadiancouponmom.ca or hop over to Facebook or Twitter and start a conversation. I would love to hear from you.

 

~*Disclaimer: This post was written by Canadian Coupon Mom. This post is not endorsed by any of the stores mentioned. I was chosen as a Mom Central Canada grant recipient for the summer blogger program through Mom Central Canada. All opinions are honest and my own*~

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Money $mart Mom Book Review and Giveaway

When I decided to make the change and become debt free I searched all over to find a good book or two about saving money and becoming debt free. It was very hard to find Canadian material. The American material can work but it is very hard to apply since a lot of their government and savings plans are different then we have here in Canada.

I have found a few great coupon sites online and learned of Gail Van-Oxlade from the TV show Til Debt Do Us Part. I wish I had found Sarah Deveau's book back then but you can check out this great book and learn a lot of Sarah now, as I did. Her book is not a "You must do this, and do it my way" type of book like a lot out there. It is all about making your own choices with Sarah's guidance and advice. Sarah gives you a lot of choice and no right or wrong way to help become Financially Fit. Sarah also likes Gail Van-Oxlade and has included her in Money $mart Mom.

I was contacted by Sarah Deveau about her new book called Money $mart Mom: Financially Fit Parenting in January when she was having a half off sale on it. I had the opportunity to review this great book and also offer one of my readers a book for themselves.

I love that Sarah is Canadian and this book is Canadian through and through! This book is a great resource for anyone thinking about having children or even people who have already begun. It's never to late to learn about preparing for the future or navigating Government benefits. When it comes to government benefits and investing I am lost. This gave me a great look at everything the Canadian government has to offer parents.

Sarah includes everything from thinking about having children- when is right for you and learning the true cost of things you really need and can do without. Those baby item lists in book and online I will vouch are not what you really need. A lot of the items you can do without because Baby just may hate it and not use it.

Other topics Sarah talks about are the Basics -budgeting and figuring out where you are and where you are heading, preparing for the future, running a household (one income or two) - meal planning, cost of living etc, and the first, preschool and as they grow plan. Also what happens if things don't go as planned. Which like we all know can happen sometimes.

I have been saving and budgeting for well over two years now and I think I have a pretty decent handle on it. Some days are harder than others but that is another blog post in itself. I feel this was a great read and everyone could benefit! I am in almost my 5th year with having children (can't believe my son will be 5 soon, yikes!) and I still find all the information Sarah discusses as great and helpful information. You really should check out this book.

About the Author: From http://moneysmartmom.ca

"Sarah Deveau published her first book, Sink or Swim: Get Your Degree Without Drowning in Debt (Dundurn, 2003) after graduating from the University of Calgary’s Communications program. When she and her husband decided to have children, she searched for books about the impact having children would have on their finances.

Finding little, she decided to write the book she wished she had been able to buy at the bookstore. Or rather, write the book she wished she could have borrowed from the library!  She began researching and writing, fitting in her work as she had three daughters in four years, finding time while the kids were napping or at preschool.

During those years Sarah also opened Cater Tot Consignment, a children's consignment boutique in Airdrie, Alberta. This 1,200 square foot store has won numerous awards, including Calgary's Child Magazine Parents Choice Awards three years running. Cater Tot has been featured in Today's Parent Magazine, as well as dozens of local newspaper and magazine articles, and on many television programs."

Connect with Sarah on Facebook or Twitter, Website or through Email.

Win: Sarah would like to give one lucky Canadian Coupon Mom their very own copy of Money $mart Mom: Financially Fit Parenting! (One copy to give away)

Mandatory Entry: Please share a money saving tip that has helped you save or become debt free. Or share something you learned from Sarah's Tip page. Please include your email address in your comment and do this entry first before the extra entries can count. Please and Thank you!

Exra Entries:

1. Follow Sarah Deveau on Facebook. (1 entry)
2. Follow Canadian Coupon Mom on Facebook. (1 entry)
3. Follow Sarah Deveau on Twitter. (1 entry)
4. Follow Canadian Coupon Mom on Twitter. (1 entry for following and also 1 entry each tweet - can be tweeted once daily) 

"Please use @CouponMomCanada and @SarahDeveau with a direct link to this post."

5. Follow Canadian Coupon Mom on Google Friends Connect. (1 entry)

6. Blog about this giveaway and post the link where it can be found. (5 entries)
7. Follow Canadian Coupon Mom on Networked Blogs. Located on right side bar. (1 entry)

This giveaway is open Canada Only. This giveaway ends on February 27th, 2011 at Midnight EST. One winner will be chosen by Random.org on February 28th, 2011 and notified by e-mail. Please respond within 48 hours or a new winner will be selected. Good Luck!

~*Disclaimer: I received a complementary copy of Money $mart Mom from Sarah Deveau for review purposes. All opinions are my own.*~

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