The Detroit Free Press has printed its annual southeast Michigan farmer’s market and u-pick farm guide today. If you don’t get the print edition, you’ll find the piece on line.
At The Monroe Evening News, we run the Monroe County farmer’s market list in the Community Page once a week during the season. As the details arrive to the newsroom, I also update the farmer’s market list on Monroe on a Budget.
One of my organization mantras over the years has been: cardboard boxes are for moving, plastic tubs are for storage. There’s a reason for that: We learned over the years that cardboard boxes can get wet or smashed, and don’t protect contents in long-term storage as well as plastic tubs. Clear plastic tubs also give [...]
My sales and deals are for the Monroe, Mich., area: I really haven’t figured out how often I’m “supposed” to get grocery ads in the mail. I don’t see them every week, and the mail delivery schedule means the sale has often started by the time the ads arrive. But two grocery ads landed in [...]
This is an encore of a post I wrote in 2010: If your family is on a tight budget, the fact that the kids are home more often for summer school vacation can rattle the finances in more direction than one. Specifically on the grocery bill:Â There’s been a spike in the number of students [...]
This post is for my readers in and near Monroe, Mich.: The Monroe Housing Commission announces its sponsorship of Summer Food Service Program for Children. Free meals will be made available from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Mondays through Fridays, June 11 through Aug. 31 at Speckled Frog Learning Center, 900 Greenwood Ave., Monroe, Mich.; [...]
National Donut Day is Friday June 1. Based on what I’m seeing in the social media feeds, various donut shops across the country are participating in promotions that day. The one I’m finding that my local readers in Monroe, Mich., will be interested in is at Tim Hortons. You have to “like” Timmy’s on Facebook [...]
While there is a lot more to Monroe on a Budget than couponing and grocery shopping, that is the topic which is most often requested when I’m giving public appearances and programs. I’ve also noticed that couponing chatter is picking up again on the social media feeds, in light of the newest season of TLC’s [...]
Continuing a show and tell series about my dollhouse renovation project: I picked a new color for the exterior of my dollhouse: it’s a very cherry pink. There were no doors or windows on the original construction of the house, so on this redo I’m installing those features. They will be non-working because I don’t [...]
I’ve been asked before how I menu plan. The answer was: it’s planned around what I have in the kitchen and what’s on sale that week. I have never attempted to pick up a 7-day or 30-day menu plan that someone else wrote out and follow it. First, I have yet to find such a [...]
What are you doing with the leftover desserts from your picnics and barbecues today? Many cookies, cupcakes, sweet breads, layer cakes, sheet cakes and cheesecakes will store very nicely in the freezer. Go find some of your small food storage tubbies, split up the treats, and freeze some of them while they are still fresh. [...]
My sales and deals are for the Monroe, Mich., area. The grocery and drugstore ads usually posted on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays: Danny’s Fine Foods has its weekly grocery ad in today’s edition of The Monroe Evening News. The featured items this week include a 5-pound box of storemade frozen hamburger patties for $15.95, milk [...]
The Monroe on a Budget column runs Mondays in The Monroe Evening News. Here is this week’s installment: Have you ever wondered if there was a contest where one can show off do-it-yourself and home economics talents? The Monroe County Homemaker of the Year contest comes pretty close to fitting that description. A variety of [...]
Charles Slat, who is the business editor for The Monroe Evening News and our long-time consumer affairs reporter, is on a bit of a rant this morning with his Sunday column. The headline is: Schools should mandate course in life skills. A snippet: In Monroe County, the average outstanding credit card debt of more than [...]
My sales and deals are for the Monroe MI area: There are no stand-alone coupon books in the Sunday papers today from the national coupon distribution companies, but you’ll find plenty of deals this week anyway. Here’s some of what I’m seeing today in The Monroe Evening News. Do remember some of the local grocery [...]
Before anyone starts ranting about their favorite newspaper not having coupons today: There are no coupon book inserts in the May 27 Sunday newspapers because of Memorial Day weekend. The national coupon companies do take occasional breaks around the holidays, and this weekend is one.
Do you remember this table I bought at Ikea a few weeks ago, with the intention it would be a sewing table in my craft room? It does serve that purpose. But it’s also giving me a workspace when I am doing woodworking and craft painting. Here’s a peek at my dollhouse furniture factory in [...]
Did you see the lead headline in today’s edition of The Monroe Evening News? The unemployment rate for Monroe County MI hit 7.6 percent in April, which is a 4-year low. Yes, I know the jobless rate doesn’t count those who technically are “not in the workforce” but would like a job. The poverty rates [...]
I’m noticing a lot of buy one get one free sales for the coming week. How do you make a buy one get one free sale work for you? The first tip is check the price per package and divide it out. I know the starting price isn’t always listed in the sale flier, but [...]
My sales and deals are for the Monroe, Mich., area: The Monroe-area grocery and drugstore ads are usually issued Saturday, Sunday or Monday. The following ads were in my home-delivery edition of The Monroe Evening News today: Busch’s Fresh Food Market (sale starts Monday) will have a buy one get one free sale that includes [...]
Southeast Michigan parents and students have grasped the message that post-secondary education can help with job and career goals. But starting college classes is just the first step. There next hurdle is graduating so that those efforts can pay off financially. I’ve explained that college expenses are paid by the semester, need-based financial aid is [...]