Today I have a to-do list a mile long and I am feeling the pressure, so I did the only sensible thing: I went on a long walk in a garden near my home.

Sometimes we just have to jump off the roller coaster of life and regain our equilibrium. There are flowers to be sniffed, paths to be walked, breezes to enjoy.

Yes, those things are still on my to-do list, but I am calmer, more peaceful and better able to address them.

If you are in a season of life where things are spinning out of control, make an appointment in the next two days to spend some time relaxing and recharging.

If you would like to read more, Joshua Becker has a great post on becoming un-busy, which is a worthy goal, if you ask me.

Click here to join The Peaceful Mom Weekly e-Notes group and receive my top tips to help you save money, get organized and enjoy life!

You will also receive my exclusive 99 Ways to Jump for Joy Subway Art Print!

You May Also Enjoy:

Help! Life is Out of Control!

My Top 5 Stress Busters

Fight perfectionism (& live happy!)

Gluten Free Coupons and Deals including deals on Tinkyada GF pasta and Nutiva Coconut Oil, $2/1 Udi’s Product coupon and more!

Please note: Amazon prices change quickly so you may want to take advantage of these soon. Check your local prices to make sure these are a good deal for you.

Tinkyada Vegetable Spirals, Gluten Free, 12-Ounce (Pack of 6) for $23.94, that’s $3.99 per bag of pasta.

Stonewall Kitchens Gluten Free Vanilla Cupcake Mix, 21.5-Ounce (Pack of 2) are $15.34 with Subscribe & Save, that’s $7.67 per bag of cupcake mix. 

Nutiva Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, 15-Ounce Tubs (Pack of 2) is still available for $14.23 with Subscribe & Save, that’s $7.12 per jar.

Chex Honey Nut Cereal, 13.8-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 4) is $12.77 with Subscribe & Save, that’s $3.19 per box PLUS get an extra 25% off when you clip the coupon on the page!

Reduced Price:

Annie’s Homegrown Summer Strawberry Organic Bunny Fruit Snacks, 4-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 4) is $13.57, that’s $3.39 per box with Subscribe and Save.

See more Amazon Gluten Free Deals here!  *Read more about Subscribe and Save here.

Check out our Favorite Gluten Free Products List here!

Sign up for Swag Bucks (read more here) and earn Amazon Gift Cards just for searching the internet!

NEW COUPONS

Coupons for Products Labeled Gluten Free

Mambo Sprouts Coupons including $1.50/2 Enjoy life Products, $1/3 Green Valley Organics® Lactose Free 6 oz. yogurts, and $1.50/2 Mary’s Gone

$1/1 Rudi’s GF Product

And another: $1/1 Rudi’s GF Product

$2/1 Udi’s product

$2/1 Glutino product

OTHER GLUTEN FREE COUPONS

Make sure to check the ingredients on these products.

Don’t forget to check our list of Memorial Day Coupons for GF holiday foods!

$0.35/1 Annie’s Homegrown product (scroll down)

$3/1 Yucatan Guacamole (Facebook)

Beverages

Grocery

Other

Click Here to see last week’s coupons which may still be available.

Check out my GLUTEN FREE Pinterest Boards!

You can follow me to receive an update when I add new gluten free recipes, reviews or product information to my boards.

Please Note: This information is not intended as medical advice. Some products are included in this list which are not labeled “gluten-free”, but which may be acceptable for those on a gluten free diet. As always, check labels for information which pertains to your personal situation.

You May Also Enjoy:

Easy Gluten Free Recipes

Gluten Free Information

Weekly Gluten Free Menus

Affiliate links are included in this post. Read our disclosure policy here.

Like corn dogs? Visit your local Sonic on Thursday, May 23, 2013 and get $.50 corn dogs! (no coupon necessary).

Thanks, My Frugal Adventures!

Click here for more DEALS & FREEBIES to help you save money!

Save Money On Groceries!

Save money on your grocery bill, so you can spend the money on other priorities! Each week I’m sharing one simple tip that you can implement to start saving on your grocery bill right away.

Many of the tips will be familiar, but if you take the Save Money on Groceries Challenge with us, you will actually take the steps each week instead of just filing them in the “I should do that” file. [To join in, just leave a comment saying that you already use the tip of the week, or that you will start this week.]

[Click here to see all the tips in this series.]

 Today’s Tip:

Save money by making your own condiments.

When it comes to saving money on groceries, we are familiar with some of the big strategies like purchasing discounted items. We often overlook the smaller strategies, but combining several small strategies can add up to big savings over the long term.

One of those “smaller” strategies is to make your own condiments instead of purchasing ready-made products.

Why It Works:

While you may pay more initially to purchase ingredients you don’t currently have in your pantry, you will save money per ounce by making your own condiments because the individual ingredients are cheaper than pre-made products, and you can purchase them in larger sizes. In addition, you will be eating healthier as you avoid common chemical additives in most commercially produced condiments.

A one ounce taco seasoning packet for example, costs around $1.00 in most stores. I can purchase three ounce containers of the spices in my Quick Taco Seasoning for 50 cents each at Aldi or other discount stores and make the seasoning for around 17 cents per ounce. $.83 cents may not seem like a huge savings to you, but by combining this strategy with several others, I can save hundreds on groceries each year.

I am also able to avoid the MSG which is in most taco seasoning packets, and which has been linked to headaches and other physical ailments.

Resources

You can find lots of recipes online, but here are a few to get you started.

Make Your Own Fajita Seasoning

Make Your Own Taco Seasoning

Make Your Own Italian Dressing

Make Your Own Steak Marinade

Make Your Own Green Sauce

Make Your Own Waffle Syrup

Other easy to make condiments are barbecue sauce, salsa and pasta sauce.

Sign up here for The Peaceful Mom Weekly e-Notes to make sure you don’t miss any of my money saving tips PLUS get my $125 Budget Weekly Menu delivered right to your inbox along with other ways to save money, get organized and enjoy life!

You will also receive my exclusive 99 Ways to Jump for Joy Subway Art Print, my Customizable Organizing Labels and a FREE copy of my Stress Free Meals ebook.

For more ideas to save money on groceries, check out my ebook Save More–Clip Less: Feed Your Family For Less Without Extreme Couponing.

Click here to see what others are saying.

Do you make any condiments? Leave a link or recipe.

This popular deal is back! Get a customized photo tote for just $1.00 plus shipping (starting at $3.99) PLUS get 40 photo prints for FREE! That’s 40 photo prints and a customized tote for less than $5 shipped! Use code MYTOTE to get this deal. This deal is for new customers only and expires June 15th.

These will make great beach bags, picnic totes or you can keep a bag in your car with items for the park.

Click here to order yours!

Click here for more DEALS & FREEBIES to help you save money!

*Affiliate links are included in this post. Read our disclosure policy here.  

Click here to request a FREE Sample of Woolite Laundry Detergent. Fill out the short form on their Facebook page and your sample should arrive in six weeks.

Don’t miss any of my tips to help you save money, get organized and enjoy life!  Click here to sign up for my FREE Weekly enotes and get FREE gifts including my Stress Free Meals ebook and my exclusive printable organizing labels!

Click here for more DEALS & FREEBIES to help you save money!

Today and tomorrow (May 21st and 22nd) you can download How to Be Gluten Free for FREE! This e-book contains the basic steps that you need to go gluten free plus an appendix with recipes.

This is a Kindle book but you can download it to your computer or other mobile devices with the FREE Kindle Reading Apps here, including the Kindle Cloud Reader which I use on my laptop and home computer. Please note that the price of this book is currently $0.00, but could change at any time. Verify the price before purchasing.    

Click here to download How to Be Gluten Free.

Click here to sign up for my free Gluten Free Recipe Club and get my ebook Affordable Gluten Free dinners for FREE!

*Affiliate links are included in this post. Read our disclosure policy here for more information.

As you have probably heard by now, most of Moore, OK was destroyed by a huge tornado. My blogging friend Carrie is from Moore, OK and thankfully still has her house, but her neighborhood was destroyed.

If you would like to help, Carrie has a comprehensive list of ways to directly help the victims of the Moore, OK tornado here.

3 Reasons You Need An Emergency Fund (& how to get one fast!): You know you need one, but chances are you may not have started to build your emergency fund.

Don’t miss any of my tips to help you save money, get organized and enjoy life! 

Click here to sign up for my FREE Weekly enotes and get FREE gifts including my Stress Free Meals ebook and my exclusive printable organizing labels!

Let me give you three compelling reasons to get started: 

stuff happens.    stuff happens.    stuff happens.

Our most recent example of stuff happening occured last week when I made a payment of $200 using our debit card. Unfortunately the person processing the payment didn’t get the memo, and charged us $2000 instead.

As you might imagine, this caused some problems with our account. Banks are not very understanding when a withdrawal is made from your account that equals more than your total balance. Even though I contacted the company and our bank, the money was not returned to our account for six days! Meanwhile, life continued. We still had to put gas in the car and food in the fridge.

Thankfully, we had a few hundred dollars in cash in our “at home e-fund” which we were able to use for the daily necessities until everything could get straightened out.

Even if (or maybe especially if) you are “barely making it”, you can start your own emergency fund and create a “stuff happens” cushion with these three steps: 

Designate a savings location.

Ideally, you should set up a separate bank account, but at a minimum, set up an envelope, jar, corner or your sock drawer or some other location in your home to drop the cash. If you do want to set up a separate bank account, we love Perkstreet because we earn money for every dollar we spend. Read more about how we earn $100 gift cards here.

Having a place to put the money makes you more likely to actually save it, and it keeps the money out of your wallet where you are likely to spend it.

Take immediate action.

Find ways to get money into your e-fund as soon as possible. Here are a few ideas to get started:

• Eat cheaper meals for a couple of weeks (beans and rice, grilled cheese and homemade soup, pasta and sauce, etc.), and put the extra grocery money into your e-fund.

• Take your lunch instead of eating out.

• Skip soda and coffee for a couple of weeks and put the money into the account.

• Sell things around your house on Craig’s List or at a yard sale.

• Work more. Ask for overtime or other work opportunities.

• Cut out all entertainment and shopping for the next month.

By combining these strategies and sticking with them for the next few weeks, you should be able to add several hundred dollars to your account.

Read the comments on my 5 Ways to Get Extra Cash post here for some other creative ideas to get money quickly (and legally)!

Commit to save the money for emergencies only.

Ordering pizza on Friday night because you are too tired to cook does not constitute an emergency, neither does shopping for a dress for an upcoming event.

True emergencies are things like a car accident, job loss or illness. Commit to yourself and your family to never spend the money for frivolous items.

Do you have an emergency fund? How has it helped you in the past? Leave a comment.

You May Also Enjoy:

7 Quick Ways to Save on Groceries

Ways to Manage Your Money Better

More Real Life Posts

Now through Thursday (May 23, 2013), you can stop by your local McDonald’s restaurant and get a small Blueberry Pomegranate Smoothie for just $1. Call your local franchise to make sure they are participating.

Thanks, Moms By Heart!

Don’t miss any of my tips to help you save money, get organized and enjoy life!  Click here to sign up for my FREE Weekly enotes and get FREE gifts including my Stress Free Meals ebook and my exclusive printable organizing labels!

Click here for more DEALS & FREEBIES to help you save money!

Need to save money on your Memorial Day Weekend meals? Check out these great high value coupons:  

More Coupons:

Grocery

Non-Food

• $1.00 off any TWO (2) Packages of Dixie Napkins

• $3.00 off ONE AmeriGas Propane Cylinder Exchange

Click here for more DEALS & FREEBIES to help you save money!

*Affiliate links are included in this post. Read our disclosure policy here for more information.

Get Organized! Simplify your life with a weekly plan.  

Each Sunday night I make a plan for the upcoming week to make sure that I am focusing on what is truly important in my life, rather than just crossing tasks off my to do list.

Don’t miss any of my tips to help you save money, get organized and enjoy life! 

Click here to sign up for my FREE Weekly enotes and get FREE gifts including my Stress Free Meals ebook and my exclusive printable organizing labels!

After trying many types of planners, my current favorite is to hand write my plan in my journal.

{Click photo to enlarge.}

I divide my plan into five categories: 

PERSONAL- habits that keep me healthy and happy

PEOPLE- activities that promote relationship with the people I love

PURPOSE- tasks that enable me to fulfill my purpose in life

PASSION- activities and experiences which enable me to enjoy life

PROJECTS- priority tasks that need to be finished this week

(My son’s creative Panda “Pinata” filled with tacos.)

You can see last week’s plan here. We had a busy week because I had a speaking engagement and we hosted a birthday/graduation party for my son. I was very happy to have a LONG nap the day after the party.

This week we will be hosting out of town guests for my son’s high school graduation. We will be deep cleaning the house for the next couple of days in preparation for our guests (including my mom, which I am very excited about!), then we have a busy weekend filled with graduation activities.

My goal is to stay calm and unstressed, so that I can enjoy all of the festivities.

You can read about my daily “Brain Dump” here”and my Nightly Plan here.

As a gift to my readers, you can now print your own customizable Weekly Plan! Click here and “like” The Peaceful Mom on Facebook to access the download link.

Click the link and type in your info for the week. Once you are done, right click the form to print and check off each task as you complete it.

(You can see all of the FREE printable planners I have available here.)

What do you have planned this week? Leave a comment.

You May Also Like:  

Organizing Tips

Exercise: Love It/Hate It

More Printable Planners

Click here and “like” the Traditional Medicinals Facebook page to send a friend three free samples of Traditional Medicinals tea.

Don’t miss any of my FREEBIE posts and tips to help you save money, get organized and enjoy life! 

Click here to sign up for my FREE Weekly e-notes and get FREE gifts including my Stress Free Meals ebook and my exclusive printable organizing labels!

Thanks, The Freebie Blogger!

Click here for more DEALS & FREEBIES to help you save money!

Simple Gluten Free Weekly Menu. Gluten Free shouldn’t be difficult! Check out my daughter’s gluten free menu for this week. See our family’s $125 Budget Weekly Menu here.

My new ebook Affordable Gluten Free Dinners is now available!

Inside you’ll find our favorite tips to spend less to eat gluten free, 12 tasty and budget-friendly main dish recipes complete with photos and serving suggestions, as well as five delicious side dish recipes. Subscribers to The Peaceful Mom Gluten Free Recipe Club can get it FREE!

Click here to read more!

Click each purple link for the recipe or product we use! 

BREAKFAST

Organic Yogurt with Crockpot Granola and fresh strawberries

Chex cereal with milk

Egg and Cheese Bagel (Udi’s Gluten Free Bagels)

Homemade Gluten Free Waffles with DIY Waffle Syrup

Gluten Free Cinnamon Raisin Toast, Peanut Butter

Oatmeal (Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Whole Grain Steel Cut Oats) with raisins

Oatmeal Pancakes (Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Pancake Mix)

LUNCH

Chebe Bread Pizza, Romaine salad

Turkey Lettuce Wrap, celery sticks with ranch dressing x2

Nachos, orange slices

Rice Cakes with peanut butter and raisins

Leftovers from dinner

Easy Cheese Quesadillas (made with corn tortillas), canned peaches

DINNER

BBQ Pepper Jack Bacon Burgers (bunless), Home Fried Potatoes, Romaine Salad

Black Bean Chicken Chili, tortilla chips

Birthday Party

Grilled Cheese (gluten free bread), Tropical Fruit Salad

Beef Roast, rice, steamed green beans

Spicy Black Beans, rice

Italian Pasta Salad with Chicken (made with gluten free pasta), garlic toast triangles (gluten free bread)

*Please note: This menu is intended to spark ideas for affordable gluten free meals, but in no way is intended as medical, nutritional or other professional advice.

If you would like menu planning help, try my favorite meal planning service eMeals*. They offer weekly lunch and dinner menus including recipes and a grocery list and they have a GLUTEN FREE Plan!

Click here for more info and use promo code PEACEFUL to get an additional 10% off their already low prices (starting at $7 a month when you sign up for a 3 month subscription)!

 See our Best Gluten Free Products List here.

You May Also Enjoy:

Gluten Free Coupons and Deals

GF Product Reviews

GF Recipes

For more menu ideas, check out OrgJunkie Menu Plan Mondays.

I’m also linking up at the Gluten-Free Menu Swap!

*affiliate link– Read my disclosure policy here.

This week on The Peaceful Mom we explored a couple of interesting topics to help you get your finances in order:  

Reader Success: We Paid Off $29,000 in Debt! Read the real-life story of a family who paid off $29,000 in debt with a $29,000/yr income.

Living On Less: Can Minimalism Help? You can also listen to my interview with Joshua Becker from BecomingMinimalist.com. Joshua took a radical approach to getting his life back and we talk about some ways you can move toward less stuff and more life!

More fun from this past week:

GET ORGANIZED

Get Organized: My Weekly (celebrate) Plan 5/13

$125 Budget Weekly Menu {+easy recipes!} 5/17

SAVE MONEY

Save Money On Groceries: Save On Produce (week 7)

Reader Question: How Do You Budget For Work Lunches?

My Weekly Shopping Totals 5/17

Do you like to dress your kids in fashionable clothing, but hate the prices? FabKids by Christina Applegate is offering new members BUY-ONE-GET-ONE FREE outfits (discount will be applied automatically at checkout).

Click here to see the new Spring Collection!

Still Available Deals and Freebies from this week:

Earn Money Online: My Survey Accepting New Applicants

Report Card Freebies For Students!

  Betty Crocker: $250 in Coupon Savings!

FREEBIES: FREE Pepsi, Krispy Kreme, Kotex, John Frieda Samples & More!

ENJOY LIFE

Bacon Wrapped Chicken Recipe (gluten free)

Frugal Summer Fun For Kids-If you missed this last week, check out some resources on The Peaceful Mom to help you have a great summer with your kids!

GLUTEN FREE

Simple Gluten Free Menu {+ easy recipes} 5/13

Gluten Free Coupons and Deals 5/16

If you eat gluten free, be sure to sign up for my FREE Gluten Free Recipe Club and get a copy of my Affordable Gluten Free Dinners ebook for FREE!

Click here to sign up!

Click here to read past Weekend Readers!

*Affiliate links are included in this post. Read our disclosure policy here.