Shopping
10 hacks for slashing the cost of holiday meals
In this episode of Hot Shopping Tips, hosts Mandy Walker and Lisa Lee Freeman share practical strategies for reducing the costs of holiday meals. From leveraging weekly ads to DIY solutions, they prov...
10 hacks for slashing the cost of holiday meals
Shopping •
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Interactive Transcript
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Hello everyone and welcome to Hot Shopping Tips.
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This is episode number 55.
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I'm Mandy Walker.
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I'm an award-winning financial journalist and I've spent years investigating issues that
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if they're your pocketbook, first for Money Magazine, then Consumer Reports.
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On every show we tell you how to make the smartest choices no matter what you're shopping
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for from shoes to insurance policies.
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And I'm Lisa Lee Freeman.
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Mandy and I met at Consumer Reports where I launched Shop Smart Magazine.
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I've also been an investigative reporter for the Doctor Oz Show and we're psyched to
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help you get the best deals every time you shop.
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This episode of Hot Shopping Tips is brought to you by Cloud 9 therapeutic massage.
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Order today at cloud9cbd.net and save $20 plus get free shipping by typing Hot Shopping
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tips.
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That's all one word in the coupon box.
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Check out.
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We'll put the link on our website.
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With some consumer news that you need to know next we'll tackle our main topic.
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Had a trim your holiday entertaining costs.
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Yes, you can put out a beautiful spread without breaking the bank.
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If you have questions for the show, go to our website hotchoppingtips.com and let us know
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what's on your mind.
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Also follow us on Instagram and Twitter at Hot Shopping Tips and like us on Facebook.
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Okay, here's the news you need to know.
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This is where we rant and rave about the latest consumer headlines.
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Okay, of course, as always, I have a rant.
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And this rant is about a new internet scam called Secret Sister.
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Is it religious?
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No, it kind of sounds like Secret Santa.
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But it's not a harmless gift exchange like Secret Santa, according to the Better Business
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Bureau.
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Here's how it works.
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Facebook users recruit quote unquote sisters with the promise that they could receive
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up to 36 gifts.
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All you have to do is pay $10 for a gift for a stranger on the internet, provide your name,
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address and email and recruit some more friends to join in.
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But unfortunately that puts your personal information out there which could make you vulnerable
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to identity theft.
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And also it's an illegal pyramid scam.
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If you're selling out money.
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And pyramid schemes.
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It's a game free gift.
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Right.
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It's like, yeah, they rely on recruiting to raise money and always end up with you holding
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the back.
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Here's how to tell if something might be a pyramid scam.
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And there are a lot of them, especially this time of year when people are scrounging
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around looking for extra cash to pay for holidays.
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So the number one thing is you're being hit up for cash for an upfront payment to join.
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It could be a gifting group, investing club or other so-called opportunity.
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And then you're being asked to recruit others into the program.
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And the recruiting is a big part of the pitch.
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The main way these schemes make money is by, through the recruitment process.
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Because when people join, they have to pay these upfront fees.
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And the product being petdled is often secondary to the recruiting and selling of that product.
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So they may make not much money on the product.
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You're making all the money on the recruiting, keeping up more people coming into the program.
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And red flags include number one time pressure.
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You have to join now.
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Are you going to miss out promises of large amounts of income and the frequent requirement
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to pay large upfront fees to sell a product or service?
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It's upset when the holidays are full of this kind of schemes and scams.
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They really seem to proliferate.
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It's so anti-holiday spirit.
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I know.
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Well, I certainly have a rant.
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A few weeks ago, my former car was hit at a four-way intersection by a guy who ran his stop sign.
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So no one was hurt except my car, which was eventually totaled.
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I mean, he pushed me all the way across the street.
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I'm actually going to do a car.
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My wheel was facing out.
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What are my wheels?
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So anyway, I have learned a lot the last few weeks about saving money and stress
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when it comes to dealing with your car insure and shopping for a new vehicle.
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So the first thing I would say is find a great auto body shop that will work for you.
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According to the nonprofit consumer watchdog organization,
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many consumers don't realize its state insurance regulations around the country,
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typically allow them to choose their own repair shops following accidents no matter where you're
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told.
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So get recommendations from friends and family, people that have been in the accident and
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needed bodywork done.
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And talk to the people at a shop you're considering.
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Ask them how they deal with insurers.
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What you want to hear is that they negotiate with them on parts you need,
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especially if they feel the parts they insure wants to use are used and could be a safety issue.
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Some use parts are okay, but basically you want a shop that will make that determination.
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And fight insurers on your behalf when they disagree with them,
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which will mean lots of estimates and counter proposals, which you have to be prepared.
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That'll take a few days.
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After you do settle on a shop, ask them which vehicles they find are the safest,
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IE the ones that will protect you the best in accidents.
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That's what I did after the insurer eventually totalled my car.
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And I had to shop quickly for a new one.
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He even the mechanic at the shop even recommended specific models, which was really helpful.
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They're the ones that see the cars that are all cracked up.
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And they say the results of accidents.
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I know which cars are holding up and which ones aren't.
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I went back and I asked him, I was standing in the middle of this of his lot
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with all these cars surrounding me.
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They were all been in accidents and I thought, here's a guy that will know.
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This is who I should ask.
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He's seen the inside.
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Yes.
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Yes.
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Also asked them which insurers come through for their policyholders and which ones are real
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pain, which I also asked him.
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The guy at my shop recommended Amika.
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And when we were at Consumer Reports, Amika always did come out on the top of our insurance ratings.
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So I guess I should have taken our own advice.
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Plus USA, A.O.A. always did well and still does.
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We were talking earlier too about insurance companies having networks of shops,
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body shops that they work with.
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And I think it's great if you find a body shop that you really like and it happens to be part
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of the network.
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That's the ultimate.
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But don't be railroaded into using one of their network of shops.
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And now onto our main topic.
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Had a slash year holiday entertaining costs.
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You don't have to throw your budget out the window to throw a great holiday
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dinner party.
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You just need to get a little creative.
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So it only looks like you went all out.
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Having a potluck meal and asking guests to bring booze, desserts, and side dishes is the
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easiest way to cut your costs.
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But it's called potluck for a reason, right, Mandy?
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You never know what you're going to get.
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So if you want to treat your friends and family to a fab holiday feast,
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you're going to have to take charge.
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So here are 10 of our favorite holiday meal money savers.
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Okay, first, plan holiday meals around weekly ads.
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We've said this before and we'll say it again.
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See what's on sale in circular's and check for digital coupons on apps like Flip
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and Shoppular as well as grocery store websites and apps.
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Retailers have been cutting back on print coupons, by the way, while adding digital ones.
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So if you haven't gone digitally yet, now's a good time to start.
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If you'd like recipe ideas, plug those sailing gradients like, say,
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pairs and delicato squash and bacon are on sale this week.
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You plug those into a Google search.
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You likely get results from all major recipes,
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like fine cooking, food network, bon appetit,
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sever, but you probably also find a lot of food blogger recipes and recipe aggregators,
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like all recipes and Epicurias.
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You'll get tons of results in other words.
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I found some cool new recipes from lots of bloggers, in fact, that I've now really started
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following.
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So for example, if you type delicato squash and pairs on eating well site,
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you'll find this awesome recipe for roasted pears and delicato squash.
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My sister turned me on too.
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And you don't have to peel the pears or the squash.
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You just roast them in the oven, slice them really thin, roast them in the oven,
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and then they're topped with a mixture of a little brown sugar,
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chili powder and bacon.
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And vegetarians and pescetarians, like Lisa, can always leave the bacon out.
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But that's perfect for holiday dish and it's absolutely delicious.
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Yeah, that sounds good.
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Really good.
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Also on the topic of using those flyers to plan meals,
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what you're going to want to do is use the flyers to determine where you're going to shop
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and cherry pick which deals you're going to buy at which stores.
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Don't shop all in one place.
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And you could look at paper circulars and fire apps like Flip and Shoppular,
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which we've mentioned a lot.
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And basically what you want to do when you look at these flyers is focus on the first page or two.
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These are the best deals.
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They're often called loss leaders because the stores may actually lose money on these items,
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which are very heavily marked down.
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So for example, if you see a holiday ham,
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on Walmart, the first page of Walmart's flyer, buy the ham at Walmart.
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And if you see lots of vegetables and other things that you're going to be using for the meal,
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add a local supermarket shop there for that stuff.
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The main thing is to spread out your shopping.
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I mean, you do have a few weeks before Christmas,
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so you can shop each week and see what's on sale.
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Another thing I like to do is look at my local supermarket app.
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It's one of the few apps that I have in the food category.
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And the reason is it's saved me a bundle.
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Sometimes they'll run app-only specials.
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Like they'll give you $10 off.
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You know, if you spend $100 in the store,
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and that's easy to spend around the holidays.
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So definitely check out your local supermarket's app.
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Yeah, I did that too.
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And I found specials that sales that they don't run,
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other you don't find otherwise.
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They are definitely a great idea.
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Okay, another tip, DIY instead of buy.
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Some things are cheaper and better when you make them yourself.
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Like for example, salad dressing.
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Salad dressing is a really easy to make from a few things
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you've gotten your pantry.
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Plus, they'll be free of preservatives and other additives.
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For about a cup of honey d'john dressing,
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for example, you mix a quarter cup of d'john mustard,
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quarter cup of honey, quarter cup of vinegar.
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I like one that's kind of mild.
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Like I have a nice orange vinegar,
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but you could also use like a champagne vinegar
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or cider vinegar even.
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And then you can whisk in about a quarter cup of more of olive oil.
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You could just taste it as you're whisking
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to see how much oil you like.
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It just depends on your taste.
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You can add a little salt and pepper
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or even some chopped garlic as well.
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There's a ton of easy salad dressing recipes on the web.
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Check it out and skip those preservatives.
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I have a killer green goddess recipe.
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If that's your jam, everyone loves it.
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We'll put it in the blog for episode number 55 on our website.
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Yeah, sounds yummy.
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It is very good.
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All right, tip number four is shop and cook with a friend.
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By shopping as a team with someone
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who is also preparing a family meal,
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you can split bulk size holiday supplies
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to cut costs and waste and save time in the kitchen.
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Going halves these is especially great
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when you're going to the warehouse stores.
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You probably don't need a one gallon tub of cayenne pepper sauce.
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For example, for this year's tray of hot wings,
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but maybe a half gallon would work fine for the holidays
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and probably take you through Super Bowl too.
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You can also split large containers of holiday foods
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like bread crumbs, which by the way you can freeze,
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if you're not using them.
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cranberry sauce, pasta sauce, and frozen appetizers.
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Yep, another tip, dress up basics.
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For example, you can buy cornbread at the grocery store
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and crumble it up in a skillet with some butter to toast it just a bit
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and sprinkle in some herbs, like say, time or rosemary
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and use that crumble to top off your mac and cheese.
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That sounds great.
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I also use cornbread for stuffing mixed with other bread like brioche.
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You know, if it's soft when you buy it from the store,
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you get in a fresh loaf.
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Just cube it and toast it in the oven until it dries out
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and then use it in your regular recipe.
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Or you can dress up mashed potatoes by adding a little sour cream
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as well as your milk and butter.
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That gives them a nice tang, kind of like stuffed potato skins.
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Recipes by the barefoot contested by the way.
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I know Garton I found are great for fun ways to dress up
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basic holiday dinners.
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Okay, recipes.
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Check it out.
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Tip number six.
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Make them drool.
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Our friend Chadwick Boyd, who is the host of real food,
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which runs during the previews at movie theaters,
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and he's also on a show by the way called Christmas Cookie Matchup.
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This season says that making biscuits from scratch
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is an inexpensive way to get people in the holiday spirit.
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He says it's kind of like putting a chocolate chip cookie in the oven
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when you're selling a house.
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You get smells great.
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It makes everyone really happy when you have biscuits baking in the oven.
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His guests are arriving.
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And it's an extra way to show you care around the holidays.
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So we'll post Chadwick's favorite recipe for biscuits on our website.
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He is by the way one of the country's foremost experts in biscuits.
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So yeah, you definitely check out this recipe.
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Okay, another tip.
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Serve lots of veggies.
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They're inexpensive and they're super healthy and versatile.
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The trick is how you prepare them.
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So instead of filling the table with more than one kind of meat,
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fill it with veggies.
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Also potatoes, pasta, and rice dishes are less expensive, but delicious.
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I like side dishes best anyway.
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I think turkey at holiday meals is kind of just an excuse to have dressing and gravy.
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Yeah, I don't eat the turkey.
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So to me, the sides are everything.
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And they got to be good.
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They really are the best part, I think.
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All right, tip number eight is make it look special.
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It's not just about what you make, but how you serve it.
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So if you've got lots of decorative serving dishes sitting around,
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use them.
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I've got tons of them and they're just sitting in my,
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you know, in the drawer, in my cabinets and then break front there.
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Yeah, I have dishes and sets from grandparents.
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It's a bullseye to the family.
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And I never use them except during the holidays.
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That's when I bring them.
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Well, I don't even bring them out during the holidays, generally.
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So anyway, this is a good tip for me.
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And you know, if you don't have a lot of these kinds of serving dishes sitting around,
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you could always go to like a store like Home Goods or TJ Maxx.
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And you could pick them up for like under $10 in many cases.
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Chadwick told me that he likes to serve his special vegetable dish on a cake plate,
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which is a really creative idea.
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That's cool.
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And as, you know, Amanda, you were telling me before you like to use pine cones on your table,
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right? And pots of flowering plants and herbs,
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which are, you can find it at the supermarket this time of year.
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Yeah, and then you could plant them outdoors in the spring.
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You can just keep them all all season until the spring comes and put them outside.
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That's a great idea.
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Okay, next tip, set up a drink station.
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Putting out a bubbly punch instead of offering a full bar is the easiest and least expensive way to go.
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You can use an inexpensive but festive domestic sparkly.
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Wine, for example, or kava or proseko as the base and then look at punch recipes online
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for the rest of the ingredients.
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Also, don't forget about boxed wines.
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It's a great way to save.
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You can put the wine in a decanter if you want.
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And no one will ever know the difference.
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And boxed wines are much better than they used to be.
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There are some really good buys out there.
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I know, Amanda, you don't know how I feel about boxed wine.
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But, you know, Peter is really great at picking out inexpensive and delicious wine.
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He looks for bottles rated 90 or more by a wine spectator in the liquor store.
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But he also looks in the price range of like $10,99 to $14,99.
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And they're always delicious and we bring the parties and people always rave about it.
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You can also ask people to bring a bottle of whatever they like to drink and just get mixers.
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Plus, you might want to have about half Peter pick out a bottle or two of wine
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and have that on hand along with a little bit of beer.
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Okay, our final tip, tip number 10.
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Check out dollar store deals.
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A new study by the University of Las Vegas found that more than 80% of both produce and
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non-produced items at dollar stores cost much less than they do in supermarkets.
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And if you're worried that the quality won't be up to snuff,
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that same study found little difference between the produce and dollar stores.
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And in supermarkets.
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That's interesting because I wouldn't guess that.
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That's great.
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Yeah.
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So, before heading to the grocery store, check the websites of big chains like Family Dollar
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and Dollar General which feature lots of special sales and coupons and see what's on special.
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But also just pop by and see what they offer.
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Not all dollar stores have produce and a large selection of food.
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But more and more, they do.
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So, that's a pretty safe bet.
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You know, eggs, milk, vegetables, frozen.
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A lot of frozen food.
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And check out our podcast number 53 for tips on picking out great produce.
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No matter where you're shopping.
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You can have an awesome time,
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entertaining your loved ones of this holiday season without overspending.
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Happy holidays!
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Bye for now and happy shopping!