3 Things you can take advantage of when grocery shopping.

Do you like bakery goods but don't want to spend too much? (this includes cookies)


Do you want to buy cheap meat, fish, and poultry to fill in that void that ramen and coffee can't fill?


Do those roasted rotisserie style chickens you see in the stores tantalize your taste buds every time you breathe in their seasoned and spiced goodness wafting in the air?


Well here are a few ways to get them, and eat them. 

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"Why is grocery shopping so expensive? How can I save money?!"

Grocery shopping doesn't have to be stressful and it doesn't have to be as expensive as it may seem sometimes.

The number one thing to keep in mind when going out for things is to:

Buy the things you need, before going after the things you want.The second thing you need to do is to PLAN.

Here's what you need to do:

Before you even leave your dorm/apartment/house for groceries, STOP.

• Take inventory of what is needed before considering what is wanted. Overstocking may result in wasted food and ultimately wasted money.
• In order to avoid impulse buying, eat before heading to the store therefore the brain can have more influence in judgment than a hungry stomach. 

Once you've made it to a store, LOOK around you for a moment.

• Many popular brand named items are advertised in the media as being the best tasting or best working, however the price isn’t always the best sounding. A name for a product is what it is, a name.
• Another cheaper product can be just as good as a brand name product, just compare and contrast its ingredients and active ingredients if it's a household product.
• An example can be of the brand name aspirin you need because you get headaches from staying up all night studying. A cheaper generic brand contains the same active ingredient as the brand name aspirin.

As you look closer at items and what they're made of, you will soon find that in order to save more money you can just simply COOK things for yourself rather than buying pre-made products.

• Regarding processed foods, buying raw foods and ingredients is not only significantly cheaper but healthier as well. Cook meals instead of relying on prepackaged processed meals.
• Do you really want to buy a $4 pack of 3 frozen pizzas? Or do you want to make them yourself by getting more for your money, quantity, and most of all quality?
• Processed foods offer the convenience of a quick and easy meal, however the price of relying on them eventually affects finances

If you want to save money AND eat healthy, farmers' markets are your best friend.

• Use local farmers’ markets as a venue for fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes. These markets are much cheaper and are tastier than the produce being sold in stores.

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"My room smells, my car smells, my roommate's shoes smells, EVERYTHING SMELLS!!"

Is everything around you starting to smell? Has your busy school and/or work schedule made it difficult to maintain a clean living environment? Maybe it's your roommate(s) that need to clean things up.

To effectively reduce the amount of bad odors around your dorm/apartment, the number 1 way is to clean up.

However once everything is put back in their rightful place, the smelly odor may still linger.


Here's what you need:

• Fabric Softener Sheets (dryer sheets, which you'll probably have a bunch of if you do laundry)

Here's how you can use them:

• Has your "new-car" smell turned into an "old-musty-car" smell? Tuck dryer sheets under car seats to counteract odors and even cigarette smells.
• Smelly drawers? There are scented drawer liners, but those are expensive. Simply tuck dryer sheets under existing drawer liners or tape them to the back of your drawers.
• You can use recently used dryer sheets in piles of laundry that have yet to be done, and also use them in trash baskets to counteract odors
• Smelly shoes and gym bag? Drop a dryer sheet into each of your shoes and leave them overnight to help get rid of odors. Shove some dryer sheets into your gym bag to control odor.
• Throw some sheets in your closet to keep your clothes smelling fresh.

Why does this work?
Fabric softener sheets just smell nice.

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"I woke up late and ALL of my clothes are wrinkled because I didn't have time to iron them!"

Have you ever found yourself waking up late realizing that you have absolutely no time to iron your clothes?

You may find yourself in this position, especially if you didn't have time to iron them right after you did your laundry.

Have no fear!

There is a way to prepare for such situations in the future AND cut your total ironing time in half!

Here's what you need:

• An iron (obviously)
• Ironing board
• Aluminum foil

Optional additional materials:

• An ice cube
• 1 small cloth

1. Take a sheet of aluminum paper and slide it under the fitted ironing board cover, shiny side up. The shinier side will reflect heat better. The foil will reflect heat back through the clothing as you iron, smoothing out wrinkles more efficiently.

2. Wrap an ice cube in a small cloth and dab it onto really tough wrinkles before passing your iron over them.

Why does this work?

Ironing boards suck up an iron's heat, causing you to make several passes over your clothes to get rid of wrinkles. Slipping a sheet of foil under the fitted ironing board cover will help redirect the heat back through the clothing like a two-sided iron "sandwiching" your wrinkled garments. The ice cube wrapped in cloth will moisten those tougher wrinkles giving you the power of steam!!

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FAQ: How to use Protips

College life can be difficult, money is tight and you don't always have all the time in the world.

And you're probably nervous about a lot of things, especially about living on your own.

Do you have butterflies in your stomach? Digest them.

Sometimes you're going to have to bite off more than you can chew. So chew it and eat it. I'm here to help you grab life by the horns, now enough of these idioms.

1. What do I need to follow your Protips?

Well the majority of the things that you'll need can already be found in your kitchen and/or room. You'll need common household items, and if you don't have them they are easily obtained for very cheap.

2. How do I follow your Protips?

I'll be posting a common scenario that you may encounter in your life, a list of things that you'll need, and how to use them.

3. How can I find a specific Protip for a specific situation?

I know how busy you are so I'll be organizing them. Link will be in the side bar!

4. What if I can't find what I'm looking for?

You can leave a comment and I will read your comment and then I may consider it for a future blog post.

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Easy Recipes.

Stop starving and crying. Learn how to become a master chef with your microwave. Using ingredients that are both cheap, and can be found in your current kitchen you can magically create (hopefully) tasty meals!

• Delicious chicken salad using leftover chicken.
• Make your own blended iced coffee.

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Roommate(s)

You can't always choose your roommates, but you can learn to deal with them. Here are some tips to help you cope and live a bit easier with your roommate(s).

• Coming soon!

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Quick Fixes

Need a quick fix? No, not THAT kind of fix.


I'm talking about that dent that you found in your car in the parking lot, I'm going to teach you how to fix it (at least attempt to fix it). Also, I'll teach you how to quickly do things that usually take a while to do.

• Coming soon!

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Saving Time.

Don't have time to do things? Make time. And in hindsight, start planning things out.

In the meantime, here are some blog posts that should save what's left of your sanity (and time).

• Iron your wrinkled clothes twice as fast, or maybe even 4 times as fast!

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Cleaning up.

Here's a list of blog posts about helping you clean your humble abode up quick. Maybe you can finally have people over other than your roommate(s) and immediate family.

• Smelly car? Smelly room? Smelly shoes? Smelly everything?

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Saving Money.

I like saving money, you probably do too. I wish we could all have enough money. I'd like to buy an island and populate it with cats.

In the meantime, here are some blog posts to help you save money.

• Grocery shopping: have a cart full of things you really need.
• Take advantage of these 3 places when you're grocery shopping, it can save you $$$
• If you love bananas but hate the fact that they spoil quickly, here you can learn how to make them last!
•  Save money on printer ink with these easy tips
• Save money on gas with these easy tips!
• Some clever, "punny" cheap costume ideas for Halloween

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