HEB Faves

I love HEB!  Yep, they give my kids balloons, they have two seater shopping carts, helpful employees (at least at my HEB), and great fresh produce.  I also happen to love many of their store brand products...some even more than name brand!  Here are my top ten favorite HEB/Hill Country Fair Store Brand Foods:
 

HEB Fruit Spread (Jam)

Their fruit spreads are delicious, have less sugar than most jams (and only one gram more than Smuckers Low Sugar jam), and even come in a cute jar!

HEB Creamy Tomato Herb Soup

Tastes just like La Madeline Tomato soup, only cheaper!

HEB Bake Shop Bran and Wheat Bread

Where else can you get healthy bran bread?  I've never seen it

anywhere else in a grocery store!

HEB Granola Bars

I personally think both HEB and Walmart store brand granola 

bars taste better then Quaker.  They're moister...Quaker's are more dry.

HEB Fruit/Veggie Drinks

That's not the actual name for it, but they're the type of drink like V8 splash

I think they taste just as good too.

HEB Oatmeal

Just as good as Quaker, and cheaper.

HEB Nacho Cheeze Chips (Dorito Style)

Not sure if that's the name for them, but they are the ones that are like

the original Doritos.  I can't tell the difference!

Bobillas

These sandwhich rolls are made daily and you can get them for 4 for a dollar in the fresh baked bread section.  LOVE IT!

Hill Country Fair Strogonof 

Hill Country Fair may not technically be a store brand, but since it's store brand price and I've only ever seen it at HEB, I'm counting this.  We love Strogonof but have someone in our family with egg allergies.  Hamburger Helper has eggs.  The Hill Country Fair version doesn't...and tastes close enough for us..

HEB Creamy Creations Ice Cream

Oh, this stuff is good.  Super creamy, and no eggs (an essential if you have egg allergies). 

I'd love to here what your favorite store brand products are!

5 Things to Buy at After Christmas Sales

This post is copied, with permission, from Imaginative Homeschool.

I love after Christmas sales.  They can offer some of the best prices of the year on a day where I rarely have any holiday plans, and I love that I don't have to get up at 5 am to take advantage of them.  Here are some of my favorite things to get on December 26th.


1.  Holiday Decor and Gift Wrap

I buy nearly all of our holiday decor on December 26th.  Holiday items will be 50% off or MORE, so it's really the perfect time to shop for it.   Since all of this year's decor is still up, its a great time to assess what you would like to change, replace, or improve on for next year, and get all that shopped for before you pack it away in January.

But don't just think of things for next Christmas.  Consider other upcoming holidays too!  Usually packs of plain red, white, and green Christmas tissue will be on sale with the rest of the Christmas wrap, which can be used for Valentines and St. Patrick's day too!  I stock up on that stuff this time of year. Look also for sparkly wrap in gold or silver that could work for birthday wrapping paper, and if you have a little girl that loves Elsa, snatch up anything with silvery or sparkly blue snowflakes for future gift wrapping (as well as snowflake garlands and ornaments and even tinsel for Frozen party decor!)  

2. Holiday Candy
Candy tastes as good no matter what it is wrapped in, so I sometimes buy a few "after Christmas" treats...as well as some candy for New Year's parties, where  "Christmas Specific" designs are still acceptable.   Last year I found several candy items that were easy to repurpose for other upcoming holidays too.    Look for plain red and green candies (easy to repurpose for Valentines and St. Patrick's day), and bags of candy where the only holiday markings are on the outer bag.     You can also find fun cartoon character and movie themed stocking stuffer candies on sale that don't have any holiday markings--which I save for Easter baskets and birthday party favors.

CANDY SHELF LIFE
How long a candy will last depends on the type.   Below is a guide to the shelf life of various candies if unopened and stored properly.   It's organized according to the holidays items will last til if bought the day after Christmas (click here for a printable version) 


VALENTINES
Most Chocolate (2-4 months)
All of the Below...

ST PATRICKS & EASTER
M&M: Peanut, Peanut Butter, Almond (6 months)
Gum (6-9 months)
All of the Below...

SUMMER - 6 months
Caramels (9-12 months)
All of the Below...

HALLOWEEN & THANKSGIVING
M&M:  Regular Variety (1 Year)
Gummy Candy (1 year)
Jelly Beans (1-2 years)
Individually wrapped hard candy (1-2 Years)
All of the Below...

NEXT CHRISTMAS
Candy Canes (2-3 Years)
Skittles (2-3 years)
Gobstoppers (Indefinitely)
Fireballs (Indefinitely)

(NOTE:   Chocolate and M&Ms can be stored longer if refrigerated or frozen) 


3.  Gifts For Easter Baskets and Upcoming Birthdays
There are lots of stocking stuffers which are un-Christmassy enough to use as party favors or Easter basket filler.  And while toys and gifts may be a little picked over you can still find some great buys on Dec 26th sales.  Don't forget to shop online too--there's some amazing online sales this time of year.  


4.  Next Year's Holiday Outfits
It's a little risky trying to predict what size your kids will be next Christmas (especially with very small children), but things like Christmas sweaters tend to be a little more forgiving if you guess larger, and if you have a larger family buying a few extra sizes to hand down doesn't hurt.


5.  Christmas Cards
I admit I haven't sent Christmas cards for several years now, but back when I did I ALWAYS bought them a year ahead for half off or more.

What are your favorite things to buy December 26th?

Alternative to Easter Grass

Do you hate Easter grass...with a passion?  Were you still detangling the stuff from your Vacuum come Christmastime?  Do you want a a better alternative?

Well, thankfully...you can find one.

Just search your local After St. Patricks Day sales for this....

Yep, a fuzzy green wig is GREAT for alternative Easter grass.  And it can be reused year after year!

Plus, my kids loved playing with the wigs afterwards.

BONUS POINTS FOR COOLNESS!

If you can't find one at your local store, you can also get one online.

(Yes, that's an affiliate link which earns me money if you buy through that...but seriously, those after St. Patties sales are great...try there first!)

Bigger is Not Always Better

Usually, it pays to buy in bulk, but not always.  It's a good idea to whip out your calculator before buying the extra large.  Now, in this instance I'm comparing a concentrated product with a non-concentrated one, but I've found that, per oz/amount/etc. that even a larger portion of the exact same type of product may sometimes cost more (especially if the smaller portion is on sale).  I found these products at the new Walmart near Sun Valley and I-35.  None of them were on sale.

Here is a larger sized ALL...you can see it costs $9.97 and will do 94 loads.

$9.97/94 = 10.6 cents per load*

Now,  before we go further, I'd like to note that in this case it has the per fl oz price (7.1 cent per oz).   That's a great thing to look for most of the time and I love that Walmart does this on many of it's products.  BUT, since we're comparing a concentrate to a non-concentrate, the real important calculation is per load, not per oz..

OK, on we go to our next candidate.  This one is listed as a "MEGA VALUE" and is also just regular (not concentrated).  It's Free and Clear so not scented, but other than that is the same product.  It costs $12.87 and will get you 123 loads.

 $12.87/123 = $10.5 cents per load*

So, this larger size will save you a little over the non "mega value" one.  But check out how it compares to the smallest All there is on this shelf....

All Small and Mighty is a concentrate...so you use less per load.   It's hard to tell just by the pictures, but it's about 1/3 as wide as the Mega version above, and a little shorter too.    You could fit this easily in a backpack.  It costs $4.97 and does 53 loads. 

$4.97/53 = 9.3 cents per load*

(*Rounded to the nearest tenth of a penny)

So, you can see that this even beats out the Mega Value extra large size!  And it takes up less space in your laundry room too!  And unlike some concentrated laundry products, you just have to use less, you don't have to water it down, so it doesn't come with any extra work.

Now, one caveat here...if you're the type of person that forgets to use less when using a concentrated product like this, don't use it, cause you'll burn through this super fast AND your clothes won't rinse out well because you'll be using too much soap.  Otherwise, Small and Mighty will nearly always save you both space and money.    (Also, make sure to check prices in your store, because pricing differences may not always make this cheaper).

 (No one paid me to say all this.   I haven't compared other products because this is just one I happen to use.).