Grocery Store Hacks: Trader Joe&#8217;s Sticker Shock! What Not to Buy

Grocery Store Hacks: How to Save Big at Any Store

If you’re trying to save on groceries and want to know some of my secrets, then this post is for you! Today I’m sharing my best grocery hacks that might sounds crazy but can save you money!

LORAfied Grocery Hacks

Tip #1:

When you first get to the store, do a loop all the way around. Items on the edges are usually cheaper than the ones down the middle aisles.

Tip #2:

Look up or down to save 20 to 40%! That’s because the most expensive products are going to be in your line of sight.

Tip #3:

Instead of fresh seafood, there’s about a 40% difference if you just buy the frozen.

Tip #4:

Most stores offer their best deals on Wednesday and they’re usually still honoring coupons from the week before.

Tip #5:

Buy fruit and veggies whole. For example, a cup of pineapple is $7 more!

Tip #6:

Did you know stories actually fluctuate their pricing throughout the day? If possible, you want to go mid afternoon before everyone gets off work.

Tip #7:

Studies show using self checkout can also help because you’re more likely to stick to your list and buy less!

Check out more of LORAfied life hacks HERE!

Genius Dirty Pan Cleaning Hack

?✨CLEANING HACK: DIRTY PAN TRICK ??

Do you have a pan that’s clean but it doesn’t look clean? You’ve tried everything, but it seems permanently stained? I used to, too! ?‍♀️

This summer Kid 3 decided to start making eggs EVERY DAY…some days the pan was left looking better than others, but slowly it went from a beautiful creamy white surface to a hot mess! So I made it my mission to come up with a way to restore its beauty. After months of testing this, I’m ready to share it! Scooter says THIS is his FAVORITE HACK and honestly, hasn’t stopped telling people about it ? Hope you love it this cleaning hack as much as Scoot does ?

Even after soap and water, my dirty pans are left with a bunch of little pieces that you can’t feel, but you can certainly see them. My secret to getting dirty pans looking brand new is dishwashing pods! For this hack, you need either one dishwashing tablet OR 1 heaping tablespoon of dishwashing detergent.

Take your tablet (or tablespoon) and drop it straight in the pan. Next, pour boiling water over the pod and filling the pan. Let your pan sit for 30 minutes. Make sure that before you soak your pan, it is completely cool from cooking.

30 minutes later, we are going to come in and dump it out. All that ground-in food has been lifted to the surface! After soaking, I highly recommend using a sisal brush to clean off the food bits, which is safe for your pan and very effective. For a super dirty pan (I had one of those, too ?) just repeat the soaking step until it pulls all of the bits to the surface.

This dirty pan hack is so easy and SO satisfying. Do you put your pans in the dishwasher or handwashing? Comment and LMK! I like to handwash mine ?

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Secret Costco Food Dupes!

🤩🚨 DUPE ALERT: COSTCO SECRET COPYCATS 🤫👯‍♀️

Don’t you ever wonder what the quality is of store brands or who’s behind them? Costco has been coming on STRONG with their copycat brands lately! I can’t wait for you try these, especially grass-fed butter 🧈🤯

Okay, let’s talk butter. Costco is selling both the Kerrygold AND their Kerrygold dupe. The original is 55% more!

Also shocking? Their copycat olive oil!

If you’re a fan of the Starbucks Pike Place, try this guy! The Kirkland’s House Blend is a great dupe and costs 55% less!

If you like Justin’s almond butter, save a boatload and try the Kirland dupe!

Not only is this guy a dupe for the “Just Bare” chicken nuggets, but they are also a great little copycat for the Chick-fil-A nuggets. Save 60% with the Kirkland dupe!

Swap out your Pace salsa for Kirkland’s Organic to save!

This guy right here is a fantastic dupe for the BelGioioso parmesan cheese that you see at every grocery store.

Costco even has an affordable Grey Goose dupe if Vodka is your thing!

Folks say this is a fantastic copycat for Oatly, and you save 164% with this Kirland Oat Milk dupe!

Instead of swinging through Starbucks, Costco has FANTASTIC dupes for the egg bites. They have the egg white version and the fancy bacon ones for 73% less!

XO,
Lora

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LORAfied On-the-Go Grocery Store Hacks: What NOT to Buy at Costco

COSTCO: STICKER SHOCK ?? What NOT to Buy!

Are you a Costco fan? I truly LOVE Costco, it’s like a outing instead of a chore ? So many fun and sparkly new things grab your attention, which might explain why it’s hard tell if you’re getting the best deal. To be fair, Costco doesn’t advertise themselves as the best price in town, but for some reason, we’ve been trained to think everything there is a deal. While a lot of items are a big savings, here are the 5 items you’re better off grabbing at your local grocery store ?

Item 1: Chicken

This is probably the most surprising item. You can find chicken A LOT cheaper at Aldi, Walmart, and Vons, saving up to 30%! The best part? You don’t have to buy chicken in bulk.

Item 2: Organic Milk

Organic milk at Costco costs around 25% more than your local grocery store. You are better off buying it there, and again, you don’t have to buy it in bulk.

Item 3: Soda

When it comes to soda, you are going to want to buy this at the grocery store. Grocery stores do something called a “loss leader,” marking down Soda to really low prices to attract costumers.

Item 4: Canned Goods

When it comes to canned goods, you can find these guys 20-30% cheaper at your grocery store, where they’re often on sale.

Item 5: Diapers

One more thing to skip… Costco diapers. Walmart’s private label carries diapers that are 50% cheaper!

Which item was the most surprising to you? Comment and LMK! I was blown away buy the price of the chicken!

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Money Saving Grocery Store Hacks: Cereal Edition

Have you noticed how crazy expensive cereal is?! Captain Crunch alone has gone up by over 40% in the past couple of years ? To give you a quick idea of how bad it’s gotten, I decided to compare Americas top selling cereal, Cheerios:

When you factor in the shrinkflation AND the price increase over the past 2 years, you’re paying 16% for 7% less cereal = which is equivalent to a 25% price increase! ?
That means we’re loosing 22.5 bowls a year! Over 3 weeks worth of breakfasts! And that’s just for 1 person!

✳️Here’s how and where to save

Coming in first is Costco and Sam’s Club. If you’re lucky to have a membership at either of these stores, they have the best deals.

Coming in second is Walmart. Walmart has the best selection of all of the stores. Your best buy here is their 2 pound bags! In general, the more you buy the more you are going to save. Buying in bulk is key! The smaller box almost always cost more in the long run.

The best deals might not even be at the grocery store. Surprisingly, drugstores have really good deals on cereal. Especially if you coupon stack, you can have up to 40% off!

✳️ How to store

Here’s the rundown: you’ve got 3 months to eat opened cereal and up to a year if you store your unopened bags. Store your bulk bags in a cool, dark spot to make it last.

✳️ How to revive stale cereal

If your cereal is past its prime time, here’s a hack to revive it! Spread your stale cereal on a cookie sheet and bake at 350F for 5-10 minutes. Good as new!

✳️ My FAVORITE SECRET CEREAL HACK of all time…just don’t tell the kids this one ?

A great hack to save some money is to mix name brand with the generic. Your family is never going to know, and you’ll save around 25%! Generic cereal brands cost 20-25% less.

Always HERE FOR YOU, sister! ? Stick around for more daily tips + tricks ?

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Beauty Dupe Alert: Bath and Body Copycats from Dollar Tree

Have you noticed how crazy expensive everyday face wash has become? How about deodorant?? It’s shocking! Luckily, there are some incredible copycats out there at a HUGE DISCOUNT!

This one took A LOT of research, I was surprised at just how close these products ended up being to the name brands ?

While not true copycats, the shaving cream and body spray are pretty good stand-ins if you’re looking to save or just have a less expensive option to rotate in your routine ✨

??DUPE ALERT: BATH + BODY COPYCATS ?‍♀️ from DOLLAR TREE ??

Up first: Native Dupes. Their Aluminum Free Deodorant is $12.99 while the Dollar Tree dupe is just $3! It even says “Compare to Native” right on the packaging. HUGE DEAL! Another hard-to-believe one is their body wash. The Native is $9.99 and the excellent dupe for it is just $1.25!

Up next: Face Wash & Moisturizer Dupes. The Cetaphil cleanser is $10 and the incredible copycat is $1.25! Their moistuizer is $13.50 for 16oz while the Dollar Tree dupe is $2.50 for 2! Also, check out this Neutrogena Acne Wash dupe. Neutrogena is $9.50 and the dupe is just $1.25!

This Touchland hand sanitizer is $10 at the drugstore…that’s 800% more than it’s copycat ($1.25)!

The copycat for the eos shave cream is not an exact copy but it’s a pretty good substitute! Eos is $4.20 while the dupe is $1.25! Another find I’m going to give a nice shoutout to is this dupe for the Sol de Janeiro body spray (which is $25) while the dupe is $1.25! And last, but not least, I found a pretty good dupe for the Bath & Body Works hand soap (which is $7.95) – this one’s $1.25!

Which product would you be most willing to try? Comment and LMK! I’m a fan of all of them, but the deodorant find is my fav ?

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2 Money Saving Travel Hacks

2 TRAVEL HACKS: 2 WAYS to SAVE BIG ?

Have you ever booked a hotel just for a day with no intention of staying all night? It’s called a Day Rate, hotels don’t advertise it, but it’s a thing! They will deeply discount extra inventory just for the day! We recently did this coming back from our summer vacation and were able to save over 55% on our flights ? Keep reading for my money saving travel hacks!

#Travel Hack 1: We saved over 55% on our flight flying out at night instead of the morning

This time I’m calling you from the Hyatt in Vancouver, Canada! What are we doing here and why are we not at the airport?! When we first bought the tickets, oh my gosh, they were so expensive! However, booking the night flight saved us over 55%! Because the cheapest flight out was the flight at night, we had to figure out what to do with our luggage during the day. This leads me to travel hack #2.

#Travel Hack 2: Book a “day rate” at a hotel

Did you know you can book a hotel room just for the day? Scooter ended up calling local hotels and asked for day rate offers. Hotels don’t advertise it, but it’s a thing! These hotels will cut you a deal to utilize any extra inventory just for the day.

We also use the app: dayuse.com which will locate a hotel offering day rates for you. We have zero affiliation with these guys, in fact, they don’t even know we exist ?

Would you be willing to try a day rate hotel room? Comment and lmk ? Follow along for more money saving travel hacks!

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Genius Trash Bag Hacks

Okay, so what’s worse: taking out the trash or putting a clean trash bag in the trash can? Scooter would say putting the clean trash bag in…until I showed him this little trick! It’s a GAME CHANGER! And it helps guard against surprise breaks and leaks ? These genius trash bag hacks make life so much easier!

When is the last time you wore your underwear inside out? The answer is most likely never, so why are you doing it to your trash bags?! The seam on your trash bag should actually be on the inside! See the picture for reference.

Why does this even matter? From my own unscientific research in my own home, I have found that when you are working against the seam, the bag is more likely to break open!

If you flip the bag inside out and you work this way against the seam, the bag is almost impossible to break! Putting the seam on the inside makes the bag stronger and actually gives you more support.

Instead of doing all that shaking to get your bag to fit inside the can, try this hack instead. Because these bags come inside out, you are going to flip the bag over, making a little hat around the bin. Finally, just punch straight down. How genius is that?!

Follow for more game changing hacks.

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Back to School Fashion Dupes

??DUPE ALERT: BACK TO SCHOOL FASHION??‍♀️

Have you looked at the price of backpacks lately? It’s shocking! The good news, there are some incredibly affordable copycats out there for backpacks, shoes and lunchboxes ? Here’s how to go back to school in style without going broke! ?✏️

Shop all of my dupes HERE

The first find is my absolute favorite! If you love Lululemon, I found the perfect dupe for their backpacks. Target carries an identical one for $28, while the Lululemon backpack costs $78!

If you love Patagonia, take a look at this Target Dupe. While the Patagonia backpack costs $129, the Target dupe is only $22, saving you $95!

Next up, Walmart carries a great copycat for the JanSport backpack. This Walmart find is only $20, while the JanSport version will cost you $55.

Check out this Herschel lookalike I found at Walmart. This guy is only $28, while the Herschel version costs $80!

Now let’s talk lunchboxes! If you are a fan of the super expensive Yeti, check out Igloo! They are doing an amazing copycat that costs you only $20, while the Yeti costs $80!

And these Walmart sneakers look JUST like the Nike Dunk Lows, which are $90! If your Kid can live without little swish, these guys only cost $17!

If your kid’s school still allows UGGs, these copycat slippers from Walmart are only about $19. What a steal!

Skip the Stanley and pick up a Simply Modern tumbler instead. These guys work so much better and will save you $10!

Hope you love these back to school dupes! Which backpack if your favorite? Comment and LMK! I LOVE the Lululemon look-alike in the beige color, I’m thinking of getting that one for myself ? Shop all of my dupes HERE

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LORAfied On-the-Go: Costco Cheat Day Grocery Store Hack! Food Court Ice Cream Sandwich

COSTCO HACK: FOOD COURT ICE CREAM SANDWICH ?❤️

Do you have a cheat day? Mine is Sunday! I have this 90% on 10% off philosophy and boy do I make sure that 10% is well spent ? Today’s CRAZY CHEAT DAY edition is meant to be shared by 2, 3 or even 4 people! This would also make a FUN & AFFORDABLE date night treat ?

First stop is running over to the Costco food court. We are going to order one quarter of the Costco ice cream and not one, but TWO of their decadent chocolate chip cookies.

Now for the ice cream sandwich. I grabbed a spoon and spread the ice cream on the bottom cookie, then topped it off with the other. Bring someone along with you, because this guy is going to take a team effort.

Just you wait until that cold ice cream hits those warm cookies. This cheat day hack is decadent, creamy, and everything you want on your cheat day.

What’s your favorite cheat day treat? Comment and LMK! Mine is ice cream, Kid 2 and I have it every Sunday! We research places and check their flavors online before making our big decision ??

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Luggage Travel Hacks

Are you a bag checker or do you carry on? If it’s a weekend, I’ll carry on, but anything over that and I’m checking a bag! Here are my favorite tips for making sure my bags arrives at the same time I do ?

Here’s what to keep and what to leave off of your bag to make sure your luggage arrives on time!

We already know we need to remove bagtags from your previous trips but what about those little barcode stickers you have all over your bag? Remove ALL previous barcode stickers as they may be accidently scanned which can confuse the system.

If you keep previous barcode stickers on, it could end up being manually processed which may mean your bag may not make it on the flight. Remove those old stickers to prevent your bag from being delayed.

Instead of checking hardshell suitcases, go for a soft sided bag. They typically perform better than hardshell bags when being stacked on the plane.

I used to think that when checking a bag, the most important factor was the time of check in. Turns out I was wrong! The weight of your bag is actually much more important than check-in time, and the color of your bag does NOT matter at all.

This overweight pink bag has a higher chance of being delayed than this underweight generic black bag.

While marking your luggage with a ribbon may make it easier for you, the luggage handlers don’t love ‘em. Skip those ribbons or any markers, as they may coverup the routing stickers and delay your bag!

Do you have a hard shell suitcase or a soft sided one? Comment and LMK! ? Make sure to follow along for more helpful travel hacks.

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