sponsored post – Page 33 – Luv Saving Money

Tai Pei Asian Foods “Good Fortune in Every Box™” Plus a Coupon

**This is a sponsored post as part of the Social Moms blogger program with Tai Pei*®*

I love some good asian food so does the rest of my family. Very rarely do we get to go out to eat alone. Usually if we go out to eat it’s a bill for 5 of us. That has to be a once in a while thing because man, my boys can eat. I’m gonna be in trouble when they’re teenagers. Honestly with having an infant, sometimes going out with all of us can be a lot of work. Anymore more I’d much rather have a nice meal at home. My asian cooking skills are not up to par so if I’d try to make orange chicken or cashew chicken (2 of my faves) there is no way it would taste like the restaurants do. Everyone seems to have a different fave too. I love orange chicken but my husband doesn’t care for it. My oldest son doesn’t like broccoli so broccoli chicken is out.

Tai Pei has a surprising variety of asian foods in the frozen foods section. There are so many different entrees and appetizers you’re sure to please everyone in the family. Their slogan, “Good Fortune in Every Box” just might ring true when you’re in the mood for your favorite asian dish and it’s right there for you ready to eat in a matter of minutes.

Entree varieties include:

–Beef & Broccoli–Bourbon Chicken–Cashew chicken–Chicken Fried Rice–Chicken Chow Mein–Combination Fried rice–General Tso’s Chicken–Orange Chicken–Pepper Beef–Shrimp Fried Rice–Sweet & Sour Chicken–Sweet Teriyaki Chicken

Phew I told you there was a lot. They come in cute single serve boxes. Each one is Chef created and restaurant inspired. Tai Pei has over 20 years of experience in creating asian-style restaurant quality foods. They also offer asian-style appetizers.

Appetizer Varieties Include:

–Chicken Eggrolls–Chicken Potstickers–Pork Eggrolls–Pork Potstickers–Vegetable Eggrolls–Battered Green Beans–Edamame–Mini Chicken Spring Rolls–Savory Chicken for Lettuce Wraps–Spicy Mini Chicken Eggrolls–Mini Vegetable Spring Rolls

They also have an better-for-you option in the Tai Pei Asian Garden varieties

–Hunan Beef and Broccoli–Chicken Fried Rice–Spicy General Tso’s Chicken–Ginger Chicken–Glazed Chicken Potstickers–Mango Chicken–Sesame Chicken–Orange Chicken

Oh my with so many options you’re sure to find something you like. The Asian Garden varieties are low in fat, calories, and sodium each one containing only 300 calories and 8 grams of fat or less and include real ingredients like lean meats, whole grain noodles, and more.

Because this IS Luv Saving Money how about a couple? Like a buy one get one free coupon?

I’ll also have the coupon link in my side bar for a while if you want to come back at another time.

TaiPei is on facebook too, stop by and give ’em a like:

My husband gets these all the time. He loves the Tai Pei flavors. He said they are one of the few store bought chinese meals that actually taste like take out to him. We get them in the frozen food section at Walmart. Just look at the cute little boxes they come in. This particular flavor is the Bourbon Street Chicken.

My husband works late so he doesn’t get home until late. Sometimes late a night he’s not in the mood for meatloaf or whatever I might have made for dinner and put in the fridge for him so he’ll heat one of these up. I had my oldest son try one too. He seemed to enjoy it as well.

Don’t forget to print your buy one get one free coupon from the banner in this post or in my side bar!

**This blog post is part of a paid SocialMoms and Tai Pei® blogging program. The opinions and ideas expressed here are my own.**

Do You Own a Chevy Traverse? I Want Your Opinions

**This post is brought to you by Philadelphia’s Reedman Toll Auto Group**

My husband and I have been talking a lot about vehicles lately. We are a family of 6 now with 2 little ones in car seats. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts I have a 2006 Chrysler Pacifica. It seats all 6 of us quite comfortably and has been a very good vehicle. I love it for the winter here in PA. The biggest issue I have is when all 6 seats are up there is very little trunk space in the back. This is not good for things like grocery shopping (because we normally go as a family), and trips that require some packing. In fact, since we had my daughter we have to take two separate cars for all of us to go. I don’t mind, grocery shopping is something we enjoy doing as a family but I have to consider the cost of gas and the fact that we can’t all ride together all the time if we have to take any type of load with us.

I really want a Chevy Traverse. When we bought our Pacifica, I had looked at them but the Traverse was still pretty new on the market and a bit out of our price range even for a used one. I know they’re supposed to seat something like 7 or 8 people and they seem like they’d be good in the winter as well. I’ve seen a few around town but don’t really know someone that has one that I could talk to about it.

Philadelphia’s Reedman Toll Auto Group has a big selection of Chevy Traverse. They actually have 4 in their pre-owned inventory that would be a little more comfortable for our budget. I’m eyeballing this one in particular. This picture is from the Reedman Toll page and is linked to the listing for credit purposes.

It only has 35,405 miles on it and is a 2012. My hubby made the last car payment on his vehicle this month which is always nice.

I guess my question is, do any of my readers out there own a Chevy Traverse? What do you think of it? Is there enough trunk space if all the seats are in position? I want your honest opinions.

My Dream Fuel Efficient Car

**This post is brought to you by Reedman Toll Philly FIAT dealer**

My family and I drove to Easton, PA this past weekend to do a review of the Crayola Experience. Easton is near Philadelphia so we had about a 3 1/2 drive. I don’t mind though, I actually prefer driving to flying. I love taking in the scenes, seeing the names of towns along the way, seeing signs for points of interest along the way. In our drive we passed Hershey, Harrisburg (our state capital), and Allentown where I had once did some of my fieldwork for college. The only thing that would have made the drive a little more enjoyable would have been not having to pay so much for gas. Having a big family, car selection is greatly narrowed down. I like my car and it’s done well for me. I couldn’t help but see how many of the little FIATs there were on the road though.

Those tiny little cars have interested me since I started seeing the commercials. Sometimes I think I’d like to jump in one all by myself and just drive just for some quiet me time. I pointed a FIAT out to my husband at one of the turnpike booths while waiting in line. I said “I think I’m going to get one of those kind of cars when the kids start leaving the house and we don’t need a big vehicle” We had been talking about our future on the drive and goals for retirement (which is a long way off).

I was curious enough that I decided to look up some info about the FIAT. I found Philly FIAT dealer, Reedman Toll who has quite the selection. I was impressed with the 38 mpg highway and 30 city for the hatchback. I’ll be honest I went off into my little daydream world picturing myself just driving, seeing the sites in one of these all by myself. They have an espresso colored one I kinda like. I don’t usually go for the “different” colors when it comes to cars but for some reason that one stood out to me.

Isn’t it cute? If you were to get one, what color do you think you’d go for?

Things I Consider When Car Shopping

**This post was brought to you by ReedmantTollChevy.com of Philly**

When my husband and I needed a new family vehicle I did a lot of research. Our first considerations of course was to make sure it seated everyone. At the time we had five (but now we have 6) I knew I it had to be an automatic for me since I would be the primary driver. I also knew I wanted it to do well for me in the winters here in Pennsylvania.

The next thing of course was our budget. How much of a down payment could we afford? How much could we afford for monthly payments and insurance? The next thing was to figure out what I wanted and see if it would fit into our budget. My dream family car at this point is a Chevy Traverse like you could find at ReedmanTollChevy.com of Philly.

Unfortunately at the time we were looking at them (2009 time frame) they were still fairly new so even the used ones were only a year or two old and still out of our price range. So we started doing some more research. I compared and contrasted vehicles for months before buying. Of course other things to consider as far as cost goes was gas mileage, availability of parts, insurance cost, how long did we hope/intend to keep the vehicle, etc.

I’m one who buys a car and keeps it until it’s on it’s last legs (or wheels as it were). I tend to buy used vehicles but I would consider a new one if the deal was right. We’ll be ready for another family car in about 2 years or so (at least I hope my car keeps going strong). I might be able to consider a used Chevy Traverse next time. For now I’m happy with my Chrysler Pacifica that we got a great deal on. I’ve had it for 4 years now and it’s still going strong. It was everything I wanted at the time. My only complaint now that we have our 4th child is that there is not enough trunk space when all the seats are up. But we can deal with it until it’s time for another family vehicle.

How do you decide what vehicle to get? What are your must haves in a vehicle? If you have a big family, do you like your vehicle?

An Option In Finding The Best Deals On Loans, Lending Club

**This is a sponsored post brought to you by Gigasavvy. Any opinions expressed are my own**

For day to day purchases my rule is, “If I can’t buy it cash I don’t buy it”. When I see this I’m talking about maybe a shirt I really want, a pair of shoes, buying birthday gifts, things of that nature. For slightly bigger purchase like a new game system for the kids or a time like Christmas where a large amount of gifts need to be bought I set up a budget for how much I can spend and save for that. I don’t like to use credit cards or loans if I don’t need to. There are things though you almost need a loan for like buying a car, a home improvement project, or maybe an emergency issue like a big unexpected medical bill or your furnace decides it’s going to quit on you in the middle of winter.

Where do you go for these loans? Maybe you go to your bank to get a loan thinking you’ll get the best deal there since you’re a customer or maybe it’s for convenience. Maybe you do compare a few local banks as far as payment options, interest rates, and other fees. It’s certainly good to compare.

What if you could get a personal loan online and the fees were less because they don’t have the overhead that banks do like administrative fees, marketing, etc and don’t have the costs associated with credit card companies like mailing hundreds of thousands of pieces of mail each year. Lending Club does just that. lower rates and less business cost means better deals for you on personal loans. Members invest in and borrow from each other. The convenience of getting your loan online from the comfort of your own home is nice too. You can borrow up to $35.000 online.

Lending Club could be a great way to save money on a personal loan whenever the need arises.