Okay, so here is how I've been doing on my quest to save more money. I waited until today so I could report on January and February. I'll give you the total amount saved for the month, and then give some highlights of my best deals. I'm pretty stinkin' pleased with myself, but I know I have a LOT yet to learn, particularly the whole coupon stacking thing. You old pros out there may not be so impressed.
January Savings: $731.50
The best score was probably our new entertainment center. We went to World Market, because we like their stuff and they were having a 50% off sale on furniture. We found one we really liked, but the only one they had left was the floor model. They offered that one to us at an additional discount. So, the entertainment center that was $249 ended up costing us $90, a savings of $159! My other big money saving deals came from winter clearance sales at several different stores. For $200, I bought a winter wardrobe for both of my kids for next year! That wasn't shopping at Walmart, either. These deals came from Target, Gap, Old Navy, and The Children's Place. Heck, I even found a couple of things at Justice! My favorite find was a girl's fleece top marked down to 91 cents at Target. It had been part of a pajama set, and the pants were missing. I didn't even know it was pjs until I looked at the tag. It can definitely be worn as a cute Christmas shirt! The original retail cost of all of these clothes was over $514! I hadn't quite figured out how to get a lot of free stuff yet, but I did get some shampoo and conditioner free; 3 bottles, and I only paid the 20 cents tax! I'll explain this more in February.
February Savings: $816.27
This is the month that I started to figure out the drugstore game. At CVS and Rite Aid, they have deals every week that earn you cash back; sort of. I like to call it "Monopoly money". You get these vouchers printed off at the bottom of your receipt that you can use like cash towards your next purchase in the store. They can't be used on gift cards (learned that the hard way!), prescriptions, beer, tobacco, lottery tickets or stamps. Once you get a few of these vouchers, you can use them on deals in the store that will earn you MORE vouchers. So, you're getting free stuff with play money! I've become quite addicted to this game. The best tool I've found to help me find these deals and to help me with my coupons is a website called Southern Savers (southernsavers.com). Every week, they post the sales flier for the most common stores in the south, and then within that add, they tell you where to find the coupons you can use on the sale items. It saves me a ton of work! You can even print out a shopping list of the deals you want to purchase to take to the store with you. They give workshops all over the south, and I'd love to go to one the next time there's one in Nashville. Another website I like is Faithful Provisions (faithfulprovisions.com). Since it's based here in Nashville, their sales fliers are a little more accurate for the stores in my area.
I've gotten a number of items free this month. I usually get things that will work out to be free in the end even if it's things that my family won't use for two reasons. One reason is that these items usually earn you more vouchers to use next time, and the other is that I know a few organizations that I can donate them to. For instance, February was the month for free Colgate toothpaste. Tim and I use Crest, while the kids use the kid varieties of Colgate (those weren't on sale). So, I donated it to our Room In The Inn program. Some other items I got free this month from drugstores, grocery stores and other retail stores: candy bars, dish liquid, newspapers, tissues, feminine products, cake mix, deodorant, frozen veggies, 2-liter sodas, ibuprofen, 2 movies, a ladies top, Yankee Candle, and more!
So, friends, let me know your tricks of the trade! Maybe I can post monthly on things I'm learning and my successes and failures. I have other ramblings on life that I'd like to get back to posting as well, so expect a different subject in my next post. Later!
Monday, February 28, 2011
Friday, February 4, 2011
The Year Of Living Frugally
Before I get to the topic of my post, let me say, "Happy New Year"! I've obviously been slow to get back into the swing of things. Today marks the end of our first five-day school week since mid-December. To say I am sick of snow (heck; winter in general) is a ridiculous under-statement. So now, back to my original train of thought.
When it comes to shopping and saving money, I am a bit of an enigma. I hate to shop, but I love to save money. I am a bargain hunter, but I have my limits. Walmart can be a great place to find deals, but there are times I'd rather have my fingernails removed than suffer through the experience of shopping there just to save a few bucks. Case in point: One Saturday night, my husband and I had just finished a movie at 11:30, when it occured to me that we didn't have enough milk for breakfast. We have a Super Walmart that recently opened across the street, so I figured I'd just zip in there and pick up a gallon. Yeah. I stood in a line of about 10 people (all with buggies heaping with groceries, not a single one offering to let me go ahead with my ONE item) until after midnight. I vowed to never go there again that late at night. A couple of months later when I was in the same predicament, I went to the corner store and paid five dollars for a gallon of milk just to avoid the frustration that is Walmart.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that if I have to work too hard to save money, it just doesn't seem worth the effort to me. I have tried couponing over the years, but it's never really clicked for me until recently. I do most of my shopping at Aldi. It's a chain of small grocery stores that sell generic brands really cheap. I couldn't see how using coupons on name brand items would save me more money than shopping at Aldi. It certainly seemed less time consuming to just shop there than taking the time to cut and sort coupons. One day, I ran across a website called Southern Savers. I learned that I've been going about this coupon thing all wrong. It wasn't enough to just cut coupons and take them to the store with me. I had to combine the coupons with the weekly sales! Most of you experienced couponers out there are probably smacking your foreheads and shouting a big ol' "DUH!!", but this was quite the revelation for me. It's becoming a fun game for me to see just how much money I can cut off of my grocery bill.
In January, I decided to start keeping a Savings Journal. I know I've missed a receipt or two, but I've done a pretty good job tracking my savings so far. In my next post, I'll let you take a peak. I'll tell you what has worked for me so far, and maybe you more experienced shoppers out there can give me a few pointers. I definitely have much to learn (I'd love to go to one of those Couponing 101 type classes that I've heard about). Maybe this can become a semi-regular topic for the blog.
When it comes to shopping and saving money, I am a bit of an enigma. I hate to shop, but I love to save money. I am a bargain hunter, but I have my limits. Walmart can be a great place to find deals, but there are times I'd rather have my fingernails removed than suffer through the experience of shopping there just to save a few bucks. Case in point: One Saturday night, my husband and I had just finished a movie at 11:30, when it occured to me that we didn't have enough milk for breakfast. We have a Super Walmart that recently opened across the street, so I figured I'd just zip in there and pick up a gallon. Yeah. I stood in a line of about 10 people (all with buggies heaping with groceries, not a single one offering to let me go ahead with my ONE item) until after midnight. I vowed to never go there again that late at night. A couple of months later when I was in the same predicament, I went to the corner store and paid five dollars for a gallon of milk just to avoid the frustration that is Walmart.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that if I have to work too hard to save money, it just doesn't seem worth the effort to me. I have tried couponing over the years, but it's never really clicked for me until recently. I do most of my shopping at Aldi. It's a chain of small grocery stores that sell generic brands really cheap. I couldn't see how using coupons on name brand items would save me more money than shopping at Aldi. It certainly seemed less time consuming to just shop there than taking the time to cut and sort coupons. One day, I ran across a website called Southern Savers. I learned that I've been going about this coupon thing all wrong. It wasn't enough to just cut coupons and take them to the store with me. I had to combine the coupons with the weekly sales! Most of you experienced couponers out there are probably smacking your foreheads and shouting a big ol' "DUH!!", but this was quite the revelation for me. It's becoming a fun game for me to see just how much money I can cut off of my grocery bill.
In January, I decided to start keeping a Savings Journal. I know I've missed a receipt or two, but I've done a pretty good job tracking my savings so far. In my next post, I'll let you take a peak. I'll tell you what has worked for me so far, and maybe you more experienced shoppers out there can give me a few pointers. I definitely have much to learn (I'd love to go to one of those Couponing 101 type classes that I've heard about). Maybe this can become a semi-regular topic for the blog.
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