Tuesday, March 31, 2009

More about spending more to save more

This is part 2.
We are trying so hard right now to save money, and yet, it seems we are spending more than usual. It seems like we have to in order to get on track with our spending. I was watching someone in front of me check out at the grocer store yesterday and looked like she was buying just enough for one meal at dinner and a banana. I was wondering if she was coming to the grocery store to buy one meal because it is cheaper than fast food, but could still only purchase enough for one meal at a time.
I know that, most of the time, buying in bulk can help in saving money. It is more initially out of pocket, but in the long run it can help as far as making meals. This is what I try to do to help save money, cook in bulk and put some in the freezer for later, so I know I have quick meals without spending money on fast food or more expensive pre-packaged food at the store. But if I was really hurting for money I wouldn't be able to do this. I wouldn't have the ability to buy in bulk, and therefore to save money. It all seems so backwards. When you really need to start saving money, you have to spend more to get the process going.
What are ways that you start saving money without having to initally put a lot of money into the process? I would love to hear your ideas.

Monday, March 30, 2009

Spending More to Save More

I am definitely at a place in likfe right now where I am trying to be VERY conscious of money that we are spending...doesn't mean we are spending less, just means I am more aware that we are spending A LOT!
We are trying to spend less, at least we are talking about it, but I am finding that to begin trying to be more frugal, there is a period where it seems you have to spend more than usual first. This is only the first of a series of blogs explaining this and other theories that I have on being frugal but still being practical.
We have decided that this is really the year we are going to start a garden. We have talked about it before, but it is official. This is partly because fresh stuff from the garden (anything really) is so much better than anything you can buy in a store. But it is also because it is more cost-friendly to have a garden and grow your own food. Thus, spending more to try and spend less....
We didn't have much at all in the way of tools to work on our yard to even start a garden. So my husband went out today, and spent quite a bit of money so that we can start saving more money on groceries. Manure, grass seed, a hoe, an edger, seeds, weed killer, a trowel, and I don't even know what else...
I'm sure in the long run it will pay off, but it is a little quirky to have to spend more in order to save more...

Friday, March 27, 2009

No $10 Gift Card fom Home Depot

I read quite a few places recently about signing up for the Do-It-Herself workshop on tiling, and by just attending you would receive a $10 gift card to Home Depot. Well, I signed up, attended, finished the class (which went longer than listed) but no gift card. Don't know where the rumor came from...luckily I really did have a room in my house in mind to tile, and I really enjoyed the class, and I would love to start tiling my kitchen now (though money holds me back), but no gift card to get my tools for starting my new garden this spring so I can grow vegetables and help our finances. Bummer!

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Month 1 ending

As I come up on the end of my first month of trying to utilize the world of coupons and blogging, I am beginning to look back over the month to see if this has been a successful endeavor for me. Successful is going to be a bit subjective here, but ultimately I want to help our family save money; not just by spending less, but by getting more with the money I do spend. I definitely feel I have gotten better as the month has progressed, but I am interested in going back over all of my receipts to look a little closer at the details and set some goals for April, month 2. Check back for updates soon.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Week 4 and I made $ .16


So this is week 4 of me trying to be a better shopper, trying to utilize sales and coupons and take advantage of store deals...really paying attention to the blogging world and what is happening at all my local stores, and I feel wee 4 has been a success!
For the above items I paid $24.34 OOP, but walked away with $24.50 in RR and ECB! So I made $.16 today! And according to the receipts, I saved $171.76 on all my purchases. Though KMart is doing double coupons, I have a pretty crappy store here and didn't spend much time in there, and then made one trip to CVS and made 2 Wgs stops to get the items shown.
All in all, I had a good morning. I am still learning from the pros (Hip2Save helps SO much!) but I have improved over this past month:)

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Old Navy?

Update: read the comment from ON for valuable info!

Anyone know if Old Navy is resetting their site tonight and having great deals like the $75 off of $100 or more??? I tried so hard last week, ending up not being able to sleep and it was after midnight when I finally got through, but the site was so slow I could see the video (Where It's Hip to Save said the big coupon would be). I want to try again, but it will probably be the same deal...anyone know for sure?

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Emergen-C Immunity


Win your own pack here. I don't know if I am a guaranteed winner, but I tried! Thanks, Money Saving Mom.

FREE Redbox movie rental Wednesdays


Get your free Wednesday Redbox movie rental today with the code GTL456. You can use this code once per credit/debit card, just make sure to return your movie by Thursday at 9pm to not see a charge on your card.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

FREE Shampoo


Get a FREE bottle of Aveda Shampoo. Go here to fill in your shipping address and take a survey if you want.

Free 10-day Supply


Get your FREE 10-day supply of bareMinerals SPF 15 foundation and FREE Premi Buki brush here. If you can pick it up in a store, it is completely free, and if you get it shipped it is only $3.95 for shipping. Get yours today!

Friday, March 13, 2009

Trial Week 2



This was my second week trying out the whole coupon thing...getting the Sunday paper, clipping internet coupons, reading blogs and other web sites, etc. and I think I have done much better! I left Sunday almost immediately after church to go to PA to visit family with my husband and 3 month old. I took all my lists and coupons, etc, especially for the wgs diaper sale and was so excited, only to find very few (and none near where I was) wgs!
We got back in town Wed afternoon and after my husband fixed a flat we had on one car before we left, i proceeded to go to a couple of stores...got one set of diapers and a few other cheapies/freebies at wgs, and I was satisfied (especially since I thought all the diapers would be gone!)
I left work on Thursday with my 3 month old in tow and hit 3 stores, and when my husband got home later I went to 2 others. These pics only show what I got on Wed and the first 3 stores on Thurs, but I am a proud shopper.
I know my spending is still more and saving still less than many I see in the bloggosphere, but I saved more than I spent (a first ever) and have $40 to use at wgs and cvs next week!

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Old Navy Deal



Don't forget to try and get a great coupon or discount at Old Navy's new weekly specials site. I've heard it updates on Thursday and I've heard Friday, but tomorrow is Thursday, so I am trying then. Go here to help yourself. I've heard there is a coupon as good as $75 off a $100 purchase, but you have to keep hunting and you may have to give up a good deal to get a great deal. I'll let you know how it goes after I try it for myself.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

PA has few wgs!

I am so disappointed!!! I was all set to do my wgs shopping yesterday only to learn there are not many wgs in PA and not any near where we are visiting right now! I hope there is still some merchandise when I get back to VA!!!

Monday, March 9, 2009

Huggies

I did my first great buy yesterday at Wgs by getting 2 packs of diapers and 1 pack of wipes @ $26, then turned in my $15 in coupons everyone has been printing and then had $10 in RR from dove products last week, so I spent $1 and tax out of pocket...starting to get the hang of it...looking to make another trip to get more stuff today...

Friday, March 6, 2009

Arm & Hammer


Thanks Patricia for these great coupons found here.

Free Ice Cream


There's not much I enjoy more than ice cream, probably only FREE ice cream!
You can get a free ice cream simply by wearing your PJ's to your local Bruster's tomorrow, Mar 7. I'd call ahead, especially if you feel silly in your PJ's out in public. Thanks to Money Saving Mom and Deal Seeking Mom.

Red Plum and Old Navy

Just found a deal on Red Plum that talks about all the special deals that Old Navy has weekly that you can find here. There was one deal recently that has run out but was still listed as $75 off a purchase of $100 or more!! Getting $100 worth of clothes and stuff for $25, that's a fab deal! RP says to check back at 9am on Fridays to get the latest and great deals!! It's on my calendar.

It's Friday

It's Friday, so I am trying to get everything together to start earlier and wiser next week. Already looking at the month-long sales at CVS and WGS and have already looked at the coupons that are coming out Sunday by going here. And I have all my huggies coupons printed and ready to go for the big sale at wgs. Gotta find more great deals, but this is a great start for me!

I did it!

Ok, so everything I keep reading says Just Go For It! So, today I did. I saw the Coupon Mom on TV this morning and it inspired me to try once again. I had a Dr appt, so hubby was home to watch baby and this gave me a little more freedom. I have been reading about the great deals at Walgreens this week, so I wanted to give it a try...
I got the dove soap bars with the coupon for .99 but there were only 4...but luckily I heard the rumor about the travel deoderants working and they were .99. So I got my eight Dove products, thank you to A Thrifty Mom for spelling it all out for me, giving me $10 in RR! I also heard about the colgate deal, so I got one tube for $3.29 and got $3.50 back in RR. So, I spent $11.77 and got $13.50 back for next time!! The cashier was like "Wow, good job!" Made me smile:)

The Today Show

It seems that saving info is everywhere...probably a lot more out there now since the economy is so bad. So maybe this is the best time for me to start trying all of this because there is so much info out there...did you see the today show this morning...its the Coupon Mom and I already knew she was great, but all those grocer for .25?!?! One day I'll be that good, i hope!

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Deals and Delights

OK, so I got some gum for free yesterday with the deal at Kroger of 10/10 on mentos gum and with 2 $1/1 coupons, so they were both completely free!
I also went to CVS yesterday (after I had gone the day before and tried to find some deals, but realized that if I went back home and printed more coupons from Johnson's then I would get an even better deal). They had a deal of buying $20 worth of baby products and getting $5 in rewards. So I took in my pampers coupon for $1 off (and they were on sale for $10) and I got 4 Johnson's products that were all on sale, plus I had a $1/1 for each...so I spent $22 on the products to get over $20, then used my $5 in coupons and got $5 back for my next trip. YAY! I'm getting better, thanks to the blogs on this page that I like, and others who keep all of us current on the best deals and how to get them!

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Renewed

My hope is renewed today. I know I didn't do nearly as good as many have done, not as good as the pictures I see of tons of products for a few cents. But I am proud of my deals and my hope in becoming a better shopper is renewed....
My biggest dilemma now is not only trying to figure out how to be frugal with my money and thus honor God with how I spend my money, but also learning what it means to honor God with my time in all of this, making sure that I am not spending too much time or becoming too obsessed with all the info and deals and clipping and shopping that it consumes me instead of me allowing myself to be consumed by my God...

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

My experience crushed my excitement.

I was so excited.
I had it all together.
I did all my research.
I had my lists,
my coupons,
my notes,
my wallet,
my determination....
But none of these were enough to make my experience tonight a success...
I looked up the stores on The Grocery Game but I wasn't totally sold on just using that, so I also spent much of yesterday and today researching the blogs to the right and the sites below, looking for coupons and ideas and the very best deals around so I could make sure I was well armed.
But to no avail.
At least that's how it seems to me right now after having spent valuable time out trying to begin my new bargain world experience.
I don't know if I waited too long (since it's already Tuesday and most people seem to go out on Sunday right when all the deals start) or I am just new or we live in a smaller area and so the stores are smaller and did not even have the things I intended to buy, or a combination of all of the above. Whatever it was, though, my first experience is not what makes me want to try again. The blogging world is what makes me want to try again. People are so good at it and they have so many ideas, so I think I need to give it at least a month or two to make sure I am getting the hang of it, saving both money and time in the long run...

Some of my new favorite sites...

Coupon Mom
Common Sense With Money
Hot Coupon World
Coupon Geek
Saving With Shellie

just a few as I am finding them...I will keep adding...

My New World

SO....
in trying to be a part of this new world, I have discovered how many other people there are who get really excited about good deals. People who take pictures of all that they get at the store to give a visual of how much they got and how little they spent!! But I have to admit that it is these types of things that inspire me to become more involved in this world...
So I spent the better part of my day yesterday learning all that I need to know to live more frugally. I looked up websites, became a follower of a few blogs, cut and organized coupons, compared prices at local stores based on weekly specials, and created my list for this week based on all this info. We'll see how it all goes...do I save money right off? do I spend more because I am buying more since I have the coupons? do I initially spend more but then start getting rebates and gift cards, etc? do I spend so much time getting ready to go shopping and then driving around to the different stores that in the end it isn't worth my time? or does this become a part-time job because I save enough that if I were working it would be a similar amount of money?
So many questions...hopefully I will soon have answers...

Goals

I have recently become a part-time stay at home mom. I still work some, though mostly from home, and I also still coach volleyball...but I spend most of my time at home now. In cutting back my income combined with adding a new addition to our family, I began to wonder if there were little things I could do from home to make a little extra income on the side...
I found online surveys, paid email readings, tasks on Amazon and so forth...but more than making extra money, these just made for extra spam in my email inbox...so what else could I do???
My husband and I have always tried to follow a "budget" sort of...but it is in quotes because we always set what we would want to spend and how, but after a few days we would quickly forget anything we had talked about and just become impulse buyers, whether it be eating out or finding something we needed like new jeans...
So now that finances are a little different for us, we decided we would both have closer knowledge of how we are spending our money, thus we now keep track of our spending habits on Mint. This has helped us a lot, especially me and my grocery shopping...thus I have just entered a whole new world...the world of the frugal...and it is my goal to become a card-carrying member of this new-to-me world...