Saving Money is a Way Thinking

Dia Duit :o)

Today was a shop shop day. Not my normal day..but I don't drive in snow or anything that even remotely resembles it ;) Hubby was home today so he took me. There weren't any great sales this week and I didn't have any great coupon savings.
Yet I still think todays trip will end up saving me money.

Did yall see this in the news earlier this week?
http://www.examiner.com/weather-in-baltimore/florida-freeze-record-cold-may-squeeze-orange-crop

This paragraph particularly caught my eye..

The cost of the freeze has already hit the market. Last week, prices for orange juice jumped 3.6 percent acording to The Wall Street Journal. According to Bloomberg News, orange futures jumped 90 percent in 2009 on fears of a much smaller crop due to cold air damage

I normally buy a bag of naval oranges a week. I started when I found the 8 pound bags for $4.99. A couple weeks ago it went up to $5.99. That of course wasn't related to this weather. Today when we went the price was still $5.99 for the 8 pounds of Naval Oranges.

I had a choice to make at that moment..and it struck me that my way of thinking has changed. I could have thought "oh see, no big deal..." and just bought my one bag and gone along my merry way. I mean in truth the oranges are a treat that the girls enjoy but can just as easily live without. But I didn't...I thought "the prices are going to go up...I should dehydrate some now while they're still reasonably priced so that I'll have them later."

Instead of one bag I bought three. The first one has already been sliced and is dehydrating in Excalibur :-D The second one will be done tomorrow morning. So while there were not great savings...nothing that WOWed them at the registers...I know this will save me money, and not only that but I will have the ingredients I need when I need them. Next week if the price is the same I'll probably buy another three bags and then be satisfied with that.

Dia Duit :o)

Do You Shop at Thrift Stores? You Should!

Dia Duit, friends :o)

Part of shop shop day almost always includes a trip to Goodwill :o) When we lived in Maryland we never went to Goodwill. I remember going into one once, it was dark and dirty and smelled awful...I never went back! After moving to Virginia there were a couple years when I still wouldn't go to one even after hearing many ladies at church talk about their deals. And then one day I went...and it was like a ray of light straight from Heaven fell on me and that store and an instant bond was made. :o) I almost NEVER go to a "real" store anymore. With careful shopping and planning in advance I am able to keep my family dressed in name brands that I could never afford to buy in the mall for less than Walmarts clearance prices. I could never begin to figure how many thousands I've saved by shopping there these 9 years I've lived in Virginia...but I know that there is no way we could have the nice things we do and the standard of living that we enjoy without it!

Today for example I bought a new Queen Vellux blanket to go on one of the girls new bed sets that they will be getting for Christmas. I just checked on Amazon.com and the average price was $55...I paid $6! I bought a new white collared Lands End tshirt (and I LOOOOVE a good white tshirt!) for $3.50.

If you haven't checked out your local Goodwill or thrift store I encourage you to look them up online or in the phone book (do people still have those?) and check them out! You wouldn't believe all the new and like new name brand things people donate!! And while you save all that money you're also helping people who can really use a little help. Our Goodwill employs many people who couldn't go and get a "normal" job due to challenges they have. Our Mission Thrift Store takes all that money made to run a homeless shelter, women's and children shelter, drug/alcohol treatment programs etc...all while telling those hurting about the Love of Christ...I can support that! I can spend my money there and feel good about it, not like shopping at the "greatest savings place" ;o)

Dia Duit!

Todays Savings

Dia Duit friends :o)

Today was shop shop day...an exhausting, long, tiresome, shop shop day. I haven't slept well the last three nights and it's catching up to me, still the family insists on eating, so I must.

Kroger once again had a Mega Event sale this week. The Mega Event sale saves you an extra $5 for each 10 participating items that are on sale. For example Bumble Bee Premium Albacore Tuna in the pouch is normally $1.85 each (who pays that?!). It was on sale this week for 99cents, an 86 cent savings immediately (getting better). But then in was also in the Mega Event sale, so for each 10 that I bought I saved another 50cent off each pouch making them only 49cents a pouch (now we're talking! :-D ). I bought 30 pouches...saving a total of $40.80 just on Tuna!!! Tuna is an excellent thing for food storage as well ;)

A new thing I learned today was Krogers pricing policy. If an item is marked on sale and rings up full price you get the first item free and any others at the sale price. Well I made out quite well with that deal today! Razors were on an endcap in the pharmacy section. I had my coupon book with me as always and realized I had two $1 coupons for them and the sale was Buy 1 Get 1 Free (B1G1). There were 10 packs, but if you looked carefully there were also a few with 2 'free' razors in each pack...always look for those things! So the first two bags of razors where $6.99 a bag. I had those two coupons. So for $4.99 I got 24 of my husbands favorite razors :o) Great right? Just wait ;) There were also fancy pink "cool" razors that my oldest will enjoy getting in her Christmas stocking. They were $7.99 normally but also on sale for B1G1. Take note here that Kroger does NOT make you buy two of something to get the sale price, you can buy just one of the item for half off. So after all the shopping we get to the registers, thankfully my young friend who comes with me on shop shop days for a girls day out knew these policies and was able to tell me. So all the razors rang up full price. It seems that someone forgot to take all the signage down. So when we politely brought it to their attention the manager took care of it right away. Ready for this? Those $7.99 "cool" pink razors were FREE! And then the $6.99 razors for my husband I had bought two of...so they gave me the first one FREE and the second one at $3.49. :-D Oh yeah, I was excited!!

There was another lesson learned though...and that is...CHECK THE PRICES WHILE THEY RING UP!!! Those razors were no longer on sale...the sale had ended the 4th...FIVE days ago!! Now you just know someone bought razors in those 5 days and ended up paying the full price when they thought they were getting them B1G1 because they didn't pay attention while they were there. As soon as the manager found out and fixed ours he immediately went and pulled down all the old signage. A tough lesson for them, but a $18.47 savings for me!

Another big savings this week was on Barilla Pasta Sauces. Normally $2.99 a jar. On sale this week for $1.99...but also part of the Mega Event...so another 50cents off of each jar as long as I kept things in multiples of ten. I bought 20 jars. We love the roasted garlic. So a total of $1.49 savings per jar equaled a total savings of $29.80.

There were lots of other savings as well...but these Mega Events are such a great time to stock up on things for your normal pantry as well as your Food Storage Pantry. $60 of the savings I had today was just multiples of that $5 bonus savings. Another important factor..you do NOT need to buy 10 of the same item, although I do many times...it's every 10 participating items, mix and match as you like. While I carry my shopping list around I have my pen and make tally marks on the top to keep track of the savings...I don't want to get up there and have 29 items and miss out on $5 savings because I didn't buy an extra 49cent pouch of tuna.

And MORE savings...can you stand all this??? Still lovin it here!! :-D Kroger has been having a Holiday Rewards program going. If you spent more than $800 in a months time you will earn a bonus of 20% off ANY shopping trip between 12/26 and 1/11/2011. So, as I scope out the sales I will get the best deals I can and then save another 20% off of that! $800 sounds like alot...but most people spend at least $200 a week at the grocery store between food, paper products, cleaning supplies, personal items, animal needs etc.

Oh...and all of this counts in the gas points as well! I recieved $324 fuel points today...combined with my other ones I can now save 40cents a gallon on a fill up in my van which I'll save till New Years when we travel to see my sister. By then I should have at least 70cents off a gallon...right when we need it! 20 gallons at 70cents off will be another $14.00 savings...all these bits add up to hundreds and thousands...over $3,000 this year alone...and I didn't start till April!

I know this is getting long, there's lots of savings to discuss and I know not everyone understands how all this works so I want to make it as clear as I can so that everyone can take advantage of the savings. :o) I want to add one more thing though which is my plan with all these savings. I budget a certain amount for food each week. Now some people would take the savings and the extra cash back and run...but not me ;) My goal is to spend as close to my budget each week and get as much food as I possibly can for that set amount. So while I'm saving hundreds a month, I'm also still spending hundreds. All this extra savings is used to stock our pantry and Food Storage pantry. I just wanted to be clear so someone who spends $200 doesn't look at my savings etc and think they could have enough food for their family and a weeks menus and stock up only spend $70 ;o)

Dia Duit my friends...Happy Savings!

More Coupons!

Because I homeschool, and because I crave fellowship with other Christian women who are walking a simular road as I am, I belong to a forum online. It's a wonderful group of women and I have found some of my very best nearest and dearest friends thru there. We share lots of our lives together...and it was thru one of those sharings that a friend in PA mentioned a website where she buys her coupons.

www.lorihas3kids.com

So I went to check it out. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but I've been quite happy with my first purchase and I have ordered again this past week.

She has the coupons listed by week. They are sold in sets of 20 (most of them) and are usually $1 (some of the big ticket ones I've seen for $2.50, but not many). So when you put in quantity 1, you will really be getting 20 of the same coupon. My first order I got 40 Fleishman yeast coupons that don't expire till April 2011 and 20 Sargento Cheese coupons that were save 50 cents off two packs. Kroger will of course double that so it's $1 off two packs.

This week Sargento cheese was 2/$4...subtract from that the $1 coupon for each two bags...and I paid $1.50 a bag for Sargento shredded cheese :-D We love the fancy blends they have...so I stocked up on 36 bags.

Note of warning...The Kroger register automatically stopping accepting the coupons once the first ten were used. Evidently it's a program thing. The young man had to call a CSM over to overide the other ones. She checked to make sure I had bought all 36 bags of cheese (and that I wasn't trying to use one coupon on one bag) and then ok'd the other 8 coupons. Had she not I would have had him just stop there and do a seperate order to continue my savings. But just wanted you all to know incase you run into the same thing. You may want to split up your orders between different shoppers with you, or hit several stores nearby if one is out of something you want.

The shipping with www.lorihas3kids.com is free if you go regular mail. This past order I put in on Sunday, I've already gotten an email confirmation that they have been shipped out on Monday here, and I expect them in my mailbox by Wednesday...which is perfect because Thursday is Payday and shop shop day :-D She is in FL...so depending on your location shipping times will vary.

And just a note on savings...I paid $3 for that first order of coupons. I have already saved $18 just on the Sargento cheese. Was it worth it...you betcha! :-D I'll wait till yeast goes on sale and then use my other 40 coupons there for even more savings.

Another saving tip...another way to trim a few dollars off the budget to then turn around and invest it in the Food Storage plan...I hear McDonald's in my head singing "I'm lovin it!" LOL

Dia Duit dear friends!

Coupons Coupons Coupons!!

I am entering the world of coupons! Well not so much entering...because I have been using them...rather entering the world of mastering them, I hope ;) lol

First of all, for any that have heard me rave over The Grocery Game dot com...yes...it IS good, and it DID save me time and money....BUT....there is a new queen of my couponing world


www.couponmom.com

She has Youtube videos on her website and at Youtube itself that show you how to use her sight...how things work etc...and ...the best part?? IT'S ALL FREE!!! Oh yes...you heard me right...all of it!! All the stores...FREE! I was paying $8 every 6 weeks just for Kroger...and it was another $5 for each additional store. Had I *any* idea I would have never! Now I know better though...and I want you to all know as well!!

So last night...while reading her site and while clicking some of the links in her site to other couponing Queens...I found a post of Zhu Zhu pets and massive savings. I had NO idea what a Zhu Zhu pet was, neither did my girls (we don't get out much, but we're ok with that ;) ), but I had heard of them, and heard they were an "it" toy this year...so I read on. According to this site, with a coupon that was FREE online to print (just google ZhuZhu Pet b2g1 coupon it's thru the cvs website) and their current sale I could get Zhu Zhu pets 85% off.

I had to try it. I needed a few more stocking stuffers...and I have no problem leaving things at a register if they don't work out the way I had planned...so what did I have to lose right? I printed out two of the coupons (you will need seperate email addresses) and headed to the store. I had to go searching...there were only 9 Zhu Zhu pets left (lesson learned..GO EARLY to get the great deals!). I bought 6 of them. Each one is regularly $9.98. I bought 6 and between their B1G1 sale this week and those two coupons I got 6 Zhu Zhu pets for $10.37 including tax. Absolutely AMAZING!! :-D 85% off...of one of the "it" toys for Christmas!! At CVS!! Who would have ever thunk it?? LOL

So I'll be doing alot more couponing :) I'm debating the best way to get my coupons..I'm thinking of just getting 5 or 6 Sunday editions of the Newspaper delivered. I'm also looking at buying them online...but that is the next post ;)

Dia Duit my friends...and happy savings! If you get the Zhu Zhu pet deal let me know :-D

Food Storage

Let me start this by saying I am not Morman, nor do I know any people of Morman faith in my real life. I have read their statements of faith and I cannot agree with what they believe..BUT..I found the differences are smaller than what I thought they would be. There are many things about the Morman faith that I admire and respect; their focus on family, community, preparedness etc. So I choose to focus on those things and will learn from them in every way that I can...and we'll leave the matters of salvation to each of our personal faiths.

If there is any one group of people who have a firm understanding and plan for Food Storage...it is the Mormans! :-D Their faith teaches that they should have at least a years food supply for the entire family. This is not just a matter of faith though...but of sound common sense, and in todays economy the value of Food Storage is almost priceless. If you google "LDS Food Storage" you will have hundreds of websites of which to choose. Can you imagine what a burden would have been lifted from many families today if they had only had a planned food storage?? So many people out of work, for so many different reasons...but they all have the same worry..."How will we eat? How will I feed my children?" Food Storage is really a matter of prudence, one which we would be wise to observe.

So I have begun working on our pantry. I have focused on stocking up on the loss leader sales at our local Kroger and then storing them. I have only bought things that I would have normally bought with the exception of canned fruit...I saved so much money that I was able to invest in that, which I normally can't afford.

According to some infaltion experts the price of groceries will be going up significantly in 2011...that is not the news that people want to hear, but I believe it is the inevitable and necessary course that we will have to take. Sugar in particular will be going up quite high...so I am stocking up on that as much as I can. This past week at Kroger a 5 pound bag of sugar was $1.98...I bought 5 bags. We don't eat alot of extra sugar in things as it is. I don't bake lots of cookies, cakes etc...but there IS sugar in baking bread...and if it all hits the fan I want to at least be able to bake bread! While I was at it I picked up an extra 30 pounds of flour too.

My plan is to prepare to have the absolute basics...and then to flesh that out with food thats would make life a whole lot more enjoyable and nutrious. I am planning for reduced electricity, or none at all...and trying to figure how I would handle that situation.

Kroger has just finished one of it's Mega Events. Most things were "buy 10 and save $5." Things like Campbells cream of chicken or mushroom soup were only 49 cents! Broths, soups, diced tomatoes, canned fruit...and more all for 49 cent a can. I bought things like 60 cans of diced tomatoes, 30 cans of cream soups, 30 cans of canned fruit. By the end of two days shopping I had saved exactly what I spent...so I got $500 worth of groceries (and that was all our regular stuff too) for $250!! Next time they have a Mega Event I'll be stocking up again...and even more so!

My next goal to work on is menus. Food Storage is something that needs to be planned. I don't need a ton of one thing only to find I'm short of some necessary ingrediant to finish the meal. I also have to keep in mind that I may not be able to get fresh ingredients to go with the meals...and I may have limited power as well. What can I store and cook that would be fairly easy?? These are the meals that I need to plan. I'll be checking out several LDS Food Storage cookbooks for ideas...again learning from those who have mastered this instead of trying to reinvent the wheel here ;)

There will be more and more posts on this. I will be sharing what I buy, how much of it I buy, just how many I'm preparing for, other preparations I'm making, and how I plan to store it all. Any insight, tips, ideas for this you may have...please leave a comment and let me know!

Dia Duit, dear ones!

Oh, How I have Slacked!

Dia Duit, dear ones :o)

I'm been MIA for quite some time now haven't I? I'm sorry about that...tis life I suppose...and it was a season of me having to learn a lesson. Things have slid downhill rather rapidly around here. Isn't it always amazing how hard we have to work to get things back in order and how quickly it all comes undone?? I have been learning what perseverence means...and the story of the Tortise and the Hare has been playing in the back of my mind alot. That and the story of the Ant and the Grasshopper. Between the two of them it's been a jungle!! lol

The house has fallen into an untidy state. Flylady...Flylady...oh where have you been?? Well truth be told she's been right where she always was...right in my inbox leaving me encouraging emails each morning. She has done what she could...I deleted her without even opening. Today though I will ask her to forgive me...and I will humbly accept her help in getting out of this C.H.A.O.S. Things have not gotten as bad as they were before I found her...which is encouraging...and I'm finding it MUCH easier to declutter and get rid of things...but there is still much to do.

The realization that I must train these young ladies while they are young if I don't want them to struggle with these same things has been coming to mind more often. Sometimes it's easier to make a whole bunch of adjustments at once. I know most say just take baby steps and a little bite at a time...but sometimes I really think it's easier to just rip off a big ol hunk and do it all at once. When taking just little steps it seems easier to slip back into the old habits because nothing else has really changed. So a big hunk of change is getting ready to happen here...I think it'll be rough at first...but that we'll quickly get the hang of it and in the long run it will be easier than the never ending changes. More on this in another post :o)

I've been preparing for alot of potential changes in the way we live. Most of them are politically motivated. Quite frankly I don't think our country is going to be able to keep treading water as it has been lately...I think we're going to have some hard times coming soon...and it's my job to make sure that we are as prepared as we can be. I'm fully confident that God will provide, that He will never leave us or forsake us...but I also think He expects us to use the common sense that He has given us. A friend posted a quote on her Facebook page not long ago and it has really made a lasting impression on me. I'm sorry I don't remember who said it...but it was "There will come a time when winter asks what you did all summer." We do know that winter is coming...what are we doing this summer...and I dare say I think it might be fall now.

During my absence I've had alot going on...My Daddy came to visit for several days. The princesses and I went to visit my Daddy at the beach. I went to visit my sister for a wonderful Celtic Thunder concert. We've had alot of extra chores around here preparing for winter. I've learned to knit. There's just been "lots"...I'm sure you all know how that goes ;)

So I'm back to Simply Living Simply :o) Not that I ever left it...but rather rededicating myself to it's pursuit. Posts will be much more frequent now...and if you find what you read helpful in some way I hope you will share with friends and family who might also gain some sort of insight or encouragement from it. If there is an area of particular interest to you please send me a message...I'll be happy to share my thoughts/ideas/opinions/habits on it if I'm at all able!

Dia Duit, dear ones!