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Money Savers
07:49 Posted In Personal Edit This 0 Comments »
I was shocked at the grocery store when my bill was $200 last week!! It was one of those times when I needed everything from detergent and toilet paper to meat and cat food. I have done a few things to tweak the budget, and this time I'm going to tweak it even more. Here's my plan:
1.) Disconnect the home phone line - I checked the caller ID for the month of June and there were only 10 calls received, and 4 were telemarketers.
2.) No more prepackaged foods - examples of this is pudding and fruit cups especially. I plan to buy the biggest can of fruit cocktail I can find and repackage in smaller tupperware for Jared's breakfasts. The large instant pudding box is only $1.29, and I'm going to make the pudding and repackage that also.
3.) No more buying already made pie shells or frozen biscuit/ biscuit tubes or break and bake cookies/ cookie logs. I have recipes for all these, and I can make the cookie dough one day and put it in the fridge myself. I can just do one step of the mixing and then put it in the fridge to be baked another day.
4.) Rebate shopping - Every month stores like Walgreens, CVS, and Rite Aid, the Dollar Store all put out a paper with all the rebates offered for that month. If you watch the Sunday paper, most of the time there are corresponding coupons for these same items also. So if I go to the store and have my coupon, keep my receipt and the upc code off the item, I can mail it in for my rebate at the end of the month. Sometimes, it even works out to where the store is paying ME to take that item home!!! This is very cool!
5.) Menu planning based on the sale circular - I think the best day to shop for meats is Monday. There are left over meats are set to expire on Mondays and are put on sale for quick sale. Bi-Lo.com especially, has the circular on their website if you didn't get it in the mail. Also at Bi-Lo.com you can create your own log in and password tagged to your zip code. Then you shop before you shop; going thru the items on sale for that week and checking the box next to the items on sale you are interested in. At the end, you get a print out of all of that, and it has a bar code for the cashier to scan.
6.) Farmers Market shopping - our local farmers gather every Tues. Thurs. and Sat. at the Agricultural Building near the Cherokee Pharmacy by the big Dr.'s building. It's a wooded area and the cannery is behind it. Here's an example of some of their prices:
Farmer's Mkt
1 qt blackberries $3.00
1 doz ears corn $4.50
4 zucchini $2.00
1 qt pickling cucmbrs $1.50
I drove out to the local peach orchard and found they were
15-17 peaches $8/box
12 lg peaches $9/box
7.) Shop for new car insurance. I feel like there's something better out there.
8.) Plan my errands to cover town all in one day canvasing the streets in a circle; no zig zagging across town back and forth.
9.) Unload the car. If I travel with a full trunk it takes up more gas.
10.) Buy gas on a cool morning. You get more gas and less is evaporated.
11.) Make sure the house is sealed up tightly. New weather stripping on the back door and foam sealant into all electric outlets where air can escape.
12.) Do laundry on one day keeping the dryer hot at all times. If I do laundry a little at a time, it takes more electricity to heat the dryer up over and over. Taking out a warm load and putting in more clothes will keep it going.
13.) Switch to buying rechargeable batteries.
14.) Cut out the coupons from the Sun. paper. If they don't have what I need I can find more coupons by searching on E-bay for groc. coupons. Babycenter.com forum for trading coupons. So if you don't need those diaper coupons someone else may trade you for them. I know this sounds like work, but if I treat it like it's a job where I get the rewards, it all seems worth it. I've walked into the groc. store after my son went to bed, with a pocket full of coupons and handed them to the cashier like ca$h.
15.) Check out Bi-Lo.com for Promotions. This week's meal deal is great. Meal Deal
BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND!
Feed a Family of 4 For Less Than $13.35
Get these items FREE:
• FREE (1) Southern Home Premium of Lite Ice Cream, 64 oz. Assorted Varieties
• FREE (1) Totino’s Pizza Rolls Snacks, 15 count Pepperoni or Combo
• FREE (1) Kraft Salad Dressing, 8 0z Assorted Varieties
• FREE (1) Lipton Tea, 1.5 Liter Bottle Assorted Varieties
When You Buy Two:
• 12” DiGiorno Pizzas, 22.9-32 oz Select Varieties
Offer good July 16th- 22nd, 2008 with your BONUSCARD. Limit one (1) Meal Deal per shopping trip. For more great savings, view your Weeky Specials.
1.) Disconnect the home phone line - I checked the caller ID for the month of June and there were only 10 calls received, and 4 were telemarketers.
2.) No more prepackaged foods - examples of this is pudding and fruit cups especially. I plan to buy the biggest can of fruit cocktail I can find and repackage in smaller tupperware for Jared's breakfasts. The large instant pudding box is only $1.29, and I'm going to make the pudding and repackage that also.
3.) No more buying already made pie shells or frozen biscuit/ biscuit tubes or break and bake cookies/ cookie logs. I have recipes for all these, and I can make the cookie dough one day and put it in the fridge myself. I can just do one step of the mixing and then put it in the fridge to be baked another day.
4.) Rebate shopping - Every month stores like Walgreens, CVS, and Rite Aid, the Dollar Store all put out a paper with all the rebates offered for that month. If you watch the Sunday paper, most of the time there are corresponding coupons for these same items also. So if I go to the store and have my coupon, keep my receipt and the upc code off the item, I can mail it in for my rebate at the end of the month. Sometimes, it even works out to where the store is paying ME to take that item home!!! This is very cool!
5.) Menu planning based on the sale circular - I think the best day to shop for meats is Monday. There are left over meats are set to expire on Mondays and are put on sale for quick sale. Bi-Lo.com especially, has the circular on their website if you didn't get it in the mail. Also at Bi-Lo.com you can create your own log in and password tagged to your zip code. Then you shop before you shop; going thru the items on sale for that week and checking the box next to the items on sale you are interested in. At the end, you get a print out of all of that, and it has a bar code for the cashier to scan.
6.) Farmers Market shopping - our local farmers gather every Tues. Thurs. and Sat. at the Agricultural Building near the Cherokee Pharmacy by the big Dr.'s building. It's a wooded area and the cannery is behind it. Here's an example of some of their prices:
Farmer's Mkt
1 qt blackberries $3.00
1 doz ears corn $4.50
4 zucchini $2.00
1 qt pickling cucmbrs $1.50
I drove out to the local peach orchard and found they were
15-17 peaches $8/box
12 lg peaches $9/box
7.) Shop for new car insurance. I feel like there's something better out there.
8.) Plan my errands to cover town all in one day canvasing the streets in a circle; no zig zagging across town back and forth.
9.) Unload the car. If I travel with a full trunk it takes up more gas.
10.) Buy gas on a cool morning. You get more gas and less is evaporated.
11.) Make sure the house is sealed up tightly. New weather stripping on the back door and foam sealant into all electric outlets where air can escape.
12.) Do laundry on one day keeping the dryer hot at all times. If I do laundry a little at a time, it takes more electricity to heat the dryer up over and over. Taking out a warm load and putting in more clothes will keep it going.
13.) Switch to buying rechargeable batteries.
14.) Cut out the coupons from the Sun. paper. If they don't have what I need I can find more coupons by searching on E-bay for groc. coupons. Babycenter.com forum for trading coupons. So if you don't need those diaper coupons someone else may trade you for them. I know this sounds like work, but if I treat it like it's a job where I get the rewards, it all seems worth it. I've walked into the groc. store after my son went to bed, with a pocket full of coupons and handed them to the cashier like ca$h.
15.) Check out Bi-Lo.com for Promotions. This week's meal deal is great. Meal Deal
BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND!
Feed a Family of 4 For Less Than $13.35
Get these items FREE:
• FREE (1) Southern Home Premium of Lite Ice Cream, 64 oz. Assorted Varieties
• FREE (1) Totino’s Pizza Rolls Snacks, 15 count Pepperoni or Combo
• FREE (1) Kraft Salad Dressing, 8 0z Assorted Varieties
• FREE (1) Lipton Tea, 1.5 Liter Bottle Assorted Varieties
When You Buy Two:
• 12” DiGiorno Pizzas, 22.9-32 oz Select Varieties
Offer good July 16th- 22nd, 2008 with your BONUSCARD. Limit one (1) Meal Deal per shopping trip. For more great savings, view your Weeky Specials.
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