Archive for the ‘Penny Savers’ Category

Did you know that using the air conditioner in your automobile costs you 4 miles per gallon? Did you also know that if you turn off the a/c and roll down the windows the drag on your automobile on a highway will also cost you 4 miles per gallon?

Hmmm…

For the lady who does not like to be hot, this is a no brainer.

Please welcome Erin W. to the Penny Pincher @Work Spotlight.  She sent me this via Facebook.

I paid out of pocket $5.32….Got BACK $8.50 in CVS bucks!!! This MAY be my BEST haul EVER! Yes I did USE CVS bucks! $3.50 for nothing, they just printed out of the coupon kiosk and $6.98 from previous purchase…..still a GREAT buy! Thank you again!!!

Way to save, Erin!

For submitting her shopping trip, she is now entered for the Penny Pincher of the Month Contest. For more information, please click HERE.

Each of us has a Savings Story. (Gee… now I feel like Kathy Lee Gifford.  Insert cheesy music HERE.) Whether you are new to couponing or have weathered many sales, if you are just adding frugal choices to your life or hold the title of Certified Penny Pincher… each one of you has a Savings Story and I promise, if you stick with it, your story only gets better with time.

Read here a True Savings Story from Tina S:

I started couponing in January, after a move across country (my husband is in the military). The cost of living jumped and I wasn’t sure how we would be able to maintain our lifestyle, and continue to save money. I sta…rted small…local Sunday paper and weekly mail inserts, but after that I wanted “more” I started printing coupons, and joining pages on facebook that sent samples (most samples have coupons). My little filefolder became to small so I upgraded to a binder. That thing is full. I started spending about two hours a week putting together shopping lists then pulling coupons for each trip. I have managed to maintain my budget as well as pay off three extra car payments. So long story short, couponing saved our budget for only two hours a week.

The plan: Show readers how easy it is to make homemade bread.

The problems: 1) All-Day morning sickness. 2) Kids have snatched a screw that keep my tripod from flip-flopping the camera!

Emotion: Frustration!

So, what do I do?  Take a drive!  But, before I go, let me share this video with you with money~saving tips for your vehicle.

As I was searching out something for Tuesday’s Topic, I bumped into THIS amazing website.  Pioneer Thinking is truly so full of information that it might take me months to absorb it all.  From parenting to homemade shampoo.  I am in love with this website!

Did I say, “Homemade Shampoo”?  Yup.  And I am not talking about just mixing baking soda and water.

This is just one of the recipes available:

The Ingredients
4 bags of Chamomile tea (or 1 handful of fresh Chamomile flowers)
4 tablespoons pure soap flakes
1 1/2 tablespoons glycerin*

The Instructions
Let the tea bags steep in 1 1/2 cups of boiled water for 10 minutes. Remove the tea bags and with the remaining liquid add the soap flakes. Let stand until the soap softens. Stir in glycerin until mixture is well blended. Pour into a bottle. Keep in a dark, cool place.

Plus, do not miss the tons of other homemade products that can save you hundreds each year.

One word of warning, steer clear of the astrology page. The Bible warns that we stay away from such. (Just my personal opinion.)

Please join me in welcoming Erin W to the Penny Pincher Spotlight!  Check out her deal from Publix that she sent me through Facebook:

Receipt SAYS $29.71!  SAVED $98.60!

Besides regular coupons I used one $5 off $75 from Winn Dixie…but no RR’s [from Walgreens]. I have to say my FAVE buy was the veg/canola oil! Less than $1! I HATE paying full price for that suff because it takes an ENTIRE bottle to fry! LOL

Way to go, Erin! You are now entered in the Penny Pincher of the Month Contest and may be selected by Random.org to win a Penny Pincher @Wor T-Shirt!

If you would like information on how you can be entered into the Penny Pincher of the Month Giveaway, just click HERE.

Yes, I take a lot of surveys.  Some pay in money and some in rewards.  Some are a lot of fun and some well…  A recent one I was invited to take WITH my six year old daughter’s help.  It was fun and made us $3.  Hey, it all adds up.

So, here is a LINK to one of the survey companies with which I participate.  Try it out.  You can always decline if you do not like it.  There is no commitment.  No spam.

I am looking for readers who would like to write a sort post. Guest readers are paid in eternal dividends only but get a great satisfaction from sharing their helpful advice with others. (In my opinion, there is no better pay!)

Perhaps you have a frugal topic that you have mastered or have a particular platform you would like to share. I would especially love for some of you seasoned yard sale shoppers to step forward and offer to do a post on the best ways to shop those sales.

Anyway, if you are interested, please CONTACT ME.

If you have been to one of my coupon workshops, you have heard me say that The Grocery Game is a great shortcut for keeping a Price Book.  You may have heard about the Grocery Game or perhaps you have no idea what I am talking about. Either way, you are going to learn a lot right now.

Many moons ago when I first started using the stockpile/coupon method, I joined The Grocery Game after reading Teri Gault’s book, Shop Smart, Save More. Teri is the founder and CEO of The Grocery Game. The first half of the book is really good and explains her theories on stockpiling and saving money. The second half of the book you can pretty much skip over. She puts a lot of entertaining ideas and recipes in the book which might interest you but I thought it was just filler to make her book thicker. The book is available at the Mobile Public Library and I definitely recommend that you read it BEFORE you sign up to try the website.

How does The Grocery Game work? You sign up, using your credit card information and pay nothing for the first four weeks. From there, you have access to every list available for your area. You can bring up the lists any time during the week, even though they are only updated on Sundays, even if a new sale starts on Wednesday, such as Winn Dixie. The cost after the trial is a minimal $10 for 8 weeks with one list and $5 for each additional list. Teri recommends in her book that you not try to keep up with every store but pick your main store and then maybe another one for comparison shopping.

The Grocery Game operates on the principle that items are placed on sale for “rock bottom” prices within a 12 week cycle. Teri says to “trust the list” because they know when the lowest price will be available.

Within each list, items are marked by color-code to tell you which sales are “wait, if possible,” “stockpile now,” or “free.” Yep. I said, “Free,” and sometimes, you even make money on an item. Beside the item, you see the regular price, the store’s sales price, any coupons that apply, and register rewards/rebates that apply, the estimated final price and the percentage off the original price.

Now, what do I think about the Grocery Game website? Several things:

1. I love that you can try it out for four weeks for free and that you can try all of the lists during that trial for no additional fee.
2. I am not sure you can really tell if you are saving money during that short amount of time since you are stockpiling items you will use in the future. Of course, I did go to every store available in our area, except Walmart, and each time, the cashier made a comment about how much I saved.
3. The idea of using The Grocery Game to track Walmart sales is not something I recommend. The list is very different from any other store since they offer comparison pricing. For my area, she only lists the comparison prices for Winn Dixie against Walmart. I could do that myself with the weekly sales ad, available in the mail each Wednesday or at their website.
4. It really does save you some work but it cannot read my pages and does not know about any coupons I got out of magazines or with free samples. So, I still have to do a little work but not near as much and it still helps to know which items are at “rock bottom.”

If you are thinking about trying The Grocery Game, here are a few things to keep in mind:

1. The Grocery Game is all about stockpiling. You will probably be able to save money even if you don’t stockpile but probably not enough to pay for the cost of keeping the membership past the trial. But, still try it and see what you think.
2. Read the book, Shop Smart, Save More, first so you can know what to expect before starting your trial.
3. Also, collect coupons from the newspaper and websites for two or three weeks before signing up.
4. If you decide not to keep your subscription, cancel it BEFORE your trial deadline. You can see this date each time you sign-in and mark it on your calendar. If you miss this date, they will debit your card and you WILL NOT get a refund.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask. If you have tried The Grocery Game and have any comments, please share your experience with us!

Personally, I love rewards programs. That is how I get my magazine subscriptions and photos developed for free. So, if you are interested in joining or are already a member of the Pampers Gifts to Grow rewards program, here are some additional points for you.

Need to sign-up? Click HERE. You could win free diapers for a year!

XKCMYXFVD96VXVK (30 points)

OHAMANDAAWGTG08

JUSTBECAUSE2009

GRATUIT89102009

GROWWITHVILLAGE

WELCOME2VILLAGE

WELCOME2GTG2010

JOINTHEFUNGTG09

STARTEARNINGNOW

THRIFTYMOMMYGTG

All together, these codes should add another 120 points to your account!

Thanks, Give Me Neither & Money Saving Mom!