Make your own Clorox wipes

A few weeks ago I decided to make my own cleaning wipes and it was super easy! I've never bought Clorox wipes or things like that for cleaning because of the cost, but I have always thought of how nice and convenient it would be to use them. Normally I would just use a paper towel and some spray cleaner, but we would go through paper towels so quickly and I hate shelling out $6 for a pack of paper towels every time I buy them! (There usually aren't any good coupon deals for paper towels :)

I used the tutorial on this website to make my own and I have been loving it! All I did was buy a package of reusable wipes from the grocery store for about $1.50, cut them to fit in an old baby wipes container when folded in half, folded them so that when you pulled one out, the other comes up (had to look that up on the Internet too), poured in some water and cleaner to wet the wipes, and presto! Instant cleaning wipes! When I am done with one I just toss it in the washer and it gets washed the next time I do a load of laundry. This works well for me since my washer is right next to the kitchen, but you could also use a tiny bin under your kitchen sink or some other place out of the way.

I keep them on the kitchen counter next to the stove and let me tell you, cleaning has never been so easy!

Frugality: A Gateway Virtue

I love our landlords. They are the cutest older retired couple and the husband loves to drop by and trim our hedges or plant new flowers in our yard. We tell him over and over that while we appreciate it, he doesn't have to do that. His response is usually something like, "I didn't have anything else to do today!". One day while he was over we started talking about restaurants in our new town. He said that he and a group of his friends usually go out to eat for lunch once a week. He pointed out that they always use a coupon and then he laughed and said, "People try to tell me I'm frugal. I tell them, no I'm not, I'm cheap!"

I've been couponing for a few years now and I can honestly say that I do not worry about looking cheap or poor or any of those other things. In fact, I feel a sense of pride that I am able to save my family so much money and the more I think about it, the more I feel like trying to be more frugal leads to more virtuous attributes.

The first one I can think of is self reliance. I remember when we first moved to Tampa for my husband to finish graduate school. We were living off of student loans and my meager salary as an intern at the University. I remember feeling so blessed that we weren't too stressed over finances. Because of using coupons and having a "use what we have" mentality, we didn't feel like poor college students. I am so glad that we didn't have to go into any more debt than was necessary, especially now that we are in the "paying off student loan" phase of our lives!

Another virtue linked to frugality is patience. From my experience, you cannot be the type of person who wants to buy something exactly when you want it and still save a lot of money consistently. You have to be able to take time to research your options, plan your shopping trip, and be willing to wait for a sale if you can. My husband has definitely come a long way in this department. When we first met, if he saw something he wanted he went and bought it almost immediately. Now, I am happy to say, I have rubbed off on him! Now he checks around, looks for a coupon, and then comes to ask me if what he wants is in our budget and we both brainstorm a way for him to get it.

I really can go on and on, but I guess my point is I feel that couponing and having a general attitude of frugality has really blessed my life and I think that it has made me a better person. I feel much more confident in my ability to manage my family's household and that has brought me a lot of peace, especially since I just made the transition to being a stay at home mom who doesn't bring in any income.

Free Diapers

I decided that I would try to use my earnings from swagbucks to buy diapers on amazon instead of just buying stuff (trying to curb that shopping habit!!). I set a goal for how many swagbucks I would need to earn a day in order to get enough diapers for a month and so far I have been meeting my goal or exceeding it! Today I ordered my first case of free diapers!! So, swagbucks has now paid for a month and half's worth of diapers. Awesome!

Seriously, if you spend any time on the computer throughout the day I would totally recommend trying it out. I'm trying to see how little out of pocket I can pay for diapers until James is potty trained and I love that I don't have even have to leave my house to do it! He is 5 months old and so far I have only paid $129.19 for diapers and wipes and that is including about 2 and 1/2 months worth that I still have to use.
If you sign up through my link, I get bonus points, so if you are thinking about it, give it a whirl! :) http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/redant21

I *heart* amazon and swagbucks

I think that I am single-handedly keeping amazon.com in business. Seriously. I order something from them almost every other day since we have a prime membership we get free shipping most of the time. I don't know how many times I have gone on there and found something cheaper than getting it in the store, plus I get it shipped to me for free! Example: James' swing that he takes naps in eats D batteries like they are candy, so I looked on amazon. Sure enough, I found a 12 pack of professional grade duracell batteries for $14 with free shipping! You can't get publix store brand batteries for that price. So I ordered it :)

Recently I've started using Swagbucks.com again as a way to support my amazon habit. In case you don't know what it is, it's a search engine/website were you can earn points for doing different things (searching the web, answering polls, surveys, etc...). Once you earn 450 points you can redeem it for a $5 amazon gift card! It is super easy and you don't get email spam or anything like that with it. I've already earned enough for $10 in amazon gift cards just this month! Anyways, I always like ways to get free stuff, so if you are interested feel free to check it out. I would definitely recommend it. Some people like to earn as much as they can throughout the year and then use it all to pay for Christmas presents. Can you imagine not paying anything for Christmas presents? Too cool! Except I can't wait that long :)

Swagbucks

Sorry for the Silence :)

Sorry for the lack of posting this past week. I was having WAY too much fun with my family over the New Year's holiday. I was also in bargain-shopping heaven while visiting my sister. Which brings me to today's topic: perspective.

While visiting my sister I did some shopping at some outlet and discount stores. The prices there were unbelievably low!! I'm talking $2.50 for a perfect, beautiful, Ann Taylor Loft blouse (can I get a heck yeah!!!) I went back to the same store every day for 3 days, afraid to miss any more great deals. I was sorely tempted to throw away all of my clothes back home to make room for an entire new wardrobe. I never imagined that clothes, quality clothes especially, could be so inexpensive. It changed my whole perspective on clothes shopping and what was a "good deal".

And so it is with everything else that you buy. Before getting into coupons, staying under $100 a week for quality groceries was a "good deal" for me, even a bargain at times. I never dreamed that some things such as yogurt (which are $.25 for a 4 pack at Publix this week by the way) could be purchased for so much less. That realization has carried over into other areas. You begin to look at everything as negotiable or as just a starting point before reaching an actual purchase price that you feel good about. My husband has learned to never buy things right when he first sees them because he knows to ask me if there is a way to get it cheaper. And there usually is!

So, the moral of the story is that your perspective changes as you learn what is a good deal for you. Part of the fun and excitement of bargain stalking shopping is challenging your current price thresholds. How low can you go?!

Monday Shopping Trip: The Breakdown

Today's shopping trip included CVS and Walgreens. No Publix today (which NEVER happens!!) as I am going out of town for the rest of the week and I didn't want to buy real groceries when my husband is just going to eat trail mix and play video games while I am gone anyways :)

First stop: CVS

Now, I don't go to CVS to shop for my everyday essentials or when I am running low on things. I mainly go to get their weekly deals that I usually store in my food storage (which includes shampoo and things) for future use.

Using the CVS rewards program, to me, is the most simple out of all of the drugstores. CVS puts out an ad monthly and weekly listing what items will generate "Extra Care Bucks" (or ECB if you want to follow the lingo) when purchased. In order to get them, you have to make sure to scan an Extra Care Card that goes on your key ring and is connected to all of your ECB. It is free to sign up and is similar to grocery store reward cards that you scan. ECB print out on your receipt after you purchase one of the items. They come in separate coupons per deal, so if you purchased three different items and each generated ECB, you end up with three separate coupons at the end of your receipt. You can use as many coupons and ECB as you want when shopping at CVS, which you will discover is MUCH simpler compared to Walgreens.

Today's trip: (I had a few things on my list that I needed and wouldn't normally buy at CVS, but I had quite a few ECB that I didn't mind spending so I wouldn't use money from my weekly grocery budget.)

I bought:
-(1)Crest Spinbrush $8.99
-(1)Dove Chocolates $2.49
-(3) South Beach Protein Bars $10.00
-(1)Colgate Total $2.99
-(1) Ivory Soap 3pk $.99
-(1) Herbal Essences Mousse $2.88

Subtotal: $28.34 Yikes!!
Used Coupons:
-(3)$1 off South Beach Bars, $1 off Colgate, $1 off Ivory Soap 3pk
= $23.34 + $.83 tax (Used $21.95 in ECB + $2.23 cash)
Received:
$5 ECB South Beach Bars
$2 ECB Colgate
This is the perfect example of using previous sales to help you lower your bottom line. I really did need a new toothbrush and hair mousse and by using ECB, I didn't have to use my grocery money to purchase them. Also, I count ECB as coupons and not as cash mainly because it is easier for me to track my savings when I use them and not when I receive them. Just FYI if anyone cares.
Total left for the week: $47.77
Second stop: Walgreens

For me, Walgreens is a lot harder to navigate. There are a lot of rules attached to their coupons and keeping it all straight can be a hassle. They have the same basic principles as CVS, there are weekly and monthly circulars with different items providing money back in the form of "Register Rewards" which can then be used to at Walgreen's as a coupon. The trickiness comes in that while there are no limits to the number of deals you can do at Walgreen's, you can't use a coupon from a specific deal (like Colgate toothpaste) to buy more Colgate toothpaste. Keeping track of which coupon I can and can't use is a little too much for me, so I tend to just do each deal once unless it is something that I REALLY know I need to stock-up on.


Today's Trip:

I bought:

-1 Gallon of Milk $2.79
-(2) Boxes of Cereal $4.00
-(1) Cashews $1.99
-(2) Eggs $1.98
-(1)Hershey's Mint Truffles $1.75

Subtotal: $12.51

Coupons used:

-(2) $1 off GM cereals, B1G1 free eggs

= $9.52

Total left for week: $38.25

Hopefully this helps give a little overview of how a typical shopping trip works for me. I am excited to start planning more posts on ways I find to save throughout the week, so stay tuned!! (Also, a Publix post to come at the end of the week:)

The questions I get asked the most

I thought I would kick off this blog with some explanations to the questions/concerns I get the most from people when they find out about some of my best deals or how I save so much money:

1) It sounds good, but I just don't have the time.
Okay, I can completely understand this one. We are all super busy with day to day life, much less adding on more work to your daily errands. However, the most time consuming part of learning how to use coupons and sales to get your grocery bills down is in the beginning as you are learning how everything works. It is just like any other new skill you would like to acquire, it takes time in the beginning but once you get the hang of it you can choose just how much time you personally want to dedicate to maintaining it.

For example, I probably spend about 30 minutes a week getting my shopping list and coupons together right before I head to the grocery store. I usually end up saving about $35-50 on that weekly trip. For me, that time would be worth it regardless because I think it is fun to find the deals, but for someone else that might not be worth their time and effort after a long day of work or taking care of the kids. I suggest that it is at least worth a try, you can always decide that this coupon thing is for the birds :)

2) I don't know where to start!
I completely understand this feeling too! Just google search all of the coupon/personal finance blogs out there and you will get overwhelmed just reading the link summaries. The key to not getting overwhelmed/frustrated is to allow yourself to start small. This is an especially difficult task for me, I always want to go all out and be just as good as someone who has been doing it for a long time. Then I feel let down and crummy about myself when I fall short of my ridiculous expectations...not a good plan.

So, set small attainable goals for yourself. Evaluate your grocery shopping habits that you would like to change. (You know what I am talking about, there isn't a woman out there who hasn't said to her friend at one time or another "I need to really start _____ (looking at the circular, making a menu, clipping coupons, not going to the store hungry, sticking to a weekly budget, etc...) Now pick one!

For example, if you don't use coupons regularly, start by setting a goal for yourself that you are going to use 2 or 3 on your next shopping trip. It might not be a great amazing shopping trip where you spend 2 cents on a grocery cart full of food, but it is a step in the right direction! The key here is to get your feet wet, not to jump into the deep end.

3) But all of the coupons and sales are just for junk food!
I can agree with this on some level, a lot of the "best" deals can be for more unhealthy products that my family and I don't typically eat (i.e. toaster strudel, pop tarts, sugar cereals, ice cream, potato chips). You have to remember that no matter how cheap something is if you aren't going to eat it than you don't need to spend your hard earned money on it. $1 is better spent on a pound of bananas (which we go through in a few days at my house) than 10 packages of pop tarts that you got for 10 cents each.

That said, there are a lot of deals for healthy foods that are staples in my house. In the course of a month I am consistently able to find coupons and deals for yogurt, granola bars, soymilk, cheese, oatmeal, protein bars, vitamins, bread, nuts, frozen and canned vegetables.

4) Where do you find coupons?
This is probably the easiest question to answer. By far I get the majority of my coupons online and print them from home or work. I get the Sunday paper every week, but I hardly ever use those coupons. For one it is easier to get multiples of one coupon when you print them online and the value of online coupons are usually higher than the ones found in the paper. I use a few different go-to blogs that match up the sales and printable coupons for Publix (my main grocery store to shop at) and I am set for my weekly trip. Check out my side bar for the blogs whose match-ups I use the most. These bloggers take the time to go through the weekly circulars, pull out the best deals, and put a direct link to where to print coupons for those items all in one spot. They take a lot of the guess-work and time out of finding the best deals and they deserve all the credit and props for what they do!

5) What's the deal with buying things at drugstores? Aren't they way more expensive than wal-mart or the grocery stores?

Drugstores, mainly CVS and Walgreens, have become my main source of toiletries for our household. I don't think I have paid money out of our budget for shampoo, deodorant, or toothpaste since June 2008. The main reason is that these drugstores have their own reward programs that give you "money back" for buying certain products. When you pair that with your own coupons you can end up getting a lot of products for free or sometimes better.

For example, this week at CVS, Colgate Total Toothpaste is $2.99. When you buy 1, CVS will give you back $2 to spend on your next trip to CVS. BUT, Colgate's website has a $1 off coupon you can print from your computer. End result: spend $2 out of pocket for toothpaste and get $2 back.

6) What's the catch to all of this? If you are really saving all of this money, why isn't everyone doing it?
I really don't have an answer for this. I know that more and more people are becoming adept at using coupons, but why everyone isn't doing it is a mystery to me. Everyone wins in this situation. The manufacturers get to promote their new or existing products by putting out coupons that they hope will increase sales. The retailers (Publix, CVS, etc...) benefit from coupons by being reimbursed for the coupons they redeem and by getting people to come into their stores who hopefully buy more than one thing. And we, the consumers, get to save money on everyday expenses that can then be used to either buy more of what we need or be put to use in other areas of our lives. It is not a scam, or a way to cheat the system and I could probably write a whole other post about using coupons ethically and responsibly.

So there you have it. The answers to the most common questions I get asked. Stay tuned for tomorrow, I will take you through step by step of my weekly grocery store trip.