All Things Hold Together

Here are the great deals I found this week, combining store sales and coupons.

Crest Whitening Expressions toothpaste was on sale for $1.98. I also had a $1.00 off coupon, which was doubled. Final cost: Free!

Herbal Essences shampoo was also on sale for $1.98. I had a $1.00 off coupon, which was doubled. Final cost: Free!

My freebies

Cinnamon Life (Big E’s favorite cereal) was buy one get one free. The price was $3.99. I bought four boxes for $7.98. And…

Quaker Chewy granola bars were buy one get one free. Price $2.99, plus $1.00 off coupon (doubled) brought the price to $.99 for 2 boxes. But wait, there’s more…

I also had a coupon for $3 off 5 qualifying Quaker products, so my final cost for four 21 oz. boxes of Life cereal and 2 boxes of Chewy granola bars was only $5.97!

Margherita pepperoni slices were on sale buy one get one free. Price was $3.29. I had a $1.00 coupon (doubled). Final cost: $1.29 for 2 packages.

Dole Fruit Parfaits were on sale for $2.00. I had a coupon for $1.00 off (doubled). Final cost: Free!

Garelick Farms heavy cream is regular $2.69. I had a $1.00 coupon that was doubled. Final cost: $.69. I needed this for a recipe.

My subtotal before discounts was $82.34. My total savings was $44.43.

I saved more than I spent and did not pick up anything that I did not need (unless it was free).

Who says coupons are not worth their time?

Previously in this series,

• Saving Money With Coupons

Remember the Scholastic school book fairs?

Well, Scholastic also has warehouse sales and they are a great way to pick up a few things for your homeschool on the cheap.

I went to one last year and got a few useful resources, including a Mary Engelbreit lesson planner. (Now all I have to do is use it.)

I just received an e-mail that the warehouse sales are coming up. Here is the link to see if there is one near you.

A lot of people say that they do not use coupons or shop sales because they just don’t have the time to bother. While it is true that there is some time and effort involved, the money saved can be worth the time.

So, in my effort to promote this awesome money-saving technique, I decided to share my awesome buys of the week.

First, a couple of tips.

• Know the coupon policies of the stores you shop. Do they double, or even triple coupons?
• Only clip coupons for things that you buy normally, unless you can combine them with a sale to get the item for free or nearly free.
• Don’t buy things just because you have a coupon. If you spend money you don’t need to, you are not saving.

My great buys this week came from Price Chopper. They double coupons up to and including $1.00 and they offer 6 double coupons (up to 99 cents) in their circular in the Sunday Paper.

SpaghettiOs (which I never buy, but Big E loves them) were on sale 2/$1. I clipped a coupon for 40-cents off 2, which I tripled. Final cost: 2 cans free

Hood Simply Smart milk (half-gallon) was on sale for 2/$6.00. I bought one for $3.00, but had a $1 off coupon, which was doubled. Final cost: $1.00

Garelick Farms chocolate milk (half-gallon) was regular priced $3.29, but I had a $1 off coupon that was doubled. Final price: $1.29

Barber Foods broccoli and cheese stuffed chicken breast (2 pack) was on sale for $3.00, minus $1 coupon was doubled. Final cost: $1.00

Note: That is something that I would not normally buy, but I could not make two plain chicken breasts for $1, let alone stuffed. I thought it would be a good thing to have on hand for a night that I can’t cook, or something.

Flintstones vitamins on sale for $5.98, minus $1 coupon doubled. Final cost: $3.98

I also got a couple of good deals on things that I did not have coupons for.

Bread (for the kids, who do not like homemade bread for sandwiches): 2 loaves/$1.98
Cheddar cheese: 8 oz block $1.99

All told, my savings was $15.48, and I paid $12.43 (total bill, $27.91).  And $1.19 of that was spent on an item that was not on sale. Though, admittedly this store tends to be higher-priced than my regular store.

Updated to add: I wanted to add that I like to clip coupons for things that I would like, but do not usually buy, and keep them separate to use if those items ever go on sale and I can get them for free or nearly free.

Sometimes getting something special can help ease those occasional feelings of going without that, if not dealt with, can derail your financial discipline.

Updated

Yesterday I needed to read about 15 pages worth of documents on a website for a local TV show that I am doing tonight, but I had a really bad migraine and could not read on screen, so I figured that I would print it out.

I looked at the supply of printer paper that we had left after the kids used most of it to draw on and there were only about 6 sheets left. I was not about to use them to print something that I was going to read and then recycle.

As I looked around for something else I could print on, I spied a pack of loose-leaf filler paper.

During Staples back to school sales, I always buy the 150 sheet packs of loose-leaf paper that they sell for 5-cents. I buy so many that I still have some packs left from the sale last year, not to mention all the packs that I picked up this year.

I tried it. It worked great. The right margin was a little small, but the documents fit on the loose leaf paper just fine.

With such a low cost for the loose leaf paper, I think I am going to use that from now on to print out anything that does not need to be kept.

Another way to save money when you print is to change the setting on your printer to the lowest ink setting, which is called something like “draft” or “quick print.” If you are not sure how to do this, here’s how. When you click “print” and the box pops up, click on the button that says “properties.” Here you will find options to change your ink settings. This varies by printer brand.

Update: Be sure to read the comments for an awesome tip left by mom2fur.

For more tips on frugal living, be sure to check out Frugal Fridays.

Several months ago, I started tracking how much we were spending on groceries. This is an area that I have never been very good at budgeting. I tend to buy what we need and then worry about how to pay everything else after.

Needless to say, that was not working very well.

I went through my banking statement for a few months and added up all of the purchases at the grocery stores. It was totaling $600+ per month!

I knew I could do better.

I decided to set my budget at $450 and stay within it. I have been successful at that for two months, so I wanted to share what I did.

I already buy in bulk and make a lot of stuff from scratch, so I am not going to talk about those things in this post. The changes I made that saved me over $150 in grocery costs were sale shopping and menu planning.

There are probably as many ways to do this as there are people who do it, but here is how I do it.

I menu plan usually one week at a time, but my grocery budget is for half a month at a time, so there are two different methods I use.

I’ll start fresh. When I am low on things and need to so a lot of shopping (usually around payday) the process looks like this:

I gather all of the sale fliers from the Sunday paper and I see what is on sale. Then, I plan my menu around what is on sale and make a shopping list.

When shopping sales, it helps to know the regular prices of all stores in your area. My method for doing this is kind of disorganized (but getting better!), but Trent at The Simple Dollar has a good post on making a price book that you might find useful.

(Side note: That is a great site. I plan to blogroll it as soon as I get around to doing a frugal blogroll.)

The important thing here is to make sure that the sale price is really the best price. I shop at one store that always has great prices (Hannaford, if you are in the Northeast) and sometimes great sales at other stores are still more than the Hannaford regular price.

The price differences can be quite sizable. For example, Hannaford charges $2.99 for Edy’s ice cream and Shaw’s gets $4.49 for it.

Back to menu planning. Meat is the leading factor in my menu planning, but I also incorporate other things that are on sale. For example, once I found a great deal on Mandarin oranges, so I made Mandarin Chicken.

The internet is great for this. Once I had some canned pineapple and some boneless chicken. I knew they would go together, but I didn’t have a recipe, so I just Googled “chicken pineapple recipe” and “chicken pineapple slowcooker recipe.”

As weeks go on, I have leftover items from previous weeks. Then my menu is more diverse. If the only thing on sale this week is ground turkey, and I have no other things on hand, I would have to make ground turkey every night, or meatless dishes.

But, if I stocked up on chicken the week before, I can incorporate that into my menu, too. The same goes for other things.

On the weeks that I am not shopping, my menu planning is pretty easy. I take an inventory of what I have on hand and plan around that.

For ideas, sometimes I ask the kids or my husband what they would like me to make with what we have available. And, of course, the internet can be your best friend in this area.

By just making these two changes - sale shopping and menu planning - I was able to tame a $600+ grocery budget to $450/month.

As time goes on, I am sure I will add other money-saving measures into the process - like using coupons - but this has been a great start toward getting my budget under control.

For more tips on frugal living, be sure to check out this week’s Frugal Friday over at Biblical Womanhood.

This week I am going to repost something that originally appeared on my old homeschool blog. This is still one of my favorite tips for getting by on less.

This week I share a tip that has been a lifesaver for our family in the past. Buy an economy bag of yeast and one of flour, so that you always have it on hand. That way, even if there is some kind of emergency and you are out of cash, you can still enjoy delicious homemade bread. Once I hadn’t gone to the store yet and there was nothing for dinner, so we made homemade soft pretzels for dinner! They were so tasty and filling, we didn’t want anything else.

We belong to Costco - a wholesale club. Every month, I buy a 25 pound bag of flour. My bag of yeast I bought months ago and I keep it in the fridge. It has long since paid for itself, so I basically have yeast for free now, until it goes bad. [Ed.: That first bag of yeast never did go bad. I had it for over a year and only replaced it when it ran out.] For use in recipes, 2 1/4 teaspoons of the yeast is equal to one packet.

Now, wholesale clubs are not right for everyone, but if you find that the club has many of the products you use a lot of, it can be a real bargain. You must do a cost analysis and - this is the biggie - do not buy things you don’t need just because they look good and are a deal. It is not a deal if you are spending money you otherwise wouldn’t have.

Even when money is really tight, I can still make the following French Bread recipe, which uses only flour, water, yeast, and salt. Even if we have nothing else to eat - which thankfully has never happened - we still have great bread. Sometimes we only have pasta and sauce to eat, which is kind of a blah meal, but with this awesome fresh bread, we have a feast worthy of a king.

The recipe calls for egg white to be brushed over the dough. It makes a difference in how the crust tastes - it is crustier with the egg - but I have made it without the egg when we had none and it was still good bread.

French Bread
5 1/2 to 6 cups flour
2 packages (or 4 1/2 teaspoons) active dry yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 cups water (120 - 130 degrees)
1 egg white
1 tablespoon water

In a large bowl (or the bowl of your mixer) combine 2 cups of the flour, the yeast and salt. Add the warm water and beat on low - medium for 30 seconds with an electric mixer, scraping bowl. Beat on high for 3 minutes. (If you have a stand mixer with dough hook, set to dough setting (2 on Kitchen Aid) and mix for 3 minutes.)

Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 8 to 10 minutes, to make a stiff dough that is smooth and elastic. (For stand mixer with dough hook, add remaining flour a little at a time, while mixer is set to dough setting, until the dough is no longer stick and clings to hook. Continue to let the machine knead the dough for another 2-4 minutes.)

Shape the dough into a ball and place in lightly greased bowl, turning to grease the top of dough. Cover and let rise until double in size (about 1 hour).

Punch down dough and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough in half, cover and let rest 10 minutes. In the meantime, lightly grease your pan (or spray with cooking spray) and sprinkle with cornmeal.

Roll each portion of dough into a 10×15-inch rectangle and roll up jelly-roll style. Seal well and taper ends by pulling slightly. Place seam down on prepared pan. Mix egg white and tablespoon of water in a small bowl and brush over loaves. Cover and let rise until nearly double (35 to 45 minutes).

Using a sharp knife, make 3 or 4 diagonal slits about 1/4 inch deep in each loaf. Bake in 375-degree oven for 20 minutes. Brush on egg white mixture again and continue baking for 15 to 20 minutes more. Until bread sounds hollow when you tap it with your fingers. Cool on wire rack.

Enjoy!

Leftovers make great french toast. And if the bread goes stale, you can cut it up for awesome croutons. Waste not, want not.

For more Frugal Friday tips, be sure to head on over to Biblical Womanhood.

As you read this, we are getting ready to go on our yearly family camping trip. What a great time to do a post on this popular frugal family getaway.

Where to camp: I love to camp at state parks because they are CHEAP! Here in Vermont, you can find a beautiful campsite for around $12.

To save on gas, you can look for a campground near your home. You don’t have to be far away for camping to be a real getaway.

We are heading to a state park in the Green Mountain National Forest, that also has a large lake. The beach and the woods - it doesn’t get any better than that.

What to bring: In order to go camping, you need equipment. We already have ours, so this is not an expense for us this year, but if you are new to camping, you will need a few things.

This is a great time of year to look for deals on camping equipment. Camping season is about over and stores are looking to get rid of their stock.

Yard sales (tag sales, garage sales) are also a good place to look for equipment.

For an inexpensive way to get you off the ground, instead of air mattresses, which can be expensive, you can buy blow-up pool rafts to sleep on, under your sleeping bag, of course!

Another option is to buy the air mattresses on sale. (Or just sleep on the ground, like we did when I was a kid.)

Also, I bring our own dishes, instead of buying paper plates and cups. We have plenty of plastic dishes at home for the kids, but if you don’t you can buy some when they are on clearance and save them with your camping stuff. (Store them in your cooler, so you know where they are.)

In the cooler: Suggestion number one: make your own ice. If you start in advance, you can make some ice each day and then empty it into plastic grocery bags. This will save you from needing to buy it at the store.

For food, plan your menu ahead of time and watch for sales.

Little E saw an episode of Curious George on PBS where George goes camping and “cooks food on sticks,” so we are making hot dogs, cooked over the fire on sticks.

The menu can be really simple. Cereal and milk, peanut butter sandwiches, hot dogs, fruit, homemade granola bars, and trail mix. And of course S’mores!

Or you can just bring what you would normally eat at home.

The only expense this trip will add to our budget is the $12/night fee for the campsite, plus gas to drive 40 miles to the campground (and 40 back).

Be sure to visit Biblical Womanhood for more Frugal Fridays posts.

I finally got a chance to get on the computer today. And I’m glad I did because I wanted to share a tip for Frugal Fridays, hosted by Biblical Womanhood.

This might not be anything new to you veteran frugal shoppers out there, but I discovered something new last week that I was pretty excited about.

I typically make pasta with meat sauce every week, or so, using ground turkey. It’s something that we all really like for dinner. (Although, it is likely just an excuse to have homemade french bread.)

Well, last week, I realized that I could double the amount of sauce I use, keeping the amount of meat the same, then freeze half of it. This will make each package of ground turkey go twice as far. No one even noticed the difference!

As a bonus, it saves me from having to cook the meat the next time we have meat sauce.

A quick side note, something happened last night to let me know that I am getting better at developing a frugal mindset. My sister, who lives out-of-town and away from the mall, asked me to pick up a shirt for her and she would pay me back. When it came time to pay for it, I had a hard time swiping my debit card to pay $34.50 for a shirt. I almost couldn’t bring myself to do it. I kept thinking about how many shirts I could buy for that amount!

For more Frugal Fridays tips, be sure to head over to Biblical Womanhood.

Finally, I am home (and have internet access) and can do another Frugal Fridays post. In the spirit of Back to School, my tip is about homeschool supplies.

I buy all of my supplies when they are featured as the loss leaders - e.g. the 1-cent boxes of pencils, the 15-cent boxes of crayons.

What I mean is, I do not just go to the store and buy what is on sale that day, plus the rest of my supplies. I wait until each item is on sale.

This takes weeks and planning, and really only makes sense if you live near or will be near the store, but it saves a lot of money, if you can do it.

The only office supply store near me is Staples. This year, so far, I bought boxes of Crayola crayons for 15-cents each, 8-count boxes of pencils for 1-cent each, pencil sharpeners for 5-cents each, pencil cases for 5-cents each, bottles of Elmer’s glue for 9-cents each, a three-hole punch for 50-cents, and pocket folders for 1-cent each.

This week, I will stock up on loose-leaf paper (15-cents) and a few other items.

Last year, I wondered how much the gas was adding to the cost, but this year, I realized that we drive right by Staples on the way home from church. Now, I am really getting a great bargain!

You can view the current and upcoming Staples circulars online, too.

Be sure to head on over to Biblical Womanhood for links to more Frugal Fridays ideas.

I love getting free stuff.

Recently, I signed up for a few “free stuff” newsletters that get e-mailed to me periodically. My plan was to check them out, find the legit offers, and tell you about them.

Then I received this:

It was the free starter kit for signing up for the “pledge,” from DelMonte and Starkist. The pledge is about making small changes that will result in better long-term health. I’m all about that.

My kit contained a pedometer, a rubber bracelet, a magnetic shopping list, a pouch of Starkist tuna (which still kid of weirds me out; has anyone ever used this?), a reply card for a free issue of Rachael Ray’s magazine, and a booklet with tips, recipes, and coupons (two were for free things).

I was going to post the link, but when I went there, it said that the free kids were all gone.

So, I realized that I can’t wait the weeks for my free stuff to arrive before I tell you about it.

Here is a free offer I signed up for today: Pure Essentials.

And here is one that I received in the mail today that is still available: Sun Crystals. (Click on the green banner at the bottom of the center column to sign up for a free sample. You get two packets.)

Freaky Freddie’s and Tons for Free.com are two sites that offer links to free stuff, as well as e-mail updates. You have to sift through them though. For example, today, there were two offers for free toothpaste. One link took me to a site where I have to complete “offers” to get my free sample. The other was the product website where I could sign up for a free sample.

The type like the first one, I don’t bother with. I don’t know if they even send the product after you complete the “offers.”

I have had good luck with the samples that come straight from the companies, though. They can be pretty generous sometimes, too.