I'm always look for new sites with helpful tips and other like-minded money savers to motivate me.
I just found one that I really like - Hip2Save.com. I haven't had a chance to fully check it out because I'm totally engrossed in signing up for free samples and freebies via their Freebies page. I just filled out a form to get TONS of P&G free samples and coupons sent to my home. Loving it!
I think people underestimate the power of free samples - collect enough of them and you'll have yourself a nice little stash of stuff!
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
Fall closet cleaning - selling old clothes!
I live in a small one-bedroom apartment and have already filled it with things I don't need. One of the reasons was that I moved in a huge hurry amidst college graduation and a new job, so I didn't necessarily have the time to clean things out as I packed.
My closet was bursting with clothes that didn't fit or that I never wore - many still had the tags. I finally gave up the mantra that "I'll wear that someday!" and nearly tearfully admitted that while my body is still young and youthful, I'll never be the size I was in high school and college again.
After about an hour of sorting, I took a bag of clothes to Goodwill and took an even bigger basket of clothes to Plato's Closet to hopefully sell.
Unfortunately, they only took five items (apparently I'm not very teenybopper stylish anymore...good thing?) - but hey, I'm $17.55 richer!
My closet was bursting with clothes that didn't fit or that I never wore - many still had the tags. I finally gave up the mantra that "I'll wear that someday!" and nearly tearfully admitted that while my body is still young and youthful, I'll never be the size I was in high school and college again.
After about an hour of sorting, I took a bag of clothes to Goodwill and took an even bigger basket of clothes to Plato's Closet to hopefully sell.
Unfortunately, they only took five items (apparently I'm not very teenybopper stylish anymore...good thing?) - but hey, I'm $17.55 richer!
A free oil change!
I purchased a new car about a year ago, and with that came free oil changes for life. However, the dealership where I bought my car is about twenty miles from home and in the past I've always been too lazy or too busy to make the trek there to get my oil changed.
Instead, I've been shelling out about $40 per oil change at the Jiffy Lube near my house because it was fast and convenient.
Today I made it a priority to arrange my schedule and errands so that I could make the trip to my dealership for my free oil change. While they didn't do all the niceties that I normally get at Jiffy Lube (mat vaccuuming, fluid top-off...), I DID get a free oil change, and while technically speaking I had this opportunity all along, I'm proud of myself for not being lazy and taking advantage of it, if it meant planning ahead a little.
Instead, I've been shelling out about $40 per oil change at the Jiffy Lube near my house because it was fast and convenient.
Today I made it a priority to arrange my schedule and errands so that I could make the trip to my dealership for my free oil change. While they didn't do all the niceties that I normally get at Jiffy Lube (mat vaccuuming, fluid top-off...), I DID get a free oil change, and while technically speaking I had this opportunity all along, I'm proud of myself for not being lazy and taking advantage of it, if it meant planning ahead a little.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Shopping Trip #1!
It's been a few weeks since I've been researching coupons and using The Grocery Game. I felt pretty confident about my strategy on what products to purchase, but I still wanted to start small. It's a little unnerving to hand over forty coupons at the check-out while customers are lined up behind you, all the while trying to make sure that each scans correctly. So I made a small list for both Kroger and Walgreens (and I do mean small!) But I just wanted to prove to myself that it could be done.
I made my lists in a small notebook that is now my designated shopping log. A week earlier, I made a coupon binder with clear plastic pages to store and organize all the coupons I'd been clipping (one thing I noticed about The Grocery Game is that when it lists which coupons you need to use for the products you have selected, it organizes them by the date of the Sunday paper they came in, not by category - since then, I've been keeping my coupons organized by the date of the insert).
Walgreens
I set out with two identical coupons for $8 off any two Covergirl face products. An advertised special meant that I could get two LashBlast mascaras for $2.64 each, and that's what I planned to stock up on. BUT, when I got to the store, all Covergirl products were on sale, buy one, get one 50% off! I bought two different shades of lipstick (which retail for $7.49) and two eyeshadow compacts (retailing for $5.49 and $3.49), since I had wanted to buy this stuff anyway at some point.
My total SHOULD have been $25.16, but with $16.00 in manufacturing coupons and $5.50 in store sale savings, I paid only $3.66! That's less than a dollar per item!
I walked out of Walgreens feeling nearly guilty that I purchased cosmetics for an absolute steal, but I also felt giddy and empowered. Also slightly sickened by the fact that I spent years and years paying full retail for this stuff!
Kroger
My next stop was Kroger, my local super market. My carefully planned list paid off. I walked out with:
Three 2-liters of Dr. Pepper
Lay's Potato Chips
A package of Oreos
Two tubes of Colgate toothpaste
Two boxes of Pillsbury Scrambles sandwiches
Two tubes of Nivea lipbalm
Two Tai Pei frozen meals
Package of Lipton's Cup-a-Soup
A loaf of white bread
...and spent a total of $14.21!
Now, I'm sure to some extreme couponers, that wasn't much of a deal, but I proved to myself that I could save substantial amounts with some planning. My total should have been $38.38, I saved 64%!
I'm sure that as I hone my couponing skills, the savings will be even greater. And I'm realizing that brand loyalty will be thrown out the window, which doesn't matter too much to me if I can score these kinds of savings!
Stay inspired! Tell me about your first couponing experience!
I made my lists in a small notebook that is now my designated shopping log. A week earlier, I made a coupon binder with clear plastic pages to store and organize all the coupons I'd been clipping (one thing I noticed about The Grocery Game is that when it lists which coupons you need to use for the products you have selected, it organizes them by the date of the Sunday paper they came in, not by category - since then, I've been keeping my coupons organized by the date of the insert).
Walgreens
I set out with two identical coupons for $8 off any two Covergirl face products. An advertised special meant that I could get two LashBlast mascaras for $2.64 each, and that's what I planned to stock up on. BUT, when I got to the store, all Covergirl products were on sale, buy one, get one 50% off! I bought two different shades of lipstick (which retail for $7.49) and two eyeshadow compacts (retailing for $5.49 and $3.49), since I had wanted to buy this stuff anyway at some point.
My total SHOULD have been $25.16, but with $16.00 in manufacturing coupons and $5.50 in store sale savings, I paid only $3.66! That's less than a dollar per item!
I walked out of Walgreens feeling nearly guilty that I purchased cosmetics for an absolute steal, but I also felt giddy and empowered. Also slightly sickened by the fact that I spent years and years paying full retail for this stuff!
Kroger
My next stop was Kroger, my local super market. My carefully planned list paid off. I walked out with:
Three 2-liters of Dr. Pepper
Lay's Potato Chips
A package of Oreos
Two tubes of Colgate toothpaste
Two boxes of Pillsbury Scrambles sandwiches
Two tubes of Nivea lipbalm
Two Tai Pei frozen meals
Package of Lipton's Cup-a-Soup
A loaf of white bread
...and spent a total of $14.21!
Now, I'm sure to some extreme couponers, that wasn't much of a deal, but I proved to myself that I could save substantial amounts with some planning. My total should have been $38.38, I saved 64%!
I'm sure that as I hone my couponing skills, the savings will be even greater. And I'm realizing that brand loyalty will be thrown out the window, which doesn't matter too much to me if I can score these kinds of savings!
Stay inspired! Tell me about your first couponing experience!
What's this about, anyway?
When you're younger, you always believe that after graduating college, the money will roll in and you'll automatically begin to live the lavish, chic, cushy life you've always wanted. False! I recently graduated college and have a job I adore, but my finances have taken an even bigger hit since graduation! For a few months I lamented the fact that all had not unfolded as my kid dreams had anticipated. Now, I've decided to take matters into my own hands and see how much an impact I can really have on my own finances and my overall personal wealth. Follow me along the journey - I'm open to saving money in any way I can and want to share it with people who, like me, felt like they just couldn't have the life they wanted with the income they have now.
The fire under my butt to pursue something like this came from the TLC show Extreme Couponing. After the first episode, I was absolutely astonished at the men and women standing at the check-out counter with sometimes negative totals! BUT, I was also incredibly skeptical and thought, that would never work at the grocery stores around me. Then, I saw an episode with a shopper from Ohio shopping at Kroger - the grocery I frequent. I thought, if she does it, why not me? What's the secret.
After hours of Googling every search query I could imagine relating to couponing and saving money, I stumbled across The Grocery Game. WOW. I signed up for my 30-day free trial (and no, I am in no way affiliated with the site) and started to really see that with a little extra work each week, the deals were out there. The Grocery Game combines the week's coupons from SmartSource, Red Plum, and other coupon inserts with the weekly deals at your local stores (Wal-Mart, Kroger, Walgreens, Meijer, etc.). It cuts all the work out of maximizing the savings - when you layer store sales with manufacturer's coupons, you begin to see how extreme couponers are able to get the deals that they do.
Now that I've been looking at the site for a few weeks, I'm ready to try my hand at scoring huge savings at the grocery. Look for my results next!
The fire under my butt to pursue something like this came from the TLC show Extreme Couponing. After the first episode, I was absolutely astonished at the men and women standing at the check-out counter with sometimes negative totals! BUT, I was also incredibly skeptical and thought, that would never work at the grocery stores around me. Then, I saw an episode with a shopper from Ohio shopping at Kroger - the grocery I frequent. I thought, if she does it, why not me? What's the secret.
After hours of Googling every search query I could imagine relating to couponing and saving money, I stumbled across The Grocery Game. WOW. I signed up for my 30-day free trial (and no, I am in no way affiliated with the site) and started to really see that with a little extra work each week, the deals were out there. The Grocery Game combines the week's coupons from SmartSource, Red Plum, and other coupon inserts with the weekly deals at your local stores (Wal-Mart, Kroger, Walgreens, Meijer, etc.). It cuts all the work out of maximizing the savings - when you layer store sales with manufacturer's coupons, you begin to see how extreme couponers are able to get the deals that they do.
Now that I've been looking at the site for a few weeks, I'm ready to try my hand at scoring huge savings at the grocery. Look for my results next!
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