More Money Saving

As I mentioned before, the sites Opinion Outpost and Swagbucks continue to produce well for me and are worth repeating again. Currently my budget on books/cookbooks/CDs/DVDs is gone, I don’t get them if they aren’t free. Since both sites allow you to purchase Amazon gift cards (where I found the Prime deal to be too good to pass up) I get everything shipped for free. I am also finding Amazon to be a great place for deals on cookware and other kitchen stuff so if you have never compared prices before, it may be your quickest way to save a few bucks with virtually zero effort.

While we talked a bit about couponing, I have had questions, often followed with the “I just don’t have time” statement. I am busy too but I promise, once you learn how it works, it will take no time at all. To help, I thought today I would provide an example of my effort yesterday. While I tend to go straight to Coupon Geek or My Dallas Mommy (great for local stuff in DFW but A LOT of little kid stuff that doesn’t really apply to me), I have learned to do searches weekly as well. Yesterday it took me roughly 20 minutes to go through the list of three stores, opting instead to get everything at Target that I needed this week because the price was comparable. I do a search for “Target weekly deals 4/4/10” and get my list. First rule of thumb, if something is free, grab it. (Even if you don’t use it nor know someone that will, it can always go in a box for food bank/shelter donations). Second, if it’s cheaper than $2 and you have enough for multiples, stock up. Currently, I am stocked up on cleaning supplies and Lysol from sales several months ago. This is important for items that are at times pricey or stuff that you use ridiculous amounts of. The great thing about Target these days is they offer their own web coupons in addition to the manufacturer coupons you may already have. This was my haul yesterday:

2 lbs of Butterball Healthy Turkey sliced fresh at the deli
4 cartons of Tropicana 50
3 pints of Archer Farms Ice Cream
4 GE Energy Smart compact fluorescent bulbs
1 No Touch Lysol soap dispenser
1 Air Wick I-Motion oil dispenser
1 Dove antiperspirant
1 Right Guard antiperspirant
1 Fusion razor

If you are a regular grocery shopper, you will notice that those are some of the most expensive items at the store. My total came to $78.96 before I handed over my coupons. My only error in this trip is for whatever reason I did not have a coupon for Butterball deli purchases (I try to never buy anything that I don’t have even a small coupon for). After coupons, my total was $36.84.

Basically, I got $42.12 for free. So let’s add this up and calculate it in terms maybe everyone can understand—20 min of time researching deals and pulling coupons in advance, 5 mins of drive time each way, 30 mins in the store paid me $42.12. How many people do you know that make $42.12 an hour? Just imagine if you can pull that kind of savings in on each trip to the store? I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I can afford not to. It allows me to have things that normally would be out of the question on my budget and allows me to spend more time with my kids than if I was working 10 hours a day out of the house. The benefits are endless.

Along the same idea is saving money by taking care of yourself. If you haven’t heard about the NeilMed sinus nasal rinse, go get one. If you can tolerate the sensation, you will have no allergy issues this year and get rid of colds as soon as you feel them coming on. I cannot overemphasize the effectiveness of these. The idea of going drug free through allergy season is reason enough to try them. To complement that, I would highly suggest the addition of supplements to whatever you are already taking in the form of garlic capsules, Emergen C and chamomile tea for the same reasons. We escaped flu season in this house, I believe as a direct result of the use of these products which is always remarkable to me with a little monkey still in elementary school.

For women and your business and professional development, the best singular source I can mention to you where you can get tips and free, quality advice is from Tory Johnson. A long time contributor to Good Morning America, Tory has a great site and social networking that’s out of this world. I participated in a call I found out about on LinkedIn this week in which she handed out GREAT information for a 45 minute session. Of course, she has a great book and retreats that you can participate in but for your initial bump of information and inspiration if you are looking to start or expand business, you can’t get better information anywhere.

Finally if you are still part of the “I must eat out every week”, My Dallas Mommy has a great list of places where kids are free or half off on a regular basis.

Save a few bucks this week, you will feel better and it gives you room to breathe!

Money Making Madness

So, amidst all the New Year's intentions and learning to make exercise a self-loving habit, I have also been busy learning new ways to have the things we want without the cost. The prospect of being a full time graduate student, aside from the work, brings about visions of the ridiculous expense. While it is temporary, I thought I would share what I have learned over the last six months in case you are looking for ways to afford more of what you want during these tough times:

Swagbucks This one has been completely effortless. While there are many, many ways to earn points here, the easiest is by using it as a search engine ALL THE TIME. I have begun even putting in my favorite sites or even those I book marked because it goes towards my points tally AND moves them up in the search results. These point can be traded for all kinds of "swag" as they add up but I turn them into Amazon gift cards. I started this in November along with Opinion Outpost and paid for about half of my Christmas gifts between the two. This year, I am saving both up and using them to pay for Christmas gifts exclusively. Whatever I accumulate will be my budget for those items and I will not spend out of pocket this year for that. What a concept right?

Opinion Outpost I have loved this one for several reason. Unlike Swagbucks, this is CASH folks. You can turn in into Amazon gift cards immediately (Swagbucks posts on the 16th and the 30th) but instead, you can get a check cut directly to you. I have earned $70 since November and its super easy. You will get email notifications as soon as something matching your demographics pops up and the faster you can complete them the better (once they have enough applicants, it closes). I have gotten to see preview of new movies, video games, foods, etc. and voice my opinions on my everyday purchases all the way to public policy. It allows me to contribute on a larger scale to influence the things I would use anyway. I can't gush enough about this one.

Coupon Geek This is my favorite money saving blogs. She compiles SO much good info on all the sales and where she cant, she finds the links to folks that do. I used to think I could not afford to spend the time to do the clipping and research but now I simply pick up the paper, clip on Sunday and check in with Jaycie on Monday or Tuesday. I am also on her mailing list so I don't miss any free samples! I stock my pantry and organize the weeks meals based on what is on sale. I regularly get approximately $40 off my bill each week and am working to cut my already small grocery budget even smaller. It is now a fun challenge instead of an overwhelming task.

House Party This site is cool. You can throw parties for you and 10 friends and receive free stuff and coupons for free products for you all. My first one is for Oscar Meyer Turkey Bacon. Free is always good!

Vocalpoint This site is great because it is a place where you can voice your opinion and doing so puts you on the list for special offers to purchase before items are available in stores, coupons, contests and loads of other things. I got the new Tide sticks and wrinkle release this way at a discounted rate.

W Originals This is one of my favorite magazines and most of them have a similar program so check the website for your favorite. I am part of a reader panel where I complete surveys for a variety of things. Last year I won $500, a study of Lancome eye cream in which I received a full size jar and a new skincare trial of something not yet on the market that I am currently participating in. Totally worth the time.

Recycle Bank Similar to Swagbucks this site allows you to earn points for free stuff. I am currently stocked up on pistachios for a couple of months because I combine free bag and $2 off coupons with a BOGO sale at Kroger netting me bags for 99cents a piece (these are normally $6.99). Great deal and healthy snack.

Kashless This site is great. Put in your zip code and find things in your area people are getting rid of for free. There are appliances, furniture and more, just for your willingness to pick it up. A great way to find treasures.

There are a TON of other things. I am thinking about doing this weekly. Hopefully you find something here that will help you too!

Lator gators. :)