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!

Good Morning!

Kiwi says hello...:)

Middle Monkey Returns

To say that I was very proud to see the child I sent to D.C. last week return would be an understatement. Rocking her newest HRC t-shirt and barely able to keep her eyes open, she ran out to greet us full of a glow that could hardly be contained. Aside from the cool "I get to lobby Congress for a return of sex ed to schools" stuff, she was inspired, energized and feeling so much hope from the core of her being. It was a great and wonderful thing to see given that in her absence, I have had more arguments and debates with people over health care reform this week than ever in my life. I am a bit shocked that it has served to draw a line in the sand, making people say things they can not take back, and making me stand and take the barrage as I have. I am used to this. Looking at this child rattle off all the amazing experiences she had I also think, wow, she is gonna have an uphill battle. For people that don't work in a political or activist arena, it is hard to grasp, but for us left wingers, its brutal. She mets some Tea Party folks whom she describes as having "the worst energy" and really creeped her out. I tell her they won't be the first of many intense opposition groups she will encounter. They will tell her that people she loves will go to hell because they are gay, they will tell her feeding the hungry and giving shelter to those in need is not important if they have to pay more taxes to do it, they will tell her that sex education is not a priority and kids should listen to their parents. It will hurt. It will almost break her some days, how I have pushed through this long I just cant really figure out on my worst days. Then she tells me something...for a change, she shocks me:



She keeps talking, they were invited to participate in a Passover Seder, she asks if I will take her to a Buddist temple ceremony, says she thinks she is going to take some Theology classes as electives. She wants to travel and meet more people from other cultures. She keeps talking but I am stuck on one thing she said:

We are supposed to take care of people.

All of my babies have been walking blocks and stuffing envelopes since they were knee-high to a grasshopper so to speak. Middle Monkey is the only one so far that wants to seize this life as part of her own. I am worried for her but at the same time so confident that she gets it. You go girl! I will be right here to help stuff your envelopes and walk your blocks. :)

Today is a great day in America. Let's hope for more fired up teens doing grassroots organizing in their communities. It is the way to ensure a permanent shift in the priorities of this country and certainly, it's what I pray for every day.

Peace and chicken grease!

"Mom, I think this whole experience has just strengthened my faith. We are doing what we are supposed to do. We are supposed to take care of people."