Money Saving Mom®

Classic View

Grid View

Shared Oct 7, 2010 comment

Reader Tip: Three ways to get children’s books inexpensively

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 7, 2010 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Here’s a tip Ali Kirby who blogs at TheMamaReport.com emailed in:

Since the time my oldest was two, we’ve helped our children stay entertained in the car by keeping a crate of books by their seats. Instead of using special books we’ve received as gifts and risking them falling out of the car, I’ve found three ways to acquire books inexpensively to use in the car:

1. Paperback Book Exchange Store: My husband and I went through our book collection and cleaned house. We took those books to the paperback book exchange store and received in-store credit for them. We used that credit to purchase “new” books for the kids.

2. Secondhand Store: Most of the secondhand stores I have been to have books for around fifty cents each. We’ve found some great books this way — for pennies on the dollar.

3. Garage sales: Most people sell children’s books very cheaply at garage sales. I have paid anywhere from ten cents to fifty cents per book.

Want more ideas? Check out my post on Five Ways to Get Books for Free.

Shared Oct 6, 2010 comment

Ask the Readers: Are food savers worth the money?

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 6, 2010 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Do you or any of your readers use a Food Saver? If so, are they worth the money? I’d love to hear the pros and cons of investing in one. -Gina

I’ve never used a Food Saver before so I haven’t the slightest clue. I’ll let my wonderful readers chime in and give their take; I’m curious to hear, too!

Shared Oct 5, 2010 comment

Q&A Tuesday: Is it possible to save money when we’re barely keeping our head above water?

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 5, 2010 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Audrey left the following comment on my post on renting (I’ve edited it a bit for space reason, but you can read it in it’s entirety here):

I know you talk about all these ways to save money, and anyone can do it, but it just doesn’t seem possible for us! I use coupons to save money, but even then we have no wiggle room in our budget for anything. We never have. My husband makes $1400/month (sometimes $1600) after tax.

I guess I just feel discouraged a lot, because we want so badly to save money (we don’t ever want debt), it just doesn’t feel possible. We’ve been trying for four years to save money and it just gets depleted because my husband’s hours get cut (which seems to happen to us a lot, no matter who he works for) and he can’t find more work. Any advice or encouragement for those of us who do rent because it’s cheaper, but have to use up more than half our income on our housing?

We’re paying $900/month here (water, sewer and garbage included). That leaves $500/month to spend on the rest of our bills — phone, electricity, internet, etc. We don’t have cable (for obvious reasons), and we have a great deal on internet and phone, and I use coupons like crazy to save money on everything, but with our two kids (3 and 1), it’s just barely enough to get by (well, it’s not right now, we’re getting behind on bills).

I hate how broke we are all the time (and always have been). Thankfully, the only debt we have is a bill we’re a couple months behind on. But we don’t have a car payment (our old car is desperately in need of repairs though — I’m afraid the tires are going to fall off, but we can’t afford to fix it!), we tithe, we don’t have credit cards, etc. But it just seems impossible to set money aside for big purchases (or even little purchases, like getting the car fixed!).

I have no idea how to remedy this situation. I do odds and ends from home. I clean houses when I can, and that sort of thing, but that brings in an average of $25/month, and my husband is already burnt out working as often as he is. He’s had no luck finding a second job (he’s already working so much already), either. I’m just not sure how to get ourselves out of this hole!

I wish you lived closer, Audrey, and I’d have you over and give you a big hug and sit down with you over a cup of tea to try and encourage you. I know how it feels when it seems like you’re working so hard and getting no traction. You’re wondering how on earth the ends are going to meet at the end of the month or what you’d do if your car breaks down or how you’re going to pay your utility bill.

Five years ago, that’s exactly where we were. And it was really, really hard. I’d grown up being taught to trust in God, but in those first few years of marriage, the rubber met the road and I realized that actually trusting God was a whole lot harder than it sounded.

The lessons we learned during those times of feeling pretty desperate financially were so hard but, oh so good! And we wouldn’t trade them for the world. It strengthened our trust in the Lord, it strengthened our marriage, it matured us as individuals and it inspired us to learn all sorts of creative and entrepreneurial things we never dreamed we’d learn or attempt!

Here are some things which helped us to pull through that time and start making traction little by little:

1) Pray

God delights in providing for those who trust in Him. Claim His promises. Pray His Word back to Him. Cry out to Him for provision, for wisdom, for guidance, for creativity, for open doors. Pray about the little things and the big things; nothing is too small or big for God.

And realize that He will never, never, never, no never leave or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5)!

2) Stick To Your Budget

Be very, very vigilant in adhering to your written budget. While it might seem like you’re not getting traction, sticking with your budget will ensure that you’re not sliding backwards or getting any farther behind than your possibly have to.

3) Realize That Your Attitude Can Make or Break the Situation

I wholeheartedly believe that you’re not stuck unless you choose to be. You can always be learning, growing, improving yourself and seeking to improve your financial situation — even if it seems that your actual income is staying the same.

Have a cheerful, grateful spirit. Focus on counting your blessings rather than all the difficult things in your life. And determine, by the grace of God, that you are going to do all you can to make the most of your situation, to stretch your resources as far as possible and to use any extra time you have in your day to increase your income.

4) Set Microscopic Goals To Begin With

No matter your income or financial situation, you can set goals, even if they are microscopic. You likely can’t save $100 this month, but I’m guessing that if you squeezed, you might be able to save $2 or $5 — or maybe even $10. Start there and set this aside in a savings account as your Emergency Fund (or however else you want to designate it) and add to it each month. Over time, you just might be surprised at how it will grow!

In addition, don’t just set goals for saving money, set goals for earning money, too! You said that you’re usually doing around $25 per month cleaning houses. What if you were to challenge yourself to bump that number up to $35 this coming month? And then little bit, by little bit, continue to bump it up.

I also recommend setting goals for improving yourself — such as skills to learn and books to read. Choose things which will help you be able to increase your income, make wise financial choices and which will encourage you in your current situation.

As always: don’t bite off more than you can chew. I’d suggest starting by setting two to four tiny goals each month. Once you accomplish those, add a few more. When you feel ready, increase the goals by a tiny little bit and then a little bit more. Setting goals — even if they are teensy-tiny — and then actually reaching them can give you enormous encouragement and you just might be amazed at the momentum it gives you!

5) Look For Any Extra Cash You Can Come Up With

You mentioned that you clean houses, if you are looking to expand, consider contacting local multi-unit rentals to see if they need someone to clean their units when a renter moves out. Or make connections with realtors and ask them about cleaning foreclosed homes for them or having them recommend you to sellers who want to have their home professionally cleaned after they move out.

Think outside the box of what normal professional cleaners do and you’ll likely land upon some really successful ideas. Contact business owners and offer to clean their office space. Advertise your business on Craigslist. Offer a discount to your current customers if they refer you to others who then end up using your services.

You also said you have a blog and that you’re currently making about $2 per month off it. I’d suggest you try to learn and implement some of the suggestions on BloggingWithAmy.com in order to steadily increase that each month.

While some may disagree with me, I think almost anyone who is willing to put in some time and effort can earn at least an extra $50 to $100 per month by spending three hours of blogging each week. You already have your blog set up and running, so I’d encourage you to work on monetizing it and growing it — if it’s something you enjoy.

6) Improve Yourself

Seek to make the most of every opportunity to learn, to grow, to glean. Always be learning new things, trying new things and coming up with new ideas. Don’t be content with the status quo.

Read good books which challenge and motivate you. As much as is possible, remove negative influences from your life which just suck time and energy. Replace them with things that encourage and inspire you.

7) Don’t Give Up

Finally, do not give up. Your situation will not change overnight; gaining traction is not instantaneous. But if you’re willing to keep working hard, to keep experimenting, to keep setting goals, to keep pressing forward, to keep sticking with the budget and to keep going when the going gets tough, it will pay off.

Don’t lose heart! Keep looking to the Lord and asking Him to provide and guide you — and see Him do amazing things!

Shared Oct 5, 2010 comment

My Minimalist Wardrobe (vlog)

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 5, 2010 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

My husband shot this quick video of me last night giving you a little peek at my minimalist wardrobe, since I’ve received so many questions about my six mix and match outfits. If you’re a fashionista or you like variety, you’ll might be a little horrified (or very horrified!), but it’s what works for me and it saves me so much time and effort to keep it simple!

I was going to include a detailed explanation of how this works and my criteria for choosing clothing and keeping my closet pared down. Instead, I’m going to just post up the video and then if you have questions, I’ll either answer them in the comments or in a follow-up post.

{My apologies that the video is so skinny. I totally forgot that we needed to turn the phone the other way to shoot this. We’re still learning and will eventually get the hang of video blogging… maybe!}

Shared Oct 5, 2010 comment

Fun & Frugal Toddler Activity: Apple Garland

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 5, 2010 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Looking for a fun sensory activity to do with your toddler? Jenae from I Can Teach My Child shows you how to make a Fruits of the Spirit Apple Garland.

By the way, if you have young children, be sure to spend some time checking out I Can Teach My Child. Jenae has tons of incredible and inspiring ideas!

WANT TO SAVE $100 FAST?!Join the FREE 14-Day Savings Challenge!

Click here to sign up!

Shared Oct 4, 2010 comment

The Rewards of Pushing Yourself Out of Your Comfort Zone

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 4, 2010 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Guest post by Heather

Learning to sew was the smartest financial decision I’ve ever made.

I was in 7th grade when I took home economics. I wasn’t very good. I remember the teacher made us start by sewing lines across paper. My lines were never straight. In fact, if it wasn’t for the cooking half of that class, I might have actually failed!

Fast forward a few years. My stepmother bought me a small sewing machine for Christmas. I believe it was a Barbie sewing machine. I tried and failed, tried and failed. I simply did not have the patience for it.

It wasn’t until my daughter was born that I realized how important it was for me to learn to sew. I’m a girly girl. I like pretty dresses and boutique-style clothing, but my bank account (and my cheapskate nature) doesn’t.

For my daughter’s first birthday, I wanted her to wear something special and unique. After a quick scan of area boutiques and $100 price tags, I was determined that once and for all, I was going to conquer my failure at sewing. It took several tries. It took a lot of ripped seams. I remember shedding some tears.

When I was done, I had so much more than a pretty party outfit in front of me. I had a new skill — a skill that I honestly wasn’t sure I was capable of mastering. I began to sew the majority of my daughter’s clothes and as my talent grew, my confidence in myself rose.

Others took notice as well. Before I knew it, I was sewing clothes for friends and family members and friends of friends. The girl that couldn’t sew a straight line was making an income off of her new talent (albeit tiny!). I learned how to mend, I learned how to get more mileage out of my family’s clothing and I had a newfound confidence in my ability to learn to do things myself.

That was only seven months ago. Since then I have expanded my do-it-yourself mentality to:

home repairs
scratch cooking
couponing and strategic shopping

The confidence I gained from conquering a past failure opened up so many doors and windows for me. It gave me a sense of control over myself and over my financial freedom. I didn’t realize the potential in me to find a passion that could not only save my family money, but also make my family money. I didn’t realize that this passion would translate into every single area of my life.

Don’t take “no” for an answer. If you think you can’t, prove to yourself you can. You never know your hidden potential until you push yourself past the edge of your comfort zone. Everyone has a marketable skill, some of us just require a bit of a nudge (or in my case…a party outfit!) to find it.

Heather Shaw is a wife and mother of 2 who resides in Houston Texas. She has a passion for sewing, scratch cooking and getting the best deals for her family. She blogs about her life and how she works hard to save her family money at Family Friendly Frugality.

Have you pushed yourself out of your comfort zone and discovered new skills or passions in the process? Tell us about it in the comments.

Shared Oct 2, 2010 comment

Super Savings Saturday: I think I’ll just stick to shopping the Target clearance racks!

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 2, 2010 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

We didn’t buy a whole lot in the way of groceries this week other than a quick trip to the store to get the basics: bread, peanut butter, milk and cheese. We had plenty of fruit and frozen veggies and meat already on hand, so we didn’t need anything else to round out our simple menu for the week.

We also popped into the store three other times this week because I was trying to get free tuna. My friend had tipped me off to the fact that Dillons had Bumble Bee tuna on sale for $0.99 this week and there were blinkie coupons right next to it which would make it free. Well, I didn’t make it to the store until 24 hours later — and that store was completely out!

My husband stopped by two other Dillons stores during the week and they were also completely out, too. He did manage to pick up some of the coupons, though, which I’m holding onto for another sale. And I’m still holding out hope that maybe our nearby store will restock because I’d love to score some free tuna.

But if I don’t, oh well! I’ll just be glad for all the people in our area who were able to get the great deal and next time I’ll know better than to wait a day before getting to the store.

In non-grocery-store deal news, I headed to Gap today to spend my $50 Groupon. I’d purchased it for free with Gap referral credit and was pretty stoked because I’m in serious need of a few new tops for Fall and Winter. Believe it or not, I’ve never been to Gap in my life so I naively thought that $50 could cover the costs of at least two or three tops for me.

I walked into the store and immediately could tell I was out of my league. Not only was I the only one in the store wearing flip-flops and jeans and a t-shirt from the Target clearance rack, but when I walked up to the jeans display, the first pricetag I saw was over $60! For a pair of jeans! Um, I could buy over 50 pairs of jeans for that price at the thrift store Dollar Days!

Not to be deterred, I started on the hunt for the clearance rack. When I finally found it, I only had to do a quick scan to determine that it was one of the most measly, overrated “clearance” racks I’ve ever seen. And the “clearance” prices were anything but clearance in my book.

So I quickly nixed my original plan of buying clothes for myself and went over to the children’s section hoping maybe the clearance racks over there would have more to offer. Once again, I was thoroughly under-impressed.

I finally ended up with a pair of jeans for Silas, a denim skirt for Kaitlynn, some underwear for the girls and a headband for Kaitlynn. I calculated that this should be right under my $50 budget and so I wouldn’t have to pay anything out of pocket. The register would only let me pay with the Groupon if I had a total over $50, so I ended up throwing in the turquoise hair band (which was priced at over $3!!! for a little hair band!).

I have no idea what happened, but when the manager told the sales lady how to key in the Groupon, it took off the price of my entire order — including the $1.07 over that I owed. I tried to pay since I pointed out that I owed them money, but they said that since the Groupon took everything off and that’s how their register read it, that I didn’t owe them anything.

After that kind gesture and them refusing the money I was trying to give them, my view of Gap was bumped up a little bit. But I still am guessing that will be the first and last time I shop there.

Now, please don’t think I’m saying that you shouldn’t shop at Gap or pay $60 for a pair of jeans. I know some people have special sizing requirements or just find that Gap clothes work better. And from the comments on my Facebook page, it would seem that some of you really know how to find bargains there!

We all get to choose where and how we spend our own money, so if you prefer to shop at Gap, go for it — provided you can afford it in your budget. Hey, after all, you might shop at Gap and make your own homemade tortillas! As for me, I think I’ll stick to buying tortillas and shopping the Target clearance racks. 😉

___________________

Did you snag any great deals or bargains this week or save money in other ways? If so, be sure to post about them on your blog and leave your link below. Please remember that this weekly round-up is to share deals you personally got and/or money you were able to save this week. In order to keep this weekly round-up focused on helping and inspiring others in their efforts to save money, links which have little-to-no content other than promoting affiliate links, etc. will be deleted. Also, to make it easy for everyone to navigate quickly through the links, your link must link directly to your Super Savings Saturday post.

Shared Oct 1, 2010 comment

We Paid Cash! :: Unemployment

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 1, 2010 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

A testimony from Jill

My husband and I met in high school and started dating. We went to college together and although his military obligations slowed his academic progress, we are both now holders of bachelor’s degrees and I am nearly finished with my master’s degree.

Since we both finished school in such a difficult economic climate, we are both still looking for jobs. We have been on the job search for over six months so far and have yet to touch our credit card or have to ask family for money.

How we are doing it

When I started college, I had a decent savings account and a savings bond that matured just as I entered college. I invested the bond and was very careful with how I spent my savings.

Each semester, I would take as many classes as I could to limit my fees.
- Taking department courses together each semester instead of spreading them out over several semesters allowed me to pay department fees only once instead of every semester.
- Making sure I used school resources instead of paying for my own, like printers, gym and counseling also allowed me to save money.
I did not splurge on items (like a new computer) during college. I made do with what I had and waited until Christmas or my birthday to request items that I needed from family members.
I worked summers with my family to earn money. All of that money went into savings to help build it back up.

After I graduated, I still hadn’t touched the bond that had nearly doubled in good investments. During that time, my husband deployed to Iraq, putting his degree on hold, and prompting me to enroll in a graduate program. I continued to manage my savings and my money like I did in college even though we now had a regular income from his pay. I also worked as a TA in the department which covered my tuition with only a little left over.

Now that we are both done with school, we are still living off of the investment. We have to be creative about our spending though, because we don’t know how long our unemployment will last.

We are both taking small, low paying jobs to offset the amount we have to take from savings.
I’m working as an adjunct professor which pays less than a quarter of our monthly expenses, but that’s money we don’t have to take out of savings now.
I take pictures for my family and friends at a discounted cost to them which provides us with a little bit of income as well.
We meal plan, clip coupons, search for deals and limit any extra expenses that we can. Since we aren’t working, we are using some of our extra time to save extra money.
One thing I have trouble with is wants. I continue to remind myself that many things are wants and not needs. To have a place to go with those, I’m keeping a list of my ‘wants’ on my computer. I include the costs, category, purpose (if it doesn’t have a purpose, I don’t include it), and priority for each entry. This has helped me to really examine my wants, so when I get extra money from different things (or if I noticed any item dramatically on sale/free) it won’t be squandered away.
If need be, I have ‘luxury’ expenses marked in our budget (cell phones for example) that we can lose if I begin to worry about the life of our savings account.

One major thing that has impacted us during this process was Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University that we participated in last year. It helped encourage us to make smart choices when it came to our money and gave us the knowledge we were lacking in some areas.

Jill is finishing her master’s degree in Communication Studies at North Texas and lives with her husband and furbaby, Bella Mia. She blogs about her life and experiences at her blog, Two of a Kind.

Have you saved up and paid cash for something — large or small? Submit your story for possible publication here.

Shared Oct 1, 2010 comment

Do-It-Yourself Swiffer Pad Refills

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 1, 2010 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Love your Swiffer but hate paying for the cloth pad refills? Here’s how to make your own Swiffer Cloth Pad Refills in minutes and for pennies a piece. Best of all, you can wash and reuse these over and over again!

Shared Sep 30, 2010 comment

Why I Don’t Make Homemade Tortillas

Published: by Crystal Paine on September 30, 2010 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

A few months ago, I got an email from someone who was really bothered by the fact that I don’t always make tortillas from scratch. This person felt I’d save so much money by doing so and they were kind enough to pass along their tried and true recipe.

While I very much appreciate the input from this reader (I learn so many amazing things from you all and am constantly challenged by your frugal ways!), I have to disagree with her that I’d save a lot of money by making my own tortillas.

Your prices might be entirely different, but here in Kansas, we can pretty routinely pick up a package of 8-10 tortillas for around $1. When I priced out the ingredients of homemade tortillas, I figured up that it would likely cost me around $0.30 to $0.40 per batch.

So yes, you could say that homemade tortillas are slightly less expensive than store bought tortillas. However, you forgot to factor in one very important part of the equation: TIME.

To make 8-10 tortillas from start to finish would likely take me around 30 minutes. At that rate, I’d be spending 30 minutes of my time to save around $0.60 to $0.70 total.

I could probably figure out a way to make them more efficiently if I did a bigger batch, so let’s say I became the world’s fastest tortilla-maker and I could whip out 70 tortillas from start to finish in an hour. At this rate, I’d still only be saving less than $5 for an hour’s worth of work.

If your family loves homemade tortillas, or you don’t want to eat some of the ingredients in store bought tortillas, or you love making tortillas, or you go through seven packages of tortillas a week and the least expensive you can find them in your area is $4.99 per package, then by all means, make homemade tortillas. But, don’t do it merely for the cost-savings because, unless you live where tortillas cost $7 per bag, the savings per hour is so slim that your time would very likely be better spent elsewhere.

It’s imperative, in seeking to be better home economists, that we value our time as well as our money. It is easy to get so caught up in trying to pinch every penny, that we lose sight of the big picture. We can become so focused on trying to save money that we end up spending hours and hours and hours of time to save a mere few dollars.

Personally, if I’m not saving at least $20 per hour by implementing a particular frugal practice, than I’d rather invest my time elsewhere. Of course, this rule doesn’t apply if it’s just something I really enjoy doing. However, if I’m doing something primarily for the money saved, then it is important to me that I’m actually saving money!

If you feel like you are spinning your wheels and going nowhere when it comes to saving money, I encourage you to stop and consider how much money you are saving per hour in your various money-saving activities. If it’s below minimum wage, it’s probably time to go back to the drawing board and find some other money-saving practices to implement which will give you a better return on your investment of time and energy.

After all, time is money, too.

photo by This Year’s Love

OVER-SPENDING EVERY SINGLE MONTH?Grab these FREE Budgeting Sheets!

Click here to download!

Shared Sep 29, 2010 comment

When Renting is a Wise Choice

Published: by Crystal Paine on September 29, 2010 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

We’re rather radical when it comes to finances. We live on a cash budget, we don’t have credit cards or debt, we just finished up saving up to pay cash for our first home—oh, and we’ve also rented our entire marriage—all seven years of it so far!

Now, let me reassure you that I’m not here to make the case that everyone should rent, or that you should only buy a house if you can pay 100 percent down. Our circumstances were unique: We had a really good head start—we went into marriage without debt, and we also had all the money saved up to pay cash for law school. Because of these factors and the good income we now have, we have been able to live on significantly less than we make, which has allowed us to save enough to pay cash for our first home.

While I don’t expect many people to follow in our exact footsteps, I do think renting gets a bad rap. In fact, I’m going to make a counterintuitive statement: I think renting can be a really wise choice for some situations.

Read the full article.

Note: This article was written a few months before we bought our house. Also, I just thought I should clarify that I had committed to writing three articles for Currency.com months ago — and just found out a few weeks ago, to my dismay, that this new financial site was going to be sponsored by American Express.

I would not have written the articles for them had I known of the AMEX sponsorship, as that would be a conflict of interest for me as I do not support or encourage the use of credit cards. However, the articles were already written and slated for publication so I wanted to share this one with you as I’m often asked whether I believe renting or buying is a better option.

photo by ASurroca

Shared Sep 28, 2010 comment

Q&A Tuesday: How much time do you spend clipping coupons and bargain shopping?

Published: by Crystal Paine on September 28, 2010 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

I wondered what your time investment is, very roughly, that you spend per week deal-hunting and clipping coupons. Could you comment in an upcoming post? It would be so interesting to hear your commentary. -Emily

Great question, Emily!

As I recently alluded to, I’ve streamlined things a great deal in the last six months. And to be completely honest, I feel like I’m not as organized as I once was about things. (Of course, this is true in just about every area of my life and I believe that it’s just the reality of having three young children. I had to give up on perfect or even close to perfect and settle for “good enough!”)

We’re not using as many coupons these days as we’re sticking more to whole foods and simple recipes, but I still clip a fairly large amount of coupons — especially for health and beauty products.

I don’t have a perfect system in place for this, but it usually works something like this:

Throughout the week, as hot printable coupons become available, I immediately print those I’m pretty certain I’ll use and stick them in my coupon box, unclipped. I also stick in any coupons which come in the mail (or the entire All You magazine when it comes!).

Putting all these coupons in my coupon box means that they are in a safe place, but I’m not having to stop everything and clip and file them numerous times throughout the week.

We usually go over to my family’s house on Sunday afternoons, so I lug my coupon box there and spend some of the time while visiting clipping and organizing the coupons which have piled up over the week. Since I often get multiple inserts, I stack them in like piles and then clip in bulk. This saves a lot of time clipping and filing.

While I’m filing, I go ahead and put coupons in the individual store envelopes I keep in my coupon box which I know will make for a good deal at a particular store. For instance, the $1/1 any Tide coupons from the P&G inserts don’t ever get filed; they just go straight into my Target coupon envelope because I know that Target always sells the travel packs of Tide for $1.04 and $0.04 per travel pack is the cheapest I’m going to find Tide.

I usually spend no more than 45 minutes on this, often less, but it happens while the conversation and family time is taking place so it’s not requiring any additional time, it’s just utilizing a weekly time slot when my brain is busy but my hands are free.

Other than that time, I also try to set aside 15 to 20 minutes each week to plan a simple menu, browse the weekly grocery sales fliers and devise my grocery shopping list and plan. If there are some really amazing deals at multiple stores, I’ll check my schedule to see if I can squeeze in an extra quick grocery trip. If the deals are pathetic, then I’ll either skip shopping, just go to Aldi or have Jesse pick up some basics on his way home from work.

All totaled, I average around 2 to 2.5 hours on grocery shopping, planning and coupon-clipping throughout the week. Occasionally, I’ll have extra time and energy and I’ll do a big stock-up trip or coupon shopping trip and then I might spend as much as 3 to 4 hours in a week’s time. And then there are weeks when I don’t even touch my coupon box or step foot in a store!

What about the rest of you? How much time do you spend deal-hunting and coupon-clipping?

Shared Sep 28, 2010 comment

Reader Tip: Getting discounts on newspaper subscriptions

Published: by Crystal Paine on September 28, 2010 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

I loved your post on how to get coupons for free. I know you said you haven’t paid for a newspaper subscription in ages, but I wanted to point out that a lot of newspapers in my area (and I’m sure other areas as well) are having problems keeping subscriptions, and they are offering delivered papers for much less than you would normally pay.

To save my own time running around getting free inserts, I have two different papers delivered to my home. One of them offered me a Wednesday/Sunday subscription for $26 per year, which I count as $0.50 per Sunday paper (the only one I care about). The other paper, which I prefer, gave me a subscription for $52 for a year.

I also get a lot of coupons for free from friends and my mother always gives me her inserts, but the convenience of having two newspapers delivered is a huge benefit to me and worth the $78 per year I spent on it! -Sarah

Do you pay for a newspaper subscription(s)? If so, how many newspaper subscriptions do you have and how much do you pay per subscription? Do you feel the cost/time-savings is worth it?

photo by Brit

Shared Sep 27, 2010 comment

How to Deal with Not-So-Friendly Cashiers

Published: by Crystal Paine on September 27, 2010 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Guest post by Stephanie from Couponing101.com

“Back in the day,” the customer was always right. These days though, it is fairly common to be argued with, be treated rudely, or even be accused of stealing — all because you’re trying to save money by using coupons.

There are, of course, some great cashiers who can make your store experience pleasant. This post, however, is about how to deal with the ones who make it not so pleasant.

When you have a bad experience at a store, you can always call or email customer service later. However, that can only take place after your experience. Here are some tips to deal with rude cashiers during your encounter.

1. Follow the Rules.

If you are purposefully trying to use a coupon wrongly, then you won’t get any sympathy from me. Make sure you know the store’s coupon policy and comply with their rules. If that store does not accept printable coupons, don’t try to “sneak” one in the stack. Just because every other store you shop at accepts them, doesn’t mean you should be able to use them at a store that does not.

2. Have a Conversation.

Cashiers are people too, and deal with the same things you do. They have bad days, deal with grumpy bosses and get stuck in traffic. Treat them the way you would want to be treated. Make polite conversation and make them realize that you are a real person too, not just a customer.

3. Be Polite and Confident.

When you sound like you truly know what you are talking about, they are much more likely to believe you. There is no need to be rude though. Becoming angry will likely cause them to become defensive and less likely to want to come to an agreement.

4. Ask for Help.

If the cashier is insistent on not allowing a coupon that you know should be allowed, ask to speak to a manager. They are just doing their job and they don’t want to get in trouble with their boss for accepting a coupon they shouldn’t. Also, asking to speak to a manager may make them rethink their reasoning for rejecting your coupon.

5. Ask for Proof.

If the cashier claims they have a new policy for not accepting printable coupons (or anything else), then ask to see a written copy of this new policy. Let them know you don’t mind waiting right there in line while they look for it.

You could also ask to use their telephone so that you can call corporate and find out for sure. If it is truly a new policy, they will be able to locate written proof quickly and won’t mind if you call corporate to verify.

It is helpful to carry a copy of the store’s coupon policy with you to the store in case a cashier is not familiar with it. Some policies are available on the store’s website, but if it isn’t then you can email them and ask for a copy.

Above all else, don’t let rude cashiers discourage you! In the long run, the benefits of couponing far outweigh the inconvenience of a few rude cashiers!

Stephanie is a stay-at-homeschooling mom of two young children. She blogs at Couponing101.com about coupon strategies and money-saving techniques that will make your cashier encounters far more interesting.

Do you have an idea for a guest post? I am always looking for high-quality, original (i.e. not published anywhere else online) content with tips and ideas Money Saving Mom® readers can use. If you would like to submit a guest post, please follow the Guest Posting Guidelines.

Shared Sep 27, 2010 comment

Do-It-Yourself Dollar Store Fall Wreath

Published: by Crystal Paine on September 27, 2010 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Want to spruce up your front door on a dime? Thrifty Decor Chick walks you step-by-step how to make a Dollar Store Fall Wreath. It looks so simple I’m maybe even a total craft class flunkie like me could pull this off!

Thanks, Moms By Heart!

Summer Bucket List

Summer Bucket List

FREE Summer Bucket List!!

1) Pray

2) Stick To Your Budget

3) Realize That Your Attitude Can Make or Break the Situation

4) Set Microscopic Goals To Begin With

5) Look For Any Extra Cash You Can Come Up With

6) Improve Yourself

7) Don’t Give Up

WANT TO SAVE $100 FAST?!Join the FREE 14-Day Savings Challenge!

How we are doing it

OVER-SPENDING EVERY SINGLE MONTH?Grab these FREE Budgeting Sheets!

1. Follow the Rules.

2. Have a Conversation.

3. Be Polite and Confident.

4. Ask for Help.

5. Ask for Proof.

Footer

Sign up for myHot Deals Newsletter