Walgreens was my favorite store this week! That store had a blood glucose monitor that was $14.99 with a $14.99 mail in rebate in the box. Added to that, I received a $5.00 register reward for purchasing it! I was $5.01 ahead! Colgate toothpaste was on sale for $2.99, and I ended up with a $3.00 register reward! OK, so that makes $5.01 (less sales tax) that I made just for purchasing those two items! I did not even need any coupons!
Okay, so what am I going to do with the items? The toothpaste is going into my stockpile, and the blood glucose monitor will probably go to a local organization that provides services to seniors citizens. I am sure there is a senior in the county who needs a monitor. :-)
As far as my stockpile in concerned, I have decided that I am going to determine the maximum quantity that I will stockpile for each item that I have obtained for free. After that number is reached, I am going to donate the items. I always create gift bags for at Christmas and give the bags to social workers to distribute to needy seniors, but the obtaining of free things will enable me to give things to seniors throughout the year. Always be generous.
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Saturday, April 9, 2011
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Extreme Couponing - The TV Show
Although there have been some Extreme Couponing episodes on recently, last night was the series premiere of TLC's Extreme Couponing. Although I am definitely one for couponing, the individuals on this show take their couponing mission to - well - the extreme!
These individuals save tens of thousands of dollars, but they have turned their houses into mini-warehouses. Am I faulting that? Absolutely not! Do I believe in stockpiling? Yes! In fact, I tend to be teased by the important people in my life about my stockpiling. In the case of stockpiling, I firmly believe that you have to go with your comfort level. With this economy and the strange things that are happening at times, I am thinking that my stockpile is looking a little low, and I need to remedy that situation. Will I ever become an extreme couponer? Probably not, even though it gives me a real high to know that I can legally get things for free that I once paid for.
One of the things that I did like about the series is that it shows the power of couponing. I remember my first coupon deal that I did after reading Kathy Spencer's book (see earlier posting). Colgate Total toothpaste was on sale at Rite Aid. I also had a coupon from the paper for $1.00 off. On top of that, I ended up with a $2.00 +UP (For those of you who do not know what that is, it is a printout on the register receipt that can be used in place of cash on your next transaction at Rite Aid.). As a result of those things, the toothpaste ended up being free, and the $.01 extra ended up being applied to another item that I purchased at the same time. Since then, I have "purchased" more tubes of Colgate toothpaste for my stockpile, and all of the tubes have ended up being free. I will never buy another tube of toothpaste! Since that time, I have managed to get light bulbs, printer paper, snacks, and various other things for free!
Another thing that I liked about the Extreme Couponing episodes is that some of the individuals share their stash with the less fortunate. In one of the episodes, a gentleman purchased over 1100 boxes of cereal for a little over $150. He then gave the cereal to the food bank at his church. If you can get something for free, and you don't need it, then give it away to a shelter, organization, or to someone you know who will use it. Be generous.
Couponing - you can do it too! Just save those coupons and realize that you may not be able to use the coupons immediately, and you have to plan in order to use them efficiently. If you choose not to coupon, then give your coupons to a friend or relative who does. Be generous.
These individuals save tens of thousands of dollars, but they have turned their houses into mini-warehouses. Am I faulting that? Absolutely not! Do I believe in stockpiling? Yes! In fact, I tend to be teased by the important people in my life about my stockpiling. In the case of stockpiling, I firmly believe that you have to go with your comfort level. With this economy and the strange things that are happening at times, I am thinking that my stockpile is looking a little low, and I need to remedy that situation. Will I ever become an extreme couponer? Probably not, even though it gives me a real high to know that I can legally get things for free that I once paid for.
One of the things that I did like about the series is that it shows the power of couponing. I remember my first coupon deal that I did after reading Kathy Spencer's book (see earlier posting). Colgate Total toothpaste was on sale at Rite Aid. I also had a coupon from the paper for $1.00 off. On top of that, I ended up with a $2.00 +UP (For those of you who do not know what that is, it is a printout on the register receipt that can be used in place of cash on your next transaction at Rite Aid.). As a result of those things, the toothpaste ended up being free, and the $.01 extra ended up being applied to another item that I purchased at the same time. Since then, I have "purchased" more tubes of Colgate toothpaste for my stockpile, and all of the tubes have ended up being free. I will never buy another tube of toothpaste! Since that time, I have managed to get light bulbs, printer paper, snacks, and various other things for free!
Another thing that I liked about the Extreme Couponing episodes is that some of the individuals share their stash with the less fortunate. In one of the episodes, a gentleman purchased over 1100 boxes of cereal for a little over $150. He then gave the cereal to the food bank at his church. If you can get something for free, and you don't need it, then give it away to a shelter, organization, or to someone you know who will use it. Be generous.
Couponing - you can do it too! Just save those coupons and realize that you may not be able to use the coupons immediately, and you have to plan in order to use them efficiently. If you choose not to coupon, then give your coupons to a friend or relative who does. Be generous.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Freecycle
There is a saying that one person's trash is another person's treasure. But there is also that old saying that crap is crap! Whatever way you look at someone else's stuff, you probably need to know about Freecycle. According to Freecycle's main page, there are 4933 Freecycle groups with over 8 million people on the e-mailing lists.
What is Freecycle? Well, actually, it is a network of groups. A person decides to start a Freecycle group for a particular geographical location; the groups that I have seen are typically ones that have been started using Yahoo Groups. People then join that particular group. A member who has something that he/she wants to give away (yes, give being the operative word) then posts a message to the Freecycle group. The other members can then contact the giver to make arrangements to obtain the item. For many things, there is stiff competition, so it is usually first-come-first serve.
The variety of things given away via a Freecycle group is amazing. Wedding growns, toys, pet supplies, clothes, and musical instruments are just some of the things that I have seen posted. One thing that you can be sure of is that there is a lot of stuff throughout the country that is not ending up in the trash because of this network, so not only is getting something for free great for the budget, it is great for the environment!
What is Freecycle? Well, actually, it is a network of groups. A person decides to start a Freecycle group for a particular geographical location; the groups that I have seen are typically ones that have been started using Yahoo Groups. People then join that particular group. A member who has something that he/she wants to give away (yes, give being the operative word) then posts a message to the Freecycle group. The other members can then contact the giver to make arrangements to obtain the item. For many things, there is stiff competition, so it is usually first-come-first serve.
The variety of things given away via a Freecycle group is amazing. Wedding growns, toys, pet supplies, clothes, and musical instruments are just some of the things that I have seen posted. One thing that you can be sure of is that there is a lot of stuff throughout the country that is not ending up in the trash because of this network, so not only is getting something for free great for the budget, it is great for the environment!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Til Debt Do Us Part
As a person who loves saving money, I love watching shows that focus on money management. One of my favorite shows is Til Debt Do Us Part that airs on CNBC on Saturday nights at 10:00 and 10:30 pm. There are two 30 minute episodes that are back-to-back, and the shows are set in Canada.
Til Debt Do Us Part has Gail Vaz-Oxlade helping married couples (mostly) to acknowledge and deal with their money issues. During the 30 minute shows, Gail scares the hell out of them, makes them do certain challenges, and at the end, Gail may reward the couple with up to $5000 to help pay down their debt.
Why do I watch this show? Well, for a couple of different reasons. First, it makes me feel good that I am not in the position of the couples that Gail is helping because I know how much I owe, I know how much I save, and I know where my money goes. Next, I am fascinated that there are people in such denial about what they are doing with their money. Toward the beginning of the show after Gail informs the couple as to where their money goes and what their true debt is, she then will say something like, "if you keep spending like this, in five years, your consumer debt will be (whatever the amount is)." When the figure ends up being something like $750,000, the look of disbelief is unbelievable!
Although looking at Gail, one would think she is a cupcake of a person. Wrong! Gail is one major task master, but she will help set the couple on the right track! The one thing that she does is to make the couple give up all of the credit and debit cards and live on cash that is put into little glass jars for various purposes; when money is taken from the jars, an entry has to be made in a spending journal. That forces the couple to keep track of where the money goes and how much is spent.
If you are having problems managing your money, watch this show! It will give you things to think about. The one thing that is key is that ignoring debt is only going to make matters worse. Face it and deal with it!
Til Debt Do Us Part has Gail Vaz-Oxlade helping married couples (mostly) to acknowledge and deal with their money issues. During the 30 minute shows, Gail scares the hell out of them, makes them do certain challenges, and at the end, Gail may reward the couple with up to $5000 to help pay down their debt.
Why do I watch this show? Well, for a couple of different reasons. First, it makes me feel good that I am not in the position of the couples that Gail is helping because I know how much I owe, I know how much I save, and I know where my money goes. Next, I am fascinated that there are people in such denial about what they are doing with their money. Toward the beginning of the show after Gail informs the couple as to where their money goes and what their true debt is, she then will say something like, "if you keep spending like this, in five years, your consumer debt will be (whatever the amount is)." When the figure ends up being something like $750,000, the look of disbelief is unbelievable!
Although looking at Gail, one would think she is a cupcake of a person. Wrong! Gail is one major task master, but she will help set the couple on the right track! The one thing that she does is to make the couple give up all of the credit and debit cards and live on cash that is put into little glass jars for various purposes; when money is taken from the jars, an entry has to be made in a spending journal. That forces the couple to keep track of where the money goes and how much is spent.
If you are having problems managing your money, watch this show! It will give you things to think about. The one thing that is key is that ignoring debt is only going to make matters worse. Face it and deal with it!
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Love Ya, SmartyPig!
So where are you saving your money? I have looked at the area brick-and-mortar banks, and the interest they are offering for their saving accounts in insulting! Is there an alternative? Yes! There are many online banking institutions that offer rates many times higher than the local banks can or will offer. When you start looking at these online saving institutions, keep one thing in mind - if you find a better rate or better perks at another institution then move your money! Don't develop an allegiance to any online bank. Always remember, it's your money, and you need to earn as much interest on that money as possible! Since I started using online savings institutions, I have switched banks several times. If I find a better deal, I am on it! Another thing that you want to make sure to check is that the online savings institution is guaranteed by the FDIC. No FDIC - look elsewhere!
The online savings website that currently has my favor is SmartyPig. This is a great place for individuals who have $50,000.00 or less in their account. The current rate is 1.35% APY on amounts of $50,000.00 or less. Over $50,000.00, the rate is .50%.
SmartyPig has a feature that is hard to find at other savings institutions, and that feature is the ability to have separate goals. In a traditional savings account, all of the money is lumped in together. However, with SmartyPig, you can have separate savings goals, and when you add money to the account, you can either add the money to one of more savings goals that you have already created,or you can create a new savings goal.
Let me give you an example. After you have signed up for your SmartyPig account, let's say you want to save for a vacation and a new TV. Well, for each, you would create a goal that gives the name of the goal (e.g., Vacation), the amount that you will need to satisfy that goal (e.g., $1500.00), and the date by which you want to meet that goal (e.g., December 15, 2011). You would then fund that goal, so we will say that you start out with an initial deposit for that goal of $250.00. SmartyPig will keep track of that information, and they will let you know how much you have saved, how much you still need to save in order to meet that goal, and they even give a visual of a pig as it fills up with savings (It's cute)! Of course, you would do that for each goal. The next time that you want to put money in your SmartyPig account, you simply log in, select the goal, click the Add Money button, and add the money to a goal. The money is then transferred from your regular bank account to your selected goal within your SmartyPig account. Confused???? Watch the SmartyPig video as the video can explain the process much better than I can!
Even if you don't use SmartyPig, make sure your money is working for you! Remember-the institution must be federally insured before you can even begin to trust it!
The online savings website that currently has my favor is SmartyPig. This is a great place for individuals who have $50,000.00 or less in their account. The current rate is 1.35% APY on amounts of $50,000.00 or less. Over $50,000.00, the rate is .50%.
SmartyPig has a feature that is hard to find at other savings institutions, and that feature is the ability to have separate goals. In a traditional savings account, all of the money is lumped in together. However, with SmartyPig, you can have separate savings goals, and when you add money to the account, you can either add the money to one of more savings goals that you have already created,or you can create a new savings goal.
Let me give you an example. After you have signed up for your SmartyPig account, let's say you want to save for a vacation and a new TV. Well, for each, you would create a goal that gives the name of the goal (e.g., Vacation), the amount that you will need to satisfy that goal (e.g., $1500.00), and the date by which you want to meet that goal (e.g., December 15, 2011). You would then fund that goal, so we will say that you start out with an initial deposit for that goal of $250.00. SmartyPig will keep track of that information, and they will let you know how much you have saved, how much you still need to save in order to meet that goal, and they even give a visual of a pig as it fills up with savings (It's cute)! Of course, you would do that for each goal. The next time that you want to put money in your SmartyPig account, you simply log in, select the goal, click the Add Money button, and add the money to a goal. The money is then transferred from your regular bank account to your selected goal within your SmartyPig account. Confused???? Watch the SmartyPig video as the video can explain the process much better than I can!
Even if you don't use SmartyPig, make sure your money is working for you! Remember-the institution must be federally insured before you can even begin to trust it!
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Couponing the Right Way!
I am one of those individuals who used to throw away coupons. On the rare occasion that I decided to cut one out to use it, I typically left it on the kitchen counter when I went to the store. I simply did not know how to use coupons the right way! If you do not coupon, you are probably wondering what I am talking about. Well, thanks to a wonderful book, I now know how to coupon effectively so that I am saving some real money!
The book that I have been telling everyone about is called How to Shop for Free by Kathy Spencer! It is amazing! While I was reading it, the light bulb in my brain went off, and I found myself thinking, "So that is how it is done!" The techniques that are given in this book are so easy to do, which would lead to you saving big time on your shopping bills! Read the book! You will not regret it! The book is available at Amazon.com for $8.35!
The book that I have been telling everyone about is called How to Shop for Free by Kathy Spencer! It is amazing! While I was reading it, the light bulb in my brain went off, and I found myself thinking, "So that is how it is done!" The techniques that are given in this book are so easy to do, which would lead to you saving big time on your shopping bills! Read the book! You will not regret it! The book is available at Amazon.com for $8.35!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Using a Smart Phone as a Shopping Tool!
Do you have a smart phone or know someone who does? If you do, you have a handy shopping tool at your disposal! All you need to do is search for an app that read a UPC from a product and then tells you which store has that product for the best price.
After I bought my iPhone, I started to look for various apps. One day, I heard about the apps that saved people money by reading a product's UPC and then told where to shop for the best price. Well, I decided to give that type of app a try! Being the money saver that I am, I opted for one of the free UPC reading apps. The first UPC that I scanned with the iPhone's camera was the one for Smucker's Chunky Natural Peanut Butter. The price (before coupons) that I normally paid was somewhere in the neighborhood of $2.99 for a one pound jar. The UPC reading app told me that I could get that same peanut butter at Wal-Mart for $2.28! The actual price was a few cents more at $2.34. That is a savings of $.65 without any coupons! My kind of savings!
What do you need to do? Get a hold of a smart phone and start scanning to see where you can find the best prices for the products you buy! May the deal sweeter by using coupons!
After I bought my iPhone, I started to look for various apps. One day, I heard about the apps that saved people money by reading a product's UPC and then told where to shop for the best price. Well, I decided to give that type of app a try! Being the money saver that I am, I opted for one of the free UPC reading apps. The first UPC that I scanned with the iPhone's camera was the one for Smucker's Chunky Natural Peanut Butter. The price (before coupons) that I normally paid was somewhere in the neighborhood of $2.99 for a one pound jar. The UPC reading app told me that I could get that same peanut butter at Wal-Mart for $2.28! The actual price was a few cents more at $2.34. That is a savings of $.65 without any coupons! My kind of savings!
What do you need to do? Get a hold of a smart phone and start scanning to see where you can find the best prices for the products you buy! May the deal sweeter by using coupons!
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