Starbucks is Catching On

I am thrilled that Starbucks is jumping on to the rewards/savings band wagon.  For awhile now I've been meaning to buy a gift card, register it online and use it for my Starbucks purchases in order to save a few cents here and there.  Well, I finally did it last month and I've saved more than a few cents. :)  I always order my specialty drinks with soy instead of regular milk.  Using a registered gift card saves me .60 cents alone per drink!  


Today I purchased a tall peppermint mocha with soy.  I saved $1.10 by using my gift card (.60 cents for soy and .50 cents for peppermint).  I realize Starbucks isn't the most frugal coffee, but when you work from home sometimes you HAVE to change surroundings.  $3 is a small price to pay for several hours of people watching working at a different place. :)


Check out Starbucks Rewards for more information. 

Menu Planning

I am a planner.  I like to know when, where, who and why for just about every situation I plan to encounter.  Which is why it is a tad bizarre that I haven't planned our menu in many months. I just look in my pantry, note what I have the most of, pick about 4-5 easy meals and call it a day.  Breakfast/Lunch are comprised of whatever was on a serious sale (oatmeal, cereal, etc) and lunch is leftovers or frozen veggies/rice.  Sounds pretty appetizing, huh?  Not. 


I have vowed to get better about this!  When I menu plan I save additional money and I waste less.  Plus, I'm not irritated at 5 PM trying to figure out what to feed us.  Seriously, if this is a problem now, what will I do with kids?  "Johnny boy, don't complain that dinner this week has consisted of cereal, cereal and more cereal. You do realize that there are starving children around the world that would love some CEREAL, right?"  Is this situation likely? Of course not. I would never call my child Johnny Boy.  Geez.


Anyways.  I sat down tonight, for the 4th time this week to come up with a plan.  My lack of motivation in this area is pathetic.  Part of my problem is that Caleb and I are planning to start working out on a regular basis and I need to make sure we're getting some good nutrition.   I know this will mean buying more fruits/veggies/meat and truly, I'm a pasta girl.  All of my default, easy meals include pasta.  One of the recipes I chose was for Lasagna Soup.  My next thought was....ohhhhhhh, I'll make lasagna TOO!  Ahem, no.


So now I've whined, complained and procrastinated enough.  Amazingly enough, I did manage to come up with meals for the next several days.  Hallelujah!


Homemade Pizza
Bean and Basil Quinoa Salad (if this is good, I'll share the recipe!)
Sushi
Lasagna Soup
BBQ Chicken, Rice and Veggie


Breakfast will consist of oatmeal, fruit, yogurt
Lunches will consist of some leftovers, salads with meat or beans
Snacks will consist of nuts, fruit/veggies and Shakeology


My goal this year is to try one new recipe a week.  Also, I'm planning to begin transitioning back to using much less white flour and sugar.  And last but not least, I need  to dramatically increase my water intake.  :0)


If you have any tips/suggestions on how to make menu planning easier, feel free to enlighten me. Please.

Deal on Clothing!

My wardrobe is in desperate need of some rejuvenation, so I've been trying to add a few pieces here and there on the cheap! :)

Target had this sweater on sale for $18 and I had a coupon for $3 off, making it $15.  Not bad for a new sweater.

I found these on clearance at Target for $2.50 a piece. They're perfect for next summer, even though they LOOK like maternity shirts in this picture.

Plus, the other day Kohls sent me a $10 off of $10 coupon, so I found the clearance rack and got $26 worth of clothing for $2! Yep, that's a deal!

Buying clothes doesn't have to be expensive, as long as you are careful not to impulse buy and you plan ahead.  I try to keep a running list of items that I want/need and that way when I find a sale or a coupon, I am not aimlessly buying, I'm looking for something that is already on my list!

Linking up at...

 

$50 Worth of Groceries for $11

I haven't talked much about couponing on my blog yet, just because I'm still working on coming up with the best strategy to share it with you.  


Today I went to Publix and bought $50 worth of groceries for $11. 

I've heard many excuses reasons why using coupons isn't for someone.


1. "I don't have the time" Preparing for this shopping trip took me at most....20 minutes. I wrote my list and pulled my coupons. So with 20 minutes work, I saved $40.  Do the math this way, it's like earning $120 an hour. If you're earning anywhere close to this an hour, then okay, couponing might not be for you. But for everyone else, bad reason.


2. "All you can buy is junk." Now, this is all about choices. There are alot of coupons for junk food, but because of the more "green friendly" age that we live in, many companies are seeing the value in sharing coupons for healthier products.  About 90% of what you see here I would consider pretty healthy.  Skip the junk food and concentrate on the healthy food. Also, in the past 2 years I have NOT paid for toothpaste, toothbrushes, floss, shampoo, body wash, razors, etc.  This isn't a matter of healthiness, these are common household items. Even if you're just couponing for health and beauty products, it's worth it!


3. "Well, there aren't coupons for the brands I like."  First of all, beggars can't be choosers.  If you're serious about saving money, you'll learn to compromise on some things. About 80% of name brand products go on sale. I have actually found since I have started couponing, that I have been able to buy more expensive products because with a sale and coupon it ends up being cheaper than buying the store brand!  For example, pictured above, I bought the 4-packs of YoPlus yogurt for .25 cents each! They are normally $2.50.  Store brand yogurt would be around $1.50.  I smeared the store brand price and got what I really wanted!


Now you'll see I bought 6 jars of spaghetti sauce, will I eat all of this sauce this week?  I hope not.  I have learned the awesome gift of buying ahead. This spaghetti sauce is our favorite and it is normally $2.69 a jar. With a sale and a coupon, I bought it for .50 cents a jar!  This sauce will probably last us about 6 weeks, so that is 6 weeks that spaghetti sauce does not have to go on my list.  Buying ahead takes a few months of practice, to learn how much you'll use of something and what is really a "stock up" price.  If I can pay less than $1 for a higher end spaghetti sauce, I stock up!


Well, this ended up being longer than anticipated and just think, I haven't even told you HOW to coupon yet!


If you're interested in starting to coupon before I get my act together and start writing about it, here are two sites I recommend!


www.iheartpublix.com Michelle stays on top of ALL of the deals at Publix in an awesome way!  She posts each Publix weekly ad and underneath each product she lists any applicable coupons.  She has done all of the work for me, all I have to do is look at the ad and write my list!


www.moneysavingmom.com Crystal has a fantastic website with all various kinds of deals and coupon match ups. I really like how she does her CVS lists.


If you have any questions before I expound further, feel free to leave questions in a comment.

Saving on Clothes

One of the questions I’ve heard several times is, “how do I save money on clothes?”  There are several different approaches to this, so I’m sure you can find one that will help you save some!

#1 – just like in anything, do not be unnecessarily brand loyal.  When you walk into Hollister and buy a $70 pair of jeans, about $50 of that is for the label (well maybe some of it is for the rips they add for you!).  Realize that you can find the same types of clothes at less expensive stores!

#2 – shop thrift stores and consignment stores.  The best way to find great stores is to look for them in the wealthier neighborhoods. Typically this results in nicer, newer items.  This will allow you to get those name brands for way, way less!

#3 – shop off season and clearance.  Try to buy ahead a little bit.  At the end of winter, go buy some sweaters for next winter! You’ll be paying pennies on the dollar and be ready for next year!

#4 – shop online.  sometimes I will find an item in a store that I really want, but it’s out of my price range.  So I’ll look it up online, buy it through my bigcrumbs site and use a coupon code in order to get it for cheaper.

Two of the stores that I am able to score awesome deals at are JCPenny and Kohls.  JCPenny will regularly send me coupons for $10 off of a $10 purchase, which means I can get an item for practically free! Kohls mails out $10 off of a $20 purchase.

Here are some recent purchases!

Pair of pants for Caleb – Originally $30 Minus $18.01 because it was on clearance, minus $10 coupon, minus extra 15% off coupon = $1.81 for a brand new pair of pants! 94% savings!

Pair of pants for Caleb – Originally $26 Minus $15.60 because they were on clearance, minus $10 coupon, = $.43 for a brand new pair of pants! 98% savings!

Pair of shoes for Courtney – Originally $49.99 Minus $30 because they were on clearance, minus $10 coupon, = $10.69 for a brand new pair of shoes! 78% savings!

Now granted, you cannot always save money on everything you buy, but take advantage of good sales and good coupons!

It Never Hurts to Ask

Caleb and I have saved over $300 this week, just by asking!

Last year, I had a lot of medical expenses due to some neck pain. We received a bill a couple months ago for the last portion, which totaled $580. We've been trying to get in touch with them for three months now to pay the bill, but the billing department never answers the phone (interesting, huh?).  Well, Caleb finally got through yesterday and he asked them for a discount. They agreed to a 50% discount if we paid that day, so we did! Savings of $280!

For the past several months our cell phone service has been horrible!  We're dropping 4-6 calls a day on average, very frustrating!  Caleb told me yesterday that he called our cell phone provider and asked for a discount. They took $60 off of our bill!

It never hurts to ask, especially when you are asking because of sub-par service. If you are paying for a product or service, don't pay more than it's worth!