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Thrifty Thursday: Start a change jar

January 7, 2010 by


About a year ago, my husband and I took Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University class and it was life-changing for us. One of Dave’s big recommendations is that you use a “cash only” system for paying for things. At first this was an adjustment for us, but we quickly realized how much money we had LEFT at the end of the month when we started doing this. It was powerful.

Going to a “cash only” system meant that we did a “cash only” vacation last year (we used some of our cash to purchase gift cards beforehand so it was a bit “safer”) and that was the first vacation where we’ve ever come home with money left (it was $150 to be exact if I’m remembering correctly).

We also managed to do a “100% Cash Christmas” this year and I shared in my post here that we plan to do the same thing again this year. Planning for a 100% Cash Christmas means you need to start NOW. Some of you may be thinking “No big deal. We’ll set aside X amount of money each month and that’s how we can save for Christmas.” We tried that. But for us, I found that each month, Christmas seemed pretty far away and we needed that money from our monthly paychecks NOW for other things. Sound familiar? We decided that in saving up our cash for Christmas, we weren’t going to touch our monthly paychecks. We managed to do this last year and it worked and I’m hoping we’ll be able to do it again this year.

One of the things that we decided to do this year was to start a change jar. Using cash only to pay for things, we found out that sometimes we ended up with a lot of change at the end of the day. To be honest, I found myself leaving it in my car so that I could treat myself to a $.99 Sonic drink from time to time in the mornings or using it to buy a “treat” from the vending machine at work from time to time. With my new weight loss plan, I decided I don’t need to be doing those things anymore anyway. So, about a month ago, my husband and I decided to start a change jar.

I counted the change yesterday and I was surprised at how quickly those pennies, nickels, and dimes could add up! We had almost $30 in there already! Our plan is to just let the change accumulate throughout the year and then “cash it out” in early November so we have the money for our Christmas spending. I know several people who have found that they can easily save $200-300 throughout the year by doing this.

If you decide to take on this challenge, let me know how it goes!

Do you have your own Thrifty Thursday tip to share? Feel free to link up below!

For more thrifty ideas, check out The Coupon Teacher and Life as a Mom.

Filed Under: 100% cash Christmas, Thrifty Thursday

Thrifty Thursday: Awesome Target trip – I got paid to shop!

October 22, 2009 by

I had a great Target trip today! My total out of pocket for all of this was $2.84 and I got 2 $5 gift cards back! After I get my rebate back, I basically made $7.16 buying these items ($5 cash for the rebate and $5 from the gift card) My total savings was $75.68.

Here’s what I bought:

6 bags Chef Michael’s dog food – $4.26/each
used 6 $3/1 Chef Michael’s manufacturer’s coupons
used 6 $1/1 Chef Michael’s Target coupons

5 Glade scented oil Holiday candles – $2.50/each
5 Glade scented oil refills – $2.50/each
used 5 $1.50/1 Glade scented oil candles coupons (these were in tins from candles I bought previously)
used 5 Buy 1 scented oil candle, get a free refill (there are blinkies for these in my local grocery stores and there is a printable here)
used $5 Target gift card

**Target has a deal that is valid through 12/26 – buy 5 Glade holiday products (candles, warmers, etc.), get a $5 Target gift card, so I earned 2 $5 Target gift card for doing this deal. I will also submit my receipt for the SC Johnson rebate here and get $5 back.

2 Skippy peanut butter – $2.04/each
Used 2 $1/1 Target coupons
Use 2 .40/1 manufacturer’s coupons

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Thrifty Thursday: More items to stockpile this week – peanut butter and canned soups!

October 8, 2009 by

If you are on a budget, but still wanting to build a stockpile, there are some great items that you can add to your stockpile this week for next to nothing!

Here’s what you can add for cheap from Target:

*Mott’s Applesauce or apple juice – Target has a gift card offer this week where you get a $5 Target gift card when you buy 5 Mott’s applesauce or apple juice. The applesauce is priced at $1.69 for the “no sugar added” varieties and $1.75 for the other varieties. The apple juice is priced at $1.75 also and includes the “Mott’s for Tots” varieties.

Even without coupons, this is a GREAT deal, especially if you have a $5 gift card on hand.

Here are some scenario ideas:

Buy 5 Mott’s applesauce (no sugar added varieties) – $1.69/each

Use $5 Target gift card (if you have one on hand – I always keep one on hand for deals like this!)

Spend $3.45 out of pocket, get a $5 Target gift card

Buy 5 Mott’s apple juice – $1.75/each

Use a $5 Target gift card

Spend $3.75 out of pocket, get a $5 Target gift card

**If you don’t have a gift card to start out with, you can keep “rolling” the gift card you earn from your first transaction into your next transactions.

*Skippy Peanut Butter – There is a $1/1 Target printable coupon for Skippy peanut butter. Depending on where you live, there were .40/1, .75/1 or $1/2 Skippy peanut butter coupons that came out in the 10-4 RP insert. Skippy peanut butter is $1.75-$1.99 depending on your store location. So, if you combine the Target coupon and the manufacturer’s coupon, you can get free or really cheap peanut butter (depending on which coupon you have). If you don’t have multiple Skippy coupons, you can still get them on Ebay. This seller here has some available. I’ve ordered from her before – her turn around time is quick and she’s great to deal with!

*Snuggle fabric softener – Snuggle fabric softener is priced at $3.99 this week at Target. There were $3/1 coupons in the 10-4 Red Plum insert, so these are $.99/each (or FREE if you have the Target mailer coupon!)

Here are some items you can add to your stockpile from Kroger:

*Campbell’s chicken noodle or tomato soup is on sale 2/$1 – there were .40/4 coupons in the 9-13 and 10-4 SS inserts. My store will double/triple up to 3 “like” coupons. So, I can buy 12 cans of soup, use 3 coupons (which will double), and pay $3.60 out of pocket (or .30/can)

*Refrigerated biscuits – This week, Kroger has Pillsbury biscuits, crescents, or rolls – 3/$5 (through next Tuesday in my area – check your ad for details)
$1/2 Pillsbury Grands shortcuts.com e-coupon
$1/2 Pillsbury Grands cellfire.com coupon
$1/2 Pillsbury crescent rolls shortcuts.com e-coupon (there are two separate ones if you loaded them on your card perviously!)
$1/2 Pillsbury sweet rolls shortcuts.com e-coupon
.50/2 Pillsbury sweet rolls shortcuts.com e-coupon (no longer available to load)
$1/2 Pillsbury Grands printable on coupons.com
$1/2 Pillsbury sweet rolls on coupons.com
.35/1 Pillsbury Grands biscuits from 7-12 SS insert (will triple)
.30/2 Pillsbury Grands from 8-9 SS insert (will triple)
$1/2 Pillsbury Crescent rolls 9-13 SS insert
.50/2 Pillsbury Grands sweet rolls 9-13 SS insert (will double)
.40/2 Sweet rolls or Grands sweet rolls – smartsource.com (will double)
.30/2 Grands biscuits – smartsource.com (will triple)

*Hopefully you printed the $1/1 Crescent roll coupons I posted about last week (sadly they are no longer available for print)

Between 10/5 and 11/1, buy any Pillsbury refrigerated baked goods:
Buy 3, get $2 OYNO
Buy 4, get $2.50 OYNO
Buy 5, get $3 OYNO

SCENARIO:
Buy 3 Pillsbury crescent rolls
Buy 2 Grands biscuits

Use $1/2 crescent rolls e-coupon
Use $1/2 Grands e-coupon
Use 3 $1/1 crescent rolls IPs
Use $1/2 Grands IP

Spend $2.33 OOP, get a $3 OYNO catalina (it’s like paying .46/can of biscuits!)

Then….
Buy 3 Pillsbury crescent rolls
Buy 2 Grands biscuits

Use 3 $1/1 crescent rolls IPs
use $1/2 Grands IP
Use $3 OYNO catalina

Spend $1.33 OOP, get a $3 OYNO catalina

(you should be able to continue to “roll” this catalina and get more)…and yes, you can freeze biscuits!

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Thrifty Thursday: Movie night on a budget

October 1, 2009 by

In this economy, many people are looking for ways to entertain their family and stay within the budget. My kids LOVE “family movie night.” We have popcorn (and sometimes other snacks) spread out blankets and pillows on the floor and all hang out together. Sometimes my husband and I like to just hang out and watch a movie after the kids go to bed – we don’t have to pay for a babysitter and it’s more comfortable (and less noisy) than a movie theater. I have time paying for movies anymore, though, and I have become a HUGE fan of Redbox since there are so many free codes.

If you sign up for texts from them here, you will get a code for a free Redbox movie rental texted to you the first Monday of every month. The next text should be coming on Monday, October 5th!

If you haven’t checked out Redbox before, now is a great time to start because there are several free codes available:

9HB6MP22 (valid at any location)
SMR8DVD (valid at McDonalds locations)

Here are a few other codes that may work if you have not used them before:
BREAKROOM
DVDONME
REDBOX

For use at Walgreens only: DVDATWAG

You can use these codes once per card (you do have to swipe a credit or debit card to “rent” the movie).

To learn more about Redbox (or to find a location, see what’s available, or reserve a selection online), check out their blog here and their site here.

If you are new to using Redbox, Dealseeking Mom has a great tutorial here.

Filed Under: freebies, Thrifty Thursday Tagged With:

Thrifty Thursday: Good news and bad news about diapers

May 14, 2009 by

The good news about Huggies diapers is that they are changing their packaging and name, which means that you should be on the look-out for great clearance deals in your area. The Gentle Fit diapers (sizes newborn-2) will now be called “Little Snugglers” and the Natural Fit diapers (sizes 3-6) will now be called “Little Movers.”

The bad news is that the new packages have fewer diapers (about 3-4 less per jumbo pack), but are still the same price. You can read more about this in this article here from Baby Cheapskate.

More good news: Diapers.com still has the “old” packages and they are $9.99/each. This is probably one of the cheaper ways to stock up right now. If you have never used the site before, you can get Huggies jumbo packs for about $6 each when all is said and done. Here’s how:

1. Send in any manufacturer’s coupons you have. Diapers.com accepts manufacturer’s coupons. To find out how to submit your manufacturer’s coupons for credit, click here.

2. If you haven’t already, sign up for Ebates. If you are a new member, you will get a $5 bonus (after you make your first purchase) when you sign up here. Once you have signed up, search for Diapers.com, and click through the link on the site. You will get an additional 1% cash back for shopping through this link.

3. Choose 5 Huggies jumbo packs (size 1-6) here. Add them to your cart.

4. Proceed to check out. If you’re a new member, you’ll have to register.

5. Enter the coupon code MELISSASBA if you are a new customer to get $10 off your order of $49 or more. If you’ve ordered from diapers.com before, you can try to use the code RESOLUTION.

6. If you originally added $49 or more to your cart (before the code), your order should qualify for free shipping. Your total should be $49.95 at this point.

7. In the “promotional code” box in the bottom right hand corner, put a comma after MELISSASBA and then enter the code NEW5. An additional $5 should be deducted from your balance. You should be at $34.95 at this point. (Any coupons you have submitted should also appear as a credit on your account)…if the NEW5 code does not work, try calling diapers.com at 1-800-342-7377.

*Your diapers should arrive within two business days!

8. Submit your receipts to Caregivers Marketplace. You should get $3.75 back.

If you use Ebates and purchased Huggies, your total out of pocket when all is said and done should be $30.85 for five jumbo packs.

Even more good news: You can get paid to test diapers! Arquest is doing another diaper study. They are currently doing a study for boys and girls wearing size 4 diapers. You complete two simple questionnaires (one week apart) about your experience, and in addition to the free diapers, you get a $10 check when you’re finished!

Here’s the number that you call (if you don’t get a “real” person, leave a message…even if they are full, they will put you on their list and call you back when there are openings):

1-888-342-7372
Extension 646 for girls
Extension 634 for boys

It’s always nice when the good news outweighs the bad! Have a great Thursday!

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