Category Archives: Saving Money

Saving Money- Using the 3 Rs

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Reduce, re-use, recycle… We have all heard of these especially in relationship to saving the earth or reducing our carbon footprint, but they are true when trying to save money.

Reduce– the amount of pre-package foods you are buying and consuming.  This is a huge area where saving money is easy. Instead of buying pre-package dinners try freezer cooking. Another way to REDUCE your spending is by reduce the number of time that you eat out during the week or even simpler reduce the number of trips  you make to the store in a week. Menu planning for us is the only way that we can accomplish the goal to REDUCE. Each Sunday, we look through the freezer and decide what to place on the menu for the week. This is especially helpful when we are running low on meat. If we don’t have the items we need then we can’t cook.

Re-use- Before throwing away anything, think if you can use it for something else or can it be donated to someone who can. Currently, we are re-using the deck from our deck that was replaced 9 years ago to make a new square foot garden. This wood was taken to the very edge of our yard and has been covered with weeds for years. Matt is in the process of going through each peace to determine which ones can be used and which need to be burned. I also like cooking items like taco rice that can be re-used for green peppers or nachos. Plastic containers can be re-used for storage especially large coffee ones. Another great re-use of plastic containers is for planting. I am also re-using empty water bottles. I started this after reading and realizing that the filtered water from our refrigerator is better than most bottled water. Re-using clothes or hand me downs are a way of life for us.  We currently re-use plastic grocery bags for scooping cat litter as well as holding wet clothes and for small trash can liners.

Recycle: This principle is very similar to the Re-use. One major difference is that by using our own bags for groceries and stuff we are recycling fabric  as well as saving money at the same time. Another way to look at recycling is by using for a different purpose.

My hope is that you begin to look for ways to Reduce, Re-use and Recycle to save money along with me!

Productive Free Weekend

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We once again had a weekend with no major things to accomplish or events to attend. Haley left on Friday for Winter Retreat with her youth group, Amanda was at school and work and Lily did have a skating party on Saturday afternoon. Lily loved trying to skate and actually got around the rink a couple of times.

On Saturday, I was able to get FREE toilet bowl cleaners at Walmart. I had read about this deal on several website, and decided to try it. I asked to “price match” a sale at Family Dollar for $4 and then had a $4 off coupon. We actually got 2 of these and they are really working great. I was disappointed to find that they were out of the 3 other free items on my list. Also on Saturday,I cooked the 10lbs of chicken I purchased earlier in the week. I was able to freeze 10 cups of shredded chicken as well as 22 bags of chicken broth.

Sunday in North Carolina was rainy and COLD. The temperature was around 35 all day. So to get things warm, I decided to start planning for my “Square Foot Garden.”  We have been debating on how big or small to make it this year. I also wanted to stick to items I know we will use. I had purchased several packs of seeds 2 years ago and want to try to start from starch again this year. The good news is that I actually got myself organized enough that this should be possible and if not then I can always purchased at the right time for growing. I did order broccoli seeds to start right away as well as some green chili seeds to try my hand at. I will also be raising some tomatoes this year as well. Otherwise, I hope to purchase enough corn to freeze as well as we will be participating in the Food Coop again. I am excited that I actually am ahead of the game this year instead of waiting to the last minute to start. I also hope this means it works and produces enough for freezing.

Finally on Sunday, Matt and I got all the tax papers together. I am currently waiting on 1 more W-2 then I can spend 3-4 hours filing online.

Sounds relaxing right?

Saving Money-Why we are NOT buying/raising Chickens

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One of the things Matt and I have been discussing over the past several weeks to help reduce our food expenses is the possibility of getting our own live chickens. The idea being that we would then raise both hens for eggs and a couple of roosters for meat. However, the only answer for us it NO!  The main reason is that the upfront cost as well as maintenance are significantly higher than what we are paying now. Below is the break down

Current cost: Chicken breast 21.99- 10# bag at Costco, 7 doz eggs 13.99 at Costco, chicken leg quarters $0.59 a pound on sale at Food Lion. I estimate that with the purchase of 2 10# bags of leg quarters the above items will last us approximately 2 months. A total of $50 or $25 each month.

Cost of chicken farming: Original building of coop and hen house $120 (divided into a year so $12 a  month). Chicken food $20 a month. With out even considering the initial cost of chickens we already are spending more for at least the first year on chicken farming. This does not include any labor cost or the daily expectation of gathering eggs or processing chickens.  I should add at this point that Matt does not like birds in fact he said “the only good chicken is a boneless one.”

But as you can see with the numbers chicken farming is not in our future.

Saving Money- Add to the Stockpile

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Just last week, I was excited to share that I thought our stockpile was near complete. I was even more excited that I was not even close to the grocery budget for the money. Well since then I have been shopping again at Food Lion and have a plan to go to Costco again tomorrow. Sounds crazy doesn’t it, what is even more crazy is that I am planning to move some money from dinning out to cover the Costco trip tomorrow.  But let me explain…..

Food Lion is the only “grocery store” in our area. We also have a Walmart that sells groceries but I really dislike Walmart. I rarely go to Food Lion because of their coupon policy and usually much higher prices when compared to Costco. But these past several weeks have been different. A good example is my trip tonight I spent 85.09 and saved 66.13 or 44%. This is not a huge saving percentage and in the past I would not even post about this trip but if you take a close look at what I bought for that $85 it makes more sense.  Chicken leg quarters were on sale for 0.59 a pound in quantities of 10#. This is actually 0.20 cheaper than my stockpile price. I ended up purchasing 40# of chicken. My thought is that I will crockpot cook one bag at a time. This should provide enough meat and chicken stock for at least 4 meals or 1 month so I purchased a 4 month supply tonight. While I was in the store, they have continued there “Store brand sale”, in addition to ketchup and BBQ sauce, they added cat food and salad dressing. I again grabbed several of the condiments as well as 40 cans of cat food, at 0.15 a piece it is cheaper than dry food. I also grabbed more sodas at 0.64, with coupons goldfish and pop tarts also made it into my cart.  So this 44% saving trip really is a great deal in real life.

We will head to Costco tomorrow for milk and other items we are out of just to finish off the month. Matt and I are already talking about several changes to the way we are budgeting. In addition starting next month, I am going to use a envelope system for groceries so that we can “carry” any remaining amounts over for a month when our financial situation changes as we are anticipating in the next 6 months or so.

Saving Money- Stockpile complete Now what?

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Back in November, I found a “stockpile” list on line and with a few changes, I posted it here.  With the financial changes we are facing in a couple of months, one of the ways we are preparing is by building the “stockpile”.  As I was reading over on Southern Savers, I realized that Food Lion has it “special brands sale.” Basically this give you a quarter back for each of the store items you purchase, in the form of a catalina.  After reading further, I realized that they also had several items on a great sale. So we decided to make a trip to Food Lion. I rarely go to Food Lion simply because of their higher price and the fact that they do not double coupons.  Ketchup, mustard and BBQ sauce are all on sale @0.88 with the sale this make each 0.63, this is the lowest I have seen any of these items. They also had there soda on sale for 0.89 with the additional discount that was 0.64 each. I purchased a total of 46 items of the store brand including bread and milk. While shopping I also discovered wing drumette marked down. I grabbed these for our Super Bowl party.  I did seperate my purchase out to 3 transaction to use the catalina and not have any left.  While putting these items away, I realized that we have added a lot to the stockpile this month. So I decided to check out the list vs what we actually have.  I am about 4 items short but these are not things I will run out and buy but probably will just grab extra the next time I buy them. So now what?

If you watch any of the shows on TV, you see they just keep adding and adding and adding. Not me!  I am not planning on adding to the stockpile unless an item is free or what I consider a stock up price. So I will continue to buy items especially at CVS and also watch the sales at other places. But for now, I just want to maintain this level of stuff. So unless,it is a great deal it won’t be coming to my house! I also have managed to spend only $600 of our $800 budget so far this month. I know this will go up at least by $50 but that still is awesome for us and below budget!

Saving Money- A look at the Numbers!

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I have made multiple shopping trips since Thursday. The main reason why is that our local grocery store has a stock up deal on Diet Cokes and paper products. I discovered these by accident on Thursday and since it seems we pass a Food Lion almost anywhere we go, I am trying to stock up.  Diet Coke 2 liters are on sale for 0.88 each when you buy four. This is the cheapest I have seen them since September and I have gone through my stockpile and actually have been paying around $1.25 each for the past couple of weeks.
So let’s look at these numbers. Standard price for a 2L is $1.25, so far I have purchased 16 at a savings of 0.37 each for 5.92

While picking up a third round of drinks on Friday, I discovered that Hefty paper products are on sale BOGO free, with a coupon on display for 1.00 off 2. So far I have picked up around 300 paper plates, 60 paper bowls and 50 cups. I did send a set home with  my mother to  use at Christmas. I figured out that by using these products instead of the dishwasher twice a day, I am saving at minimum $1.00 a day by reducing our use of  the dishwasher by half. I should have easily enough products to last a month so that is a savings of $30.

Finally, I made a trip out to CVS today because of the information I found on-line, I hoped to get a coupon for 3 12-packs of Diet Coke for $8.00. I was excited to get this coupon. I combined sales and coupons today in order to purchase 9 12-packs of Diet Coke and 4 bags of candy for $25.00. In my calculations, I see the candy as all free because I would not normally purchase it.  My per can cost then is 0.24.  I go through roughly one 12 pack of drinks a week at work. We do have a machine that sells cans for 0.65 each. So by stocking up today I saved 0.42 a can or $4.92 a week. A grand total of $44.98.

Today, I place a whole chicken in the crock pot with several cups of water.  After it cooking all night, I was able to freeze 7 cups of chicken broth. A can of chicken broth is typically 14-15oz or just shy of 2 cups. I saw today that a stock up price on broth was $2.00 for the container, so by freezing the broth I had today I saved at least $6.00. I also was able to shred the cooked chicken that can be used for soups or pies instead of cans.  I should add here that this chicken from Angel Food so I am not sure of the cost.  I figure a good estimate of the savings is $5.00.

My final savings by planning ahead today is $94.00 off our normal grocery bill.