Money Saving Tips

It's the little things that we do that can save a buck here and there-but it totally ads up! Here are just a few ways to save money!

1. Brown bag your lunch. Let's say you eat out 5 days a week at just $5 a pop. That is $1300 a year to have a probably not too delicious 5 buck lunch during the work week. What in the world could you do with $1300?? Wouldn't THAT be nice!

2. Don't touch your air/heat! Set it and forget it. If it's blazin' saddles at your house set it to 72 and then do NOT touch it. Don't turn it down, or kick it up a notch. LEAVE it alone. Studies have proven this will save an average of $40 each month which comes out $480.00 per year!

3. Cancel the magazines! I KNOW that you love the National Enquirer (don't we all), but your local library has it for free! And you probably have a neighbor or friend that has a HUGE stack of these that they are about to trash... get it for free. Depending on how many magazine subscriptions you get, cancelling them could save you up to $100 each year!

4. You want your diamonds to sparkle... who doesn't?!?! But that $10.00 bottle of cleaner you are buying every few months is nothing more than ammonia and water. Trust me--I had a jeweler tell me to save my money. SO, I went from buying a bottle around 3-4 times a year (average of $40.00 per year spent) to buying a gallon of ammonia at the Dollar Tree for $1.00. TADA! There ya go :) Let's spend that money elsewhere.

5. Laundry time! Do it early in the morning or late in the evening. Energy costs are cheaper when the sun is not up in the high sky yet. According to GE's newsletter published in 2010, by doing so you could save easily $15-25 dollars EACH month! So start the load at night, and then throw it in the dryer before work. Save that money!

There are ALWAYS more and more ways to save money. I plan to do better about sharing these. What are your money saving tips???

My SUPER Bargain of the week!

I HAVE to share this with you... it's just too good.

Saturday morning when I woke up I had a big ol' G in the corner of my phone which meant there was a Groupon available. I looked at it and saw that it was the Puff's Store that had the deal this week. For $10 dollars you could get $25 dollars worth of clothes. Sounded great, right? But--I haven't shopped there in years, I rarely even go in the store, and I had kind of gathered in the past that they had changed from being quality clothes to being cheap-o not so good clothes.

Then I got an email reminding me that I had $10 dollars in Groupon bucks to spend. (I got that because I purchased 2 at a time of something a few weeks ago). SO, I bought the Puff's certificate with the bucks which means I spent NOTHING out of pocket and I got $25 dollars to spend!

So yesterday I went to the store and partly I was right... the store HAS changed. They used to have nice, popular brands in their clothing and they always had nice home accessories. Well the accessories were gone and the clothing was a lacking, but they still had some super cute things. I bought a new pair of jeans and a cute little leopard print sweater for fall. And it cost me NOTHING! I know I am on a "nothing new" ban right now, but if you can get nothing new for cheaper than  you can get something used... I think it STILL constitutes a bargain!

I had to share. What about you? Any good bargains this week?

It's the MOST wonderful time of the year...

Because EVERYTHING IS CHEAPER! :) I have talked before about THIS being the time of year that you go otu and buy gifts for NEXT year. HOPEFULLY you have been saving your money. :)

Go buy wrapping paper, gift sacks, tape, and bows for NEXT year. Don't over do it...thats the hard part. You don't need a ton more ornaments, you don't need a ton of crap to set out...but you WILL need more paper.

JCPenney's is THE place to be over the next week. Forget if its Christmassy or not...if it is something that can be worn in the winter time, its gonna be on sale. And not just 20% off...but MAJORLY discounted.
And more than anything the men's clothes will be hugely discounted. Not quite sure why, but i'm just telling you they will be.

Also...are you one of those families that does pj pants on Christmas Eve? (I now know of 4 families that do that and I think its the cutest idea ever.) Anyway if you are... Old Navy, Rue 21, Sears AND Belk will have their pj pants on sale.

There are TONS more good ideas of places to go. I haven't looked at any ads from the paper this week to see of any new but the ones I listed are always on my "To do" list after Christ
as.

so go...find some bargains and get ready for a Happy New year of money saving tips! :)

Christmas...for free?

I can't tell you how excited I am! This morning while sitting at my computer at work I popped open facebook. I know, I know. HUGE suprise :) Well, I sure am glad I did! JUST as I logged on some "news feed" was coming through and my friend  posted "hey if anyone wants some toys lemme know. we are cleaning out a room and HAVE tons of good, clean, gently used toys!" I IMMEDIATELY said I WILL TAKE THEM!!!

So I ran by to get them. #1 it was good to see her but also it was like friggin' Christmas morning!!! I'm talking I RACKED up! Or I should say Ava racked up. Anything from barbies, doll clothes, stuffed animals, brand new crayons, a shopping cart, a cleaning set that had like a little broom and vaccum and everything!! OH MAN OH MAN! I am PUMPED!!!! Yes, I will buy my child presents as well. In fact she already has a good little stash that I have been working on all year hidden in my closet for her. But wow! I hit the mother load.

I will wash everything, wipe everything down, and ta-da! I am so pumped!! One thing to remember when being a "Bargain hunter" is that you CAN'T get caught up in getting all these great deals...so you buy more. If thats how you are gonna do it then its NOT a deal at all. So... lesson of today is... take free things! Look for bargains like that in the paper. In the classifieds I have seen more than once where people have listed encyclopedia sets to give away. Or "100 books for free..come pick up" . Now don't get me wrong... I do not want to end up on the show "Hoarders" nor do I want you too...but if its free, what does it hurt to look through it? You could sell some on ebay? Trash some, keep some, give a good read to your neighbor. I mean come on--its FUN!

So get excited! Go lookin' for bargains and lemme know what you find!!!!