How to save more on groceries? My biggest rule in grocery shopping, I only buy what's on sale. Everything goes on sale at some point and I buy the sale of the week. I either change brands depending on what's on sale or I wait until my brand goes on sale. Unless of course it's a staple or an urgent need.
Keep your coupons in your grocery bag. I keep my coupons in my grocery bag so they are easy to find and I remember to use them. I save on average an extra $10 per visit using store and manufacturer coupons.
There's a new show on TLC called Extreme Couponing which will be interesting to watch. Hopefully it will be inspiring although I don't think I could ever be as diligent, or should I say obsessive, on couponing. I seriously don't have that kind of time to spend 3 hours clipping coupons but more power to those who can.
My average grocery bill is $150 and after sales and coupons I generally pay about $100 saving one third on my grocery bill virtually every time and I spend virtually no time hunting and clipping coupons. Although sometimes I spend time with online coupons and printing them out. Not often. But it is a thrill to see the total dip under $100.
Only buy what's on sale and watch your savings grow.
Green tip of the day: keep an extra bag in your car so if you stop off on your way home you have a bag to use. Re-use your bags and if you do get plastic bags from the store, bring them back to the store to recycle. Most grocery stores have recycle bag bins at the front of the store.
Jan
Dinner plan: Tonight I made nachos with black beans, rice, guacamole and sour cream as an appetizer. I made organic chicken breasts last night that I threw in the food processor, added BBQ sauce, heated in the microwave and had BBQ chicken sandwiches with cucumber slices. Fast, easy and nutricious.
Moms. Friends. Girl Power All the Way!
Showing posts with label Save Money. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Save Money. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Saturday, April 2, 2011
How I Save $1,000 A Year and Don't Miss Out
One of my biggest goals for the year is to pay down my debt and stop spending money. My philosophy is buy for need versus want. Before any purchase I think to myself do I really need this. Most of the time I put it back and find that I don't miss not having it. If I don't NEED it, I don't buy it.
I have also found simple ways to save a little money every week that add up to $1,000 per year savings. I found easy alternatives to buying things that I found I can get for free. Yes free! Who doesn't like free stuff?
Coffee. I used to have a serious Dunkin coffee habit. Every morning I bought a medium coffee and sometimes also bought a breakfast sandwich or donut. Even just the cost of coffee, now over $2 for a medium cup is $14 a week. I have cut weekday Dunkin out and drink the office coffee. I only like flavored coffee so I buy French Vanilla CoffeeMate for $2 and it lasts me about two weeks. I do splurge on the weekends and get my Dunkin fix. I think that's a fair trade and still allow myself a treat so I am not completely depriving myself. Saving $2 a day doesn't seem like much but it adds up. This change in coffee habit saves me $10 a week which turns into a yearly savings of $520 a year.
Movies. Way back when, I used to go to the movies on a pretty regular basis, at least once a month. I would also rent a movie almost every weekend. When Redbox came out I was excited to rent movies for just a buck. Of course half the time I would return it a day or two late. I'm not a late nighter anymore so most of the time it takes me a couple nights to see a complete movie. Because it's just a dollar I would generally get two movies and then returning a day late means every weekend I was spending $4 on movies. I have discovered that our local library has a collection of movies to rent for free. They have an entire children's collection, a DVD collection and now a BluRay collection. Now the kids get some library time to read some books, do puzzles and play on the computer, then we check out movies. Generally two kids movies and a movie for me and my husband which would be $3 to $6 at Redbox. We get them for a whole week and they are free! So at $4 a week, I am now saving $208 per year.
Books. I have also just joined a book club and rather then buying the book I am utiziling the library as well. Plus I use the library time with the kids to spend a half hour for reading time for myself while they are playing or reading. We read one book a month which would cost $15 to 25 per month to buy. Renting from the library saves me another $277 to $300 per year.
So little sacrifices that I don't even miss, add up to big savings. I still drink coffee every day and we still rent movies every weekend, but I save about $1,000 per year by drinking office coffee and renting books and movies from the library.
Jan
I have also found simple ways to save a little money every week that add up to $1,000 per year savings. I found easy alternatives to buying things that I found I can get for free. Yes free! Who doesn't like free stuff?
Coffee. I used to have a serious Dunkin coffee habit. Every morning I bought a medium coffee and sometimes also bought a breakfast sandwich or donut. Even just the cost of coffee, now over $2 for a medium cup is $14 a week. I have cut weekday Dunkin out and drink the office coffee. I only like flavored coffee so I buy French Vanilla CoffeeMate for $2 and it lasts me about two weeks. I do splurge on the weekends and get my Dunkin fix. I think that's a fair trade and still allow myself a treat so I am not completely depriving myself. Saving $2 a day doesn't seem like much but it adds up. This change in coffee habit saves me $10 a week which turns into a yearly savings of $520 a year.
Movies. Way back when, I used to go to the movies on a pretty regular basis, at least once a month. I would also rent a movie almost every weekend. When Redbox came out I was excited to rent movies for just a buck. Of course half the time I would return it a day or two late. I'm not a late nighter anymore so most of the time it takes me a couple nights to see a complete movie. Because it's just a dollar I would generally get two movies and then returning a day late means every weekend I was spending $4 on movies. I have discovered that our local library has a collection of movies to rent for free. They have an entire children's collection, a DVD collection and now a BluRay collection. Now the kids get some library time to read some books, do puzzles and play on the computer, then we check out movies. Generally two kids movies and a movie for me and my husband which would be $3 to $6 at Redbox. We get them for a whole week and they are free! So at $4 a week, I am now saving $208 per year.
Books. I have also just joined a book club and rather then buying the book I am utiziling the library as well. Plus I use the library time with the kids to spend a half hour for reading time for myself while they are playing or reading. We read one book a month which would cost $15 to 25 per month to buy. Renting from the library saves me another $277 to $300 per year.
So little sacrifices that I don't even miss, add up to big savings. I still drink coffee every day and we still rent movies every weekend, but I save about $1,000 per year by drinking office coffee and renting books and movies from the library.
Jan
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