Updates and Rebates (Ebates and Shop at Home)

Wow! So it's been a while since I've had the time to post anything. We were away last weekend, and we had to come back early Sunday morning to make it to small group Sunday night. I started physical therapy for my neck and back this week, so I'm pretty sore in strange places. Plus, both of my kids are sick.

So, I have nothing major to report, except that I am still signing up for freebies. I received, cereal, splenda and 2 $10 Target gift cards just this week. The gift cards are from Ebates, which along with Shop At Home (SAH), is a pretty cool site. Just link to your store through the Ebates or SAH site and you get a percentage of your total bill (minus shipping and tax). Each store has a set percentage, and sometimes they offer specials. I know Snapfish does 10%. At Christmas, I spend $150 on pictures and gifts from Snapfish and I got credited or $15 from SAH. They mail checks every month but it's like a 3 month delay. This month (February) they are mailing checks from November. Also, if you have less than $20 in your account at the end of the month, they roll it over to the next month and they will send you a check once your account balance is $20 or higher. Click the link on the bottom of my home page to visit Shop at Home.

Ebates works a little differently, you only have to have more than $5.00 in your account to get a check. With Ebates you get a bonus for signing up. That was my $10 Target gift card. I got two of them for some reason, and I'm not sure why. You also get a $5 bonus for anyone you get to sign up.

I don't generally shop online a lot. But I love these programs. I did most of my Christmas shopping online this year because I had a 2-year old and a not quite 1-year old to take with me! Not the most ideal shopping situation. But most stores were offering free shipping and I got some amazing deals. And Walmart ships to the store for free so it was a breeze to order and just run in to pick it up. I highly recommend these programs.

So back to updates, I am still trying to stay on budget. This week I went a little over, but that was because we went out of town and I needed stuff for a party there and snacks for the drive. And RiteAid was having Softsoap for $.99 and Suave for $.99. I had coupons for the Suave and I like to stock up when I can. They also had Colgate buy one get one free and Speed Stick 4/$9 with a $5 rebate. I had a coupon too so I got 4/$3. I couldn't really pass up $.75 deodorant. I also invested in (not on sale) a new Zwipes binder for my coupons. I'm giving a seminar in a few weeks and I want to see how this works for me before I suggest in to others.

Hopefully, things will slow down for me next week. Look for some new weekly posts coming soon. I am working on:
My Menu Monday -- my menu for the week
Save Me Saturday -- calulating my spending and saving for the week
Saling Sunday -- not a typo, going through the next week's sales flyers and coupons

Give Away

Jessica, at Pudget: Losing Weight on a Budget is giving away a copy of Jillian Michaels 30 day shred. Click here to visit her posting. Contest ends February 17, 2009.

Be sure to follow along on her journey of losing weight while maintaining a budget. She's got some great ideas and recipes that make budgeting and dieting simple. Check it out!

Conquering the Hoarder in You

I currently have 6 tubes of toothpaste in my linen closet/'good buy' overflow area.
I have 10 bottles of shampoo or conditioner
I have 8 bars of soap
I have 3 boxes of dishwasher tablets
I have 8 bottles of dish detergent
I have 6 extra toothbrushes

"But, but, but I got them on sale, and I used coupons."

Does this sound like you? If so, then you too my ,friend, are a hoarder. Now, it's not as bad as it sounds. I know you got a mental picture of yourself being lost in your house full of tubes of toothpaste and dish detergent that you got on sale. It's not like that. It just means you have a hard time passing up a good buy. I know the feeling, as evidenced by the previous list.

I have told myself that unless one of these items are free, I will not be buying anymore for a LONG time.

I have some advice for you:
Remember that you have a budget, but it doesn't need to all be spent. That budget is just a number that you don't want to go over. Whatever you don't use can be saved. I know some of you are thinking, "duh! This is common sense." But I really had to remind myself of this fact. Just because you have a certain amount of money to spend, doesn't mean you HAVE to spend it. Ask yourself if you really need this item, even if it is only $2.00. If you have 12 of the same item at home, chances are you don't really need it. Just say no. It might be hard at first, but I hope it will get easier.

By not buying these items, I'm hoping to save at least $20 a week, and that I will put towards my son's birthday party in May. We'll see how it goes.

Adventures in Money Saving

So I have been looking at my receipts from yesterday's shopping excursion (yes I must call it that and you'll see why) and I've done well. I spent a total of $157.53. Yes, this is over my weekly budget by $17.53, but I spent $16.48 on diapers and pull-ups, which I don't count, so I'm only over by $1.05. I wanted to be under budget but I got some really good deals, so I'm not complaining. On that note, I shouldn't need deodorant, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes, dish detergent or dishwasher tablets for months...if not the rest of the year for some of those items.

I also figured out how much I saved just in coupons this week:
Weis Markets -- $11.00
Giant Foods -- $20.91
Rite Aid -- $7.00
CVS -- $9.00
CVS ECB -- $20.49

Grand Total Coupon Savings: $68.40 (this is not even including sales and bonus buys)

My total savings (coupons and sales)
Weis Markets -- $31.90 (31%)
Giant Foods -- $50.79
Rite Aid -- $19.36 (plus tax and I'll also be getting $7.00 in rebates)
CVS -- $47.99 (plus I also found another $2 ecb attached to my receipt. I was only expecting $3 so I missed this one.)

Grand Total Savings (coupons and sales): $150.04 not including the $7.00 rebates and $2 ECB

Not Bad

Keep watching for my next post: How to Conquer the Hoarder in You!

My Menu Plan 2/9 - 2/15

Menu planning is making a big difference in my spending. When I plan my meals, I can (and do) make a list of every ingredient needed for each meal, then check off the ones I don't have to buy. This saves me time and gas, because I don't forget items. It saves me energy since I don't have to lug the kids around with me, getting them in and out of their carseats. It also saves me money because I am incapable of just going into the store for one item.

Monday -- Bi Bim Bop (Korean mixed veggies and rice)
This is an excellent meal for us. I had all the ingredients, except for leaf lettuce. It's really easy to make and tastes excellent. We make is by frying some bulgogi (korean bbq beef) and cutting it into small pieces. Then we mix it into korean rice, along with some chopped leaf lettuce and put a fried egg on top. You can add other veggies, but this is our simple version. YUMMY!

Tuesday -- Italian Chicken
I have all the ingredient for this meal. It was on my menu for last week, but we had an abundance of leftovers (an amazing beef stew that made 2 meals), so it got pushed back to this week.

Wednesday -- London Broil with Korean Rice
Wednesday's have to been meals that I can put in the crockpot or that can be easily reheated since my son has AWANA at 6:30 and my husband works a little later on this night so he has to eat when we're gone.
Again, another meal that I think I had on my menu for last week that got pushed back. Therefore, I did not need any ingredients. I must have done a poor job estimating how much each meal would make. At least it all got eaten.

Thursday -- Homemade broccoli soup and Panini sandwiches
Thursday's are another night that needs to be simple. My husband plays on the worship team at church and they practice on Thursday evenings. Meals like frozen pizza (totino's for $1.25 each) are good options. He doesn't practice this week though, so I can be a little more elaborate.
I am so looking forward to this broccoli soup, but my husband like more substantial meals, so we're making Panini's this night too. I got a good deal on tuna fish, so I could do a tuna fish and cheese panini (I have the Cuisinart Griddler -- makes life so much easier on night's like this).

Friday -- I think we're going out to eat on Friday. It will be our Valentine's dinner since we're going out of town (for my aunt's birthday -- nothing romantic) this weekend. Unfortunately, we'll have to take the kids with us, since I can't find a sitter. Oh well, someday I'll be wishing our kids were home to take to dinner.

Saturday -- out of town

Sunday -- out of town in the morning/early afternoon
Small group at 6:30, so we don't usually have time for dinner on Sunday's. We do have a snack at small group (which is my week to provide) so we'll get to eat something. This Sunday is a little more hectic since we're just getting back from NY and it's my husband's week to lead small group.

No Week of No Spending for Me

Alright, so if you've been following me as I journey through COUPONLAND and BARGAIN-SHOPPINGVILLE, then you know how much I like to spend money....not something I'm proud of. To read my confession, click here. So, I thought that I'd really like to try Mindi's (over at Moms Need to Know) plan for The Month of No Spending. I was really challenged and intruiged by this idea, so I decided to try it for myself. Except....I don't have quite the stockpile of food and necessities needed, since I'm relatively new to all of this. I thought I'd try for one week, instead. Then I got my weekly Weis Markets and Giant Foods flyers. There goes that idea. But really, Weis is having their 10/$10 sale and Giant's got some really good buys too.

With that in mind, I've altered my plan. Here goes: I'm going to spend money this week.

In all fairness, very little of what I purchased in needed for my meal plan this week. The hoarder in me comes out when I can get meals for my kids for $1 each, and apple juice and eggs and butter for $1 each. I NEED TO STOCK UP. But seriously, I didn't do that bad. I took cash with me so remind me to stick to my budger. And I did. My total at Weis Markets was $69.16, with a savings of /$31.90 (31%). I used a Huggies coupon about the expire and got a jumbo pack of diapers for $8.49. I also got one Sargento's Salad Finisher free (with the purchase of 2 bags of salad mix which I will take with me to NY this weekend) and another Salad Finisher for $1.79 since I had a coupon for $1.50 off 2. 23 of my items were only $1 each with the 10/$10 sale. Plus I had $9.50 in coupons and didn't pay full price for anything.

Saving Money Around the House

Now that I've cut our grocery bill buy shopping sales and using coupons, as well as devloping a budget, my new goal is find other ways to continue saving money. I have been trying to come up with ways to save money around the house. I wouldn't call my house huge, but it's big enough, and when my electric bill goes up over $300 during January and February each month, I have moments of panic. What can I do to lower this bill? There are some things that I can't changes. My house is warmer in the downstairs, but the upstairs can get a little chilly, especially at night. But, I have a 2-year old and a 1-year old, so it needs to be warm in the upstairs. They wear warm pjs, but I can't have the being cold just to save a few dollars.....okay so maybe it would be more than a few, but you get my point. So, here's what I've come up with so far:

1. I've replaced 75% of my light bulbs with energy efficient ones....even though they cost a fortune. I will replace the rest, it's just actually getting to it that's the problem. Also, those stupid bulbs are so expensive.
2. I am trying to turn off the light when I leave the room.
3. Turn the heat down during the day.
4. Unplug appliances like toasters, coffee pots, can openers, etc. when not in use.
5. We don't need the tv on all day long.
6. Shorter showers (also saves water)
7. I have a king capacity clothes dryer (I'm not sure if we even realized the size when we got it) so when I wash clothes, I wash 2 loads but run them both through the dryer at the same time. Especially with my kids clothes.
8. Fold clothes as soon as the dryer is finished, so you don't have to waste electricity by de-wrinkling them.

I'll post more tips when I think of them, but in the mean time, I challenge you to come up with more money/energy saving tips. I would love to hear from you.