Summertime Spending
Summertime Spending
Is it summer yet? How many days left of school? When does vacation start? Are these questions you and your family are asking yourselves? Have you thought about how you can continue (or start) to save money for your family throughout the summer time, or are you just focusing on how you can spend it? Summer is a great time to start couponing, and developing the practice of saving money. This is a great life lesson for your kids as well as you!
Here are some suggestions for some lifelong spending habits you can teach your kids all in one summer:
- Make a list before you shop. Let the kids help form the list, and/or write it for you, as you dictate.
- Find coupons on the internet that you can print to take to the store to use. Some sites in which you can find coupons to print are at
- Check your local grocery store’s website, such as Krogers, Brookshires, Albertsons, Target, etc.
- Check Facebook pages for products you purchase.
- Cut coupons from your Sunday newspaper’s coupon inserts. Even younger kids can do this to help out. Just make sure they don’t cut off the expiration dates and bar codes!
- Let your child calculate the price of each item that goes in the cart when shopping. They can use the calculator on their phone or yours, depending on their age. Let them guess before you go in how much they think you’ll spend, and/or how much they think you’ll save with coupons.
- Decide to put all the money you save from coupon usage in a jar or savings account throughout a certain time period, and use it at the end of the summer, or if you save all year, use it for summertime fun. I kept track of my coupon savings one year and it was well over $1000, so it does add up!
- Send expired coupons to military bases since they can use them at their commissary stores. To find locations or adopt a base, check out http://ocpnet.org/ . You will not have to pay overseas postage to mail coupons to these bases. Kids can help prepare these coupons to mail, as well as feel good about helping out military families.
- Try shopping online for things other than groceries. If your teen likes to surf the internet, have him/her search for clearance deals if you’re looking for a particular product. Use Swagbucks (www.swagbucks.com) search engine. You earn points during random searches, and turn those points in for gift cards.
- Check out my FB page, ClipIt, where you will find online specials, clearance alerts, restaurant deals, and more!
- If you have teenagers, give them a challenge to find the best online deal for a certain vacation destination, sporting event, or whatever your family may be planning for the summer. Reward them in some way for finding the best deal.
Hopefully some of these ideas will get your wheels turning and motivate you to get started on either couponing, and/or saving money by shopping online, and doing some investigating in summer planning for your family. You might even find that kids of all ages will be just as interested in how to develop these habits that can be used for a lifetime.
CVS Trip – 3/28/12
CVS Trip today:
$2.99 Colgate Toothbrush
$2.99 Colgate Toothbrush
$1.99 Cottonelle Wipes
$1.99 Cottonelle Wipes
$3.99 Always Inifinity
$10.00 3 Bags of Candy
.88 Chocolate Rabbit
$3.99 Suave Keratin Shampoo
$28.82 Subtotal
-$3.00 – Suave mfg coupon from Facebook Suave Page
-$1.00 – Always mfg coupon
-$2.00 – Buy 3 bags of candy mfg coupon
- .40 – Colgate mfg coupon
- .40 – Colgate mfg coupon
-$3.00 – CVS Extra Care Bucks
-$4.00 – CVS Extra Care Bucks
-$4.00 -CVS Extra Care Bucks
-$5.00 – CVS ECB earned from purchasing $50 worth of health & beauty type things over a long period of time.
$6.52 – Total out of pocket
Earned
$2.00 CVS ECB from 2 Colgate Toothbrushes
$2.00 CVS ECB from 3 bags of candy
$1.00 CVS ECB from Always Infinity
Best part is, I get to donate some of this, and use the rest, and still have $5 for shopping next trip!
Submitter: Tracey Young
CVS Shopping Trip
CVS Trip
$3.79 CVS Brand 84ct wipes
$3.79 CVS Brand 84ct wipes
$2.99 CVS Gallon Bags 17ct
$1.43 CVS Sandwich Bags 120ct (BOGO 1/2 off)
$2.87 CVS Sandwich Bags 120ct
$1.43 CVS Sandwich Bags 120ct (BOGO 1/2 off)
$16.30
-6.00 CVS Extra Care Bucks Coupon from last visit to store
-7.00 CVS Extra Care Bucks Coupon from last visit to store
$3.30
.27 tax
$3.57 Paid out of pocket
Submitter: Tracey Young
Help Yourself
Help Yourself
Is anyone used to writing 2012 yet? Being a stay at home Mom, I don’t normally write the date that much, at least not like when I worked outside the home at a paying job. However, I have been writing the date a lot this month! You ask why? I’ll tell you! My husband and I have been recording the stats for our strolls on the treadmill each day! Yes, we bought one in November, on Black Friday (awesome deal, with no coupon required, only very early rising from the bed), and have been hitting it hard, compared to b.t. (before treadmill). We have come to the realization that no one can help lose the weight for us, but that we have to do it ourselves, if we really want to lose it. We should know this, since we lost weight before Grant was born, including a 50lb combined effort.
This brings me to the topic of today. Over the past several months, I have heard numerous people make such remarks as, “I have no money,” “I live paycheck to paycheck,” “I can’t get out of this,” “I can’t get ahead,” among many other similar comments. While I’ve been called the queen of complaining in the past, and still do my fair share (although I’ve tried to cut down on that habit), I have pondered why all of these people, from various places and positions, are asking themselves the same question. My conclusion is that they haven’t taken drastic measures, or what may seem like drastic measures to them.
I become weary listening to people complain constantly that they have no money, can’t get ahead, and meanwhile, some of them just keep asking for handouts, from anyone that will hand out to them. I hear a lot of these comments made in regard to couponing. “I don’t have time,” is a remark made from many, when I ask them if they know how much money they could save a year. How many hours of TV do you watch? Can you cut coupons while you watch TV? What are your priorities, saving money on household goods and groceries, or stopping by the convenience store on a regular basis to get snacks and drinks? I’m not being ugly, I’m being honest. As a stay at home Mom, I believe it’s my job to help our household save money! Another comment that I hear, “I cut out coupons and then forget them at home.” I ask myself, how could you take the time to do something, and then not remember to bring them? Put them in your vehicle as soon as you cut them out, put the envelope in your purse with your debit card, where you can’t forget them. There are several solutions to this problem.
If you want to be drastic, write down your daily expenses. Do you have any idea how much money you spend per month, and what you spend it on? My husband and I did this several years ago. We took old business cards that we no longer needed, and each day we wrote on the back of a new business card, what money we spent and assigned it to a category. Throughout the month, we transferred this to an Excel spreadsheet and at the end of the month; we knew exactly where we stood on expenditures. This was somewhat of a drastic measure, considering that we had to take time to write things down every day for a month, but it provided us a great picture of where we stood, and showed us things that we could cut back on as needed. Food is a major expense in most households. If it is in yours, too, then quit eating out. Make a meal schedule and know what you’re going to be eating each night, and eat at home. Spending $17-$20 for fast food for the 3 of us is not my idea of a fabulous supper. It depresses me to think that I just spent that much money on junk and it rarely ever happens in our house for supper. One drastic measure I have taken this month is making out a meal plan for the month. It is in Excel, can be adjusted as needed, and I love the idea of knowing what I’m going to be having for supper each night. To me, there is nothing worse than waking up in the morning and having not a clue as to what I’m cooking that evening. I am loving my schedule and once I’ve made it through January, I’m going to be making out the additional months, and if it needs tweaking, it can easily be changed anytime.
In the Bible, it states in 1 Corinthians 9:7, ”Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” I firmly believe that if we give back to God first, then we will be blessed beyond our own comprehension. We have witnessed this many times for ourselves, over the years. I urge those of you who are finding that times are hard, to give first, and with a cheerful heart, and as a result, you will reap the benefits of being a cheerful giver. Start small and you will see results. You will be helping yourself, as well as helping others! What drastic measures are you willing to take in 2012, to help yourself?
Don’t Be a Turkey!
With Thanksgiving right around the corner, turkeys usually come to mind for most people, along with families and thoughts of being thankful. While these ideas are things that everyone would like to think about, I’m going to touch on a few things that you might not have thought of, in regard to the coupon world.
Don’t be a turkey….instead……
- Pass out some coupons to people in the stores where you shop. If you have never done this, here’s how it works. When you are doing your shopping, notice when people are on the same aisle as you, and if they are taking something off the shelf that you have a coupon for, offer it to them. It will be an unexpected surprise for almost anyone, and it will make you feel good, too!
- How many coupon inserts do you get each week? For some of you, only one, and for others, anywhere from 2-20. Use some of those coupons that you don’t use for yourself (or even some that you regularly use) and buy some of those items to donate to either a local food bank, or fix a basket up and give it to someone at your church, or someone in need that you know.
- Share your leftover coupons with a friend or neighbor, instead of throwing them away.
- Add up your savings from using coupons and use those savings to treat a family to a Thanksgiving meal or turkey. Another suggestion would be to use to buy a family something they absolutely need.
Regardless of what you choose to do this Thanksgiving season, realize how much you have and that others are in worse situations than what you may be in at this time. Be grateful for what you have and share some of your wealth, no matter how small or large.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Clearance Clearance Clearance!
Clearance…it seems to be a multi-functional term these days. For many, it might mean their employer is clearing out the office of employees. For others, it may mean a great sale at their local store. For me, recently, clearance has meant both. This is for those of you who use coupons, who want to use coupons, those which do not use them, and those who want to know how a clearance deal is going to help you.
As a stay at home wife and mom, I consider part of my job duties to include being cost effective in buying goods for our house. We have a three member family: my husband, our son, and me. One might think it doesn’t take much to buy for only three members, but everything still costs.
Having couponed heavily, although not extremely, for the past 4-5 years, I continually have a nice little stockpile (remember, not extreme) of goods for us. I adore clearance specials, and am not quite sure how I became, dare I say, addicted, to them. This probably occurred when I ran into items that were marked down AND had coupons with me for those items. In the meantime, I have been able to donate, sell, give away, and use a wide variety of clearance items that I have purchased.
Getting back to the meanings of clearance, my husband recently came home and announced that his company was going to be laying off employees, and in his area. He has been employed with this company for twenty-five years, so needless to say, we were both feeling somewhat overwhelmed with the possibilities. My thoughts centered first on how he would deal with being unemployed, should it happen, and secondly, how I would function in buying things for our household (meaning food and household items). After a few weeks of perusing all the possible outcomes, my common sense kicked in. Not only was my husband’s employer having a clearance, but I had also been visiting many clearance counters myself, lately. As far as being stocked up for a possible layoff, we were in great shape! I had managed to get things on clearance at places like Kohls, Target, CVS, Albertsons, and Kroger. At some clearance shelves, I had coupons available to use, and in others, I didn’t, but still got great deals on things we use or will use. In the past several months, I have managed to find some of the following: clothes on clearance at Kohls, for my son’s next size up; paper plates (400 to be specific) at CVS, literally for a penny each; decorative plastic ware at CVS for .50/package that will be used at birthday parties, small group gatherings, and in our son’s lunches; toys at CVS for our son’s birthday next month; grill accessories that we will eventually need once we need to replace what we currently use; seasonings at Albertsons for free due to clearance and coupons combined; deodorant at Kroger due to clearance and coupons combined.
Whether you use coupons or not, always check the clearance aisles. Learn where clearance items are kept at each store in which you regularly shop. Identify the end cap they are on, and visit that end cap each time you enter the store. Learn the color of that store’s clearance stickers, so you can glance down an aisle quickly to identify whether anything is marked down. Ask an employee if you can’t easily find their clearance items. They should know immediately where to direct you.
You might find something that is in perfect condition that the store is no longer carrying, and get a great deal on it. If you have a coupon to go with it, then consider that a bonus! Buy things ahead that are non-perishables, such as health & beauty items, paper goods, canned goods, gifts for birthdays, or anything else that you know you will eventually use when you run out of what you now have. Finding clearance can result in your saving a lot of money over time. In addition, should you ever come close to you or your spouse’s employer having a clearance of his/her own, then you will be prepared and not have to worry about to handle the endless supply of needs at home.
Tracey Young
