How are you frugal?

[Sunny Side Up]

Quote:
Could you tell us more about how you can save so much with coupons? I just started a thread in Random Ramblings asking this same question. I buy mostly staples and store brand items and most coupons I find are for name-brand and prepared foods, and specialty cleaning products I don't use. And the coupons are for such piddly amounts, 30 cents off if you buy 5 or something like that, it's not worth my time to spend cutting, sorting, filing, bringing, and consulting coupons to see if they make some brand-name product cost less than a generic.

But if there were a way I could save more $$$ without compromising my grocery list I would love to learn how.

 

[debilorrah]

Quote:
Could you tell us more about how you can save so much with coupons? I just started a thread in Random Ramblings asking this same question. I buy mostly staples and store brand items and most coupons I find are for name-brand and prepared foods, and specialty cleaning products I don't use. And the coupons are for such piddly amounts, 30 cents off if you buy 5 or something like that, it's not worth my time to spend cutting, sorting, filing, bringing, and consulting coupons to see if they make some brand-name product cost less than a generic.

But if there were a way I could save more $$$ without compromising my grocery list I would love to learn how.

I have found the same issue here. Alot of people save BIG with double and triple coupons, but they don't offer that where I live. So coupons are a rare usage with me.

I always plan around the meat that is on sale that week. When london broil is $1.77 a lb. I have them grind it for me. When bacon at the meat counter is $1.50 lb, that is a HUGE savings and it is always larger too.Most of my frugality revolves around food because that is our biggest bill monthly.

 

[justbugged]

I agree on the coupons. I don't use them much. I don't know any stores in the Northwest that offer the double coupon discount. I buy most of the groceries at a discount grocery store. They have a lot of off brands, but more than a few brand name items. I buy all my laundry soap, cheese, lunch meat, and bacon at the discount store. I can't beat their prices. The store does not take coupons. As I said earlier if you stick to the outside perimeter of a grocery store you will eat cheaper and healthier. Also most coupons are for items in the center of the store and for processed food, and items that I don't really need.

 

[Laney]

I don't cut coupons. I do use the coupons they print out at the register that are on items I use, and the ones that come on the boxes etc of items I use.

I always go to the store with a list and stick to the list!!

Someone mentioned starbucks? I've cut down/out my visits to the store by buying the ingredients to make my drinks from them and making the drinks at home. It's at least 1/3 cheaper this way.

We don't make extra trips into town. If someone is out and about they can pick up whatever anyone on the farm needs (We have a family compound).

We built a green house. We heat and air condition via a geothermal ground loop. We intend to add solar and wind energy once we can afford it. We're hopeful to find the panels etc on freecycle or craigslist. We financed it on our mortgage, adding $200 to our mortgage but saving $250 a month in energy costs and cleaning up the environment at the same time.

We built a fireplace that draws air from the outside, thus as we burn wood we don't pull heat out of our house, we generate it.

We cook at home. I buy my meats on sale. For example Bacon costs almost $5.50 a lb here in NC. I won't buy it unless it's buy one get one. No way no how. I'd rather go without bacon. A can of Hash bought in bulk from Sams Club will make my family just as happy. (Same thing with a can of Spam). I do the same thing with the Ham Steaks, wait until they are BOGO.

I go to the used book store. Buy them used, turn them in for credit when you are done.

I got my first haircut in over 3 years last month.

I always watch the unit price of what I'm buying at the store. Many folks just assume that buying the bigger box is the cheapest way to buy. But often it's cheaper to buy 2 or 3 of the smaller. It's often that way in canned tomatoes for example, cheaper to buy 3 small cans than one giant can if you look at the unit price. Same with Cereal, cheaper to buy the medium box than the small or large.

Try out the store brand cereals. If you find one your family likes it can cost 1/2 to 1/3 the cost of name brand. The difference in price screams at how much money General Mills and Kellogs is bilking us for.

New furniture? Most of the stuff in our house belonged to my husbands grandparents!

Laney

 

[Dragonfly Ranch]

Laney We are going to try our hand at making our own bacon. Alton Brown had a show on it and it got us excited to try. We are going to use our smoker.

I agree with all the others on coupons. I don't find the right ones for us either. I would like to find out more about how it is done. Wondering if people use the Internet to get the ones they want/need.

I'm a Costco kind of shopper and get most everything there. Only go to actual grocery about every three weeks. Then just for mushrooms, cilantro and other special produce that we may not have growing or in storage.

We have all glass windows across the living room and had reflective film installed three years ago - in January when company was offering huge discount since it was slow time of year for them. That alone has saved us hundreds on electrical, heat and cooling. I walk across the yard in the morning from the chicken coop and you can actually feel the HEAT reflecting off the windows in the kitchen which have film on them as well. When its cold I have stood there and soaked up the heat before going into the house.

Sandee

 

[justbugged]

Laney; I didn't know about the geothermal loop systems.

Now I WANT one.

Really really bad!!! What a great idea.

I did Google the idea. I could actually think about heating the greenhouse if I had a system like that.
I agree about the price of bacon at the regular stores. I can get it though for less than 2.00lb at the discount grocery store. And I just love BLTs. I don't eat it very often though due to the calories.
On the Starbucks thing I put 20.00 on by Starbucks card for a month, and when I use it up it's done for the month. It helps that I drink Ice Tea. It is so good at Starbucks. I think it's the ice that I like the best. I make it at home but it doesn't taste quite the same. I only pick up a tea when I am out and about for the day. My Starbucks will refill my drink thru the driver thru window for just .55 cents. That makes it even cheaper on those days when I have more errands.


Sandee; I want to know more about the reflective film for the windows. I have seen some films at the home improvement stores, but have wondered if it was worth the cost. I have thought about more a privacy feature than as an energy savings, but if I could get both features I think that it would more than worth the cost. I too have a bank of windows that takes 18' of drapes to cover. I also hate not having any privacy in my home when the drapes are open. I also refuse to sit in a dark house.
What I don't understand is, does keep the heat in or out?

Christina

 

[Dragonfly Ranch]

justbugged We got the firm from a company called Sunblockers. Here is their link.

http://www.sunblockersinc.com/residential.php

We don't have to worry about privacy from living room since it looks out to wooden canyon and there are no houses in that direction.

We find that it keeps the heat in the summer, warmth in for winter. We got two different shades - darker for uppper and lighter for lower windows. Here is the link to our kitchen page and you see what I mean about the upper and lower windows.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=31219-our-dream-kitchen

Sandee

 

[chickon baby]

What is the geo-thermal loop system??? We would love to go more green and to save energy,however we are taking"baby steps" and trying to get all the facts.I would love to know more from those of you that live that way.We put the energy light bulbs in every light in our home,all new purchases have to be energy saving.DH just bought a new TV and it only uses 20watts.When my frig died last mos that to was a energy saver.Our furnace is one that runs off the hot h2o heater,which is also energy efficient.We bought the film from home depot for our sliding door.It gets the hot afternoon sun and it was worth the $30.00 it cost.DH put extra insulation in the attic. A friend lost trees in her yard to a storm, we were blessed with fire wood for the winter and ds and dh cut it all and hauled it home.. I do alot of bargain shopping w/coupons.The secret is to save the coupons till the items on sale and buy mulitple items.You cant be picky abt the "brands" Thankgoodness DH and my kids arent..I have a separate store room in the basement and I "stock up,"even though I dont need anything at the moment I will still go through the ads and cpns and get the bargains.I live close to 3 major groc stores,aldis n walmart. 1 day is errand day n dd and I will go out.To me "bargain shopping is a challenge and I love getting the order down from 100 bucks to abt 10 dollars using cpns.My kids are so amazed at what I save.Anyone who wants to learn more abt cpns and saving feel free to pm me.Took dh to walgreens the other day and he was shocked.got over 100$$ od stuff and paid 19.00He did comment,that he is not that patient..Guess that was my compliment..lol

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Quote:
Can you give us all the info here? And/or on the thread about coupons on Random Ramblings? There are a lot of folks saying they aren't finding coupons worth their while, we all would like to know how you can save so much $$$ (90% ??!!?!) using them.

I keep a small notebook in my bag and use it to write down the prices of items I use the most. I wrote letters from A-Z in the corners of the pages so I can keep it in alphabetical order, & make it easier to reference. Then when I'm out at various stores I can add info to the notebook, and keep track of the best prices for particular items.

I've found that the warehouse clubs like Costco, BJ's & Sam's Club are not always the cheapest places to buy the items I need. The things I usually get at Sam's Club are powdered milk and butter. Also some bulk spices and things for baking. But not flour or sugar. My local grocery chain, Publix, has fantastic weekly sales and I get most of the things I need shopping their sales. Walgreens also has great weekly sales and even has some grocery items on sale for a good price.

One good thing I just learned is that Sam's Club has the best price for prescription drugs. Well, at least for the one I just received. With no health insurance I called around to find the best self-pay price for this Rx and found Sam's Club's price was about 2/3 LESS than any other pharmacy!

C'mon Chickon Baby, what are your coupon strategies?

 

[Dragonfly Ranch]

Quote:
Can you give us all the info here? And/or on the thread about coupons on Random Ramblings? There are a lot of folks saying they aren't finding coupons worth their while, we all would like to know how you can save so much $$$ (90% ??!!?!) using them.

I keep a small notebook in my bag and use it to write down the prices of items I use the most. I wrote letters from A-Z in the corners of the pages so I can keep it in alphabetical order, & make it easier to reference. Then when I'm out at various stores I can add info to the notebook, and keep track of the best prices for particular items.

I've found that the warehouse clubs like Costco, BJ's & Sam's Club are not always the cheapest places to buy the items I need. The things I usually get at Sam's Club are powdered milk and butter. Also some bulk spices and things for baking. But not flour or sugar. My local grocery chain, Publix, has fantastic weekly sales and I get most of the things I need shopping their sales. Walgreens also has great weekly sales and even has some grocery items on sale for a good price.

One good thing I just learned is that Sam's Club has the best price for prescription drugs. Well, at least for the one I just received. With no health insurance I called around to find the best self-pay price for this Rx and found Sam's Club's price was about 2/3 LESS than any other pharmacy!

C'mon Chickon Baby, what are your coupon strategies?

Like your note book idea - I usually remember but sometimes don't.

Yes do post coupon saving strategies - inquiring minds want to know!