Julie.
This is my response to your question (sorry it took forever!)
Julie asked: Can you share your money saving secrets? Once you said you were going to do multiple posts about couponing. I got the paper and clipped ads for 6 months and I felt like I didn't save anything, and if I used coupons I would end up with a pantry full of boxed snacks and nothing more, so I quit. Since I consider you to be better than most people at stretching a dollar, I would like to hear your best secrets to frugal living. What are your favorite freebies? Where do you find the best deals?
I had a good friend in Texas try to teach me but I wasn't getting it. I felt like you. I was getting cheap snacks and nothing else. One day I googled couponing and a couple other words and I found this website on Michael and Mickenzies blog. It is called thekrazycouponlady.com. GO THERE. Look around.
If you REALLY want to save money read their "10 days to become a krazy coupon lady" they says everything I know about couponing. For example the 2nd day they talk about newspaper subscriptions and internet coupons. Did you know you can print coupons from your computer? You learn couponiing lingo and saving strategies.
So first, read that. YOU WILL LEARN A LOT!!
Second....Bookmark this page. One of the great things about this website is that it gives scenarios of what to buy and what coupons to use to maximize your savings.
Have you looked around it yet? Do that then come back and finish reading my post....
Alright. Good. Isn't it an amazing easy to use site?
Now what you need to do is to google "couponing" and other catch phrases and find a couple of websites that help you and that fit your needs. (Then share them with me!!)
Some more of my tips...
***When you eat out you need to use coupons. There are always coupons for restaurants that you may frequent. Look for them in your newspaper and your coupon books...Also, we also try restaurants that we wouldn't try otherwise because we might didn't know about them and are given a good deal. Try restaurant.com. You can regularly buy gift certificates for 70% to 80% off. That is you can buy a $25 dollars gc for $2!
***I know you HATE thriftstores but they are a GREAT way to save money. On Saturday Branch and I bought Little Miss her birthday gift (I will post pictures of it later). The toy we got her retails for $150 dollars. We bought ours for $4o. Brand new with a only a little problem we have to fix but SO WORTH IT! She has a lot of nice brand name clothing I spent $1-$4 one. I already have a large collection of 3T clothing for her- at least 10 pants and 20 or more shirt I have probably only spent $15. Most of them brand new! The saving in shoes alone has saved us a months rent at least!
Me, I have recently bought two new (to me) pair of pants at D.I. and I spent $8. This included a abercrombie and fitch pants that retailed around $80! Branch is really hard on his pants and shirts at work so we get $4 pants and $3 shirts for him pretty regularly.
We also buy other products at thrift stores too. Look around and you can find some amazing things that you can save money on.
Give it a try. (Just wash it when you get home)
***Garage sales. You can barter for the things. How cool is that!!
***Find a couponing friend. Someone that can help you that you can talk to and may even be able to take turns when you go shopping
***Look around before buying anything over $50. I am still learning about looking around but sometimes that save TONS!
All right that is all I can think of right now. Let me know what you think.
How about you other bloggers. What are your saving tips?
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4 comments:
I have looked at the krazy coupon lady site before and I still don't get it. I never find coupons for anything worthwhile, other than toothpaste and shampoo, and how much toothpaste and shampoo do I need?
I did try restaurant.com and got three $25 cards for $6 total. One restaurant was okay, one was awful and we still have the other coupon waiting to be used. I don't know if I will try it again because if I am going to go out I want to go where I know what I like, but it was fun to get cheap meals.
As for garage sales and thrift stores, I guess I just need to get over my pride. I did weekely service at a thrift store in one area on my mission and I would feel nasty the rest of the day, like I needed to shower. I am really weird about used stuff. I know there is brand new stuff there too but I get so weirded out picking through the shevles. I am getting better though. I used to be afraid of Old Navy because they have a concrete floor and I would never shop at Target for clothes, but now I am regularly seen picking through the Clearance racks at both. And I love the outlet mall, so I am a work in progress.
I was so nervous the first time I used coupons at the grocery store, but I got over it and I think if there were more coupons for actual un-boxed food, I would be more interested. I have seen those specials where people walk away with $200 in groceries for $20...AMAZING and I still don't get how they do it??? Have you seen the freegans? That's pretty funny stuff too...dumpster diving for food. Seems werid, but imagine how much extra money they have each month with no grocery bills.
Anyhow, thanks for playing. I will have to hit the thrift store with you next time I am in town so you can show me around. I really do think being wise with your money is one of the most important skills you can learn. I have always admired your lack of worldliness. What an awesome thing to instill in your children.
Seriously I have never been able to get into the coupon clipping. Sometimes I use coupons like when I get my oil changed and just random coupons I find for some grocery items...thanks for the tips.
You can also look up brands and stores you like and get emails and coupons.
Old Navy has coupons all the time plus they have their weekly specials. If you combine the two you can get great deals. Go to http://www.oldnavyweekly.com/ on Thurs/Fri and then look at coupon blogs that post about it. People will tell you where to find the coupons. Also, GAP/Old Navy sometimes give discounts up to 30% for using their credit card so I always ask.
The key to couponing is to use the coupons when something is on sale and to stock up on stuff. It can be hard to match the coupons with the sales, but that's why coupon blogs are so helpful. They have people who do the work for you. They look through all the weekly grocery store ads and then tell you which coupon to use. I have yet to really get into this because my husband's in the military so we get to go to the commissary which is way cheaper anyway.
When staying at a hotel ask about their "cash discount"...this might work for other things too.
A couple weeks ago we had to get our windshield replaced and my husband searched around prices and was able to talk down the guy who ended up doing it $40 cheaper. He knew he could get it done cheaper elsewhere and told the guy and even though he was none to happy he ended up matching the price.
My parents love going to garage sales and buy tons of cheap stuff by bargaining, esp stuff for babies. I don't go to thrift stores very much because I can usually find stuff on clearance for cheaper and it's new. Although some friends have bought cool stuff for their homes at thrift stores and fixed it up.
The Plastic Jungle sells gift cards and you can get a certain perctage off. We bought a card and used it for Ruth's Chris during Restaurant Week in DC as a special treat. http://www.plasticjungle.com/pjweb/control/advsearch?searchKeywords=pj&allProducts=pj
Hi Emily,
It's Amy (Tara's friend in TX). I am one of those "crazy" couponers too.
Sites I check out daily are:
www.couponforum.com
www.hotcouponworld.com
www.katycouponers.blogspot.com (deals for those in TX)
By the way, Caeleb still talks about you and how much fun you were at Thanksgiving :)
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