Ok, I have a few savings things to catch up on...
I did another Amazon purchase thing. I wanted to get some books that had been recommended to me and were on my "to buy" list. Amazingly, after shopping around, I found it was actually cheaper to buy the books new and get an order of $25 to qualify for free shipping than it would be to buy the book used and pay for shipping individually.
Store: Amazon.com
Quest: add some books to my personal library
Purchases:
Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God - $8.99
Radical: Taking back your faith from the American dream - $8.99
Letters from a Skeptic: a son wrestles with his father's questions about Christianity - $3.88
This would have been around $22 so it would not qualify for free shipping. I added on:
Washable nursing pads for $6.99
to bring my total to $28.85. Since I spend $3.85 over the $25 to save $8.08 in shipping...
Savings:
$4.23
Then... the big kicker savings... and we are getting rather personal, but this is real life with real life purchases (not like extreme couponing - who really NEEDS 100 bottles of gatorade???)
Store: CVS Pharmacy/ Medco by Mail
Quest: obtain a certain monthly med to insure Ryleigh doesn't get a sibling before we are ready for even less sleep
Purchase:
1 package - $35!!!
Feeling this was ridiculous and knowing my brain was calculating a year's worth of these costs, I looked for an alternative - our insurance company's mail order program. Through this, 1 month cost $5 (3 months at a time for $15). That is some serious savings of $30 per month!!! Now, to be fair, I will calculate only what I have save with my current purchase and will update each time I reorder until the end of the year.
Savings:
$90 (3 months purchased at $30 per month)
Then, we were going to go to Whataburger for lunch. Since the receipts print out a "do this survey and get a free whataburger" offer, I took them up on it. A free whataburger retails for nearly $3. So...
Store: Whataburger
Quest: lunch
Purchases:
Whataburger - free!
Savings:
$2.64 + tax = 2.86
TOTAL SAVINGS: $97.09
GRAND TOTAL SAVINGS TO DATE: $190.89
Progress: 19.1%
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Savings!
So, today's savings is a bit more unconventional...
At walmart, I returned one of the packages of diapers (they only had the size 2 diapers and not the size 1... go figure!) and bought the correct type (which had 10 more diapers in the package) with a coupon and saved even more!
Store: Walmart
Quest: get the right kind of diapers
Purchases:
return old package
get new package
Savings:
$1 off coupon
$1.05 returned
Then... Clint needed an Otterbox for his iphone. Could have cost $44.88 at Walmart, but we went to Amazon instead - less than $20! But, shipping was about $5 making the total $25. If I put $25 worth of items in my cart then I would qualify for free shipping. So, I did some shopping and added some breastfeeding pads (glamorous, I know!) and a clearance iphone case for me. The total went to $27 and I got free shipping. $2 more saved me from paying shipping and I needed more pads anyway!
Store: Amazon.com
Quest: get Clint an Otterbox
Purchases:
Otterbox $20
Case $2
Pads $5
Savings:
$3 (I spent $2 more to avoid $5 in shipping so I saved the difference between paying shipping and buying more products)
TOTAL SAVINGS: $5.05
GRAND TOTAL SAVINGS TO DATE: $93.80
Progress: 9.38%
At walmart, I returned one of the packages of diapers (they only had the size 2 diapers and not the size 1... go figure!) and bought the correct type (which had 10 more diapers in the package) with a coupon and saved even more!
Store: Walmart
Quest: get the right kind of diapers
Purchases:
return old package
get new package
Savings:
$1 off coupon
$1.05 returned
Then... Clint needed an Otterbox for his iphone. Could have cost $44.88 at Walmart, but we went to Amazon instead - less than $20! But, shipping was about $5 making the total $25. If I put $25 worth of items in my cart then I would qualify for free shipping. So, I did some shopping and added some breastfeeding pads (glamorous, I know!) and a clearance iphone case for me. The total went to $27 and I got free shipping. $2 more saved me from paying shipping and I needed more pads anyway!
Store: Amazon.com
Quest: get Clint an Otterbox
Purchases:
Otterbox $20
Case $2
Pads $5
Savings:
$3 (I spent $2 more to avoid $5 in shipping so I saved the difference between paying shipping and buying more products)
TOTAL SAVINGS: $5.05
GRAND TOTAL SAVINGS TO DATE: $93.80
Progress: 9.38%
And the savings keep piling up!
So... last night we used a coupon...
Well, backup. I have an app on my iphone where I can "check-in" to different locations and get points. I can then redeem these points for rewards. We redeemed 400 points for a $25 restaurant.com gift certificate. Last night, we enjoyed Hibachi Japanese food for practically half-price. The total with 2 entrees, tax, and tip was right at $50. Minus the $25 and we have saved more $$!
Restaurant: Tokyo Steakhouse
Quest: Eat dinner
Purchases:
Chicken dinner - $16.99
Garlic Steak dinner - $21.99
Tax
Tip
Savings:
$25 gift certificate
TOTAL SAVINGS: $25
GRAND TOTAL SAVINGS TO DATE: $88.75
Progress: 8.875% towards my goal
Today I plan to exchange some diapers and use coupons on the ones I really need to further increase my savings! I'll check back in later!
Well, backup. I have an app on my iphone where I can "check-in" to different locations and get points. I can then redeem these points for rewards. We redeemed 400 points for a $25 restaurant.com gift certificate. Last night, we enjoyed Hibachi Japanese food for practically half-price. The total with 2 entrees, tax, and tip was right at $50. Minus the $25 and we have saved more $$!
Restaurant: Tokyo Steakhouse
Quest: Eat dinner
Purchases:
Chicken dinner - $16.99
Garlic Steak dinner - $21.99
Tax
Tip
Savings:
$25 gift certificate
TOTAL SAVINGS: $25
GRAND TOTAL SAVINGS TO DATE: $88.75
Progress: 8.875% towards my goal
Today I plan to exchange some diapers and use coupons on the ones I really need to further increase my savings! I'll check back in later!
Friday, May 20, 2011
A Challenge to SAVE!
In light of the new TLC show Extreme Couponing and my own frugal background/ upbringing, I am going to attempt a unique challenge that will last the remainder of the 2011 calendar year.
I will endeavor to save my family $1,000 by December 31, 2011 through coupons, special offers, rebates, etc. Normal price reductions at the store DO NOT count. There must be an element of effort on my part. :)
Let the fun begin with last night's conquest and the inspiration for this challenge. How it went down...
Store: Babies R Us
Quest: Buy diapers and wipes for our little Ryleigh
Purchases:
216 ct. wipe refill $6.99
60 ct. Little Snugglers $17.99
60 ct. Little Sugglers $17.99
30 ct. Pure & natural $11.99
30 ct. Pure & natural $11.99
72 ct. wipes $2.99
Temporal Thermometer $49.99
Savings:
Buy 2 Pure & natural get $5 off
Spend $65 on wipes and diapers get $15 off
$0.75 wipes coupon
$2 wipes coupon
$2.50 diaper coupon
$2.50 diaper coupon
$3 diaper coupon
$3 diaper coupon
50% off thermometer coupon - $25 off
$5 mail-in rebate on thermometer
TOTAL SAVINGS: $63.75
GRAND TOTAL SAVINGS TO DATE: $63.75
Progress: 6.375% towards my goal
Isn't that cool! Especially since my total before tax was $61.18 - I saved more than half off my entire purchase. And, since I used my rewards card, the savings will continue to pile up. The final kicker is that I had a gift card - so really, all this loot cost us nothing! But, I won't count that in the savings... :)
I will endeavor to save my family $1,000 by December 31, 2011 through coupons, special offers, rebates, etc. Normal price reductions at the store DO NOT count. There must be an element of effort on my part. :)
Let the fun begin with last night's conquest and the inspiration for this challenge. How it went down...
Store: Babies R Us
Quest: Buy diapers and wipes for our little Ryleigh
Purchases:
216 ct. wipe refill $6.99
60 ct. Little Snugglers $17.99
60 ct. Little Sugglers $17.99
30 ct. Pure & natural $11.99
30 ct. Pure & natural $11.99
72 ct. wipes $2.99
Temporal Thermometer $49.99
Savings:
Buy 2 Pure & natural get $5 off
Spend $65 on wipes and diapers get $15 off
$0.75 wipes coupon
$2 wipes coupon
$2.50 diaper coupon
$2.50 diaper coupon
$3 diaper coupon
$3 diaper coupon
50% off thermometer coupon - $25 off
$5 mail-in rebate on thermometer
TOTAL SAVINGS: $63.75
GRAND TOTAL SAVINGS TO DATE: $63.75
Progress: 6.375% towards my goal
Isn't that cool! Especially since my total before tax was $61.18 - I saved more than half off my entire purchase. And, since I used my rewards card, the savings will continue to pile up. The final kicker is that I had a gift card - so really, all this loot cost us nothing! But, I won't count that in the savings... :)
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
5 dinners in 1 hour
I subscribe to groupon and living social and those kind of websites that offer great deals on useless things you would rarely use. Occasionally, however, a deal comes across the email universe that is tempting enough to try. 5 dinners in 1 hour is a subscription off a blog www.5dinners1hour.blogspot.com where the author Michelle composes menus of 5 dinners that can be fully prepped in 1 hour... TOTAL! Perfect for a new little family with a brand new baby.
So, we have tried 2 of the menus - LOVE!!! So easy and simple. I love opening my fridge and seeing ready made meals instead of assorted food items without any cohesion.
I'll start blogging about and reviewing the recipes as I try to get better about blogging. :)
So, we have tried 2 of the menus - LOVE!!! So easy and simple. I love opening my fridge and seeing ready made meals instead of assorted food items without any cohesion.
I'll start blogging about and reviewing the recipes as I try to get better about blogging. :)
Disappointed in myself...
As despressing as the title may be, this is not a depressing post. I'm just disappointed in myself for waiting so long to post.
See! I told you she was beautiful! :) We are so happy! She is now over 6 weeks old and growing so strong and healthy - I can only thank God for her!
We have a little baby girl!!!
Ryleigh Maerie Hoover was born Thursday, March 31, 2011 at 5:27pm weighing 6 pounds 10.7 ounces and 18 1/2 inches long. Our baby girl was beyond beautiful and we have been so blessed to have her in our lives. Enjoy some pics!
See! I told you she was beautiful! :) We are so happy! She is now over 6 weeks old and growing so strong and healthy - I can only thank God for her!
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