Once again, it's time to share how we are saving money in our households.
EVERY WEEK, you can email me and share whatever you want:
- ways you saved money recently
- inexpensive recipes
- tips on saving money on groceries
- saving money online
- good deals online
- saving money during the holidays
- freebies that you have found online
- coupons to online stores
- ANYTHING to do with saving $$
I need your response for each topic by Thursday at noon, so that I can compile them into a post for Friday. In your email, PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR BLOG LINK! I will be copying and pasting this information into ONE "mega" post on Fridays. So, here we go!
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Here is the rundown for me and my household over the past few weeks:
- called the credit card company to question the $39 "yearly fee" that we've never been charged in 9 years. They said they'd refund the fee, no questions asked. I bet they slip this fee into a LOT of bills, but people may not even notice! Then the rep. proceeded to question why we didn't use our card that much and I told him because we try to pay cash for most things and he said (I'm NOT kidding!) ... "Well, we'd like to see you use your card more, so we can change this card to a "points" card." WHAT??? Why would I want to use my card more? I'm trying to stay OUT of debt, not get into it ... geesh!
- continued to participate in the Walgreen's EasySaver program. I used $40 of the rebate money that I received last month to buy things for our family and $24 of that will be coming back to me as rebates next month. I still have over $30 on my gift card from previous months, so now I'm just spending the same money over and over again - I'm LOVING this!
- for our field trip to Biltmore, I had my mom drive her car and offered to pay her gas. That set me back $23, but saved me $9 over driving my car. She doesn't drive her car much anyway and I know she'd rather drive than be a passenger!
- while on vacation, we made sure NOT to spend more than we had brought in cash. We even came home with about $45 left. This meant that we didn't eat out a lot (we were at my parent's timeshare and so had kitchen facilities) and we enjoyed cooking dinner most nights anyway!
- when trying to purchase my Landmark books, I'm looking to buy the books in "bulk" purchases through one seller. This saves me money in shipping and I am getting some good prices, too!
Now for some other tips from fellow HSBloggers!
Several homemade recipes from Debbie:
Sweet and Spicy Salsa
2 green peppers chopped fine
12 large tomatoes chopped
3 onions chopped fine
3 jalepeno peppers chopped fine (use plastic gloves to protect skin)(hot peppers optional)
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup cidar vinegar
1 T. salt
1 tsp. dry mustard
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/4 tsp. allspice
1 clove garlic chopped
Mix in a stock pot..Bring to a boil and turn down the heat to a simmer and simmer for 1 hour. When mix has finished simmering put in pint jars while hot..cap with seals and rings. now, put jars in a boiling water bath for 1 hour. To do this put your pint jars in a big pot ( i use my canner) and fill with water to the neck of the jars (do not cover the jars) and boil.. this is a great end of the season salsa -
Zuchinni Bread
Mix all the following ingredients and bake 350* for 1 hour
2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3 cups flour
pinch of salt
1 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup oil
3 eggs
2 cup zuchinni
1 cup nuts (optional)
optional glaze
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 stick of butter or margarine softened
Mix together and pour over bread and put under broiler in oven. Broil just until bubbly, be careful not to burn.
Cake Mix Cookies
1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup of your favorite chips (chocolate chips, etc.)
1/2 cup nuts or coconut
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup soft butter or margarine
1 egg
Mix well and drop by spoonful onto a pan sprayed with PAM (or your own brand)
bake at 350* until brown 9-10 min.
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A wonderful Holiday tradition from Julie:
I have never participated in Frugal Fridays before - but when I read your post today - I wanted to share something - pre-Christmas that I learned years ago as a economically challenged mommy -
It is a tradition we started in our family that I took from my step-mother that every child would have a present to open on Christmas eve, and it would always be a pair of pajamas - new pajamas they could wear for all their pictures on Christmas morning! I loved this idea - and so took it for my own and implemented it into our family. However, some years were leaner than others, and it was one more expense at an expensive time of the year. Well, one year someone had bought my girls clothing that didn't fit that they received a few weeks before - and I found myself two days before Christmas at the mall exchanging them. While I was there I discovered that when it gets closer to Christmas day - they department stores - all of them, even the higher end ones - mark down any Christmas jammies - because guess what - in two days they won't be able to sell them at all. One of my best deals was a Barney nightgown I got for my daughter who at the time was a Barney lover - for $2. The only problem is that you may need to check out several stores to find something you like because at the end of the season they get quite picked over - but all it takes is a walk through the mall to find another store.
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A Grocery Saving tip from Tina:
Try looking for markdowns on meat at the store on Monday morning, after everyone's been through there. I've gotten some bargains then. Then freeze or use right away!
Tina
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Saving $$ During the Holidays by Mamabugs:
Here is my tip for helping save money during the holidays. Limit your gift selections! I normally choose one item for my side of the family, one for dh's side and one for family friends that we exchange with. This allows us to create like items such as crafts, or "bulk" purchase things. If I am sewing or crocheting things I can purchase the materials ahead of time on sale with coupons. Recently to save on shipping from overseas we have opted to send gift certificates from popular stores and to exchange small ornaments with friends vs larger gift items.
Saving $$ on internet deals:
One more thing...this is a new-to-me site that I learned about from a scrapbooking group.
Check out the internet deals and free stuff.
Now it's YOUR turn to
email me and share your tips next week .... or you can leave a comment below to add to this week's discussion!
... Kris ...
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Posted in
frugal living on Sep. 23, 2005
Comments
Sep. 23, 2005 - Hehe!
Posted by redmom
I do just the opposite of you, Kris. I charge nearly everything on my card, making sure I can pay it off. Then I trade in my points for cash for Christmas gifts. I have over $200 worth right now. They will send me a check or sometimes I order a $50 VISA card for my older boys. Thing is, you have to be ADAMANT about paying it off. I generally pay online and make several payments a month, rather than waiting for the monthly bill.
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Sep. 25, 2005 - Untitled Comment
Posted by 3FoldChord
we use our credit card all the t ime, for almost everything. But it works for us. We pay it off monthly and when the bill comes we have a breakdown of what we spent duringthe month, LOL. The Credit Card Budget.
But I need to save money.
the Hawaii thing cost us (but hubby gets a good deal reimbursed...I keep tellingmyself that...)
We had to buy things for the house... organizational things, supplies to add on to the shed....etc.....
the sink needed fixed.....
I want to have a spending freeze....
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