Thursday, January 29, 2009

Siimple ways to be thrifty....

I have often been asked about ways to be thrifty and I thought I would post a list of ways that I have found to be thrifty and were others can comment on ways they find to be thrifty.

  1. Plan meals for the full week or two weeks By limiting grocery store visits it saves you money as you don't pick up any extras that you don't really need.
  2. Cash only! I find this an amazing way to save not only because you are not using credit or debit cards but cash only really makes you think before you make your purchase. Not to mention banking fees your saving.
  3. Buy gifts ahead of time I find buying items at the end of season and clearance prices saves a bundle.
  4. Make gifts this is better than buying on clearance make the gifts yourself.
  5. Use the Library This is our biggest saver we are all big readers in our house not only that we borrow dvds for free from the library and we get them for a week. You can put them on hold right online and they will email you or call you when you want to pick up that specific book or dvd.
  6. Crockpot cooking I find if I cook anything in my crockpot no matter the meat it comes out so tender.
  7. Clip coupons local stores are running coupons a lot and you can also find them at your local walmart right on the shelves.
  8. Go thrift shopping or yard saling one of my favourite things to do in the nice weather is yard sale. We have picked up some great items over the years.
  9. Consignment clothing we have a local consignment store in town that I take my daughters clothing to and I get money back in return. Win win both ways. I usually find great deals there also.
  10. Buy in bulk and freeze this works great during meat and frozen veggie sales
  11. cook from scratch we have started making all our own buns and breads as well as other items at a fraction of the cost of store bought. It tastes better too.
  12. Enjoy free activities like walking, hiking and biking.
  13. Stay organized this saves you from buying things you already have so you are not buying things at full price.
  14. Cash in on reward points for us here Shoppers Drug Mart is great for giving rewards points back in money. They have certain times when you redeem you get more than usual too.

Please share with me any thrifty tips that you may have... share away...

Thoughts on coupon clipping...

Many people have told me that clipping coupons is not something worth while here in Canada because we don't really get any here. Well to my surprise I decided to start collecting them in November and let me tell you the amount I have saved is unbelievable. I am making a spread sheet of how much I have saved so far this year to see how much I actually am saving as well as posting all my finds using coupons and I will start posting where I got the coupons from.

I have found save.ca to be a wonderful site for coupons. I go on all the time to request coupons for things we always buy. Then I watch for sales on the items and get the items for really good prices. I tend to stock up on certain items that we go through a lot so that allows me to just hit the sales with the coupons as I usually have a surplus. I will also say that I have been doing this only since December let's say and I already have a stocked cupboard on most health and beauty type products.

Enough babbling... time to show you all some tips...One of the biggest tips I can give is... Smart Canucks this site is beyond amazing... the deals and things people work out are terrific. I love it there.

Shopping this coming week...

Due to circumstances and just life in general we are really watching our spending on everything. So today I was going over some of the flyers to see where the deals would be this coming week.

Food Basics (not one in my city but there is one in my parents and we are going there Sunday)
$0.99/lb grapes (red and green)
$0.99/lb Turkey Utility frozen
$0.99 Baby carrot
$0.99 Kiwi Fruit (1lb)

Zellers
$1.97 Satin Care or Gillette series shave gel *$2 off coupon making it free

Walmart
$3.88 Crest Pro Health Mouth Wash plus bonus toothpaste *$1off coupon

Canadian Tire
$29.97 Slowcooker 7qt with Bonus mini cooker Bravetti brand
$0.48 White Swan Kleenex (no rainchecks)
$0.48 Heritage Paper Towels 2pk (no rainchecks)
**Their flyer is quite good this week I will not be purchasing the slowcooker but it really is a good deal if you don't have one. **

A & P
$1.99/lb Lean Ground Beef
$1.49/lb Pork Side Ribs
$0.99/lb Apples
$1.99/lb Turkeys
$13.99 Pampers or Huggies mega diapers or pants *coupons for both

No Frills
$5.55 Armstrong Cheese 750g
$0.49 Campbell's Soup (tomato, cream of mushroom)
$14.99 Pampers Mega Diapers

Real Canadian Superstore
$2.99 Black Diamond Cheese Slices 500g
$1.99 Green Giant frozen Veggies 350g or 500g

Shoppers Drug Mart
$4.99 Every day Market Cheese 540g
$0.99 Irish Spring or Coast 3pk bar soap
$3.99 Scott paper towels 6pk *use $1 off coupon
I will be picking up more stuff if it turns out to be redemption weekend. :)
**it could be a bonus redemption weekend... waiting for it to be verified.

Also note instead of going to all the different stores go to Walmart or Zellers and they will price match all your flyers... please remember to have the flyer with you. :)

Monday, January 26, 2009

Walmart deals today....


I can't begin to tell you all how excited I am today about the deals I got at Walmart. It even made my husband smile. I also had a wonderful cashier at Walmart.

Kelloggs cocoa krispie straws... reg 2.97 sale 1.47 coupon 0.75off paid $0.72
Glade wisp flameless candle reg. 9.98 coupon 1 FREE paid $0.00
Glade scented oil plugins reg. 5.87 coupon 1 FREE paid $0.00
Olay body wash reg. 4.97 *PM 3.99 (x3) coupon $10off paid $2.97
Dove body wash reg. 4.72 (x2) coupon B1G1 paid $4.72
Pantene reg. 3.00 (x2) coupon 2.50(when buy 2) paid $3.50

regular price total... 49.17
sale price total... 44.73
coupon total... 33.82
Total paid... 11.91

I plan on using the glade candle products as gifts coming up when I do some gift baskets up. I really can't believe how much I saved today... I also have more lists and coupons to use at other stores we shop at if we are near them this week. I am not going to go out of my way to get the deals... I figure if I am in the area doing something else than I can stop in otherwise I would be wasting my gas getting the deals.

*PM = price matched

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Valentine's Day Ideas

I have been searching the internet for inexpensive valentine's ideas... okay basically free...ideas to celebrate this occasion with my family. Here are some of the things I have found so far.

Scavenger Hunt


Heart Pancakes for Breakfast

Best Quick Pancakes (Martha Stewart)

2 T. melted butter
1 C. flour
2 t. baking powder
½ t. salt
2 T. sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 C. milk

Heat griddle to 375 or medium heat. Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in bowl. Add egg, milk, and 2 T. melted butter; whisk to combine. Cook.

If you don't have heart shapes for the pancakes why not put batter in a plastic bag... cut off the one corner and make heart shapes that way. You can make so many different fun shapes it is not funny. Your kids will love it. Don't forget you can always add blueberries or chocolate chips to your pancakes or any other fruit you choose.

Craft Ideas

Candy Maze
I love you book
Egg Carton Heart
Heart Shaped Animals
Valentine Pillow Boxes

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Deals from Shoppers Drug Mart this week...

I went to Shoppers Drug Mart to pick up some milk. I love the price of milk and that I get points to earn $$$ to spend...

I had a few coupons... they are as follows:

Olay - Daily Facials - deep cleansing clothes ... Reg. $10.99 on sale for $5.99ea x2
Olay - Botanical Fusion Body Wash .... Reg. 6.99 on sale for $4.99ea x1
Mini Baguettes.... reg $3.49 sale for $0.99ea x2

Coupons redeemed
Olay Daily Facials B1G1... $5.99
Olay body wash $2.00
Total redeemed... $7.99

Regular price cost $35.95
Sale prices $18.95
After coupons $10.96

Got to love savings like that!
I have more Olay coupons to use up... I hope to get there again to redeem some more. Some will be expiring soon so I need to use them up.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Reality Check

...so now our family(3 adults, 2 teens and 1 preschooler) is living off of less than $20,000/year or for this year anyway. This is reality for us . Most dinner meals we have 3 adults, 3 teens and 1 preschooler.

We are trying to feed our family on less than $50/week. I am posting this not for pity... prayer yes.. pity no... but also to solicit ideas you might have on inexpensive meals.... free fun entertainment....and frugal ideas you might have.... please... share away with me.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Coupons do they really save you... and other grocery tips

Are coupons really the time and effort put into them? Do you really save?

I have started a spread sheet for my savings this year.... and so far... mind you we are only 4 days into the year... but I have saved... $12 off the sale prices. I usually only like to use coupons in conjunction with sale items. So that they are even more of a benefit and I only buy items we would normally use. It is not a savings if it is something extra. I also find that you really can not be brand loyal.

Regular price $ 75.37
Sale price $ 41.87
Price I paid after coupons $ 29.87

We are a family of 6 (3 adults, 2 teenagers and 1 preschooler, oops a dog also) and I am trying to feed my family on very little. I want my meals to cost less than $5 to make for all of us. Trust me this takes some work and knowing your grocery stores. For instance I buy certain items in bulk like flour, rice, potatoes, oatmeal and other staples.

I tend to shop at Sam's Club, Real Canadian Superstore, No Frills, Price Chopper, A&P and sometimes even Walmart. We live in a small city where I usually go by the grocery stores atleast once a week so I can run in and pick up all their sale items. This takes good budgeting to do because I find stocking up the best way to save money.

I also go to some wonderful websites that help me a lot with coupons and upcoming sales to watch out for. Here is a list of them in no particular order:

Save.ca
Smart Canucks

Remember to check out the forum at smart canucks where you can see the deals others have found and even what is coming up on sale and where you can get the best deal using your coupons.

I also find at our local grocery stores if you go first thing you can catch the sales on meats they are clearing out, as well as fresh veggies and bread products. I get most of our meat this way for our family at a fraction of the price. This really is a saver for us as well as buying large cuts and cutting it up ourselves.

I also find that by making a weekly meal plan it helps me save money and spend less. So every weekend I sit down and make a meal plan based on what I have and some of the sales for that upcoming week. Our sales run here from Friday to Thursday.

That is all the tips I can think of right now but I am sure more will come to mind after I post this.