The cash bandwagon

We operated an all cash budget this past summer for groceries and household expenses.  At the time, we had a well stocked pantry, freezer & personal care items closet.  We had several meals stocked up in our freezer, we weren't in need of disposable diapers, wipes or formula.  So, we challenged ourselves to $50 a week for all grocery/household items.  We were rather successful.



We fell off the cash bandwagon for a few months and while we still watched our spending, we didn't feel quite as disciplined as we had in the past.  If we ran out of cash at check-out, we'd swipe our debit card and be on our merry way.  For the month of February, we jumped back on the cash bandwagon.  Armed with a $280 budget for the month (cash only) we set out to purchase all grocery/household items we would need and be able to use couponing as a means to bless others.  The month for us is over, and I'm happy to report we only went over budget by $40.  Yes, we did swipe that debit card the last few days---but $280 was ambitious for us from the start.

Some things to mention:
-We did not have a well-stocked freezer (of extra meat, chicken, etc) and we had NO extra meals in our freezer
-We needed to buy disposable diapers/wipes as we had ran out of our stockpile from the summer
-We are purchasing formula now for our little guy
-We make many of our own cleaning supplies & have started to explore making some of our personal care items that we cannot get free or very cheap with sales/coupons
-When you see many (say the photo with 19 packs of razors)--it's safe to assume the items were free after coupons and many of these items are going to be donated.
-Wal-Mart is not our preferred place to shop, but since we can price match there and save ourselves trips running around town, we exercised that option a lot this month
***I should mention as well that we do cloth diaper, so our diapering costs are significantly less except for the rare times we do have to buy disposables. We make all of our own baby food. Our children are also on WIC and as such receive a small amount of milk, cheese, cereal, formula, baby food & fruit.  Those items provided through WIC are not pictured.***


Going forward...

Starting in March we are taking our budget to $300 a month.  I still think it's a challenging amount for us.  We are seeking to transition our family away from processed foods---a gradual (and more expensive) transition.  I will count the cost of extra coupons this month towards our budget (I spent about $8 for the month of February on extra coupons that provided us with items for ourselves and to donate to others).  I will continue to research how to "DIY" many of the items we make in order to cross them off our shopping lists.  We will hopefully begin to decrease the $300/month grocery/household budget as we become more and more disciplined.  But, we feel for our family at the present time, $300 is a good target to aim for.

I tried taking photos of each trip to document where our money was going, but I only managed to get a few and here arethe few that I did capture!  we ate much more than what is pictured as we had a well-stocked pantry & freezer---and since I didn't capture every trip, just imagine that most of these photos are "filler items" and we had many other ingredients already.  Also, if I earned a money reward towards my next purchase, that is noted.  The amount listed (ex, the toothpaste at .48 is what I actually paid out of pocket that day)

#1 CVS- .48 (earned $4)



#2- Dillons--$24.43, Wal-Mart (3 lotions and gum)=.42

#3-CVS (6 deodorant, 3 air freshners)=$5.38 (earned $10 towards next purchase)
     Target=free cat food, (.52 tax)---picked up for a friend
     Price Chopper/Hy-Vee=$39





#4- Hen House--(8 deodorant)=$1.64, Wal-Mart (razors, milk)=$6.76

#5--Wal-Mart=$22.25

#6-Wal-Mart=$15.08

#7-Wal-Mart=$31.80

#8-CVS (all shampoo)=$3.35 (earned $4 to use next time),

Hen House (deodorants & Yo Crunch)=.94, Hy-Vee=$21.65

An update on that one little challenge....

(There are a number of posts “in the works”…things I want to blog about that I’m wrestling with…stories I want to share….but while those all sit in “editing” mode, here’s a mini update)


Remember when I said I was putting our family on a strict $50 a week budget and we would NOT be eating out the entire month of June?

Well, here’s a little check-in on how we’re doing. As a reminder, we have bought groceries on $40 a week in the past. This ONLY included things we could actually eat, and at the time we had a freezer full of meals   & we were eating out at least once a week.  This month, I set out to determine whether or not we could live on a $50 a week budget for all groceries, household items, paper products, personal care items & any disposable diapers/wipes we might need. And as of right now, we are successful at this goal!

We started on May 29th—and will run for 5 solid weeks. This gives me an overall budget of $250. When it’s all said and done, I do believe we will go slightly over budget, and that’s really ok. The fact is, we’re most concerned with continuing to cultivate discipline and good stewardship in our lives. It is the desire of our hearts for God to mold us into financially responsible individuals. While we have made many financial mistakes in the past (mainly credit cards) we are working hard to be responsible in every other area.

When we entered this challenge, our stockpile was quite low. Jonathan and I were both on our last stick of deodorant, there was no “extra” toothpaste or men’s body wash & our pantry was also looking pretty bare. We had no extra chicken or beef in our freezer & little in our cleaning supplies stockpile. I’m delighted to say we have been more than able to take care of all these areas.

As for the eating out…we have failed in this area. But---only twice! Two meals out in five weeks time is a record for us…especially with a freezer empty & Jonathan working an extra 20 hours a week in the evenings.

What I’ve learned:

-While our family could survive on $50 a week (or less) just by buying what we need that week, we are better stewards of our resources when we put the time in to stretch that $50 further (and we get FAR more for our money!)

-in order to make this happen, I need to plan ahead and always keep an eye on where our stockpiles are---to make sure that we are buying items we need as cheaply as possible (or free)

-I will need to shop at least three stores a week/or price match items at Wal-Mart & I need to utilize coupon deals even more so than I was in order to get the best deals and stretch our money.

-It takes a LOT of planning & organization….but the result for our family is worth it

-even if I only make it to Wal-Mart, I can still save lots of money.

-some weeks our shopping trips will look strange (like the week I bought 8 lbs of cheese, several boxes of pasta, and multiple packs of toilet paper) That’s ok.

--by exercising such careful planning, I can purchase little indulgences (example, my husband loves tic tacs & we never purchase them. After a doubled coupon, I was able to pick up 8 packages of them for free.---a small treat, but fun for him! I love smoothies, but make them from scratch, with a sale and a coupon, I was able to pick up four packages of Yoplait smoothie mix ready to be blended for free!)

--I LOVE being able to share with family/friends. I’m not buying 100 bottles of mustard like you might see on TV, but when I find a great deal for free items…I certainly will stock up. It’s been nice this month to be able to share some of our free purchases with family.

--MOST importantly….We are doing what we feel is right for our family. We like saving money and stretching our dollars. We believe we are being good stewards of our money by living this way. Not everyone is going to understand why we do what we do, people will inevitably not understand or agree with how we use our resources & some will think we’re crazy and not really be interested in adapting a similar lifestyle…. that’s ok. It’s worth our time.

And if this sounds like I’m bragging…I’m sorry!  I am incredibly proud of the hard work my husband and I have put into continually breaking our budget down more and more. For the last two years, we have tracked every penny in and out of our account…we have drastically cut our spending over these two years, and yet made our money go further at the same time. There is not a day that goes by that we aren’t trying to think up a new way to save or make more money. I am thankful that he works hard outside the home and he is grateful that I work so hard to save us money and make $50 go far. I am blown away by the discipline God is cultivating in both of us & excited to see how we can be stretched farther! 

Seriously, if you aren't buying diapers online....

...well, then I'd have to argue that you aren't getting the most bang for your buck.

I've mentioned before that I am an avid fan of buying our diapers (and now wipes!) online through Amazon's Mom program via their subscribe and save method.  And before you read any further...I'm not receiving anything for my rave review.  I just love saving money & I love this program!

We started this summer when the program first began and were delighted to see our savings add up.  This week I actually took the time to sit down and do some math on Amazon prices vs. Wal-Mart prices for the products we specifically buy & I was SHOCKED to discover just how much we were saving!  I knew we were saving a few bucks, but never imagined that it added up to OVER $150 a year...just on diapers.

Allow me to demonstrate....

DIAPERS

We purchase Pampers.  (Note: Amazon offers the subscribe and save deals on Huggies, Luvs, Pull-ups, etc..)

Wal-mart offers size 5 diapers in a 136 count box for $35 (pre-tax).  That works out to .26 per diaper

Amazon offers size 5 diapers in a 156 count box for a base price of $40.88  (pre-tax).  That works out to .26  per diaper

If you sign up for the free Amazon Mom program & opt for the subscribe & save delivery, the price drops to $28.62 , or  .18 per diaper.  (Diapers ship for free through subscribe & save.)  Right there you are saving .08 per diaper, or $12.50 for the entire box!

It gets better!  If you receive Parents, Parenting the Early Years, or Fit Pregnancy...you may find an additional 20% off your diaper purchase on amazon.  This coupon can be combined with a subscribe & save purchase.  For us, it takes off about $8.00.  Making our total price for a box of 156 size 5 Pampers, to right around $20.62 (give or take).  Bringing the price per diaper down to .13, saving us .13 per diaper (compared to Wal-Mart) or $20 on the entire box!  :)

(Anddddddddd...if you have any Amazon giftcards through Swagbucks, well...you're really going to save a LOT!)

WIPES

We purchase Huggies wipes.  (Yes, we love our Pampers diapers...but seriously dislike their wipes...) 

Price per package of refill wipes at Wal-mart is $5.97 (pre-tax).  Assuming each package contains 184 wipes, total for three packages is $17.91 (pre-tax), or .03 per wipe.  (yes, we figure per wipe and per diaper prices so we know what the best deal is!)

Amazon offers Huggies Sensitive Wipes at a base price of $16.53 for a box containing three refills.  Similar to Wal-Mart Price.

If you opt for subscribe & save, that price drops to $11.57 for a box containing three refills, saving us $6.34 over Wal-Mart's price...shipped right to our door for free!!

(again, if you have Amazon gift cards earned through Swagbucks, this deal gets sweeter!)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Go here to preview items available for Subscribe & Save discounts (there are more, just look around.  I searched for breast milk storage bags and found their prices to be cheaper than Babies R' Us).  Compare your brand's prices to Amazon and see if it might save you money as well!

If it does (which I'm pretty confident you'll find some savings...) Go here to sign up for Amazon Mom (you'll also receive free Prime shipping on other eligibile products).  After your first order arrives (should be about two days.)  You can log in and cancel your subscription, if you'd like.  If not, Amazon will continue to ship your diapers/wipes every X amount of months you selected for their current subscribe & save price.  (We choose to cancel our subscription each time & check to see if there is a better deal when need be.  This also allows us to combine 20% off coupons & giftcards if we have them.)

Bargain of the week: better than free hot chocolate....

So I had a picture of this deal, but it won't upload....so imagine a photo of two boxes of Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate.

Are you imagining it?

OK.

Our bargain of the week was those two boxes!  My husband is greatly addicted to hot chocolate right now, and I'm learning to enjoy it just as much!  The boxes were on sale for $1 per box last week.  I had  coupons for $2 off each box.

So...

2 boxes of hot chocolate=$2
MINUS 2/ $2 off coupons= +$2

Yes, our store gave us coupon overage so we were actually paid to take the hot chocolate out of the store!  Well, the overage went towards other items in the purchase, but you get the idea!

What about you?  What good bargains did you find this week?

Brand-Name Bargains.

I'm a bargain shopper. I'm also a sucker for brand-name items. (This doesn't make me a snob, I'll always try the store-brand equivalent and sometimes switch, but typically brand-names win out.)

Believe it or not, bargain shopping and brand-name addiction can co-exist...often with the brand name coming out cheaper than store brand if you play your cards right.

I've talked before about combining my love for expensive kid's clothing with bargain shopping. And not that I'm endorsing anyone, but Gymboree almost always wins out in my mind of having cute and durable kid's clothing. Their prices are outrageous and I wouldn't even spend that money on adult-sized clothing, but when shopping smart, I can get what I want super cheap if I buy ahead for the next year, combine with a coupon, or if I simply wait for the item to be clearanced out (which happens often.) Example: on Black Friday I purchased two long-sleeve winter-themed shirts for Lucy, two packs of hairbows, an outfit for Baby #2, and 4 Christmas/Birthday gifts...for right at $50 shipped to my door. (Oh, and I'll also have a $25 off my next purchase coming in that box as well...)

Example #2, I'm pretty loyal to the type of toothpaste, deodorant, bar soap, razor, etc that I use. When I first started couponing, I wasn't sure the two could co-exist---but alas, I was wrong. Case in point: Read your coupon. (sorry for the terrible picture, btw...) Anyways, I recently had a stack of 4 coupons that read "Buy 1 secret deodrant get $5 off ANY Olay bar soap, body wash, or in shower body lotion." Perfect! I picked up the deodorant at around 2.25, and a 2 pack of bar soap at a similar price. Free deodorant and bar soap. And since I had four coupons...four free deodorants and four free packs of bar soap. I'm pretty confident this is less expensive than a store-brand similar product :)

And my last (recent) example of a brand-name bargain is really a no-brainer. If you haven't started buying diapers through Amazon's Mom program...well, then you should really start. It's quite possibly the easiest way to save money on diapers, they ship free to your door, and they are cheaper than buying at your local Target. (Again, not endorsing...just encouraging!) The program saves you 30% off diapers and ships them free to your doors. You can cancel your save and subscribe order as soon as you receive it and you'll receive no more shipments OR you can keep it saved and Amazon will continue to ship you diapers at the discounted rate.

I did some price-checking this weekend. The biggest box of Pampers size 5 I could find at Target was 136 count for $36, or .26 a diaper. Amazon sells the box of 156 diapers regularly for $40.15, or .26 a diaper. If you do subscribe and save, the price drops to $28.11 a box, or .18 a diaper. Awesome deal! BUT, it gets better! If you can get your hands on a coupon found in Parents magazine or Parenting: The Early Years, you'll locate a coupon for 20% off a diaper purchase. That drops the price to $20.79 shipped for free to your door, or .13 a diaper. And if Pampers aren't your style, this deal extends to Huggies, Luvs, and all sorts of wipes. I have a box of three large refill packages of Huggies Wipes (sell for $5-$6/package in stores) for $11. And, if you have amazon giftcards through Swagbucks....well, you'll be getting an even bigger deal. (and yes, that's my referral link if you sign-up---I earn matching points.)

I hope that's motivating to some....that good deals CAN be found on brand-name products with just a little bit of effort!

A return to coupons...

October was a vacation month. A vacation to Disneyworld, a vacation from work, a vacation from real life, and a vacation from couponing even. I think it's good to take a break even from coupon shopping every once in a while.

However, our linen closet isn't as stuffed as we're accustomed to, our pantry needs some re-stocking, and I really want to see both stuffed before this baby makes his/her debut. :) I make it a goal to keep several boxes of toothpaste, razors, shave gel, wipes, etc. in our closet so as to never have to make a "quick" trip to Wal-mart...because, those trips are never quick and they are NEVER cheap.

So, this week I emptied out my coupon album. Cut out hundreds of coupons and got pretty excited with what coupons had been available the last few weeks. I purchased 5 newspapers a few weeks back...(and yes, that cost $10 to do so...but I always buy more than one paper at the beginning of the month because the best coupon inserts are in there...and the coupons I cut out of there will easily save me $100 or more.)

One of my favorite coupon to find is one that leads to a free product...like this one...$1.00 off ANY one size Tide.

Which leads to a bag in our linen closet like this..

Yup, I purchase travel size items for free...because they work the exact same! In fact on our recent vacation, I took several of these packets with us and did laundry for free in our condo. And, should I need laundry soap if I ever happen to run out--I have a good 30 packages ready to go in my linen closet.

I don't claim to be "cool"...I just claim to be frugal and creative. :)

Thriving in Survival Mode.

Life has been....busy? hectic? stressful? hmmm...I just can't choose one word to describe it.

Between growing a baby in my belly, dealing with a fussy toddler, working from home, keeping our home running, outside activities, and spending time with my sweet husband, life has felt like survival mode....at best.

And yet, in the midst of this pretty rough week, I have felt like we are actually thriving. After some thought as to how I could arrive at such a conclusion after the lack of sleep we've been through and the incredible frustration of this never-ending balancing act, I realized the reason I've felt like we're actually thriving is because of some of the elements we've worked so hard to put into place the last few months.


Let's face it, when you're exhausted and you've spent the entire day trying to work and wrestle an exhausted and sick child, the last thing you want to do is cook a nice dinner. Enter meals from our freezer! A while back we spent a weekend filling our freezer and we have thoroughly enjoyed the reward--in fact, we've emptied almost everything we cooked and are planning another cooking session.


The second is our household routine schedule. I'm still tweaking this to get it the way I feel most benefits our family---but at the end of a crazy week, our house is clean, laundry is done, and I haven't felt stressed about it one bit. By having a schedule like this, I was able to look at the chores and decide what needed the most attention and what could be ignored a while longer...and, since we've stayed on top of things, picking up messes or dusting furniture is a fairly quick process.










The third is a three-part plus. I've started making some of our own household cleaners and laundry soap. Earlier this week, when I ran out of kitchen counter cleaner I just mixed up another batch instead of having to make a trip to the store.

Similarly, I keep a well-stocked linen closet with personal care products (though it's looking a bit sparse lately--more on that later.) Instead of having to make a weekly wal-mart run or an impromptu trip whenever we run out of toothpaste, I just shop in my closet and save us a trip, time, and money. Oh, and it helps that most of those products were free or nearly free. Also, we've been buying diapers on amazon lately as part of the free Amazon mom program and Parenting magazine coupons. When my husband pulled the last diaper out of a box this week, there was already a reserve box waiting to be used.


Now, before you think that I must have it all together or that I'm showing off--you should know I haven't put on make-up all week, I've only left the house once, and I'm currently wearing my husband's sweats and a bleach-stained t-shirt. Oh, and I also wore the same yoga pants/shirt combo three times in a row this week. But, looking awesome wasn't high on my priority list this week.

I'm excited to feel like we're making some head way in home management techniques that actually work in our home---the trick has been tweaking every suggestion I've come across to match OUR home and OUR unique needs. I'm thankful that we're seeing progress in this area and feeling like we can actually thrive, even in survival mode....because in five months we're going to have a newborn in this house demanding attention....and it's going to be survival mode for quite some time :)

Stock up on EVERYTHING :)

If you know me at all, you know that I'm a frugal fan. I shop with coupons, compare prices and work to get the best deal always. Our linen closet is full of drugstore freebies, our pantry is stuffed with grocery store deals and our totes are packed with clothes for our daughter to wear...in the future.

When I was pregnant I started stockpiling. I bought diapers when I could get them at amazing prices, wipes when they were almost free (or free), baby wash and, you guessed it, clothes! I love the styles of the brand name stores. Their quality is superior and their clothes, in my opinion, are often cuter! Their prices however are outrageous! We started figuring the approximate size Lucy would be in and bought a season ahead. (Example: I've been filling a tote up this summer for clothes for her to wear next summer. ) I wait for the clothes to go on clearance---then I wait for an additional sale (usually a 30% off everything) and I buy what I think we'll need. The best part is I get the cute clothes---for a much better price---than the store brand styles. Plus, by buying ahead I know what I need and can look for ways to fill those gaps at garage sales and consignment sales.





(Pajamas for next summer. They were $10 for both on clearance---then I got 30% off that---and then an additional 20% off that---and honestly, $5 a piece wasn't bad to begin with!)










Here are some examples of our clothing stockpiles:

(this is a stash of a few of the shirts I bought last fall/winter for lucy. If you can see the price tag it says $5.99---and I got an additional 30% that price)











Now, it doesn't always work out. For example this fall I have several long-sleeve t-shirts ready to go, but our pants collection is pretty sparse. Sometimes clothes are still a little too big or a little snug when it's time to wear them, but when I'm paying a couple of dollars or less for an article of clothing---that's ok to me---and it rarely happens!



So, scour the racks (or online stores)--right now is a perfect time to stock up for next summer.


(Christmas Jammies from last years collection--$3.99 and 20% off)

fill the freezer....errr...make room in the freezer?

When my husband and I made the decision that I would stay at home with my daughter once she was born, we realized there would have to be some huge changes to our budget.

A few months before my daughter was born I started researching, studying and investing time into learning how to use coupons to my advantage, stockpile successfully and stretch every last penny out of our very meager budget.

I learned the "drugstore game" quickly and filled up our linen closets with personal care products for pennies. I branched out and started using coupons everywhere (and yes, when I say everywhere...I mean it! I once used lightbulb coupons at a hardware store and got energy efficient lightbulbs for 25 cents a piece.) Anyways, the one area we still were having a hard time seeing significant savings was at the grocery store. We eat fresh produce, buy only fresh boneless/skinless chicken, and eat whole grain products.

Coupons for these items don't come along frequently, but when they do (or when there is a great sale) we stock up! We have continued to cut costs in this area, but with groceries still costing us over $200 a month on average--we decided to try out some freezer cooking this month. Only time will tell how we'll benefit, but having a variety of dinners, breakfast items, and meal components in the freezer is definitely exciting! I'm pretty confident that some of the items (making and freezing our own hashbrowns and fries) is bound to save us a little bit here or there---but again, we'll have to see this month just how much it pays off!

(Mr. B shredding potatoes to flash freeze for hashbrowns)

I lost a total count, but with a great deal of effort on my husband's part (I was busy working for my part-time job a lot of last weekend) we managed to stuff these items into our freezer:

2 pans of enchiladas

2 pans of lasagna

6 chicken/bacon/cheese subs ready to be pressed for grilled sandwiches!

homeade breakfast pastries

homeade breakfast sandwiches

taco meat

plain hamburger meat

bacon

shredded cheese

hashbrowns

fries

16 chicken/bean/cheese burritos

shredded chicken

All in all...we didn't accomplish everything on our list, but this gave us a nice start! Plus, cooking in bulk will save us time in preparation, clean-up, and the cost of ingredients!

(Lucy trying out the breakfast pastry--she loved it, but was also sick last weekend and looks so sad in this photo!)

$174.68....and counting!

My husband and I both work full-time. His work occurs in an office and mine occurs in our home. He brings home a paycheck every two weeks, I work to stretch every last penny out of that paycheck. We share several of the domestic duties--but when it comes down to the dollars...the specific jobs are clear.

He works to make money, I strive to make that money work for us.

About a year and a half ago, I started investing time each day trying to educate myself on ways to stretch our hard-earned dollars. I researched how to shop deals, combine coupons, and start a healthy stockpile of groceries and personal care items. I signed up with survey companies to earn a few bucks here and there and I created an account with Swagbucks where I've earned several $5 amazon giftcards that have paid for leisure books, magazine subscriptions, and parenting books.

I have defended our excessive coupon usage and linen closet stockpile to nearly everyone we know, but at the end of the day, my husband and I agree on something very strongly: couponing has benefited us and saved us HUNDREDS of dollars.....seriously.

So, I set a goal for myself three months ago. It was a pretty simple one--"Earn" $500 in the course of one year. My husband and I agreed that the $500 could come in any form: overage from coupon usage, overage in Extra Care Bucks from CVS, Swagbucks gift cards, profits from Craigslist sales, etc. I'm happy to say that at three months in, I've already almost made it to the halfway point in my goal!

How did I do it?

61.68 from CVS ECB overage. Meaning, if I pay $1.00 out of pocket for a purchase and EARN $8.00 in ECB in that purchase to use towards our next purchase, than I get to count $7.00.

example:


Cost for 2 bottles of contact solution and 2 packages of feminine products=.32 out of pocket. I earned $7 in ECB on this purchase. Meaning, my overage was $6.68





Cost out of pocket for package of diapers, 3 pack bar of soap, 4 bottles of travel hairspray, woman's razor, 2 packages of feminine products, and two bags of M&M's=$2.56. I earned $9 on this purchase--so, $6.44 in overage to use on the next purchase...and so on....


(you can see coupon savings at stores other than CVS, we regularly use coupons for items at Wal-mart, Target, and the grocery stores---the savings will still add up!)


$20 in Swagbucks giftcards. It's seriously the easiest thing ever. Download the homepage and toolbar--and just use it to search online (like you would using Google!) And yes, if you choose to sign-up under that link, I earn matching points as you do.

$93 from items sold on Craigslist Here's the funny part, $25 of that was items I sold that I had gotten free with coupons....or paid 25 cents or less for. The other were from old clothing items I sold.

It works in our home to be creative--to challenge ourselves to think outside of the box---and to use coupons everywhere!