Tag Archives: saving money

7 Tips to Save Your Family More Than $4,000/Year

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We all like to save money. What started out as a necessity in our household has become somewhat of a game for me. How much money can I save during this shopping trip? How can we save an extra $20 this month? Can we get by on $25 worth of groceries this week (without going hungry)? It’s my own personal challenge.

Here are 7 money-saving tips that save our family more than $4,000 each year.

I cut my spouse’s hair. Hubster needs a haircut every 4-5 weeks, and he’d spend at least $20 each time. We purchased a haircut/trim kit for $40 and now we save $200-250/year.
We eat at home. Unless we have a gift card, we dine in almost every night. Instead of spending $20 on a weekly pizza or $40 at a restaurant once/week, we save $1,000-2,000/year.
I grocery shop based on weekly sales. Except for the staple items (in our household: bread, milk, yogurt), I plan our weekly menu based on what’s on sale that week. We now typically spend $50/week or less on groceries instead of around $75+. That’s a savings of at least $1,300/year.
We purchase C’s clothes second-hand. Unless I find an amazing deal (like the Old Navy toddler slippers I just bought for $3.33!), I purchase C’s clothes at a store for used children’s clothing. I find name-brand clothes that look new for around $3-5 per shirt (retail: $8-20) and $3-6 for pants (retail: $7-25). I’ve even found shoes for him and they have never cost more than $8/pair. It’s a great deal! We save about $300-1,000/year this way, depending on the size of C’s wardrobe and how many sizes he grows out of each year.
We own one car. Luckily, we’re in a situation in which Hubster can walk to work. We’ve decided to share a car, thereby halving our insurance and maintenance costs. This saves us at least $1,200/year.
I coupon for diapers. If you want to learn how to coupon, see Couponing 101 and 201. The bottom line: I never purchase diapers unless I can buy them for less than 18 cents/diaper (they retail at 25+ cents/diaper). This adds up to an average savings of at least $150/year.
I stock up on essentials during sales. This includes cleaning supplies, toothpaste, deodorant, diapers, etc. I only purchase toilet paper 3-4 times each year. I love stocking up on things at Target, because they often run gift card promotions. Last week, I purchased two 24-packs of our toilet paper of choice. I found printable manufacturer coupons online and also received a $5 Target gift card for future use. Combining the sale, manufacturer coupons and gift card, I saved $8 and we won’t need to purchase TP until summer! Stocking up on essentials during sales saves us hundreds of dollars/year.

Why New Parents Must Go To Yard Sales by Jason Ross {Guest Post}

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I’m pleased to welcome Jason Ross today! His blog is filled with awesome parenting tips, and I enjoy reading his perspective. Thanks for being here, Jason!

Jason Ross is a proud father of a 1 year old daughter, Abby, and blogging partner of Lauren Ross. Not too long after his daughter was born he began blogging on Ordinary Parent as a way to offer his thoughts, opinions, and stories of parenthood that may help other parents, or expectant parents, along their journey. His wife, Lauren, joins him with frequent posts as well. They are a couple ordinary parents, offering their advice for other ordinary parents.

My wife and I have been dating for over 11 years now, and married for 5 of those years. And ever since our high school days we’ve gone to yard sales. We started as a way to make some extra money by buying furniture and household items we would later consign. But now as parents, yard saleshave brought on a new meaning. They are now an excellent source for everything new parents need. Below are the reasons my wife and I try to make yard sales a weekly event, and plan to for years to come.

Save Money and Avoid Retail
First and foremost yard sales can save you lots of money. My wife and I wouldn’t enjoy them or go to them if they didn’t save money. A couple weeks ago at a yard sale we got a set of “little people” along with a school bus and car for them, a large doll house, and a set of stacking cups…for $3. Everything in this photo would have cost at least 15 or 20 times that amount if bought new in a store. Not everything in a yard sale is a deal, and you have to make sure not to just assume something is a deal. Sometimes people try to reclaim what they paid for the items years ago, and that’s just not possible. But when our kids grow out of these toys, I don’t think we’ll have much trouble getting our $3 back.

Get Exercise
This last week I made sure to wear my pedometer to see just how many steps I would get. Nearly 6000 steps later, our yard sale outing was over. That’s roughly 3 miles worth of walking that was relatively unnoticeable as we ventured from one house to another at the neighborhood yard sale. It’s pretty hard to convince me to just head out for a 3 miles walk. But when it’s broken up yard sale perusing, the exercise is easily overlooked.

Get your child(ren) outside
A little vitamin D never hurt anyone. But we want our daughter and any future kids to appreciate being outside. Our daughter spends enough time inside. Letting her spend a couple hours outside in the cool mornings is a welcome change. She enjoys seeing all the people, all the animals, and the occasional new book or toy to play with.

Teach your children about money
Our daughter is still too young to understand, but I remember first learning about the value of a dollar at yard sales and want my children to do the same. You can tell them they have a certain amount of money to spend, and limit them to it. They get to make the decision of what they really want, and start to learn how to spot deals of their own. Frugality is common place in our family, and I hope it rubs off on our children.

Teach your children manners
Not only can your kids learn about money, but yard sales are a great place to teach your children how to be polite. They have many opportunities to say please and thank you, and be respectful of other people’s belongings. I remember learning that I wasn’t allowed to touch fragile items at a yard sale (you break it you bought it…or paid it off with chores). I look forward to teaching my daughter how to interact with people, and sharpen those manners frequently while visiting multiple yard sales each week.

Every new parent should really spend some time each spring and summer attending yard sales. I’ve provided a short list of reasons why my family will go to yard sales, but there are certainly more. Sure, some items may be a little worn, but with young kids they won’t know the difference. And it won’t take long for them to grow out of the clothes or toys anyway, so why waste money on spotless, scratch-free toys. They are kids…they’re going to scratch things up anyway.

Guest Post: DIY Baby Wipes by SupermomInTheMaking

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Today, we have another guest post from my friend Rachel, from Supermom In The Making. She blogs about the adventures of making it work with two hands and three babies. Rachel is a mom to three children under the age of two, including 1-year-old twin girls. Below, she teaches us how to save money by making our own baby wipes. Enjoy!
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Baby wipes are a necessary part of any parent’s arsenal, therefore, a necessary expense. While they’re not all that expensive, the cost still adds up to a surprisingly high number over time.

For example: We had three kids using baby wipes in our home at one point. So if I went on Amazon and bought a 3-pack of 184-count Huggies wipes, that’s $21. We would go through that 3-pack in approximately a month. So, for the sake of easy math, let’s pretend we bought another 3-pack at the beginning of each month. In one year, that would come out to:

1 kid – $84
2 kids – $168
3 kids – $252 (That’s $504 in two years!)

For me, that’s over $500 on wipes in two years’ time. WIPES. This is something that you use to wipe poop off of your child’s rear end. I don’t know about you, but I think that’s a lot of money to be spending on poop duty.

Thankfully, if you don’t mind taking a few extra minutes to make your own, that cost can easily be cut in half, if not more! I got this “recipe” for baby wipes from a family friend and I was surprised to find how well they actually worked.

Here’s what you need:

½ Bounty Big Roll

1 ¼ cups warm water

3 T. baby oil

2 T. baby shampoo or wash

Cut paper towel roll in half. In the pictures I am using a cheap roll of paper towel. They still work, but they don’t hold together as well as the nicer paper towel. You can use whatever kind you want, but I’ve found Bounty Big Roll works the best. I would also recommend using scissors. I tried using a serrated knife… big mistake. I had paper towel confetti raining down in the kitchen.

Mix liquids well in container. Add paper towel cut-side down. Leave 5 minutes.

Turn roll cut-side up. Leave 15 minutes, then pull out center tube.

Pull wipes from center. Make sure to cover container when not using the wipes to prevent drying out.

The great thing is that these wipes work just as well for potty training. Say goodbye to potty training wipes!!

Finding Baby Clothes on Consignment

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The midwest is experiencing an unseasonably warm spring (as in, temperatures 30 degrees higher than normal), and I realized that all of the shorts I have for C are a size too big. ARGH. Um, weather, didn’t you know that I don’t want to spend money buying C more clothes that he’ll only wear for a short period of time??!!

Enter the consignment shop. I bought C two pairs of shorts, one sleeper, and one two-piece set of pajamas for $16. SIXTEEN DOLLARS. Ok, seriously – how did I not find out about this sooner?! Our local baby consignment shop has onesies for $1.50 (or 10 for $10!), sleepers for $4.50, shorts for as low as $2.50, etc. And they’re mostly name-brand items! Unless there’s a specific item I want or a huge sale at my favorite name-brand store, I have found my new go-to place for anything that C needs.

People, you have to check this out. It’s awesome sauce. :)

Couponing 201: Strategy and Cost Standards

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Here is lesson two in my couponing series! You can find the first one, Couponing 101, here. Today we’ll go more in-depth about couponing strategy.

I’ve found that it’s best to purchase two newspapers each week. Be sure to check to see if the coupon inserts are inside before buying your papers! There are people that steal coupon inserts or sometimes a paper gets missed in the stuffing process, but you don’t want to get home and discover that they’re missing. You can also find great coupons online via Answers.com coupons.*

I tend to cut out every coupon, with the exception of products that I will never find use for (i.e. pet food, because I don’t have pets). Once in a while, there may be an item on sale that you can turn into a moneymaker when you coupon. Matching your coupons from multiple inserts together will save time when it comes to shopping preparations. Next, I sort the coupons into categories and put them into envelopes for each category. For example, a few of my envelopes are: Baby, Makeup/Lotion, and Toothpaste/Toothbrushes/Mouthwash.

Each Saturday, I visit The Krazy Coupon Lady to view each store’s upcoming sales that will go into effect on Sunday. I have a couponing notebook, in which I write down exactly what I’m going to purchase, how much it is on sale for, the coupons I will use and the final price. I pull the coupons I need from my envelopes, then put them in separate envelopes corresponding with each store where I will shop. I like to shop on Sunday or Monday to ensure that the items I want are in stock.
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Now…let’s talk dollars and cents.

I’ve learned a lot in my past four months of couponing. I’ve made a lot of mistakes, too! After watching sales cycles for this long, I know what price point items need to reach before I decide to stock up. If you need certain items, you may not be able to wait for these price points; but once you have a small stockpile then you can be picky. I have about 4 tubes of toothpaste, and several deodorants and hair products on hand. That’s about as large as my “stockpile” will get.

Shampoo/Conditioner/Styling Products: $1 or less
My favorite brands are Dove and Aussie. I also use Pantene’s line of products for curly hair. The most I’ve paid for Dove and Pantene is 65 cents per product, and you can routinely find Aussie for $1 at CVS or Walgreens. There are many other brands that go on sale – I just haven’t purchased others yet, so I can’t recall the pricing of them! If you’re looking for a medicated shampoo, you’ll occasionally be able to find Head and Shoulders for $1.99.

Deodorant: 75 cents or less
In the past few months, we’ve stocked up on Old Spice, Irish Spring and Dove Men+Care for Hubster. I admit that I paid $1.50 when I started, but now I know better! Hubster has enough on hand right now that I can be picky and wait until it’s 75 cents or less. For me, I’ve held out for sales on Dove deodorant. I’ve seen many sales for Secret and Arrid, though.

Toothpaste: 50 cents or less
I used to purchase the cheap 74-cent toothpaste at Walmart, but now I realize that I can get Crest or Colgate for even cheaper. Match coupons with sales and store offers (Target gift cards, ExtraBucks at CVS or Register Rewards at Walgreens) and you can get name-brand toothpaste for less than 50 cents – and sometimes FREE! When a new toothpaste comes on the market, it’s basically a guarantee that you can find it for free somewhere.

Mouthwash: $1.50 or less
Hubster is currently using pink Barbie Listerine Smart Rinse for kids because I got it for free! He may not want to show off his Barbie mouthwash, but it was free and it does the job. :) Listerine Zero is a relatively new product, so you can expect to find some great deals on it right now. The best deals are typically on the 500 mL bottles, but once in a while you can get a large bottle for very cheap (especially in a different brand, such as Crest).

Toilet Paper: varies by brand
The best toilet paper deals are on Cottonelle. One week, I scored Cottonelle for about 12 cents/roll at Walgreens; but we hated it. I’ve decided to only purchase Scott Extra Soft. I wait until I can match a coupon with a store sale. Sometimes you’re just willing to pay more for certain items!

Feminine Products: $4.50 or less
Even with couponing, tampons and pads are still rather expensive. However, you can get some awesome deals at drug stores. I’ve been able to get an 8-pack of Walgreens brand tampons for free, as well as a 20-pk of Carefree liners at CVS. Keep in mind that these are with Register Rewards and ExtraBucks offers. You can also get good deals on name-brand products when you combine coupons with store sales and offers. Target often offers a gift card deal when you purchase a certain dollar amount in Playtex products. Walgreens and CVS also offer store rewards that you can combine with coupons and sales for a deep discount.

Dish Soap: 74 cents or less for a small bottle
Since I started couponing, I only purchase my dish soap at CVS. They regularly put name-brand dish soap on sale for 99 cents and there are often 25-50 cent coupons in the newspaper inserts. I have enough in my stockpile now that I will only purchase it when I have a 50 cent coupon to combine with the store sale.

Diapers: 16 cents/diaper or less
Target is hands-down the best place to find deals on diapers. I *love* Target. Target often runs a sale where you can get a $5 or $10 gift card for purchasing two or three packs of diapers (the $10 gift card is offered when the huge boxes are on sale). Sometimes they also have store coupons for diaper purchases. That means that you can combine a manufacturer coupon with a store coupon AND the sale – resulting in a huge savings. The best deal that I ever got was 8 cents/diaper on Luvs at Target; but other than that one occasion, I typically purchase Pampers or Huggies. I’ve found that couponing makes diapers cheaper than what I could get through shopping clubs or programs like Amazon Mom.

Baby Wipes: 0.0069 cents/wipe
My cost standard for wipes are the Up&Up brand from Target. The refills come in 240-count bags and cost $4.99 for a 3-pack. It is extremely rare to find a deal on name-brand wipes for less than that. My best wipes deal was using a coupon for $1 off a $3 or higher Up&Up item (found on Target.com). The 9-pack of wipes was on sale and I got that for $11-something after the coupon. AMAZING DEAL!

If you would like to hear cost standards for any items that I didn’t mention, please leave your request in the comments! I’ll be happy to help!

*Diclosure: I have been compensated by Answers.com coupons to include their link in this post. The opinions and information in this post are entirely my own.

Couponing 101

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By popular demand, I bring to you some basic couponing tips! A coworker of Hubster’s taught me how to coupon nearly five months ago and it has become a hobby of mine. The following are tips that she taught me as well as things that I have learned since I started couponing. Happy savings!

The most common coupon inserts are SmartSource and Red Plum. These come out weekly. P&G has coupon inserts every once in a while and they are packed full of savings.
Not every newspaper offers both inserts. It’s okay to check for the inserts before you buy; however, taking inserts is considered stealing.
Depending how committed you are to couponing, you may choose to purchase more than one paper each week. You’ll end up getting better deals when you buy more than one item. I purchase two papers and have only missed out on maybe two or three big deals in the past five months by not having more than two coupons for an item.
Clip every coupon. You may not think you will use that brand or item, but it may end up being a moneymaker one week. You can always give that item to someone else! (There are exceptions. For example, I don’t clip coupons for pet food, because we don’t have pets.)
If you’re committed to getting things for free or dirt cheap, you need to be open to trying different brands.
That being said, it is possible to get decent deals on brands you are loyal to, but the deals might only come along every few months.
Forget about monthly shopping trips. When you coupon, you shop weekly and probably at a few different stores.
Manufacturers love consumers who clip out a coupon and run to the store right away to purchase that item. Instead of saving only 25 cents, hold onto your coupons to match them with store sales. You’ll get deep savings this way!
Clearing a store shelf is not good couponing etiquette. This is a common complaint among the couponing community because it makes couponers look bad!
Most couponers are NOT like the ones on TV. You don’t need to build shelving in your home to store 8,000 boxes of cereal, and you won’t save 99% all the time. But you can easily save 50% or more.
Your grocery bill probably will not change much, unless you coupon for cereals or snacks. You don’t really find coupons for produce or meat.
The best times of the day to coupon are when it’s not too busy – early in the morning or at night. You’ll avoid hurried cashiers and customers.
Name brand items are often significantly cheaper than store brands when you coupon.

Here are some specific things I’ve found out through experience. Thought I’d save you some time and money as you learn to bargain-hunt!

If you’re paying more than 75 cents for toothpaste, you’re paying too much!
You can easily get toothbrushes for free. I have about 4 in our cabinet right now that I got for free.
I’m often able to stock up on feminine products for super cheap. If you get into shopping at Walgreens or CVS, you will be able to get free items at least once per month.
I never pay more than $1 for shampoo, conditioner or deodorant. (Exceptions: medicated shampoos like Head & Shoulders)
I never pay more than 15 cents/diaper. The best diaper deals can be found at Target. You can pair manufacturer coupons and Target coupons with a diaper sale and save BIG. I end up buying 2-3 jumbo bags or boxes at a time. My best deal was 8 cents/diaper at Target!

The Krazy Coupon Lady is the site that I use to find the best deals. You are able to use their site to search weekly deals at your favorite store. I subscribe to the site in my Google Reader and am able to quickly scan all new posts for things that I can use. Couponing has helped me to save a significant amount of money and contribute to our budget. It’s the equivalent of a part-time job and, as a SAHM, I love being able to contribute in that way.

Be sure to check out Couponing 201 for further couponing tips!

Little Mama Jama