P&G is promoting its coupon flier for Aug. 1
Proctor and Gamble has sent an email to its newsletter subscribers that there will be “over $104 in coupons” in its Aug. 1 Sunday newspaper coupon insert. From the cover picture, it looks like college dorm friendly products will be featured.. The P&G insert is one of those that is distributed with The Monroe Evening [...]
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From Monroe on a Budget.
Samples, Coupons, and Savings
Samples, Coupons, and Savings
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From Frugal Simplicity.
Monroe MI coupon report July 25
There are two coupon stacks each in my home-delivery editions of The Monroe Evening News and the Detroit Free Press. I live in the 48162 zip code. The Monroe News coupon balloon on the front page says “Save $220+” and the coupons include: L’Oreal Preference, Dannon yogurt, Quaker chewy granola bars, Special K, Post cereal.
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From Monroe on a Budget.
WFMW: Finding the Time to Be Frugal (Reader Help Needed)
Molly reader, Kim, left the below post and I though it would make a great topic for Readers Helping Readers.
How do you all have time for this? I so want to be frugal and I’m stressed trying to keep up with it all. I do homeschool my children, like most of you, and I’m trying to do a pampered chef business, but thinking of quitting so i can focus more on my family, but we need the money i bring in. It’s so challenging, God helps me each day! Thanks for the sites, I’ll try to keep up with all you frugal moms, lol.
She has a good point. Bargain shopping and making frugal choices DOES take time. Here are a few of my thoughts on the matter.
- I view my “frugality” as a job. I consider my savings to be my hourly wage. It may take me an extra two hours to plan out my grocery shopping, use coupons, etc. (It’s sometimes shocking how long it can take, isn’t it??!!) But I can easily cut my grocery bill in half when I do so. Even if I only save $50 a trip, that comes out to $25/hr. Not bad. So, if I’m “too busy” to coupon, am I busy doing something that is going to make me $25/hr. Usually not.
- Alternatively, some frugal practices are NOT worth my time. The time you have to spend on frugal endeavors will be limited by the number of small children you have, whether or not you homeschool, whether you work for hire, outside commitments, etc. Before I worked from home and homeschooled, I would can fruits and vegetables every summer. Now, I just don’t have the time. When I calculate out the savings they just weren’t there to justify it. Now, if I had a garden or access to free foods, that might change. But for now, I make more at “work” than I save by canning.
- I enlist the children. As my kids get older I give them more responsibilities. Currently, they are capable of keeping the house relatively presentable. I am willing to pay one of my kids a dollar or two to cut my coupons and put them in my coupon binder. It saves me a good chunk of time and I know I’ll save much more by having them clipped, organized and available. When I was a child, my siblings and I were each responsible for making a batch of bread once each week. Making your children responsible for a small garden, even a container garden could be helpful. Keeping the budget on track is a family affair, not just Mom’s responsibility.
- Consider the learning curve. Sure, the first time you create a menu plan (join our newsletter for a free quide!) or try a new recipe, extend a mix, or make your own laundry soap, it may be a bit time consuming. But many of these tasks become second nature after a few tries and take considerably less time. As with most anything you’ll need to allow some time for education and practice on your road to becoming a practiced frugalite. Is it worth it? Absolutely!
- Don’t forget the real issue. Why are you doing what you do? Being thrifty isn’t about saving every little penny. It’s about being conscious of your spending and making deliberate choices about how you spend your money. If you choose to spend on a luxury or forgo a frugal practice, that’s fine. Just know that you are making the choice and why. The more ways you are aware of to save money, the more choices you have in what you choose to do or not do. Don’t feel you have to do everything!
- I recognize that I’m modeling stewardship and educating my family through my thriftiness. Saving money and being financially responsible isn’t about just the money itself. It is about using the resources we’ve been given in a responsible manner. Our children learn from what they see us do. I am confident that my children can get by with less income than the average young adult simply because they’ve grown up watching us make money-saving decisions. Whether they choose to use those skills or not is their decision, but the knowledge will make them that much stronger as they set out on their own. So I’m not only saving money, I’m teaching at the same time. Plus, most thrifty activities involve learning or practicing a variety of useful life skills.
Those are just a few of my thoughts regarding “finding the time” to be frugal. What about you? How do you find the time, in your busy schedules, to save money? I can’t wait to hear your comments!
Taking time to save money works for me! To see more Works for Me Wednesday tips visit We Are That Family.
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From Econobusters.
How To Find Great Freebies
Many of you have shared with me that by the time you get to some of the freebies on Friday, they are already gone, or that applying for a certain freebie floods your email in-box with spam.
Well, today, I thought I would share with you my tips on finding really great freebies and coupons. I use these same techniques all the time and they work wonders!
~The first thing you need to do is create an email account separate from your work or personal email. This is easy to do! GMAIL and HOTMAIL offer free email accounts and are the easiest to use. Once you get your email address set up, the fun begins!
~Google the words “freebie websites” and watch the HUGE amount of freebie sites that pop up! Then, choose your favorite ones and subscribe to receive their posts by email. This way, you will receive one email with all the great freebies that they have posted throughout the day. Your in-box doesn’t get flooded with many e-mails, but good reliable e-mails. Some of my favorite freebie sites are The Freebie Blogger, Hip 2 Save, Freebies 4 Mom, and The Thrifty Groove.
~Once you start receiving the emails with the freebies, just choose the ones you want to apply for. Since you have the separate email account, all the spam should go right into the spam box and you can check it frequently.
~Another way to get freebies is to sign up for Survey Sites. Right now, I am signed up with Minefield Studies and Pinecone Research. I get paid for trying new products and giving them my opinions. It is very easy and simple to do. Right now, Minefield is the only one still taking applications, but keep an eye out because Pinecone always opens the door up every few months to receive new applicants.
~Giveaways! This is another little hobby of mine! I love to fill out for giveaways. I have won embroidery thread, books for my kids, and I recently won an Emergency Preparedness cookbook that I am thoroughly enjoying!
So those are my tips on how I get my freebies and flood my mailbox with great stuff! I hope you can use these same techniques and get some goodies yourself!
Do you have any tips to share with me about finding good freebies?
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From Econobusters.
A Great Way To Save Money on School Books
Guess what I just found out?
That’s right! Border’s is having a sale–STORE WIDE! Normally they only offer a percentage off of one item, but this time around
This is one of those coupons that just could not wait until tomorrow! To gain access to the coupon, just click THIS LINK to head to the Border’s website.
This would be a great time to grab some of those books you have been wanting for school!
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From Econobusters.
Guest post: The many benefits of coupons
I didn’t meet the other Michigan coupon bloggers that I’ve been networking with until March. So I didn’t get a chance to see this post until Meghan offered it to me as a guest article this summer. It was originally posted Jan. 21 on her blog, Savvy Spending: The many benefits of coupons… I like [...]
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From Monroe on a Budget.
Guest post: Fringe benefits of spending coupons
Today’s guest post is from one of southeast Michigan’s busiest bloggers, Laura Webber, a regional coupon class teacher and hostess of Sharpen Your Scissors and Clip and Cook: Little did I know, nearly two and a half years ago when I first began spending coupons, that spending pennies on the dollar for our most often [...]
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From Monroe on a Budget.
Persevere
This post is not about saving money, or coupons, or recipes, or allergies. Today this post is about raising our kids. I am going through something pretty hard right now and I just thought I would share my heart with you.
Our children left for a week long trip to camp yesterday. They have not been away like this in four years. For my son, this comes easy for him because he is an extroverted child and loves to meet new people. For my daughter though, this is one of the hardest things she has ever had to go through. She is 12.
She called late last night all in tears. She was ready to come home. No amount of encouragement from me, her dad, her best friend who is at camp with her, and her brother who is also there could console her. She is ready to come home. Do I go get her or make her tough it out? That is the question on my mind today.
In one sense, I want to rush to her side, grab her up and rescue her from these fears that she has allowed to come in. I wan to scoop her up, hug her and tell her that everything will be okay. But I don’t. What? Why? I have encouraged her to stay and tough it out. I have asked her to pull from her strength from God to make it through.
My reasoning for doing this is simple. She is an introverted child. She has a hard time making friends. She doesn’t always feel that she fits in. But I want her to learn how to overcome her fears–to face them head on. I want her to realize that sometimes, we have to put on our armor that God talks about and fight–face those fears and conquer. Yes, it might be hard at first–to put one foot in front of the other, to step out of our comfort zones and face the unknown. But knowing that God is there to give you comfort and to help you through is a blessing.
On Saturday when I pick her up, I know she will be excited to see me and her dad. But I am hoping she walks away with a proud sense of being able to trust God to get her through a difficult time. I can always rescue if I am capable of it, but I want her to rely on God’s strength for her real strength and not me.
PERSEVERE.
That is the new word for our family this week.
What about you? How would you handle this situation? I would love to hear your thoughts.
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From Econobusters.
How to Save Money Shopping Online
How to Save Money Shopping Online
Learn how to save BIG online by searching for multiple coupons, getting free shipping, comparing prices and researching the brands.
Many consumers think that online shopping is more expensive because they wouldn’t have to pay shipping at the brick-n-mortar store. They don’t know what you’re about to find out.
Did you know [...]
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From Frugal Simplicity.