March Savings and Losses

So March slammed to a close.  We ended up losing my father-in-law to glioblastoma (brain cancer). 
It devastated him, and the final few weeks were unbearable. 

Grocery shopping kinda happened here and there.  However, I am still amazed that our savings were 'the best month ever'.  A few people have tried couponing and a few people are on the band wagon .. it just always amazes me  that some people find it easier to pay FULL price.  Yes, it does take a little bit of organization - but hey - even saving 20 a week adds up to over a $1000.00 a year.  What would you do with that extra $1000?

With the funeral, I wasn't able to put much in savings this month.  Instead the monies went to pay for gas to and from the hospital (1 hour drive each way and sometimes twice a day), meals and flowers for the funeral and so on.

We did put monies against our debt and paid it down by $1556.02 this month.

 

So all in all, March was a good couponing month.  Now on to spring.

 

Rest in peace, dad.



Old Navy St. Paddy's 17% Sale

Luck of the Irish today only, in store and online.  If you are shopping online please use the word LUCKY when you check out.  To redeem instore - show this OLD Navy 17%  to the cashier.

Saving Makes Me Smile

My 'on sale' boots bought me this 1.94L Soap for FREE!

Earlier in the week, I received my Canadian Tire Scratch Card.  You know the one, where when you scratch and win up to $5000?  Well, of course I planned for it to be the scratch-and-win $5.00 card that most of us will get and looked for the deals.   I found a 1.94L Soft Soap Hand Soap Refill on sale for $4.51 regular $15.81.  Plus, I found my Rubber Boots (seen above) on sale for $23.72 regular $33.89.  Less my $5.00 Scratch Card - total savings were $26.47.  I paid $23.23 total! In other words - I paid sale price for the boots and got the hand soap free.  Savings of 53% overall.  Plus we earned a little Canadian Tire Money which we save towards Christmas Gifts. 

 

Okay..now...

 

On to Zellers.  I waited until the bitter end of this chain to get a few deals for our summer trailer. It was worth it.  Along with some much needed socks and brita filters, we purchased all our bedding and a storage unit for 60% off.   On our total bill we saved $95.88 ... but wait we only spent $72.65.  WE SAVED MORE THAN WE SPENT - It would have cost us $168.53 but we saved almost 60%.

 

Today we (hubby and daughter excitedly in on the deals) saved - $122.35. 

 

P.S. I really love my boots.

 

 

 

 

Kelloggs PB Cheerios - Truly Disappointed

I was truly disappointed today.  This coupon came out in February for a free box of Peanut Cheerios when you buy one of the Banana Nut, Apple Cinnamon or Chocolate Cheerios.  I went to 5 grocery stores (a true waste of gas money) and found that 3 had displays of Cheerios (BN, AC and Choco) but no Peanut Butter.  The other 2 didn't even have the Banana Nut or Chocolate.   My question - did Kelloggs know that this item was not stocked in many stores.  I know, I know - it's just a coupon and a box of cereal.  These things frustrate me though.

 I'd love to know if/where you were able to find  these this weekend on the shelves. 

 

Guess I will settle for the plain ones.... or a waffle.                 

                

 

 

30+1 Ways to Save a Buck or Two : Utilities

Ah, March Break.  I am a little excited to go out and explore with the daughter but also afraid of the holiday crowds and manic children.  Tomorrow, we will hit up the art museum and deal-hunt in the big city.  I can feel the end of winter trying to shake itself off and it teased us the other morning with the bright blue sky and clear sunshine.  However, we are back to the grey and my mood took a big hit with the palate change.  I found myself discouraged with everything.  I had to reframe and reconnect to what is important and I wanted to share that : I'm not in this blogger/Facebook couponing world to score friends or follower rather I find this sort of journaling and connecting a great way to track my journey of saving and to continue to convince myself of its benefits.  Hopefully along the way I may encourage someone else too.

 

So, past all the whino-babbling, Money Monday's topic is saving money on your Utility Bills

 

There are several advantages to lowering your Utility usage:

 

               1) You save money

               2) You conserve energy

               3) You help the planet

               4) You WILL feel good about yourself

 

Keep track of how many of the following you currently do.  On the sidebar, when you are done reading, you can answer the poll as to how many you are implementing at present. 

Ways to Save a Buck or Two: Utilities

1. Install a programmable thermostat.
2. Insulate your attic, hot water tank and hot water pipes.
3. Don't turn on the heat/air conditioning until you absolutely need too.
4. Use white curtains/blinds to reflect heat away from you home in the summer.
5. Use a de-humidifier to reduce moisture in your home making it feel cooler.
6. Use ceiling fans, floor fans and space heaters.
7. Close vents in rooms you are not using.
8. Open windows for fresh air and cool breezes.
9. Caulk around doors, windows, baseboards and use weather stripping where necessary.
10. Install storm doors and windows.
11. Turn off the lights in rooms you are no longer using.
12. Install CFL light bulbs.
13. Install energy-efficient appliances: freezers, stove, refridgerator, dishwasher, dryer, washer.
14. Unplug appliances not in use.
15. Install low-flow toilets and low-flow shower heads.
16. Don’t leave the water running while brushing your teeth or washing dishes.
17. Take 5 minute showers.
18.  Use your washing machine, dryer and dishwasher at non-peak hours (Ontario Hydro)
19.  Always use cold water when you run the washing machine.
20.  Only run full loads (washer/dryer/dishwasher)
21.  Clean out the lint trap in your dryer.
22.  Line-dry your clothing.
23. Wear clothing twice before washing, unless they are stained or very dirty.
24. Wash hoodies, sweaters, bedsheets and towels once a month unless they are very dirty.
25.  Fill empty spots in your fridge and freezer with jugs of water.  This saves on operating costs.
26.  Clean refrigerator coils a few times per year.
27.  Air dry your dishes.
28.  Use a slow cooker or toaster oven.
29.  Cook in batches.  Only use the oven once per day or less.
29. Turn the oven off during the last few minutes of cooking - residual heat will finish the job.
30.  In the winter, when finished cooking, leave the oven door cracked to heat the house (DO NOT do this if you have small children.
31. Use power strips and or timers for plugs, use timers for sprinklers, outdoor/Christmas lights.

Remember, learning to do these things is a process.  I usually try to practice a new idea (say number 24) for a month or two before I try to tackle another one.

Do you have more ideas about saving on Utilities?  Please comment below, enter your # in the sidebar Poll and happy savings!

The Art of Free Cycling

Free cycling is when a person passes an unwanted item on to another person for free. Rather than disposing of the item in the trash and having the item find its way into the garbage dump the practice of free cycling frees up space in landfills and cuts down on the need to manufacture new goods.  It is eco-friendly, economical, fun and a good use/re-use of resources.

 

Groups are arranged locally as it is easiest to trade/exchange and travel locally.  You can find these groups using Facebook, the Free cycle network, freecycle.org/.  Each group has its own rules that are for the benefit of the group.  Remember you are not just there to find stuff and resell it.  SO NOT COOL.  Etiquette is to offer items as well as seek them.

WANTED:  searching for an item.

FOUND: telling others you found what you were looking for

OFFER: letting the group know you have an item(s) to give away

TAKEN: informs the group that you have successfully passed the item on to its new life.

What can be free cycled or found on a free cycle network.

Any working appliance can find homes in shelters, low income households etch. Dumping an item when there others struggling to afford that same item is fundamentally wrong.  Computers are highly sought after ~ many children can use one to do their homework on.

Furniture.  From baby needs to adult furniture, these things move fast.  Many people are looking for items to creatively re-construct or cheaply makeover.  Mattresses are heavily sought after in low-income situations.  We even free-cycled a broken wooden bed frame and the family that came for it were excited to rescue, renovate and use it.

Children's play equipment such as swing sets and trampolines to baby rattles are also popular. Please check all aspects of safety on the product before offering as a free cycle item or  receiving as a free cycle item.   Some cribs, car seats and high chairs simply are not allowed to trade hands anymore.  The safety of a child is paramount. 

Collectables, clothing, compost, flowers, hardware, leftover housing renovation products, fish tanks, old carpet, pools, books and on and on and on....can be reused, repurposed and rehomed.

 

Here is our list of items we've acquired from Freecycle:

 

Garden Plants                             

16x10 decking                                 

1986-2008 Complete set of National Geographics

Roof for our chicken house

fencing

Futon Frame

 

Items I've rehomed

Garden plants

table saw (not working for parts)

Fish Tanks

Broken Bed Frame

Bedding

 

Items that cannot be free cycled include:  animals, tobacco, alcohol, guns, ammunition, knives and in other words anything illicit.

So try it.  I’m pretty sure you will like it.  The benefits will leave a smile on many faces.

 

 

Budget

I hate this word and frankly we fail at keeping to one.  We’ve racked up debt and both hubby and I lean towards impulse spending.  I’ve watched my own parents go bankrupt.  I recognized too that there are things I really want to be part of my life and future– and chasing the almighty dollar was not one of them. 

Past tense : We were unhappy and needed to take our financial lives by the reins.

The funny thing – wait for it – I am a bookkeeper for a local non-profit.  I track their money, reconcile their accounts, track the budget and suggest areas of improvement. I hear you laughing.     A debt-addled individual bookkeeping when she doesn’t even keep her own books.

Last April, I changed this.  I purchased (online) the same software I use at work and began to track our spending.  At first we didn’t change any of our habits but we looked at areas that we felt we spent too much.  It turned out that we found three areas that our money was ‘leaking’.

1.      Fast Food  (over $1800 per year? Chips, Pop, Convenience Stores, Take Out)

2.      Gym Membership ($700 a year and we were not getting there more than once a week)

3.      Vehicle Expenses (Specifically Insurance and Fuel).

These are the area’s we budgeted first and began to practice changing habits.  Fast food is now a travel-only treat.  Our Gym-Membership was cancelled except for our daughter – whose membership can be entered as a tax-credit on our federal forms.  And our vehicle expenses: 1) we shopped around for insurance rates and found one that saved us $1400 a year and 2) I decided that 3 days a week, May 1 – October 1^st,  I will be biking to work (That is 63 days of biking 9kms or 567km saved in gas.  It also makes up for the cancelling of a gym membership).

Budgeting is a learning curve.  We are still struggling in some areas but we continue to WATCH our finances and improve the ‘leaks’.

Here is a link to a great resource if you are interested in starting a budget.  Ten steps - just ten steps:  Canadian Budget Binder

 

 

Purging Your Life

 

 

I remember in university having one essay returned at least four times with the same failing mark and 'edit further' written in red pen.  I was careless with frivolous words so that many times my ideas became lost in fluff.  I learned to editing myself brutally (no sarcastic comments about why I don’t do that with my blog posts). I learned that if you cut out everything that’s not necessary you’ve got a more meaningful story.

 

I highly recommend editing your life.

 

Today’s edit: The rooms in your house, one at a time.

Are you surrounded by clutter in every room in your home?

 

Clutter is visually distracting and stressful — every item that you see demands your mind’s attention, and despite that it is subconscious, these little distractions add up. It’s difficult to have peace and to focus amid this clutter. I recommend that you edit each of the rooms in your house, one per week, until you have de-cluttered your home and made it a peaceful and calming place to be.
 

 

Here’s how:

 

Choose a room to do this week.

Focus on one room, and try to do 15 minutes at a time.  Seven steps to heaven!

 

1) Skip the closets and drawers that are out of sight for now. Focus on the things you can see.
 

2) Like Debt-Snowballing, start with the big things. Is there too much furniture in the room? What is necessary, which furniture do you love, which stuff is just too distracting.

3) Clear all flat surfaces. Desktops, tabletops, counter tops, dressers etc. Remove all papers, piles of stuff, little junk, knick-knacks, anything. Put it on the floor/bed. Now get a trash bag and two boxes. Sort through everything in your pile(s), one item at a time. Each item should be either thrown away in the trash bag, put in one box to give away/sell (to friends, family or charity), or in the other box to put in another room in the house.

4) Put back only a couple select items on the flat surfaces, such as a family photo or something that functionally belongs there.

 

5) Now go around the room and edit what's left.  This may be things on the walls. Be merciless and edit brutally - the more you get rid of the better.

6) Purge and Place. Put recycling out, throw out the trash and take the other box and put that stuff  away where it belongs. 

7) Sit down and look around - enjoy peaceful goodness.

 

Now, this editing process is not a destination, but an ongoing process. It won’t last long if you don’t have a system and develop habits to keep it de-cluttered.

Here’s the system:

SYS1 ~ "A place for everything, and everything in its place"

SYS2 ~ Inbox all incoming papers.  No Piles anywhere

 

SYS3 ~ Clean up at night before bed.

SYS4 ~ Every six months, declutter

Purge away little savers!

Thanks to Zenhabits uncopyright. Ideas taken and edited. He is a great resource.

Coupon Suzzy's Blog

I'm still on Facebook, but I was finding it's publishing of posts tiresome and lacking in aesthetics.

So.... I'm blogging again. 

Apparently, sometime in 2011 Facebook stopped allowing an automatic feed to blogs - so I will link posts to the page.  It also lets you puruse my ideas and couponing, savings and frugal suggestions without scrolling through a Facebook page of posts.  All in one place now and labelled for easy access.

Money Monday, Totally Coupon Tuesday, Wednesday Winnings, Thursday Transformations, Freebie Fridays, Simple Saturdays and Sunday Savings .... and more.

Now you can visit my blog and read the post in its true form and still benefit from the status update of Facebook as well as my posting of deals and coupons along the way!

Let me know if this seems a good or bad idea?  Not that everything I do is based on public approval anyways.

Blog on girl, blog on.

 

 

I’ve been neglecting my posts of late but it has been due to a member of my family fighting a very aggressive brain cancer. As I try to maintain some semblance of normality I found myself wishing there was a coupon that would grant us more... time with the ones we love...

Wouldn’t we all want that?

I thought that I’d challenge the idea that couponing is hard to do. It really isn’t. I think that baby stepping into it – doing a few price matches one week, a few more the next then introducing coupon and price matching is a way of easing into learning to be AWESOME at it.

I recently showed up to a couponing class with my organized and pretty scrapbook style coupon binder and I remember that there were those who were in love with it and those who said they would never take the time to do it and just threw their coupons in a shopping bag to take with them. Organization is involved but it is more about STRATEGY.

SUCCESSFUL COUPONING STRATEGY

SET A BUDGET Determine your weekly grocery limit and stick with it. Limits force you to be more creative with coupons and with ways you can stretch your resources. Setting a budget also helps you to live within your means, get out debt and save for your goals.

START SMALLTake baby steps. You are busy enough! Don't be stressed if you miss a sale or you did not use a coupon. Sales come week after week. As you learn, techniques become secondhand and your savings will increase.

LEARN the STORE RULES. Coupon policies are always changing and are frequently misunderstood. Go to the store websites to see if you can find their coupon policy online. Print it out and take it with you when shopping. Some cashiers may not know their own coupon policy well and take away your benefits by mistake.

MATCH UP SALE ITEMS WITH COUPONS This is where watching the flyers and staying connected to other couponers allows you to catch that amazing store sale for $1.00 that you can match your $1.00 coupon against and get for free. This is the real savings of couponing.

BUY the SMALLER PACKAGE. Isn't larger the cheaper? It normally is. However, when you are using coupons, you want to pay as little out of pocket as possible. For example, a large body wash is $3 while a small one is $2, and you have a $2 coupon. Even though the larger one seems to be more economical per oz, you should purchase the small one with your coupon instead. Paying $0 is better than paying $1. You can always find more coupons to purchase more and pay little or nothing.

TAKE ADVANTAGE of OVERAGES When the coupon's value is higher than an item, overage occurs. The overage can be applied to non-sale items to lower your total out-of-pocket expense. Stores I know that do this are Wal-mart and Giant Tiger! They are your friends.

BUY WHAT YOU DON'T WANT TO GET WHAT YOU DO WANT For example, there is a razor on sale for $2 and you have a $4 coupon for it. You may not even use razors but you can take advantage of its overage for non-sale items that you really need, organic/gluten free products, which are rarely on sale. The unwanted items can go to your gift pile or charity box.

ASK for A RAINCHECK Rain checks normally last for 30 days. It allows you to purchase the item at the sales price even after the sale ends. They normally put a limit on how many you can get. If you plan on using a store coupon that also expires soon, you may ask that a note be added to the raincheck to honor the coupon.
Don't forget the clearance section Most stores have a clearance section. Check it whenever you visit the store. You may find free items there, i.e. with the right coupons. (End of aisles too).

KNOW YOUR CASHIERS Most cashiers don't understand how couponing works. Some of them may even despise you, but that's far and few. Don't let that discourage you. You know you are not doing anything illegal. Couponing is a legitimate way of bartering as long as you play by the rules. Note the following:

o Men cashiers accept most coupons.
o Young women accept most coupons.
o Avoid old/middle aged women. (Message me if you want names locally)
o Most cashiers seem sympathetic to shoppers with children in tow.
o If you believe a cashier has unfairly not honored a coupon, ask them politely if they could double

   check with their supervisor.
o Try to remember their names and be friendly. When you are memorable, you are more than just

   another customer. Express that you are grateful they are helping you budget for your family – this

   works for me ALL the time.
o Sort your coupons and match them with the items you buy at checkout.  This saves the cashier a lot

   of time and patience.

WHEN TO SHOP? The best time is in the evening or morning. The store is less busy and cashiers seem to be more relax and friendly. There is no long line behind you to give you pressure. Avoid pension day and baby bonus day. BELIEVE me these are not fun days to be in line.

Practice, Practice, Practice.

All I got was a Weight Loss Book

 

 

So, have you ever won anything in a contest?

I unfortunately have had the luck of ONLY winning one contest and it was a book about losing weight. Not the greatest prize, I’ll admit.

There are so many contests available nowadays and here is some of the sound advice I have found.

Enter Daily Entry Sweepstakes Daily

This is really the only legal way to give yourself an advantage over others for those sweepstakes that award their prize through a random draw. Think about it f...or a second. If you and I both enter a draw that allows only a single entry per person, we both have an equal chance of winning. But if you enter a sweepstakes that allows daily entry and you enter it only once while I enter it every day for a month, I'll win 30 times as often as you. Here's another way of looking at it - 10 people enter a daily entry contest, 8 of them enter once and 2 of them enter every day for a month. When it comes time for the draw, 60 of the 68 entries belong to the 2 users who entered daily. Who do you think is going to win? The numbers I used for that example aren't realistic but you can change the numbers and the math remains the same. All serious sweepers understand this - and if you really want to win something, you're better off spending your time entering a small number of daily entry sweeps on a regular basis than entering a large number of single entry ones. If you are a casual sweeper, stick to the single entry contests - that way you will have the same chance of winning as me and my hard-core friends.

Essay and Photo Contests

Any giveaway that requires you to take a photo, write an essay or something similar is going to get very few entries and anyone who does enter will have great odds of winning. There are some contests, however, that require you to upload a photo or an essay but the winner is decided through a random draw - that is to say, your photo or essay isn't voted on or judged. These are the ones you should jump on when you find them. These are fun too

Facebook Contests

I know a lot of people don't like Facebook giveaways - mostly because they can be intrusive, asking for not only your information but sometimes for information on your friends and even asking to post to your wall pretending to be you. I agree that there can be some real privacy issues with some of these giveaways and I'm really surprised that some companies feel they have the right to be so invasive. Having said that, there are some really great sweeps that are only available on Facebook and as time goes on, there are more and more of them. Facebook sweeps are here to stay, they are usually very easy to enter and if you ignore them, you're missing out.

So I created THIS Facebook profile for myself that I only use for couponing and entering sweepstakes. I am happy to "like" any company that is offering a good giveaway and if they want to junk up my page with their own posts, go ahead. I feel a bit conflicted with having a separate profile for sweeping because I don't like fooling anyone but I think that the things I am holding back are things that these companies have no right to ask for in the first place. I am not recommending that you do the same thing - I'm only telling you what I have done.

Find Local Giveaways
Local contests are great, however, and usually have good odds of winning. To find local contests, search Google or Bing for a list of websites for newspapers and radio stations in your town. You'll find these websites often have a page listing their current sweeps.

Spam

I try as much as is possible, to keep the level of spam in my inbox down. When entering contests, some of the sites hosting these will use your information to spam you, so you must be careful to assess the site hosting the contest. Ask yourself if you trust the site that you are on. Be careful about what kind of information you give them, and what you agree to receive in return for entering contests. Read the entry form carefully, as there can be somewhat hidden check boxes that will sign you up for things you may not want.

To avoid avoid spam in your regular email address is to set up a special email just for contests using, gmail, yahoo or other free email hosting sites. You will become more astute at recognizing spammy or scammy sites, the more you enter. Make sure you trust the company holding the contest.

Scams

Sometimes companies or people will misrepresent what they are doing, by enticing you to enter a contest. Some timeshare companies are notorious for doing this - you enter your info into a ballot box somewhere and they call to say that you've "qualified" to win a big prize, and all you have to do is go somewhere and listen to a presentation. Unless, you want to be sold a timeshare apartment, say "no".

If the sponsor of a contest is unclear, it's likely a scam.

You should never be asked to pay for anything, in order to win a contest.

If you're told you've won a big sweepstakes or that trip to the Bahamas that you don't recall entering, it is likely a scam.

You will never be asked for credit information or your banking information if you are a winner. You should only be asked for contact information and in Canada, most sweepstake winners are required to answer a skill testing question.
If you're sent a winning email, notice the email address of the sender--if it's unnecessarily complicated or doesn't add up to the info you have, then it's possibly a scam.


Always Read the Rules

It's very important that you understand the rules before you enter an online contest. Some sweeps are regional and only allow entries from certain cities or states, some require you to be a certain age, some allow only a single entry while others allow you to enter multiple times, some allow you to enter yourself, your husband and your children while others allow only one entry per household, and so on. You really should read the rules before entering any sweepstakes to make sure you understand the restictions and for a description of what you're signing up for.

Have Fun

You will win if you keep trying. It may be a free bag of chips, or a free supper , or a book on weight loss --- or something you really want.

But – it will be free.

Saving in a Jar

 

 

Here is a simple way to practice saving we learned from practicing with our daughter.
Here is how it works with a young child.

1) Put three clear ½ pint jars on his/her dresser.
2) Label 1: Save, 2: Spend 3: Give.
3) Now pay her a monthly allowance. A suggestion I’ve widely seen is $1.00 x their age per week. When she was 5 we started this practice by giving her $20.00 a month in loonies and toonies. She had the responsibility to pick one item to save towards (at 5 ...years old this was a Tinkerbell doll for $19.95).

4) With her $20.00 in hand she divided the amounts between the 3 jars.

At first, all her money went into spending and believe me it was spent very quickly. After a few weeks though, when we asked how much she had saved towards her doll she started to listen to our suggestion to put some money into savings and giving. I think it took us only 3 months for her to acquire that first doll. At the store she paid the attendant for the item and walked out proud as a peacock. The next few weeks she was putting more and more aside to save for items then before. She also has learned that the smile on the faces of the people you give money to for charity is a reward in its own.

Now that she is 10, we do it a little differently.
1) She has a notebook with 4 columns: 1 Save, 2 Spend, 3 Give 4 Balance.
2) She receives $40.00 a month allowance. This time NOT in cash.
3) On paper, practicing her grade 4 math skills we work out splitting the monies between Save/Give/Spend. If money is put on paper into savings – she adds that to her working balance of Savings (fourth column).

4) We transfer the money out of our bank account into a savings account that we opened when we began her RESP.

5) The money she chooses to give and spend is given to her in cash and we donate the one and she has charge of the other.

This year, because she knows that savings work – she has chosen to save for a larger $200.00 item. She also picked between 5 charities and choose to give her money to a local father to help him pay for his cancer treatment (she doesn’t want his child to lose a daddy). She does not have a DEBIT card. All amounts are cash only.

Get it? Sorta?
One jar Save, one jar Give, one jar Spend.

Now, for us grownups who love our debit cards. Here’s the deal: you NEED to see your savings grow.

1) Set 3 glass 1L jars on your bedroom dresser. Label Spend, Give, Save.
2) Pay yourself a small weekly practice allowance (even if it is $10.00/40bucks a month! do it! We do $20.00 a week) Get the money in small bills and coin (5’s, Twoonies and Loonies).

3) Divide your money. Put the lids on and practice taking only from the jar for that activity. You want a Timmies’ coffee – pull from spend. You would like to donate 3 cans of food the local food bank, buy three cans and donate. You CANNOT switch money from any jar to the other until the end of the month.

At the end of the month her are the ADULT options -->

A) Savings:
i) Put Savings in the bank into a separate Savings account.
ii) Leave Savings and continue to build it in the jar.
iii) Spend Savings because you have reached your goal.

B) Spending monies left over: Automatically put these into Savings.
C) Giving money left over - continue to build this jar or donate immediatly
D) Put your new month’s money divided between the three jars.

This system is not your savings for a new car, or 10% you pay yourself from each check. This is visual practice with smaller amounts for miscellaneous items bought weekly. I spend mine on tea, a sub lunch, lip balm etc. My savings this month are for a badly needed highlight job (Shh.... I’m a real blonde - as the roots grow out it encourages me to save more.)

Try it. We’ve practiced this for years and although it has been one step forward and two back sometimes. We can see when we are improving and we defiantly are happy with the money-tips we are teaching our daughter.

Let me know what you think. Who’s going to try it this month?

 

 

Simplify

One of the best ways we have found to save is to simplify. Keeping up with the Jones’ just magnifies our personal stockpile of stuff and debt. Living simply means getting rid of things you do so you can spend time with the people you love and do the things that make you passionate. It means getting rid of clutter so you are left with the things you value. Getting to a simple life is not simple though; it is a journey that takes a few steps forward and then some falling ba...ck. It takes practice.

It is WELL worth it.

Grab a piece of paper. Now write the following.

1. What is most important to me?

Your list could be two things, or ten things. This is mine.

1. Family (dogs included)
2. Journey of Faith
3. Nature
4. Learning

Next step. Eliminate everything else. YIKES. Okay let’s take some baby steps.

This week, today:

EVALUATE COMMITMENTS.
Edit your life ruthlessly. List your commitments, Work, family, hobbies, civic duties, religious, home, etc. Which ones bring value to your life and match what is most important to you? How would it affect you if you dropped this commitment?

It is a difficult thing to do but if you dropped just one thing for a few weeks – the thing that gives you the least return for your invested time – you can evaluate whether or not it was necessary in the first place.

You may feel guilty or that you have let others down. Please balance this with the freedom of having more time and energy to put into your other commitments. It will make you better all around.

I’ve discovered during this exercise that I’ve been putting in a fair amount of overtime at work lately trying to dig through a mountain of things to do. You know what, as long as I am not fired – I have the whole year to prioritize and accomplish things eventually.

Goal: My commitment to overtime is null and void. I will practice this next week. I’ll let you know how I do next Saturday.

So what is your goal to simplifying your commitments?

Pet Food and Laundry Detergent (FREE)

Everyone likes something for free. I'm not talking about the spritz of perfume on a pretty piece of paper or a 1/4 inch of food that you get at Cosco on Saturdays. I'm talking about things that make a dent in our everyday lives. Here are two examples:

One
In a welcome bag at a doggy event, I received a free package of Urban Wolf Natural Grain Free Dog Food Base. This base sells for $42.75. We mixed it with our... own meat and it made 20 cups of wet food. This is comparable to 20 cans of premium dog food @ $3.27/ea. In total that means that we saved 42.75 + (3.27x20)+HST or $122.21 dollars. Now that's a savings to bark at!

Two
I sent away for Purex samples twice last year and received 3 packets 2x. Each packet did 2 medium loads of laundry. Purex 24-33 L Laundry detergents sells regularly for $5.27 or 18cents per load (30loads). So these packets saved me only $2.18cents .... but it did do 1week and a half of laundry.

So check out some of the online freebies I've posted today.

Ask local retailers if they have sample sizes of items to try. Ask nicely and say something like 'I'm really interested in this product you have ... do you have a sample I can take home to try?' The worst they can say is no ... the other answer is yes and that is FREE!

Oh and SHARE - what are some of the great freebies you've come across?