The weather is getting cooler around here, which for me means that we can finally get outside a bit more to get the much needed fresh air and enjoy the outdoors before winter gets here. Whenever I think of going outside and spending some time, I think “PICNIC.” Picnics are a great chance to save money and enjoy the scenery in the Low Country while not breaking the bank. There are some great offerings for picnic ideas at the local grocery stores this week whether you want to do a dinner picnic at the beach or head to the Beaufort Water front with a blanket for a great water view lunch.
Obviously sandwiches are a great lunch choice, I have found that Food Lion normally has the best deals on lunch meat, but I am not a huge fan of their customer service. Publix has a Serrano Ham in the deli that is always $2.99 per pound, where you only need about a ½ pound for a few sandwiches. This week there is a Land O’lakes coupon at Coupons.com for $1.00 off deli cheese, so if you need some cheese for your sandwiches, this is a great savings. If you want to pump it up a notch, head to the bakery and grab some good sub rolls that are normally about $2.00 or so, or throw it on your bread from home for free – Your Choice. For some healthy side items, Crunch Pak Apple slices are $2.50, Pears are .99 per pound, and the Eat Smart Veggies are $1.67 each. Grab some cookies or cream cake to satisfy your sweet tooth and you can easily feed your gang for less than $10.00.
For a picnic dinner, Publix has a meal deal where you can get fried chicken, 2 sides, and bread for normally around $10.99, I think. This goes on sale from time to time as well. This is not the healthiest option, but it’s such a good choice when you want to splurge on calories because their fried chicken is yummy! We normally grab a container of potato salad and macaroni salad, with the sweet rolls for a treat on the beach. They have the napkins and utensils and the bag to boot, so toss it all in and you have an indulgent treat at a cost saving price.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Keep Positive, things could be worse . . .
You know that I have been listening to stories from my friends and family lately regarding their finances and troubles with money in general, and my husband constantly reminds me, "it could be worse." I always nod, yes, he is right, but I never really take the time to consider what part could be worse. When he says it, I completely agree, but it's just a hypothetical and doesn't seem to keep me from wallowing later on. This past Sunday we were sitting in church, we had dropped our toddler off in the nursery, but I always keep our infant with me so that I can make sure her needs are met. This isn't always easy, and I do try to keep her as quiet as possible, regardless of what the people around me think. As I was rocking and feeding and rocking her, I heard the pastor start to talk about brooks drying up in our lives. He metaphorically compared a brook drying up to unemployment, loss of a house, or less opportunities and money as before. My husband and I looked at each other eerily, and my focus went back to the pastor. I was thinking about things that we had lost over the last few years.
We make less money, we are on a tighter budget, bills seem to be growing by the minute, and I feel like my brook has begun to dry up. With that I listened more closely, as the pastor singled out a man in the church with his wife. He told the story of this man fighting a very aggressive form of cancer, and how he has been told by doctors that there is not much more they can do for him. Tears filled my eyes as I held my infant closer. He told of the good times in this man's life and how the man is feeling that his brook is drying up. Hard times have befallen him and he doesn't know why. Once the tears started to come, I could not stop them. I was crying for this man, but also crying because of how selfish I felt. Here I was in church worrying about our income growing smaller, when a few rows ahead of me, a woman was worrying that her husband is dying. It touched me, and it make me realize how small my problems really are in comparison. Yes, I will continue to save money and work toward my goal, but I also need a reality check from time to time to remind me that things could be so much worse.
We make less money, we are on a tighter budget, bills seem to be growing by the minute, and I feel like my brook has begun to dry up. With that I listened more closely, as the pastor singled out a man in the church with his wife. He told the story of this man fighting a very aggressive form of cancer, and how he has been told by doctors that there is not much more they can do for him. Tears filled my eyes as I held my infant closer. He told of the good times in this man's life and how the man is feeling that his brook is drying up. Hard times have befallen him and he doesn't know why. Once the tears started to come, I could not stop them. I was crying for this man, but also crying because of how selfish I felt. Here I was in church worrying about our income growing smaller, when a few rows ahead of me, a woman was worrying that her husband is dying. It touched me, and it make me realize how small my problems really are in comparison. Yes, I will continue to save money and work toward my goal, but I also need a reality check from time to time to remind me that things could be so much worse.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Get back on the horse
This is a journey because if I had mastered the art of saving money by now, I wouldn't be in the position of having to keep a tight budget. The biggest reason that we fail in our budgeted spending is that we love to be out and eat out. We went to the beach one night last week and didn't really think about dinner. Around 5:30pm our toddler started to get cranky, and we were just coming off the beach. We were all getting hungry for dinner and it occurred to me that we would be getting home around 6pm or so, then I would need to cook something for dinner and we may not eat until 7pm. Way too late for our little one and we were not wanting to wait either. Across the street is Fudruckers, which is against both of our mantras lately: Eat Healthy and Save Money. So we totally blew it. We spend $26.00 on hamburgers and fries for 3 people. It was yummy, but it came with the feeling of regret afterward.
I refuse to beat myself up for these off track events, that is exactly why it is a journey for us and now we just need to get back on that horse and keep going forward. This week I will try to be a little tighter on my grocery shopping because of our splurge, and keep trying to find additional ways to cut my budget.
I refuse to beat myself up for these off track events, that is exactly why it is a journey for us and now we just need to get back on that horse and keep going forward. This week I will try to be a little tighter on my grocery shopping because of our splurge, and keep trying to find additional ways to cut my budget.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Talk about it!
I was raised that it is taboo to talk about money . . . how much we make, how much we spend, how much debt someone is carrying. Well, in writing this blog I pretty much threw that right out of the window, but I still find myself closing down a bit when people are trying to talk to me about money. I am throwing out the savings ideas left and right, but today when I am getting my hair cut, the hair stylist is talking to me about saving money because she is saving for a car. She starts to tell me a bit about how she ran up some credit cards at 18 years old and is still paying them off. Did I jump in and start giving her some of my ideas, did I at least offer that I had done the same thing when I was 18 years old? Nope, I just sat there and listened. I did offer that I was writing a blog on the subject, she seemed interested, but for some reason I did not say another word about it. I swear that there is a little person that sits on my shoulder saying, "You shouldn't be talking about this, it's not right". I would like to squish that little guy, because here I sit regretting that I didn't pipe up and try to help her.
The point today is to talk about it. Talk to your friends, talk to your family, talk to anyone who will listen, because many of us have been taught not to talk about finances and money. BUT . . . I have found that my friends have some great tips, and each one does things a little different that if we put all the ideas into a plan of action, we could dig ourselves right out of debt. One of my friends uses Ebates.com when she buys diapers from diapers.com. She tells me that the diapers there are the cheapest around, and they offer free shipping. By using Ebates, she gets money back just for purchasing the items that she needs to buy anyway. My other friend collects the Pampers rewards and earns enough to get a diapers.com gift card from time to time, and even gets the rewards from her daycare to earn more. Hey, if no one is using them, why shouldn't she??
As a side note, to save money lately on my beauty routine, I have stopped highlighting my hair cold turkey. I have been coloring and getting my hair done on a monthly basis since I was 15, and now is the time to stop. Just by getting my hair only cut and styled today instead of highlighting it, I saved over $100. Since I would normally spend over $150.00 at the salon to get my hair done, I'm now spending more like $50! Super bonus, I am going to be posting a note next week of some of the salons in the area and their prices. We all know that it's so hard to comparison shop for your hair-do, so we just pay what they tell us to. Today that stops, let's be informed Bluffton consumers instead!
The point today is to talk about it. Talk to your friends, talk to your family, talk to anyone who will listen, because many of us have been taught not to talk about finances and money. BUT . . . I have found that my friends have some great tips, and each one does things a little different that if we put all the ideas into a plan of action, we could dig ourselves right out of debt. One of my friends uses Ebates.com when she buys diapers from diapers.com. She tells me that the diapers there are the cheapest around, and they offer free shipping. By using Ebates, she gets money back just for purchasing the items that she needs to buy anyway. My other friend collects the Pampers rewards and earns enough to get a diapers.com gift card from time to time, and even gets the rewards from her daycare to earn more. Hey, if no one is using them, why shouldn't she??
As a side note, to save money lately on my beauty routine, I have stopped highlighting my hair cold turkey. I have been coloring and getting my hair done on a monthly basis since I was 15, and now is the time to stop. Just by getting my hair only cut and styled today instead of highlighting it, I saved over $100. Since I would normally spend over $150.00 at the salon to get my hair done, I'm now spending more like $50! Super bonus, I am going to be posting a note next week of some of the salons in the area and their prices. We all know that it's so hard to comparison shop for your hair-do, so we just pay what they tell us to. Today that stops, let's be informed Bluffton consumers instead!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Coupons Coupons and More Coupons
If you picked up your Sunday paper this week, then you got the P&G coupon booklet, right???? Great coupons this week, and the big bonus is the Coupon Booklet that you can receive from P&G which they are claiming is worth $110 in savings. Thankfully, I have been saving my receipts each week so that I can comparison shop and look back at prices and savings; so I am already in the habit of sticking them in a safe place.
In order to receive this coupon booklet, you need to spend at least $50 on P&G items between 08/20/10 and 12/31/10. I use Tide and Pampers, and can tell you that I spend close to $80 per month on diapers so I don't see this being a problem at all. Other qualifying items that you may already buy include Crest, Bounty, Cascade, Charmin, Downey, and Duracell batteries. Heck just in getting a hurricane supply bin together you could probably rack up enough items to get this coupon book. The Mail In Form appeared on the 2nd page of the P&G coupons, but if you didn't have a chance to get the Sunday paper this week, there is a link to the form that you can use at www.southernsavers.com.
This Sunday when I went to Publix, I used $18.00 in coupons alone, I was so proud of myself because really that's the equivalent of a package of diapers for me, or a manicure but who's really keeping tabs on that :)
In order to receive this coupon booklet, you need to spend at least $50 on P&G items between 08/20/10 and 12/31/10. I use Tide and Pampers, and can tell you that I spend close to $80 per month on diapers so I don't see this being a problem at all. Other qualifying items that you may already buy include Crest, Bounty, Cascade, Charmin, Downey, and Duracell batteries. Heck just in getting a hurricane supply bin together you could probably rack up enough items to get this coupon book. The Mail In Form appeared on the 2nd page of the P&G coupons, but if you didn't have a chance to get the Sunday paper this week, there is a link to the form that you can use at www.southernsavers.com.
This Sunday when I went to Publix, I used $18.00 in coupons alone, I was so proud of myself because really that's the equivalent of a package of diapers for me, or a manicure but who's really keeping tabs on that :)
Monday, August 30, 2010
Emptying my tank
Over the last year, Mint.com estimates that I have spent $6,600 in gas and fuel for a Toyota Tacoma and a Toyota Venza. Quick math will tell you that according to that information, I spend on average $550 per month, $126 per week, and $18 per day on gas alone. This was a shocking number for me, because I don't consider myself to be a commuter, nor do I think that we spend a great deal of time in the car at all. When I start to add all the auto amounts in my head, including car payments, insurance, maintenance, and gas . . . my heart begins to race as I come up with the number; we spend $52 per day on our cars. For now our car payments are set, we just changed our auto insurance company to lower the monthly costs, and my husband has started to change the oil in our cars himself. That really only leaves us with gas. I did a little research and found some tips for saving money on gas. I am going to start implementing some of them; I say some of them because you must know this about me . . . I love my car and I love to drive. In my car I come up with some of my greatest ideas, I can formulate answers to the biggest problems in my life, and when life gets a little crazy, I can turn up the music and jam my worries away! So knowing this, you must know that giving up driving entirely is not an option, but cutting back - Let's see, shall we:
1. Park in the first spot that you see, don't drive around finding one that is closer or more convenient (I am so guilty of this one, including the fact that I sometimes drop my husband at a store only to drive around the parking lot to lull the baby back to sleep)
2. Take care of your car - apparently cars that are well maintained run more efficiently and get better gas mileage (Oops, I am super guilty of this one, yes I am the girl that will let my car go 10,000 miles without an oil change.)
3. Find better gas prices - I use gasbuddy.com, but don't go overboard when looking for the cheapest gas because if you are driving further to get the better price, you could be spending more than you are saving.
4. Drive less (duh) - but the funny thing about this one is that we are all guilty of it. This is where you go to Target in the morning to get diapers, then head out later to Walgreens to pick up the prescription that you forgot to get earlier. Make a list of everything that you need to do and try to minimize trips.
How much do you spend in gas per day? I'll bet that you don't know. . . find out the answer and possibly find out the key to saving a little bit more money!
1. Park in the first spot that you see, don't drive around finding one that is closer or more convenient (I am so guilty of this one, including the fact that I sometimes drop my husband at a store only to drive around the parking lot to lull the baby back to sleep)
2. Take care of your car - apparently cars that are well maintained run more efficiently and get better gas mileage (Oops, I am super guilty of this one, yes I am the girl that will let my car go 10,000 miles without an oil change.)
3. Find better gas prices - I use gasbuddy.com, but don't go overboard when looking for the cheapest gas because if you are driving further to get the better price, you could be spending more than you are saving.
4. Drive less (duh) - but the funny thing about this one is that we are all guilty of it. This is where you go to Target in the morning to get diapers, then head out later to Walgreens to pick up the prescription that you forgot to get earlier. Make a list of everything that you need to do and try to minimize trips.
How much do you spend in gas per day? I'll bet that you don't know. . . find out the answer and possibly find out the key to saving a little bit more money!
Friday, August 27, 2010
Date Night In!
Planning a date night this weekend to save money on both the babysitter and going out in general. I want to make it nice enough so I'm not missing going out, so while I don't want to go too overboard in my spending, I want to buy nicer items that we normally wouldn't eat for dinner that might be on sale. Publix has small lobster tails on sale for $4.99 each, and grilling veggies on sale for 99 cents per pound. Any of the grilling veggies can be easily tossed in a little bit of olive oil with salt and pepper, then put them in the oven to roast at 425. Roasted veggies and lobster tails for dinner, now you're talking. If you're a steak person, they also have T-Bones and Porterhouse steaks on sale too. Bonus . . . Popcorn is on sale too - buy one get one free so a package is only $1.50. I think I'm gonna have to get some popcorn and a movie, (movie rentals from the machine at Publix are only $1/day and are new releases). For under $15, we can have a date night in with a lobster and roasted veggie dinner, with popcorn and a movie! Grab a bottle of wine from the wine rack and we are in business.
If Publix isn't your store of choice, most grocery stores have the movie rental machine, there is even one at the Parker's on 170. Another good tip that I learned is that grocery stores put their best sale items on the front page of the flyer, so you know it's a good buy if it's on the front page because it's meant to grab your attention.
If Publix isn't your store of choice, most grocery stores have the movie rental machine, there is even one at the Parker's on 170. Another good tip that I learned is that grocery stores put their best sale items on the front page of the flyer, so you know it's a good buy if it's on the front page because it's meant to grab your attention.
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