Frugal Friday.....the August 25th Edition on Saturday

Frugal Things I've done lately--

*  I forgot this one from our trip.  I purchased two cans of coffee for Hubs while on our road trip.
They were marked down to $1 a can. They had been previously marked down to $2 per can.  Coffee "keeps" well past the sell by date stamped on them, especially if they are not opened.  Once opened you can keep the cans in the fridge for added shelf-life.
The blend says it's "light".  No clue what THAT means but if it's too weak Hubs can mix these with the bags of espresso roast he has to make them stronger.

*  We needed a new bathroom scale as the Daughter broke mine right before we left on our trip.  I gave Hubs a coupon to use and he found one below $40 that was similar to our old scale.  Saved 20% off that purchase by printing out a coupon.

*  In prep for canning tomatoes this year I dug out my old supplies in the garage to see what I had.......

I found 32 quart jars and bands.  Now I know how many bushels of tomatoes to buy(without overbuying and wasting some)and how many jar lids to purchase.

*  When we travel and stay in motels I avail myself of all the freebies offered.  Here is what I brought home from the month long road trip...............

The only items not shown are some K-cups from one motel room which I gave to Sonya Ann on the way home(as she has one of those evil Keuring machines).  This will all get used one way or another(some tucked into giveaway boxes perhaps?)and will cut down a bit on having to buy things like shampoo, conditioner, pens, tea bags, coffee, soap and tiny packets of pb and j.

*  The College Boy got taken back to school this past week.

Here is what my living room looked like before he left...........

And here it is after the cargo van got packed up.............

How is this frugal?  Well the van rental wasn't(but had to be done)but...... I AM looking forward to all that grocery and utility money I will be saving while he is gone.  ;-)

What frugal moves did you make this past week or so?

Sluggy

July Food Spending Week 3.....3 Shopping Trips but Frugal

I am going to update each week in July on my food spending. After the last 2 months of going over, maybe this will help me stay on track more if all of y'all are watching me.....watching me in a good way, not the bad, creepy way. ;-)

Between July 15th and 23rd I made 3 trips to the grocery store!  I know it's a bit more than a week but I need to include an extra couple of days in the last 2 weeks of July as the month has 31 total, not 28. ;-)

I spent a total of $61.76.  The 1st trip was that small OOP one to Price Chopper(northeast)where I used my Catalina Q.  The 2nd trip was to the local independent grocer where I spent $10.50 on a watermelon, 2 cukes, a cantaloupe and 3lb.s of yellow squash.
Then yesterday I spent $47.62 on 2 large London Broils(BOGO deal!), a gallon of milk, 3 blocks of cheese, 18 eggs, a package of clearance steak(which came out to $2lb.), 2 lbs. of tilapia, a head of lettuce, a lb. of broccoli and 1.5 lbs. more of yellow squash. Almost 33% savings rate on that last trip but still pretty good considering all the meat I got.

I've eyeballed the sales this week and mostly it's the dreaded "house brands on sale" week so not many items you can stack sales and coupons upon to get some inexpensive food.
I'll post my Meal Plan tomorrow, but for today I'll let y'all know I have a trip to the bakery/bread outlet(we are out of bread)and 1 trip to Weis Markets on my agenda for the last week of July's spending.  I've got $1/1 Cabot Cheese IPQs to combine with a sale on Cabot Cheese at Weis($2.50)so there is $1.50 a package cheese in my future, as well as 1 $1.25 package house brand cream cheese.  I may head to the farm this week for some veggies and fruit but I don't foresee much OOP in the food spending category in Week 4.  I predict $20-$30.

With the $61.76 spent last week, I have a grand total spent in July so far of $136.49 for food.

How about you?  Are you eating from your pantry/stockpile this week?

Sluggy

My Savings Challenge...The Savings aren't Permanent for Another Year

I took on a Financial Savings Challenge at the behest of a member of the Compact Group back in Jan. of 2009.
I entitled that undertaking the $60K Savings Challenge.
Well, our name is NOT Rockefeller so we didn't even come close to saving $60K in '09. lol

We did however put away $23,997.24 for the year.....this amount is above and beyond any amount we put into retirement accounts for the year.  It's just a pile of money from the after tax/after retirement and insurance deductions paychecks we get that I manage to keep the family from frittering away on crap.
As you can see, I am getting darn good at keeping the family's sticky fingers off the money! ;-)

Going into 2010, I stepped down the savings goal to a more attainable $30K.
Throughout that year, I would on occasion use some of the 20009 Savings money toward big, not-everyday expenses we incurred in 2010 rather than using current income dollars.
Like buying a used car for cash.
Or buying a new refrigerator.
Or paying for the costs for 2 vacations we took that year.

We ended up using $12,991.45 in 2010 of that $23,997.24 we saved in 2009.
So in reality we actually permanently saved $11,005.79 in 2009.

In 2010 we saved $35,770.18 and we'll be using some of this amount when out of the ordinary large expenses come up in 2011.
We haven't used any of this amount for 'big hairy goals' in 2011 yet.
But we are planning on using some of that money soon for house repairs.

When 2011 is over, I'll be able to calculate how much of the actual $35+K we saved in 2010 that
we'll be able to tuck away permanently.
Well, permanently until some big expensive emergency comes along....and eventually they always do!

So the amount I save each year on the Savings Challenge isn't permanently saved until a full year after it ends.
I use the previous year's savings amount as a short term goal emergency fund.
And when that following year is over I dump whatever is left into a slot marked 'permanently savings'.
At least, that's how I organize it in my head. ;-)

Next Sunday Hubs and I will be having a financial meeting.  Among the discussions will be how much/what kind of home repairs we'll be having done this year.  I'm hoping that list won't eat away at that $35+K we saved from 2010 too badly.

Do you have a savings goal each year? 
Do you keep any money you save for the year into a separate account?

Sluggy

Frugality Quote of the Day....

"He who does not economize will have to agonize."  -Confucius

Modern Day Translation.....
"If you spend it all today, you will have nothing left for tomorrow, causing you great suffering." -Sluggy

Yeah....Confucius says it much better.lol

So what am I going to do today to save money?  Mostly, I am staying home and not going anywhere, so I won't be tempted to spend money and I won't have to put gas in the car.  I might even sew something, which means less money spent on buying clothes since I have everything already to finish this garmet.  And I'll be turning off the heat for a couple of days since we are suppose to get into the 60's here!

Sluggy