My Frugal Life - Tips from a Save-o-holic

"Helllllllllllllllloooooooooooo Tracey"

I honestly don't know where or how to begin telling everyone how I save money, because it's natural for me. It's an everything day thing. I love to teach others how to save. Saving money is a "rush" for me. Even other peoples money. It's the thrill of the hunt.

No, I don't purchase anything if it's not on sale or I don't have a coupon. Shopping takes me a couple hours to do but it's worth every penny. I saved 89.50 last week. I only paid 35.81. That's more then 40.00 per hour of savings. More than I make at work per hour. I do stock up, but only if it's an extra sale.

Big Ticket Items

Let me tell you a few things I do to save money on big ticket items. When shopping for stoves. refrigerators, microwaves and appliances. I look online and in ads and print out or take in the ad to Sears. Sears will match and beat the competitors price by 10%. I purchased two dishwashers, 1 stove top, 1 built-in double oven and 1 refrigerator. I found the ads online and printed them out brought them into Sears and they beat the price by 10%. As a bonus, because my order was so large they delivered it for free. I live in the middle of no where, so that charge alone would have been a lot.

The model numbers have to be the same. In my dishwashers case, the model numbers didn't match so I told the saleslady that "it's ok, I will just go to the other store" Smiling all the time. She said "I can give you a much better model for a better price". I rock!

Teaching Kids About The Power Bill

I took my four children outside to the electric meter and showed them the dial spinning around and around and around... it was spinning as fast as lighting. Then I said "Go into the house and turn off the things that we are not using, then come back outside and look. I showed them the electric bill. The dial slowed down to a much more manageable speed. They now are more observant of what is plugged in and what lights are on.

Saving Money on Meals

I have a garden in the summer months and I can tomatoes, pickles and mushrooms. I grow my own garlic, cucumbers, carrots, corn and peppers.

I purchase meats in large quantities. I separate them and divide them into meals. I place them in double plastic bags and label.

During the winter time. We have a wood burner. On the wood burner I cook the meats. I brown hamburger and boil chicken. I double bag the cooked meats and label and date each bag. Then after work all I have to do is defrost a bag of cooked ground hamburger and make a quick chili or spaghetti. It saves us from using so much propane.

"How do you think Mom saves money?"

While writing this essay I asked my children "How do you think Mom saves money?"

My son, Tim he is 17 wants me to tell you that I work at a retail clothing store and he thinks its cool that when a customer comes in the store I always point them to the sale merchandise. I believe that when someone saves money they want to come back. They don't leave the store thinking I have "taken" them. They leave knowing they got a lot for their money and want to come back again.

The store that I work for wants us associate's to open credit cards. For every credit card I open I get $1.00. Last year in one year I opened 752 credit accounts. When I talk to a person about opening a credit. I make it about them I make it about the amount of money they will save. I have opened the most credits in the region. That is an extra $752.00 in my check.

My daughter Amanda, she is also 17. She wants me to tell you that just today after work I went to a thrift bread store. While there I purchased 10 packages of bagels. The price on the bagels was $2.50. I asked the lady if I purchase a large quantity could I get a discount. She gave me all 10 for $10.00. Saved $1.50 a package. More then half.

Homemade Gifts

I make them all the time. I love to sew. I had a bunch of old jeans that I cut up into squares and made a quilt out of them. I used a bunch of my children's baby clothes and made my Mom a "grandchildren" quilt. Homemade soups in a jar are great gifts for friends and family members. I make them for birthdays and Christmas gifts.

I pay my bills on line which saves on stamps and envelopes. It's my money and I don't feel I should just hand it out to just anybody. I try to save as much as possible. I hope that a few of the things I listed may help others.

Tracey from Michigan

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RE: My Frugal Life - Tips from a Save-o-holic

When I go to the mall and grab a snac at KFC and such, I buy a pop at the drug store for 50 cents instead of at KFC for $1.75. Watch the flyers, take your time. Day old bread is good. I was on strike for six months in 2004 and had to live on a lot less. When it was over I had more in the freezer than when it started. I get a "RUSH" out of saving money too.

Post by logivod

RE: My Frugal Life - Tips from a Save-o-holic

When I go to the mall and grab a snac at KFC and such, I buy a pop at the drug store for 50 cents instead of at KFC for $1.75. Watch the flyers, take your time. Day old bread is good. I was on strike for six months in 2004 and had to live on a lot less. When it was over I had more in the freezer than when it started. I get a "RUSH" out of saving money too.

Post by logivod

RE: My Frugal Life - Tips from a Save-o-holic

Nice tips! I would also suggest shopping Craigslist for anything you need. We buy and sell from there all the time. It's free and you can negotiate everything. I'm not very handy but my boyfriend is so if something breaks he can usually fix it.

Also- check all your bills to make sure you are paying for things you use. I drive an older car and decided to cancel a couple options and I got my bill down to $53/month! I also signed up for a discounted gym membership (bought off Craigslist) and scrutinized my cell phone bill and brought it down from $100 to 63 a month. Now that I'm exercising I can fit into more of the old clothes in my closet. Trust me, it feels WAY better to fit into your old "small" clothes rather than buying something new.

Post by Srahjayne

RE: My Frugal Life - Tips from a Save-o-holic

Now that our last kid is off to college and it's just my husband and me, I finally broke down and bought a Food Saver.
When our Giant store has "Buy one get one free" on meats, roasts, (eye of round or whatever), packages of boneless chicken breasts, I buy them and divide them into packages of 2 chops each, half a roast (that gives me 4!) or two chicken breasts and freeze them. I also take the packages of pork tenderloins when I get them BOGOF, and split them...there are always two loins in a package.. and freeze separately.
I think I have already saved the cost of my Food Saver (just over a year) in grocery savings. I bought it at Costco last year when they had an "instant rebate) for $109 and it came with canisters too. A canister can be used as a marinator too, which means you don't have to buy the separate marinator.
Tip: Don't buy the quart or gallon-sized bags; it's much more thrift to purchas the rolls and make just the size bag you want without waste.

Post by Mary T

RE: My Frugal Life - Tips from a Save-o-holic

I have found that coupons can be misleading - in most cases I can purchase a similar (or better) quality product in the store brand for less than the branded product with it's coupon.

Post by QueenBeeCrafts

RE: My Frugal Life - Tips from a Save-o-holic

Good article, but I think you are getting taken on your bagels. I buy store brand at the everyday price for 79 cents for a package...Way below your discounted price! I only get a few items at our bread store anymore. Their bread is too high, and other items are higher than the grocery store and Aldi. They also did away with the punch cards they used to offer for an additional dollar off.

Post by mom-from-missouri

RE: My Frugal Life - Tips from a Save-o-holic

I love your article. I also buy meat in bulk and have a full size freezer in my garage. I puchased the freezer for $25 from an add in the paper. It has lasted 3 yrs now. The reason for my feedback is to tell you about the Food Saver vac u seal. This is the most wonderful appliance. Only purchase the type that has the "pulse" button. I compared prices and QVC had the rock bottom price, and included more accessories. I have sealed meat and "lost" it in the freezer for more than a year (I use a sharpie to label the date, type and quanity of meat) and after 1 yr it was still good. I used to use the double ziploc bags but nothing compares to vac u seal :)

Post By MeKell (Guest Post)

RE: My Frugal Life - Tips from a Save-o-holic

Might I suggest a Sears Scratch and Dent store for appliances? We moved and needed a new fridge and stove. I purchaced a flat top stove and a nice fridge for about half off. The stove has a scratch on the handle and a dent on the side. You can't see the dent because it's against the wall. The fridge had a small scratch on the front, which I hide with a magnet. They both came with the full warrenty, and they are better more upgraded models that I could have afforded at full price. I don't know where there is one near you, but the one I went to is on the South side of Indianapolis.

Post By Jessica Miller (Guest Post)

RE: My Frugal Life - Tips from a Save-o-holic

Tracey,
Your article was great, I liked the part about showing the kids about electricity.
Great tips.

Post by meoowmom

RE: My Frugal Life - Tips from a Save-o-holic

We cancelled our long distance carrier. Too much in the way of fees and taxes. It is a bit of an inconveinence, but we just use phone cards that we find on sale. Not the FASTEST way to call, but cheaper. People use Email SO much anyway, that my family rarely phones me cross country. Carolle

Post by Carolle

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