Need to Order Christmas Cards?

Check out SeeHere.com and photo cards at a great price. This makes me want to expand my mailing list. I ordered mine before Thanksgiving, but these deal is incredible! Use the code 50cards to get 50 free cards. Pay only shipping (about $5). Or use the same code on 24 cards and pay about $2.50 in shipping.

This site also offers free shipping if you order more than 60 cards, so get the best deal by ordering 60, type in the code for 50 free cards and pay $4.90 for your order.

This deal is good through the December 12th.

Check out Freebies 4 Moms for other great deals, too.

Daily Deals

There are so many tips and tricks to saving money and getting good deals. I've discovered that most of it is about being able to wait until the good deal comes along. Because it will. Eventually. We've purchased everything from Mac and Cheese to a van at a greatly reduced rates because we were able to wait for it to hit our price point. It's a little harder when something suddenly breaks, but even there at least one store will have that item on sale or you can find a floor model.

I troll daily deal websites. There are four I currently keep up with, so if you know of any more, please let me know! We've bought a few items- head phones, pull up bar, child's microscope- at great prices. When you see these deals, you have to be able to know something about the product, or be able to do a quick bit of research. They're only up until midnight! It's always better to pass on something you're unsure of. I've been keeping tabs on these sites for a couple of months, and the deal usually comes around again.

My most recent purchase was a Shark cordless sweeper. I HATE sweeping my kitchen, and this thing is great. Plus, the kids can do it- even my two year old! They fight over who "gets" to sweep, so I have to send them to vacuum other rooms with it, too. The reason I'm sharing this, is because it's the daily deal on 1saleaday.com again today. I do not make any money if you buy one. It's just such a good deal on a product I'm falling in love with. I had to pass it on!

Daily Deal Sites:
www.1saleaday.com
www.woot.com
www.tanga.com
www.groupon.com

Christmas Photo Cards

Have you taken your family photo yet? The time is now here to get a great deal on your Christmas photo cards.

Go to www.seehere.com and upload your photos. Right now there is 50% off all of their photo products when you enter the code cards-39 and get free shipping on a purchase of 60 cards or more for a total of about $15. New accounts also get 25 free 4x8 cards when you use code 25cards, you'll have to pay about $5 shipping. You can only use one code per order, so determine what will work best for you.

Or go to www.vistaprints.com and turn your photo into a postcard. You'll save on shipping, too! Right now order 100 postcards for $17.50. These are often free, so get your cards ready and wait for the deal!
Update, I got an e-mail on 11-17, postcards are now free! Pay only shipping when you order 100 postcards.

I'm not sure how long these promotions will last, so get those pictures taken!

Resource Review- restaurant.com

Today was my anniversary. I guess it still is, but the day is almost over. Eight years ago today we were getting our pictures taken at Sunken Gardens, pledging our lives to one another, eating a great meal, and dancing with our friends and family. It was a great day. (and I don't appear to have any of my wedding photos digitized, so enjoy this engagement pic!) We had a terrific honeymoon. We spend our week eating one meal out each day! Our hotel had an awesome breakfast and we decided to combine our lunch and dinner budget and eat at great restaurants every day. We won't be able to do something like that again for quite a while...now that we have five kids.

But we do make a point to have a date night a couple of times a month and we usually enjoy a dinner as part of our evening together. You may wonder how we manage to do that. Well, there's the mystery shopping. I try to get us some meals out for the cost of my time to fill out the survey afterwards. Most of our dinners are spent this way. Tonight we utilized a new favorite resource- restaurant.com.

Restaurant.com offers certificates to a number of restaurants at a discounted price. Usually you'd pay $10 for a $25 gift certificate. Last fall, we signed up for the dinner of the month club. Each month we receive a $25 gift certificate redeemable at any of the restaurants on the site. Some restrictions apply- gratuity is added, minimum purchase amounts, etc. The best part is, that I was able to use a promo code and bought our year's worth of dinner out for the low price of TWENTY-FOUR DOLLARS! And now, you can enjoy the same incredible savings. Enter the promo code ENJOY through May 13th, and you'll receive 80% off. Get your $25 gift certificates for only $2!!!

And peruse some other great tips at Works for Me Wednesday. Remember, you've got until Thursday to get a great deal on dinner!

Need Diapers?

This spring I started using diapers.com. I love it. I love that they have a referral program, I love that they offer discounts, I love that they have free shipping. Most of all, I love that I get my order in just a couple of days. It's great!

If you need diapers, sign up for an account and use my referral code (NETT4468). You'll receive $10 off your first order (of $49 or more) and $5 off your second order! You can even mail in your coupons for more savings! If you're already a diapers.com customer, use the Mother's Day code 5formom and receive $5 off your order.

I'll be stocking up on diapers this weekend, how about you? They also offer a variety of baby and children's products. So, if you're lucky enough to have all your kids out of diapers, check out their website and see if you can score a great deal on anything else right now!

Shopping One Friday Morning

It was a beautiful morning in Nebraska. One mom and her five children decided to head to the stores. First it was Sam's Club. They climbed on top of the cans of tomato sauce. Ran into other people's cards. They hid behind posts. The lack of free samples gave her nothing to bribe her children with. Luckily, she had a few powdered donuts that had been leftovers at the previous day's MOPS meeting. "If you're good in Hy-Vee, a donut for each of you!" While this mom was digging through her coupons in the yogurt aisle, the kids were poking the eggs. While she was trying to figure out which pop was on sale, they almost knocked over a display of wine. She didn't even make it to frozen foods, instead deciding to check out and be done with it. While she piled the items on the belt, the kids rearranged the candy. Finally, she had enough, "Sit down with your backs on the wall and your hands on your knees." She had been hoping to fit one more store into their morning, but alas it would not be. Amazingly, the man bagging the groceries complimented the behavior of these naughty children of hers. As she paid her bill, she sighed, at least she had gotten some good deals!

HyVee does have some good deals this week. These are the ones I took advantage of. I'm so frazzled that I can't even tell you if these are weekend sale items, or they will be going through Tuesday. If you plan to hit the store on Saturday, you should get these same prices. My total for this transaction was $21.37. I had around 12 dollars in savings from coupons alone! How awesome is that?

4 Dr Pepper 12 packs 4/$10 w/coupon from circular

2 Russet Potatoes $1.18 for 5 lb 

2 Betty Crocker Potatoes 5/$5 used $1/2 MQ from Con Agra booklet

1 Wesson Canola Oil reduced to $2.99 used $1 off MQ from Con Agra booklet

1 Nestle Chocolate Chips at $1.69 with circular coupon also used $.75 coupon (from Nestle Baking Club?)

1 Yoplait Yogurt FREE w/MyBlogSpark coupon

1 Philidelphia Cream Cheese Minis FREE w/First Taste mailer

1 Bunch Celery $.58

1 C&H Sugar $1.88 w/circular coupon used $.50 MQ from online (not sure where I printed this)

2 Blue Bonnet Margarine $.77 each

2 Betty Crocker frosting tubs $.89 each used $1/2 MQ from Con Agra booklet

I hope I have a chance to get to Super Saver this afternoon. It might have to wait until Greg gets home, so we don't have a repeat of our frustrating morning! They have 4 pounds of strawberries for $4.98. Add that to the bananas and blueberries I picked up at Sam's and we'll be enjoying some cheap smoothies. I love spring! Any other good deals this weekend? Let me know!

Kashi Krazy

I love Kashi products. The cereal, the crackers, everything. What I love even more is how often they have coupons out! Recently, Vocalpoint sent four coupons- one free product and three $1.50 off coupons. Plus, they had $1.50 off coupons available on their website.

Well, this was the week to use those coupons. Target has Kashi snacks on sale for $2.59. Buy four and get a fifth box free. Here's what I did to score five boxes of crackers for less than two bucks. I bought five boxes. Used free product coupon and for $1.50 off coupon. Plus Target took off $2.59 for their promotion.
5 boxes @ 2.59 = $12.95
4 $1.50 coupons -$6.00
2 free products - $5.18
Total spent = $1.77

And I haven't even been to the grocery store yet this week. I'm looking forward to the Post and Old Orchard sales at Super Saver this week. Get coupons for Post here and for Old Orchard here for a great deal. Have you scored a great deal this week?

Works-for-Me Wednesday- Discount Groceries

Don't think you have the time to cut coupons or search for dinners? Think it's too much work for not a big enough reward? (I'll talk with you about that later!) But for now, know that you can STILL save money on groceries. There's a resource lurking right around the corner that you may not be aware of- the clearance rack!

WHAT?!? A clearance rack at a grocery store!?! I know, surprised, right? At the back of many stores, kind of hidden in the hallway to the "employees only" area, there is often a section of items that are marked down because the boxes and cans are dented. Last week, we found a jumbo pack of diapers there for $3.00! It wasn't opened, not squished- we gladly took it! At another store, I found McCormick spices marked down to a quarter! and not expired or dented or anything! I snatched up all they had :)

Some places are lucky enough to have whole stores devoted to selling dented merchandise. I haven't found one in Lincoln. (If you know of one, please tell!) But I have found good deals at Alps (27th and Y). This is a great place to consistently purchase generic items for less. They often have brand name items, too. I am also loving the Bread Outlet at 48th and Old Cheney. You can get bread that's marked at about half the price of the grocery store. Yesterday they had too much bread and marked it all at $1.00 per loaf. They have mostly Sara Lee and Earthgrains products.

So, those are some ways to save money on your grocery bill without cutting a single coupon. :) Have any other ideas for me? Check out other tips at Works For Me Wednesday.

Diapers, Diapers, Diapers.com

Have you ever counted how many diapers you go through in a week? How about a month? It sure is a lot! If you're like most moms, you are always on the lookout for a good deal on diapers. We primarily use cloth diapers, which I have to say was a good choice, given that we now have five kids! I should figure out how much we've saved on diapers over the years. I'm sure it's in the hundreds of dollars range!

We do use disposable diapers for overnight and when we leave the house. It's just a lot easier that way. I've typically bought a store brand, unless we find an incredible deal that brings the cost close to or under what I pay for them. I saw a box from diapers.com on the curb by one of our neighbors houses. I've been meaning to look into it, and today I had a good reason to register for an account. Today, I got $50 in product for only $25. Here's the deal:

1. Go to diapers.com and sign up for an account.
2. Place an order of $49 to get free shipping
3. Use promo code NETT4469 for $10 off (This is my referral code and I will get a credit when you place an order)
4. Use promo code 10percent for 10% off non-diaper purchases.
5. Submit for this $14.97 rebate 

You can also send in manufacturers coupons that can be applied to your orders! I'll be looking into that more later. Today, I ordered a box of diapers for Eleanor, and this neat "diapees and wipees" carrier. It will be perfect when I only need to carry diapers and wipes into a store, or for sending with one of the girls when they're are in different rooms at MOPS or church.

Don't use disposable diapers? That's okay! diapers.com also carries clothe diapering accessories, toiletries, books, toys, even furniture. I'm sure you'll find something you can use!

Car Shopping

We're in the market for a different van. It's sad. There's nothing wrong with our van. I love our van. We have a 2002 Mazda MPV with 100,000 miles. We've never had a problem with this van, but we don't really fit in it, anymore. We have five kids. While this is a seven person van, it's a little narrow and three kids shoved on a bench seat together is just asking for problems! We're looking for something a little wider that will give them a bit more space. Plus, when we're travelling, our oldest will need to be back in a booster to accommodate the laws of other states. We've had pretty good luck in the past getting great deals. It's not just luck- I have every reason to expect another great deal. Here's what we've done in the past to get the most van for our buck.

1. BUDGET- Since we've been married we have purchased three vehicles. We've managed to pay cash (or cash plus trade-in) for all of them. Don't look at vehicles you know you can't afford. If they're not willing to show you ones in that range, or reduce the price, just walk away. Talk them down to a low price, then ask how much they'll take off if you write out a check right now. (It's also funny to watch their jaw drop!) Continue saving money throughout the process and don't forget to factor in sales tax and licensing!

2. RESEARCH- It's important to know what you're looking at. Every model has different trim levels, and it's important for price comparison that you're looking at the same vehicle from lot to lot. Or at least know why one is priced so much differently than another. You can do most of your research online, but then you want to get out there and test drive your top picks. We'll be taking our car seats and sticking them in the vans to see how much space there is, too!

3. SHOP AROUND- Most people check out several dealers before making a purchase. But don't just visit the large chains. Check out the small ones hidden in the crevices of your town. Check out e-bay and craigslist. It's amazing what you can find. You can even mention the prices you've found at other places when you're talking with a salesperson. If they know you have a viable option for getting the same vehicle for less, they will be more likely to reduce the price so you'll make your purchase from them.

4. WALK AWAY- Walking away is a powerful bargaining tool. If you know your budget and are willing to wait, it's a lot easier to walk away. When we bought our current van they said there was no way they could take what we had budgeted. But we weren't in a hurry and we walked out. Two days later they called and accepted our offer. We got a great deal on a van simply because we knew how much we had and were willing to wait for something that we could afford.

In thinking back on our purchases, these are the things that have stood out to me that have helped us get some great deals. Do you have any other tips for getting a great price on a vehicle? We're in the market!

Deals of the Week

I love good deals. I love reading about them. I love seeing them. I love getting them! I am now following 33 blogs in my reader, most of them pertaining to deal-hunting. How does a person keep track of all the great deals at all the stores? It's easier than you might think.

I use a Word document. The name of the store is like a "heading" and I use a larger and bolder font. When I sit down to sift through the blogs, I simply open up my document and copy and paste the deals I'm interested in over. I'm afraid to admit that I actually do this several times a day. I only go shopping once or twice a week, though. When it's time to hit the stores, I open up my document (cleverly called "deals") and figure out which stores I'm going to hit. I print the printable coupons, pull out my from-the-paper coupons paper clip them to my shopping list and off we go! How do you keep track of all your deals? Leave a comment, I'm still learning how to keep track of it all!

One downside to doing it this way is that there are often printable coupons that I miss because it hits the print limit before I get to it. When I started my coupon madness, I printed way too many and ended up with lots of wasted paper. I'm sure there's a middle ground to printing coupons that I'll actually use without missing out, I just need to find it.

Another issue that has come up is that many of the blogs are not in my area, so a store may have different regular prices. Then I get to the store and the item isn't as cheap as I thought it was. So, I have to stand there and decide if it's something I still want.

Here is part of my trip to Wal-Mart this week. I did buy a few other things, too. My total for these deals was right around $10. I used $22 in coupons. How cool is that? Many of these coupons are still available, so print some for yourself and hit the store!

2 Digiorno 200 calorie pizzas reg. $2.50 each, paid $1.00 total

used 1 Free and $1.50/1 coupons from Kraft First Taste

6 boxes of Sunbelt bars reg. $2.00 each, paid $1.00 each

BOGO printable coupon from manufacturer

4 StarKist tuna pouches reg $.98 paid .$94

used BOGO mailer from Vocal Point and 2 $1/1 printable from Vocal Point (realized later I could have bought 3, used all coupons and they would have been free, oh well)

2 Reach dental floss reg $.97 had .06 overage

used 2 Reach $1.00 MQ's from 1/3 paper

2 Johnson and Johnson soap buddies reg $.97 had .06 overage

used 2 J&J $1.00 MQ's from 1/3 paper

Johnson & Johnson sterile gauze reg $1.56 paid $.56

used J&J $1.00 MQ from 1/3 paper

Johnson and Johnson band-aids reg $1.77 paid $.77

used J&J $1.00 MQ from 1/3 paper

Aquafresh Extreme Clean trial size reg $.97 paid 0

used free offer coupon (not sure where this came from)

Dove deoderant reg $2.47 paid $.47

used $2.00 printable

And I probably should have added the great deal on Coffee-Mate creamer at Walgreens that I did last night. BOGO at $2.49. Use two $1.00 printable coupons and get them both for $.49.

Everybody Needs an Alice

Remember the Brady Bunch? Did Carol Brady work outside the home? I can't remember. Sometimes I think every stay-at-home mom needs a housekeeper. And Alice sure was a great one! If someone just did my laundry and shopping, I could get so much other stuff done!

Last night I signed up for and used a brand-new alice.com account. I'm pretty excited for this new and useful tool. It's a website where you can purchase groceries online and have the shipped to your house. They even have several items discounted with coupons!

I purchased a $5 gift card from swagbucks to try this out. I was pleasantly surprised at the ease of use and great prices. I bought Crest toothpaste for $1.22 among other things. They even offer reminders for frequent purchases, track your spending, show you their best deals, and have free shipping!

I have since discovered that there are $10 sign-up bonuses, and my understanding is that this cannot be combined with the swagbucks offer. So, if you want to give alice a try, here's a link for you!

Update: The $10 bonus is credited to your account after having made $50 worth of purchases. So, I think the Swagbucks offer AND the $10 offer could work in conjunction with each other. I'll let you know when I hit $50 how it turned out!

Free Finds

Signing up for free samples really helps stretch my budget. Whether I'm using these things for myself, gifts, Operation Christmas Child boxes, or stocking stuffers, it's money that's staying in my pocket! Free stuff can be found on many company's websites and you are just a couple of clicks away from a mailbox full of goodies.

I must admit that getting free stuff is pretty addictive. I've spent more time on the computer in the last couple of days than I'd like to admit. Here are my free finds:

Lipton Green Tea (free sample)

Gavalia Coffee (I did the 3 boxes of coffee for $3 offer)

Kohl's ($5 for newsletter signup)

Vista Print (bunches of free samples, including 140 return address labels, 100 postcards, and more for shipping costs)

Beauty Herbal Spa (free candle)

Crest w/Scope (free sample)

Taste of Home (cookbooks for $5 each)

In the mail today, I received my free sample of Dunkin Donuts coffee. they have this offer up again, if you missed out last time around. I also received a Kashi granola bar. Kashi has become my new favorite! I don't see any samples on their site right now, but will be coming my eye on them!

Usually these will be sample sizes, but there are a few places where you can sign up to receive full-szied free items, too! My favorite two are Vocalpoint and Kraft First Taste. I've been a member with each of these companies for a few months and have been very pleased with the free product offers. And they usually come with high dollar coupons, too!

Have you found any free samples or other great deals? Let me know! I'm always on the lookout!

Dining Out for Less

I love eating out. Mostly I love the not having to cook part. But I really dislike how expensive it can get. Especially with four kids. I'm sitting there calculating our bill and how much it would have cost me to prepare the same meal at home. Kind of ruins the enjoyment. Here are a few tips for eating out for less that we have been utilizing to help our budget. And it usually keeps me focused on having a good time with friends and family!

1. Sign up for birthday clubs, VIP clubs, etc. Most places offer something for your birthday- an appetizer, dessert, or even a full entree! They may even send you other coupons to use throughout the year. The coupons are usually good from the week before your birthday to the week after. The only hard part is deciding which one(s) to use!

2. Get a dining club card or coupon book. Here in Lincoln, the POGO card is our favorite. It has a variety of restaurants offering free items with a purchase. Buying this card benefits a local organization, too. I saw a copy of the Entertainment Book at Menard's last week, and have heard that at many stores they are on sale.

3. Use a store punch card. These are most often found at coffee shops or ice cream places. Although some others have a card that offers a discount on your food purchases. If you tend to choose the same restaurant over and over again, this is a great option.

4. Kids eat free night. There are a lot of places that offer a free kids meal with an adult purchase on certain nights of the week. I do recommend calling your location, even if the website says "free meal." Recently, we visited a restaurant for kids' night and they didn't get a free meal, just a balloon. Highly disappointing.

5. Try restaurants.com I first looked at this site a couple of years ago and there weren't any restaurants in Lincoln participating. Now there are quite a few. You can purchase $25 gift cards for only $10. I finally took advantage of this last month when I had a coupon code and bought a 1-year dinner of the month club for just $24. Yes, that's right, we'll get a $25 gift card each month that I paid just $2 for! Plus, we got a $50 certificate just for signing up! You do need to watch the fine print as some places have minimum purchase amounts. We may even use some of these over the course of the year as gifts.

6. Sign up to be a mystery shopper. This is by far my favorite way to eat out for less. It feels like I'm spending someone else's money! Check out last week's post for a list of some of the companies I've had good experience with.

That's what helps me save money on eating out. Check out Works for me Wednesday for other tips across a variety of topics. What tips do you have for dining out for less?

Deals of the Day

Deals, deals, everywhere there's a deal! I'm overwhelmed trying to keep track of all the great deals that I'm reading about today. And we haven't even hit the height of our seasonal shopping! Here's what I'm taking advantage of today.

Family Fun magazine for $2.99 Sign up at Tanga and get your subscription for just $2.99/year when you enter the code 98c7 at checkout! If you already have a subscription, it will add to what you've already got. I think you can get up to three years at this price. I ordered mine this morning!

Sign up at See Here and get 50 free photo cards (no shipping, even!) with the code freebies4mom-1109 all month long. Apparently new customers can also get 100 free photos! See Freebies 4 Mom for more details. We'll be taking our Christmas photo this week and taking advantage of this great deal.

At 1-800-flowers you can sign up for their Fresh Rewards program and earn points from every purchase. For the month of November you get points for events you add to your reminder calendar. Up to 400 points- which is $40. Plus as a member, you'll get 15% off your order! I've got one November birthday gift taken care of!

I've spent a little more time than usual sifting through all the deals that are being posted on blogs and e-mailed to me. But I'm pretty excited for what I've accomplished. A little bit of time and a few dollars and I've got a bunch of great stuff coming my way! Do you have any exceptional deals you're taking advantage of this week?

Deals to Start Your Holidays

We're coming up on the holiday season. And that means that the stores will all be vying for your attention, or your dollar! They're not even waiting until the day after Thanksgiving this year. With all the great deals, it's sometimes hard to control myself! One thing we've found helpful is to set a budget for our holiday spending. Usually we set aside money each month so it's not such a shock come Nov/Dec. Have both an overall budget and a budget per person. Make a list of everyone you're planning to buy for early on, including teachers, work exchanges, etc. Don't let anything sneak up on you! Here are a few deals to get you started this holiday season.

Wal-Mart

Thanksgiving for Less turkeys for .40/lb and more

Free Samples updates every couple of weeks

Nov 7th In-Store Savings lots of electronics posted, not sure what else will be on sale

Younkers

Community Day Sale donate $5 to a local organization and get a coupon booklet- a $10 off plus many % off coupons

(I'm selling these for my local MOPS group, e-mail me if you want some coupons!)

Home Depot

Christmas light trade in $3 off LED lights

Power Drill trade in 15% off a new drill

Photo Cards 50 free photo cards

Most stores will offer free shipping from their online sites. See if your favorite store has a facebook fan page, or an e-mail newsletter. These are great places to get extra coupons or free products. Do you know of any other deals coming up in the next week or two?

Check out Frugal Fridays for more great tips this week!

Appliances pt 2

I'm learning more and more about saving money on all sorts of things. Here are some tips we've picked up over the last few years about getting good deals on larger purchases. For part one of getting great deals on major purchases, click here.

First of all, do your research. Know what you want and why you want it. Pick out your model and get familiar with the costs associated with each of the features. Know about the models above and below that one, and which features you're willing to let go of to get a different model at a bargain price.

I think everyone knows about price comparing. Visit different retailers- in person and online. Check out the major stores, as well as the discount stores. Sometimes there will be a special in store that they're not running online, or vice versa. Get an idea of how much your item is selling for and which places have the best prices. What kinds of sales do they have? Are there any other promotions you can take advantage of?

Consider purchasing second hand. Sites like e-bay and craigslist are the favorites in our home. Make sure you really know what you're getting before you make any bids or phone calls. This is where knowing how much it costs new can really help you out. Generally, you should be able to find something used for at 10% off, but could get it for as low as 50% off depending on the product and the demand for that item.

Most of my second-hand purchases are for kids' items. Garage sales, consignment sales, and thrift stores are great places to find baragains. Sales like Neat Repeatz and Take 2 here in Lincoln are where I get most of my shopping done for the year. I haven't been brave enough to take all my kids to a garage sale in quite a while, but I believe that's where some of the best deals can be found, and you can have fun bargaining, as well!

Recently, I was looking for an infant swing. New, they're anywhere in the $60-$200 price range. I figured out which brands should get me a $20 swing and kept my eye on craigslist for several weeks. Nothing was coming to my price point, and I began considering the need to spend more than that. But wait! Here comes Take 2, and not only did they have a swing for $20, but there were two to choose from!

Look for the clearance, returns, scratches, and overstocks. These are usually found in a back corner somewhere. If the store is big enough, there will be an outlet store or something like it "nearby." Last summer, we needed a new dishwasher. We just happened to get a $75 rebate off our particular brand because of some problem with a feature we didn't even use. Within the time frame of using that coupon, ours actually broke- it's a lot nicer to run a dishwasher if the dishes get cleaned and the water stays inside! So, we went to a store that was doing some appliance promotional, as well. We found our dishwasher on clearance because the new year's model came out the week before! I can't remember what we spent, but after clearance price, sale, and rebate, we paid less than half the original cost of the dishwasher. At that point, even the most basic model they had would have cost us more money!

Have a budget and stick to it. This is a lot easier if you're planning to pay with cash. It's amazing what will happen when you say something like, "we'll just write a check" when they go into their store credit card speech. It makes me wonder how much time they spend on those that just get turned down. We were at a furniture overstock-like store to purchase some couches. They were a "special buy" and with the 10% off weekend, we thought we were getting a great deal. I was wandering around again while Greg waited for a salesman. I found a beautiful dining room table. Originally priced around $1800, it was marked under $300! The salesman even went to see if it would qualify for the 10% off! Anyways, he was moving kind of slowly with our purchases until we said we'd write a check. Boy, did he move fast then! The same thing happens on the car lot. They don't seem to know what to do with you if you pull out a checkbook! Dave Ramsey says to bring cash in, but we haven't tried that, yet.

Buying in multiples. This is the way stores like Sam's Club operate, but it can work on other things, as well. We love the Slumberland clearance section and often use part of a date night to wander around in there. One time we found three of the chairs for our dining room in the return section. Of course, we asked for a deal if we bought all three. Of course, we got it!

Be willing to walk away. This is especially important when shopping for something that you will actually bargain for- cars, furniture, etc. We were looking trade our car in for a van and had a certain amount of money to spend above that- and it wasn't very much. We didn't need the van, yet, so were able to walk away when the dealership wasn't willing to come down on the model we were looking at or show us anything in our price range. Just two days later, the dealership called and offered us the van for what we had! We got an exceptional deal because we knew our budget before going in and were willing to walk away. This is a lot easier to do this if you're paying in cash and the item isn't an urgent need.

Have we missed out on other deal opportunities? How do you get the best bang for you buck when you make a larger purchase? I'd love to hear some of your ideas for getting a great deal. We'll try them out when we make our next large purchase!

If you're looking for other ways to save some money, check out some other links at Frugal Fridays.

How Cheap Can You Be?

I've recently entered the world of couponing. A few weeks ago I posted about my first "deal trip" and I thought it was amazing. Last week I had another trip, that I thought was pretty great, too. But this is absolutely amazing! She feeds a family of six for $4 a week! The principles that she uses are the same ones that I've started applying. Maybe I'll get there, too! If only we had the room to store all of our deals...

I love the chicksdigdeals website. Here in Nebraska, they compile a list of all the coupons in the Sunday paper and match them each week with store sales. I started visiting their site last spring, just for the convenience of checking all the store ads in one location. Now I'm hooked on couponing!

You may notice that there's a link on their site to get the Lincoln paper- Sun and Wed for $1/week. That's a great way to get coupons and the store flyers, especially if you decide to do some price matching. Here are some other website for coupon printing that I've found. So far, I've been able to get all of my deals solely from online and in-store coupons.

coupons.com

coupons.smartsource.com

redplum.com

coolsavings.com

afullcup.com

valpak.com

couponcabin.com

pgeverydaysolutions.com

Most grocery stores have a few coupons on their websites. And of course, check out the manufacturer websites for coupons, as well. Some people find it helpful to set up another e-mail account just for all their coupons and newsletters.

What's the best way to get a great deal? Match a coupon with a store sale. Even better is to put a store coupon on top of that! And if another store has that prouduct on sale, price match! For example, last week the Keebler cookies were on sale 2/$4 at one store. But I had a $1 off 2 store coupon at another store. Plus a manufacturer's coupon for $1.50 off 2. So, if I took my ad to that second store and used both my coupons I could get two packages of Keebler cookies for $1.50. It turns out that the second store had dropped their in-store price to match the competitor, so I didn't need to price match, but I was going to!

And because I can't contain myself any longer, here's the picture from my trip last week. I spent $6.80 on all the food you see in the photo! 2 boxes Kashi cereal, 2 boxes of whole wheat pasta, 2 packages Keebler cookies, 6 jars of Ragu sauce, 1 box Fiber one pastries, and 2 pounds of bananas. I used somewhere around $13 in coupons. I think I need to start framing my receipts!

My goal for the month of November is to buy only deals. That may not work perfectly- I'm out of potatoes, but I'm going to try!

What kinds of deals can you find? How cheap can you be?

Appliances pt 1

"In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation." Psalm 50:3

Much of my time and energy is spent in getting great deals on the things that we need for daily life- food, diapers, toilet paper... But everyone needs to make a larger purchase at some time or another. Whether it's a necessity or something more fun, there are lots of ways to get great deals on those larger purchases. Not the least of which, is asking the Lord for a great deal- pray for those appliances

.

I'm not kidding. God has given you a responsibility over the money you have. Of course, He wants you to get a good deal. Every major item in our home was purchased at an incredible deal (and most minor things, too). We have a budget in mind when we walk into the store and ask God to give us something great. This is the same God who fed 5000 people from what basically amounted to one boy's lunch box.

The first time I experienced was when we purchased our home. We were now in need of some appliances. We thought we could hold off on the washer and dryer, but a refrigerator was necessary. In order to save money, we first looked at second hand appliance stores. Any of you who have done this may know that they are not the best options. We decided that this was a purchase that would be worth the cost of buying new. So, we headed off to do some comparison shopping.

When we got to one particular store, I was tired and slightly frustrated. Even the most basic models were out of the price range we had thought to spend. So, as we walk across the parking lot, I say, "Dear God, please give us a good refrigerator for under $500. In Jesus' name, Amen." It was a simple prayer, and not said very reverently, but it was one that the Lord decided to answer! We found one we like that was $550. We were pretty excited! It wasn't quite as low as we had hoped, but better than anything else we had seen. As Greg waited for a salesman, I was wandering around. Back in the corner, I found what looked like the same one, for over $100 less. It was marked as a return and it turned out that the only thing wrong was a scuff mark on the side- that would be covered by the counters in our new house! With taxes and all, our total was $505. Go God!

I have story after story of other large purchases that we have made- cars, dishwashers, cameras, and more. Do you have any tips that have helped you walk away with great deals?

Good Deal vs Great Deal

Last week, we had one of the ladies from the "Chicks Dig Deals" blog speak at our MOPS group. It was great to hear from a "couponing" mom who's been doing it for awhile. Being good stewards of the money the Lord has given us is a great motivation for getting the best deals. It's kind of fun, too! I've been following their blog for several months. It was nice to see where the best deals on different products was at, so I could choose which store to shop at each week. But I think it's time to go ahead and start the process of clipping coupons and not just getting a good deal, but getting a great deal.

This week, for the first time, I took the plunge and went to the store with the express purpose of getting some deals. Last night I spent some time going through each store's ad (made vastly easier by the fact that the "Chicks" had already done so!) to figure out which store had the best deals on the things that I wanted to buy and had coupons for.

So, here's my haul!

1 Betty Crocker potatoes pouch (Reg .99, Sale .69, -.40 MQ)

2 pkgs Keebler chocolate chip cookies (Reg 3.89 each, Sale 2/$4, -1.50 MQ)

9 pack of Charmin big rolls (Reg 5.75, Sale 4.39, -1.00 MQ)

4.3 lbs Braeburn apples (Reg 7.69, Sale 2.92, -.30 sticky coupon)

16 oz Bird's Eye frozen broccoli (Reg 1.99, Sale .77, -.35 MQ)

2 Coffee-Mate flavored creamers (Reg 2.58 each, Sale 2/$3, -1.50 MQ)

My total was $11.03

My savings from sales $13.61

My savings from coupons $5.05

My total savings was $18.66

I thought I was getting great deals before, but this is amazing! Granted, the cookies and the creamer wouldn't have been on my list without them being such a great deal. But come on, they were a great deal! Actually, that reminds me of one of the points she made last week. "The goal is not to "save" money. The goal is to spend less." (I think I'm going to write this on my coupon folder!) If I'm spending money on items I wouldn't have bought because I'm "saving" money, it's not helpful to me or my budget. Some things are nice to have on hand, though, and it's okay to spend the money on instant mashed potatoes for that night that I don't want to cook because then I won't be spending it in the drive-thru!

So, if you've seen any of my weekly meal plans and accompanying cost estimates, you may have wondered how I can feed my family of six for under $30 every week. One reason is because I tend to buy things I use a lot when they're on sale rather than waiting until I need them and paying full price. I'm excited to learn more about coupons and seeing how little I can spend!

You can see how others live frugally over at Life As Mom.