Saving with Seven

Saving by Selling Part II

2013-05-03T10:22:00.004-05:00

We have an overseas moving coming up in the future, with a stop in D.C. along the way for a few months. Although we don't know exactly when we will be moving (it could be 2-7 months), we decided it would be better to sell our large furniture items now. After all, it is garage sale season, and we will get better prices now than later. Also, if we move in the middle of winter, it would be really hard to move them in the snow and ice. So, now is the time.

I started by listing the items on Craigslist.com, and then put up garage sale posts on various websites.
http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/csw/gms/3782180210.html
http://www.yardsalesearch.com, http://www.tagsellit.com and http://www.atgaragesale.com. I put notices in that our garage sale is from May 15-18, but that some furniture items are available for pre-sale at full price. These sites are all free, but some offer highlighted listings that stay at the top for a price. One site offers this premium service for a fee or for free if you advertise their site on your blog. You can see that one in the sidebar.

If you are interested in some furniture, you can check out my listings on Craigslist. Remember that I am in Waconia, MN, and I'm selling locally only.

Master Bedroom Set:

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/csw/fuo/3781853797.html
Children's bedroom set:
http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/csw/fuo/3781926691.html
Bunk & Twin bed set:
http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/csw/fuo/3782009824.html
If the listings are no longer there, that item has sold.

Saving by Selling

2012-08-30T09:27:00.001-05:00

When my son was going into 5th grade and starting percussion in band, we bought him a bell kit. It was a rental return, just a year or two old. We purchased it for $130. Six years later, we still had the bell kit laying around, but our percussionist had no use for this practice instrument anymore.

My husband and I thought we would try to sell it back to the music store. It had no mallets or sticks with it anymore, one of the stand screws had been replaced by something from the hardware store, and one of the keys was missing the little rubber things that keep it from wiggling around. Had it been a newer model, these things would not have been an issue, but they didn't want it. They gave us new rubber things, a new screw and a new set of mallets for about $3.50 and told us to try our luck on Craig's List. There was a set of sticks lying around the house, so I added them, took some pictures of it all and loaded it up on Craig's List. That was a week ago. Yesterday, someone purchased that bell kit for $115. That's like renting a bell kit for $2.50 per year. Wow!

If you don't remember why I am so bad at posting regularly, it is because I have gone back to college. Along with college comes textbooks. Once upon a time, if you wanted to buy or sell a used textbook, you were bound to the college bookstore. Not anymore! I always check the prices at both the college and on Amazon.com before I buy. Unless the school is using a special edition, I can almost always do better on Amazon. This summer, I took an Intro to Management course. The textbook had just been published this year, but since it was summer session, I was able to find a used copy in good condition from an Amazon Marketplace vendor. At the end of the course, I turned around and sold it to Amazon.com in exchange for a gift card. They took it back for $25 more than I had paid for it! That isn't always the case, but I often sell back books for not much of a loss. One key is to sell them back right away after your term to minimize loss from new editions coming out and from too many students flooding the market with returns. If Amazon doesn't want to pay much for it, I will put it up myself as a Marketplace vendor (but always check the current selling prices from other vendors first).

Costco Savings - Not So Much

2012-05-31T13:39:00.002-05:00

Costco used to be one of my favorite places to shop. Okay, it still is, but I refuse to go there more than once every month or two. The problem is that you can't coupon there. If you buy anything there that you could get with coupons elsewhere, you are spending more. There are a few items that are still cheaper there than I can get elsewhere, but I find that just walking into the store creates a massive hemorrhage in my budget if I am not extremely disciplined going in.

What will I allow myself to buy at Costco, then? Well, produce rarely has coupons, so I can get some of that there. But I have to watch out. No convenient little packages of baby carrots to put in the kids' lunches, for example. It seems like it has a pretty good price when you are there, until you consider the cost of a 5 lb. bag of carrots. If there aren't juice boxes on sale anywhere, those are reasonably priced at Costco. Some baking ingredients in bulk are okay to get there, as well. But really, I think I will be letting my membership expire at the end of the year. It isn't really worth the cost. It might be if I lived closer, but it costs about $6 in gas round-trip, so I think it is more of a burden on my wallet than a help.

If you do have a Costco membership, you might enjoy the free samples they occasionally offer to members. Here is one that is being offered right now. It is a sample of Dove deodorant. http://www.costco.com/Browse/ProductSet.aspx?Prodid=11764061&search=free+sample&Mo=2&cm_re=1_en-_-Top_Left_Nav-_-Top_search&lang=en-US&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&Sp=S&N=5000043&whse=BC&Dx=mode+matchallpartial&Ntk=Text_Search&Dr=P_CatalogName:BC&Ne=4000000&D=free+sample&Ntt=free+sample&No=0&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Nty=1&topnav=&s=1

Paying With Cash? Discuss!

2012-05-24T10:21:00.000-05:00

I know that Dave Ramsey says to use cash instead of credit cards. I haven't been able to make the switch, though. Don't get me wrong - I don't have credit card debt. I have cards with no annual fee, and I pay them off every month. I use the envelope system, but it is through Mvelopes online. If I switched to cash, I would no longer know where every penny went. Sure, I would use physical envelopes instead of the electronic version, but there wouldn't be any way to see what stores I went to without digging through receipts. I would also be giving up my cash back rewards, which are normally around $30/month. I apply these to my credit card balance before I make my payment, and it really helps.

Another thing I worry about is how to allocate the money between my husband and myself. I do the majority of the grocery shopping for the family, but he does pick up milk, bread and bananas when he gets gas sometimes. He also does a monthly - or so - stop at Cub for food to stock his fridge and cupboard at work for lunches and snacks. I never know he is going to make this trip until I see it in Mvelopes. I don't think he ever knows he is going to go do that trip until he has a day where he doesn't want to go to the gym at lunch, so he decides to take care of that instead. I guess we could give him his own envelope for his groceries and for his sporadic stops at the gas station, but from month to month, the amount he does changes so much, I don't know how to plan for it.

My next concern is about losing cash. When we do have cash around, we tend to lose track of where we spent it - that or else we lose it. I think I would do pretty well with it. I have a coupon binder, and it has a zipper pouch inside that would hold several envelopes, and I think I could easily start using cash out of envelopes and stick the receipts into the envelopes. But my husband does not have a coupon binder. He has a money clip. I don't think he would want to start carrying around his planner all the time. He says he would like to try going to cash, but I am pretty sure he would want some cash in his clip, and there would be little categorizing or saving of receipts. Sure, they could go in his pocket, but then they could either end up on his desk at work or in the laundry at home.

I understand the concept that if you only have the cash that you take to the store with you, that is all you spend, so you save by not impulse buying. But what about when you see a great deal on something that you would like to stock up on, but can't because you didn't know about the temporary price reduction or clearance and don't have the money with you? For example, when I find my favorite spaghetti sauce for $1 per can, I buy a dozen cans of it. Is the trade-off of not having the money with you for times like those worth the money you save?

I have a weekly grocery budget. I am sticking to it fairly well. Not perfectly, but fairly well. Dining out used to be a category that we struggled with, but we are doing better since we started focusing on it. The only category that consistently is over budget is the home maintenance category. Something is always breaking around here, and we really can't wait to have the money in that envelope all the time, so we transfer from another envelope to cover it. Will switching to cash really make a difference? Or will I miss out on my cash back rewards and great sales and spend extra gas going to the bank for cash and risk losing my cash and not see a benefit?

I want to know what has worked for you. What struggles did you have with using cash? Did you just transfer money from other cash envelopes when you wanted to go over budget? Was it the envelope system that really made the difference, or was it using cash that did it, or a combination of the two? How did you work with a spouse on it? Do you both have to be committed to using envelopes in order for it to work?

Saving with Homemade Laundry Soap

2012-04-19T18:40:00.000-05:00

Laundry detergent is expensive. I spent the past couple of years timing my detergent purchases for when I had a Target coupon, a manufacturer's coupon and there was a sale on Tide all at the same time. I cheered when I got my 92 load bottle for $16. Those days are in the past. Now, I get about 920 loads for under $20. I have been using this formula for a month now, and find no difference in the cleanliness of my clothing. I even love the scent!

1 bar Kirk's Castile Soap, shredded

1 c. Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda

1 c. Borax (20 oz. box - $4.86)

1 c. Oxy Clean (optional)

Mix together and store in an airtight container.

Use as little as 1 Tbsp. per load!

Use white vinegar for fabric softener.

Some people use Fels Naptha soap instead of Castile, and this is okay if you don't have an HE machine. If you do have an HE machine, you need to be aware that Fels Naptha is made with animal fat, which can cause accumulation in your drain and lead to clogs. Castile soap is made with vegetable fats and will break down more quickly, especially with the use of vinegar as fabric softener.

I can hear you asking, "Vinegar? Isn't that going to make my laundry stink?" No, I promise you that you won't be able to smell it after the laundry is dry. The scent dissipates completely, and you will be left with the light fragrance of the Kirk's Castile soap.

If you have heard about homemade laundry soap on other web sites, you may have read that people normally find these ingredients at the hardware store. If you are in Waconia, you won't find them there. I was able to find a miniature bottle of Borax that cost more than a large box should at Hardware Hank. The only place I found all three ingredients was at Mackenthun's. The Borax and washing soda were right next to each other (and the Fels Naptha - homemade laundry soap must be pretty popular around here), and the Kirk's Castile soap was in the personal care soap aisle near the checkout aisles. The prices were good. I happened to already have a box of Oxy Clean laying around, but I know they carry that, too.

I LOVE Kwik Trip

2012-04-18T14:01:00.003-05:00

Have I mentioned recently how much I love Kwik Trip? Well, I do. Where else can you get four 1/2 gallon bags of 2% milk, a .5 pint of strawberry milk, an apple, approximately two pounds of bananas and an M&M cookie for $4.79? Not at Mackenthun's or Target; that's for sure!

How did I do this, you might ask? First, milk prices there are the best. At the moment, milk is $1.99 per gallon when purchased in 1/2 gallon bags. This is a sale price, but it is always at least $.20 less than the other stores. If you aren't familiar with bagged milk, what you do is slip the bag in a 2-quart pitcher and clip the corner off the bag. They have pitchers at the store that is shaped like the bag, but I just use a normal pitcher that I have on hand. When purchasing milk, make sure you get a Gallons for Gallons card punched. For every half-gallon, you get one punch. When all 20 punches are filled, you get to use it for $1 off your next gallon of milk. I got four punches today, but did not have a full card today. Oh, don't forget to save your bag tops. They have Milk Moola logos on them, worth $.05 each when you give them to your child's school.

Banana prices are also wonderful. They are $.37/lb.

The other items were obtained for free. My children each have a Kid's Club card. When I buy a gallon of milk, the child accompanying me has his/her choice of a free cake donut, cookie, bagel, apple or orange. Any kids ages 2-12 can join for free. Check out this link if you want to sign up: http://www.kwiktrip.com/kidsClub/ On the child's birthday, they get a coupon for a free .5 pint of milk and a free cookie. We used the .5 pint of milk coupon today. We saved the cookie coupon for a later date, as it doesn't expire, and I had a coupon for a free cookie that does expire. I got this coupon from their circular.

In case you don't know about their circular, it comes in the Star Tribune on the first Wednesday of the month and also in the Gold Miner the first week of the month (or maybe the last week of the month? I can't remember the delivery day of that one). Also in the circular are several gas discount coupons. This month, there was one for $.10/gal, one for $.07/gal and several for $.05/gal. Frequently there are coupons for $.99/dozen eggs, free donut or cookie, free first lb. of bananas or potatoes and there are normally $5.99 car wash coupons.

The other way that I save with Kwik Trip is through their Kwik Card. There is no annual fee, and I pay it off every month, avoiding interest charges. The benefits to this are 3% rebates on gas (5% promotional rate for the first four months) and 10% rebates on in-store purchases. Quarterly, I receive a check in the mail of my accumulated rebate amount to use on a future purchase. So, you could say that my purchase today only cost $4.31, as I earned a $.48 rebate. If you are the type of person who is accustomed to paying off your credit card each month, having one of these could save you money. Go here to apply: https://www.kwiktrip.com/kcaccess/

4/11/2012 Mackenthun's and Household Energy Savings

2012-04-11T17:22:00.001-05:00

This morning, I did two of those twice-a-year maintenance projects that save money on energy. I vacuumed out the dryer vent and the coils under the refrigerator. Not only does vacuuming out the dryer vent save on energy, but it also reduces the risk of a fire. If you don't have a good tool for getting all the way through the dryer vent, check out http://shop.flylady.net/pages/FlyShop_dryer.asp. This kit works really well for me.

I went to Mackenthun's today for training pants and produce.

23 training pants - $5.99
2 avocados - $3.18
2 tomatoes - $3.84
head lettuce - $1.59
2 bags of croutons - $3.00

I brought a used paper grocery bag with me and got a nickel. The total was $17.55. Produce is expensive at Mackenthun's, but the gas to go out to one of the big chains would have evened the price difference out, and I just didn't need to go there this week. I could have bought Roma tomatoes and paid less, but they didn't look very good. I was surprised to find that the organic tomatoes from Iowa were the same price as the regular tomatoes that were labeled "USA." They were both vine-ripened. The cheaper tomatoes were all from Mexico, and I figured that the ones from Iowa, organic and grown so close to home (even if in a greenhouse, most likely), would be the more nutritious choice. I am up to $46.23 for the week. Even if the produce was expensive, I'm doing really well.

4/10/2012 Target & Walgreens

2012-04-10T16:01:00.002-05:00

I went to Target today. There really aren't many terrific deals at any of the stores this week, probably because of the holiday. But I needed juice boxes for the kids' lunches. There were a couple of coupon match-ups to take advantage of while I was there.

Archer Farms Fruit Strips were on sale for $2.69 for a 10 pack. Normally, they are $2.99. I almost always have a $1/2 coupon or two to use when I buy them, and this week was no exception. So, the boxes were each $2.19. That is about $.22 per fruit strip, which is nicely under the $.25 I try to keep school lunch items.

Capri Sun SuperV Juice boxes were on sale for $2.65 for a box of 10. $.27 each is about as good a price as I normally see, so I got four boxes.

I saw a great match-up on Aquafresh Fresh and Fruity. Target had a $1/1 coupon, and so did Coupons.com. They were $2.19 each. I had printed two of each coupon, so I paid $.19 each and got two.

I saved $.15 for using cloth bags and got 5% off for using my Red Card. The total was $18.61.

I also stopped by Walgreens for Keebler Crackers and trash bags. I also knew about a promotion on their store brand, Nice, so I thought I would check it out and see if there were any good deals.

The trash bags were $5 for 45 bags. They were Nice brand. The promotion on Nice products was for a $2 RR when you spend $10. Plus, most Nice products, other than the trash bags, had a B1G1 Free offer. The Nice 11oz sunflower nuts were $2.49 (and my husband had requested them for the next time we have chef salad), so I got two. I needed another $1.25 to complete the deal. The Nice 3oz gelatin was priced at $.69, so I bought three of those. After the 50% off on the second items, I had hit my $10 for the $2 RR. Looking back, I should have gotten one more gelatin to get another for half off. Duh.

Club crackers were 4/$10 with a $3 RR. I had one $1/2 off coupon. I really wish I had gotten more newspapers that week! In the end, they were $1.25 each. I consider this a pretty good deal anyway.

I used a $10 RR coupon, so my total bill came to $10.07, and I have another $5 in RR for next time.

I am up to $28.68 for the week. I don't think I'll spend a lot this week, as I don't plan to go to the store for anything other than milk and produce for the rest of the week.

4/8/2012 Recap

2012-04-09T07:45:00.002-05:00

I ended out the week making one more small trip to Kwik Trip and Target. I was able to pick up a circular at Kwik Trip, which will help me save a little on gas over the next six weeks. Those two trips had me about $12 under budget. Aaron then spent $12.50 at a meat market he went to with his dad. So, we spent $180.50 last week. That is really amazing, compared to how we have been doing with our grocery budget. That is $20 per person! I will continue with the plan for the coming week. The deals don't look as good, from what I have seen so far, but I will do my best.

Walgreens 4/4/2012

2012-04-04T20:45:00.001-05:00

I got out to Walgreens when I had to drive by there to pick up my kids after their band rehearsal this afternoon. I bought two large eggs for $2, minus the $.55 Incredible Edible Egg coupon. I also bought three five-packs of Peeps for my kids' Easter baskets. They were $2. I had a $2 RR coupon, so all I paid for were the eggs and some tax on the Peeps. The total was $1.59.

Cub and Rainbow 4/4/12

2012-04-04T15:23:00.001-05:00

Today, I hit the two grocery stores that are a little farther away, so I have to add Mapquest's estimated gas cost of $7.50 to my shopping trip. I'm not sure whether I am saving money by shopping 10 miles away or not, so I'm curious to see whether it seems like I am really saving any money doing it this way.

I started at Cub Foods today.

24 oz. Vlasik Pickles were 2/$4, and I had two coupons for $.75 off, which made them $1.25 each.

30 oz. Miracle Whip was $2.49, and my coupon was for $.50/2, which made them $2.25 each.

1.5 quart Kemp's Old Fashioned Ice Cream was on sale for B1G1 free, and the first was $5.99. I had a $1/2 coupon, so I paid $2.50 each.

Birds Eye Broccoli Florets were $1 each. I bought two, and had a coupon for $.50/2, for a total of $.75 each.

20 oz. Dole Pineapple Chunks were on sale for $1 each, and I had a $.50/2 coupon, for a total of $.75 each.

The sale on Marshmallows was 4/$5. There were coupons in the aisle for $.50/2, so I grabbed a few and used two. That made the 10 oz. marshmallows come to $1 each.

Asparagus was on sale for $1.88/lb. I had a $1/1 lb. coupon, so I paid $.88.

Strawberries were $1.88/lb. I bought two lbs.

Barilla Rotelli was $1.59/lb. I bought two.

Stove Top Stuffing was $.99, and I had a $.50/1 coupon, so I paid $.49.

My total bill was $27.50. The receipt says I saved $17.76, or $40%. The cashier told me "good job" after I was done checking out.

Next, I went to Rainbow, where it was Double Daze. This means that 5 manufacturer coupons can be doubled.

I bought 4-20 oz cans of Bush's Best Baked Beans, on sale for $1.68 each.

There was a coupon in the circular for $1.50 for 1 lb. of butter quarters.

I bought two Simple Orange Juice, which were on sale for 2/$6. I had two $1 off coupons that I printed online. They were both doubled, so the juices were $1 each. :-)

I got one dozen eggs free with the purchase of two Simply Orange Juice.

Philadelphia Cream Cheese had a coupon sale for $.98 for 1-8 oz package. I bought one.

Birds Eye Broccoli Floret Steamers were on sale for $1, and I had a $.50/2 coupon, which was doubled, so I got them for $.50 each.

Kemps Old Fashioned Ice Cream was on sale for $2.88 each. I had another $1/2 coupon, which was doubled, so I paid $1.88 each. I should have used both of them at Rainbow. I would not have been able to double all of my coupons, but it still would have been better if I had doubled a $1 coupon instead of a $.50 coupon.

There was a coupon for Oscar Meyer bacon for $2.88. I got one lb.

There was a coupon for $.99/lb on ham with a $25 purchase. I got an 8.91 lb ham for $8.82.

Roundy's All Purpose Flour was $1.89 for 5 lbs. That's .38/lb.

C&H Powdered Sugar was $1.89 for 2 lbs. I got two.

Emerald Trail Mix - breakfast blend was on sale for 2/$5.

McCormick Food Coloring was on sale for 2/$4. I had a $.75 coupon, which was doubled, bringing it down to $1.25 each.

My total purchase came to $42.62. My receipt says I saved $44.12. I also have a $.20/per gallon reward that I can use if I happen to get gas in Chaska or Chanhassen in the near future. I almost started to get grumpy in the checkout aisle today, as the checkers at Rainbow are extremely slow. I got in a line with two people in front of me and didn't leave the store until 15 minutes later, and I consider this to be a little too long. However, I thought about how much I was saving, and the fact that everyone there was doing the double coupon thing, so it is going to take longer, right? I set my mind to not being bothered and walked out of the store happy.

On another note, I don't really believe I saved as much as these stores claim on the receipts. For example, there is no way that a 1.5 quart of Kemps Ice Cream is really $5.99. This is a case of raising the price in order to have a B1G1 Free sale. But I still think this trip was worth the $7.50 I spent in gas.

I could have done better on a few of these items. I bought two newspapers, but they were from two different stores, and one was missing one of the coupon inserts. If I had had both, I would have had a few more coupons to use. Also, because I just started up again, there were a few items I paid way more for than I would have if I had been paying attention and stocking up. For example, the Rotelli noodles. I normally do not pay more than $1 per pound on noodles, but I needed them for a salad I am making this weekend, so I had no choice. In the future, I should be able to do better.

I am up to $135.37 for the week. I read recently on another blog site (I think it was MoneySavingMom.com - if not, it was another blog I linked to from her site) that a good grocer budget starting-point is $20 per person per week. I had thought I would try $200 for the family, but after reading that, I thought maybe I could try to do it with $180. If I'm going with that figure, I have $44.63 left for the week. I still need to go pick up baking chocolate for my French Silk pie for Easter, some pepperoni for a noodle salad for another family gathering on Saturday, and some milk. I will go to Kwik Trip for the milk, as it is $1.98/gal this week on sale. I also still have another egg coupon, and I could still stand to buy a little candy for the Easter baskets, and I have all of those RR's at Walgreens and their egg prices are the best right now, so I will probably head over there, as well. I may hit Target, too, as I want to get two laundry baskets to make the mountain that is always being dumped behind the current two laundry baskets to go away.

I need to put my bread in the oven now, so I'll write again later if I get out again today.

Target 4/2/2012

2012-04-02T15:45:00.001-05:00

When I got home from Target, I checked the mailbox to see if the postman had been here. He hadn't, so I rushed to get the UPC codes off my cereal boxes, get the Kellogg's rebate form filled out and the envelope ready to go. I had to hurry if I didn't want to make a special trip to the post office, as the Kellogg's rebate offer is ending today. Yes, the rebate forms say it ends at the end of the month, but it also says, "while supplies last," and if you go on their web page where the rebate form used to be, you will find that today is the last day to get them postmarked or they will not honor the rebates. I discovered this after I had already purchased two boxes of Rice Krispies at Walgreen's this morning, so I had to buy the other eight today. Anyway, in my rush to do all of that, I forgot to take a picture of my goods before putting them away. We'll have to make do without that today.

Target had some good match-ups today, plus some sales to go with them.

Rice Krispies 12 oz. boxes were on sale for 3/$8. On www.target.com/coupons, there is a $1/3 selected Kelloggs cereals coupon (you can print this twice). Plus, there were Kelloggs coupons in the newspapers and online at Kelloggs.com for $1/2. Then, there was that rebate offer I mentioned at the beginning of this post. It was for $10 off 10 boxes of cereal. In addition, there were coupons on each of the boxes of Rice Krispies for a free bag of M&Ms with the purchase of two Rice Krispies. So, I got six boxes of Rice Krispies and three (appx. 10 oz each) bags of M&Ms (normally priced at $2.88 each) for $5.02, or $.84/box plus half bag of M&Ms.

To finish off my rebate offer, I also purchased two boxes of Raisin Bran Crunch for $2.66 each, minus another of those printable coupons from Kelloggs.com for $1/2, minus $1 each for the rebate. That brought the price down to $1.66 each. I can't remember offhand how many ounces the Raisin Bran Crunch boxes were, but I think they were 14 oz. boxes.

Archer Farms fruit leather was not on sale, but there were $1/2 coupons on www.target.com/coupons. I bought four boxes at $2.49 each. That's $.25 per fruit leather strip.

Gogurt Simple was also not on sale, but there was a $.75/2 coupon on www.target.com/coupons. I also had a $.55/2 manufacturer's coupon from a previously purchased box of Gogurt. This brought the eight-pack of Gogurt down from $2.44 to $1.79, or $.22 each.

Both of the previous two deals are really good, as I have six school-aged children who take home lunches to school. I aim for their sides to be $.25 or less each.

I'm feeling dumb on this next one. I looked for a coupon that I was sure I had seen previously on target.com/coupons. It was for Market Pantry crackers, but I couldn't find it. I needed graham crackers. I checked out with two 14.4 boxes of crackers for $2.24 each. After checking out, I discovered that the coupon I had been thinking of was in my coupon binder, worth $.75! It was a checkout coupon, not an online coupon. Ugh! But it is good for another 6 weeks, so it isn't like I won't be able to use it. Hopefully, I will remember to check out those checkout coupons in the future.

I made two unplanned purchases. I checked out the girls' clearance racks. There were two items on the 70% off rack that I purchased. One was a really cute navy blue shirt with silk-like flowers below the front of the neck. It was $2.99. The other was a pajama set. I don't have any clothing for Katie beyond this summer, and this set will be her size come fall. It was $5.08.

I used four canvas bags at checkout, saving an additional $.20. I used my REDcard, which also saved another 5% off the total bill, which was a savings of $2.12. I always pay it off each month, so there are no interest fees. There is also not an annual charge for this card. If you can't use a credit card without carrying a balance, it isn't worth the discount.

My total for this trip was $40.76. Combine that with the Walgreen's trip of $33.49 and I have spent $74.25 this week on six bags of groceries. I have $12 in Register Rewards for next week and $10 in rebates coming in the future.

Walgreens 4/2/2012

2012-04-02T11:58:00.000-05:00

It is a beautiful day in Waconia, MN; just right for a mile's walk to Walgreens with my daughter. We took the little red wagon so we wouldn't have to carry bags home with us and so that she could ride if she got tired of walking. We saved on gas (which at 11 m/gal in my huge van adds up) and got some much-needed exercise at the same time. I am back into the swing of things with couponing. I have determined that I need to bring our grocery bill down to $200/week. Keep in mind that I am shopping for a family of 9, so that is less than $100 per person for a month.

Now for the excitement!

30 ct. Zyrtec tablets, plus 10 bonus tablets are $18.99 each on sale. This was not marked on the shelf properly, but it is in the ad. This Sunday's paper had an $8/2 24 count or more coupon in it. Also, there was a Register Reward of $10 when you buy more than $30 of Zyrtec (or other qualifying products). This brings the total cost per pill down to $.25!!

Jell-o gelatin has a coupon in the Sunday paper for $.50/2. The Walgreens ad has a coupon for $.59/each, up to 3. I purchased two, bringing the price down to $.34 each.

Rice Krispies 15 oz. cereal is on sale for 2/$5. I had a $1/2 manufacturer's coupon that I printed out on Kelloggs.com. Then, there was a $2 Register Reward for purchasing two. The reason there are two UPC codes in the picture is that I have a rebate form for a $10 gas card for sending in 10 selected Kellogg's UPCs. This brought the price of the Rice Krispies down to $0. Well, except that I do have to pay for a stamp and envelope, so across all 10 UPCs, I'd say that it is about $.05 per box.

Revlon beauty tools are B1G1 50% off this week. The regular price of the emery boards is $1.59. After the sale, they were $1.19 each. With two coupons from the Sunday paper for $1 off one, they were $.19 each. Also, a checkout coupon printed off for $4 off Revlon Nail tools. I may or may not use that in the future. It has a far-off expiration date, so there is time.

As far as the eggs go, they have a sale for 2/$2. I had an Incredible Edible Egg coupon from Facebook here http://www.facebook.com/IncredibleEdibleEgg/app_216737171706225 for $.55/2. This brought the price down to $.72 each.

I paid $33.49 for my purchase today, as I used a $3 Register Reward coupon from last week. If you count this week's Register Rewards and not last week's, my total bill was $24.49.

Saving Shopping Online

2011-04-16T21:32:00.000-05:00

Do you shop online much? I do. I find that I save more money when I do, because I tend to not impulse buy so much. The only down side is shipping costs. However, if you go through Ebates you can offset some of the cost with their cashback rebate program. So, whenever I go shopping online I start at www.ebates.com. I look up the store on the main screen on the left. If it is there (and it is most of the time), it directs me to their site and automatically creates a tracking ticket so that when I check out at that store, Ebates knows how much I spent. The Ebate site will tell you how much of a rebate they are currently offering before you click over. They deposit the current rebate offer into my account, and I get a Big Fat Check cut from all of my purchases quarterly (actually, I just have it all deposited in my PayPal account, as it is easier that way). If you click on my link, you will get a bonus for signing up through me after you are qualified.

Saving the Earth

2011-04-07T14:37:00.000-05:00

If you know me very well, you probably know that I don't believe in man-made global warming. So, you might wonder why I would be posting about saving the earth. Well, global warming isn't the only good reason to recycle and conserve energy. I find the dependence on foreign energy disturbing, so I try to do my part to conserve. I also like clean air, so it is in my best interest to buy recycled goods and recycle what I can. I also like promotions and contests, which is why I am posting this particular post.

Are you participating with RecycleBank through your garbage service? I am. They weigh my recycling each month and give me points in my account, which I can then trade for valuable coupons, like $6 off at Cub Foods (which I can get every month) and a $10 iTunes gift card, which I have to save up for a while for, but is still worth it to me! There are a lot of others, including coupons for individual grocery items, as well.

Currently, RecycleBank is having a contest. The highest points-winners get some awesome prizes. The grand prize winner will get a complete kitchen makeover, and a lot of other cool stuff. I could use this. There are hundreds of other prizes, as well, like Barnes & Noble's Nook. Very cool. Plus, all the points earned while doing the Earth Day-type activities are also awarded to your RecycleBank account, which you can also use just as I described up above. If you want to join in, just click this link and sign up: http://www.recyclebank.com/referafriend/?___store=us&bl=c3RlZnByYXR0QGdtYWlsLmNvbQ==&utm_campaign=Refer-a-friend&utm_medium=direct%20link&utm_source=J6302532&cm_mmc=Refer-a-friend-_-direct%20link-_-J6302532-_-referral

Saving Time and Gas with Merging and Roundabouts

2011-02-17T14:46:00.001-06:00

A friend's blog reminded me of how frustrated I get with a couple of traffic issues. I hope he isn't upset that I ripped off his topic. First, merging from an ending left lane. Second, the proper way to use roundabouts.

Merging from an ending lane can be really unpleasant. That is mostly because the people in the right lane can get really huffy, as if you are cutting in front of them at the grocery store or something. Some even pull in front of you so you can't get in front of them. The thing that they don't understand is that the wait wouldn't be as long for anyone if they would just move over into the left lane and/or allow everyone to merge like a zipper when they reach the merge zone. This is not just my opinion, but the laws of physics and MNDOT agree. When the right lane is full and the left lane is not, people entering the freeway cannot merge into the right lane easily. This slows the right lane down. If half of the traffic would move into the left lane, traffic would not slow down as much. Then, if at the merge point people took turns politely, there would still be no slowing down.

Roundabouts have been popping up all over the metro area. I have to say that I love them. They save on gas and keep us from having to stop when there is no on coming traffic. We have at least three in my town now, and they have allowed traffic to flow much more smoothly. Unfortunately, they could be even more efficient if everyone knew the law about signaling. When we first got our roundabouts in my town, I read up on them. An article by MNDOT said to signal your turn. I thought that meant to signal as I enter the roundabout whether I am turning right or left. I have frequently been frustrated by my signal turning itself off before I even get into the roundabout due to the way some of ours are laid out. However, now that the law has been officially entered into the books, I have found out that I was mistaken. We are supposed to signal right when we intend to exit the roundabout. If everyone would do this, traffic could flow more freely, as we wouldn't have to assume they are staying in the roundabout any longer than they are.

Let's save even more gas and time by putting into practice these two little changes that can make such a difference!

How to Save on Garbage Service

2011-01-21T14:14:00.000-06:00

Rate increases last month forced my garbage bill up by $8/month after taxes and fees. I really don't appreciate having my set monthly expenses go up, so I decided to lessen the impact. I had been noticing that my garbage can was rarely more than 2/3 full each week. Since I had the largest can size (90 gal.), I downgraded it to the 60 gallon can and decided to do a little better job with composting and recycling, saving $5/month plus tax. No, I didn't come all the way up to that $8/month figure, but it was close. If we find we can go down to the 45 gallon can after we get the hang of this, that would be awesome. If you can't imagine reducing your garbage can size, compare your household size to mine. We have two adults and seven children, ranging from 3-15 years old. If nine of us can go down to a 60 gallon can, certainly a more typically-sized family should be able to do this.

Regular glass, plastic and paper/cardboard recycling has been going pretty well in our household the past year, but I found another way to recycle this month. Mackenthun's and many other grocery stores in the Twin Cities metro area recycle plastic bags & food packaging for free. I found a website that gives details about which plastic items can be recycled just by dropping them off at the store. It also has locations of some of the stores here in MN that take the recycling. Just go to http://www.itsinthebagmn.org for more information. Yesterday, after about three weeks of saving up store bags, cereal bags, zipper bags (with the zippers removed) and wrap from things like bulk toilet paper and water bottles, we had a large garbage bag full and took it to the recycling station while running errands. It was pretty painless.

We have been composting kitchen scraps for a few years, but it has primarily been during the non-winter months. This year, we are composting year-around. Fortunately, I have children I can send out to the compost bin with food scraps so I don't have to tromp through the snow. Composting food scraps, rather than throwing them away, saves space in the garbage can and keeps the garbage can from stinking so much. I have a Tupperware container with a lid that we use, which keeps the smell of our potato peels, apple cores, banana peels and other compost-friendly items from leaking out. Many counties sell compost bins to their residents for a very reasonable rate. Carver County charges $35 for theirs. You can find their address and hours of operation here: http://www.co.carver.mn.us/departments/LWS/env-svc/envirocenter.asp

That last link also has a list of all of the other items Carver County takes, many of which are free, such as fluorescent bulbs, batteries and household hazardous waste. They take paper products that you could recycle in your bin if only they weren't tainted by food, such as the cardboard round inside a frozen pizza box, or a cardboard pizza delivery box, napkins, paper towels, paper plates and even those waxy dairy boxes that you can't recycle. And here's the clincher: they will also take ALL food scraps - even meat and bones. I haven't gotten motivated enough to take that stuff all the way to Chaska yet. Maybe if they were open in the evenings I would, because I go out there regularly for play practices with my kids. At the moment, it is not worth the gas to do it. I wonder how much more room in our garbage can could be saved if we did? Maybe I'll have to experiment and see.

Let me know if you have found any ways to reduce your garbage. I'd be grateful for any tips!

***UPDATE***
Carver County expanded its recycling service to include more items this year. We can now recycle all plastics #1-7. This has already proven to overfill my two huge recycling bins if I don't do a good job of squishing everything down. I haven't noticed my garbage can getting any less full, but I have been doing a lot of de-junking with my spring cleaning so far, so I doubt I would see much of a change yet. Maybe in a few months?

Saving on College Textbooks

2010-12-28T16:41:00.001-06:00

Here is a shameless way of getting on the search engines for the textbooks I just listed on eBay. I went to the bookstore today to sell back my books, but they had canceled the buyback session. What a waste of time and gas! So, I'm going to see if I can sell them on eBay. Here are the details:

Normandale Community College World Civilization 3 1103 History Textbook and novels, used in David Rayson's course.

I just finished this course and checked that these are still the same books used for the course for Spring semester. If you buy them used from the bookstore, you'll pay $102.50. Get them here for a fraction of the cost and avoid lines at the bookstore, all with free shipping via USPS, arriving within a week of your cleared payment (credit card purchases will ship the next business day).

Included in this bundle are:

This book's cover has some creasing, a tiny rip (about .25cm) and some pages are bent at the corner a little. There is highlighting throughout, but no writing. All pages are intact and and the binding is strong.

This book has a minor crease on the corner of the cover. There is some minor highlighting inside, but no writing.

This book is in great condition. No highlighting or writing.

You can find the eBay listing here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160524457822&ssPageName=ADME:L:LCA:US:1123#ht_500wt_1156

***UPDATE***
I'm sad to say these didn't sell, and I didn't make it out to Normandale for their used book return day (well, technically I did, but they canceled the day I went there, and I couldn't make it to the other one). So, if you happen to want any of these books, I'll take whatever offer I can get.

Saving on Textbooks

2010-12-18T23:40:00.000-06:00

I thought I'd try to save a little by selling my textbooks from last semester on Ebay. So far, it hasn't worked out. I was hoping that someone from my college taking the same course in the Spring semester might like the books for less than what the bookstore is selling used books for. I'm still crossing my fingers, but I haven't gotten a bite yet. The books are for Normandale Community College's World Civilizations 3 course. The books are Global Society: The World Since 1900, All Quiet on the Western Front, Red Azalea and A Thousand Splendid Suns. The auction runs another week or so. Here is the link, in case anyone is taking the course this Spring. http://cgi.ebay.com/Global-Society-World-Since-1900-bundle-/160520226176?pt=US_Texbook_Education&hash=item255fc04580#ht_500wt_1156

I checked to make sure David Rayson is still using the same books.

First Day of School

2010-10-05T09:05:00.000-05:00

Well, Aaron came back from Asia last month and I forgot to get these pictures off the camera. The video camera cable is still missing, so I don't have Aidan's first day of school for you to see yet.

Tristin is sporting his new bolaro. He got away with it for a few days before he was told he couldn't wear it in the hallways at school. But, there was a hat day, and he has worn it to some parties, so his purchase hasn't been for naught.

The boys are all doing very well in school so far. Tristin is enjoying being around more mature students, and even has math classes with mostly sophomores and juniors. Show choir practices twice per week, and I think he enjoys it. Aaron and I went to watch him for the last half-hour of dance camp on Saturday (it went from 9-6), and he is keeping up really well!

Brandon had his first show choir activity last night. He is one of 20 boys in the choir, which consists of all of the boys who auditioned, plus all of the 8th grade girls. The 7th grade girls are making up a new show choir this year. There were 112 kids who auditioned in all, so they created a new choir for them.

William is enjoying middle school. Band started last week, so he is working on consistently getting the right sound out of the flute. He is also participating in the play with me. We're working on getting him through his chores. He is not one who likes doing the same thing every day. He'd rather do a big project that has an end than sweep and vacuum the same floors each day.

Ben is becoming more responsible. He has come home to an empty house with Dallin and Aidan a couple of times now, and has done exactly as he's been instructed, making sure Aidan comes right in and doesn't go out to roam the neighborhood. It is only about 20 minutes before the older boys get home, but he has been handling that 20 minutes very well.

Dallin is also doing very well. He has some harder chore responsibilities this year, and is doing well at them.

Clearance + Coupons = SCORE!

2010-09-28T15:59:00.001-05:00

I had a fun time shopping at Target today. I had two of the big bottles of Tide on my list. I recently purchased some in the smaller bottle, because of a sale and some coupons that made it a better price per ounce, only to find that it drips all over the place when the cap is put back on (weren't those supposed to have a no-drip design?). I figured I could set it aside and use the big one until there was room enough to dump the rest of the smaller bottle in. Since I use both Tide Coldwater and regular Tide in my machine, depending on the type of load I am doing, I needed two. I had one $1/2 coupon, which wasn't particularly great.

I visited the clearance aisle at the end of my trip. They had marked down filler paper and notebooks quite a bit. I had seen them right after school started, but their idea of clearance then was double their sale prices from before school. This time, however, they were one cent less. I wasn't completely sold on buying them yet, but one of the brands of wide-ruled notebooks had a sticker on the front that said "$5 in Target Coupons Inside," so I flipped one open. There was a coupon for $1/1 Tide inside! There were also coupons for Tropicana, Quaker Oatmeal Squares, Life Cereal, Chewy Granola Bars and Instant Oatmeal, Danimals, Nature Valley, Energizer, Kellogg's and Frito-Lay. Not all coupons were the same in each, but if you are buying for a big family for next school year, you are sure to get more than you need. They all expire 10/31/10.

I didn't think much of anything other than the Tide. But, when I got home, I was putting away some tortilla chips (Mission brand were $2/bag), and I found an empty Quaker Instant Oatmeal box in the cupboard. I thought to myself, "hmm...any coupons inside? that could stack with the Quaker coupons I just got..." and sure enough, there were five coupons in the box, four of which would stack with the coupons I had just received. I already had two printable Life coupons for $1/2, so now all I need is a great sale, and cereal will be extremely cheap next month.

The one other unbeatable deal at Target that I found this week was Playtex Sport 36 count for $7.14. Buy two, get a $5 gift card. If you've been getting the paper for a while, and/or have signed up for Playtex samples in the mail, you probably have at least $1/1 coupon in your binder. That makes it a great deal!

Excuses, excuses!

2010-09-13T14:42:00.000-05:00

So, I haven't been updating this weekly. After vacation, I got into the school mode, and I haven't been remembering to buy newspapers on Saturdays, so I haven't had coupons to make great deals match up. I'm really sorry! I will try harder this Saturday to remember.

Walgreens Sneak Peak for August 15--21

2010-08-13T10:28:00.001-05:00

Fine, if I actually have readers, I'd better have something for them to read. :-)

The Walgreens Sneak Peak is out for next week, and I've already found some deals!

Lindsay Olives, $.99/can with coupon from add

But, print off the $1/2 coupon from http://offers.lindsayolives.com/clublindsay/

Final price 2/$1!

Do you still have Twizzlers coupons from a June SS?

Sale price 3/$4

Coupon $1/3

Final price $3/3

Have you ever tried using a B1G1 manufacturer's coupon with a B1G1 sale at Walgreens? I haven't yet, but the Right Guard and Dry Idea is B1G1, and there was that coupon in the SS a few weeks ago, so... let me know if it works. I don't know that I'll get there on Monday morning before I leave on vacation. If it doesn't work, there are the printable $1 off coupons printable through www.couponmom.com. I wouldn't go for the latter deal, myself, unless I were out of deodorant and brand-specific. I don't pay for deodorant. It is too easy to get free.

Way to Go, Me.

2010-08-12T21:30:00.000-05:00

I haven't been posting for a while, as I haven't been getting any viewers. I haven't been advertising my site because I'm waiting for my husband to miraculously have some free time to help me with my design before I do that.

Unfortunately, today one little bit of advertising showed up before I was ready for it. I'm not sure yet if it produced any leads, but an article I wrote on saving on school supplies that I submitted as a guest post showed up today on a blog. Of course, I only wrote "Saving with Seven" on it, and not my actual blog address, so it may be that nobody ever finds me anyway. Oh, well.

Just so anybody who comes here will know what's going on with this blog, I am planning on starting up again once I feel like I might actually be writing for an audience. And that will hopefully be in September, after the kids are back in school. Maybe I'll get creative and try to make my own graphics. Who knows?

Busy Week!

2010-07-13T16:56:00.000-05:00

Sorry this post is later than normal. I've been extremely busy so far this week. I don't know if anyone is reading this, anyway, so unless I start getting some comments, or start seeing some click-throughs on AdSense, I'm not going to worry about it too much ! :-)

Walgreens has some specials this week that you don't want to miss. My list was longer than normal.
First, I'll list the items with coupons from their circular:

Palmolive $.99, plus another $.25 off after printable coupon, making it $.75
Campbell's Chunky Soup 2/$3, plus use the coupons.com $1 off two coupon - limit 4, so you can get 4/$4
W Facial Tissue, 200 count, $.99 (great for that box of tissue for school)
Penway 2 Pocket Folders with Prongs 8/$1 (make sure you get the paper kind - if you get the plastic ones with the same name, they don't count those - I know from experience)
Corner Office Index Cards $.39
Crayola Posterboard 22"x28" 3/$1, limit 6

Items on sale this week without in store coupons were:

Duracell Batteries $10 for 20 AA or AAA, 8 pack C or D, 4 pack 9 Volt, Rechargeable 4 pack AA or AAA or Mini Charger - if you were at Walgreens a week or two ago, you may have gotten a checkout coupon for $4 off Duracell Batteries. I used mine, and this was a great deal with the sale!
Select General Mills Cereal or Nature Valley Bars, 2/$4 - use some of the coupons you got recently, and this deal brings the price down to 2/$3 or even 2/$2.50.
Pepperidge Farm Goldfish, 6.6oz - $.99, but go to their website to print off a coupon for $.50 off, for a total of $.49 (click on the bottom left corner of the web page)
Expo Dry Erase Markers $1.99 - I thought this was a good enough stand-alone deal.
Crayola Markers 10 pack $.99
Penway Pencils 24 pack $.79

I'm so close to done with my school shopping already. This is so great!