Saving Money a Baby Step at a Time

Today I Started a Fundraising Webpage

2010-12-01T12:47:00.000-08:00

Well, the good news is that my daughter will be able to get her eye surgery next week thanks to a very generous member of our family who offered to loan us part of the money. The bad news is that we still have a long way to go to raise it. So far we have a total of $136 ($86 from my savings account and $50 from a cleaning job), so we're well on our way.

I just recently came across a website called raiseitnow.com, which is a secure website where you can promote the cause you're trying to raise money for, and people can donate via paypal with a credit or debit card. The website itself charges 8% of what is raised, but it's a great way to get the word out about your cause to other people such as family and friends on the other side of the country or just a random stranger with a giving heart. I have not raised any money yet, but I am hopeful, and I have told my facebook friends about it. God has a way of blessing us at the most unexpected time, so I am confident that He will meet my needs.

Today I Decided to Sell Candy for a Good Cause

2010-11-29T10:54:00.000-08:00

I just found out last week that my daughter's eye surgery is going to cost $2000.00-$3000.00 out of pocket, so I have been trying to find out how to make that money. One idea that occured to me is a candy fundraiser. You don't have to be a non-profit group to do this. I went online and found a candy supplier that sold me a case (180 bars) for $99 (free shipping and no tax). After I sell all 180 bars for $1 a piece, I will have made $81 to go towards the surgery. It's not much, but every penny counts, and if I keep doing it as well as the other things I'm doing to make the money, I will eventually reach my goal!!

I'll keep ya'll updated on our progress making the money, and wish us luck!!

Today I Walked to the Grocery Store

2010-11-28T21:02:00.000-08:00

This is a great way to save gas as well as get some exercise.

Today I Brought My Lunch to Work

2010-11-17T13:59:00.000-08:00

Probably the best way for people to save money quick is to STOP buying lunch and start bringing it to work. Everyone knows this, yet a lot of people still don't do it. This is a great way to save some quick cash. I did a little math, and here is what I came up with:

Packed Lunch:

5-20 cents for 2 slices of bread (depends on where you buy it)
25 cents for a can of soda (less if you get store brand, free if you get water out of the tap at work)
22 cents for a serving of frozen veggies (much healthier than canned veggies)
44 cents for 2 oz of lunch meat to put on the bread (that's for the fancy pre-packaged deli-style lunch meat- cut it yourself or have the deli cut it, and it's much less)
approx. 50 cents for a large apple (8 oz)

That's about $1.61 on the high end. If you're creative, you can save a lot more. And it's a healthy meal. Now, you spend about $5.00 (at least) on a lunch out. That's a difference of $3.39 saved a day. If you pack your lunch five days a week, that's $16.95 saved, which is about $67.80 a month. I know we could all use an extra $60-$70 a month in our budget.

Now I'm not saying that eating out is the devil or that I never go out to eat. However, it's best to do it in moderation. Save it for special occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries. I love to eat out and hate to cook, so I understand that it's hard, but at the end of the day, I would rather do my wallet, my waistline, and my health a favor and pack that lunch.

P.S. For those of you (like me) who like the convenience of a frozen meal, I would try Michelina's Budget Gourmet and Lean Gourmet meals. I usually buy them at Kroger for $1.00, but I've been told that Wal Mart sells them for 88 cents. These meals are low in calories and fat, taste good, and fill me up every time. If you get water out of the tap to go with it, that's a super cheap meal.

Today I Shopped on Ebay

2010-11-06T20:32:00.000-07:00

If I find that I need anything, I try to see if EBAY has it first. EBAY is like one big online nationwide garage sale. You can get stuff dirt cheap. However, I will check other websites and store ads as well before I decide to buy something. By shopping around, you can usually find what you're looking for at a much better price.

BONUS: EBAY is also a good place to sell your unwanted stuff for extra cash.

Today I Ate Like a College Student (or a First Grader)

2010-11-04T16:55:00.000-07:00

Now that I have all this bread from the bread store, I decided to put it to good use by packing peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for my lunch today. These things are not just for a child's lunchbox. What I like about them is that they are very filling because there's protein in the peanut butter and fiber in the bread (the jelly makes it taste sweet). You can buy these ingredients for under five dollars (less than one lunch out), and they will make several meals. I forgot how much I love PB&J, and my daughter loves it too. Other discount foods are ramen (hello, fifteen cents a pack!!), oatmeal (very filling), and eggs (really good with cheese, or slap it on some of the fiber-rich bread). These are just a few ideas, and I'm sure the internet will have many more. Yummy!!

Today I Saved $4.50 Just By Reading My Grocery Receipt

2010-11-03T19:02:00.000-07:00

This may come as a shock to some of you, but I'm going to say it anyway: people are not perfect. People make mistakes, and unfortunately, cashiers sometimes make mistakes when they ring up your purchases. As I was leaving the bread store today, I took a quick glance at my receipt and realized that the lady who rung me up had charged me five dollars instead of fifty cents for a loaf of bread (ouch). I went inside and got my refund, but many of us don't notice little mistakes like these and end up paying too much for something. Think about it: it takes 30-60 seconds to look at your receipt and five minutes at the most to get your refund, so you get $4.50 for 6 minutes of effort (a.k.a. 75 cents per minute for you math nerds).

Bottom line: check those receipts!!

Today I Took a Trip to the Discount Bread Store

2010-11-03T18:50:00.000-07:00

Ok, so my aunt had been telling me about this discount bread store and bakery for quite a while, so I finally went to see what the big deal was. Let me tell you, it was love at first sight!

The particular bread store I went to had high quality, super healthy bread that had just barely hit the expiration date for FIFTY CENTS A LOAF!! Most bread products you can't get in the grocery store for less than a dollar, and that's for the store brand, higher-in-fat and lower-in-nutrient stuff. My bread store carries sandwich bread, hamburger and hot dog buns, english muffins, bagels, and sandwich rounds, as well as discount bakery goods, jams, and instant soup and gravy mixes.

I would definitely say that this is a good deal, especially if your family, like mine, eats a lot of bread products. My aunt buys several loaves at a time and freezes them. I go once a week when they have fifty-cent bread day. Today, I bought a loaf of whole grain bread, whole wheat english muffins, whole grain sandwich rounds, whole wheat buns, a package of pecan wheels, a box of mini-muffins, and a yummy cherry pie all for under $6.00. All the bread products were Nature's Own, which I think is probably at least $1.50 in the grocery store, which would mean I saved $4.00 (at least) on this trip. I usually buy enough to last me about a week, and none of it has gone bad on me yet.

If there is a discount bakery and bread store in your area, I would definitely give it a try.

Today I Started a Blog

2010-11-02T17:09:00.000-07:00

As I was walking home from work yesterday, the idea hit me that I should start a blog about saving money. Let's face it...this is a hot topic right now. Americans everywhere are looking for any and every way to save a few bucks, and I am certainly no exception. My personal goal is to try at least one thing each day to save and/or make some money.

A little about me...I am a female library assistant in her 20s and the mother of a 3-year-old girl. My husband of not even 3 years moved out of our recently purchased home a couple months ago, and he has no current plans to return, so I have become even more obsessed than usual about saving money.

So here is my very first post. Today, I started a blog to save money. Now I have a couple reasons why I think this will save me money. First of all, it will give me the motivation I need to do something new every day to save money. I will feel obligated to my followers (sounds like a cult, LOL) to post something new each day. Second, I am hoping to get some comments and tips from people that read my blog. I get so many suggestions from other people that really help me, so I am hoping that this can be a way for us to collaborate together and get some fresh ideas. Please feel free to post comments and add your own suggestions.

One last thing...ideas that I post, whether I come up with them myself or hear them from a friend, are ones that I personally put to the test. I don't want to give you a laundry list of meaningless tips without any knowledge as to whether they actually work. I want to tell you what I have tried, whether it worked for me or not, and whether I think it will work for you. I hope you enjoy my stories!!