Saving Money

4. I have an MVP card from Food Lion. and I have signed up on their site to receive notifcation of manufacturer's coupons. When the weekly circular comes in, I go through and pick items we are going to eat for the next week based on what the sales are. I also look to see if items I know we need are on sale, if they are I stock up. I normally save at least 10.00 in MVP buys. I often save over 20.00. So I buy 80.00 worth of groceries and only pay 60.00 for them. If I do that every week, that is 80.00 I have earned each month. Also the coupons from Smart Source that I link to through the Food Lion site are awesome! The are often for .50 to 1.00 off of products. The trick with coupons is always to only use ones for things you would normally buy or want to try. Don't buy something you would never use just because you have a coupon.

5. I sell on Ebay and I go through a fair amount of packing materials. I get my boxes free by visiting cardboard dumpsters behind stores. Some lock their dumpsters so you can't use them, but many don't mind. You can also get great free boxes from the local liquor stores. This is also a good way to obtain boxes if you are moving. When we order something in the mail, we open the boxes gently so we can reuse. I keep an eye out for free packing material and I use old newspapers and plastic bags to help insulate items I am shipping. You can also have priority mail boxes delivered for free from the USPS if you ship priority. But don't try to use these boxes for non priority items. That is illegal.

6. I go to Walmart.com regularly and see what their free samples are. It is a great way to try a new product without spending a bunch of money. Plus, if I order, say a box of cereal, then that is a meal that I get for free!

7. I shop regularly at Sam's. We save a ton of money there. There are things I buy in bulk because we eat them on a regular basis and it saves us a ton of money. But I always go with a shopping list to help keep from buying unneeded items. I also am very impressed that Sam's milk prices continue to be the lowest in town. They are selling milk around 3.00/gallon! And their produce prices are terrific! You know those little bitty bags of salad stuff you get at the grocery store and pay 2.50 or 3.00 for? Well, you can get a large bag for like 4.00 at Sam's! Who says it has to cost more to be healthy? Health and beauty products are often a great deal too! As always, it pays to know your prices.

8. We are going fluroscent. Starting last spring, we began switching over. When the old bulb blew, we replaced it with a new energy saving bulb. We are saving money in a multitude of ways and we are helping the environment. I am spending less time changing bulbs which frees me up for other important things. We are saving money on our light bill. I am saving money on light bulbs. I was replacing bulbs every 4-6 weeks in our house. I haven't had to replace a new bulb yet and I am told they can last up to five years! So there may be a little more money on the front end, but overall less on the back end!

9. I buy a lot of reading material from Friends of the Library book sales. Their books are usually reasonably priced and I have even found one sale I can go to where they offer homeschoolers a 50% discount on their already low prices! This way we can appease our love of books without breaking the bank! And if you join your local Friends of the Library group, you can get in before the general public and get the best books! And some sales, have bag sales at the end. So if you go in the last few hours, they are selling the books for 2-5.00 a bag or a box.

10. Yardsales, auctions, fleamarkets. Great deals to be found and it can be a fun family event! Be careful though that you don't end up with stuff just because it was a great deal, not because you particularly wanted it. I love auctions! You can get a lot of great deals there, especially if you hold out to the end. I recently bought a nice twin bed for $10. Made of maple! Real maple...all the way through!

11. When I have to have a book now, I go to Amazon and see if I need enough books to qualify for the free shipping. If not, then I check into their used books which sometimes are being offered for 1 penny plus shipping! I will also check on Ebay. And if you go to Ebay, I suggest you always look at the store items (they are down at the bottom of the page). These are fixed price items and you can often find the best deals there, plus you are guaranteed to get it where as that is not always the case with auctions.

12. I order my stamps through the mail. That way I don't have to drive to the post office (10 minutes away). Saves gas and time.

13. We shop the Goodwill and other thrift stores. This saves me tons on clothing and sometimes I find other items there I want as well. I have found name brand clothing with the labels still on! The prices are great and if you enjoy treasure hunting, this is a great way to spend a couple of hours. But if you don't enjoy the search, then don't give it a whirl, it will drive you crazy.

14. I always accept hand me downs or overs. What I don't need or use, I pass on or sometimes will try to sell.

15. I clip coupons from the inserts in the newspaper. And I have recently found an online coupon site that I visit each week for more great deals!

16. Enter contests on the web! A place I visit everyday is Laura William's Musings. She posts a blog about contests everday! This gives you an opportunity to get neat goodies for yourself or to give as gifts, either way, anytime you get something free, you are saving money!

17. We keep our house a little cooler in the winter and wear more clothes. Makes for good family snuggling!

18. We combine errands so we don't have to drive to town for just one thing.

19. We have two phone lines because of my husband's business. Phones have always been a big expense for us. Back in days of your, we had a 400.00 phone bill because he was working in CA and we talked every day. A couple of years ago, we switched to a Verizon plan where we pay one price and we get unlimited long distance within the US and Canada plus good rates to other countries. This was a great deal for us. But we recently realized we really didn't need long distance service on both lines. So we have downgraded one line so that we can only make local calls on it. That move saves us about 20.00 a month which is 240.00 a year! And they fix the line so that we can't accidentally call long distance.

20. Recheck your car insurance periodically and make sure you are only paying for the coverage you need.

21. Save money by shopping at bread stores and farmer's markets.

22. Another great place to find coupons iand deals is at Momscape. Just sign up for coupon emails!

I hope this post has been informative for you and that you have found at least one way to help you earn some extra money! I would love to hear what you do to save money for your household!

Join Works for Me Wednesday over at Rocks In My Dryer and share something that helps your life get along a bit easier.