Keep A Goal In Mind: Thrifty Thursday

I HATE MY KITCHEN! It’s a 1954 galley kitchen in 1970’s harvest gold. Enough said.

So I’ve set a goal to save money for a new kitchen. Something like this one. I have this picture hanging on my fridge.

Anyway, because I have a goal in mind, I’m motivated to save money. Each time I am going to purchase something, I ask myself “Do I want this or the new kitchen?” If the answer is kitchen, I will literally transfer money from my checking to my savings account in the amount of that item I was potentially going to buy.

I figure, if I was going to spend that money on that item, then I have the money. Might as well save it instead.

Do you have a goal? Do you question yourself each time you’re about to make a purchase?

Shop The Season: March (Thrifty Thursday)

One of the best ways to save money is to shop the season. Each month and season, there are traditional items that go on sale or are in season. Here’s my lists for March.

What’s marked-down or on sale:

• Winter coats and winter sports gear
• Small electronics (MP3 players,
• Garden Supplies
• Cleaning Supplies & Products (get ready for Spring Cleaning!)

What’s in season:

• asparagus
• oranges
• broccoli
• brussel sprouts
• turnips
• kiwi
• grapefruit

Did I miss anything? Let me know!

Thrifty Thursday: Shop Multiple Stores

I mentioned earlier this week that I shop at Walmart for groceries. If you read any of the money saving blogs, you know it’s a good idea to shop multiple stores to save money on your groceries.

Personally, I shop at Rite Aid, Walmart, BJs Wholesale and Stop & Shop. Occasionally I’ll shop at Target if there’s a good deal or a coupon match-up I cant pass on.

I don’t shop CVS anymore – with the other stores listed above so close, it’s not worth the time or the gas to go out of my way. But that’s me – you might have Walgreens or Aldi close to your home instead of a wholesale club or even Walmart.

Each week I scope the weekly sales circulars and plan my shopping trip based on the sales & deals at the different stores. Typically my trip looks like this:

• Walmart for packaged foods, cleaning products, health & beauty.
• BJs Wholesale for select bulk items like pet food & litter, sweetener, cereal bars, toilet paper. I also get sliced cheese, ground beef and frozen chicken breasts at BJs. (note: I don’t go to BJs every week)
• Stop & Shop to “perimeter shop” meaning produce, deli, meat & poultry and dairy – the fresh foods, anything that expires in the next couple days/weeks.
• We also do an occasional trip to our local restaurant supply store to buy meat & poultry in bulk to freeze.

The key is to plan ahead. I make a shopping list for each store and then paper clip that list to the sales circular along with my coupons to use. Each week I know exactly what to buy at each store before I leave my house.

Do you shop at multiple stores to save money on your groceries? Which stores? And how often so you go?

PS: PS If you have a tip for Thrifty Thursday please share in the comments with your link! And if you want, here’s the code for my graphic to use on your post:

<a href=”http://thehouseholdhelper.com/blog/index.php?s=thrifty+thursday” target=”_blank”><img src=”http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j189/girlie0226/thriftythursday.jpg” alt=”Thrifty Thursday Tips @ TheHouseholdHelper”></a>

Thrifty Thursday: My Personal Butcher

First, you need to know that I despise handling any type of raw meat. It actually makes me gag. I suck-it-up though because I need to cook for my family.

In the past, I would buy pre-packaged scuts of fish, poultry and meat based on my recipe. This meant less handling on my part. But it also meant paying for the “convenience cuts”.

Hubby on the other hand doesn’t mind handling the meat. He’s an avid fisherman and cleans and fillets what he catches, so he’s not at all effected by raw chicken or beef.

So now I purchase whole pieces of meat and poultry and let Hubby be my personal butcher.

For example: I’ll purchase chicken leg quarters instead of just of just a package of legs or a package of thighs. The leg quarters are just $0.99/lb right now compared to $1.99/lb when they are separate. Hubby cuts them for me and then I use our FoodSaver Vacuum-Packaging System to bag and freeze them.

Another example: We purchase a whole cut of beef at the restaurant supply store. Last time we bought one it was $5.99/lb. The wanna-be-butcher cuts this up into steaks (ribeyes, filets and NY stips) and roasts. If I were to purchase “convenience cuts” at the super market I’d pay $7.99 t0 $10.00 per pound. This is big savings for us because my boys are carnivores!

If you’re interested in saving money by butchering yourself, I found two great links for you to check out: How To Butcher Whole Cuts Of Meat and How To Save Money Butchering Whole Chickens

ADDED: Moms In A Blog posted a great guide to beef you should check out! Your Complete Guide To Beef

PS If you have a tip for Thrifty Thursday please share in the comments with your link! And if you want, here’s the code for my graphic to use on your post:

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Thrifty Thursday: Save Money On New Appliances

My 10-year-old dryer died last month. Right in the middle of doing the sheets and towels, I realized it wasn’t working. Oh crap!

I had Handy-Man Chip (aka my Daddy) check it out. After much analysis and testing, we came to the conclusion that it would cost more to fix it than to buy a new dryer. See, it would cost $90 just to have a Sears Appliance Repair tech show up. Then add on parts and labor – not worth fixing.

Panic sets in. How can we afford a new dryer? We have a tight budget and I didn’t plan on this. Then Hubby reminds me that this is what we have an emergency fund for – to take care of the unexpected expenses.

After finishing my laundry at the laundromat {ahh, alone time} we head to Home Depot. We find the dryer we want and find the sales person.

He says “Oh I have one of this model in our scratch and dent section. It’s a lot cheaper. Want to see it?” Umm, yes!

He shows us the exact same energy-efficient, super capacity dryer that we wanted. It still had the protective plastic on it. But there was a 3-inch black scratch on it’s side. And it was only $179.00 (plus tax).

A dryer that I was willing to pay $349 for is only $179 because of a scratch? OMG – that’s half the price! Who cares about the scratch! I just want a working dryer that doesn’t break the bank! We’ll take it!

The next time I need to buy an appliance, I’m going to find a sales person first thing and ask if they have a scratch-and-dent section. Unless the problem is mechanical, I don’t mind a ding or two. {fingers cross that the horrible harvest-gold stove is next}

So to save money on new appliances, visit the scratch-and-dent section the store first. As long as you’re not brand specific, and you don’t mind a cosmetic flaw, you can save lots of loot!

Upromise: Save Money and Save For College

I just got my monthly Upromise email with the newest deals and savings available exclusively to members. Have you joined yet? You should! Here’s why:

1. I can get 1-3% back on thousands of eligible items when I use my Upromise registered grocery at checkout. Yep – each time I grocery shop I can get funds added to my son’s Upromise account.
2. I can get 1%-25% back from eligible purchases at more than 600 online retailers when I shop online. Again, funds get saved in my son’s Upromise account.
3. I get savings and coupons that are exclusive to Upromise members. For example, this month I can get 20% off the purchase of a Dell laptop PLUS save 2% of that to my son’s Upromise account.
4. I can also get funds added to my son’s Upromise account through gas and restaurant purchases and my friends & family purchases.

Upromise makes it easy-peasy to save for my son’s college education. And it’s even easier with their new TurboSaver download. It works with your browser (Explorer, FireFox) and get’s search results in Google and Yahoo! to bring you faster access to college savings, coupons and deals.

So what are you waiting for? Join UPromise and Save for College!

Thrifty Thursday: Save Money Heating & Cooling The House

We’ve had up-and-down weather here in NJ this October. So far we’ve had temperatures from cold and damp 40 degrees to breezy and sunny 68 degrees – and that was all within a week! Plus, we’ve already had SNOW!

So I got to thinking about ways to keep the house comfortably warm but not get a giant increase on my next gas bill.

• Change the temperature in your house. Your thermostat should be set no higher than 68 degrees in the winter and no lower than 78 degrees in the summer. Did you know that every extra degree you raise your heat in the winter can cost you an additional 3% in heating costs? And in summer, each degree cooler that you go can cost you 6% more.

• Install a programmable thermostat. With a programmable thermostat you can automatically lower the temperature in your house at set times. If no one is home all day long, drop it a few degrees between 9am and 4pm. By the time you arrive home it will be back up to temperature and you’ll have saved money all day long. Likewise at night when everyone is in bed.

• Be sure to replace or clean your furnace filters monthly. Having a dirty furnace filter restricts how much air can flow through the furnace – as a result you pay more because more energy is being used. Take a few minutes once a month to clean or replace your furnace filter and you can reduce your heating costs by as much as 5%.

So, what tips do you have to keep your home heating costs down this year? Share here!

PS: For more ways to Make Your Home More Energy Efficient And Save Money check out my how-to guide!

Thrifty Thursday

Avoid impulse purchases. Stores intentionally place products in prominent places that people can be convinced to buy on impulse. A perfect example is magazines and chocolate bars beside the cash registers. Avoid buying these products on impulse by bringing a list and only buying what you planned to.

Thrifty Thursday

Look for alternatives that don’t involve spending money. Instead of going to an expensive dinner for your anniversary or birthday, go on a romantic picnic. When a friend suggests you meet for lunch, instead suggest a walk in the park. Do something special with a loved one or make them a gift instead of purchasing something expensive. Not only will you save money but you’ll also be spending more quality time with the people that matter most to you

Thrifty Thursday

Take a calculator when you shop. This is especially useful when you’re grocery shopping because having a calculator will make it easy to determine whether one product is a better deal over another. It will also give you a way to keep a tally of how much you’ve spent so you don’t get to the cash register and find out you’re over budget.

Thrifty Thursday

Be an efficient shopper. The longer you spend at a store, the more likely you are to spend money. So be sure that when you go shopping you have a list in hand to avoid making unnecessary purchases. And you’ll also be able to get in and out quicker so you’ll be less likely to give in to temptation and make an impulse purchase.

Thrifty Thursday

Keep a detailed record of all medical expenses. You can deduct quite a few different medical expenses at tax time – but you have to file an itemized return. Keep detailed records of any medical aids purchased (including such items as contact lenses, hearing aids and eyeglasses), any healthcare services and even your insurance premiums.

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