Cashmonkies Frugal Blog

Ok guys, here is the much wanted update for my shopping trip on Thursday. Sorry this was so late. I hope to get onto a better schedule with updating this blog. I like it and I know you all do also. This week, I spent a little more then I normally do, but this is because I purchased a few things for the kids that were on sale. So about $45 of the money is for misc. items.

Grand Total-$270.29
Total Sales- $51.29
Total Coupons- $16.10
Total Cash Actually Used- $202.90
Total Savings- $67.39

That was really hard this week, as it seemed like most of the stores did not have much on sale, so I had to pay full price for a few items, which I can not stand doing. But you have to buy some things if you cant live without.

Ill have some great tips coming in a few days and some good Halloween articles coming up very soon for all you frugal lovers out there! I want to try and dig up some good meal budget items as well for you all.

So, it’s Thursday once again! That means, I have completed my shopping circle. I told you all I would post my totals once again! I have to say, I am pleased. I did spend a little more then normal, but I was able to catch more sales, so it made up for it.

I went to 4 different stores this time. One store, I didn’t really have sales or coupons, it was Aldi’s and as you know, they have their own brand of food, so there really are no sales and you can use any coupons. I just picked up a few things that we needed, that were not on sale and I didn’t have a coupon for them. So here is how it went.

Grand Total- $238.42
Total Sales- $47.91
Total Coupons- $18.98
Total Cash Actually Used- $171.53
Total Savings- $66.89

I have been keeping track for 3 weeks now. I posted my 2nd track record for you all, and this is my third. So in 3 weeks by planning my menu, making my list, matching coupons to sales, I have saved a total of $ 179.06, so I am basically getting my 4th week of food free!! Not really, but you get the point.

I will tell you, it takes me about 2 hours a week to save this much. I sit at the kitchen table every Wednesday night. With my sales ads, coupons and pieces of paper. I make my weekly menu from the meats that are on sale. So that helps a lot. I noticed by doing that, many things follow. Like if they have roast on sale, they will also have potatoes, carrots and broth on sale. So if you can plan your menu from the meats that are on sale, you should start off pretty good. I live in a large city. So I have a lot of options. My three main stores are all 5 minutes from my house, each way. So nothing is far. If I was in the country, my shopping habits would be different. So judge what/when/how you buy, by where you live, how much time it takes you to get to the store and most important, how much gas you use.

Ill post next Thursday my savings again. If any of you are doing this also, I would love to hear your total savings as well!

I will have some shopping tips for you all tomorrow. Working on some good ones that will hopefully help me and you all!!

How many of you get frustrated every time you fill up at the pump? I know I sure do, and I don’t have to fill up that often, but it still frustrates me. Here are some great tips to help you save gas and cash!

Tire Pressure- I never thought this would matter much, but it does. When your tire pressure is low, your car has to use more power then it should to keep your current speed. This makes your engine work harder and when your engine works harder, you use more gas.

Weight- The weight of your car plays a large impact on how much gas you use also. Eliminate all your extra weight by cleaning out your car often and not using your trunk as a storage space.

Combine Trips- This is what I like to call my Circle. I do my circle every Thursday. Everyone around me knows what I mean when I say it’s my circle day. I do all my errands and grocery shopping on one day. I plan my trip out before I leave my house. I plan it so I am driving in one big circle. I don’t back track my driving at all. By doing this, I eliminate a lot of back tracking and wasting gas.

Oil and Air- Get your oil changed on a regular schedule. While having your oil changed, have them check your air filter as well. Dirty oil causes your engine to work harder and a dirty air filter restricts your air flow to your engine. If you have both of these, chances are your car is working almost double what is should be. This means you are using a lot more gas for normal daily routines then you should be.

Hey guys, Sorry, I haven’t updated this in a little while. I have just been really busy lately. I hope to have some good entrees for you all again though. I wanted to set everyone up for a challenge. Something I am doing myself here. For a few weeks, I am docking all my grocery spending. We all know that I go to the stores for my grocery shopping Thursday and we all know, I have my weekly list and menu planned out. I typically go to 3-4 stores. I catch all the sales and match up all the coupons. Well I started writing down all my spending. I write down what I spent, how much I saved with sales, how much I saved with coupons and how much actual cash it cost me. I do this for each store. Then I total them all up for grand totals. I am going to try and beat my savings each week. So I will dig further for coupons, and better track them sales. So how about everyone try this for a few weeks. See how much you can save.

Today I went to three stores. My grand total would have been $ 216.10. I had $41.54 come off for sales. I had $13.70 come off for coupons. So I actually spent $160.86 for a grand total savings of $55.24

Next Thursday I will post my grand totals again. So how about you all try it with me. I hope to get more sales in there, and more coupons also! Wish me luck

I thought I would give you all some more ideas for swapping your favorite things out to save you some more cash.

Movie Night- If you like to purchase DVD’s then you have a few options instead of paying that $3 a night. And then forgetting to return it and paying another few bucks for the same movie. I like netflex.com I create a list of movies that I want to see, and they ship them in order for me. I can have 1 movie at a time, 2 movies at a time or many more. I pay one flat rate per month and never have any late fees. As a matter of fact, I have 3 netflex movies sitting on my table now that have been sitting there for 2 weeks or so, because we haven’t had the time to watch them yet. But that’s okay; I don’t ever pay a late fee. They mail them to me, and I flip their envelope over and mail it back. Its all postage paid. If you would like to do something else, then most of the grocery stores now have rental kiosks set up, you can rent a movie from them for $1. So the price is defiantly right one that one.

Lights- When you purchase light bulbs, don’t grab them store brands that are on sale for 89 cents. Instead purchase CFL bulbs. They cost a little more upfront, but they save in the long run. You don’t change these bulbs as often as you do normal light bulbs. I would say you change these ones every few years. Instead of every few months. They also use 75% less electricity, which means a savings on your light bill each month. So they are really worth the extra cash upfront.

Online buying- Something I just learned in the past few days. If you love to purchase things online, then this is the deal for you. I am recently addicted to amazon.com. Thanks to a really good friend of mine, I learned something about them. You can find just about anything you need on there. Along with that, they have something called Prime membership. You pay $79 a year for this membership. Right now they have a special for a free trial month. With this membership you get free shipping on their items. And that’s 2 day shipping. You can’t beat that. You can ship to friends, family or yourself for free. Find something that you want overnightted to you? You only pay 3.99 for overnight shipping no matter what it is. So if you purchase a lot of items online, then this is perfect for you, you will save a ton of money on shipping prices.

Did you know, that you can still enjoy some of the things you do for fun, or things you like to buy as long as you swap ways? There are many ways to still enjoy life and just become a little frugal about it.

Organic Food- If you like to purchase organic foods, that’s fine. We all know these are a little more pricey then regular food. So you shouldn’t have to give them up just because you want to become a frugal shopper. Store brands have organic foods which are usually right next to your favorite brands. The store brand and the name brand are not made or grown any different. They still have federal standards to meet. Store brands often cost half the price name brands do. They also throw the store brand on sale more often as well.

Spices- If you love to cook and bake then you probably use a lot of spices. Purchase a spice rack when it’s on sale, the kind that comes with jars. Or you can be real frugal and use empty baby food jars. Then go to the bulk store and purchase all your spices there. They are fresher and you will pay at least 40% less then buying them in a jar at the supermarket.

Books- If you like to read, like me, then you go through a lot of books. And again if you are like me, you only read these one time and then you are done. I never understood why people collect books. Maybe I don’t enjoy reading as much as they do, or something. I love to read though and read almost every night. I’m not one for going to the library for a book though. Although that’s very frugal. Instead I use the online site paperbackswap.com .You list all your books here, and you earn credits. When someone wants a book on your shelf, you mail it to them. You print the forms with their address and everything right from the site. You then use these forms to wrap the book. You pay for shipping, but media mail is less then 2 bucks. When they receive it, they mark received on their end and you earn a credit. You can then use your credit to request a book from someone else. When you request a book, that person pays to ship it to you. It’s a great service. Another thing I do is the used book store. I take a bag full of books to the store, and they give me credits. Half of the posting price. So if I paid 20 bucks for a book, they give me a 10 credit. So this works out great to.

I thought this would be a neat addition to the Frugal Blog. I asked two of my websites to help with this. I asked my members to provide me with one tip on how they save money and here are their results. If you see a number in parenthesis, the number represents how many people said the same answer. I hope we can all learn something from these great tips! I know I sure have, Thanks to everyone who helped!!

Use coupons at the grocery store and anywhere else we can (5)

Buy all my clothes at garage and yards sales

I only do laundry when I have a complete and full load.

I put all of my change in a sealed jar and I use lots of coupons to save a lot of money like at cvs

Not buying things I really don’t need (3)

My neighbors and I grill out together several nights a week in the summer

I make my own weed killer lol salt, hot water to melt the salt and dish soap to help break the surface tension allowing the water to stick to the weed not just run off

Not eating out (2)

I save my change and roll it up to put into savings

Grocery Gaming - wow, it’s made a huge difference!!

I have two big dogs so I mix table scraps with their nighttime feeding

Getting lots of Free Samples

Buying Items in Bulk, and then repackaging and freezing what we can (4)

We shop at Meijer because we can double our coupons under $.50

Use old item (recycle) than buying

I grow my own veggies, and planted fruit trees, and grapes so now I don’t buy any of that stuff, and it is a lot healthier!!!!

I never buy clothes at full price

Stay home more!! Don’t go to the store as often

Ride a horse

Make a list before you go shopping and stick to it. Get all coupons ready for what you are buying.

If you use a credit card, keep a check register of it so you know exactly what you’re spending on it.

Open a savings account and not touch the money