Times are tough! You hear it everytime you turn on the news. More people have lost their jobs and others are just not spending money. Yes times are tough and we all need to tighten our belt. But, we also need an escape from this headache even if it is just for a few hours. We need to laugh, we need to play, we need to take care of ourselves and have some fun.
If you watch a lot of DVDs, get an online DVD store membership: Membership to online movie stores like Netflix or Blockbuster Online can save you a lot of money compared to buying DVDs or renting it from a local store. You need to wait once you order the movie, but if you watch a lot of movies at home, then you can easily get into the habit of ordering ahead of time so you always have something at home. If you are patient and your library has the resources, check to see if they have a movie section. You won't get anything very new, but they are free.
If you like watching movies at the theater, go before 6:00 pm: This is one of my soft spots when it comes to spending. I really like watching movies in the theater with the big screen and the great sound effects. But instead of paying ~$10 a pop for the ticket, I usually go before 6:00pm when the tickets are a little less expensive. Also, for movies that I don’t absolutely want to watch right away, I just wait until it screens on the discount theater where the tickets are $2 a pop. I avoid the temptation to buy snacks, by usually going for a theater some time soon after lunch or sometimes sneaking in my snacks in my purse. Many stores such a Walmart, CVS and others sell movie size candy. I always make a stop so my son can have a treat without spending excess money.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
International Travel- A real saver!!
This week I needed to search for plane ticket for my family to travel to Turkey this summer. We have family in Turkey and I always dread the task of searching for airline tickets. Summer travel is more expensive and I hate it so I am always searching for the best rates possible. I can not tell you how many websites I go through before I find the best price. Somehow I came accross the website Vayama.com. Vayama is a site for international travel. To my amazement I found tickets that were $300 less than the major travel sites such as Orbitz, Travelocity and Expedia. Needless to say I bought the tickets immediately and saved $900 as opposed to purchasing through other travel websitses.
If you are looking to travel internationally you should definitely check out Vayama.com. It can't hurt and it might save you some money!
If you are looking to travel internationally you should definitely check out Vayama.com. It can't hurt and it might save you some money!
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Have Your Cake and Eat It Too! Eat Out and still Save Money!
- Eat out at restaurants for lunch instead of dinner. The menus are often the same, or at least very similar to evening meals, but the prices are often much cheaper.
- Clip restaurant coupons out of the paper and keep them in a binder for future use. Also make a note of any specials like "friends eat free" or "dads eat free " nights at your favorite restaurants. If you have children, look for "kids eat free nights". Many restaurants will have specials to attract business on otherwise slow nights, such as Mondays and Tuesdays. Be sure to check your bill to make sure the discount was included. One of our local restaurants advertises "kids eat free" on a certain week night, but they only give you the discount for kid's meals if you specifically ask for it.
- Participate in a restaurant coupon program. For a small fee for processing and handling you can receive coupons for restaurants of your choice. This simple program can save you over $1000 dollars for just a $10 processing/handling fee. Take a look at itsabargainbasement.com.
- Sign up for email lists that any of your favorite restaurants may offer. Restaurants often send out discount coupons this way. Also make note of early bird specials. If you are old enough, check to see if your favorite restaurant offers special menus for seniors.
- If you feel like getting out of the house but can't afford a full meal out, eat dinner at home and just go out for dessert and coffee.
- One of my favorite things to do is visit Restaurant.com
where I can purchase a $25 gift certificate for only $10. This is beneficial in two ways. I can purchase a gift for a friend or I can use the certificate myself. I have found some great local restaurants that I may not have tried had it not been for this site.
- One more way to have your cake and eat it too is to get the recipe of your favorite dish from your favorite restaurant and make it at home. I have found a great recipe book to get all my favorite recipes, and for those days when I just can not justify spending any money eating out, I can still treat my family to something special. Take a look to see if your recipe is here.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Cash Back Rebates Shopping Online!
I have to say that I love looking for that deal. I am always searching for new ways to save my money and I have found a great site, Big Crumbs, that will give me a CASH BACK REBATE for shopping at some of my favorite online retailers such as Walmart,Target,BestBuy and even EBAY. Click hear to learn more about BigCrumbs!
Take a look below at just a few of their online retailers and the rebates that are offered.
Avon: 4% rebate
Baby Center Store: 3% rebate
Barnes & Noble: 2.5% cash back rebate
Bass Pro Shops: 2.5% cash back rebate
Best Buy: up to 1.5% cash back rebate
CallawayGolf.com: 4.5% cash back
Dell Home Systems: 1.5% cash back
Ebay: Receive 20% cash back from the seller's total fee
Eddie Bauer: 3% cash back
eHarmony: 32.5% cash back
Gap.com: Receive up to 3.6% cash back
Hammacher Schlemmer: Receive 5% cash back when you shop.
Hotels.com: 2.5% cash back when you shop.
Kodak: 3% cash back
Linen's-N-Things: 1.5% cash back
Macy's: 2% cash back; 1% on clearance
Motherhood Maternity: Up to 7.2% cash back
PETsMART: 4% rebate earned when you shop.
Priceline.com: Up to 1.7% or $2.70
Saks Fifth Avenue: Up to a 4.5% cash rebate
Target: Receive up to 5% cash back
Toys R US: Receive up to 1.5% cash back
Travelocity: 2.5% rebate
Walmart: Receive up to 2% cash back
Weight Watchers: Receive $5 cash back when you join Weight Watchers.
Click hear to learn more about BigCrumbs!
After you join the site and are ready to use Big Crumbs for your discount, there are certain steps you can take to insure you will receive your full discount.
Take a look below at just a few of their online retailers and the rebates that are offered.
Avon: 4% rebate
Baby Center Store: 3% rebate
Barnes & Noble: 2.5% cash back rebate
Bass Pro Shops: 2.5% cash back rebate
Best Buy: up to 1.5% cash back rebate
CallawayGolf.com: 4.5% cash back
Dell Home Systems: 1.5% cash back
Ebay: Receive 20% cash back from the seller's total fee
Eddie Bauer: 3% cash back
eHarmony: 32.5% cash back
Gap.com: Receive up to 3.6% cash back
Hammacher Schlemmer: Receive 5% cash back when you shop.
Hotels.com: 2.5% cash back when you shop.
Kodak: 3% cash back
Linen's-N-Things: 1.5% cash back
Macy's: 2% cash back; 1% on clearance
Motherhood Maternity: Up to 7.2% cash back
PETsMART: 4% rebate earned when you shop.
Priceline.com: Up to 1.7% or $2.70
Saks Fifth Avenue: Up to a 4.5% cash rebate
Target: Receive up to 5% cash back
Toys R US: Receive up to 1.5% cash back
Travelocity: 2.5% rebate
Walmart: Receive up to 2% cash back
Weight Watchers: Receive $5 cash back when you join Weight Watchers.
Click hear to learn more about BigCrumbs!
After you join the site and are ready to use Big Crumbs for your discount, there are certain steps you can take to insure you will receive your full discount.
- Clear your computer cookies.
- Make sure you log into Big Crumbs before making your purchase.
- You will not receive your discount unless you log into Big Crumbs first.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Tips for Reducing Your Grocery Bill
1. Build your grocery list around planned menu ideas. Shopping with a list will help reduce unwanted spending on impulse buys.
2. Use the Supermarket Flyers for finding additional discounts. If chick thighs are .98/lb then you might buy extra and freeze for a later time.
3. Use coupons only for the items you normally buy.
4. Use coupons on sale items on double coupon day to maximize your discount.
5. Don't go to the store hungry! You are more apt to buy something you don't need just because it sounds so good.
6. If possible, shop alone. Kids are wonderful at adding additional things to the cart. It is much easier to say no to yourself than to say no to your children.
7. Put together a price book. A price book is a homemade book where you keep track of the items that you buy and their prices at the various stores. For example, you may make a pricebook out of a spiral notebook. The first page may be milk. Under milk you will write the various stores and the prices they have milk for. A pricebook can be a very valuable asset when shopping since it will tell you the cheapest places to buy your groceries. Don't forget that stores such as Walmart and Target also have grocery items and in many instance offer a savings over your local grocery store.
8. Cook with whole foods and eliminate packaged meals from your diet. Although packaged foods are much easier and take less time, they cost more and a generally have food additives that you and your family could do without. If you need to be able to throw a meal on the table consider cooking a few meals ahead of time, freezing and using as needed.
9. Rather than buying expensive boxed cereals, frozen waffles, and packaged breakfast food why not make french toast, oatmeal, eggs and toast, pancakes, omletes, and biscuits for breakfast. If time is a issue why not make some pancakes or waffles in bulk ahead of time, freeze and use as needed.
10. Plan on having 3 non-meat meals a week. You can buy pasta, beans and eggs a lot cheaper than meat.
2. Use the Supermarket Flyers for finding additional discounts. If chick thighs are .98/lb then you might buy extra and freeze for a later time.
3. Use coupons only for the items you normally buy.
4. Use coupons on sale items on double coupon day to maximize your discount.
5. Don't go to the store hungry! You are more apt to buy something you don't need just because it sounds so good.
6. If possible, shop alone. Kids are wonderful at adding additional things to the cart. It is much easier to say no to yourself than to say no to your children.
7. Put together a price book. A price book is a homemade book where you keep track of the items that you buy and their prices at the various stores. For example, you may make a pricebook out of a spiral notebook. The first page may be milk. Under milk you will write the various stores and the prices they have milk for. A pricebook can be a very valuable asset when shopping since it will tell you the cheapest places to buy your groceries. Don't forget that stores such as Walmart and Target also have grocery items and in many instance offer a savings over your local grocery store.
8. Cook with whole foods and eliminate packaged meals from your diet. Although packaged foods are much easier and take less time, they cost more and a generally have food additives that you and your family could do without. If you need to be able to throw a meal on the table consider cooking a few meals ahead of time, freezing and using as needed.
9. Rather than buying expensive boxed cereals, frozen waffles, and packaged breakfast food why not make french toast, oatmeal, eggs and toast, pancakes, omletes, and biscuits for breakfast. If time is a issue why not make some pancakes or waffles in bulk ahead of time, freeze and use as needed.
10. Plan on having 3 non-meat meals a week. You can buy pasta, beans and eggs a lot cheaper than meat.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Super Market Magic! Grocery Coupons
Certainly shopping with grocery coupons are a way to save a substantial amount on your weekly grocery bill. The problem that I find is that there are not always coupons for items that I use in the Sunday paper. I search through the fliers and then sometimes I find that because I have a coupon I will buy something that I would not usually. I guess that is okay if you want to try a new product, but to buy an item just because I have a coupon is certainly not going to save me any money. It is frustrating to scan the weekly fliers in the Sunday paper just to find a few coupons that I could use. Yes every penny counts, but I hate to pay retail and I would like to have more coupons that suit my shopping needs.
While searching for some promotional items for my small business I came across a program that will give you $1000 in coupons of your choice. Valid at any supermarket.
Manufacturers Spend BILLIONS in newspaper Advertising to offer over $300 billion worth of grocery coupons every year. However, consumers saved less than $2 billion by using those coupons. With this program the consumer gets to select the coupons for the products they want to purchase. This program is guaranteed to save the consumer over $1,000
Have you ever been in line at your supermarket and a customer in front of you had a coupon for every item in their shopping cart?
That customer was using this program. Why is it that less than 1% of American families know about this offer, yet 90% of all households use grocery coupons? Everyone thinks that local newspapers are the only source of grocery coupons. The truth is, local papers contain less than 10% of the coupons available from the manufacturers on brand name grocery products.
You can find some of these certificates just go to itsabargainbasement.com
Learn How To Organize And Get The Most Out Of Grocery Coupons. Coupon And Money-saving Expert Teaches In Great Detail How To Get The Most Out Of Your Grocery Coupons Each Week, Based On Over 20 Years Of Experience. Great Resource For Homemakers And Shoppers In The U.s.
Click Here!
While searching for some promotional items for my small business I came across a program that will give you $1000 in coupons of your choice. Valid at any supermarket.
Manufacturers Spend BILLIONS in newspaper Advertising to offer over $300 billion worth of grocery coupons every year. However, consumers saved less than $2 billion by using those coupons. With this program the consumer gets to select the coupons for the products they want to purchase. This program is guaranteed to save the consumer over $1,000
Have you ever been in line at your supermarket and a customer in front of you had a coupon for every item in their shopping cart?
That customer was using this program. Why is it that less than 1% of American families know about this offer, yet 90% of all households use grocery coupons? Everyone thinks that local newspapers are the only source of grocery coupons. The truth is, local papers contain less than 10% of the coupons available from the manufacturers on brand name grocery products.
You can find some of these certificates just go to itsabargainbasement.com
Learn How To Organize And Get The Most Out Of Grocery Coupons. Coupon And Money-saving Expert Teaches In Great Detail How To Get The Most Out Of Your Grocery Coupons Each Week, Based On Over 20 Years Of Experience. Great Resource For Homemakers And Shoppers In The U.s.
Click Here!
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