Money Saving Tips

So if there is one thing that I've learned since R lost his job, it's how to survive without much money. I thought that I would take what I have learned and share them with you since my life pretty much revolves around saving a buck and making something out of nothing. Enjoy my tips and hopefully you will find them interesting/helpful.

• Cut coupons- I'm sure most of you have given up on this because it seems like more of a pain than anything. You either have to buy multiple items or end up buying what you don't need just because you have a coupon. The key to coupon cutting is aligning them with the sales at your local store. I know they don't exist everywhere but Krog.er is a life saver here in MI. They double coupons up to $1!!!!! Check with your local grocery store to see if you have one near you that will double coupons. Every week I get the ad that lists all the sale items and see if I have coupons for the items. I have been getting a lot of things for free because if I have a coupon that gets doubled a lot of times it's more than what the item costs on sale. For example, last week they had Colg.ate toothpaste on sale for $2 and I have a $1 off coupon for it, that got doubled, so it was free!!!! I have gotten so much for either really cheap or free by using this method and it seriously saves on our grocery bill. The key is to buy 2 or 3 Sunday papers so you can start a fat coupon stash and then keep adding to it each week.
• Stock up on sale items- Milk and eggs and other staples that I can't find coupons for I usually stock up when they go on sale. As long as you pay close attention to the expiration dates you can usually buy milk and eggs and other such items in bulk with dates far in enough in advance to last you until you can find another sale somewhere. This week our local grocery store has milk 2 for $5 so I know that we'll use 2-3 gallons of milk within the next 2 weeks so I'm going tonight to buy a few more gallons to have on hand for the next week or so.
• Watch out for items that are close to expiration- The past two weeks I have gotten Yo.plait plain yogurt for $1.50 for the large size carton because it's getting close to it's expiration date. I bought it yesterday and it expires on the 18th so I just make sure that we use the majority of it before the expiration, but even if we don't it stays good for several days after the date listed. You can get great deals on items that are about ready to expire if you just keep your eye out. You can also find meat on sale that is close to expiring and as long as you plan to use it that day or put it in the freezer you can get some great discounts.
• Get cheap entertainment- Check out your local library for movies or your local movie theater for deals. We got 2 movies on Friday so we could have a pajama party with Little man and then a date night for R and I, for $2 and they don't have to be returned until tomorrow. Our local library has a pretty wide selection of movies and they are $1 for two nights but since they aren't open on Sundays we get to keep them until Monday. Also, our local movie theater runs a special that if you go to a movie before 12pm then it's only $5. They also have an e-mail club that you can join in which they will send you e-mails that include a coupons for a free popcorn periodically. They also run kids movie specials monthly where it's $3 for the child and parents are free and they show the special kid flick on Wed, Sat and Sun mornings.

I'll be writing another post soon with more tips so stay tuned!