Here at Thrifty Mommy, I’m guessing that we all have a shared goal of saving money, but yet, we all go about it differently. For example, as previously noted I won’t take the time to clip coupons, but I will search the thrift store racks for 30 minutes for a pair of $4 jeans before I’d ever head to a real store and pay $30. I make homemade cleaners and won’t pay for cable but I would never shop on Black Friday just to score some deals.

We all have habits. Some of our habits include spending more on some items over others. I bring this up because sometimes I think about the thrifty books I read, or blog posts, and it seems I could be doing more to save money. Some of those authors of thrifty books come off as if they NEVER spend a dime more than they have to. This makes me wonder about the rest of us. Do we all hold back or do some of us splurge once in a while?

I do splurge, not often, but I do. I do however look for sales on the items below, but if I can’t find one, I’ll still hand over the cash for them. Here’s what I won’t compromise on…

• Coffee: I’ve tried to buy cheaper coffee, I really have. But the coffee snob in me hates me for doing it, and I may as well not drink coffee at all. NOT an option.
• Organic fruits and veggies: You see conventional for really good deals, and many I will buy conventionally, but if a fruit or veggie is on the dirty dozen list, it’s very rare that I won’t buy the organic version.
• Organic milk: Milk is already expensive. Organic milk is a lot more. But dairy rates high on the list of conventional food baddies, so I always buy the more expensive organic.
• Lip gloss: I hate cheap kid lip gloss. I splurge (sadly) on my faves instead.
• Lotion: I usually buy organic or natural lotions (when I don’t make homemade) and it costs more than say, a store brand, but I like that they work better and don’t come chock full of chemicals.
• Recycled toothbrushes: These really cost more than store brand toothbrushes, and work just the same, but the greenie in me makes me need to spend more in order to lower my footprint some.

I’ve known folks who only buy the best meat but would never dream of shelling out cash for a book they can get at the library. I know others who splurge on shoes but clip coupons and search for sales all day long for groceries. I suppose my splurges are mainly affected by my eco-issues, but all of our splurges are slanted by something.

What do you splurge on and why? OR do you think you should try to save money 100% of the time - no compromise?

[image via free pixels]

Yesterday, I gave a small introduction to stockpiling basics.  You can expect more of these money saving tips in upcoming posts.  Some of you may be wondering what I am stockpiling this week.  This week, I am stockpiling ground chuck.

Food Lion has their ground chuck on sale this week for only $1.69/lb.  Normally, you would pay $3.50 or more per pound for ground chuck.  You certainly don’t want to pay that price when you can stockpile it now on sale for later use.  By the way, if you plan on heading out to Food Lion, you’ll want to check this Food Lion sale and coupon match-up from A Full Cup.

By the way, I am in desperate need of a freezer.  I sold ours when we moved and I’m hoping to find a good deal on one before the ground chuck sale ends on Tuesday. If I have the freezer space, I plan to buy 15-20 lbs of the meat.  A freezer is essential for stockpiling sales on meats and frozen foods. 

Are you taking advantage of the Memorial Day sales?

image sxc.hu

For those of you who have prescriptions filled regularly, you should be aware of special prescription promotions.  There are many stores that promote extra savings and gift cards for having your new or transferred prescriptions filled at their store. 

Stores such as Target and Rite Aid frequently run prescription promotions.  A typical deal is that the store would offer the customer a $10 gift card for a new or transferred prescription that is filled in their store.  Most promotions usually require a coupon so it is a good idea to keep an eye out for these coupons in your local paper.

Whenever Target runs their prescription promotion, my mom gets extra coupons from her friends and family.  She has their prescriptions filled using the coupon, which gives her a $10 gift card for each prescription.  Then she uses the $10 gift cards for other Target purchases or for gifts.  The promotions are a great way to help your dollars go further.

Do you take advantage of prescription promotions?

image from sxc.hu

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I was challenged to use A Full Cup to see how much money I could save and how much I could get for $50.  Well, take a look at these pictures!

A Full Cup is a free online forum where others write about deals, coupons, and savings.  You can find coupon match-ups, printable coupons, and lots of information on saving money.

All of the items here were purchased from Harris Teeter using buy 1 get 1 free sales, coupons, and triple coupon deals.  The items were purchased during two separate visits to the store.

With my experience, everything went pretty smoothly.  There were a few disappointments with my transactions.  1)  I purchased the three boxes of Jose Ole’ products because they were buy 1 get 2 free.  I was really excited about getting three boxes for about $6 and my husband enjoys eating the taquitos. I bought the boxes and then in the Sunday paper there was two coupons for the products.  I didn’t have room in my freezer to go back and get more.  Oh well.  2)  The other disappointment was with Harris Teeter’s coupon policies.  They are only accepting two printable coupons for like products.  I had to put back some of my cereal and All detergent.  Boo! 

I probably could have gotten more for the money, BUT sometimes you have to weigh things.  I asked myself, ‘Would I rather get the small French’s mustard for free just so that I could say it was free . . . or would I rather get the large French’s mustard with a bonus 40% more for $.50?’.  I had to make this decision on several items.  Sometimes it is worth it to pay a little more for the better deal.

The bottom line:  Yes, there is some junk food here (please don’t cast stones), but it will be consumed in moderation.  Overall, I got things that our family can use and I was able to get a lot of groceries for about $51-52.  All of this would have cost me about $140 without the coupons and sales.  I’m pleased with my bargains.

Have you tried A Full Cup?

image (c) Karen Weideman

I went to Food Lion today, armed with my coupons and list from The Grocery Game.  I was in such a hurry because I had so much to do today.  I didn’t have time to pinch pennies as much as usual, but I did pretty well.

Before the sales and coupons my total was $86.70.  After the sales and coupons I paid about $49, including tax.  This included regular items that we needed such as milk, eggs, bread, etc.  I didn’t buy any meat though.  I try to only buy meat when it is a really great price.  Then I stockpile while it’s cheap.  Why pay $4.99/lb for meat when you get pay $2.25/lb? 

The new sales flyers come out tonight and I’m looking for sales on meat, frozen items, and hypoallergenic laundry detergent.  Let me know if you find anything.  Thanks.

What deals have you found lately?

Yesterday, I talked about comparison shopping by unit price.  There are a few things to remember about bulk buying or comparison shopping.

• If the store you find the best deals at is far from you, consolidate trips or choose wisely.  You might do without for a few days until you can justify the trip
• If you are out of only 1 or 2 items, it might be more frugal for you to get it locally if the price isn’t that big a difference.
• Make sure you know your prices and watch sales.  I know that I can get Huggies diapers for 23 cents per diaper at Sam’s with no coupons.  But sometimes, I have coupons and CVS might have them on sale, which would bring it down below 20 cents a diaper.  That is when I should stock up at CVS.
• Don’t assume buying in bulk is cheaper.  GET THAT CALCULATOR OUT!

The moral of the story is that you work way too hard for your money, Don’t just give it away.  Be smart.  Watch the sales and watch your wallet.

Karen and I want to celebrate with you on the deals you got either on Black Friday or Cyber Monday.  So tell us what you found and how much you saved.  We want to celebrate with you!  My favorite deal was actually my mother-in-law’s deal.  My nephew’s list included a Little Tikes Wide Tracker for $21.  We found a similar item from Fisher price for $12.  We just happened to find it while we were waiting in line.  You just have to love running across a great deal like that.

So tell us what you found.  I bet you guys found some awesome deals as well.

Cyber Monday is a somewhat new concept for me.  Black Friday is a great time for my family as my MIL, SIL and I go out on Black Friday and shop ’til we drop.  This year, we were at Toys R Us at 6 am.  The line was CRAZY but we only stood for 35 minutes and got some Crayola spray sets for BOGO.  I loved it.  We also got a Thomas the Train movie and a Barbie for $5 each.  Target had their Disney movies for $12.  I was VERY happy with that.  Turkey Butt got several new movies for Christmas from the family.  She should be very happy.  They also had long sleeve shirts for boys for 2 for $10.  My nephew will be so cute.  I can’t wait.  So my Black Friday was very profitable.  I am jealous of Karen’s Black Friday deals as well.

I do have to say that I didn’t see as many good deals as I thought I would have found though.  I was looking around and didn’t see a recession where I was.  The stores were just as crowded as they were last year.  But I did notice that the deals that we did find ended at 1 pm on Friday.  Very interesting.

So how did you do on Cyber Monday?  Any good deals you want to share? I pretty much finished my shopping on Friday so I didn’t need to get on for Cyber Monday.  Let us know what you found.  We always want to celebrate a great deal.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my hubby and I got up early and headed out for the Black Friday sales.  Let me just say that I had a hard time falling asleep the night before, which I think might have been caused by a yummy latte from Dunkin Donuts.  lol  I forgot to get decaf and so  I only got 3 1/2 hours of sleep.

We headed out and our first stop was Wal-Mart.  I had no circular for Wal-Mart so I had no clue what was on sale.  There were palettes of sweatshirts and pajamas.  People were digging through them like crazy.  It was tempting to get Alligator girl a set of pajamas, but seriously she does not need any and truthfully, they looked really cheap.  I did settle on a hooded fleece Lightning McQueen sweatshirt for Cuddlebug.  It was $4.  While at Wal-Mart, we also picked up some of the dvds that were $2-3.  I was pleased that I got a coat for Cuddlebug for $8.  His old coat from last year is a size 2T-3T and it isn’t oversized like most coats.

When we first arrived at Wal-Mart, it was pretty quiet.  It was about 4:50 am and many people were just standing in the aisles with their carts and waiting.  I had no clue what they were lined up for, but at 5 am it got really loud and then I saw people grabbing tvs like crazy.  Their tvs were at an awesomely low price.  Too bad I didn’t have the extra money.  Maybe next year.

Next, we headed to Target.  They didn’t open until 6 am and it was insane!  People were lined up down the sidewalk for quite a ways.  The line even stretched up to the next largest store in the plaza.  There were hundreds of people in line.  The Target associates were outside passing out maps of the key items they had on sale.  I head an associate say that there were only a few navigation systems and a limited amount of Guitar Hero games. 

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Michaels is offering specials throughout the week.

Click here to view the doorbusters for Friday.  This link also has printable coupons for 25% off your entire purchase and 50% off one item.

On Saturday, one of the great specials is a Fiskars paper trimmer (reg $79.99) for only $29.99.  There are also printable coupons for 20% off your entire purchase and 50% off one item.

Michaels has hot buys for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  Check out these deals.  Many of them are 50% off or more.

Happy saving!