How did I save money today?

[snappy1]

Going to ask @snappy1 what is a salvage grocery store ?, as we don't have them here. We do have discount variety stores though and years ago they had outlets that used to sell close to use by products. There is some factory outlets which have some items you can get if you live in major cities here too.

They sell dented cans, discontinued, close to expiration and expired groceries like Amish Heart said. I just keep a close eye on the condition and the dates on the packages.

 

[Amish Heart]

I always have to bring my reading glasses when I go in to the salvage stores. Went to our Kroger Store today and picked up Colgate toothpaste at 88 cents ea, 8 Boxes of Annies Mac and Cheese at $1 a box, coupons for all of them for 25 cents off. Chef Boy Ardee pasta at 75 cents a can, Progresso Soups at 99 cents a can, a case of black beans at 50 cents a can, 2 cases of green beans at 50 cents a can, and 25 lbs of chicken (thighs) at 77 cents a lb.

 

[timmie]

local grocery had wings on sale for 1.49 a pound . I bought 2 verses paying 2.69 regular price. Going to walmart tomorrow for more sugar.

 

[MoBookworm1957]

Local grocery store having 10 pound meat sale this week.
10 pound bag of chicken leg quarters for $5.00/50 cents a pound.
Picking up 10 pounds, worth it to me to split myself into 10 pounds of drumsticks,10 pounds of thighs.
Will use Food saver to put into portions size for 1 or 2.
Should have about 15 or 20 meals of each.
10 pounds of bacon will cost $19.90/box.
Have to look at ad again to see what the beef prices are.
10 pounds of russet potatoes are $2.50 at Wal*Mart this week, will be picking up some.
Seems weird now that we have small grocery store, after going without one for about 5 years.

 

[Amish Heart]

Hey Mo, if you're doing brown rice in the dehydrator, tag it with these instructions when you're done:
In a saucepan, put 1 cup dehydrated cooked brown rice and 3/4 cup cool water. Stir and soak 5 minutes.
Bring to a boil for 2 minutes
Remove from heat, cover, and let set for 10 minutes. Fluff with fork.

 

[MoBookworm1957]

Hey Mo, if you're doing brown rice in the dehydrator, tag it with these instructions when you're done:
In a saucepan, put 1 cup dehydrated cooked brown rice and 3/4 cup cool water. Stir and soak 5 minutes.
Bring to a boil for 2 minutes
Remove from heat, cover, and let set for 10 minutes. Fluff with fork.

Thank you for the information.

 

[MoBookworm1957]

Update on grocery ad:
If they cut the leg quarters up for you then it's 88 cents a pound.
making it $8.80 for a 10 pound bag of thighs, drumsticks.
For that $3.80 I could buy something else needed.
Progresso soup comes to mind 18/19 ounces for 2 for $3.00.
Pork bone in Sirloin Roast at $.99 a pound for 10 pounds will cost you approx. $9.90
Pork Country style ribs are $1.39 per pound 10 pounds will cost you $13.90.
Angus Beef Whole Eye of Rounds will cost you $3.49 per pound so for 10 pounds will cost you $34.90
Same with Angus Beef Whole Sirloin Tips $3.49 per pound so 10 pounds will cost you $34.90.
10 pounds of Corn dogs will cost you $10, Estelle and I like corn dogs, but 10 pounds worth is a little much.
Kraft Mac and Cheese $1.00 a box
Pork Butt Roast, Pork Butt Steaks , Pork Boneless Sirloin chops are all $1.99 per pound 10 pounds will cost you $19.90
Quarter pound ground beef patties 10 per package will cost you $12.00
2 pounds of Ah Tuna Steaks 2 pounds will cost you $12.99 each.
Fresh Atlantic Salmon will cost $9.94 per pound.
I just shop around for the best deal I can get for my money.
What I spend on my meat bundle,($76.74) will take that amount and shop the meat sale too.
Then will finish filling up my freezer.

 

[hiwall]

Bought a few pounds of fresh skinless, boneless chicken breasts to use for sandwiches. It was on sale for 99 cents per pound. Today I'll bake, slice, and freeze most for later use.

 

[angie_nrs]

Went shopping yesterday and got quite a few bargains. I'm not much of a shopper, but this is my favorite time of the year to pluck bargains. I bought a few things at WM for pennies on the dollar for future gifts. Among them were 4 big buddy insulated mugs at $2 each, toys (like fake dog poo and glow in the dark water toys) for $1 each, some bow tips for hubs at $1 per 6-pack, a backpack type of personal water carrier with hose for $5, Armor All 6-pk car cleaning kits for $5, knife and multitool kit for $5, 10 pk of glow in the dark bracelets for $1 for this summer (kids events/4th of July), thermal underwear for $3 each, BOGO free vitamines and supplements (not WM), and lots of clearanced clothes that will be gifts next Christmas.

The clothes are much cheaper now than on Black Friday........in fact, most things are, if they are still in stock. I'll have hubs and kids try them on and make sure they fit. If they don't, I'll return them. If they do, they'll still be surprised when they get them next year b/c they will have forgotten about them by them. LOL! At least they'll know they will like their clothes next year and they will fit! They know how I roll.... It's funny, I heard one kid tell the other last year...."if you tell mom you got her gift on sale or clearance, she'll like it even more!" Hahahahahaha. I wish I could say he was wrong.......but he's not! Full retail is not something I'm typically comfortable with, especially on something for myself. If I find something I like, I can almost always wait until it goes on sale. I bought myself one sweater on clearnace and also some Giardelli Peppermint squares for $2.09 per pack, which are wayyyy eheaper than usual. I LOVE those things, so I only bought 4 packages of them and ration them throughout the year since I know I can't purchase them again until November, which of coarse, I wouldn't do b/c they are FULL reatil at that time of year.

If anyone is going to WM for clearance sales in your area........here's a tip. Look for the yellow "clearance" balloons in the store. Most people just go into the garden center to look for the Christmas stuff which is now 90% off (BTW, great time to get wrapping paper, boxes, bags, decorations, ect), but EVERY department should have clearance stuff now. Many folks don't know to look for the yellow balloons in each section to find the best deals everywhere throughout the store. AND, check out the endcaps. I found those insulated mugs in the kitchen area. I'm sure they wouldn't have still been there if they were located somewhere where bargain shoppers normally look. Also, around here I have noticed that the clothes at WM are NOT at their best price yet. I think in 2-3 weeks, you will find much better deals on clothes there. My clothes bargains I did NOT find at WM, I found them at other stores including local farm stores. Although, I did find the thermal underwear at WM, so it's worth a peek and I know all WM stores are not the same in their bargain prices. Good luck bargain hunters!!!!!!!

 

[MoBookworm1957]

I will be looking for snow shovel in the spring.
Going to hitting stores in a couple of weeks for bargains.
Have $50 allotted for Birthday and Christmas gifts for each son, daughter in law and Estelle for next year.
So I shop for bargains all year.
I don't buy Estelle clothes but I make her dolls quilts, knit her hats and little gloves.
Because those things are made with love.
This year I made crocheted fruits and vegetables.

 

[MoBookworm1957]

Went shopping yesterday and got quite a few bargains. I'm not much of a shopper, but this is my favorite time of the year to pluck bargains. I bought a few things at WM for pennies on the dollar for future gifts. Among them were 4 big buddy insulated mugs at $2 each, toys (like fake dog poo and glow in the dark water toys) for $1 each, some bow tips for hubs at $1 per 6-pack, a backpack type of personal water carrier with hose for $5, Armor All 6-pk car cleaning kits for $5, knife and multitool kit for $5, 10 pk of glow in the dark bracelets for $1 for this summer (kids events/4th of July), thermal underwear for $3 each, BOGO free vitamines and supplements (not WM), and lots of clearanced clothes that will be gifts next Christmas.

The clothes are much cheaper now than on Black Friday........in fact, most things are, if they are still in stock. I'll have hubs and kids try them on and make sure they fit. If they don't, I'll return them. If they do, they'll still be surprised when they get them next year b/c they will have forgotten about them by them. LOL! At least they'll know they will like their clothes next year and they will fit! They know how I roll.... It's funny, I heard one kid tell the other last year...."if you tell mom you got her gift on sale or clearance, she'll like it even more!" Hahahahahaha. I wish I could say he was wrong.......but he's not! Full retail is not something I'm typically comfortable with, especially on something for myself. If I find something I like, I can almost always wait until it goes on sale. I bought myself one sweater on clearnace and also some Giardelli Peppermint squares for $2.09 per pack, which are wayyyy eheaper than usual. I LOVE those things, so I only bought 4 packages of them and ration them throughout the year since I know I can't purchase them again until November, which of coarse, I wouldn't do b/c they are FULL reatil at that time of year.

If anyone is going to WM for clearance sales in your area........here's a tip. Look for the yellow "clearance" balloons in the store. Most people just go into the garden center to look for the Christmas stuff which is now 90% off (BTW, great time to get wrapping paper, boxes, bags, decorations, ect), but EVERY department should have clearance stuff now. Many folks don't know to look for the yellow balloons in each section to find the best deals everywhere throughout the store. AND, check out the endcaps. I found those insulated mugs in the kitchen area. I'm sure they wouldn't have still been there if they were located somewhere where bargain shoppers normally look. Also, around here I have noticed that the clothes at WM are NOT at their best price yet. I think in 2-3 weeks, you will find much better deals on clothes there. My clothes bargains I did NOT find at WM, I found them at other stores including local farm stores. Although, I did find the thermal underwear at WM, so it's worth a peek and I know all WM stores are not the same in their bargain prices. Good luck bargain hunters!!!!!!!

Look in the middle of the aisle of dishes in housewares, when I was department manager of housewares that's where I placed some of my biggest markdown dishes.
Also look on the gadget aisle, right after Christmas the modular will change for the new year. I would put all the clearance gadgets in the back 2 sections of the gadget aisle.
January usually means white sale on sheets sets, blankets etc, so clearance will be on inside endcaps. And new merchandise will be on outside endcaps with fresh new items.
Look for yellow flip flags they should be on just about every aisle throughout the stores and don't forget to look up too. Be sure to look on the bottom shelves too.
Most people miss the best clearance stuff because they only look at eye level. Back in sporting goods look over by basketball goals for secret stash place for clearance items.
Also along the back wall will be clearance items, picked up ankle weights there before Christmas for a $1.00 a set.
January is big month for all those resolutions for exercise equipment, so check in March. Those are all the tips I can think of right now.

 

[snappy1]

Got 1- 24 oz can and 4- 16 oz cans of Blue Runner Creamy Navy beans for free! From a friend I helped. Got 2 trial size Dial Body wash for free with coupon from Dollar General. Only paid the tax.

 

[Sewingcreations15]

Good on you @angie_nrs for picking up all of the bargains .

 

[Sewingcreations15]

Here are the things I have saved money on recently -

- Listed 94 handmade items on eBay using a free listing promotion saving $155.10 over normal listing fees and they have free final auction value fees for free too if they sell.
- Used my supermarkets rewards card to get 4c off per litre of fuel and filled 4 jerry cans worth and their fuel was already cheaper than most saving a total of $7.47 on usual prices.
- Purchased a wire crimper stripper, 120 pce wire connector set, a grease gun, 2 toggle switches and a set of fencing pliers on eBay saving $168.88 over buying them in the local hardware and auto stores.
- Did 2 orders for groceries using our discounted e-vouchers ($80 worth of free groceries) and coupled with specials saved in total $132.15. I think we are now stocked back up after not purchasing a lot of things before our move.
- Made a large batch of chocolate brownie mix saving $18.13 over buying the equivalent amount in the shops.
- Made a lemon cheesecake using cream cheese purchased on special at Christmas time, free lemon juice from lemons given to us, and our own homemade condensed milk saving $69.48 over buying one of the equivalent quality.

 

[snappy1]

saving $69.48 over buying one of the equivalent quality.

Wow! Can't imagine paying almost $70 for a cheesecake! Or am I misunderstanding?

 

[Sewingcreations15]

@snappy1 no you are not misunderstanding as the snazzy cheesecake shops charge $40 for a cheesecake half the size of the one I make here for us, so this is the saving on buying 2 of their cheesecakes equivalent size to the one we make. You can buy (teensy) ones in the supermarkets for $10 ea ready made about a 1/4 to 1/6th of the size of the ones we make here too but you would not really want to read the ingredients list of how many artificial colours, flavours, emulsifiers and preservatives are in them.

Here is an example of the ingredients list on one ready made supermarket one -

Ingredients:Filling(56%)(Water, Milk Solids, SugarCream,Cream Cheese(10%)(Milk,Cream(from Milk) MilkSolids,Salt,Stabilisers(410,412),Starter Culture),Cream Cheese Powder(Cream and Milk Solids, Sugar,Emulsifier(471),Salt,Antioxidant(307b),Culture),Wheat Starch,Modified Tapioca Starch(1442),NaturalFlavour,Stabilisers(331,401,341),Acidity Regulator(330)).Base(25%)(Crumb(Wheat Flour,Palm Oil,Sugar,Wheat Bran,Glucose&Fructose Syrup,Raising Agents(503,500,341),Salt,Spice,Emulsifier(322 from Soy))Coconut Oil).Passionfruit Topping(18%)(Water,SugarPassionfruit Pulp(16%),Thickener(1442 from Maize),Acidity Regulator(330),Stabiliser(415),Preservati-ves(202,224),Natural Flavour,Antioxidant(300),Natural Colours(100,160c)).Contains: Gluten, Milk,Soybeans,Sulphites. May be present: Egg, Peanuts,Sesame Seeds, Tree Nuts and Lupin.

It is enough to preserve us all into next century and beyond.

 

[Sewingcreations15]

Today and yesterday we saved money by -

- Making our own 2.2kg chicken, corn and mushroom pie including the pastry from tinned corn & mushrooms and the meat from the cooked chickens we purchased at Christmas time on half price special that we froze. This saved us $36.15 over purchasing it premade in the shops.
- Made a 1.02 kg batch of chocolate fudge from our homemade condensed milk, cooking chocolate and vanilla extract saving $55.67 over purchasing the equivalent amount in the shops.

 

[MoBookworm1957]

Staying home saves wear and tear on me and car.
Weather has a lot to do with that.
Dress in layers, so could turn down heat.
Add an extra blanket in Strawberry's room(kennel).
If need be add extra quilt to my bed.
Have water dripping in kitchen and bathroom so no pipes freeze.
Open kitchen cabinet doors and bathroom vanity doors to let heat into cabinets so pipes don't freeze.
Only have one lamp on at a time to save electricity.
Cooking in crockpot for home cooked meals.
Common sense things.

 

[Tank-Girl]

Centerlink - Social Security got hacked ......."had glitches"They got locked out of the data base and a lot of people got sent pension and social security
termination letters via MyGov.
Yours truly were among that number.

PANIC.

It's ok now because I rang them up and demanded with the HECK was up with that ROT!!

They fixed it, got a lame excuse and $220 extra dollars for my effort.
I told them I didn't want their $220 because knowing them I'd get slammed with a over payment
notice and a repayment demand.
They're giving me the $220 anyway but it'll sit in my account until they twig they screwed up. Again.

 

[MoBookworm1957]

Started making Christmas list for sons, daughter in law, Estelle and Strawberry.
Will start sewing, quilting those up soon.
Started on Estelle's hat, matching gloves and scarf for Christmas.
Will be making Strawberry tug of war toy for her and Estelle to play with.
Going to try to learn how to knit socks in the spring for Christmas gifts.
Making BBQ oven mitts, pot holders, aprons for sons.
Will be making daughter in laws fancy shawl now that I learned the proper stitch.
Strawberry gets a new sweater and fleece coat for Christmas.
She outgrew hers that my friend made last year.
Dad will get same as sons, BBQ oven mitts, industrial pot holders, new apron so he and Estelle match.
Mom will get new book series if I can find them.

 

[MoBookworm1957]

Limit my time on internet.
Went to smaller plan to save money.
Shucked cable about 5 years ago so that saves me about $85 monthly.
Internet costs about $35 monthly.
Only one light on at a time, all my lamps have LEDS in them so that saves money too.
Only appliances on all the time is refrig and freezer.
Coffeepot is on couple times a day, then make 12 cups each time, drink it all day.
Christmas lists are gathered from previous lists, I usually pick item that has made the lists on several lists.
Example: Estelle's daddy for the last 3 years have dishcloths on his list, along with kitchen towels.
What crochet did I learn this yea; Tunsian crochet entreloc (or better know as waffle stitch) , the one to make dishcloths,

 

[jimLE]

I no longer have the internt or tv service.i don't remember the tv cost.but internet was 107.00 or 117.00 a month.i now use someone else's wifi. And i have tv antena for the tv.the phone i use for calls and text. Has a free service plan.at no cost to me when i make and receive calls and text.i turn the ac off at night during the summer.the heat gets turned off at night.but only when it won't be to cold outside.

 

[The Lazy L]

Our Satellite TV started out around $25 per month. When it hit $60 I started thinking more. $60 so I can sleep through a Sunday afternoon baseball game? Asked the wife if $60 a month was worth it to her, she said yes because she LOVES the Hallmark channel. I thought about a nanosecond before I handed her the bill. She paid the bill for two more months until she decided it wasn't worth $720 a year to watch the Hallmark channel.

 

[hiwall]

We cannot get any over-the-air TV here. So we do have a $23 per month satellite plan. I would not even own a TV but my wife watches everyday.

 

[Tank-Girl]

Paid double rent this pension.

It was brought home to me with a huge thud that in that instant my pension was cut off
and my ability to pay rent and utilities would be gone with it.
Homeless without anyway to shift belongings ( I have a very small two door Asian compact) or anywhere to shift them to.

Very sobering.

So doing the Adult Thing yet again and paid double rent and there's a still a little left over to
do a top up shop for fresh veggies and grain for the chickens.

Oh, and edited to say I didn't get the extra $220 I told them I wasn't entitled to.
Small wonders the country is going to the pack when government workers who are suppose to be holding the purse strings can't do basic math.
Thank goodness common sense prevailed.

 

[MoBookworm1957]

Only got to pick up a few things at Wal*Mart this payday.
Money order, phone card, produce, dog food, dog treats.
Most of the bills are paid since this morning.
After this afternoon will just have car insurance left to pay.
Then will have small amount left over.
Car has been filled.
Sometimes I would like to say the heck with it and just pay bare min.
But the that Adult common sense kicks in.
But for every extra car payment I can pay, I come that more closer to being debt free again.
But there is money in savings, and checking account after all the bills are paid.
Then I think "Whew!" I made it another month of being an adult.

 

[Tank-Girl]

Being Adult is hard.

 

[Amish Heart]

Maybe so, but I'd hate to be a child again. I'm a control freak with my life.

 

[Sewingcreations15]

Yes I have to say @Tank-Girl and @MoBookworm1957 running your budget in a credit balance including bills helps indeed .

Just another scenario is that we got our home loan from the bank and it turns out they had made a mistake and only registered the block the house is on through lands titles department and then rang us for an additional $222 for the other block to be registered too. Fortunately by paying our home loan ahead of time and me paying all the loan set up fees in advance plus extra payments I had that amount in advance on the home loan plus more so instructed them to take the additional $222 from there. This really averted a tragedy in our budget as we would have struggled to pay the additional although had that too in our budget spare.

It pays to be prepared on so many levels to insulate you from life's and silly companies mistakes. We feel good that we can source extra funds from a number of different areas being our home cash emergency fund, bank emergency fund and our advance payments on our home loan if necessary too.

 

[Terri9630]

Went to pay bills. The amount due on our mortgage was $0. We called and they said until the shutdown ends there is a block on our account. No late fees and no credit reporting.