More Than a Little

I just off the phone with one of my credit card companies.  While paying my bill this month, I noticed a charge from Saturday to an equipment trading company for $101, and a charge of $40 (and then strangely, a credit in the same amount) from an equipment magazine company of some sort. Apparently, our credit card number got hijacked by a farmboy.  When I called in to dispute the charge, the fraud department was already anxious to speak to me, and asked me if I had done business with Comcast or some sort of Yahoo service recently. (No! We’re not even in the right area for Comcast, as far as I know.)  Those hadn’t been listed on my account transaction summary online yet. So, the card was canceled and a new one is on its way.  The unfortunate thing is that this is the credit card I used for almost everything I purchase online because I have it memorized.

So, no real harm done (we hope)  but if I hadn’t been paying attention, it would have cost us a lot of money and a huge headache.  So make sure you look over your statements every month!

Bulbsdirect.com has 80 bulbs on sale for $9.99 with free shipping, and 80 free bulbs. That’s 160 bulbs for $10! Sounds like a good deal to me. :)

The package contains:

• 20 Allium moly
• 10 Iris Hollandica
• 30 Brodiaea Queen Fabiola
• 20 Anemone Coronaria De Caen

Presumably, that’s all times two for the free ones.

I don’t think I’ll take advantage of this particular deal because my yard is currently a disaster area, what with the fallen trees from this winter’s ice storms and Hurricane Ike (all the way up here in Kentucky, it caused our biggest, prettiest tree to fall!) I don’t think I have time to deal with planting 160 bulbs, though I might regret it. The previous owners apparently enjoyed gardening, but it suffered from a long period of neglect before we moved in, and we have spent three years pulling down vines, cleaning and generally wresting our yard back from Mother Nature. We were just making progress when the trees started falling. Now that Evelyn is old enough to be outside with us while we work on things, we’re hoping to be able to get a little more done this year than we did last year. Next year, maybe I can buy more bulbs! Until then, I have my hands full with the bulbs we have that need some serious TLC.

Okay, so the Pace coupon was pulled yesterday.  Apparently, it was only meant for people who actually played their online game and won.  The good news is that the game is easily winnable, and you should be able to print multiple copies just like I mentioned yesterday after you win.  More details (including codes to play) are available at Sweetie’s Sweeps.

Stockpiling is when you buy enough of a product at its lowest price (preferably free, of course) to last you through the times when the item isn’t on sale.  Sales are generally cyclical, meaning that what goes on sale now will also go on sale again in the future. (Often, this cycle is about twelve weeks.)   If you find an item that you use on a super-sale special, and you only buy enough for a week or two, then in three weeks, you’ll be buying that same item again but paying more. That doesn’t make sense!  Buy enough to last until another sale comes along and reap the savings.

To know when an item is at its lowest price, you need to do a little research.  Some people keep price lists and track the prices at the stores they go to.  I generally just keep it in my head.  Once I made the decision to do it, it wasn’t that difficult to keep in mind what a good price is for any given item.

There are a couple of different things I have heard from people when we talk about stockpiling.

But I don’t have the money to buy extra all at once!

That’s the beautiful thing.  You will have more money for stockpiling if you just make the effort to get started.  When I first seriously decided to build a stockpile, it felt like I was going to the grocery all the time and spending money.  I was buying random things at very low prices, but I was still spending money, and I couldn’t help but worry that I would end up spending the same amount but on different things.  Fear not, that goes away pretty quickly.  We used to go to the grocery store and spend a hundred dollars easily. Now, a more typical trip for me is around thirty dollars.  We buy milk and eggs and fresh produce on a weekly basis, but most of the other stuff we’re not buying on a regular basis anymore because we already have it.

So yes, it might be hard to get started if you don’t have any extra money.  My advice is to think about a couple of things that you know are true luxuries on your next shopping trip. Say, ice cream.  Decide not to buy it on this trip and take the money that you would have spent and use it to stock up on a sale item. It will take you longer to get started if you do it gradually, but you have to start somewhere.  It makes no sense to pay more for something because you don’t have much money, does it?

You may want to take your budgeted cash only for your shopping trips until you get the hang of this. Physically remove the money you can spend on your groceries from the amount you can spend on your stockpiling, and you will see how much stuff you can buy that week.  Do the same thing next week, and it won’t be long before your stockpile has grown!

If you think about it, your alternative is to never have enough money at the grocery store.   Just go for it!

But I don’t have enough space for stockpiling!

Yes, you do.

I admit that I am fortunate enough that I do have plenty of storage space for this stuff in a large closet off my laundry room.  However, you don’t need to have a large amount of unused space to stockpile.  You just need to think creatively. Look around your house and see where you have some (hidden, preferably) storage you’re not using as well as you could be.  Here are a few ideas of storage places you might be able to use:

• with other household items – I have half a dozen bottles of dish detergent and even more dishwasher detergent under my sink right now.  I was barely using that space, and I’ve found that liquid detergent freezes in my unheated closet on the coldest days. Keep a few extra tubes of toothpaste in your bathroom drawer with what you’re using now.  Put a line of shampoo bottles behind the towels in your bathroom. It doesn’t have to be together to be a stockpile.
• under the bed – those large tubs made for this work great, especially for small loose items of an awkward shape.
• stacked in plastic totes in a closet or basement or spare room. I have two tubs under the clothes in my daughter’s closet right now, though not containing stockpile items. Do make sure that whatever is in those tubs is safe for the occupant of the room if you do this, though!
• in an unused dresser drawer — do you have any that are under-utilized now? I know that I have a couple that could use cleaned out.
• in the garage (make sure that the temperature is okay for the items you’ll put out there first)
• a random shelf in your closet with a bit of spare space
• kitchen cabinets, especially for food items.
• stacked against a wall, with a curtain or screen hiding it from the room
• a shelf over the washing machine
• under a table with a full tablecloth
• unused showers/baths make great storage spaces if you’re lucky enough to have one.  We never use the shower in the bathroom off our bedroom (but my husband drew the line at letting me install a clothes rod over the shower to hang up clothing.  He seemed to think it would look bad or something. :))
• over your fridge
• in your fridge/freezer – I sometimes keep jars in the fridge that don’t necessarily need to be there, and flour and cornmeal are really best stored in the freezer anyway
• under the couch
• under the stairs
• in bags attached to hangers in the closet
• space bags (free after rebate at Walgreens last summer…hehe)

Just remember what spots you’re using (keep a list if you need to) and you’re golden.  Toothpaste and razors don’t take up much space.  I do this as a hobby and I have more stuff than most people will accumulate.  Most people will just want to do enough to save a little money and avoid running out of something at an inopportune time–you really don’t need that much space for that.

And let me tell you, the first time you run out of shampoo in the shower and head for your stockpile to grab a new bottle instead of getting in the car and going out to pay full price for it, you will be so glad that you started your stockpile.  You get to shop in your pajamas and feel super-smart and thrifty at the same time. What’s not to love?

Pace, having clearly lost their minds, has issued a $4 coupon valid on any Pace product. That includes Salsa, Picante and Specialty varieties.  I am pretty sure that will make some products free*, or at least, very cheap.  Better yet, you can print more than two per computer. The limit seems to be wildly variable for different people–I don’t know for sure how many you’ll end up with.  In other words, conditions seem ripe for this coupon being pulled off the site pretty quick, so if you want to print it, do it now.  Once it prints, hit the back button and print it again. (You can do this again on another computer, too!)

The bad news is that the site seems to be having some trouble. Maybe they’re getting hit with way too many people trying to print it at once.  Once it tells you that your coupons are printing and may take up to one minute, it might take ten.  Just wait it out.  I have printed five so far while doing other stuff online–once one prints, I merely click on that window and press the back button until it starts over.

*Note about using coupons of this sort: It is not usually beneficial to buy the largest size, like it usually is when you’re shopping without coupons.  Subtract the coupon amount from the prices of a large item and a small item and then do the cost per unit and you’ll see what I mean.  Also consider that some stores (like WalMart… usually) allow overage, and therefore, if you find something for less than $4, you will get to put the difference towards the other groceries you’re buying.

Salsa is good for a long time. Buy a bunch and put them in your pantry! Throw a party, find recipes that use salsa, give them away! Who cares, free is free and salsa is yummy.

(Thanks to Thrifty Mama for the tip!)

Edited to add: Looks like the gig is up. Sorry if you missed out–did anyone manage to get theirs printed?

I have tried to use coupons many times in the past without much success.  I think that if you just buy a random Sunday paper now and then, clip only a couple of coupons and stick them your wallet, it probably won’t even cover the cost of the newspaper.  I will write more in the future about how to use coupons effectively, but before I get into the specifics of different stores and their programs, I wanted to start with a few core concepts.

The Drugstore Game

This refers to the practice of shopping at drugstores with the goal of getting things for free or cheap.  The three drugstores involved are CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid.  All three advertise certain items as free upon occasion.  CVS has a store loyalty card, which the deals are tied to, and you get the money back as coupons on the bottom of your receipt immediately on purchasing the required items.  Walgreens and Rite Aid have rebate programs.  Both of them allow you to enter your receipts online or mail them in monthly.  They will then send you a check or gift card for the purchase amount.

Stacking

You can “stack” a manufacturers coupon and a store coupon at most stores.  Manufactuers coupons are the ones you see in your Sunday paper or anywhere else you might find a coupon. Store coupons are typically found in the store or on its website, and are only available at that store.  For example, this week, the Schick Quattro razors are $8.99 at Walgreens.  There’s a $4 manufactuer coupon (from this week’s paper) and a $4 March Easy Saver coupon. You can use both of these coupons and get the razor for $0.99.  That’s a pretty good deal! (Not as good as free, but close.)  Check your individual stores to see if they allow this.  Walgreens, Rite Aid and CVS all do.

Overage

The holy grail of the couponer is overage. Overage is when you use a coupon in such a way as to actually make money on the transaction.  For example, if I use a $5 coupon on a $3 item, I will get the item for free, plus $2 worth of credit on the other items I’m purchasing.  This is such an important concept, and one that people often have a hard time understanding.  Yes, it is totally worth it to buy something you don’t need if it gives you overage.  I do not recommend this because I am against excessive amounts of waste, but if you absolutely feel you must, you can throw the overage-giving item away and still come out ahead.  Realistically, though, it would be much preferable to give it away to friends or donate it to a local charity (or put it in your yard sale!)

Deals that give overage are often referred to as “moneymakers”.  Note that most stores will not actually give you money back if your total falls below $0, so make sure you have additional items in your transaction to cover it–stuff that you can’t often find coupons for would be a good choice.  Some stores allow overage and some do not, as a matter of policy.

A deal can also be a moneymaker with some combination of manufacturers coupons, store  coupons and store rebate programs.  That’s often the easiest way to get things for a profit. If an item is free after rebate, and you have a coupon for it, then the face value of your coupon is what you end up “making” on the product.

Multiple Transactions

There are many reasons to split your orders up into multiple transactions.  Here are a few:

• Coupons that can only be used once per transaction.  Sometimes, the stores will release $X/$X coupons that give you a certain amount off of your purchase of a set amount, for instance, a $5/$25 will give you $5 off your transaction of $25 of more.  If you are buying $75 worth of merchandise and you have three of these coupons, split your order up into three transactions!  You will immediately save $15 off your purchase for the day. Usually, you can only use one of these coupons per transaction, though some stores will allow more as long as the total of your merchandise is enough to cover it.
• Spending less out of pocket. You can use multiple transactions to spend less money by using ECBs and RRs from the previous transaction as payment for the next.  For example, I want to buy toothpaste for $3 (with a $1 coupon, and receiving $2 ECB–a pretty common scenario there), shampoo for $3 (with a $2 coupon)  and two candy bars for $.50 each at CVS.  If I buy it all at once, I will spend $4 plus tax and receive $2 in ECBs.  If I instead buy the toothpaste first, and the shampoo and candy in a second transaction, I will have only spent $2 altogether.  The first transaction will come to $2, and I will receive a $2 ECB.  The second transaction, I will use the ECB from the first, and will be out of pocket $0.  This way, you can keep control of your cash.
• Rolling ECBs/RRs. To take the previous example even farther, the ideal scenario is one in which you spend your ECBs or RRs in one transaction on items that will give you ECBs/RRs.  If you received $2 in ECBs for the shampoo in the previous scenario, that would be a good example of rolling.

• Separate accounts/cards. Some people have multiple cards or accounts for different household members, depending on the store’s guidelines.  You won’t be able to qualify items for two programs if you have only one receipt.  Check your store for whether or not this is allowed.  I know for a painful fact that it’s one per household at Rite Aid.

• Rebates.  You may need to mail your receipt in to take advantage of mail-in rebates for particular items.  It’s easier if you don’t have to send in a receipt three feet long, or for items that you may need the receipt for later.  You may need to return the item, or find another mail-in rebate for an additional item. I recently received a $2 rebate from Sucrets for having purchased it (for free after Single Check Rebate at Rite Aid) several months before. When I found the rebate form, I dug through my filing cabinet and sent it in.  $2 is $2.  Well, technically, in this case, $2 is $1.58, since I used a stamp to send it in but let’s not quibble about technicalities here.  I sold my receipt for $1.58, that’s what I’m trying to tell you.  It did, however, have an item on it that I later wished I had the receipt for, so keep that in mind.

• Purchasing items for someone else.  Once your friends and family realize exactly how little you pay for everyday things, they may start asking you to buy things for them.  You may want to ring things up separately to give them a receipt, if feasible. I never do this because the final price I pay for something is usually pretty complicated, after rebates, RRs or ECBs are taken into consideration.

So far, every cashier I have ever encountered has been okay with splitting my purchases up into multiple transactions. I do not do more than three at a time, as a general rule. (I think I did four once.)  If there are people in line behind you, it is good form to go to the back of the line between transactions.  I will often allow someone with only a few items to get in line before me, too, if I know that I have a complicated transaction.  This is not just to be nice to the other customer.  It makes the cashiers like you better (you WANT them to like you, believe me) and it also keeps you from feeling stressed about the people waiting impatiently in line behind you.  If you’re stressed, you’re much more likely to mess something up.

Organization

My Walgreens cashiers often comment on how organized I am. (Sadly, I am almost never as organized at CVS. I don’t know why.  My favorite cashier there thinks I’m scatter-brained, I do believe.)   I have a plan, I have my transactions ready to split up at the register, I have my coupons stacked, and I keep in mind what coupons I need to use and when. (Yes, coupon order is important, but it depends on the store and the situation.)

To accomplish all this super-organization, I make a shopping list every week, using the deals listed for each store at the Slickdeals Drugstore forum, Hot Coupon World, and various ladies of the blogosphere. It contains all the stores I go to and what items I want to buy there that week, along with relevant information about coupons. I especially try to keep notes of any item that requires an ad or store booklet coupon that I don’t have with me while making the list, because those are the ones I’m most likely to forget about.

I also keep my coupons clipped and organized and with me. There are a lot of ways to organize coupons and I still don’t know what the best way for me will be, but right now, I am trying out the binder method. I will write about various methods of organization later.

I do 95% of my deals shopping with a toddler with me. Evelyn sits in the cart and is usually really good, as long as I keep a steady supply of crackers out for her. :)  She does take much more of my concentration than I would prefer, though, so I have found that the more organized I am to begin with, the better our trip is.  It’s really difficult for me to calculate prices and dig through my binder for coupons if I just go in without a plan.

This is apparently the Week of the Crockpot.  I don’t know why, exactly, that I have three crockpot recipes suddenly.  I do love the concept of a crockpot, though I am not terribly good at remembering to use it.  That reminds me, I bought a new crockpot on Black Friday that I haven’t even taken out of the box. It was basically free after a $10/$50 coupon used at Lowe’s (thanks, Dad, for giving the coupon to me!)  This would be a good time to try it out.

Meal Plan

Monday: Crock-Pot Tilapia in  Foil Packets, rosemary potatoes with green beans (yes, free frozen vegetables again)

Tuesday: homemade pizza

Wednesday: Crock-Pot Taco Soup

Thursday: All-Day Macaroni and Cheese and steamed veggies of some sort, probably (I have had this on the menu a bunch of times and have only made it once. This week! For sure! I have a pile of evaporated milk that I need to use up and this is a perfect application for it.)

Friday: spaghetti (I must admit that this one is very likely to get axed from this week. It happens.  All I am really interested in when I make a meal plan is ensuring that we are able to eat every day. If we eat something different, that’s totally fine.)

Have you ever noticed that it’s really easy and quick to come up with a to-do list and not so easy to actually do everything on your list?

I am coming down with a terrible case of springitis here.  I am looking around my house and thinking… man, have I really left that bag of polyfill on top of that cabinet for eight months now?  Why are there toys out that Evie never plays with?  Do I really need to keep heels with broken shoes?  I want to clean things, and organize things, and purge things!  Spring is the season for “rebooting”, as my geeky husband and I would say.  You know how your computer will get sluggish sometimes and just need turned off and back on to work properly?  That is this exactly.  It’s also what we say about our daughter sometimes when she really needs a nap. In my opinion, New Years Resolutions would work out so much better if everyone waited until the first day of spring to make them!

I am a big believer in to-do lists, but I have let mine get buried in a pile of paperwork lately.  I just pulled it out and added six inches of stuff to it, and there’s plenty more I haven’t thought of yet.  The weather is turning nicer and I am itching to get my life back on track.  The winter hibernation was nice and all, but I’m ready for a change.

(Obviously, this doesn’t have anything to do with me telling my 22-month-old that we should clean house today and how she immediately jumped up, grabbed my hand and said “Mommy, CLEAN HOUSE.” Then she went to her toys, said, “bucket?”, found her toy bucket and started shoveling things in.  Apparently she also thinks that standards have been relaxed recently.  I guess when your toddler thinks that things are too messy, it is time for some serious intervention.)

Also, I did a handful of sit-ups on Friday and I got so sore that I was reminded that I have actually not done any sit-ups since before a small child was forcibly removed from my abdomen after being sliced open with a sharp object.  It may be time to get back in shape while I’m working on all these other life improvement tasks, too.

Microwaves get dirty so easily, and yet, you can conveniently close the door on said dirt and not think about it while cleaning up the kitchen. Or at least, I am guilty of that, until suddenly I look in there and am struck by the shame of living in such filth.

Cleaning the microwave can be a pain, since all the food is crusted on.  To clean it up fast, fill a coffe cup halfway with water and add a generous splash of lemon juice. Microwave the cup until the water begins to boil.  The steam and lemon juice will allow you to wipe everything off no trouble at all.  You may need to return the cup to the microwave and reheat it if it starts getting difficult again.  Be careful not to burn yourself with the cup! Been there, done that.

Oh, and I usually use bottled lemon juice for this, and the bottle I have in the fridge for this purpose is long expired and it still works fine.  Just make sure no one uses it for food! If you don’t have lemon juice, heating water by itself will work, too, but not quite as well.

A few weeks ago, my husband was getting Evie ready for bed, and the tab on her fresh diaper popped off in his hand.  He grabbed a new one and threw the broken one into the trash, and he said, “It’s not like we can use it now.”

And with that, I covertly snatched the diaper out of the trash, because…. oh yes we can.

Simply stick the tab back in place and use your sewing machine and a simple zig-zag stitch to re-attach it. Voila! It took me longer to take the pictures for this post than it did to fix the tab.  My machine was already threaded with some brown thread, which was convenient for contrast in the picture.  This diaper will only be worn once, so any color of thread will do.  And no, stitching on the tab will not affect the absorbency of the diaper or cause it to leak.

Evelyn was cloth-diapered until recently, and I sewed most of her stash, so it wasn’t much of a stretch for me to repair a disposable diaper. I wouldn’t undertake a lengthy repair on a single-use item, but this was so simple and fast that it was worth it to me just to make my husband laugh. (I hid the diaper from him so he wouldn’t know what I had planned.)  But seriously, diapers are expensive. This is a size 5 Huggies overnight diaper.  There are 27 diapers per package, and the retail price on the shelf was $12.99 (let’s get real, though. I do not pay $13 for diapers. If that was the final cost, I would still have E in cloth, no questions asked.)  They were on sale for $9.99. After store and manufacturer coupons and rebates, these particular diapers cost me about $2.07 per package, or 7.5 cents each.  (Compare that to paying retail price of 48 cents each–ouch!)  So.. did I save that much by fixing this diaper? No, not really.  However, throwing a perfectly repairable and usable item in the trash grates on me. It’s bad enough that diapers go into the landfill but must we put them there unused?

Oh, and if you don’t sew?  Well, you still don’t have to throw those tab-less disposable diapers away.  It may not be the classiest solution in the world, but a small piece of duct tape is probably going to solve your problem just as well.  ;)  If I had known where the duct tape was, I might have tried it today instead of using the sewing machine!

Things We Have Learned Here

• I am really contrary sometimes, and enjoy doing things because someone tells me we can’t

• Saving a dime is still saving a dime, and saving fifty cents (at retail prices) will pay for can of a mushrooms.

• Waste not, want not!