Sunday, September 24, 2017

Third Frugal Week of September


Here is a photo of our new staircase leading into the upper section of our home. My brother-in-law built the stairs for us and the amount spent on the wood was $700. The old stairs were 31 years old and it was past time to replace them. So happy to have this item checked off our to do list. 

Even though I was scheduled to sub four days this week, I ended up subbing all five days. I'm very happy about that. I was going over my budget this week with a fine tooth comb since this is my first big paycheck of the school year. Last month I only had one day on my check. 

I went to town today to get some oil for my daughter's car and picked up a few groceries. I found a dime on the ground when I walked into the store and picked it up.  :)

I found 28 ounce cans of diced tomatoes in the crash and burn section for 50¢. There were five of them, so I picked them all up. Such a great deal!

Food City had some great sales this week on canned tomatoes (50¢/14.5 ounces), corn and green beans (50¢), canned beans (50¢), cheese - buy one get one free,  sour cream - buy one get one free. 

I am really enjoying my new smartphone and learning new ways to use it to save me money on a regular basis. 

If you have a smartphone and install the McDonald's App you can get a free large sandwich when you buy one, so if you have someone with you, you can eat inexpensively. It's a good deal if you are out and about and get hungry and did not bring something with you to eat. 

Checkpoints is another new to me app that allows you to check in at various places you do business and turn them into gift cards. I have enough right now for a $2.00 gift card to CVS, which will pay for one of my prescription co-pays. 

What kinds of ways do you find to save with your smartphone?


Belinda
~ Living within our Means ~

32 comments:

  1. The stairs are really nice. Great job.
    You got some great deals. I ALWAYS pick up any money I see as well.
    Have a great one!

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  2. Your new stairs look wonderful. Aren't you lucky to have handy family members.

    I saw a penny on the ground the other and picked it up. You never know when you will need it to pay for something without breaking a dollar.

    I don't use this app, since I checked it out and it doesn't have great bargains for my area. I know people that do great with it in other parts of the country though. Ibotta, and I hope I spelled it right but you should be able to find it, hopefully.

    Good find on the cans of tomatoes. That is something you can always use. I cleaned out cabinets this week and decided that we are cutting back on cereals and snacks since we forget they are around and they get pushed back in the cabinet and forgotten. One box of cereal each and that's it for the time being. Snacks, I haven't decided on yet but fewer than what we had.

    We are still decluttering here and decided it was time to break down and call in help. So on Tuesday 1-800-got-junk is coming to do the basement. I have done as much as possible without getting a dumpster and a dumpster will be too much hauling and walking back and forth so we will let the professionals do it. I have heard they are very good so fingers crossed.

    Have a good week and I hope you get lots of sub assignments.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much, Mary Lou. My daughter does the Ibotta one, so I need to check with her and see if we can both do it or not. I know with Checkpoints we are both able to do that one. I will definitely check with her though. It's so nice to be able to use these apps after having not been able to do them before.

      I would love to have 1-800-Junk come here to clean out, or even a dumpster. Do they charge very much for their service? I am so envious. There are a lot of things in the lower level of our home that need to be tossed (we don't use that level to live in, it's mostly just storage) and I would love for them to come here.

      I hope you have a good week too. :)

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    2. Belinda, I have no idea of the cost. I will let you know after Tuesday how my experience was with them. I do know a couple of people that have used them in the past and were quite pleased. At this point, I have to just take a deep breath and pay for it.

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  3. Those stairs are very nice, do they lead to a deck? do you plan on staining them to preserve them? Great find on the tomatoes? I don't recall-have you done any canning this SUmmer? I fear rising food costs with the recent huricanes. SIgns are up at the stores here that produce is impacted by them. Terrible looking produce, too at a store that always keeps really nice looking produce. I did get some local lettuce, at a good price.

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    1. They lead to our back porch, which was built very well, but is not as large as the deck is in front of the house, which also needs replacing. ::sigh:: It is always something that needs replacing.

      I did not do any canning this year as our stove is out of order. The two large burners do not work and the smaller ones are unsuitable for canning. I'm waiting for this one to give up before I replace it and then I will be back to canning.

      That is not good news about the produce, but does make sense. Maybe it won't be too bad, we can hope.

      No plans to stain the steps right now as they are made of treated lumber.

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  4. I feel I save money by not having a smart phone.

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    Replies
    1. I know that feeling, Meg. I felt that way for years. :)

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  5. Do you know about Good Rx? It's an app you can use to find the cheapest place to buy prescriptions. It's awesome.

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    1. Thank you, Patti. I will be sure to check it out. :)

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  6. Nice stairs!

    I use my smart phone for all kinds of coupons. I just try to be very choosy about which are actually frugal.

    Great find on the tomatoes. A can of tomatoes is the basis for so many frugal dishes.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Shara. :)

      I know what you mean about being choosy with coupons.
      Roaman's and Woman Within send me emails on "GREAT DEALS THAT I CAN'T MISS" every other day. LOL
      Good to know about the coupons on smartphones though, thanks.

      And, I agree on the tomatoes. I use them for so many things like soups and pasta salads. They make so many things taste even better.

      I hope you have a great week.

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  7. Your stairs look great! I used the walmart saving catcher app! Its awesome way to save:)

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much, Sarah. I will check out the Walmart savings catcher app too. :)

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  8. I love checkpoints,use mine for Amazon gift card

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  9. Replies
    1. Thank you, Linda. I will be sure to check it out. :)

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  10. Well, I have to say 1-800-got-junk was wonderful. They sent two young men who was very polite and accommodating. The price depended on how much of their truck you filled and then they gave you a price when they were done. They showed you beforehand the price list and what they thought it might come to. It was not cheap, but considering around here is costs $500 for a dumpster and you have to do all the work yourself, I consider this a bargain. Also our city charges $20 for each computer, printer or tv you want to bring to the dump so it all adds up. I was very pleased with them.

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    1. Oh, that is great to hear, Mary Lou. I'm so glad you were pleased with them. I will have to keep them in mind when the time comes for us to do that here. I've not priced a dumpster here, but I imagine it's a lot of money. We can dump tvs and computer monitors for free here at our county dumpster, but we have to do all the hauling and lifting into the dumpsters. We've done it with computer monitors, although it can be hard work depending on what you are dumping and takes much longer for sure. Thank you for letting me know how well it went.

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  11. And myplaces it's like checkpoints

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Debbie, I will be sure to check MyPlaces out too. :)

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  12. Hi Belinda,
    Beautiful stairs! That was a big project:)Do you take care of all the projects there? I know a while back you were talking about a search engine or something like that you were able to earn gift cards with. I can't use swag bucks my computer slows way down. Maybe it was Bing or? just can not remember. You got some great deals this week.I have not tried to use my smart phone to save money yet. Have a great week.
    Patti

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Patti. I do earn gift cards thru Microsoft Rewards/Bing and use them to buy Amazon gift cards. I also do MyPoints and could earn Home Depot gift cards with that. I am trying to decided which gift card I want to use for that. That would be good for doing the next project around here. I try and do as much as I can around here, but we do have some help, which helps us out a great deal.
      I hope you have a great week too. :)

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  13. Thank you Belinda,
    I hope your week is blessed. My Grandmother used to call money found
    on the ground Pennies from Heaven. I love found Money.
    Patti

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    Replies
    1. I love found money too, Patti. :)

      I hope your week is blessed too.

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  14. I found 4 cents someone left behind in selfcheckout

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  15. Your well built stairs appear to be perfect. I like them. How long have you had a Smart Phone? One of our kiddos shares family plan with DH and me. For 2 cells with bells and whistles, it costs $25 per month. For us, that is an awesome deal to have 2 unlimited cells @ $300 annually. You do very well with your gift card accumulation via cell phone. Go for it!

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  16. Thank you, Anna. Bailey bought me a smart phone this summer at MCKays. It's my first smartphone. You and your dh have a sweet deal! I like that. They sure do help to save money. :)

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