Early in the Week

I can't remember if I mentioned the fact that we have Monday & Tuesday off this week. My daughter and I have been doing laundry and cleaning all weekend, so we could enjoy our two days off this week. We finally got all the chairs and brooms from the drying racks put back where they go, which made the house look better almost instantly. And we are finally caught up on the laundry. Yay! :)

I've been working in the kitchen, cleaning and putting things away. I boiled two dozen eggs today for egg salad and lunches for this week. I am so tired of sandwiches in my lunch, so boiled eggs will be better. I'll add some cheese too. 

Dinner today is Pedernales Potatoes, Carrots, Green Beans with Onions, and Sweet Iced Tea. 

On Tuesday we ran some errands. One place we stopped was Bi-Lo because I had some coupons I wanted to use with their three day sale. 

My favorite coupon site nowadays is Couponaholic. 

Couponaholic

I don't even use the Sunday coupons anymore. I let my daughter deal with them because she enjoys it so much. I look at Couponaholic every now and then to see if there are any good deals. The 55¢ off coupon for Skippy peanut butter was a good deal.  I printed two coupons off my computer and my daughter printed four coupons and she also had an additional six $1.00 off coupons from the Sunday paper for one jar of Skippy. 

The peanut butter was on "sale" at Bi-Lo for $3.12, but it was buy one get one free, which made each jar $1.56. The 55¢ coupons doubled and so our total coupons took off $12.60, which made each jar only 51¢.   This was a really good deal. 

The also had Pillsbury cake mixes on sale for buy one get one free. We had 35¢ off coupons that doubled, so each box end up costing 44¢ each, which was another good deal. 

We did buy a few other things like margarine, crackers, preserves, and olives. 

We also got hair cuts today. I saved a receipt from Walmart for $9.99 haircuts and used them at Great Clips today. Haircuts for both of us came to $19.98 plus tip, which saved us $6.00 off the Great Clips price. 

I also filled up the car today using my Bi-Lo bonuscard fuel perks and paid $2.44 per gallon. It only cost me $21 to fill up today. I should be dancing in the street at the savings. LOL :)

Back to work and school tomorrow. I hope you all have a great week!

Belinda
CFO ~ Chief Frugal Officer
Professor Penny Pincher 
© Belinda & Frugal Workshop, 2011 and beyond.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”
"Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle ~ It will help you save money"

My Frugal Week

Image Credit

These are some of the things we've done this week to save money:

We shopped at Staples on Saturday the 28th and were able to pick up this free, reusable shopping bag. 

I gathered up all the nuts from all the stockings that Santa left and put them all in a big bowl. 

I did the same thing with the candy canes and fruit. 

Some of the oranges were actually from a school fundraiser. Pictured below is a box of oranges that I purchased through a school fund raiser. This is a 20 pound box of oranges and I paid $19.00 for the box, and there were 30 oranges in the box, so 63¢ per orange. Not the best buy, but supporting a good cause. 

Received a piece of mail with a nickle attached to it. :)

We had several no spending days this week. We have been out of school/work due to Christmas break and therefore had no reason to get out of the house, so we stayed home. Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday we stayed home and spent no money. 

We ate every meal at home this week, and therefore spent no money on dining out.

I did a lot of reading, both on and offline this week. One of my favorite online articles of the week was over at Three Thrifty Guys, where Travis from Enemy of Debt shared his story of "How I Paid Off Over 100K in Debt". Very, very inspiring article. 

When we did venture out of the house this week we ended up at McKay's Used Books where we still had a credit left over from our last visit. So, I was able to pick up several new to me books that I want to read for free and we still have a credit left over for the next time we visit.

I was able to pick up Howard Lyman's "Mad Cowboy" book, which has been on my wish list at Amazon for a while now. 

I also picked up several other books. 

I picked up Ellie Kay's "A Tip A Day". 

I also picked up my favorite couponing book, "The Coupon Mom's Guide to Cutting Your Grocery Bills in Half". I had loaned this book out two years ago and haven't gotten it back yet, so I was glad to pick this one up again for free. 

I also went to Bi-Lo to run an errand, and while we were there we were able to enter a drawing for a $25o gift certificate for groceries. We were also given this free insulated reusable bag. 

My daughter had been wanting to see Wreck It Ralph on DVD, but I wasn't going to pay the $19.96 asking price, so we rented it on Redbox for $1.32. 

I purchased gas for $2.80 a gallon today using my Bi-Lo Bonus card and their fuel perks program. I saved 25¢ a gallon and purchased 11.36 gallons, so a total savings of $2.84. 

I was able to pick up three loaves of bread for garlic bread on the bakery reduction rack for $1.18 each.

I found a cheaper source of saltine crackers this week. Before the recession we paid 88¢ for a box of saltine crackers, but that price has risen to $1.78. 

While shopping at Fresh & Low this week, I was able to purchase Always Save saltines for $1.01 a box, which is a savings of 77¢. Continually looking for a better price on items we regularly purchase is a regular part of the frugal lifestyle. 

And last, but not least today we picked up several copies of the Sunday newspaper as there are five inserts in each one today. A good coupon day for sure. 

What are some of the frugal things you've done to save money this week?
Belinda

CFO ~ Chief Frugal Officer

© Belinda & Frugal Workshop, 2011-2014.

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”

Final Day Triple Coupon Deals

Saturday was the final day of the Bi-Lo triple coupon promotion. Here is a photo of what we were able to purchase:

One of our deals today was Hunt's spaghetti sauce, which was on sale at 10 for $10.00. I also had 6 coupons for 55¢ off two cans, which were tripled, so I bought 12 cans. 

Spaghetti Sauce

Cost before coupons: $12.00

Coupon amount: $9.90

Cost after coupons: $2.10

Cost per can: 18¢ per can

Yesterday I bought the pasta and today I bought the sauce. Imagine how inexpensive our spaghetti meals will be for the next few months with free pasta and 18¢ sauce. I love triple coupons! :)

The following three items were completely free after coupons:

We were able to pick up one more box of the Barilla pasta for 24¢, so we now have two of those in our pantry for a total of 48¢.

We picked up 4 Dannon Oikos yogurts, which had 50¢ off coupons on them. They were originally $1.19, but the coupons tripled, so those were free as well. 

Other items include 2 bottles of Dawn for 75¢, and 6 boxes of Puffs Lotion tissues for $1.00 each. 

 In all I spent $128 in the past three days at Bi-Lo and saved $90.00 with coupons. This was a rare coupon promotion from Bi-Lo and not one we normally see here. I suspect it was because we recently had a brand new Publix grocery store open up in our area in the last month and these two big giants are competing for customers. 

Either way, it pays to be aware of the sales cycles. We had heard chatter online about Bi-Lo doing this early last week, and we always get the newspaper on Wednesday for the sale ads and sure enough the chatter was correct. As we were checking out last night, our bag boy asked the cashier, "How are these people getting all this free stuff?" It pays to be aware. :)

Belinda
CFO ~ Chief Frugal Officer
© Belinda & Frugal Workshop, 2011-2014.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”

Saturday Evening

My menu plan for this week called for homemade pizza tonight. I made my own pizza dough using this recipe. I used mozzarella cheese, which I had left over from another recipe, which was stored in the freezer, and I opened an Institutional size can of spaghetti sauce, which I divided up into smaller containers and put three of those in the freezer for another use later. I topped it with pepperoni and black olives. It tasted good, my family enjoyed it, and I didn't spend any money on takeout pizza. 

Today was a very productive day here. I woke up early and got started right away doing laundry. I then cleaned out the refrigerator and made soup, boiled eggs, and cleaned all the dishes from that project. Afterwards my daughter and I gathered up all the garbage and took it the garbage drop off center. We are very fortunate as our county drop off center does not charge us to drop off garbage. We are the only county in Tennessee which has free garbage service, although we do have to haul it ourselves. 

Afterwards we made a run to Super Saver for several items including milk, bread, cheese, and corn, which was on sale for 50¢ a can and since I was out of corn, I decided to pick up six cans to add to my pantry. My total at Super Saver was $27.02. Afterwards we drove across the road to fill up our gas tank. Gas was selling for $3.21 a gallon, but I used my Bi-Lo Bonus Card and was able to lower the price to $3.06 per gallon and saved 15¢ per gallon. 

The groceries and gas were the only money I spent all week. I worked two days this week and took my lunch and drinks to work both days. I ate breakfast and dinner at home and did not spend any money buying drinks or snacks or anything. I didn't even buy the newspaper for the sale ads on Wednesday. I just looked up the grocery store ads online.  We were very frugal here this week and I hope you had a very frugal week in your home too. :)

Belinda
© Belinda Richardson and Frugal Workshop, 2011-2013.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”

Bi-Lo Fuel Perks Program

I'm excited to tell you about the new BiLo Fuel Perks program because I've personally seen big savings when it comes to this program. I filled my car up the other with gas that I paid $2.91 a gallon for thanks to this program. The closest participating gas station to me is 6 miles away, which is normally where I go to fill up my car. All I have to do is swipe my BiLo bonus card before I swipe my debit card and the price reflects whatever Fuels Perks I have available. 

There is a man on the BiLo fuel Perks Facebook page that filled up his truck for $11.98 and only paid 59.9 cents per gallon. You can see his story here: 

Jeff Green pays 59 cents a gallon with BiLo Fuel Perks

Fuel Perks are cents-off/gallon discounts that you earn when you use your BiLo bonus card. For every $50 you spend, you will save $.05 per gallon for up to 20 gallons of gasoline at participating gas stations.  You can also earn cents off by purchasing certain grocery products each week, and I'm including this weeks specials below. Rewards are good for the entire month they are earned, plus for three full months after that, expiring on the last day of the third month.  Read all about the program here: 

Bi Lo Fuel Perks Program

 

Limit One of each Reward per order. 

All items must be in the same order. 

See store for details.

Valid December 21 – December 27, 2011
Earn an Extra 10¢ OFF PER GALLON OF GAS When you buy two (2) Participating Poinsettias

$5.99 ea. – Poinsettia – 6 Inch Pot Assorted Colors

Valid December 14– December 27
Earn an Extra 10¢ OFF PER GALLON OF GAS When you buy four (4) Participating Pillsbury Items

10 for $10 – Pillsbury Fudge Brownie Mix – 10.25 oz.
$2.19 – Pillsbury Quick Bread – 14-16.6 oz. All Varieties
$1.79 – Pillsbury Cookie Mix – 17.5 oz. All Varieties
2 for $5 – Pillsbury Funfetti Whoopie Pie Kit or Cookie Pop Kit – 18.31-27.16 oz.
$1.09 – Pet Evaporated Milk – 12 oz.
$2.29 – Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk – 14 oz.


Valid December 14– December 27
Earn an Extra 20¢ OFF PER GALLON OF GAS When you buy one (1) Lip Lickin’ Chicken Fried Chicken and one (1) Coke 8 Pack


(1) Lip Lickin’ Fried Chicken – 12 Piece
(1) Coke – 8 Pack 12 oz. Bottles
 

Valid December 14– December 27
Earn an Extra 10¢ OFF PER GALLON OF GAS
When you buy $15 of Participating Roasts

$3.49 lb. – Boneless Chuck Roast
$4.49 lb. – London Broil Roast
$3.89 lb. – Sirloin Top Roast
$3.99 lb. – Boneless Bottom Round Roast
$3.99 lb. – Eye of Round Roast
$7.99 lb. – Standing Rib Roast
$3.29 lb. – Bone- In Chuck Roast
$3.49 lb. - Shoulder Pot Roast
$3.99 lb. – Rump Roast
$11.99 lb. – Whole Beef Tenderloin
$9.99 lb. – Boneless Standing Ribeye Roast
$5.99 lb. – French Rack of Pork

Valid November 16 – December 27, 2011

Earn DOUBLE fuelperks! When you buy Participating Gift Cards

Valid November 9 – February 28, 2012

Earn an Extra 10¢ OFF PER GALLON OF GAS When you buy 1 Participating Items
$14.99 – Hormel Salami & Cheese Party Tray – 28 oz.
$9.99 – Hormel Football Tray – 1.5 lb.
$14.99 – Hormel Ham/Turkey/Cheese Party Tray – 1.75 lb.
$18.99 – Hormel Supreme Party Tray – 2.48 lb.


Valid November 16 – January 3, 2012
Earn an Extra 25¢ OFF PER GALLON OF GAS When you buy (1) 12” or 16” Deli Tray and (3) Coke 2 Liter Products

(1) - 12” or 16” Deli Tray- Select Varieties
(3) – Coke – 2 Liter Products, Select Varieties

Belinda

© Belinda Richardson and Frugal Workshop, 2011. 

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”  
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