One question I often get is “How much do you spend a week?”

My weekly grocery budget is $55.  Sometimes I spent less, sometimes more.  If I spend less- I “roll” the extra into the next week.  If I go over, I reduce my next week by that amount.  I get too much of an “excess” from rolling either way occasionally I will wipe the slate clean and start over with a $55 budget after a while.

The next question I get is “How did you get that number?”

That’s an easy answer- several years ago that is all I had to spend. With 3 kids and 1 income (I am a stay at home mom) that’s all that was left after the mortgage, car payments, credit card bills, electricity, etc.  If that is all you have- well that’s your budget.

If you are more flexible and just need to set a budget look at what you are spending right now.If you are new to strategic shopping- make gradual reductions in your bill.

For example:

If you are spending $150 a week right now here is what I would do.  Please remember that we are ALL different- our families are different sizes, we have different dietary requirements and favorite foods. But this is what I would do.

Week 1: Instead of having $150 a week to spend only spend $130.  Take $100 of that for your “needs”- the items you are out of that you need to keep you going for the next week.  The remaining $30- use to stock up on items you use that are at a great price.  Look over the grocery store & drug store matchups (look at the top of the site for “grocery” and “drug” store tabs to find these lists) and look for the items at really good prices.   Don’t just buy 1 of these times buy 5 or more or however many you have coupons for.

Week 2: $130 budget: $100 needed items, $30 stock up items

Week 3: Reduce your new $130 budget by 10%.  Instead of a budget of $130 only have a budget of $115.  Take that same $30 and stockup.  Spend $85 on “needed” items and $30 on stock up items.

Week 4: $115 budget, $85 needed items, $30 stock up items

Week 5: Reduce budget by 10%.  New budget: $100.  $30 stock up items, $70 needed items

Week 6: $100 budget, $70 needed items, $30 stock up items

Week 7: Reduce budget by 10%.  New budget: $90.  $60 needed items, $30 stock up items.

Week 8: Budget: $90.  $60 needed items, $30 stock up items.

Week 9: Reduce by 10%.  Budget: $80.  $50 needed items, $30 stock up items

Week 10: Budget: $80. $50 needed items, $30 stock up items.

Week 11: Reduce by 10% Budget: $70. $40 needed items, $30 stock up items.

Week 12: Budget: $70. $40 needed items.$30 stock up items.

Onward: Keep reducing until you are at a plateau.  $55 was my plateau.  It’s a number I am comfortable spending each week and it sustainable.  A weekly budget of $10 a week honestly is not possible for most families.

Hopefully by this time, you have seen your stockpile grow and you have a nice foundation.  You may even have found that your “needed” items have been reduced to $10-$15 a week.  Awesome!  Then you can roll that excess into the stock up items or start a fund for that vacation you want to take, pay down your credit bills, etc. 

A few tips:

1. Be realistic. A $10 a week budget for a family of 5 is not realistic.  We need to eat & we like to eat!
2. Don’t fret if you go over budget.  Just adjust.  If you go over budget week after week – examine your budget maybe it’s NOT realistic for your family.
3. Don’t compare.  My weekly budget is based on the fact that my stockpile is 10+ years old.  A new couponer won’t reach this level of stockpiling for at least 1 year.  Sales cycle around.  It takes time.
4. Don’t sacrifice…too much.  My family has learned we eat what we have.  If we have a lot of canned veggies- that is what we eat.  If we have rotini pasta and the wanted spaghetti- sorry we have this variety.  Slight sacrifices is what allow us to spend on our money on FUN things instead of paying $2 for a box of pasta.
5. Splurge a little.  Just like a “cheat day” on a diet. A splurge here and there on something that you ENJOY will allow you to be motivated to stay on track the rest of the time.
6. Stay accountable.  Keep track. You never realize how much you spend until you keep track.  Check out myFREE Budget Tracker to help you stick to your budget.  That is why I write my Tuesday Totals.  If I have it all there in black & white I can’t hide from the fact that I spent too much!  Keeping a record also allows you to see that your $150 a week budget is too high or your $30 budget is too low.  Analyze your spending and see where you can make cuts (are you spending $100 a week AND buying dinner out 3x a week and buying lunch out 5x?   There might be an issue!) or adjustments.
7. Run your budget Wed-Tuesday to coincide with the grocery store sales.  I have found that is the best way to keep track of what I am spending and allows me to budget for the week easier. If I know that there are HOT deals at Lowe’s Foods than I have my entire budget to stretch out the week.  If you run Sun-Sat you will cross 2 sales cycles and it can get messy.

What tips do you have for setting a strategic stockpiling budget?

 

*NOTE: I generally try to keep my posts pretty short and sweet but this one really annoyed me so it’s a bit long- sorry!

Hopefully, you and your family is pretty healthy and rarely have to visit the doctor.  But we should all be getting yearly physicals and dental visits every 6 months.

One of my biggest tips for couponers is to “Know before you go” meaning know what you are going to be spending before you walk into the grocery store.  The way our medical system is set up here in the U.S. it’s virtually impossible to do that. {I used to work in medical billing for about 6 years}

The way it works is you visit the doctor, have your visit and the doctor (or his staff) chooses numerical codes (CPT and ICD-9 codes) that correspond to the services they provided.   These are standardized codes.  A SINGLE office visit can be billed as 3,5,12 different codes depending on the procedures and services completed.

So, until you’ve been seen by the doctor it’s really not possible to know what you are going to be charged.  And even if you could get the codes before hand, you are probably going to find it difficult to get your insurance company to tell you how much YOU will have to pay.  It will depend on the codes they use for the diagnosis (reason for your visit/medical problem) and how they combine the codes and even “modifiers” which are codes used to say, “Usually this cannot be a service that is billed with another, but because I put this code here it’s ok for you to pay it” (Of course that’s a very simplified version from a patient’s point of view there are requirements that must be met before that is done!)

I am embarrassed to even TELL you this story because I fear it makes me look like a bad mom- but hopefully it will spare someone the HOURS I have spent on the telephone and writing letters and appeals.

My 4 year old daughter went for her most recent cleaning and exam at the dentist.  It was a disaster from the start.  Silly me, made the appointment so early I had to wake them up a full hour before they usually get up.  Strike 1 for this mom.  We get to the office and immediately the crying begins.  Her twin brother and older sister were troopers. No issues from them. We finally get called back to the room and I let those two go first.  Now it’s Gabby’s turn.  She refuses to get in the chair. Even scareing (you know that Mom look and promise of “NO TV!”) or begging her (PLEASE?  I’ll take you to the Dollar Store to pick a toy?) worked.

Needless to say, Not a single thing was done at her appointment.  No cleaning, no flouride, no xrays.  Nada.  Suddenly I get a “past due notice” from the dentist!  For $2!  What in the world?  I assumed since nothing was done as a courtesy since the other 4 of us are long term patients’ they were not going to charge me anything for the 10 minutes she refused to get in the chair.  But I would have gladly paid a  nominal “cancellation” fee. But I never received anything from them or our insurance company (and trust me having worked in the medical industry I keep track of EVERYTHING pertaining to our medical procedures and bills).

They billed me for a flouride treatment ($38), Pediatric Oral exam ($40), 2 bitewing xrays ($41) and a cleaning ($58) for the child who never sat in the chair.  A total of $177 of which $175 was paid by our insurance. 

I’ve spent hours on the phone with the dentists’ office (who amazingly swear they have records that “prove” this was done- but these records are only the written words of the person making the charge) and my insurance company.  The matter is still pending an investigation. Below is a copy of the insurance statement for her visit:

Now, I only owe $2 out of MY pocket BUT we only get 1 Flouride treatment a year and 2 dentist visits a year.  So, we’ve lost that treatment AND a visit.  AND in the long run it does come out of OUR pockets because our insurance company is self funded- meaning the company my husband works for pays the bills themselves and so extra $$ they pay will eventually flow down to less raises and more insurance premium increases to US!

So what have I learned that I hope you take to heart? First, if you are in the doctor’s office and they offer to do a procedure or service {obviously I am talking about routine visits here not a trauma ER visit where life & death is on the line.  Nor am I saying to refuse a medically necessary procedure that you really need} find out what you are going to be charged.

That little benign (i.e. non-dangerous to your health) that you just don’t like- it could end up costing you over $100 to have it taken off.  Wouldn’t you rather KNOW that before you decide?  This is not information most offices will tell you prior to the procedure!

And then before you leave a dentist or doctor’s office get as copy of what they are going to be charging you for.  Most office’s check boxes off for the procedures done or have some sort of written or typed document completed during the exam.  Do NOT leave the office without this form- look it over and triple check that everything stated as being done really having been completed.

If you do not check on what the service provider says was done, and they erroneously keep it in your medical records and you find out later (like me) that this is what they say they did for you- you may just be stuck with this in your records PLUS in your bill.

Finally, once you get your explanation of benefits (EOB) and/or bill from your insurance company don’t just check

For me- out of my pocket we’re just talking $2- but what if I had a larger deductible or coinsurance or copay?  This could really add up!

Have you ever been overcharged?

 

Internet & Cable are two of the larger monthly bills each month after our mortgage.  And we just have BASIC cable.  In our house, as distance learning college students and running MSM- internet is a MUST HAVE.  It worked out cheaper for us to get basic cable and bundle that with the internet than to just have the internet.

Last week, our internet was experiencing issues.  It took two days for them come out and repair the issue.  When they repaired the internet issues, they did something to the cables for the televisions.  And we lost our cable T.V.   We rarely watch television and so we didn’t realize until late Thursday night.

We called and the earliest they could come back was Monday morning.  Luckily for us, we were heading out of town.  Monday they came in and repaired the mistake of the first tech and we are back up and running with basic cable and internet service.

I chatted with a representative through their online chat service (which I LOVE) and received a credit on my bill for the 4 days without cable and 2 days without internet!

Think of it this way: If you got an extra day of cable- you would get a bill.  If you don’t get your service- you should get a credit.

Have you ever gotten a credit from a service disruption?

Fresh Produce is one of the best foods (both in taste & nutrition) but it’s also one of the biggest budget busters.

Knowing how to keep fresh produce fresh until used is a great technique to reducing waste!

Peaches:

Keeping them in the fridge will keep them longer, but allow them to come to room temperature before eating- they will be more flavorful.

Melons:

If keeping for longer than a day put it in the fridge.  Wash the outside before cutting.

Squash:

Keep in a plastic bag in the fridge.

Corn on the Cob:

Keep them in their husks in the fridge in a plastic bag for only a few days.

Tomatoes:

Keep at room temp.

Green beans:

Keep in a plastic bag in the fridge for up to one week.

Cucumbers:

Keep in a plastic bag in the fridge.  Avoid extreme cold.

Blueberries:

Place on a towel in a dish cover with plastic.  Or Freeze by placing on a sheet individually. Store in airtight container.

Eggplant:

Keep at room temperature for 2 days max.   Refrigeration causes it to brown and change flavor.

Lettuce:

Pile washed and dried lettuce in a paper towel Wrap the paper towels around the lettuce and place into plastic bag. Squeeze the air out and close the bag.

 

 

Source: Everyday Food July/Aug 2012

I had a question tonight about SavingStar and I thought others may benefit from the answers.

What is SavingStar?

Providing exclusive eCoupons redeemable at over 24,000 grocery and drug stores throughout the country, SavingStar’s eCoupons are linked to customers’ loyalty cards and offer a more convenient and eco-friendly way to save on groceries than paper coupons. SavingStar automatically adds the value of each eCoupon redeemed into users’ SavingStar accounts, enabling them to pick their payout from cash to gift cards to charity donations. www.Savingstar.com

In fact, the developers of SavingStar are the ones who created upromise’s e-coupon segment!

How does it work?

1. Sign up & register store loyalty cards at Savingstar

2. Activate coupons

3. Shop as normal

4. Bought something there was a SavingStar coupon for? Look for the deposit in your account!

5. Cash out!

6. Repeat steps 2-5!

How do I maximize my savings with SavingStar?

• Load coupons each week
• Register ALL the stores you even only occasionally shop at
• I may use the SavingStar deposit as a deciding factor in making a purchase but I do not make that decision on it completely. Remember that “rebates” such as they are are never 100% certain since we could accidentally buy the wrong size, etc.
• Your store personnel will NOT know anything about the SavingStar
• Store digital coupons, manufacturer coupons, or any other coupon or discount will NOT affect your SavingStar deposit!
• You can “cash out” at $5 in gift cards, deposit to your bank account or even donate to their charity!

Are you a “Saving Star“? If not, sign up today!!

Every job requires tools and here are my Top 10 for Couponing (’cause it isn’t a hobby- it’s a job!)

1. Organization System

A binder, whole insert method- a combination.  Find what works for you and stay on top of it!  Don’t let a week go by without filing away the coupons from that week.  Set a day a week to check for expired coupons and send them to our troops overseas.  If you go a week without being organized- it will take twice as long (or longer) to get back on track.

2. A good pair of scissors

Do not tear coupons- I’ve learned from experience it’s just not worth the risk!  Tearing through the barcode of an amazing coupon just because I was too lazy to go get my scissors was painful!

3. A good store

I know we can’t pick the stores in our neighborhoods- but if you have a choice go to the more coupon friendly store.  For example- I have 2 Food Lions.  One on either sound of town from me.  Both are about the same distance.  I will NOT go to the store on one side of town due to many couponing issues there.  They are NOT coupon friendly.  Find the more coupon friendly stores in your area and develop a relationship with the store personnel. In fact, I give my favorite store employees coupons for the weekend specials and other great deals!

4. A plan

Planning your trip before you walk into the store is vital to reducing your spending.  Walking into the store with a pile of coupons is the absolute best way to overspend.  I say this over and over but KNOW BEFORE YOU GO.  Prices may not be correct in the store’s system, something may just go wrong.  Blindly paying the amount requested at the register is one of the biggest mistakes shoppers make.  I use an excel file to create my shopping trips and it does all the math for me.

5. A computer & printer

If you are reading this- you have access to a computer- Check.  A printer (or access to one) is a must have to be the most efficient couponer.  Printable coupons are often higher value than those in the papers- for example Crystal Light has been putting out B1G1 and even $2 off coupons on their facebook page.  Don’t have a printer?  Some printable coupons have the option to have it mailed to you- click “help” on the printing screen and then “mail me the coupon”  You can print coupons from Coupons.com, Red Plum, Smart Source, & Coupon network!

6. Sunday Coupon Inserts

I get 5 newspapers delivered each week and often end up with 15-20 by the end of the week by gathering them from people who won’t use them.  I subscribe to my paper since it was actually cheaper (and safer) than picking them up in the stores.  You can see some discount subscription rates HERE.  How many newspapers you should get will depend on your family- but a minimum of 2 is important.  This way when a sale is B1G1 free- you have 2 coupons!

7. Reusable Shopping Bags

Many stores will give instant credit when you use your own shopping bag. Target gives a 5 cent credit, CVS give a 25 cents ECB for each green bag tag attached to the bag and Lowe’s Foods gives 5 cent credit for each bag.  In addition to being more environmentally friendly- it saves you money AND you won’t have 5 million plastic bags floating around!

8. Loyalty Cards

Your store loyalty card is your key to saving money!  It is what gives you the sales price.  It can also give you extras.  Some stores will toss a goodie at the bottom of your receipt so always be sure to check that too!  Many stores will also offer even more discounts if you sign up with their “e-club” or newsletters.  Check with your store or on their website.

Not just grocery stores but any store you shop- check and see if they have a store loyalty card of some sort.  If they don’t see if they have an “e-club” that will provide you exclusive coupons!

9. Room to stockpile

You do NOT need to shove all your kids into one bedroom and use the other 2 bedrooms to store soup and laundry detergent- but you do need an area to keep your stock and overflow.  I was blessed with a house that has a large utility room and a teeny tiny pantry.  So I turned the pantry into storage for appliances and the utility room into my pantry.  As strategic couponers when something goes on sale we aren’t buying just one box of cereal- we are buying six.  You will need room to store it.  Being organized is key to not having products expire.

10. A freezer

My freezer is one of my favorite couponing tools.  So many foods can be frozen to prolong their shelf life.  Buying meat in bulk is a great way to save.  I love the Zaycon chicken – waiting for them to come back to my area! Keeping ANY storage area organized is key!

And of course- one of the TOP must haves for couponers is MoolaSavingMom.com!  Let me do the leg work- and you do the saving!  Follow the deals on FaceBook, Twitter, and get our nightly email!

 

 

One of my favorite ways to save is to use freeze foods.

The USDA has a great section of their page about Safe Food Handling- including Freezing foods!

Here are some highlights:

• Food stored at 0 degrees will always be safe BUT quality suffers with long term storage
• Nutrients are retained during freezing
• It is safe to freeze meat or poultry in it’s original packaging but overwrapping is suggested to retain quality
• The color of the food can change- especially beef.  It turns dark brown
• Thaw foods ONLY in the fridge, cold water or microwave
• Once food is thawed, it is safe to refreeze without cooking although quality may suffer
• You can cook raw or cooked meat, poultry and casseroles straight from the freezer

Here is the Freezer Times from the USDA (this is for QUALITY ONLY)

Here is what I freeze and how I do it (I am NOT an expert but this has worked for me for 12 years)

Meat: I overwrap with saran wrap several times keeping it tight and freeze in the deep freezer. See HERE about marinating meat before freezing.  Hot dogs, sausages, etc frozen in their packaging.

Vegetables: I freeze onions, carrots, green beans, peppers, zucchini, tomatoes.  I blanch the carrots, green beans, tomatoes and zucchini before freezing.  See THIS post about veggies.

Fruit: I wash and cut strawberries and freeze on a tray and then once frozen transfer to a freezer bag.That is the only fruit I personally freeze.  This is a good article by the University of Georgia about freezing fruit.

Milk: I have frozen all varieties of milk in the gallon jugs successfully.  I do not pour any out and just put the gallon in the freezer with the # of days left until it’s original expiration date on the front.  If I have 3 days- then I start that count down the day I pull it out of the fridge.  It takes at least 1 full day to thaw- and I take it out and shake it up several times to break up the chunks of icy milk inside.

Orange Juice: I have personally never tried this.  Searches online show many success stories of freezing OJ.  They put the cartons or jugs in the freezer- some pour some out others do not.  Some re-package – others do not.

Cheese: We go through a LOT of cheese so when it’s on sale- I may end up with 30 bags!  I put the bag in the freezer just the way it is. If I am baking a dish with it- I use it from frozen.  If we are using it on tacos, etc I let it thaw in the fridge overnight. Chunk cheese does NOT freeze well.

Yogurt: Yogurt cups can be frozen- but when thawed the look and texture is a bit different.  Allow to thaw before eating.

Bread: Baked or unbaked- they freeze well.  Wrap bread in foil and/or saran wrap. After 3 months quality drops drastically. Tortillas freeze well too.

Butter: freeze very well. Keep in original wrapper

Eggs: do NOT freeze in the shell.  Raw egg whites and yolks freeze well.  Cooked egg yolks freeze well;cooked egg whites- not so well.

Rice: freezes VERY well!  Cook and place in freezer bags.  Lay flat to freeze.

This is a GREAT resource for freezing foods: HERE

 

 

 

 

Staying on the DIY thread of convenience foods- next up Eggo Waffles.  Even with coupons a box usually runs about $1.50 for 10 waffles. A 24 pk will run over $5.  Of course, there are store brands- a Harris Teeter 10 pk  runs $1.95 regular price.

Recently, I picked up a box of Hungry Jack Pancake Mix for $1 at Lowe’s Foods.  In fact, I picked up about 10 over the course of the week!

The recipe for Hungry Jack calls for:
1 egg
2 cups mix
1 1/4 cp water
1/4 cp. oil

This recipe made 12 4×4 waffles.

I doubled this recipe and made 26 4×4 waffles.

I laid the waffles out in a single layer on a cookie sheet to cool. Then I transferred them to freezer bags and laid flat in the freezer until hard.

**A tip: extremely crispy waffles work better than softer ones.

I used 1/2 of the box (.50), 1 egg (.08) and 1/4 cp oil (.25- purchased on sale w/ a coupon)= total cost of 24 waffles: 83 cents or about 7 cents each.

If I had made pancakes it would have cost only 50 cents for all 24 or 2 cents each!

Even buying the Eggo brand on sale with a coupon- the usually cost about $1.50 or 15 cents each.  This is an ADDITIONAL 50% savings by making my own! AND they are tastier and probably a bit healthier with less preservatives, etc!

 

 

 

I had a question tonight about SavingStar and I thought others may benefit from the answers.

What is SavingStar?

Providing exclusive eCoupons redeemable at over 24,000 grocery and drug stores throughout the country, SavingStar’s eCoupons are linked to customers’ loyalty cards and offer a more convenient and eco-friendly way to save on groceries than paper coupons. SavingStar automatically adds the value of each eCoupon redeemed into users’ SavingStar accounts, enabling them to pick their payout from cash to gift cards to charity donations. www.Savingstar.com

In fact, the developers of SavingStar are the ones who created upromises e-coupon segment!

How does it work?

1. Sign up & register store loyalty cards at Savingstar

2. Activate coupons

3. Shop as normal

4. Bought something there was a SavingStar coupon for?  Look for the deposit in your account!

5. Cash out!

6. Repeat steps 2-5!

How do I maximize my savings with SavingStar?

• Load coupons each week
• Register ALL the stores you even only occasionally shop at
• I may use the SavingStar deposit as a deciding factor in making a purchase but I do not make that decision on it completely.  Remember that “rebates” such as they are are never 100% certain since we could accidentally buy the wrong size, etc.
• Your store personnel will NOT know anything about the SavingStar 
• Store digital coupons, manufacturer coupons, or any other coupon or discount will NOT affect your SavingStar deposit!
• You can “cash out” at $5 in gift cards, deposit to your bank account or even donate to their charity!

Are you a “Saving Star“?  If not, sign up today!!

Do NOT run out and use a “free” item coupon right away?  Well, here is a good example of why not.  MANY people will be going out today to grab their FREE Starbucks refreshers from the Pepsi insert.

OR they can wait until 5/13 (the coupon expires 5/19) and get it free PLUS get 99 cents in Register Rewards back from Walgreens.  This is from an ad scan so until we see the actual ads the week before it’s always up to change.

So Let everyone else run around trying to find these freebies today and wait them out!  Be sure to pick up an extra paper this week!

Thanks to my Friend Kim for the heads up and iheartwags for the ad scan