June Savings Winner

You may remember that waaaaay back at the end of May, when we announced we were going to do a weekly round up of savings, we said there would be a prize for one of the people who participated all four weeks. We have another copy of Dave Ramsey's book The Total Money Makeover to give away.

And the winner is. . . . .Preethi!!!

Here were her contributions each week:

Week 1

• Bought food at the grocery store for our beach vacation instead of eating out. Because we were the last ones to leave, we ended up bringing home nearly as much in leftover supplies.
• Recalculated budget for the summer, including putting all of my summer internship salary toward student loans.
• Researched and found a great deal to replace our carpeting.
• Found my husband two all-wool suits from Macy's (he wears suits every day to work) for $60 each, marked down from an original of $450 each.
• Asked for and received a price adjustment for a purchase several days prior, saving $15. 

Week 2

• Made meal plan for two weeks and did most of grocery shopping, leaving a few produce items to be purchased next week. Stuck to list and found ways to use up extra veggies.
• Made dinner every night this week (except Monday... see next item). Made enough each night to pack both lunches for the next day.
• Used Restaurant.com gift certificate (purchased at 90% off) for a fantastic French meal for my birthday. 

Week 3

• Made dinner each night and packed lunches with leftovers. Used up produce before leaving for vacation.
• Didn't purchase a bag of cherries that would have ended up being $8.
• Used ready-to-expire birthday gift certificate for free meal.
• Piggybacked on husband's business trip. Stayed with friends for weekend days and used business stipend for lodging/travel/meals on business days.
• Stalked Southwest Rapid Rewards until a flight opened up on the way there. Continued to stalk and was ecstatic when one opened up for the way back. Canceled originally booked flight to keep in money as Southwest credit, and instead used Rapid Rewards (free) flight.
• Found rental car for $40 for two days including taxes and fees on Travelocity. Husband refrained from upgrading to a convertible even though it was only $25 more. :)
• Packed lunch for the travel day so we wouldn't need to buy stuff on the plane or in the airport.
• Had enough food that we were able to pack lunch to Disneyland. Delicious, healthy, and decidedly cheaper than buying the $8.99 veggie burger.

Week 4

•  Again, on the travel note - we chose to use our travel stipend to stay at a B&B with a really outstanding breakfast + free parking instead of a fancy schmancy hotel with no breakfast + paid parking. That way, we could use our daily stipend for other food during the day instead of using it for breakfast. Added bonus = the aforementioned really awesome breakfast.
• Contacted a company about a major customer service faux pas, and was offered $60 in credit. Awesome.
• Had several meals planned for our arrival home so we didn't have to eat out. 
• Oh, and went to Disneyland for free (!!) because friend works for Disney. 

Impressive, don't you think? 

Preethi, email us with your address and we'll get your prize in the mail! Thanks to everyone who participated!

June Savings - Week 4

And here we are at the end! How'd we do in the last week of June?

Carole

• Had my husband's leather loafers re-soled and re-heeled instead of buying new shoes.  
• Signed up for http://www.tvprocessing.com for under $35/year to watch the World Cup games instead of signing up for cable.  The channels come from all over the world, and many are in foreign languages, so that makes watching an interesting experience!  Many sporting events are available through this website.
• Remembered to send in my $50 rebate form on my new cell phone!  Just got an email saying my check should be arriving in a week or so.  

Janssen

• Got a rain check for a sale item that was sold out (frozen blueberries for the win!)
• Found a free shipping coupon for an online purchase
• When the price for my plane tickets for Thanksgiving dropped by half, I purchased it so I could use my free ticket for Christmas tickets instead.

Merrick

• Sent a text message to the Van Heusen number to get $5 off our purchase at the outlet mall (everything was on sale and Philip was in desperate need of new work clothes -- our total savings with all the discounts was over $150!)
• Re-booked some plane tickets with Southwest's 39th anniversary sale and got a $60 refund!
• Finally fixed the broken zipper on a skirt that I bought months ago and was never able to wear. I was on the verge of throwing it out, but now I can finally wear it!
• Went through my closet and sold some old clothes to Plato's Closet

What about you? Tell us in the comments what you did this week to save or live frugally!

June Savings - Week 3

Only one week left after this! How'd we do?


Janssen

• Found a local meat market that has incredible prices (ground turkey and chicken thighs both for 99 cents a pound last week!)
• Parked on the street and braved the rain to avoid paying the ridiculously high parking garage rates in downtown Boston.
• Used two free tickets, my teachers union card, and a library pass to get four adults into the Boston Aquarium for $8 instead of the $84 (!!!!!) it would have cost if we'd just showed up.
• Used a coupon to get free ice cream for a little dinner we hosted on Wednesday night (I know - I am a MAGNET for free ice cream).

Merrick

• Bought a free pack of Huggies diapers with a coupon I received from a diaper deal a few weeks back
• Checked out art books from the library for my art classes rather than buying them at the store
• Borrowed movies from a friend rather than renting from the Redbox
• Ate veggies as a side dish of almost every meal so I used up my produce before it went bad

What about you? Tell us in the comments what you did this week to save or live frugally!

June Savings - Week 2

Halfway through! How are we doing?

Carole

• Booked a hotel last minute with Expedia.  Saved $60.
• Made a solemn vow to cook dinner every night this week.  Savings of approximately $40 by not going out for ribs with C while David is out of town.
• Did not buy the annual pass to the National Park system for $80 while at Zion's National Park.  Savings of $55.  Like last week at the State Park, knew we wouldn't use it enough to actually save money.
• Baked muffins as a present rather than purchasing a gift for a friend.  The nice thing is that this friend now doesn't have ONE MORE THING to find a place for.  The muffins were eaten and she could move on.  Saved $20 -- give or take.
• Bought 3 graduation cards at The 99 Cent Store.  Saved $6.
• Left my wallet back at the hotel when in St. George so I wouldn't buy anything while visiting my new favorite fabric store -- Ace Hardware sells great fabric.  Who knew??

Janssen

• Ordered 100 diapers for $3.36, thanks to Lisa's hot tip
• Printed off a Barnes and Noble coupon before going to buy a gift
• Took two blind taste tests at the grocery store (and so did Bart) for 4 $1 off coupons to be used on future grocery trips
• Got a carton of free ice cream because it rang up at a price different than the one listed
• Got free ice cream cones at Friendly's on Saturday afternoon for a promotion they were doing
• Popped out the top of my laundry detergent bottle to get two extra loads done
• Didn't buy dinner when I went out with my fellow librarians since I had had lunch only an hour earlier and wasn't even hungry

Merrick

• Did my grocery shopping for two weeks and with careful planning and only buying things on my list, came in $15 under my budget
• Returned strawberries to the store that were growing mold 2 days after being purchased. Got a new carton of strawberries and didn't waste my money by just throwing them away
• Bought 84 diapers for $3.36 on the same deal as Janssen (I got a few less diapers because I bought a size larger than she did)

What about you? Tell us in the comments what you did this week to save or live frugally!

June Savings - Week 1

One week down! How'd we do?

Carole

• Spending our 3-day "School is Out!" vacation camping in Santa Barbara, CA instead of staying in a hotel.  Camping for 3 days is $47.00.  
• Not buying the year pass at Red Rock State Park for $30 when we went on a bike ride last Monday. We've done that several times in the past and have learned we NEVER go again in the same year!  Instead we bought only the $7 day pass.   Even if we end up going again, it will take 3 more trips to come close to the price of the annual pass.  NO WAY will we go that many times in 12 months.  

Janssen 

• Peeled, diced, and froze the discount butternut squash I bought before it went bad
• Used a coupon code to get a free movie from Blockbuster Express
• Found a recipe to use up the rest of my fresh spinach instead of letting it go to waste
• Sold about 30 books at a used bookstore and dedicated the money to our entertainment budget
• Returned empty printer cartridge for recycling and store credit
• Mailed in rebate worth $10 
• Submitted a rebate for $2 through Rite-Aid online

Merrick

• Made two loaves of homemade bread. These should last me three weeks, so that's a few bucks I save on store-bought bread
• Dug through my drawer and found a $5 off coupon for Babies R Us. We were going to go the day before, but I thought I might have a coupon so I waited a day and saved $5!
• Went to Old Navy (I had a $5 off $25 coupon), and didn't use the coupon when I didn't find anything good rather than buying something just so I could use the coupon
• Filled up with gas at Sam's Club and saved myself a few cents per gallon (every penny counts with the price of gas skyrocketing!)

What about you? Tell us in the comments what you did this week to save or live frugally!

June Savings Kickoff

May is almost over, and in June we'd like to do so something new, something a little more interactive.

Each Friday in June, we'll post a list of what each of the three of us has done to save money or live more frugally during the week (increasing 401(k) contributions, using coupons, refraining from buying an item, etc). Some items may have a dollar amount attached, while some may not.

This will help keep us accountable and see what we're doing in our daily lives to save money (and also how it can add up over the course of a month)

And we'd love you to participate too. Each Friday, you can leave a comment informing us of the things you've done to save money or live frugally during the week. At the end, we'll give away a prize to one of the people who participates all four weeks. It will be fun!

Get ready! See you next Friday . . .