Couponing = Not as Important as Haiti

But, I'm sure you've all been wondering how this month of couponing has gone so far.

So, I'm going to tell you. And I'm not saying this to boast in any special powers I've been granted as a human being. Most of this stuff I have figured out and come up with as a result of pulling inspiration from a lot of different places online and from people I know and really thinking long and hard about where I'd rather have our monthly grocery money going if it's possible to actually save... and it is.

Here's the scoop.

As I mentioned, I've got a little strategy going that includes the following steps:

1. Shop only at Publix every Sunday this entire month (I do this simply because it's a mile down the street and incredibly convenient and I LIKE the experience there.)
2. Shop (mostly) the BOGO, Advantage, and weekly sales. (There are also the occasional exceptions for recipes, cravings, etc. Man can not live by coupon alone.)
3. Purchase one newspaper per person in our home = 2. (I have heard people say "one per person over the age of 10" and I think that means that kids over the age of 10 consume more? I don't know, regardless there's just two of us. I usually pick mine up at Walgreen's on our way home from church for $3.50 total. There are usually other good coupons from restaurants/stores as well as the articles and the rest can be used for wrapping paper, crafts, the firepit, etc.)
4. Write, in Sharpie, the date on the coupon inserts and stick them in a folder. (I find this saves from clipping every coupon unnecessarily... I'm not always going to use them all.)
5. Look through the weekly Publix Ad for deals. (Who knows, your favorite fruit, toilet paper, sub from the deli, or spaghetti sauce might be on sale. It's always good to stock up on items.)
6. Compare the weekly Publix Ad with I Heart Publix's weekly round-up of the ad + corresponding coupons available in previous (or current) Sunday coupon inserts.
7. Pull inserts or print those listed on IHP's website and cut only as needed.

The first two Sundays this month I only half-heartedly did any of this. I was definitely hitting the first point at full-speed but lagging in the others. I bought my first papers on 1/17 if that tells you anything.

Okay, so here are the results...

1/03 - saved 22%
1/10 - saved 21%
1/17 - saved 50%
1/24 - saved 68%
1/31 - saved 69%

Total $ Savings = $213.93

And just think if I'd done a full month at that rate!

Whew. Get's me all excited.

It's like a game for me, appealing to the mathematical, competitive, frugal, and domestic parts of my little brain. Plus, it's a learning thing and I always enjoy that.

Take for instance, these things I've learned in the last month:

1. You can use a coupon PER item at the grocery store, even when it's BOGO. Who knew?!
2. You can stack a manufacturer coupon (like the ones you get in the paper) with one Publix store coupon (also found in the paper or online/in flyers/magazines) and one competitor store coupon if you have any.
3. Yeah! Publix takes competitor store coupons (as long as they are manufacturer ones). Up until today, this meant Food Lion, Kroger, and Target coupons published by the manufacturer would work. Unfortunately, the local Food Lion is closing and is therefore no longer a competitor, but oh well.
4. Of course, Publix doubles all coupons up to $.50 a piece.
5. Buying multiples of an item doesn't make you crazy, it makes you smart. I seriously don't have to go shopping for salad dressing (which is a staple), cereal, tuna fish, or pasta for awhile if I don't want to. Instead of getting stuff when you need it, you have it in advance and at a much lower cost.
6. It doesn't take as much time as you'd think. Once you do it once or twice, it strangely becomes a lot easier and more natural. And for me, I've found it makes me less worried or bothered when it's "necessary" to get stuff that isn't on sale.

So my approach now, is stocking up on all the things we actually like/want/use/etc. that run the sale/coupon circuit and using even just a portion of the extra money saved to purchase stuff at Whole Foods and Trader Joe's that we like/want/use/etc. that don't run the sale/coupon circuit.

For us, it's all trade off and yet, our grocery budget is smaller than ever before.

And I have to say, I like grocery shopping more than ever before, as well!

Re: Could you Use an Extra $25?

Okay, so they extended the $25 sign-up bonus for opening an account and the $10 referral system to May 15... So in case you were interested and missed the original deadline, I thought you might like to know it’s been updated! Thanks Val, for bringing the extended deadline to my attention!

We Can, Even if it's Weird

As of Monday night, Cliff and I have committed to each other to pay cash for our first home. After talking about it for months, going back and forth between having a really big down payment in a couple of years or stretching ourselves a bit further and going all the way, we're opting for the "all the way" route. It may not seem like a milestone, but for us, April 14th will go down in history as the day we wrote out a plan that seems close to impossible to the normal observer. But, like Dave always says, who wants to be normal?

We wrote out our (really, my) list of fears and then a list of reasons why we should. Here's what we came up with:

Fears

• taking longer than an allotted time frame (for any number of reasons)
• what people think/say
• looking stupid
• societal pressure
• getting frustrated or impatient with a lack of current space or just time

Why do it?

• no interest - save thousands of $$ in the long run
• don't pay $$ to the bank, our $$ is our $$ (well, really, we're stewards)
• less stressful on marriage in the long run
• makes more financial sense if you do the numbers
• standing on principles
• delaying gratification to hold out for God's best for us
• as much equity as we may gain on a house in a couple of years, that much ends up going out in interest

So, we've committed to working to try and be in a house in no more than four years, meaning Lord willing, summer of 2012. Our goal is to save $160,000 for a starter home that we'll probably live in until just before our (then) kids (Lord willing, again) start going to school at which point, we'll upgrade/settle in a long-term location. We've set stretch goals for each year leading up, with our target for 2008 being $8,000 (since we don't know what my income will be yet, and Cliff is releasing me from that pressure), $35,000 for 2009 ($43,000 total), $50,000 for 2010 ($93,000 total), and $67,000 for 2011 (bringing our grand total to $160,000 by Jan 1, 2012 and giving us several months leeway to find a home).

We're technically starting next month, but we've had an extra little store in our savings that we decided to roll over into the house fund. As you may have seen already, I created a handy-dandy little chart and posted it in case you're interested in keeping up with our progress. This may all bore you to tears, or cause tears of laughter to come as a result of your cynical humor, so you can just ignore it. But we hope our friends and family will be rooting for us and helping keep us accountable to dreaming big. We can't do this on our own, and to that same degree, are hoping to rely fully on the wisdom and provisions of God who has been so gracious to lead us this far.

Our FPU class this spring has been a huge motivator in this whole journey. We had our last class last night, with six of the seven couples graduating (and the other one didn't ONLY because they were out LIVING the principles Dave teaches and couldn't actually make it to all of the class sessions, but I know they will later!). In all, our class paid off $93,300 in personal debt and avoided opening up $1,899,800 in credit offers in a total of thirteen weeks. It's been so incredible to watch how the Lord has changed peoples' spirits, motivations, and levels of determination to walk in financial peace and to change their marriages. We shared our new goals with the class and are excited that we have the opportunity as friends and "classmates" to continue keeping each other accountable and checking in on how we're all doing. Way to go, guys!

Last Call!

Tomorrow's the last day for the $25 sign-up bonus and $10 referral bonus for Revolution MoneyExchange. If you missed the first post, check it out here. So far I've gotten five six referrals (thank you!) bringing my account up to $75 $85 which I will "cash out" on tomorrow. If you're interested, check it out:

Could you use an extra $25?

Okay, so I don't normally do this, but after doing a -large- amount of research on this, I can't help it.

If you haven't already heard of it, there's this thing called Revolution MoneyExchange, and basically it's this new company that is trying to do what PayPal does (online bill pay/etc.) only without so many fees. So... instead of doing this huge marketing campaign to get customers, they're doing a marketing campaign that is rather grassroots and having people sign up for accounts and for that, you get $25 - absolutely no strings attached. I promise. If you know me (and my husband) you know that I know better. They're offering this money to people as a means to then get those people to go out and tell others. It's a much more efficient way to get account sign-ups, really, and to give the money to the people to make it happen.

So I've signed up and the $25 is in my account. I hardly ever use PayPal and I most likely won't really use this site often, but $25 is a tank of gas (or part of one, at least) these days. I had a few hang-ups in the process (they ask for your SSN) - but after some research I realized in order to be legit, they have to do this according to the Patriot Act. Your account is issued through First Bank & Trust, Brookings, SD, Member FDIC - and the FDIC part is what requires the SSN. Check out the info here and terms and conditions here.

Anyways, once you sign up, you go to your account and scroll down and there's a button that says Accept transaction that has been sent to you. The $25 goes right into your account and you can give them your bank account information and have it transferred to your checking account OR (and this is a bit safer) you can forego $2.50 and they will mail you a check for $22.50. ALSO (and this is partially the reason why I am telling you about this), they are giving account owners $10 for every referral that comes through them. That means if you sign up through my referral link, I get $10. And the same for you if you sign up and refer others.

You are NOT obligated to sign up nor are you obligated to sign up through me, I just thought I'd share the love. The offer for $25 and $10 for referrals is only good through April 15th, so act fast if you're interested - if not - simply disregard this message and go on with your normal life. I realize the potential of having your information given to others is a potential hindering factor as well... they have an "opt out" option that you can find out about at the bottom of this page.

But thanks for reading (and clicking my button, if you're a real friend... haha)!