Weekly Money Saving Accomplishments

[DisneyMandC]

So I can't claim credit for this idea since one of my favorite bloggers does it, but I thought it would be a great idea to start a thread to discuss our money saving accomplishments each week! It can be anything big or small, just a way to keep each other motivated and get ideas on saving money! Not necessarily a "no buy" (though I love that thread as well), but just a way to talk about how we've saved money even if we have had to buy some things. I'll kick it off even though I'm going shopping tomorrow and hope to save some there as well.

1. I said no to going out to lunch today at work.
2. I got serious about using Swagbucks again to start redeeming for Target giftcards for Disney giftcards!
3. I started Bing Rewards as a way to cash in for Swagbucks points.
4. I applied for a Target debit card so I can start using the 5% off.
5. I purchased a skirt and shoes for work when Target was having their BOGO 50% off sale, plus an additional 10% off.
6. I purchased a clearance pair of shoes and got 25% off at Target making the shoes $7.50. It seems like I'm the type of person to buy a lot of shoes here, but I'm actually not. I've literally worn the same pair of shoes to work everyday for the last 6 months!

Anyone else out there have some accomplishments this week?

 

[Alexle2007]

I actually managed to go to the outlets and not put anything on the charge card. I used gift cards that I got through my Discover reward points for the 2 purchases that I did make.

 

[gatormom2tots]

Put away 150 for trip. We have been putting away between 100-150 each week and have saved up nearly 4000 so far! We also collect change and count it every month...as of July 1 we have nearly 450 in just change. Some weeks are harder (and some are easier) but it is a great feeling to have paid for our 10 day tickets and deposit on condo already and not felt "out" any money!

Our trip is scheduled for May 29 next year and if we stay on board, we will have nearly 10k stashed- enough for all expenses for our 2 week "mega" trip!

ETA- my husband took on a 2nd part-time job where much of this money comes from....I only WISH we had this much "extra" each week to stash from our regular full-time jobs! The 2nd job didn't start for this reason (his contract was not renewed and we decided to use this "opportunity" to start his own practice) but he decided to keep it after his own firm started to take off to replenish the savings we lived off of AND to help fund our next trip!

So now we are not only counting down till our trip, but we are counting down to when he will quit this extra job!

 

[RS Applecore]

This is a great idea! Like gatormom2tots, we have a change jar, and we additionally put in paper money each week--um, I put in $5 and DH does $10-20, so we don't do as much weekly, but it's what we can afford. It takes us two years to save for a WDW trip.

As for this week, I made a lasagna AND black bean & spinach enchiladas on Monday, and those were enough for dinners and lunches through Thursday lunch. Then we cooked burgers & fries Thursday night. We did go get pizza last night, but that four days of dinners and lunches is really good for us and it's definitely saved money. We keep talking about how much it cost to make those meals vs. the cost of eating out/carry-out.

 

[annsteere]

I made tortilla soup instead of going to Chipotle yesterday. That will do 1 dinner and two lunches for the two of us (six servings) for the cost of one lunch just for me.

This morning I hung a load of wash on our retractable clothesline.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Put away 150 for trip. We have been putting away between 100-150 each week and have saved up nearly 4000 so far! We also collect change and count it every month...as of July 1 we have nearly 450 in just change. Some weeks are harder (and some are easier) but it is a great feeling to have paid for our 10 day tickets and deposit on condo already and not felt "out" any money!

Our trip is scheduled for May 29 next year and if we stay on board, we will have nearly 10k stashed- enough for all expenses for our 2 week "mega" trip!

This is a great idea! Like gatormom2tots, we have a change jar, and we additionally put in paper money each week--um, I put in $5 and DH does $10-20, so we don't do as much weekly, but it's what we can afford. It takes us two years to save for a WDW trip.

That's amazing!! We saved up some change for our last trip, but only got about $75. We so rarely use cash that it's hard to come across any change. We are diligent about paying off our credit cards and we do get rewards for them, but I do wish we had that extra change lying around to accumulate sometimes!

We're going out shopping today and eating lunch out, but we're doing a mystery shop for the lunch so we'll have it paid for and then some.

 

[tiggergal15]

1.I use the "Ibotta" app. Its like couponing in reverse and I just accumulated $19 in 2 weeks! Single mom and child so it takes a while..I was saving it for Disney but had to redeem it as I had a financial emergency and needed gas in my car.
2. I diligently use coupons too and whatever I "save" I put that amount into a jar.
3. I collect my coworkers pop/water returnables.
4. We eat all meals at home with occasional treats of taketakeout when I've been super busy.
These are just a few ideas I do and I enjoy the challenges of providing for myself and my daughter and also being able to vacation at Disney!

 

[Narnia_girl]

I have had an incredibly stressful week: huge storm blew through our town on Monday. Thousands of trees down and power out for days. We lost food from three freezers and two refrigerators. Plus two trees down in our yard. So I haven't saved much this week: we had to eat out a few times when the power was out and I had to replenish food lost. This also cut into my Swagbucks earnings as I was distracted/busy and with no wifi I didn't meet my daily goals, thus ending my streaks.

But I did achieve a few small things THIS WEEK:

1. Said no to eating lunch out with my book club.
2. Worked on Friday (my day off) to make up for missing work earlier in week.
3. Used Ibotta, Receipt Hog and WalMart Savings App.
4. Tried to open Shopkick every day to earn that one "hello" kick, plus went through the Product envelopes to gain more.
5. Did an SB survey that netted 500 SB, which made up for the amount I lost when power was out.

 

[barkley]

I'll give this a try-

we had to do some shopping at several different stores (we try to bundle all the shopping 'in town' on a day we already have to be there for an appointment or event so we can save on gas). the day before we went I did a quick on-line search for any discount printable coupons for where we would be going. as a result I got-

40% off one item at hobby lobby
20% of the entire purchase at bed, bath and beyond
10% off at a local sporting goods store
a free large drink at a local bbq place that comes in a reusable cup that can brought back in for free refills on subsequent visits.

both of my kids want to see a movie that's only showing 2 nites next month so since we were passing by the theatre we stopped and I went in to buy their tickets-used dh's movie loyalty card for the theatre and as a result dh ended up with a free movie pass good through October.

when we got home there was an ad in my in-box for starbucks-buy 3 bags of whole bean or ground coffee get 1 bag free. we like one particular type but it kills me to pay full per pound prices for it. I purchased a dozen bags on-line, so I ended up paying for only 9 BUT starbucks will let you stack codes so I found another for 10% off your entire purchase in addition to free shipping. I ended up saving 38% per bag over the regular price-and it will be delivered to my home so again-i'll save gas by not having to go to one of the local stores to purchase it. I won't have to buy coffee for a few months

 

[jm0925]

1.I use the "Ibotta" app. Its like couponing in reverse and I just accumulated $19 in 2 weeks! Single mom and child so it takes a while..I was saving it for Disney but had to redeem it as I had a financial emergency and needed gas in my car.
2. I diligently use coupons too and whatever I "save" I put that amount into a jar.
3. I collect my coworkers pop/water returnables.
4. We eat all meals at home with occasional treats of taketakeout when I've been super busy.
These are just a few ideas I do and I enjoy the challenges of providing for myself and my daughter and also being able to vacation at Disney!

Ibotta is a great App. I appreciate that they have so many "Any Brand" options.

 

[jm0925]

I'll give this a try-

we had to do some shopping at several different stores (we try to bundle all the shopping 'in town' on a day we already have to be there for an appointment or event so we can save on gas). the day before we went I did a quick on-line search for any discount printable coupons for where we would be going. as a result I got-

40% off one item at hobby lobby
20% of the entire purchase at bed, bath and beyond
10% off at a local sporting goods store
a free large drink at a local bbq place that comes in a reusable cup that can brought back in for free refills on subsequent visits.

both of my kids want to see a movie that's only showing 2 nites next month so since we were passing by the theatre we stopped and I went in to buy their tickets-used dh's movie loyalty card for the theatre and as a result dh ended up with a free movie pass good through October.

when we got home there was an ad in my in-box for starbucks-buy 3 bags of whole bean or ground coffee get 1 bag free. we like one particular type but it kills me to pay full per pound prices for it. I purchased a dozen bags on-line, so I ended up paying for only 9 BUT starbucks will let you stack codes so I found another for 10% off your entire purchase in addition to free shipping. I ended up saving 38% per bag over the regular price-and it will be delivered to my home so again-i'll save gas by not having to go to one of the local stores to purchase it. I won't have to buy coffee for a few months

I love Starbucks. Ive tried other coffee brands that don't hurt the wallet as bad, but Starbucks is still my favorite.

 

[havaneselover]

Ibotta is a great App. I appreciate that they have so many "Any Brand" options.

I'm finally getting the hang of ibotta. It took me almost 6 months to cash out $10 but now I'm doing about $10/month. I needed a new suit and last week ibotta had $10 off $75 at White House black market plus I had a $20 off $100 coupon and the jacket I wanted was 33% off. It was a nice deal. Plus I sent my rebate right to PayPal and transferred it to my bank which is super convenient.

 

[RS Applecore]

I've never heard of Ibotta, but a lot of you talk about it, so I'm going to give it a try. Also this Swagbucks... What the heck is that? Off to research.

 

[havaneselover]

I've never heard of Ibotta, but a lot of you talk about it, so I'm going to give it a try. Also this Swagbucks... What the heck is that? Off to research.

Check out Shopkick too if you haven't already. I get about $15/month in Target gift cards from scanning and walking in stores I'm going to anyways.

 

[JenB1104]

Used a 5.00 promo for cardpool.com to buy target gift card and got 100 dollar Disney gift card for 83.32 after all discounts.

 

[Teresa Pitman]

I went to the dollar store on Friday and at the checkout realized I'd forgotten my wallet. I didn't have time to go and get it and come back so I had to just leave everything. Embarrassing but it did save me $30.

 

[jm0925]

I'm finally getting the hang of ibotta. It took me almost 6 months to cash out $10 but now I'm doing about $10/month. I needed a new suit and last week ibotta had $10 off $75 at White House black market plus I had a $20 off $100 coupon and the jacket I wanted was 33% off. It was a nice deal. Plus I sent my rebate right to PayPal and transferred it to my bank which is super convenient.

I like the concept too. I just have a tendency to forget to submit my receipts. But I really like how they have other rebate options other than groceries.

 

[DisneyMandC]

1.I use the "Ibotta" app. Its like couponing in reverse and I just accumulated $19 in 2 weeks! Single mom and child so it takes a while..I was saving it for Disney but had to redeem it as I had a financial emergency and needed gas in my car.

That's awesome! I've been using Ibotta for months and am only at $17! I usually only redeem for the generic products though. Not much, but I enjoy getting that little bit back.

I have had an incredibly stressful week: huge storm blew through our town on Monday. Thousands of trees down and power out for days. We lost food from three freezers and two refrigerators. Plus two trees down in our yard. So I haven't saved much this week: we had to eat out a few times when the power was out and I had to replenish food lost. This also cut into my Swagbucks earnings as I was distracted/busy and with no wifi I didn't meet my daily goals, thus ending my streaks.

But I did achieve a few small things THIS WEEK:

1. Said no to eating lunch out with my book club.
2. Worked on Friday (my day off) to make up for missing work earlier in week.
3. Used Ibotta, Receipt Hog and WalMart Savings App.
4. Tried to open Shopkick every day to earn that one "hello" kick, plus went through the Product envelopes to gain more.
5. Did an SB survey that netted 500 SB, which made up for the amount I lost when power was out.

Yikes! Sounds like a crazy week! Sorry about your freezers, that is definitely a bummer. I feel your pain, we went through Hurricane Isabel here on the east coast 12 years ago and we didn't have power for TEN DAYS. We installed a whole house generator after that. It was expensive at the time, but we have definitely appreciated it several times since then. I'm glad you and your family is ok though!

when we got home there was an ad in my in-box for starbucks-buy 3 bags of whole bean or ground coffee get 1 bag free. we like one particular type but it kills me to pay full per pound prices for it. I purchased a dozen bags on-line, so I ended up paying for only 9 BUT starbucks will let you stack codes so I found another for 10% off your entire purchase in addition to free shipping. I ended up saving 38% per bag over the regular price-and it will be delivered to my home so again-i'll save gas by not having to go to one of the local stores to purchase it. I won't have to buy coffee for a few months

That's awesome on your Starbucks prices! I feel your pain. That's all my husband will drink. I have had some good luck with Kroger lately with their prices on it. They've had it on their mega sale recently so it was marked down to $6.99 and at one point I had a $2 off coupon. I also got a catalina for $2 off three bags recently, so that was a big help. I've stocked him up to about 8 bags now. Not sure exactly what I paid, but I'd said definitely close to half price for them all.

I've never heard of Ibotta, but a lot of you talk about it, so I'm going to give it a try. Also this Swagbucks... What the heck is that? Off to research.

Both definitely take some time and patience, but I really enjoy using both of them and the rewards. Between October of last year and April of this year, I managed to earn a $100 Amazon gift card on Swagbucks, and I definitely wasn't using it to its full capability as many on here do!

I went to the dollar store on Friday and at the checkout realized I'd forgotten my wallet. I didn't have time to go and get it and come back so I had to just leave everything. Embarrassing but it did save me $30.

Hate it when that happens! So embarrassing but it's definitely happened to everyone at least once!

 

[DisneyMandC]

I had a decent money-saving day today, but I still spent a lot! I had to buy clothes for my new job since I'm actually going to need suits to wear for it and I've currently been wearing the same three dresses on rotation at my job haha.

1. I managed to get a nice jacket originally priced at $128 at Express for $40.
2. I bought several items at New York and Company on their 70% off sale and got NYC cash to come back to shop with.
3. I got a new pair of shorts and a three pack of spatulas at Kohl's for $12 total by using 20% off plus a $10 birthday reward I had received.
4. I bought toilet paper and paper towels at Target with coupons and received $10 back in gift cards on them. I also purchased some eyeshadow at 10% off Cartwheel and a $3 Ibotta Rebate.
5. I Shopkicked at the mall and Target and managed to earn a couple hundred points.
6. I used Swagbucks TV this morning and qualified for a 50 swagbuck survey this morning.

I also finally received a notification that I'm eligible for Mobisave! I had been on the waiting list for it for several months.

My credit card now looks horrific so I'm going over to the No Buy thread to join that lol! I had to pay my professional licensure fees this week as well, which was a high price. The only downside to working for the government is they don't cover that!

 

[gatormom2tots]

I made tortilla soup instead of going to Chipotle yesterday. That will do 1 dinner and two lunches for the two of us (six servings) for the cost of one lunch just for me.

This morning I hung a load of wash on our retractable clothesline.

That tortilla soup sounds delicious...I think I need to go raid the refrigerator!

Need to try this ibotta thing out!