ramblings of a reluctant homemaker
A diamond is a girl’s best friend… or is it? Engagement rings can be really expensive. You pay not only for the diamond itself, which is overpriced, but in many cases you pay a premium for the designer setting. If you want platinum, forget it. The cost is going to soar even more. Fortunately, there are some options that will allow you to save money on even cheap engagement rings, making the rings more affordable. Continue reading Save Money on Cheap Engagement Rings
If there is one thing I love, it is saving money. As most of you know, I always search for discount codes, coupons and specials before I buy anything. From groceries, to eating out, to vacations, to renting Redbox movies. However, I have recently been really disappointed in the lack of current Redbox discounts and coupon codes available. Sure, there are a few, but not like there used to be. It got me thinking that we all need to rethink the way we do Redbox. Continue reading Current Redbox Discounts and Coupon Codes
On Friday nights, we often have pizza for dinner. Sometimes I make it from scratch, sometimes it is frozen and sometimes we go ahead and order Pizza Hut. Tonight was a Pizza Hut night as oldest was home from school and we wanted to treat ourselves and her a bit. The guy at the counter asked if we wanted any Parmesan cheese packets and my husband said sure. This young man loaded us down with enough packets to last a month. Or, maybe we just don’t use as much as other people. Whatever the case I wasn’t about to waste all that cheese. Continue reading Saving Money with Tiny Packets of Parmesan Cheese
Throughout my married life, I’ve done a lot of little things to save money. After all, if you save a dollar here and there, that can results in hundreds of dollars of savings every year. In fact, one year, my dad, who is also a frugal shopper/coupon clipper, tracked his savings and found he’d saved thousands of dollars by using coupons and getting rebates. Continue reading Christmas Shopping Rebates
Hello Crabby Shoppers,
It is that time of year again. School supplies start to go on sale and as you look over the list of items your child needs for school you start to panic. iPad, 1,000 boxes of tissues, spa gift cards for the school staff… wait that might be my dream list back from my teaching days. Anyway, even with items such as folders, pencils, binders and notebooks, the cost of school supplies can really add up.
One thing I do every year that saves our family hundreds of dollars is to shop the sales. Even though my girls are both now in college as of this year, they still need notebooks, pens and your typical school supplies. It’s just a little easier, because they do get to decide what they’ll buy and they carry their own tissues now.
If you don’t already get the Sunday paper, now would be a good time to start picking one up on Sundays. However, you can also get by with hunting the ads down online if you prefer. It is just more time consuming.
Every store out there has what is called “loss leaders.” These are one or two deeply discounted items that are used to pull you into their store so you will buy all your other school supplies. You’re going to outsmart the stores, though. You’re going to shop ONLY the loss leaders for now.
So, let’s say that this week, erasers are .25 a package at Target, paper is .50 a package at Staples and folders are 10 for $1.00 at Office Depot. Those are the only three things you will buy this week.
Next week, there might be pens on sale for .50 a package, notebooks for .25 each and so on. Yes, this method takes a bit more time, because you have to keep your checklist handy from the school and check off items as you go, but you will save a bundle. Just before school starts, head to the dollar store to finish off your list. If you absolutely MUST pay full price for something, Walmart and Target usually have the best prices on school supplies, but you may just wind up getting everything on sale.
It never fails. Two weeks into the school year, a teacher decides your child suddenly needs another binder, notebook, your child loses her box of crayons, or every pencil you own disappears to the land of lost pencils.
When the items you know your child will use often go on sale, stock up. Keep a school supply drawer or closet just for this. Some items that your child likely needs every year, so if you have extras you can just push into the next year include:
If you’ve saved a ton of money on school supplies, take a few dollars and buy some extra supplies to give to the teacher. Most teachers love their students. If one doesn’t have what he needs to learn, she will go out and spend money out of her own pocket to buy these items.
Trust me that there is nothing more thoughtful to a teacher than a small basket (pick one up inexpensively at the dollar store) filled with extra boxes of crayons, pencils, erasers and paper. This saves her money and helps her students have the tools they need to learn. If you’ve picked up extras while they were on sale, this gift basket will cost you very little to share.
Have fun, enjoy the days of summer left with your kiddos still at home and happy shopping.
