I was just looking at some of my old posts, and I saw one from a few months ago on my first Triple Coupon savings day. Well, here's the results of this past Monday, which was my latest Triple Coupon day:
Spent: $78
Saved: $71.88 ($46.58 in coupons, $25.30 in shopper card savings)
Woohoo!!! My couponing has gotten better - our weekly budget for groceries has gone from $140 to $120, and as you can tell, I spent well under that. In fact, I've spent less than $100 each week this month.
It's been worth it to start couponing. I do get funny looks sometimes when I'm walking around the store with my 3 ring binder in my hand, but I've saved nearly $700 in the past six months with coupons and shopper card savings. I only count the shopper card savings because I've started actively shopping the sales, but it all counts! It's all money saved!!
How are you doing?
Friday, August 21, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Looking for savings? Check your insurance
We got the insurance bill for the next 6 months for Dear Hubby's car the other day. It's almost $400. He has no points, no tickets, no anything, and he drives a 2002 SUV. We know that my bill is right behind, and it is closer to $450. I, too, have a perfect driving record, and I have a 2007 minivan. $1700 for a year just seemed high.
So, I started snooping around. Sure enough, we're paying about double what other name brand companies are charging!! We're in the process of switching. Not only is our new company cheaper, but their payment options are much easier on our pocketbook. The current company requires payment in full or half payment now, the other half in a month. Our new company allows you to pay monthly, quarterly or biannually with very little price difference.
If you haven't reviewed your insurance lately, it's definitely worth the time and hassle.
So, I started snooping around. Sure enough, we're paying about double what other name brand companies are charging!! We're in the process of switching. Not only is our new company cheaper, but their payment options are much easier on our pocketbook. The current company requires payment in full or half payment now, the other half in a month. Our new company allows you to pay monthly, quarterly or biannually with very little price difference.
If you haven't reviewed your insurance lately, it's definitely worth the time and hassle.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Deals on photo prints
I realized the other day that I have over six years of memories stored with Shutterfly.com. Kind of scary! And yet, I've only ordered a small fraction of these pictures, mainly because of price.
Right now, my task is to complete the Disney photo albums for the kiddos. E Belle's holds 80 pictures, while Little Man's holds 100 pictures. The thought of spending upwards of $35 just to fill these two albums does not sit well with Frugal Mama right now.
One of the best non-photo plan prices around right now is about 15 cents on Shutterfly, 19 cents if you pick up your pictures in store at places like Target or Walgreens. But, I've discovered an even better plan.
I've gotten on CVS.com's and Walgreens.com's photo email lists. They run some seriously good specials! I've gotten free prints before at Walgreens, and today, I cashed in on their current special - 30 prints for $3.
Shutterfly also gives away free prints. I think most people know that you get 15 free prints for inviting friends, but you also can get free prints for making a Share Site. This is simply a website where you can post photos, and you can invite people to come look at them instead of sending out a sildeshow email. I did this for our family after our Disney trip, and Shutterfly rewarded me with 50 free prints! All I had to do was pay $3.19 in shipping and tax.
So, I've gotten 84 photos thus far for the grand sum of $7.20. Not bad!
Right now, my task is to complete the Disney photo albums for the kiddos. E Belle's holds 80 pictures, while Little Man's holds 100 pictures. The thought of spending upwards of $35 just to fill these two albums does not sit well with Frugal Mama right now.
One of the best non-photo plan prices around right now is about 15 cents on Shutterfly, 19 cents if you pick up your pictures in store at places like Target or Walgreens. But, I've discovered an even better plan.
I've gotten on CVS.com's and Walgreens.com's photo email lists. They run some seriously good specials! I've gotten free prints before at Walgreens, and today, I cashed in on their current special - 30 prints for $3.
Shutterfly also gives away free prints. I think most people know that you get 15 free prints for inviting friends, but you also can get free prints for making a Share Site. This is simply a website where you can post photos, and you can invite people to come look at them instead of sending out a sildeshow email. I did this for our family after our Disney trip, and Shutterfly rewarded me with 50 free prints! All I had to do was pay $3.19 in shipping and tax.
So, I've gotten 84 photos thus far for the grand sum of $7.20. Not bad!
Sunday, August 9, 2009
In defense of Deluxe Level resorts at WDW
So, trying to be frugal means trying to not spend a lot of money, right? But it also means getting the most bang for your buck. At Disney World, this is an even bigger game than in every day life.
For those who don't know, Disney has three resort levels - Value, Moderate and Deluxe. Value resorts are a steal, as rates usually fall between $80 - $110 depending on the room, season and number of people. The downside - ginormous resorts, tiny rooms, all bus service, tour groups, etc. The next step up, the Moderates, are still ginormous, but the theming is more toned down. Rooms are slightly larger, but it's still all bus service. Then there's the Deluxe. Some are serviced by the monorail, others have boat service, but there are some places where bus service is mandatory. Rooms are much larger, have interior coridors and are overall just nicer. However, they come with a hefty price tag.
On our last three trips, we've stayed at Deluxe resorts - the Wilderness Lodge (cheapest), Polynesian (most expensive) and Contemporary. But why would we do this when we're trying to get out of debt? Now, I'll admit that the rack rate for our room at the Contemporary in the tower this year was $390, but we certainly didn't pay that much. I would pass out to think of paying that much anywhere in the 'normal' world, but that's pretty standard for WDW.
While we are open to staying in a lower priced resort, we feel like we do get a lot for our money.
*We like our space and large beds. Our largest room ever was at the Polynesian, and it was about 490 square feet. That's huge! Deluxe resorts also feature queen sized beds, while almost all of the Moderates and all of the Values have doubles.
*We go back to the room every day. Some argue that they are happy staying in a Value resort because they don't use the room except to sleep at night. We don't. Our kids need a break! So, we spend several hours in the afternoon in our rooms, on top of the nights and mornings.
*Ease. At the Wilderness Lodge and the Contemporary, we stayed in the same building as all of the amenities - front desk, quick service, sit down dining, etc. It was nice to be in the room, jet down to the quick service for a drink, and be back upstairs in less than 10 minutes. Not all Deluxes are like this - this same trip at the Polynesian would have taken closer to 20 minutes! But if you are at one of the other level resorts, it's a guaranteed walk to everything.
*Transportation. By staying at a monorail resort, we have been able to get to the Magic Kingdom, Epcot and back again much faster than if we were traveling by bus. In fact, you can even walk from the MK to the Contemporary, which saved us time when leaving at peak transport times. Why is faster better? That means we're spending more time in the parks! We're not having to wait 20 minutes on a bus, then spending another 10 - 20 minutes on the bus back to the resort, then traveling within the complex, then spending 10 more minutes getting to the room. We were able to go from the gate at the MK to our room in 20 minutes!
I could go on, but I think you can get the picture. When staying at Disney and looking at prices, those numbers don't tell the whole story. You've got to look at what you are getting. Now, if your budget calls for you to have to stay at a Value resort, stay there or look to stay off property. I'm not saying at all that you HAVE to stay at a Deluxe resort. But I just hear so many people on the Disney fan boards scoff at the Deluxes based on price alone. I've never felt ripped off when it comes down to it.
For those who don't know, Disney has three resort levels - Value, Moderate and Deluxe. Value resorts are a steal, as rates usually fall between $80 - $110 depending on the room, season and number of people. The downside - ginormous resorts, tiny rooms, all bus service, tour groups, etc. The next step up, the Moderates, are still ginormous, but the theming is more toned down. Rooms are slightly larger, but it's still all bus service. Then there's the Deluxe. Some are serviced by the monorail, others have boat service, but there are some places where bus service is mandatory. Rooms are much larger, have interior coridors and are overall just nicer. However, they come with a hefty price tag.
On our last three trips, we've stayed at Deluxe resorts - the Wilderness Lodge (cheapest), Polynesian (most expensive) and Contemporary. But why would we do this when we're trying to get out of debt? Now, I'll admit that the rack rate for our room at the Contemporary in the tower this year was $390, but we certainly didn't pay that much. I would pass out to think of paying that much anywhere in the 'normal' world, but that's pretty standard for WDW.
While we are open to staying in a lower priced resort, we feel like we do get a lot for our money.
*We like our space and large beds. Our largest room ever was at the Polynesian, and it was about 490 square feet. That's huge! Deluxe resorts also feature queen sized beds, while almost all of the Moderates and all of the Values have doubles.
*We go back to the room every day. Some argue that they are happy staying in a Value resort because they don't use the room except to sleep at night. We don't. Our kids need a break! So, we spend several hours in the afternoon in our rooms, on top of the nights and mornings.
*Ease. At the Wilderness Lodge and the Contemporary, we stayed in the same building as all of the amenities - front desk, quick service, sit down dining, etc. It was nice to be in the room, jet down to the quick service for a drink, and be back upstairs in less than 10 minutes. Not all Deluxes are like this - this same trip at the Polynesian would have taken closer to 20 minutes! But if you are at one of the other level resorts, it's a guaranteed walk to everything.
*Transportation. By staying at a monorail resort, we have been able to get to the Magic Kingdom, Epcot and back again much faster than if we were traveling by bus. In fact, you can even walk from the MK to the Contemporary, which saved us time when leaving at peak transport times. Why is faster better? That means we're spending more time in the parks! We're not having to wait 20 minutes on a bus, then spending another 10 - 20 minutes on the bus back to the resort, then traveling within the complex, then spending 10 more minutes getting to the room. We were able to go from the gate at the MK to our room in 20 minutes!
I could go on, but I think you can get the picture. When staying at Disney and looking at prices, those numbers don't tell the whole story. You've got to look at what you are getting. Now, if your budget calls for you to have to stay at a Value resort, stay there or look to stay off property. I'm not saying at all that you HAVE to stay at a Deluxe resort. But I just hear so many people on the Disney fan boards scoff at the Deluxes based on price alone. I've never felt ripped off when it comes down to it.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Disney - Yes, it can be done!
Well, we just returned from 5 days at the Happiest Place on Earth. I can't believe we went! We started planning a trip to Williamsburg, and we ended up in WDW. Now, how is this frugal?
First of all, we paid cash for the WDW portion of the trip. Now, we do have to save that cash back up again, but it was wonderful knowing that we didn't put everything on the credit card. We did, though, put the airfare on the Visa.
Speaking of airfare, we flew out of Charlotte instead of our local airport for roughly half the price. We found airfare for $59 each way, which is just a bit more than the $49 each way we had 3 years ago on Southwest. If you're willing and able to drive to a different airport, you can really save! Of course, unlike our 2006 flight, we had to buy four seats this time, and US Airways also charges extra for checked bags. But still, it was the cheapest deal around. We also discovered that we really like the Charlotte airport better than our local airport or our closest Southwest serviced airport.
I had some really strong opinions about our trip this time, so I'm going to be posting most of it. Keep looking!
First of all, we paid cash for the WDW portion of the trip. Now, we do have to save that cash back up again, but it was wonderful knowing that we didn't put everything on the credit card. We did, though, put the airfare on the Visa.
Speaking of airfare, we flew out of Charlotte instead of our local airport for roughly half the price. We found airfare for $59 each way, which is just a bit more than the $49 each way we had 3 years ago on Southwest. If you're willing and able to drive to a different airport, you can really save! Of course, unlike our 2006 flight, we had to buy four seats this time, and US Airways also charges extra for checked bags. But still, it was the cheapest deal around. We also discovered that we really like the Charlotte airport better than our local airport or our closest Southwest serviced airport.
I had some really strong opinions about our trip this time, so I'm going to be posting most of it. Keep looking!
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