23. July 2008 by Lisa.

If you have a frugal mindset, you know about Craig’s List. If not, hop over there and take a look. But do you know about Angie’s List? This is a listing of service providers. They have over 250 types of services listed including plumbers, landscapers, electricians, etc. Contractors do not pay to be listed, and there are reviews by normal people like you and me who have used them. You might want to take a peek. Just passing on another find.

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9. July 2008 by Lisa.

I don’t usually do this for people I know, but we’ve had such wonderful experiences every time we’ve talked to him. Paul is our “insurance guy”. He’s a great person and is very knowledgeable (homeschooling dad & former president of our county home school association too).

My husband is self-employed so we’re always looking for better health coverage. We’ve looked into everything from Christian share-cost ministries to standard coverage. He’s given us pros and cons of the different types of coverage and even suggestions about combining.

Paul is licensed in TX, OH, GA, TN, NC, LA and is happy to talk with anyone. He is generous with his time and resources and has saved us lots of money. Just a great frugal tip if anyone is in the same boat - looking for coverage.

I don’t get anything for posting this. It’s just a great deal with a great guy. FYI.

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9. July 2008 by Lisa.

Target has several store coupons out right now that can be stacked with manufacturer coupons (diapers, Procter & Gamble products, etc.). However it has been my experience (and many others’ if you’ve visited Freebies 4 Mom today) that Target cashiers aren’t trained in their own coupon policy. I’ve explained it to them at my store and I’ve taken in a copy of their own coupon policy which you can find here.

That has always worked. However, if there is ever a problem beyond that point, I would have THEM call corporate while I’m standing in line. Sorry to all the shoppers behind me. I really do hate keeping people waiting, but Target employees should be properly trained.

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8. July 2008 by Lisa.

Want to pay rock bottom prices for clothing? Garage sales and resale shops are always the most frugal (aside from freebies, of course). If you’re buying from the stores and want to get the most bang for your buck, shopping one step behind the seasons is best. I know this is difficult with small children and you can’t just guess their sizes in another year, but you shouldn’t be paying retail for clothing for small children anyway. Used is the only way to go until they get any sort of fashion sense. Until then, don’t throw away your money.

Late July-Mid August buy summer clothes, swimsuits, sandals, etc.

October is when you see the fall back to school clothes on sale. They’re making room for their winter stock.

Great sales right before Christmas as stores are trying to completely clear out to get ready for Christmas and after Christmas sales. You can get so much up to 90% off, look for mega coupons, etc.

Right after Christmas is the jackpot for sweaters, coats, boots, pretty much anything (and it’s still seasonal!). When I was in college my family sometimes celebrated Christmas on New Year’s. It was great. I got the best presents for people because I shopped right after Christmas and got seasonal merchandise for dirt cheap.

By March it’s retailers time for winter clearance. They’re clearing out for spring lines. Not a bad deal if you’re going skiing over Spring Break.

June is time for clearing out spring fashion.

End of July is the first of summer clearance, but if you hold out, and don’t mind possibly missing a deal or two August is best.

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7. July 2008 by Lisa.

Are you tired of paying for swiffer cloths? Tipnut.com gives you patterns to make your own. Your’s will be reusable. While you’re there, check out all the other tips. It’s a handy site to bookmark and check out every once in a while.

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24. June 2008 by Lisa.

Denise at Centsible Sawyer, posted this incredible list. Hope you all find it useful.

Stonyfield Farm – Coupons for yogurt, milk, smoothies, ice cream
Horizon Organic - $1 off coupons for various dairy
Organic Valley – Coupons for milk, cheese, butter
Mambo Sprouts - Booklet with miscellaneous natural and organic product coupons
Earths Best - Coupons for baby food
Arrowhead Mills – if you send in 3-5 UPCs, they’ll send you either $15 or $25 of OXO kitchen tools
Rosetto - $1 coupon off pasta
Earthbound Farms – coupons for misc. products
8th Continent Soy - $1 off coupon for soymilk
Seventh Generation – coupons for diapers, wipes, laundry, cleaning, dishwashing products
Knudsen Juice - $1 off coupon for juice boxes
The Healing Garden – misc. coupons for moisturizer
Organic Prairie – coupons for steak, hotdogs, deli meat, other
Coleman Naturals – coupons for meat
Misc. products – dairy, skincare, gourmet, homeopathic coup

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23. June 2008 by Lisa.

If you want to have a garage sale and don’t know what to price your stockpile items for, go here for some help. It’s a page on pricing I just finished.  It’s also listed in the left column.

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20. June 2008 by Lisa.

I know grocery prices are increasing so quickly that it seems a price book would be outdated in a few short weeks. However, if there has ever been a time to make and keep one, this is it.

If you’re one of those people who can keep the prices in your head, hats off to you. I could never do that. Seemingly everything in my life needs to be written down or it gets forgotten. I’m 44 years old and have never been able to keep prices in my head. I have a handful, but apparently that’s my capacity.

I keep a price book arranged in the same manner as my coupon book. The dividers are the same, and I keep 5 columns across the top of the page which read:

Item Description      Walmart      Target      Kroger      Tom Thumb

Rice Dream milk             2.88                                    3.88            3.96
1 qt.

Kraft mac & cheese         .33                  .44               .50               .52
small box

And the list goes on. I keep plenty of space for each price because I also break it down to PPU (price per unit). More helpful if you have one product in several different sizes. When I first made my price book I spent a day at all of the stores and didn’t do any shopping. I just walked around with my book, writing down the prices of everything we normally purchased.

I made my first price book shortly after we were married. We’ve been married 15 years now. I wish I had my original just to see how prices have changed.

Yes, it’s time consuming like everything else, but it just may be worth keeping to see if sale prices are truly good prices. Some people think that with GroceryGame, one of my favorite things, you really don’t need to keep a price book. However, even I, have found better deals (same item, same week) at another store on more than one occasion. I’ve also found stockpile worthy items that GG never mentioned. No slam on GroceryGame here. I absolutely love it and encourage everyone to play the game. GG does the work for me. However, GG isn’t perfect.

Consider how you would organize your own price book and when you would have time to make your first. Upkeep is much easier once it’s established. I usually update by looking at receipts.

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20. June 2008 by Lisa.

Do you keep a loose change jar? Remember you can always go to a Coinstar machine and trade it in for cash or gift certificates. Most of my area coinstars are located in Kroger stores.

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11. June 2008 by Lisa.

Have you tried Redbox.com? Moviecube.com? You can rent a movie for only $1 and these boxes are located in Walmarts, McDonald’s, and Kroger (in our area). I’m sure there are other versions of these movie vending machines in other areas, but they’re great. You just pick a location and reserve your movie online, then pick it up. So easy, so cheap!

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