Savings on the Dollar a Penny Pincher’s Way!

People with limited income can benefit from these helpful tips to spread their money further. There are several websites that help match-up coupons to sale items at many local stores. These have been great resources for those new to and less experienced in saving as well as for those who are seasoned. Although there are too many websites to list, here are a few:

Many of the coupon websites offer access to locate and print coupons easily. When we teach savings classes, we share several resources and techniques to make saving fun and less challenging. Typically stores have their weekly advertisements available to view online a few days prior to the ad starting. This is helpful to know if you should purchase certain items ahead of time or wait until the new ad starts.

If stores offer a savings card or program, check and see if it would be beneficial to you. Several stores have linked sales and savings to these cards and without them you may pay more for the same item. There are ways to take advantage of these savings to save even more. Many stores have in-store coupons that can be stacked with manufacturer coupons to save even more money on an item.

In our savings classes, we share ways to spread the monthly food budget further by prepping and packaging items to save time and money. For example, most people don’t know what to do with the remaining portion of a 12 ounce can of tomato paste when only needing 6 ounces for a recipe. They may place it in the refrigerator thinking they will use it later only to let it go to waste. We suggest taking the unused product and placing it into plastic storage bag to label and freeze. An onion can be diced up and either frozen in a storage bag or an ice cube tray for use in the future recipes. When fresh items are available and you can’t use all of them before they spoil, a little time and effort to preserve them can mean savings for the future.

Money can be saved by using less electricity during the peak daytime hours. With the smart meters we get charged a higher rate between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. When possible wait until after supper to run that load of laundry or the dishwasher. Changing the load of laundry before bedtime gets the laundry done and also saves money. Adding a dry towel into a wet load can speed up the drying time of the load.

Did you know it cost less to make a meal in the crock-pot during the day than to use the oven for a few hours? When you do use the oven try baking/roasting more than what you can use in one meal. The extra cooked food will be a future meal with a little planning ahead.

Finally, some money saving tips to have FUN!

Free Birthday Freebies & Clubs

Applebee’s Free Treat on your Birthday

Atlanta Bread Company Free Birthday Cookie

bd’s Mongolian Grill Free meal on your birthday

Bob Evans Free kids Meal on their birthday

Carino’s Free Birthday Dessert

Chuck E Cheeses Birthday Freebies

Denny’s Free Grand Slam on your birthday

Famous Dave’s Free meal on your birthday

Hard Rock Cafe Free Dessert

Logan’s Roadhouse Free birthday & More