My Publix Trip - Got Paid

In Tampa this store is not accepting the TQ $20/50 so I aborted that idea. I just got a few items to get my order to $30 and use up my Sweetbay produce and meat coupons. I'm excited to make some slow cooker pork chops this weekend. The Stacys bake shop chips are hard to find, look in the deli area. Take a picture of the BOGO sign so you can get a raincheck and continue to get items next week. I got paid less than a dollar and saved over $70, over 100% savings.

How To Save $2000 a Year

It has dawned on me that being frugal is boring. I know that sometimes I think its exciting to go recycling on Monday nights (Yeah! DH went with me last night too), and writing about coupon cost saving shopping trips, but y'all probably just skip the post after the first sentence, or even after the title. Today though is another boring tip that you probably already do, but maybe you didn't realize how much money you are saving by doing it. Its really simple. Brown Bag it. Yup, bring your lunch to work. It will save you thousands of dollars a year. But its boring because we do the same frugal lunch most days.

DH & I have been having homemade salads for lunch at work for over seven years, I've been doing it longer -close to ten years. And I'm not bored with it. Its really convenient to just grab it out of the fridge and eat, no waiting in line for the microwave, heating time or assembly. More on that some other day, we do have an assembly line when we make our salads on Sundays. Anyway, to avoid boredom with our lunch, we change the salad to Olive Garden greek salads, or BBQ pork salads, or Taco Salads, but mainly its grilled chicken salads.

There are always the comments in the lunch room as we get our salads, "Oh another salad day, how exciting!", Or "Gee what kind of salad today?", or "You're going to turn into a rabbit eating salads like that everyday". But we make GR8 salads that are easy and healthy. Sure we put meat and cheese on it, but you've got to have some fat in your diet. We portion the salad dressing into snack size ziplocs and put a bag in each bowl so its easy to bite off a corner and squirt it on and toss the bag - easy to clean up too.

But one of the best things about bringing a lunch everyday is that it saves us over $2000 a year. It's even cheaper now that we use coupons, and when we get our garden producing, it will cut the costs by another third. A typical lunch purchased at the Deli would cost about $6/day or $1440/year. Our salads cost $1.51/day or $362/year each, so thats about $724 total household cost, compared to $2880 cost of Deli lunches for both of us.

I know its boring, but VERY satisfying to save money. I've attached a yummy picture of my salad for today, and cost analysis (CLICK TO ENLARGE) so you can figure out how YOU can save money by packing your lunch and using coupons.

My Publix trip - Rainchecks Make It Happen

This is actually the combined total of 4 transactions at two stores since most Publix in Tampa have the usual limits on coupons. Two of the transactions were simply to use the  $2/2 PQs- 6 muller yogurts paid a dollar, and the Pam cooking spray plus two travel size dressings paid $0.68.

I lucked out and found razors at both stores to use my raincheck. I had them rewrite it for remaining content when I only got partial quantities. I also used my Naturally Fresh raincheck since it expires soon. These both gave a lot of overage which I spent on socks, water and pottery my husband wanted. We still got paid, even though I just figured out the cashier missed 3 coupons for $4. My fault for talking to the curious lady behind me and not paying full attention to the checkout.

In total we saved $218, and got paid $2.41 (should have been -$6.40). See breakout Iin the chart below.

My Publix Trip - Spent $0.64, Saved $111, plus got a $5 GC

 



Today, I went out despite the cold and rain. What miserable weather, but you gotta shop. I was pleased to see the Colgate is still $1.99, so I did another deal with the $5 GC. The truck must have unloaded the Kids Boost and the EmergenC so I used my raincheck and got my order up so much that I split it into two transactions. The Tampa Palms store told me they have a new rule where you can only use 1 $/$$ (Winn Dixie) coupon per person per day, so essentially more splitting up transactions unless you have more people with you. So, overall it was a good shop - I spent $0.64 total, and got a $5 GC, plus saved $111 on my groceries.

My Publix Shop Made Money Today

After such a disappointing time last week with empty shelves of all the moneymakers (razors, emergen C), I was pleased to find the light bulbs and Naturally Fresh Dressing, and plenty of Colgate Max Fresh toothpaste to put together a couple transactions today. One of the most helpful sources of finding the deals I've found lately is the Facebook group "Couponing at Publix". Join and have fun sharing your deals! It is managed by another blogger but the people are nice and supportive and there is less of the craziness that you get in open forums.

Anyway, the best deal is an unadvertised deal using the Naturally Fresh dressing bogo MQ which is on the main page of the naturallyfresh.com website, and it stacks with the $1/1 PQ in the Gameday flyer that is still available in stores and to print. If they are out of dressing and you need to get a rain check, I would take a picture of the sign and show it to customer service because they won't find it in the ad and may balk at a rain check without the proof. Also, the cashiers are totally confused by the colgate GC deal so it helps to explain it to them instead of having them stare at it for 10 minutes and then decide to ask someone how to do the deal. I split up the Colgate into 2 orders of 5 each so I could use 1 printable and 4 insert coupons since there is a limit of 4 like coupons for the Colgate.

So today, I spent $0.84 cents, got $10 in gift cards and saved $128.

Good Luck to you shopping this week!

 

My Publix Trip - Saved 96%

Finally, I found a Publix that had a few razors and some EmergenC to get some overage and use it toward fixins for pot roast. I had the HBA gal dig through the totes that just got delivered so I could get a few of those items. They also had the Green Giant Veggie tortilla chips that are really good, they aren't as salty as the BBQ and Sea Salt flavors. To get my order amount high enough, I used a rain check for the OM Shaved Ham. Another good deal this week with the new grocery flyer is the Muller yogurt, only $0.17 each when you use the new PQ in the purple flyer and the MQ from the 1-05RP.

I'm not really liking the store manager switchero that Publix has done in the last week. Today, the cashier tried to tell me I couldn't use my expired purple flyer PQ on the razors even though I used a raincheck. This required a call over of the new manager. Fortunately he was informed enough that he knew the policy allowed this coupon, but I had it pulled up on my smartphone anyway. It was a frustrating experience after spending a lot of time and effort to get such a good shop. Anyway, my husband shushed me and we finished our transactions (I spent $30 in one to use a WD, and then a WD + PQ in the remainder) and ended up spending $5.71, and saving over $151, a 96% savings.

My Publix Trip - Saved $98.64, Spent $2.07

There are a ton of great stockup deals going on at Publix this year, and it seems like everyone is going into a frenzy to get the moneymakers. But I think its unnecessary, because really do you need all that stuff? Sure, we all have people we donate to; but do they appreciate it as much as a couponer who has done her homework, gathered and cut coupons and gone to the store - only to find the shelves empty? We are fortunate there are a bunch of freebies and cheap products this week, but please be considerate and make a special order if you want more than a reasonable amount.

Anyway, the snapware was gone so I got a raincheck, but surprisingly there were plenty of OM Shaved meat packages, and the vitamins too. I actually did two shops so I could maximize my Winn Dixie coupons, so each pile is an order. Together I spent $2.07, and saved $98.64.

My Publix Trip - Saved $91.86

I've been staying out of the store since I ran out of Winn Dixie $5 off $30 coupons in hopes that the new ones I ordered will be here any day now. There aren't that many great deals but I wanted to see if there was any Emergen C (free with coupons) to use a filler to get my order up, and to see if Sundown vitamins are on sale (they are $2.67 for Vit D). I didn't have my sundown coupons so I couldn't get any today.

So the only overage I had to work with was the $10 off $50 gas card. I forgot to see if the Ronzoni pasta that is covered by coupons is on sale but I'll probably print some of those too for next time. Anyway, I used up my Sabra raincheck, now I'm all out of tricks in my hat to bring up my order until they have some good sales.

Today I ended spending $51.24 for a $50 gas card and groceries (really, only $1.24 on groceries) and saved $91.86.

2013 Financial Review of Expenses

It's always interesting to figure where your money goes. Even if you track receipts and sync up all your investments with Mint.com, its still a little blurry and murky to pin point the exact amount of money you take in and put out. Really our finances are one big game of offense and defense, with the goal being to gain in the end. That means if your offense is weak (you don't take in a lot of money), you have to be really good at defense by minimizing spending and getting the most of the money you do spend. If you have strong offense and make a lot of money, its really tempting to spend a lot and then you really aren't any better off than the household that has a weak offense.

In my opinion my DH and I don't have much offense, since we are state employees and of course the State of Florida has not been generous with wages - ever. We get paid in sunshine. So, we have a strong defense and minimize what we spend in most areas, but we get what we want in other areas. We are fortunate to have already paid our dues working in corporate America and made decent wages years ago, where we paid off all our debts - student loans, mortgage, vehicles and credit cards. I'm going to say that even though we are frugal, we are not scrooges. There are certain luxuries, pleasures and conveniences that we "want" and are willing to pay the price for. With that being said, even though there are some discretionary expenses in our budget we try to get them as inexpensive as possible. There are many things we do in our life that are absolutely free - like gather firewood from curbsides when a tree is chopped down, split it with our hydraulic splitter and enjoy backyard fires in the chiminea every weekend.

Our household expenses for 2013 were $32,177. Here is a breakdown:

• Travel (7,037) - this was our largest categorical spending. In the past few years we've had to remodel our home, so we traveled less. This was 21% of our budget and I see this staying the same whether its for a big household project (next year is a new roof) I would like to have about 20% discretionary budget to either travel or make a big purchase.
• Allowance (6,000) - we each get $250/month to do as we want that doesn't come out of household budget. DH buys cigarettes and goes racing. I buy electronics and victoria secret. This is also where beer kegs come out of budget. Allowance also includes dining out at our favorite pub for wings and beer on Fridays and Saturdays. This is one area we could try to cut back since most of my allowance just goes into my allowance account and is more than I need.
• Maintenance (car/mc/home 2,876) - this is kind of large this year because we had our 15 yr old Ford Explorer painted at Maaco, and we also had brakes replaced on both cars, plus motorcycle maintenance is a rip off. Motorcycles are not frugal when you consider the maintenance and insurance costs.
• Home Insurance (1,960) - a necessary evil, but luckily we're not in a flood zone and we're lucky State Farm still finds us worthy of insuring in Florida.
• Life Insurance (1,860) - these whole life insurance policies are not really necessary now in our life, but we keep them because cash value is worth more than we've paid in premiums. Actually, we have pretty risky lifestyles with our daily commuting by bicycle and motorcycle, and if one of us die, it means a loss of future pension and social security income for the household. So maybe we do need these policies.
• Electricity (1,702) - we spend way to much on electricity but with our pool pump, hot tub, chest freezer, 2 refrigerators, kegerator and electronics its to be expected. We try to unplug when we can, empty the hot tub in the summer and I'm trying to get us back to just one refrigerator if we can get rid of all our food.
• Internet/Cable TV (1,539) - This is an expense we should work on lowering. DH will not give up live sports broadcasts, and I like good fast internet and wifi. But we should threaten Verizon FIOS and try to get them to lower our rates or something - maybe they want to sponsor me?
• Cell phones (1,409) - this category was expensive because I upgraded to a new Samsung S4 and my plan increased to $56/month. I passed on my old Samsung Epic to DH and his plan through Ting is only $20/month. So next year we'll spend $500 less in this category.
• Car Insurance (1,212) - our 10 yr old car and 15 yr old truck should be a lot less expensive to insure, but this is Tampa where over 40% of drivers are uninsured. The majority of our policy expense is uninsured motorist coverage which we have at 100/300. Next year we plan to lower this to 50/100 since we don't drive much. It should save us a few hundred dollars.
• Groceries/HH Supplies (1,248) - We purchased $21,529 worth of product using cash and gift cards this year. This involved 355 trips to stores. I save every receipt and log in the spending and saving, which I have done for years. We saved 88%, which averaged out to $104 per month spent. This is significantly less than we have bought in years past because couponing is getting harder to do with stricter usage policies, increased competition for goods and smaller value coupons. I expect to continue to coupon to save, but plan to continue to budget $100 per month for groceries and HH supplies.
• Motorcycle Insurance (1,088) - again we have maximum coverage since the probability of needing it are good since riding is risky and most drivers will hit and run if they can, its best to have your own insurance because many drivers do not, and more than likely an accident will be the fault of the other party. 
• Property Tax (1,088) - we are protected by the save our homes legislation that prevents tax increases in homes that people have lived in for many years.
• Shopping misc (1,064) - This includes gifts, electronics accessories, clothing, and other weird stuff that doesn't fit in any other category. There is probably some room to cut expenses here. 
• Water/garbage (725) - provided by the city so we don't have a choice in vendors. We do have an irrigation line so all outdoor water usage is charged at a tenth of the city water cost. We use less than 3000/gal water per month which is the threshold for the surcharge.
• Newspapers/coupons (441) - this is large because I bought Winn Dixie $5 off $30 coupons, and I also get 8 Sunday papers for coupons. I might cut the newspapers back to 4 per week since I use a lot of printables now.
• Health Insurance (450) - includes visit co pays and rx. Just trying to stay healthy to keep this cost low.
• Pet (435) - includes dog food, meds and vet visits. The 13 yr old dog has been healthy this year except she has gone deaf. We also have a vet surgery scheduled to remove a cyst on her eyelid that will cost a bunch in early 2014.

• Gasoline (291) - this includes cash we have used to buy gas cards at Publix, and the occasional time we have purchased gas while traveling by car.

So that's it for 2013. We want to spend less next year than this year, a simple goal. If we could keep our expenses under 30K that would be good. Looking forward to a prosperous 2014 with hopes of increasing our networth so that retirement is a little bit closer to reality.

Wishing you a healthy, prosperous and stress free life.

Happy New Year to You! 

Tampa Busch Gardens Pass Members Bring a Friend for Free

This is the January deal for Tampa pass holders - bring a friend for free, plus you get 30% off all purchases. This means those seven dollar brewskis are actually affordable. My pass actually just expired but I'm excited about their offer for $20 off a season pass plus 3 months free. Its been crowded lately with closed parking lots and the overflow parking lots full as well. Plan accordingly.

January is Pass Member Appreciation Month

Bring a Friend for FREE! In January only, SeaWorld® Orlando and Busch Gardens® Tampa Pass Members receive a friend for free ticket to your park(s) of membership.

In January, Double Your Discount on select in-park purchases including: • Dining in all of our cafeteria-style restaurants • Merchandise in our gift shops In January, enjoy 30% off select in-park purchases including: • Food and Beverages • Merchandise in our gift shops

Online registration required for free ticket. One free ticket per Pass Member, per park of membership. Friend for Free offer valid for one single-day admission by January 31, 2014. Pass Member must be present at the park for the free ticket holder to get admittance. Busch Gardens free ticket and offers valid only for active 1-Year, 2-Year and Platinum Busch Gardens Tampa Pass Members. SeaWorld free ticket and offers valid for active SeaWorld Orlando 1-Year, 2-Year and FL Platinum Pass Members. Free ticket is nontransferable, not for resale and may be revoked for misuse. Not valid for Fun Cards, Teacher Study Passes and Friends and Family Passes. All offers not valid with any other discount or offer. Restrictions apply for in-park offers, please see respective park websites for more details.