You guys seems to love these 5 ways we saved posts as much as I do! And you may have noticed that there haven’t been as many of them lately.
Well, that’s because behind the scenes, I’ve been working my tail off to create something I think will be so helpful in your money saving journey!
Because we are all huge fans of saving money, right?
And one part of the budget that we frugal fanatics love to see how low we can go is…
…groceries. (Of course!)
So be on the look out for more information about this soon!
In the meantime, I managed to squeak in some time to write up our latest 5 ways! Be sure to join in the fun. You can share the ways you saved money this week in the comments below.
Christmas Shopping
I am not one to shop for Christmas gifts all year.
I mean, yes, if I see something that would be perfect for a family member, and it’s one of a kind or on an awesome sale, I’ll grab it.
But usually I find that if I start shopping early, they’ll tell me that they really want (insert cool gadget here) closer to Christmas time. And I’ll start feeling guilty and I’ll buy that, too.
Even though I already bought them something.
ugh!
I’ve discovered that it’s much better for me to just work on saving up money to buy gifts all year, and then do the actual shopping closer to Christmas time.
I shouldn’t have been surprised to find that Amazon has already started some big deals, but I only noticed it because I was buying gifts for a birthday party.
I got a big ticket item I had been sitting on for a while for half price! Just because I kept it in my cart and noticed the lower price when I went to check out for the other things I was getting.
So I definitely snatched that gift! Gotta love a deal. 🙂
Coats
The weather turned super cold suddenly, and that’s when I realized that a couple of us didn’t have a good winter coat.
There’s a “be prepared” fail for ya. 😉
I’ve bought a couple of mall coats for myself over the past few years, and I finally learned that they don’t hold up.
It wasn’t a fluke when the first one ripped apart at the seams. (Because so did the second one…and so did my son’s. Argh!!)
What I need is a nicer coat from a better brand.
Without paying the better brand prices.
I was able to find a nice Calvin Klein coat that retails for something like $110 at Clothes Mentor. It was like new and only cost $35! I expect it to last me a few years. (Because I’m no fashionista. One well made coat will do me just fine, thank you!)
The kids got secondhand coats from Once Upon a Child. I even found an adorable coat and matching snow pants for the baby! (Maybe she’ll learn to walk in the snow?)
Dollar Store Costumes
My brother had a Halloween costume party a couple of days after Halloween.
The kids were fine wearing the costumes we had already thrown together for them. (All of them pretty cheap!)
But my Hubby and I needed something.
After sleuthing on Google, I decided we could be cards! We pulled them together for $3.50 each.
For this look, you need 4 posterboards, a red marker and a black marker, some shelf paper, tape, and string.
If you have a pile of kids, you can be 2 of a kind, working on a full house! haha
On Hand Food
There are certain foods I like to take to parties and potlucks. And I try to keep the ingredients on hand.
Because running to the store for a couple of ingredients always means something extra gets added to the cart.
So I try to avoid “quick stops” as much as possible!
This week I was able to take a pumpkin cheesecake to a party. Yum!
(I almost always keep a couple blocks of cream cheese on hand. And now is the time of year to stock up on pumpkin!)
Furniture
We’ve had a run of bad luck with dressers lately.
So when an errand took us 45 minutes away from home, we decided to try Ikea (since it wasn’t much further away).
I went once when it first opened in our area (years ago), but haven’t been back since. And I forgot it would take us hours to get through the place!
But we were able to find a dresser that my Hubby liked. He and our son got it built and it seems to be pretty sturdy so far!
We’re hoping it will last us a long time. (And maybe there will be fewer clothes everywhere…)
Bonus Way: Turkey!
This is 6 ways we saved, but I can’t ignore this savings!
Kroger had turkey on sale last week for just 33 cents per pound! You had to buy an additional $25 worth of stuff, but getting a $25.00 turkey for $6 is an amazing bargain!
I like to get two. I’ll make one now and usually make another one in February.
This week they still have them for 37 cents per pound, so if you have a Kroger near you, you can still score the deal! (Hopefully, assuming they are participating.)
Those are the ways we saved money this week!
I hope you’re as excited about saving money on groceries as I am!
And if you really love money saving tips, be sure to join the newsletter:
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How did you save this week?
I'm Jamie, and I want to help you afford a beautiful life with your family. 
