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It’s Friday, that favored day of the week where people are almost as excited about the weekend coming as they are about another installment of 5 Ways We’ve Saved Money This Week!
In case you weren’t waiting anxiously for this post (is that sarcasm overkill so early in this article?) and have stumbled upon this series for the first time, here are the rules. Each week I tell you 5 new and different ways that our family has managed to save money in the past week. I try not to repeat myself, and I try not to mention coffee. (Except this one time when I did. But the hubby wrote that post, so I’m not sure it even counts.)
If you want to read the entire series, you can check it out here.
If you’d like to make sure you don’t miss out on future 5 Ways posts, you can follow me on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest.
Ok then, let’s get down to the real stuff.
Envelopes. This one might seem silly, but I’ve been saving those envelopes that come in the mail. The ones that are in junk mail envelopes or bills that you typically pay online anyway. Then I use these envelopes to send money or notes in to school, to hold coupons, or to write lists on.
Does this save me a ton of cash? Nope. But I’m willing to save a few dollars per year at the cost of nearly no effort on my part. And a few dollars here and there can add up! (Surely you’re already convinced of that anyway.)
Gave Ibotta another chance. I had downloaded this app, but didn’t like it at first. It sends a lot of notifications, which I didn’t like. But this week I was using my Kroger receipt to do a survey for gas points, and I decided that while I had the receipt out I might as well give Ibotta another chance.
Just based on the foods I had already purchased, I wound up getting $6. I also got another $10 for using the app for the first time. That was an immediate $16 I got for very little effort on foods like produce, milk, and other items you typically don’t see coupons for. If you sign up using my referral link, you can also get the bonus $10 the first time you use the app.
#YearofNo As I explained in my New Year’s Resolutions post, we have a BHAG this year of paying off a big chunk of debt. Our biggest plan for accomplishing this is by saying No. In fact, we are half-jokingly calling this the #yearofno. Believe it or not, this mantra has given me a great mindset when I’m out. It has helped me beat my cravings for fast food and drinks while running errands. It also helped me to restrain myself while shopping.
[Tweet “It’s the #yearofno and our family is saving towards our #BHAG of paying off debt! Here’s how.”]
Clearanced Responsibly. Many of us have a special weakness for a clearance rack. And the week or two after Christmas is the worst. Stores slash the prices of many items this time of year, and it’s so easy to overspend on things you didn’t actually want or need.
But if you are very careful, you can save money. Remembering that every dollar counts, I did my shopping without a cart or basket so I would only pick up the absolute best deals. I did manage to get some cheap candy that will work great for the upcoming Valentine’s Day parties at school.
R-e-l-a-x. I went to the dentist, convinced that I had a serious infection or problem with a tooth. It turns out that I’ve been clenching in my sleep. He said that he could sell me a pricey contraption, or that I could take ibuprofen and try to not use my jaw too much. (Imagine my hubby’s dismay that I wouldn’t be able to gab his ear off !) Obviously I opted for the ibuprofen and relaxation.
Once I was aware of the problem, I made an extra effort to try to fall asleep relaxed, and mentally noted that I should not clench my jaw. I was surprised at how effective that was!
If you’d like more tips like this, be sure to check out 7 Money Goals to Get Ahead in Life.
Those are the 5 simple ways we were able to save this week. How did you do? Let us know some frugal things you accomplished this week.
Stop the jaw clenching while you can! The pain from that stuff can be horrible, terrible, and it can crop up in so many different ways. None of which are fun! I’m glad that relaxing has been able to help you, because I do not wish this kind of pain on anyone (even people I really dislike, ha!). However, if you do continue to have issues with it, I highly recommend Plackers disposable 3-day use mouth guards. They seem a bit pricey (my Fred Meyer sells them for about 14$ for 10 or so?) but they can be used more than three days at a time, I promise, ha. I would imagine that you are “new” in dealing with this, so you may not have to use them often or for very long, but they are much more comfortable than the mold-to-your mouth ones that are giant (I always ended up spitting those out in my sleep).
If you find any magical relaxing techniques for this, please do share! I’m totally aware of the fact that I grind my teeth and clench my jaw while I sleep – but it’s while I sleep! And even if I try and relax as much as possible *before* sleep, still ends up happening, ha!
Yep, I’m sure it’s not a simple solution for most people to just try to relax. I think it has helped me, but I doubt I’ve totally stopped clenching. Because, like you said, you’re asleep when you do it! Pretty hard to tell what you’re doing. Thanks for the tip on the mouth guards, I will be looking in to those.
You can also try the sports guards they sell for a dollar or two. Oddly, Invisilign made me clench even more! Now that I am only wearing a retainer every other night, I am not doing it as much. I do think awareness helps, but there isn’t much you can do about what you do while sleeping. My husband grinds badly. It was frustrating that insurance wouldn’t cover an appliance, but was worth the expense to us to save his teeth.
I used the sports mouth guards for about three or four months and it really helped me stop clenching. It also helped with snoring and having my jaw drop out of place when I laid on my back. And yes, for a $1 they are far better on the pocket than the dental guards sold at drugstore. You put these in warm (not hot, ask me how I know, lol) water and pop them in your mouth so that it is molded to your bite an it really is a huge help.
That’s an awesome tip! Thanks for letting me know about it. I will definitely have to look into that.
I’ve been enjoying using Ibotta because I can get things I get anyway (milk, eggs) and can link up my Food Lion card so as long as it’s unlocked I don’t have to do anything else. It’s not adding up fast, but I do like that there are a number of really generic items I’m getting cash back on, since our shopping baskets tend heavily toward generics and fresh foods.
Yes, I liked that, too! Milk and produce especially, since we tend to buy a lot of those things.
I’m a jaw clencher when stressed too! I find a little yoga or just simply stretching helps me relax.
Love the envelope tip!
I need to try that. Or choose more relaxing before bed activities. (Limit screen time!)
I like the way you gave tips to save the daily life stuff. Yes last week I had ear infection, since I couldn’t get my medication bottle I thought I have to go to doctor again. Finally after a serious search I found the bottle along with refile order for another 3 more times, I am happy that it serve a lot of money. Hope you are feeling better, thanks for sharing with Hearth and soul blog hop.
I’m sorry you had an ear infection. That’s some serious pain! But happy you were able to find the prescription refill. That really did save some big money!