Category Archives: Frugal Advice

Why I Always Fly Southwest and Book Directly Through Their Website

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on June 19, 2015 None comments

Why I Always Fly Southwest and Book Directly Through Their Website by Candice

Next month I am flying to Austin, TX with my husband to checkout places we could possibly live if we choose to move there. Then in August we are flying to California with my family for a wedding. When searching for plane tickets for both flights we used all the discount sites such as Kayak and Expedia. I always check these sites prices against Southwest directly and most of the time I find better flights at a lesser price on Southwest’s website.

For instance, my husband thought he found our flights to Austin through Delta airlines on a discount site. Both to and from had layovers in Atlanta and the flights were about $60 more than booking with Southwest. So we settled on round trip tickets with no layovers for $240 each. Here are a few of the reasons I love to fly Southwest.

No baggage fees– Most airlines charge $30-50 per bag and I am just not okay with spending that much on top of my ticket.
Seating– Southwest allows you to board the flight in the order you checked in, therefore you do not need to pay an additional fee to sit with your family members. This is going to be an advantage on our 6 hour flight to California. (or maybe a disadvantage, hehe)
Friendly crew– Every time I fly Southwest the flight attendants are friendly and genuinely seem like they are having a good time
They offer stops– The first time I flew by myself I knew I didn’t want to have a layover. I found out Southwest has stops where they stop at an airport to let people on and off and then resume flying. This whole process is about 20 minutes and is a lot less stressful than a layover. Also I learned that if you do have a stop you can change seats during this time if you are not happy with your original seating.
Additionally, they are constantly having sales on their website with flights as low as $62 dollars.

What’s your favorite airline to fly?

Amazon.com offers Southwest gift cards available to save for your next trip or to give to someone who is going to be flying soon. Click the link below to check them out!

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$10 for 1 Week of Food from Dollar Tree

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on June 12, 2015 5 comments

Could you buy one week’s worth of food for one person for just $10? I believe the answer is yes!

As anyone who visits this site probably knows, I LOVE DOLLAR TREE! The other day I started thinking, could you buy one week’s worth of food for one person for just $10? I believe the answer is yes! You wouldn’t necessarily have to do this at Dollar Tree, any $1 store would probably work.

This would not be the most interesting week of meals but it would get you through the week in a pinch. I have also tried to make the meals as healthy as possible. Even at the dollar store there are some small choices that made this meal plan a little healthier such as by choosing whole wheat bread over white and brown rice over white.

Here is what I came up with-

Items I bought for $1 each-

– 1) A Full loaf of Whole Wheat Bread

– 2) Brown Rice

– 3) Black Beans

– 4) Peanut Butter

– 5) Jelly

– 6) Canister of Oatmeal

– 7) Honey

– 8) Spaghetti Sauce

– 9) Spaghetti Noodles (these coincidentally were the largest bag of pasta offered for $1)

– 10) ?????? $1 item?????- Last item your choice!

$10 One Week Meal Plan-

Breakfasts

– Oatmeal with Honey (or Peanut Butter or Jelly)

– Toast with Peanut Butter or Jelly

Lunch

– Peanut Butter or Jelly Sandwiches

Dinner

– Spaghetti sauce and noodles

– Brown Rice and Black Beans

Alternative $1 Items-

* Note- most of these are not as healthy as the original choices

– Instead of Peanut Butter you could buy hazelnut spread

– Instead of Jelly you could just use the honey

– Instead of Oatmeal and Honey you could probably buy a bag of cereal and a small milk

– Instead of honey you could buy a large jar of apple/peach pie filling to have with the oatmeal

– Instead of Spaghetti Sauce you could use any sauce you can buy for $1

Ideas for the last $1 item-

– Parmesan Cheese for the spaghetti

– Popcorn for lunches

– Salsa for with the rice and beans

– Instant Coffee

– A 5 pack of Ramen Noodles

– A can of soup

What do you think? Could you survive on this meal plan for 1 week if you had only $10 to buy yourself food?

Thrift Day With the Girls

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on September 1, 2014 None comments

I had some great luck during a day I spent with my girl friends out thrifting. I really have been hitting the jackpot lately when it comes to name brand dress clothes. They are so expensive new!

In the picture above I got-

– 1 pair of jeans $1

– Blue floral skirt $.80

– Mossimo grey pencil skirt $.80

– Ann Taylor black dress $3 (see right in photo below)

– H&M black dress $3.80 (see left in photo below)

– Liz Claiborne maxi skirt $.80

– The cool basket $.50

– The “professor” rolling bag $5.00

– The cool stool that folds flat $3

– The cat FREE (she was free but I didn’t get her today she just wanted to be in the picture!)

Overall I’m very excited about what I got, especially the H&M and Ann Taylor dresses!

The cat loved the stool. With a coat of paint I think it will be a really cool piece to decorate with. I also bought the cat bed for $.50 but it is too small for her so I’m giving it to a friend.

My $2.99 Cabinet Before and After

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on August 7, 2014 None comments

I bought this ugly little brown cabinet (It’s actually drawers but looks like a cabinet) for $2.99 at a local thrift shop. Using one can of green spray paint I transformed it into something that I love having in my living room! It takes the place of a side table but with the added bonus of extra storage. I’m so excited about how this turned out I’m looking for more pieces to transform.

How I Got My David’s Bridal Bridesmaid Dress for $12.50 aka How to Get a David’s Bridal Bridesmaid Dress for Less Than Half the Price

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on June 14, 2014 4 comments

As I have previously mentioned, my sister is getting married this summer. She found a beautiful and very affordable wedding dress at David’s Bridal. I then found a floor length bridesmaid dress for almost the same price but unfortunately they couldn’t order it in time in the light purple color you see above. Bummer! But she is having a small wedding and I am the only bridesmaid so we didn’t have the problem of needing to find several matching dresses.

We decided to look at some department stores or even Ross and T.J. Maxx but we got distracted by a new little resale shop in the same shopping plaza and decided to check it out first. It turned out to be a high end resale store and what did my sister pull off the shelf but a David’s Bridal Bridesmaid dress in the exact color and length we had tried to order for $25 AND the lady informed us that it had been in the store for several months so it was half off for ONLY $12.50! I tried it on and it fit! I don’t even need to get it altered! I just saved over $100!!!!!! I can’t believe it!

But an even crazier part of the story is that my sister is a bridesmaid in her friend’s wedding later this summer and just bought the exact same dress in a different color from David’s Bridal for $150. We started thinking about this and realized that you can buy David’s Bridal Bridesmaid dresses on eBay for around $25!!!!!!!! I wish we had known this sooner but now that we know we will be saving a lot of $$$$$$$ by never having to buy Bridesmaid dresses at the store! I am passing this HUGE savings secret on to you and all of my girlfriends!

CVS Thanksgiving / Black Friday Sale! Spent- $20.12 and Saved- $114.43

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on November 24, 2013 None comments

My haul from the CVS Thanksgiving sale last night! Probably my favorite shopping trip of the year! This is my Black Friday shopping. Here is the breakdown-

Spent- $20.12

Saved- $114.43

Number of CVS cards- 2

Number of Transactions- 12

ECBs (CVS store dollars) Left Over- $5

This sounds like a lot until you know that we were the only ones in the store and they allowed my sister and I to use our boyfriend’s cards to do more deals. They had tons of stuff so we weren’t clearing any shelves. I had $8 ECBs left on one card so I used it to pick up some mostly free groceries or I would have had $13 ECBs left. There are close ups of my haul below below.

AND this required very, very few coupons. We only used about 2 newspaper coupons and 2 CVS printer coupons per transaction so most of these deals don’t require coupons!

If you want to see these deal match ups you can view the CVS Ad at CVS.com here or the coupon match ups at SouthernSavers.com here.

Here is one additional deal I didn’t see elsewhere-

CVS Multi-pack Toothbrushes $2.99
– Use $1 off CVS Toothbrushes coupon from the CVS coupon printer
– Receive $2 ECBs
Price after coupon and ECBs- FREE!

My $1.50 Coffee Pot

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on November 14, 2013 1 comments

We were very sad when our Black & Decker coffee pot died. Enough has been said about saving money on coffee by brewing it at home but we do make our own coffee every day. I do love waking up to a hot cup of coffee. After the death of our coffee pot, we made coffee every day in our french press (given to us by my aunt because she had an extra one) for about two weeks. This, in my opinion, took longer and used more electricity. I decided that I didn’t want to go to the store to buy a new one. I was determined to buy one second hand. Not because I couldn’t afford a new one, but because of the principle of knowing I have seen a million coffee pots at thrift shops in my lifetime. Lo and behold, I found one at one of our favorite thrift shops for $1.50! And it’s a Black & Decker (brands mean nothing to me unless it’s to brag about how cheaply I purchased an expensive item). And it’s actually nicer than our old coffee pot.

This only encourages me to purchase more items second hand. It saves money, helps the environment, and helps the non-profit running the thrift shop.

Free Replacement Otter Box Phone Case

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on November 14, 2013 None comments

I have a great phone, a Galaxy SIII, that was a gift for my birthday from B last year. I decided on this phone because it helps me to run this website and also my online business. Knowing that I’m a slightly clumsy person my brother added on to this gift and bought me a very expensive (but cheaper than a new phone or warranty) Otter Box case for it. I LOVE, LOVE that case because I didn’t buy the warranty that came with my phone and I am sure that the case has saved my phone over and over, aka when I dropped it in the parking lot, splashed it with water in the restaurant dish pit, etc. Unfortunately the silicone outside cover has expanded over time and no longer fits well and it has also started to wear out in a few places.

Today at work, I ran into a lady who sells phones for a living and I happened to mention that I wanted to use the warranty to replace my case but had lost my receipt. She informed me that the phone store I bought it at would be able to print a copy, so I stopped on my way home and they did. When I got home I called Otter Box and gave them some serial numbers off of the case and they sent me an e-mail with a link to upload some photos (including the one above but with my name on it) and apparently they are sending me a new case. Yay! I didn’t even need the receipt!

I will post an update when the phone case arrives but that was great customer service, it has saved my phone and now I get a replacement for free? Definitely worth the price my brother paid for it!

*I am not an affiliate of Otter Box nor have I received any compensation for writing this article

Free Notebook Paper

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on November 11, 2013 None comments

I started my Master’s degree and teaching earlier this year and I haven’t had to buy almost any school supplies. I had saved my old binders and folders from my undergraduate years and B’s mom gave me the ultimate faculty accessory- a rolling bag! We did end up buying a few notebooks and blank printer paper.

I realized that with finals week approaching, I needed some college ruled line paper to my mother and she happily gave us 4 packs that had been sitting in a cabinet for years. She also scooped up some graph paper and an old clip board. Little did she know that I had been wanting a clip board for teaching.

It never hurts to tell people when you are looking for things because you never know who might want to get rid of them!

Pür Minerals B1G1 Free This Week Only at ULTA

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on August 7, 2013 1 comments

I was almost entirely out of face makeup and not going to be near my closest Ulta store this week. I really didn’t want to go out of my way but B was nice enough to volunteer to drive me. When I got there I was excited to find that Pür Minerals was B1G1 Free this week only at ULTA. That was very lucky! Last year I bought 4 but this year I bought six which hopefully will be enough for the whole year. Keep in mind there are no coupons for this makeup and it only goes on this one sale the entire year. When not on sale the makeup is $27 for one compact. If you have read anything on this blog you know that I am very careful with my money but I LOVE, LOVE this makeup. It’s 4 in 1: foundation, powder, SPF 15 and concealer. It also saves me a lot of time because I only have to apply one product instead of 4. So today I bought enough for the rest of the year saving myself $84 and several trips to the store.