Category Archives: Frugal Advice

8-6-13 Thrift Shop Finds

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on August 6, 2013 None comments

I fell in love with this little decorated drawer set. It looks like a cabinet which I like but I do think that the drawers are more practical. And it was only $2.99! The pattern on the front is very in style right now so I think with a coat of paint (green maybe?) it would look like a really cool, expensive piece. (See this cabinet’s awesome makeover by clicking HERE)

I also bought this framed print for $1.99. Not sure where I’m going to put it yet.

These shadow boxes with inlaid clips were only $1.50 and $1.99 each and they will be great to display pictures and souvenirs from our travels.

Overall, a really fun trip! I also bought tons of clothes for .50 cents each but I will write about that later.

Victoria’s Secret Free Lace Trim Panty In The Mail

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on July 28, 2013 None comments

Victoria’s Secret did it again! They just sent out coupons for a Free Lace Trim Panty. So check your mail box for this flyer with the coupon in it.

To learn how you can receive free coupons for items from Victoria’s Secret click HERE.

Have Fun With Your Pets

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on July 26, 2013 None comments

(Benny)

Am I the only one who loves to dress my unwilling pets up in outfits? For the most part they were good little models. So this is a reminder today to have fun with your pets. It’s why you have them, right? And they love it too (most of the time).

(Olive)

(Ash)

The Best Way to Use ‘Free Item’ Coupons

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on July 19, 2013 None comments

I love getting coupons for free items because I love getting stuff for FREE! However these coupons present a unique opportunity to get even more stuff for free.

The Best way to use free item coupons is to combine them with other sales or deals!

I especially love if there is a Buy One Get One Free deal with an item I have a free coupon for. Then you can get two items for free. Even when that isn’t the case, you can still often find other great deals to use because Free Item coupons are a companies way of getting you to try a product that they are usually also promoting in other ways.

In the picture below are two examples-

-I had a coupon for free Playtex Sport Tampons and I was able to combine it with a Publix coupon that said if you buy Playtex Sport Tampons you will get a Skintimate Shave Gel for Free so I got both items for FREE!

– I also had a coupon for a free Pepsi Next 2 Liter that I combined with a Buy 2 Pepsi Products Get One Free Sale and I only had to buy one 2 Liter and got two FREE!

Make Your Own Small Pet Food Mix

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on July 3, 2013 4 comments

As some of you might already know, we are the proud parents to three really cute ratty babies. Rats are not the most common pets to own and I think that this is part of the reason that their food is $15 a bag if you buy the special rat food mix at the pet store. Since we have owned our rats, we have done a little research on what they can and can’t eat. We have also acquired through various means some various foods that we can feed them.

We had-

– Dog food- one pet store told us to feed them this

– Rabbit food- I got a great deal on it

– Squirrel food- a friend gave it to me

– Whole wheat organic cheerios- aka people food that we didn’t like but they love

So I decided to mix them all together to make a rat food mix that actually doesn’t look too different from what they sell at the pet store for a lot less than $15 and they love it. I should also mention that we feed our rats a large variety of fruit and vegetable that we are also eating. Our little rats eat a lot better than people in some third world countries.

6-25-13 Thrift Shop Finds

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on June 26, 2013 4 comments

I’m starting a new job soon and business clothes are expensive. See my article How To Buy and Dress in Business Clothes for Less.

I have been buying business dress clothes slowly as I find good deals on them to help me build up my new work wardrobe. Although the picture above doesn’t show the clothes in their best light, I was really excited to find about 10 dress shirts from New York and Company, St. John’s Bay, and Gap all for $1.99 each. I spent about $20 which is less than I would have paid for one shirt at one of these stores.

I was also excited to find the below vegetable holder/washer so I took a bigger picture of it. It was only .99 cents and it helps keep produce fresh longer and even better it’s dishwasher safe. I happen to know that these can sell for A LOT more than 99 cents.

6-21-13 Recent Free In The Mail

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on June 21, 2013 5 comments

I have been doing really well with some great stuff for free in the mail! Some great coupons for free products and some nice free coffee.

– Coupon for a free Pepsi NEXT 2 liter

– Coupon for a free box of Playtex Sport Tampons

– Coupon for a free Single Serve Package of Tai Pei Asian Garden

– 2 Large Free Samples of Gevalia Coffee

– 1 Free Folgers Coffee

– A Free H&M Organic Cotton Baby Onesie

– Free Finish Quantum dishwasher detergent

– Free Sample of Natralia Heel Balm

– Various other coupons with the Products

To see some of the other cool stuff I get for free click HERE to go to my Free In The Mail Category.

$3.99 Better Homes & Gardens Goodwill Lamp

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on June 19, 2013 None comments

We needed a little lamp for our living room and we had been using our desk lamp until we found one. Luckily the next time I was at Goodwill I found this new in the box, Better Homes & Gardens, lamp with the shade for $3.99 in their Target close out section. When I got it home I realized it needed a little bit of super glue in one spot but other than that it was fine and now I can have my desk lamp back on my desk where it belongs.

6-14-13 Frugal Living / Finance Articles

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

I love reading about finances and frugal living. It inspires me to try even harder to save money and I learn a lot along the way. I happened across a lot of great articles recently and I thought I would share.

Duke Grad Student Secretly Lived In a Van to Escape Loan Debt

13 Money Lies You Should Stop Telling Yourself By Age 30

How To Pay Off Student Loans When You Have No Money, No Job, And Nowhere Else To Turn

The 9 Steps I Took To Get My Finances Back On Track

What You Should (And Shouldn’t) Wear To Work In The Summer

How A Former Olympic Rower Paid Down $82,000 In Debt

13 Ways To Lose Weight Without Blowing Your Budget

How One California Man Negotiated His Way Out Of $150,000 Worth Of Debt

Why I Left My Career In Finance For A Nonprofit

How This Family Raised 19 Kids Without Going Into Debt

15 Surprising Uses For Household Items That Will Help You Save

Saw It On Pinterest and Tried It- Homemade 2 Ingredient Downy Wrinkle Releaser- Can Be Natural/Organic!

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on June 13, 2013 None comments

EDIT: I must report that after I posted this I discovered that you can literally just use a spray bottle with water to take wrinkles out of almost all clothing. I’m a college professor so I’m constantly spraying down business clothes and it works!!!!

We LOVE Downy Wrinkle Releaser because it’s so much easier than ironing, especially while we are traveling. However, I became concerned about the chemicals that were in it that we were spraying all over ourselves. So when I found this recipe I was really excited to be able to make my own.

Need

– Fabric Softener of your choice (the cheap stuff is fine, you can buy a jug for $1 at Dollar tree)
* To make this Natural/Organic use Natural/Organic Fabric Softener
* Remember that the scent of your fabric softener is the scent of your spray so make sure you pick one you like

– Water

– A Spray Bottle ($1 at Dollar tree)

Recipe

– Mix 1/3 cup of water with 1 teaspoon of fabric softener in a spray bottle

*multiply this recipe to make a larger portion

I happened to have a couple of free in the mail samples of fabric softener and I wanted to try making it for free before I buy natural/organic fabric softener to make it with. The single sample size portion you see in the photo above was large enough to make enough mix to fill the above spray bottle several times and I still have some left over.

BEFORE