Category Archives: Frugal Advice

Why You Should Always Look at the Coupons in Your Magazines

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on September 12, 2012 None comments

My sister recently found a coupon for this free Clairol Professionals Item at Sally’s Beauty Salon in the September issue of Allure Magazine. We were next door at Target when we stopped in and snagged it for free. She didn’t even have to pay tax. It doesn’t expire until the end of October so if you get this magazine you should look for it. I hear it can also be found in the September InStyle Magazine.

A Helpful Hint for Calling Publix

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on September 5, 2012 None comments

We all know that it isn’t saving money to run out to every store to buy every deal that you see online. Gas is expensive and it’s often better to wait until you have a lot of deals to do at a store before making the trip. If I only have a couple of things to get at a store or a deal that is about to expire sometimes I will call the store to make sure they have the items in stock first. This happened to me today. My favorite local Publix is actually about 15 mins away, slightly farther than the closer but less coupon friendly publix that is only 5 mins away. So I called to make sure the trip was worth it before leaving the house and the customer service person gave me a great tip. Call Publix and dial 223 as soon as the answering service picks up and it will take you directly to customer service without having to listen to two menus to reach them. I tried it and it works! I am always looking for ways to save time because our time is valuable and I hate to waste it.

How to Tell if Your Eggs Are Good

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on August 30, 2012 None comments

When we had a chicken coop and a lot of chickens we learned a lot about eggs and when they are good or bad. I recently stumbled across this illustration of how to tell when eggs are good or bad and I thought it was neat.

Articles – Food and Groceries in America

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on August 23, 2012 None comments

While I’m posting articles I thought I would also share this one
“Going hungry in America: ‘Distressing,’ ‘humbling’ and ‘scary’” which makes me grateful that I have more than enough food to eat.

And the opposite
“Report: Americans Waste $2,275 Per Year by Thowing Out 40 Percent of the Food They Buy” which has reminded me that I can always do better about not wasting food.

And here are several first person accounts of people’s experiences with buying groceries and feeding their families in today’s economy-

First Person: Starving College Student — It’s a Reality

First Person: My Battle with Rising Food Prices

First Person: My Family Can’t Afford Meats and Dairy at Our Local Supermarket

First Person: Divorced Family Struggles Against Rising Food Costs

Frugal Quote- Personal Economy

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on August 11, 2012 None comments

“There’s not a lot you can do about the national economy but there is a lot you can do about your personal economy.”
– Zig Ziglar

Save a Page or Getting the Most from Your Newspapers

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on August 5, 2012 None comments

I buy or get delivered 4 Sunday Newspapers every week. I hate the amount of paper that goes to waste when I recycle them so I try to come up with as many ways as possible to use them. I give away at least one paper (minus coupons) ever week, more if anyone else wants one. Closer to Christmas I will save the comics for wrapping paper (see the cute wrapping paper here). We are about to have a yard sale and my mom pointed out to me that I should also be saving the yellow flyer ads because they are blank on the back and we can use them as smaller yard sale signs. I love frugal / green ideas 🙂

Making Home Brewed Sweet Tea

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on August 5, 2012 1 comments

If you have never made your own sweet tea then you obviously don’t live in the south. Just joking, but I made some sweet tea with our coffee maker recently and I wondered how many people actually do this. I used tea bags I already had in the house, put them in the top of the coffee maker, added water and ran the coffee maker like I would to make coffee. Let it cool, add sugar and you have fresh brewed Sweet Tea. I have worked at restaurants for years that sell sweet tea and they make it in a very similar way. This is something I make when we are out of other sweet drinks in the house and I am trying to stretch our grocery budget since I have everything to make it on hand. Note- I recommend using decaf tea bags because the tea can get very, very strong if you don’t.

Getting Free Gift Cards with Prescriptions

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on July 12, 2012 None comments

I apologize for the lack of updates lately. I’ve been feeling under the weather and today I went to the doctor and found out I have strep throat. Not fun. However, being the frugal person that I am I tried to look on the bright side. I had to pay $14 for 2 prescriptions but I was lucky and had two $10 Target gift card with a new or transferred prescription coupons. You can get these in a variety of ways- their weekly ad, catalina coupons, or home mailers. I didn’t know that you can use more than one at the same time. I believe the limit is actually 4. So I actually made a $6 profit in gift cards. I am always on the look out for gift card with prescription coupons. You never know when you will need one, no one plans on getting sick.

Lately, Walgreens has been giving out tons of coupons for free $25 dollar gift cards with transferred prescriptions. But I called and they are ONLY for transferred prescriptions which is why I went to target today. If you have to be sick you might as well get a free gift card (or two)!

7-10-12 Winn-Dixie Meat Stock Up Trip

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on July 12, 2012 None comments

So this isn’t a typical couponing shopping trip that I would post about but I figured that I would share anyways. Let’s talk about meat. It is easily the most expensive item on my grocery shopping trips and it is usually what I try to buy when I have decent moneymaker deals at Publix. But how can you save on meat not using coupons?

One thing I tried this year was buying an extra ham and turkey at Christmas time and freezing them. This actually was a really nice savings but not a lot of variety and I don’t have an extra freezer besides the small one attached to my fridge so it would be hard for me to buy more than 2 at a time.

To save money on meat I shop sales and recently I have been finding the best deals at my local Winn-Dixie. There are a lot of things that I find to be a lot more expensive at Winn-Dixie but generally not their meat department. They also have extremely good deals on meat that they put on clearance due to it being close to their sell by date. I freeze a lot of what I buy until I use it and we have never had a problem with any of their meat. The Winn-Dixie butcher himself told me he uses their clearance meat.

So on this trip I bought-

– 2 Packs of Sirloin Steaks

– 2 Packs of Chicken Breast Tenderloins

– 1 Pack of Pork Chops

– 1 Pack of Beef for pan frying (not sure what we will use this for yet)

– 1 pack of ground meat

I spent- $24.74 and saved at least $19 off of the regular Winn-Dixie prices and I’m sure it would have been a lot more than that at other stores. This meat should last us for the rest of the month and hopefully I won’t have to buy much if any more.

I actually wanted to pair my $1 off 2 Hormel coupons with their B1G1 sale but they were out of stock so I got a raincheck. We use a lot of canned chicken and this was a really good price at around $1 per can after the sale and coupons.

My Sister’s New Pull Out Couch for $39.95

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on June 14, 2012 None comments

Although my quick camera phone picture doesn’t do it justice, this is my sister’s new couch. My sister and her fiance are moving into a new 1 bedroom apt in a week and they needed a new couch. I had mentioned that if they were able to buy a pull out couch they would have somewhere for people to stay if they were staying over. The next day my mother and I found this adorable little sleeper sofa at one of our favorite thrift shops for $39.95. My sister went back and bought it and the store was even kind enough to hold it for her until the day they move so they will have the Uhaul to transport it. It even matches the pattern on their dining room chairs.

I highly recommend that anyone looking for furniture at least browse their local thrift / resale shops before spending a lot of money. A lot of older pieces are really well made and have a lot of character or can be refinished.