Tag Archives: Frugal Ideas

8-2-15 Sunday Frugal Summary- A Month of Summaries

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on August 2, 2015 None comments

Overall, this has been a fairly frugal month. While I actually wrote about the frugal things I have been doing this month I haven’t been doing well with posting them on Sundays. So here they are all together for most of July and the first couple days of August.

8-2-15 Sunday Frugal Summary

– My sister Candy who also writes for this blog is moving and getting rid of most of her stuff. I’ll be doing a post about our successful yard sale soon.

– While getting stuff together for the yard sale I have also been getting rid of stuff that I didn’t need around my own house.

– I stayed at Candy’s house for two days to help hold the sale and she paid for all food and drinks while I was there which was nice of her. We also carpooled so that we weren’t driving two cars back and forth from Orlando and paying for gas and tolls. She also gave me $30 for gas etc.

– Candy gave me some household items that she was getting rid of including printer paper, construction paper, notebook paper, an almost new microwave, a comforter, throw pillows, boots and some household decorations. I do question the wisdom of bringing items that she was getting rid of to our house but we won’t be moving for at least a year and I tried to only take things that we needed or had plan to use.

– She also gave me a ton of food that she couldn’t take with her. See post soon.

– My mother had a gallon of the paint we needed to touch up the ceiling at her rental house where some other paint needs to be covered. We will also use my carpet cleaner to clean the carpets.

– My mother and I went to the bank and used their free coin counter machine (the ones in the grocery store charge you) for my sister and her husband and my brother. All together they had about $170 in coins. It makes me think I need to start saving my change.

– My very good friend happens to be a fabulous decorator. She happened to be in the area and came by the house and helped me come up with a plan for our master bedroom that I have never really decorated since we moved in. The best part is that we used only items that I already had in the house to do it with. I may eventually buy a new comforter and sheets but until then I feel a lot better about the room.

– I received some coupons for free/cheap items in the mail and newspaper.

– I’m excited to be receiving the El Sentinel again with free Sunday paper coupon inserts in it

– I received my free $50 gift card from my rewards card company and I will use it on Vacation

– Washed a comforter and hung it to dry. I will do the same with some throw pillows. I was given these by my sister.

– I believe a check is on the way for the coupons I have available to print on this site which I am excited about.

– I had a meeting at the university I work at and they were nice enough to give me a brand new professor bag with the school logo on it! I want to start taking advantage of more of the really interesting and fun free events at both of the local colleges I work at.

– Overall this week I haven’t paid for much besides for gas for the car and some medical expenses. Overall, a good week!

7-26-15 Sunday Frugal Summary

– I finally booked out rental car for our CA trip next month for a wedding. Hotwire had the cheapest rates at just under $30 a day for an SUV with unlimited miles. And I clicked through Swagbucks to Hotwire so I will also be receiving about the equivalent of 1% cash back in points called SB. Saved- $100

– My Visa Rewards Credit Card perks include free rental car insurance so that also saved us a lot of money since I would NEVER drive a rental car without insurance. Saved- $150

– California is the only state that doesn’t allow rental car companies to charge people fees to add additional drivers to their rental contracts so that is also FREE! Saved- $150

– Dresses for the wedding- We found gorgeous looking dresses at Ross for $30 each that look like we paid a lot more for them and we definitely could have spent a lot more since we are going to a very expensive wedding but we love our dresses and won’t feel out of place

– Shoes for the wedding- I already owned shoes for the wedding and Candice bought Nine West shoes at goodwill for $5.99.

– We also saved money because our dresses don’t need to be hemmed and we started out shopping close to home and we got lucky to find our dresses at the second store we went to so we didn’t have to pay much in gas or tolls either.

– Found a Visions Cookware stovetop pot and lid at Goodwill for $4.99, slowly buying Chemical free cookware saves a lot of money

– We have had fruit flies so we made vinegar Fruit fly traps that are also Chemical Free and they work.

– Earning lots of Swagbucks lately and will have enough for $25 in PayPal as soon as I am credited for doing this $15 worth of points called SB for doing this deal

– Went to ALDI and did a huge grocery shopping trip, I bought so much food it almost didn’t fit in one cart, and it was healthy food too, like fruits, veggies, fish etc. and it was still only $130 and WAY, WAY cheaper than any other grocery store around us. This should last us until we go to CA next month.

– We canceled cable when we moved 6 months ago and I would be lying if I said I didn’t miss it but I have really been enjoying watching shows online and on Netflix and that has saved us a ton of money. I have especially been enjoying watching Teen Mom 2 and Married at First Sight online for free.

– We used to go to free movie screenings all the time since there are 4 theatres that hold screenings right in/around the Orlando area but we got away from it when I went back for my Master’s degree and we got too busy. I’m trying to get back into it by looking at gofobo.com and advancescreenings.com.

– I sold some more books on eBay and bought some more of the books that sell really well for .99 cents each

– Redeemed points on my credit card for a $50 Visa Gift Card to use as spending money while we are on vacation in CA

– I got some free samples in the mail but I will do a post about that when I get a few more

7-12-15 Sunday Frugal Summary

– I received $100 for winning a teacher of the year award!

– I went grocery/household item shopping at dollar tree, I saved $8 by exchanging a few items I bought that I realized we were not going to use, our local Dollar Tree is really great about exchanges

– Dollar Tree now carries 6 packs of 100% recycled toilet paper which is great because toilet paper is the only paper product we buy and I try to always buy recycled to be more eco-friendly. The rolls are a little smaller than standard but not that small so I bought 4 6 packs and we will see how long it lasts. (Note- It wasn’t my favorite TP by far but it did last a long time. Two weeks later and we still aren’t out)

– My dad treated me to lunch near my new job.

– I sold some books on eBay and I’m working on listing more items.

– When we moved I gave all of my eBay packing/shipping material to another eBayer. I am glad I did because he used it and I didn’t have to store it for 6 months. However, that meant that I needed boxes to start shipping again. Instead of buying packing material I was able to pick up a bunch of boxes for free at Dollar Tree.

– Bank of America charged my checking account $12 because my direct deposit stopped for the summer (I am a college instructor). I honestly believe that Bank of America HATES teachers and I have this problem every summer! I need to switch bank accounts! But I did contact them through chat support and get them to refund the $12.

– We are saving money on our Hotel for our California trip later this summer by using an AARP discount since a relative can become a member for $16 a year. We intentionally picked a hotel with Free Breakfast, Free Wifi, and Free parking. We also decided that all 5 of us will stay in one hotel room to save money since we will only be at the hotel for 2 days before joining our family at a rental house for the rest of the trip. The hotel is also in a central location and we will be able to walk to several of the places we intend to visit.

– I earned enough points on my reward credit card for a $50 gift card, I choose a Visa gift card and use it for vacation.

– I finally found a 1 pack filter for our Zero Water Pitcher. It was still $15, which is expensive, but a Zero Water pitcher filter is the best on the market and filters over 99% of particulates from the water. Unfortunately, our last filter ended up having an odd taste to it (that may have been a problem with our water not the filter) and we didn’t want to spend $30 on a two pack of filters that we weren’t sure were going to work. Now that we bought the new filter and it has been great I’m wishing we had just bought it sooner because it would have saved a lot of money, time and energy instead of buying water for the past few months (not to mention more eco-friendly).

7-5-15 Sunday Frugal Summary

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on July 5, 2015 None comments

This is the summary for a couple weeks. I’ve been extremely, extremely sick and unable to work my part time job at the restaurant. Fortunately my main job teaching is done for the summer but I really haven’t been able to do much lately.

I have saved a lot of money in the past two weeks because for one of them I was unable to get out of bed and for the other I’ve barely been able to leave the house. Unfortunately, any money I may have saved has gone to medical expenses and missing work has been another unexpected financial blow. This only reinforces the fact that having an emergency fund to help get through times like this is vital and being frugal helps too, of course, because the less money you spend equals the less money you need. I’m really grateful for the help of my family and B during this illness and hopefully it will be over soon. I am also grateful for medical insurance because otherwise my finances would be in much worse shape without it.

Extra Income Update-

I didn’t earn a lot of extra money in the past couple weeks while being sick but figured I’d mention it anyways.

– I earned enough Swagbucks for a free $10 gift card of my choice. I love Swagbucks and have earned quite a lot gift cards in the past few years. If you want to join you can do it by clicking on my referral button below and help me out 🙂 Earned- $10

– I sold $20 worth of clothes to Plato’s Closet, I also discovered another store like Plato’s Closet but for women called Style Repeat, the clothes that they didn’t take will either be sold on ebay or at our yard sale in August Earned- $20

– I bought some Sperry’s at Goodwill and I am going to try to sell them on eBay as well as some of the clothes that Plato’s Closet didn’t want, I am going to restart my eBay business as soon as I am feeling better, I have very slowly started getting the inventory I already have organized

How I saved-

– I was able to return a couple of over the counter medical items that I didn’t end up needing and that was $11 back in my pocket. Saved- $11

– I exchanged about $7 worth of stuff from dollar tree that I didn’t end up needing for $7 worth of groceries. Saved- $7

– I had some coupons for CVS and in one trip got a 6 pack of Cliff bars, a luna bar and a travel size CVS brand Advil all for free. Saved- $11

Can you see the bored look on the cat’s face? Yeah, it didn’t work.

– I bought a small decorative fountain at Goodwill for $13 (see above) because I have been looking for a pet water fountain for our cat. I thought this fountain might work since it was only plastic and glass. This was definitely a frugal failure. However I turned it around when I exchanged the fountain at Goodwill for a dress skirt, a sweater, a clear glass Pyrex bowl (a move in gift for my brother because who doesn’t need a big glass kitchen bowl) and a set of three vintage Pyrex bowls. Saved- $12

– A local thrift shop gives away day old bread for small donation so for .50 cents each I got two packs of bagels and some kind of pastry. Saved- $7

– I bought crutches for a friend who hurt herself for $5. Saved her at least- $18

– We watched a movie we had been wanting to see at home for free instead of going to the movies. Out local movie theater isn’t cheap. Saved – $30

– Found a new dress with the tags on it for our trip to CA later this summer for $5.99 Saved – $9

– Although it has cost me a lot more to miss work, I have saved about $20 a shift in gas and tolls (I’m trying to look on the bright side)

– Bought what medical supplies I could at the dollar store rather than a drug store. Saved – $9

– I made my own all natural, chemical free dish soap from a bar of soap (see above). This didn’t save a lot of money but it’s a great use for extra bars of soap. I’ll write a post about this soon. Saved – $4

– We bought an entire watermelon for $5 and cut it up ourselves instead of buying it pre-cut Saved – $4

– We went out to eat for a family member’s Bday and went to a really awesome local family owned restaurant, this didn’t actually save us money although they are very affordable but we did support a local family owned restaurant (many of which have gone out of business in the area we lived in). Afterwards, we made our new favorite recipe a No Bake Peanut Butter Pie recipe instead of a cake. I’ll post the recipe soon! You will love it!

What frugal things have you done this week?

6-22-15 Found at Dollar Tree Mini Physician’s Formula Eye Shadow Palettes

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on June 22, 2015 None comments

I was excited to fine these Mini Physician’s Formula Eye Shadow Palettes at Dollar Tree for $1! So excited that I bought one for my sister and brother’s girl friend too. I always find this brand to be good quality and these can be $10 or more at regular drug stores.

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6-21-15 Sunday Frugal Summary

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on June 21, 2015 1 comments

Frugal Things in the Past Two Weeks

Unfortunately, I got sick last week and didn’t get last week’s frugal summary posted so this one is actually from this week and last week.

– My father gave us an IKEA bedframe that his neighbor was getting rid of when she moved. A similar one on their website sells for $50-90 Savings- $50

– I went through a lot of clothes and some of the boxes still lingering after moving months ago and came up with a pretty good pile of stuff to get rid of (see above). I’m going to try to try to sell some of the clothes at Plato’s Closet and at my sister’s yard sale. I will post if I make any $$$.

– B and I cut his hair– His hair grows really quickly and cutting it at home every couple months saves us a lot of money and it really doesn’t look any different than going to a barber. He also trims my hair when I need it but that’s less frequently than his hair. The link below is to the kit he uses. It’s cheap and works really well. Savings- $15

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-There was a meeting at the restaurant I work at on the weekends and because it’s almost an hour from our house I stayed the night at my sister’s house so I didn’t drive home at 1am to drive back at 8am the next day. It also saved me some money on tolls and gas. Savings- $15

– After the meeting, there were left over travel coffee cups, a bag of sugars and creamers, and a bunch of plastic knives that my manager was going to throw away. I love disposable coffee cups but won’t buy them because they are bad for the environment and expensive. Savings- $3

– At the meeting my manager also gave me a free uniform shirt. Savings- $10

– They also fed us coffee, bagels, and donuts for breakfast. Savings- $10

– After working at the restaurant, I knew I was too tired to cook so I ordered TOGO food with my discount a 2 for $20 meal becomes a $10 deal. I got chips with salsa and guacamole and two meals all included in that $10. That $10 of food has been at least 4 meals. That’s cheaper than going to the grocery store and cooking at home.

– We are using the Citi Kitty program to toilet train our cat but we have hit some bumps in the road. We needed to go back a step but didn’t want to buy another kit so I was able to fix the one we have with a piece of plastic cut out of an empty water jug for free. Savings- $30

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– We have been enjoying watching shows streaming at home which always saves money over going out. Savings- Hard to Say

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– B used the fandango gift card his father gave him so that we could go see Jurassic World for FREE. We also bought candy at the dollar store and a 24 pack of water bottles for $3.69 to take a couple to the theatre to save money on snacks and drinks. Savings- $32

– Six of us went out to eat before the movie and we hurried to the restaurant to be there before the 4pm lunch specials end. Although not as cheap as eating at home, it was a lot of food for really cheap and we took home our left overs so we also got dinner included in the price. Savings just for the two of us- $20

– I saved my used plastic conditioner jar and took the label off to use to hold my baking soda water mix face wash in the shower. I try not to store much in plastic but I make an exception for items in the shower that may be dropped because I don’t want glass in my bare feet. Savings- Hard to Say

– I made more 4 ingredient, no cooking, chemical free, laundry detergent today. It works really well, has no smell, and I already have all of the ingredients hanging out in the house. Did I mention it’s dirt cheap to make? Click here to get the recipe. Savings- $6

– Stocked up on Ibuprofen and Migraine medicine at dollar tree- Savings- $8

Total Savings- $209 Not too bad!

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.

8-11-12 Goodwill Shopping Trip

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on August 19, 2014 None comments

Yesterday I had to drive out to the university I work at. There is a Goodwill on my way home in a nice area that I love going to. As always, second hand shopping can be hit or miss but yesterday I made some great finds. For the first time every I’m actually posting some pictures of me wearing the clothes (minus my face). When I lay them out on the couch there just isn’t the same effect.

The red shirt above was half off for less than $2 and the pink shirt was about $3. I paired them with my favorite pencil skirt (also from goodwill for about $3.69) and thrifted shoes.

Totals-

3 Dress Skirts
8 Shirts
2 Sweaters
1 Dress
1 Jacket

Total- $44 or average of $2.93 each item, some of the items were half off

Note- This is a lot more than I usually spend in one thrift shopping trip but when I find a lot of nice stuff that I need for great deals it still saves me a lot of money.

This dress was $5.99 new with the tags still on. It’s a halter dress so I paired it with a small black sweater to make it more professional that I believe cost me .50 cents at another thrift shop. The heels I bought during this thrift shopping trip for $2.

I also bought these three dress skirts, the tan one is from Ann Taylor loft, the purple one is from H&M, and the grey one is from charlotte ruse and the great chunky knitted jacket that I love is from Target. I tried them on with other thrifted shoes.

8-9-14 Thrift Shopping Trip

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on August 12, 2014 None comments

I need more dress clothes for when I start teaching again this month. Everyone who wears dress clothes to work knows they can be EXPENSIVE. So my friend and I decided to make a quick trip to a little church thrift store in a 100 year old house. It’s only open on Thursday nights and weekend mornings but the prices are fantastic. I spent $12 total and got everything pictured. All of the shirts were .50 cents each!
The dress flats on the left were .75 cents and the dress heels on the right were $2.00! So exciting! I will definitely wear them to teach.

I also needed some little dishes for our cat and I found an entire set of small bowls (they look much larger in the picture) and 1 plate for .15 cents each! I almost bought some for .50 cents each at another thrift shop but now I’m glad I didn’t.

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!