Tag Archives: Shopaholic Savers Updates

Frugal Review

Posted by Candice@Shopahoicsavers.com on January 27, 2016 None comments

1.My husband has a month free membership to high intensity work our class. He has been going about twice a week and comes back drenched in sweat!!
2.Last weekend my husband and I went to the discount movie theatre to see Krampus. Although it lacked most of the frills of the new movie theatre in our area, you can’t beat $2.50 for a movie ticket and the movie was actually really good!
3.I baby sat this morning for a friend and made some extra money.
4.I sold my first three items on eBay this week and have listed a few more!
5.Although it is around 45-50 degrees everyday here in Austin, TX I have yet to put on my heat. So far I’ve gone the past three months without using my A/C or heat! It has also been fun exploring my new town in nice weather!

A local park near my house! Texas is much more beautiful than I thought it would be!

-Candy

Setting Myself Up For Success- This Spring I will be teaching 9 classes at 3 colleges at 4 campuses

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on January 15, 2016 None comments

By Ney

The new semester started last Monday and I am teaching 9 classes at 3 colleges at 4 campuses. Yes, that is the life of an Adjunct Professor. I will be well compensated for it and none of the classes are classes that I haven’t taught before (Setting up a new class takes a lot more time than reteaching it).

Don’t get me wrong that is a LOT of classes! However, I am a planner and I am literally OCD organized. And part of that is getting ready for the semester. I am working on streamlining my life and a process I am calling setting myself up for success.

Here are some of the things I have been doing-

Stocking up on groceries for at least the first couple of weeks of the semester so that we have easy to grab breakfasts so that I can get out the door quickly in the morning and other food for dinners so that we don’t end up wasting money on take out
Filling everything that needs to be filled so that I don’t run out of anything for a few weeks
Doing as much as possible before the semester starts so that I have less to worry about in the middle of craziness
Cleaning and Organizing the house
Getting rid of junk so that I’m not trying to clean a house full of stuff I don’t want/need
Organizing my clothes especially my dress clothes to make it easier to pick out professional dress outfits 5 days a week. I have plenty of clothes and accessories to get through the semester so I’m trying to buy as little brand new clothing as possible and instead continue to buy 2nd hand.
Putting a set of everything I need to get ready in each bathroom
Setting up a better office area so I’m not always working at the coffee table and dining room table and also so that everything I need when I’m working from home is within arms reach so that I’m not always having to get up and grab things I need
Putting away the Christmas Tree and Christmas stuff
Stocking up on Pet supplies
Getting as much set up for my job as I had time to do ahead of time
Trying to be as efficient as possible with my time
Buying products such as Dry Shampoo, fantastic conditioner and 4 in one makeup that makes it much faster for me to get ready in the morning
I have been setting up the best possible online class sites for all of my classes because having those set up from the beginning of the semester can really help your semester go much more smoothly as a college instructor. Students can find all the materials they need, take quizzes, turn in assignments and generally be a huge help to instructors and students alike.
I’m really setting myself up for a successful and also frugal semester; however, I also know that there will be occasions where I will have to spend money on extras just to get myself through some difficult weeks because I get paid a lot more to work than I do to do some money saving activities. However, I’m still going to try to be as frugal as possible while earning as much money as possible.

So far things are going very well. I have some great class and I’m sure this is going to be a great semester. One huge advantage of teaching at the college level is that I can take the summer off if I decide I want to!

Goals for 2016!

Posted by Candice@Shopahoicsavers.com on January 9, 2016 None comments

Goals for 2016!

1.I am only going to buy my clothes from thrift stores. The only exclusion ,of course, will be undergarments.
2.Only buy items that bring me joy! I will not buy stuff just because it is on sale!
3.Research products before I buy them especially makeup!
4.Buy items that will last a lifetime that I will not have to throw away in a few months.
5.Work out at least 30 minutes a day! Lately I have been doing my own version of yoga/ pilates in my living room!
6.Read more and not just articles on the internet!
7.Become more inventive/ willing to experiment with food!
8.Research alternative living spaces/ tiny houses and if possible start to save $$!
9.Sell more stuff on eBay! I recently sold my first item. It was only listed for 1 day!
10.Go caving!!! I live about an hour and a half from San Antonio which has beautiful caves!

Posted by: Candy

Two of my recent thrift store Vision cookware finds. I intend to use theses until they fall apart!

As you can see below they can be quite expensive!

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12-6-15 Recent Frugal Review – Posted Late

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on January 4, 2016 None comments

By Ney

Frugal Successes

– I have been watching Married at First Sight, Married at First Sight the First Year and arranged for free the A&E and FYI Website and Ap so that I can stream it FREE live

– I was able to buy a pair of black dress pants for under $4 at Goodwill. The best part is that someone else had already nicely hemmed them for me (I’m short!). I had looked through all of the dress pants in the store and not found a pair so I was going to pay for my other items at the register when I saw another rack of dress pants in the front of the store and score! They don’t look like anyone ever wore them and it was enough to get me through the rest of the semester.

– The university I work for decided that they would reimburse me for my cross country trip to present my research, especially because I won a very prestigious award. Initially I had been told I would have to pay for the trip myself and it was really, really crappy to have to spend that kind of money on a work trip but it was a career move and I felt I had to do it! And I can’t believe that as soon as I got back I found out that I was being reimbursed almost $1,000!!!! (Above is a picture from my trip!)

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– I bought a $7 luggage scale off of Amazon (see above) for FREE using giftcards I earned through Swagbucks. We travel frequently and I couldn’t take the stress of not knowing how much our bags weighed before we got on the plane, if we stayed in places that didn’t have a scale. It was a great buy and works great! Completely worth the peace of mind!

– I have already bought an assortment of Christmas gifts for my family which will save me a lot of money buying gifts. I’m planning on going through them today and seeing where I still need to make purchases.

– I sold a couple of higher priced items on eBay this week! It’s great to make some extra income right before Christmas!

– I was able to change my phone plan to the $30 a month unlimited Metro PCS phone directly through the My Metro Ap without even having to talk to anyone. When they originally started this plan I was blocked because I had a phone not bought through Metro but I guess they changed the policy. My service is fantastic in the area we live in. I can’t believe I used to pay $80 a month through Sprint for horrible call service.

– We have really wanted to get take out tonight this week because it’s finals week, always a crazy week for us but instead ate dinner at home from the big grocery shopping trip we did at the beginning of this month

– If we are careful we won’t have to go grocery shopping again for the rest of the year (haha it’s a December joke!)

– I have spent a long time looking for dress pants at thrift shops without much luck. Recently I’ve had a lot of luck but they all need to be hemmed. I’m determined to learn how to hem!

Frugality With Mixed Results

– My dad bought a great deal on NBA team basketball tickets and really wanted to take me to a game. I love going to NBA basketball games! Since he bought the tickets I bought the food and drinks while we were there. This wasn’t cheap but I didn’t have to buy a ticket. We also parked in a $5 lot around the corner instead of the $20 garage next to the stadium.

– I might have found a healthcare plan for about $285 a month next year which is HORRIBLY expensive but because I have occasional health problems it will probably save me money in the long run.

– I have a brand new sewing machine that I have never used but I recently have become very excited about learning!!!!!!!!!! We moved away from the wonderful lady who lived around the corner from us and previously did all of our alterations (I actually told her she should charge more!) and so it would be nice to be able to do it myself!

Frugal Flops

– I made myself a sandwich out of leftover thanksgiving turkey and bread we were given thinking that I would save time and money from going out to buy lunch. And I got REALLY sick! So sick in fact that I had to cancel a class (I’m a college instructor) for the first time ever! So not only did I not save money but I don’t get paid for that one class! Ugggg! However, I did manage to make it to the class before that one (even though it was a really short class) so I do get paid for that class.

– Because I was so sick I was unable to buy what I needed for my first two classes final reviews at ALDI and Dollar Tree and instead bought the stuff at Publix. I love Publix but I’m sure I paid twice as much. I will use the extras for my other classes and go to ALDI and Dollar Tree for the rest of the stuff I need to purchase. Note- I did go to Aldi and Dollar Tree for the rest of the items and it was 2x more at Publix for almost everything!

– I forgot to grab the parking permit that B and I share as I raced out of the house. It meant I had to either pay $5 for a day pass or risk a $30+ ticket. I chose to buy the day pass. Even with the price of 1 $5 day pass we still saved about $100 this semester by sharing a permit and we have really done a great job of sharing and making it work.

– I forgot to send copies of one of my final exams to the copy center enough in advance so I just made them at home. I didn’t have to buy anything so all it cost me was 75 pages of paper and 150 pages of ink which I do buy as cheaply as possible.

Chemical Free Living

– We have been using Shugar Soap in the kitchen, chemical free and made from vegetables in the USA. We have been using it to wash our hands and instead of buying dish soap we have been using it as that as well. It has worked out okay as dish soap but the consistency just isn’t great and it’s really not made to be dish soap. We will go back to buying chemical free dish soap eventually I’m sure but it the meanwhile we are still chemical free and saving money. ALSO, Dollar Tree has started carrying Shugar Soap and it’s a LOT more than $1 on their website.

– It’s really hard to keep mildew out of our bathrooms without chemicals, especially because one of our bathrooms in our rental townhome doesn’t have a fan. Any suggestions would be a huge help!

– I have been using my electric kettle to boil water and this is great for chemical free cleaning.

6-10-14 Shopaholic Savers Update and a Recommitment to Frugal Living

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on June 10, 2014 1 comments

First of all I want to thank all of my readers who are still visiting this website despite the lack of updates lately. This past year I haven’t been able to keep up with ShopaholicSavers.com as much as I would have loved to. Here is what my life usually consists of-

– My Family and B (my bf who I live with)

– Teaching several classes at a large university

– Being a full time Master’s Degree Student

– Conducting my own research studies at the university

– Working a second job at a restaurant

– Sometimes working a third job for my friend’s online business

– Maintaining my household

I know this sounds crazy even to me! But you can understand why there are several things that I love that just got squeezed out of my schedule because there are not enough hours in the day. These Included-

– Running this blog

– My online eBay business

– Couponing all the time

At the moment I am on summer break! Yay! So I have finally restarted my eBay business, I’m trying to get back into couponing, and here is my first post back on this blog! A lot has changed in a year! I have been so busy that some of the more time consuming frugal activities in my life have been reduced (including couponing) but others have started or stayed the same. A year is a long time to recap a lot of frugal living activities but I want to hit some highlights-

– I saved up enough money to buy a new-to-me car with cash because my car that I bought off of eBay for $2,000 nearly 8 years ago is nearing 200,000 miles and these things don’t last forever. However, my little car just keeps on chugging with a minimal amount of maintenance. So while I would like something newer, nice, more reliable etc. It still gets me back and forth from the university 45 mins away without any major problems so I can’t justify buying a new-to-me car yet (even if I might want to).

– While we are on the subject of the car I should mention the savings of not getting things fixed that don’t have to be fixed especially because I am uncertain of how long I will really be driving this car. So here are some things I haven’t fixed- 1. The windows roll down just fine but are really, really finicky about rolling back up but eventually they always do (even if it’s the next day) so they haven’t been fixed, 2. My gas gauge isn’t entirely accurate anymore, I’ve noticed the needle going back and forth too much but my mechanic said this will be around $300 to fix so instead I set the trip meter when I leave the gas station and it really hasn’t been a problem, 3. After I smashed the car into a pole and my mechanic was able to fix it for cheap the paint on one fender is slightly another color (see above photo). This slightly embarrasses me that I work so hard and have a good job and drive a slightly two colored car. I wish it didn’t bother me but it does, but so far I haven’t repainted it, although there is a local place that will repaint the entire car for $189 and since this may make me more likely to drive the car for even longer (and save even more money) painting the car might not be that bad of an investment.

– I switched a $35 prescription to generic and it’s free! Yay! That’s a savings of around $400 a year.

– B started a new job at a local hospital and instead of going out any buying new dress clothes he went to our local thrift shops and bought everything he needed including three pairs of dress pants, dress shirts etc. in mostly name brands for around $30. You can’t even buy a pair of men’s dress pants for $30 at a regular store.– We found a cheaper brand of healthy rat food. Walmart sells theirs for $2 a bag as opposed to $16 at the pet store. We have to buy around 3 of the $2 bags to equal the same amount of food but this is still a huge savings.

– While I did mostly take a break from couponing, I also lately haven’t found the coupon deals to be a good as they used to be. Probably because couponing is now so popular, stores are being more careful about coupon rules and deals. So instead we have switched strategies and are shopping at ALDI and Dollar Tree more often. There are some great deals to be had there and we are still saving money and saving time too. Not that I won’t still coupon but at the moment this is saving more money.

– I am currently working towards a Master’s Degree for FREE! That’s right! By working for the university they are paying for my Master’s Degree! How exciting is that? I would not say that this is easy as far as time, energy, and effort go but free tuition is amazing.

– I am recommitted to living a more chemical free, eco-friendly lifestyle. We still do not buy any paper products (besides for toilet paper) and I have been buying only chemical free cleaning and personal care products. Some chemical free products can be more expensive but some are cheaper (I will do a post on this soon) and not buying paper products saves a lot of money.

– We have recommitted ourselves to eating healthy. Again this is one of those things that can be expensive but I have found some tips that have saved us a lot of money that I will share soon.– We were given a $2,000 Ragdoll cat for free that we love! More on that soon.

– We have spent a lot of time at home this year. We love our home. We work hard to make sure it is a calm, peaceful place. Loving being at home can save you a lot of money. Often we would rather cook at home than go out to eat at restaurants or watch a move from the couch rather than the theatre.

– We have also been enjoying going to the beach (We live in Florida!). We bought a $20 beach pass that will soon pay for itself and so for a couple dollars gas money we get to enjoy the amazing beaches and ocean around us!

– My sister is planning a fabulous and frugal wedding that I can’t wait to tell all of you about because if you are planning a wedding she could save you a lot of $$$$$$$

– We are having the opportunity to travel this summer and make up for a year when we were too busy to get away. We are crossing more places off of our dream places to visit list and we couldn’t be more excited. Stay tuned for a traveling on the cheap article.

So this article represents my recommitment to frugal living. I won’t say I ever gave up on frugal living but now I want to save more! So come back and visit and see what frugal fun we are up to.

9-29-13 Shopaholic Savers Update

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on September 29, 2013 None comments

I must apologize for the lack of updates lately. I started my Master’s degree full time and started teaching three college level classes at a University all in the same day. Since then the semester has been crazy and I just haven’t had a spare minute. I want to start posting regularly again ASAP. In the meantime please feel free to look back at some of the other articles on frugal living, couponing and saving money.

June 2013 Grocery and Household Item Budget

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on July 12, 2013 2 comments

So I’m a little late in posting our June Grocery and Household Item budget. My research study was taking up all of my time but it’s sooo worth it. We were crazy busy in June so I’m especially proud that we did so well on out budget. It has been even harder to stick with our $200 a month budget because we are becoming really committed to eating healthy and eating healthy is expensive!

June Totals-

Spent- $205.57

Saved- $63.34 (not including savings from stores such as Aldi and Dollar Tree which are hard to calculate)

Remember- This budget is for two adults and we eat almost all of our meals at home. This also includes all household items such as toilet paper, soap, cleaning products, toothpaste, etc.

See How We Have Been Doing With Our $200 Budget So Far in 2013 With the Links Below-

January Grocery and Household Item Budget

February Grocery and Household Item Budget

March Grocery and Household Item Budget

April 2013 Grocery and Household Item Budget

May 2013 Grocery and Household Item Budget

How did you do with your grocery budget this month?

Check back at the end of July to see how we do this month!

6-30-13 Shopaholic Savers Weekend Update

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on June 30, 2013 None comments

So because of what happened to my car this month I’m behind where I want to be financially. This is because I have chosen to take the money from my main summer job and put it into my savings and live on the money from my part time job waiting tables. So while I could take the money out of my savings and be done with it, I really want to try not to do that. My car is older and my new job is almost an hour away so I would rather save the money for a new car, but until then I will drive my car until it dies. So, I have been upping my side hustles not counting my summer research job, my part time job and this website.

My side hustles-

– Pet Sitting– I was doing this to help out a friend, not expecting to get paid, but she actually put the money in my shirt as I was trying to get away from her.

– My online eBay business– I had put this on hold because I have been so busy but things have slowed down a little on my other jobs so I have restarted this and really ramped it up.

– Selling to Text Book Sites– along with my eBay business, I also sell books through bookscouter.com to various textbook sites, this month I sent out $100 worth of textbook books and I’m hoping they will take about $70 worth but they pay the shipping so I figured if a book was in questionable condition I would still send it

– Yard Sale– we are about to have a yard sale. We were going to do this last month but we thought we were going to be rained out and then it was a beautiful day, too bad it was after we had already canceled

I am planning on writing posts on how to do/get started with each of these individually but I haven’t gotten to it yet because I have been so busy with said side hustles.

Shopaholic Savers Weekend Update- So I was really trying to save money this month and then…

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on June 22, 2013 2 comments

Life Update-

So for those of you who don’t know my work life right now consists of-

1. Conducting a Research Study under a fellowship for a large university.
2. Working as a server on weekends at a restaurant
3. This Website
4. My online eBay/Amazon book store business– this one has currently been put on hold because I am so busy with everything else but I hope to pick it up again soon

I try to pay my bills with the money from waiting tables so that I can save the rest. I was doing well this month trying to save money and not spend much so I could focus on working from home. As you can see from the pictures this didn’t end up working out too well.

Remember my post a couple of months ago about how excited I was to fix the mirror on my car by myself? Well then I had one really bad day financially which involved missing my exit on the highway, getting a parking ticket, and then hitting a pole while backing out in a parking garage (it was in my blind spot, I swear!). All together this was almost $300 worth of mistakes in ONE day! Uggggg!!!!!

However, I am grateful that I do have an emergency fund to cover it. And I’m grateful that we have a fantastic mechanic who went to the junk yard and found parts for my car and then primed it for a lot cheaper than I would have paid anywhere else and he did this very quickly.

So here is the question- Should I pay to have my whole car painted?

The whole car is in need of a paint job because it’s an older car and I think I could get this done for less than $300 (Hopefully!). Then it would look really nice for my new teaching job at the university in a couple of months. I bought the car for $2,000 off of eBay seven years ago and I have taken excellent care of it. I am planning on driving my car until it dies but I don’t know if that will be *knock on wood* years from now or sometime sooner. However, it really doesn’t look that bad (see below). It really could look a lot worse. So what do you think?

April 2013 Grocery and Household Item Budget

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on May 2, 2013 6 comments

Another month has flown by! Although we did go slightly over our budget this month I’m still content with what we spent because this has been a crazy month! See our weekend update for more info on that!

April Totals-

Spent- $211.25

Saved- $116.86 (not including savings from stores such as Aldi and Dollar Tree which are hard to calculate)

Remember- This budget is for two adults and we eat almost all of our meals at home. This also includes all household items such as toilet paper, soap, toothpaste, etc.

We spent a little more this month just because we have been sooo busy that we didn’t have as much time to bargain shop but we did get some great deals on some things that we will be eating in the coming month.

Some of Our Shopping Trips This Month-

4-16-13 Publix Shopping Trip- Spent $19.94 and Saved $51.90

4-8-13 CVS Shopping Trip

See How We Have Been Doing With Our $200 Budget So Far in 2013 With the Links Below-

January Grocery and Household Item Budget

February Grocery and Household Item Budget

March Grocery and Household Item Budget

How did you do with your grocery budget this month?

Check back at the end of May to see how we do next month!