With a little over two weeks left in 2009, many of us are looking for New Year’s resolutions. According to polls, losing weight, quitting smoking and choosing a healthier lifestyle are the typically the top options for most people. But how about choosing a healthier budget? Would you like to trim some fat off your spending? To lose weight, simple changes like cutting sugary soda out of your diet, can trim your middle. Likewise small changes in your spending habits can chop the fat.
How much excess baggage can you cut out of your financial diet by a few changes? Would you like to feel $2k lighter in spending by making some minor shifts in spending? Do you realize if you save ONLY $40.00 a week, you can achieve a two thousand dollar annual savings? That’s like the wage increase you might not get this year due to the economic woes. Give yourself a raise in 2010. You deserve it, don’t you?
Here’s how to save 2K in 2010:
Make a list of all your staples, sugar, flour, eggs, toilet paper, foil, plastic bags, paper towels, cooking oil, etc. Include canned items, refried beans, canned tomatoes, or fruit. Buy these ONLY from an off brand store, such Aldi’s or religiously choose store brands- from your local Kroger, Safeway or Mejier.
What you’ll save: Buying store brand can save you up to thirty percent of these items. Store brand zip lock bags for instance, this week at Kroger’s, were on sale for $.88. Compare that to the pricey brand name which is nearly three times as much when it’s not on sale.
Depending on your family size, save $5.00 (or more) a week simply by buying store brand staples.
Get Sunday circulars from newspapers. Ask a friend to donate these if you really want to save on buying the paper. Or go online once a week, especially the first week of the month when manufacturers post the newest coupons, and print your own. Make a list of five to six cereals, laundry soaps, fabric softeners and cleaning supplies your family really loves. You don’t have to buy generic in all areas to save. Trust me on this- you can still buy brand name items on a budget. You just need to practice a little savvy shopping.
One of the biggest ways to overspend is to let yourself run out of an item you need. Then you are at the mercy of retail prices, which may or may not be favorable that week. Two weeks ago, Kellogg’s Applejacks and Fruit Loops were on sale for $1.98 locally at Owen’s grocery stores. Target had similar prices. With a dollar off coupon, I was picking this up for only $.98. Even off brand items aren’t that cheaply had. Stock up when there are sales coupled with coupons. Always buy two if you can. Last week, I picked up Swiss Miss hot chocolate at Target, for FREE, with the dollar off printable coupon on their site. It was on sale for $1.00. Using the coupon made it completely free. Usually I get at least one free product a week. Be flexible on items, you might not score your favorite brand every week on sale. By stocking up and being open to other brands on sale, you’ll truly save. Keep all coupons you can find for this purpose.
You should never buy laundry soap, yogurt, cereal, frozen items, cleaning supplies, over the counter medicines and feminine or beauty products without a coupon. Never.
What you will save by using coupons on groceries: If you use only 5 one dollar coupons a week, you’ve already saved $5.00, much less free or nearly free items above. Buy when on sale with a coupon to double that. Save $10.00 a week. Make it a point to use coupons only when items are on sale for the best savings.
Makeup: I mentioned that I usually buy cosmetics at CVS or Walgreens to a friend recently. She commented how expensive these retailers are. That statement is sooo wrong, it’s laughable. My girlfriend simply didn’t know how to score these cheap. Never, ever buy any popular brands, (Covergirl, L’Oreal, Revlon or Maybelline) unless they are on a buy one get one free sale. Don’t even buy these when they are on a buy one, get one 50% off, as that is not as good of a savings as it will be in a few weeks. CVS, Rite Aid, and Walgreens have regular buy one get free sales on each of these brands every single month. Brands are rotated weekly, store by store. What’s more, these stores have rewards programs that make most everything you buy nearly free as well. Then add to that by not buying them even on a BOGO sale, without at least one coupon to really stack your savings!
Here’s how to do that:
- Sign up for a rewards program with CVS online. You’ll be given quarterly 2% of your purchases back in a certificate, plus cash back on certain purchases. Walgreens doesn’t have this, but they do give cash back on certain purchases.
- Much of the time, CVS register receipts give $5 coupons on $25. Save these for a buy one get one free (BOGO) make up sale.
To demonstrate how to save, I’ll use this example: Revlon BOGO sale at CVS is happening right now. CVS will usually let you use a coupon on each item, even the free item, folks. That’s huge in savings!
I will buy 2 $9.95 Revlon BOGO items.
I’ll also buy 3 Suave body washes (on sale for 3/$6)
Almay makeup is also on a BOGO- (I’ll get two for $9.99)
My total will be $25.94
I’ll give CVS the coupon on my receipt from last week for $5 off a $25 purchase
New Total will be $20.94
Then I’ll hand over 2/$2 coupons for Revlon
3/$1 coupons for Suave
2/$1 coupons for Almay
My new total will be $11.94
I have another $5 in register rewards (CVS calls them Extra Care Bucks) from last week.
When those are deducted, I’ll pay only $6.94 for over $46 worth of items.
I’ll also get another coupon on my receipt for $5 off another $25 purchase and
$2 in Extra Care Bucks for buying the Suave this week that I can use for the next purchase at CVS.
And because I use the Green Bag program, which is another means to save, I’ll get points toward another dollar back on a future purchase as well. I’ve also racked up 2% of this purchase toward my quarterly rewards in January.
If I used a rewards credit card that gave me points back on all these purchases, I’d be able to add those savings as well, usually another 2% off.
Buying just one purchase like this a month can score you all the makeup you’d need for 30 days, (plus I also got some body wash in the deal, too).
Spend less than $10 a month on makeup a month in 2009? Yeah, you can!
According to a recent report, the average woman drops a $100 a month on beauty supplies, makeup and hair care. I should state that figure also includes some women’s pricey cosmetic procedures, but still it’s an alarming figure. I’d venture to say very females few drop less than ten bucks on cosmetics a month, though. If we are conservative in this analysis, we could state that you can save another $5 a week just by buying makeup the way I listed above.
Your total for the week’s savings, if we follow these tips is now $20.00. Tune in later for more on how to save the remaining $20 a week toward your $2K annual cut-the-fat in 2010 budget.