Open Mic is your opportunity to talk amongst yourselves. Discuss deals you’ve found, questions you have about coupons, rebate programs and share money-saving ideas. My only request is that you keep it related to saving money, even loosely related is fine, and always positive and friendly.
For these reading this in an email or RSS feed, please click on the title of the post to link back to this conversation within the website since they are sure to be really good, just like they are on nearly every post.
Your turn: What do you want to know about coupons? Saving money? Getting out of debt?
Baker’s Square has “free slice Wednesday”. Every Wednesday you can get a free slice of pie with any purchase. It was my daughter’s birthday yesterday and it was her idea to take four of her friends to Baker’s Square for pie. All I had to do was pay for the beverages. What a great way to celebrate!
Does anyone know where you can send expired coupons to those in the military? I think I read they can use them for 6 months past the expiration date?
That’s true, Melanie. I have a friend who is currently stationed in Italy that I send my coupons to, after they are past the 3 months that Cub will still take them.
Carrie, you are my hubby’s newest hero. He has been amazed the last month that I have jumped on the coupon wagon and started reading your blog.
Don’t forget you can get a free bag of candy at Holiday Gas Stations with every purchase through September (one per visit). http://pd.startribune.com/sp?aff=2056&show=print&highlight=dailydeal&adId=2447246
At Hot Coupon World there is a list of military stationed overseas who could use your expired coupons. A list is at http://www.hotcouponworld.com/forums/trades-expired-coupons/6474-overseas-military-looking-expireds.html. There is also a list of people at Grocery Savings Tips (http://www.grocerysavingtips.com/expiredgrocerycoupons.htm). Hope that helps Melanie.
We currently need a couch, mattress, headboard, and a range. Where have you shopped for household furniture and applicances? Has anyone tried haggling at the large chain stores i.e. Slumberland, Sears etc? Are there any independently operated stores that you would recommend?
Thought I would pass this tidbit from Kathie Jenkins of the Pioneer Press along. Happy eating!
Become a Facebook friend of T.G.I. Friday’s Woody and you’ll get a coupon for a free Jack Daniel’s Burger or Jack Daniel’s Chicken Sandwich. To become a friend, go to facebook.com/fanwoody. The offer ends when 500,000 have signed up or on Sept. 30, whichever comes first.
Jae, We have had great luck with appliance smart. They have great deals…I think my fridge has a dink on the side (who cares you can’t see it) but they sell new stuff without dings as well. We have purchased our dishwasher, fridge and microwave from them and have been very satisfied. Funiture we usually go to Becker furniture world…across the street is an outlet where we got our bed or North Branch outlets they have two different funiture places that are reasonable with lots of options. Hope that helps.
Jae ~ I have had good luck at the Slumberland Clearance Centers. I know there is one in Columbia Heights, Little Canada, and Brooklyn Center. We’ve shopped a lot for furniture this last year and they had great matress prices. We also looked at the HOM Furniture Clearance in Coon Rapids. I will only buy furniture if it is on sale or clearance and will only finance if there is 0% offered.
DId anyone else purchase the Bushnell thermometers for $50 and sent in for the $50 rebate? I send mine in the end of July and I still haven’t received my money. Just curious if anyone else did this.
I just got back from Target where I needed to buy contact lens solution. I have three daughters that wear contacts so we really go through it! Anyway, Target has the Optio-Free Replenish on sale for $7. Affixed to many of the boxes was a $3/1 coupon that had expired on August 31. (These were also bottles that had 20% more in them!) I asked at the pharmacy if they would still honor the coupon since they were all on the product and they said that yes, they would. So I got three 12 oz. bottles for $4 a piece. I have a feeling that after I left, they went and pulled all of the coupons off.
My husband and I are currently digging ourselves out of debt, that was mostly accrued while both of us were in college, and wondering what tips you guys have. We have made some progress and I have read a lot on the best way to get out of debt, but still feel like we are getting nowhere! I know it goes a little at a time, but I am tired of paying bills!
What was one thing you changed or did to get out of debt that worked the best?
Katy, I have friends that have used Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover (www.daveramsey.com, snowball method) very successfully. Personally, I have used the method of living off one income and using a second (part-time) job to pay off debt or save up for major purchases.
I am trying to get my coupons more organized and get faster at using them in the store what are some tips
Katy ~ granted I do not know your specific circumstances or your current financial situation/how much you can afford, but here are things that helped me post-college. 1) If you can afford it, never pay the minimum balance of a credit card or loan. If you can pay even a little more each month that will help chip away at the debt. But if you do pay more, be sure to put a note on the check that says “overage to pricipal” otherwise they will often apply it to future interest. If you have multiple credit cards/loans and cannot afford to do this for every one, then consider doing it for at least the one with the highest interest rate. 2) Have you ever checked/modified your exemptions on your W4 (i.e. how much you are witholding)? If you know someone who does taxes, work with them to determine the best number to use. I sometimes use one number for half of the year and change it for the other half. What I try to do is to have as little taken out of my check as possible, but still try to “break even” at tax time (not owe and not get a refund). Some people “rely” on a refund, but this is a bad habit to get into. 3) Shop around for insurance – and do not be afraid to change it up every few years. Switching insurance has saved me hundreds of dollars every time I’ve changed. I also received a discount for having “automatic withdrawl.” 4) Cut out the non-essentials. There are TONS of these in our lives. You might not be able to give up everything but can you think of a few things?? Starbucks? Movies? Name Brands? Lotion? Candles? Junk food? Often I check my cart before I go to the register and really think about if I NEED that ice cream! And finally, you may disagree, but another non-essential in my opinion is gifts. I’ve had family members openly tell us that they were not going to buy gifts for a year because they were trying to save money. Or maybe they made gifts – like a tin of fudge or almond-bark pretzels. It has never hurt my feelings to get a hand-made gift!
You may have heard these things over and over already, but these are just what worked for me. I had all of my student loans paid off in 6 years instead of 10 and cars paid off in 3 instead of 5. It may have seemed like a sacrifice at the time but now I am SO HAPPY to never see those bills again!
Katy- I second Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover course. Our church went through it last winter and it really is right on money:). All his steps are very sound financial practices that we use. I know several people who made a significant dent or eliminated their debt. It was a good refresher for us to tune up our finances and stash more away in savings. You can buy the CD’s of his class online or look for a course offered in your area. We have switched to a total cash system for all our purchases (except gas) and that has really curbed our spending love to have money left over at the end of the month (it’s a game for me) to stash away for something special. We used to use the credit card and pay off the balance every month saying it was worth it for the card perks (2% back in a college fund) but we always overspent because we didn’t keep track of the $ amounts. It was too easy to say “Just put it on the card”. Now we say, “well do we have the cash in envelope/ budget for it?”
I hope this helps and keep plucking away at your debt. It will be hard but just think how great it will feel when it is all paid off and that burden is gone and your budget is freed up.
I am thinking of using a photo album to organize my coupons as I refer to clip them rather that keep them in the fliers. Does anyone do this and how many photo pockets do you think I need? (50-100-200-500)?
thanks-
Jae -
As far as haggling on furniture, the best I’ve been able to do is get them to knock 1/2 off the delivery fee. I was able to do this by going when they were offering 0% financing. They’d obviously rather have all of the money now, so I asked what they could do for me if I just paid them in full right them instead of financing. I ended up saving about $50. Nut huge, but $50 is $50.
SP -
I did the $50 rebate and have not gotten mine yet either. Though I did get a letter in the mail saying they were processing my rebate. I’m pretty sure they could have processed my rebate in the time they took to write me that letter, but whatever.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get your spouse on board with the saving money thing? I really can’t complain too much about my wife’s spending habits. She doesn’t buy tons of clothes and has really contained herself more than I expected when it comes to buying stuff for our new baby, but I still feel like she doesn’t really understand that she’s spending money she doesn’t need to spend. It’s not a significant amount of money, but the little things add up. I hate taking her to the grocery store or Target with me because we always end up with $10 more in the cart than I would have spent. Just little things like that. I know I’m far from perfect too, but we’re trying to save for our next house (and to pay the money we’ll owe on our current house when we sell) and would like to pay down student loans faster. If anyone has any suggestions on how to get a spouse fired up to save money, I appreciate any advice!
Katy- We are doing the total money makeover…it is AWESOME. We started in June and for the first time in 10 years we have money in savings!!! Sad fact but I am so glad that we are getting on track now. The workbook has everything in it that you will need. You can get it on Amazon used for 8 or so. Cash has been the key for us to keep our spending in tow. I love the way that he just tells it like it is. Keep us posted.
Erika and Ruth –
I have found the best way to keep track of my coupons is by making an excel spreadsheet. I have one list for grocery items and another list for non-grocery items. For each list, I name the product, value, how many coupons I have, and the expiration date. It easily alphabetizes everything. I highlight any coupons that will be expiring in the current month. My coupons are then placed in a small check file. My categories are Dairy, Frozen, Pantry, Baking, Snacks, Health and Beauty, Cleaning, Office, Paper Goods, and Entertainment. It has been working very well. I print the spreadsheet off before I head to the grocery store and know where everything is. Hope this helps.
Nate– As far getting your spouse on board with your family budget you need to include in making your budget and tracking spending. Hopefully when she sees how the “incidentals” add up she will be surprised. I sure know I was it amazing how a dollar here dollar there adds up. When you see it on paper it makes a bigger impact. You could talk with her about having a cash only system with a “blow” (cause we all blow a little cash each month) line item for her to free spend. But you have to both be on board with the budget for it to work. I would encourage both of you going through the Dave Ramsey sessions together so your budget and financial dreams are a team effort.
Katy-The best changes I’ve made was to track my spending and to use coupons the right way. My husband and I not debt free by any means (mortgage, car, and student loans) but we’ve never had any cc debt.
Nate, Nikki, and Sarah Beth-thanks for the tips and suggestions.
We went through the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace program over the summer – it was wonderful, and the best thing it did for me and my husband was that it gave us a plan that we could both agree on. It put us on the same page, financially, for the first time in 5 years. I’d highly recommend watching the DVDs together or going through the progam at a church. (My hubby agreed to go with me as a Mother’s Day present!)
Katy – My husband and I were in the same situation as you and your husband until about 7 years ago when we decided enough was enough. I got rid of every credit card we had (and I mean EVERY, not saving 1 or 2 for an “emergency”). We got bank debit cards and that is all we use, so if we do not have the money to buy it, we don’t buy it. When we started I consolidated all the credit card debt I could onto a no interest credit card so that we were only paying down the principal, instead of paying a ton of interest and only a little on the principal each month. If these kind of credit cards are scarce or no longer available, you should look into transferring your debt into a loan or at least transfer it to a credit card with the lowest possible interest rate you can find. If you have multiple credit cards or loans, always target the highest interest rate first (meaning pay as much as you possibly can each month on that debt and just the minimum on your others), get that paid off first and then go to the next highest and so on. The key is getting rid of the interest as quickly as possible and eliminating all interest completely if you can. Also, if we do have a major purchase we need to make, I will not pay interest. We wait for the no interest, no payment promotions and then during the no interest period we make a “payment” into our savings account (using the amount of the purchase divided by the number of months we have until it has to be paid off) so we have the money to pay it off before the end of the no interest period. We have made many large purchases this way and I will not ever do it another way, barring some sort of emergency. For car loans, if you are not a member of a credit union, I would look into joining one. We have always been able to get no interest or very low interest on our car loans.
I also agree with Sara Beth’s advice about taxes. Many years ago I started playing around with our withholding so we are able to use our money every year instead of letting Uncle Sam use it. Whatever money you get back as a refund every year could be used to pay down that much in debt throughout the year and for many people, that can be a considerable amount that would otherwise accumulate interest during the year.
It was hard for us at first because a lot of our friends were the “keep up with Joneses” type, but I quickly learned to convert conversations about “how much” to “how much less.” I know that some of them think I am a cheapskate, but I am quite proud of it and happily reveal that other than my monthly utilities and mortgage, I don’t have the burden of paying a bunch of other debt every month.
Stick with it and be vigilant (and turn into a cheapskate if at all possible)! The freedom you will feel after being out from under that debt is much more pleasing than having a bunch of material objects that you cannot really afford. Good luck!
Kate – 2 words: Debt Stacking. google this. It’s working like a charm for us. No programs to go through, nothing to hassle about. Just a simple pay plan that works fast! Good luck!
Check out Carrie in this article I found! I saw this article on Yahoo’s homepage about saving money, and of course I clicked on it, and saw Carrie’s name right on top! Very cool.
http://customsites.yahoo.com/financiallyfit/finance/article-107695-2552-0-does-penny-pinching-really-pay-off
I’m glad to hear everyone loves Dave Ramsey! I recently bought his book and am starting FPU classes in a few weeks. I’ve started working the baby steps and feel very empowered. I cut up all of my credit cards and am super excited to be on my way to financial freedom!
I agree with the Dave Ramsey suggestions–great stuff.
There is also a blog I highly recommend: http://www.getrichslowly.org Poke around there, it is a terrific resource in many ways!
I also love Dave Ramsey, and we’re baby-stepping our way in his program. We have a long way to go, but at least we have a plan now!
In case anyone hasn’t found this yet, Kwik Trip sells hormone-free milk for less than $2.00/gallon right now. I also buy bananas and onions for .49/lb.