Frugal Friday

So, we have been putting lots of money into our house and fixing it up. Of course, I am looking for ways to save as much as possible in the process.

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Here are some examples...1) we were able to get our washer and dryer at a good price on Black Friday, 2) Lowes had $5 rebate for each gallon of Valspar paint last month (we bought 9 gallons for the rooms we had on the list to paint over the next couple months), 3) Coinstar ran a promotion for an extra $10 gift card (we chose Lowes...imagine that) when you cashed in $40 worth of change (we are still waiting for this to come in the mail), 4) we bought Shop and Save and Giant Eagle out of Sears gift cards when we were buying all of our appliances and they were running promotions for double credit toward gas right before Christmas (I think we are up to 3 free tanks of gas now with all of those gift cards) and 5) hopefully soon we will be getting our $8000 tax credit for new homebuyers.

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We are still adjusting to the additional expenses though. We started 2010 with estimating a budget and a general category for "Groceries and Household" items. With it being the first month on our new budget as home owners, we quickly learned that "household items" covers alot of stuff and I hate to say it but I went way over in that category. (It sure does add up to alot very quickly buying those "necessary items" - last week I had to buy 2 lightbulbs for our range hood - they were $15 at Walmart even with a coupon.) But, I'm going to keep trying...I plan to be more conscious this month in tracking what I am spending and separate expenses and hope to be a little more frugal as well.

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Here are a few great deals from this past week:

Post Grape Nuts cereal on sale at Martins (I had to get a raincheck) = Free after this coupon when you sign up for their newsletter

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Single roll of Marcel Small Steps paper towels = $.15 with coupon from newspaper

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KMart Hershey's Pieces Candy = $1 money maker (2/$5 sale with $1 off coupon from the newspaper with a mail in rebate for $10 gift card toward additional purchase of Hershey's candy)

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I earned my Rite Aid $35 VISA card for spending $100 in P & G products see here (ends next week)

Oral B Satin Tape $4.29

Oral B Toothbrush $3.19

Oral B Toothbrush $3.19

Gillette Fusion Refill 8Ct $26.99

Gillette Fusion Cartridge 12Pk 1 $38.99

Gillette Fusion Refill 8Ct 1 $26.99

- $20 Rite Aid coupon from December Gift of Savings purchases, - $5/$20 or $5/$25 off purchases (see Rite Aid website for how to earn coupons watching videos), - additional product coupons

I figure that I will have actually paid about $30 for those items after I get my $35 VISA gift card...and not need to buy razors for a long time...

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Finally, another good rebate to keep your eyes open for is this one from SC Johnson...I made money on it a couple weeks ago using coupons with clearance/sale prices.