How are things in your corner of the world? Is it starting to feel like Fall time yet? It sure isn't over here, but I am trying to be patient and remind myself that Fall IS coming, even though it is still feeling rather the same as summer.
Did anyone decide to check out the free class on Prayer that I linked to last week? That little class was a blessing to me. I am keeping my eye open for more free classes offered by the same ministry, and may end up doing another on-line class with them. I believe their goal is to have one free class available each month. I may not be personally interested in every class that is offered, but if I do sign up for a class I will try and remember to share it with you here.
So what ways did you find to save money and bless your family last week? Our homeschool has started up several weeks ago, which actually ends up saving money--at least after our supplies and curriculum is purchased for the year, because when school is going on I am usually too busy to do a lot of browsing in the stores. So out of the stores typically means being busy at home and not spending money elsewhere!
I did make one big shopping run on Thursday. My daughter and I had a list of eight stores we wanted/needed to get to. We ran out of time--partly because we had so many stops, and partly because we ran into some dear friends while in store number six, so ended up talking with them for a while and then needed to hurry back home for supper and an evening appointment. But I would still say that combining trips while out and about is a good way to save money on gas, as well as save time.
One of the stops we made was at Office Depot. They were having a special where if you purchased some packages of batteries from them and were a rewards member, you ended up getting back 100% of your purchase price in rewards. Now, typically I would never choose to go to Office Depot to purchase my batteries, as I can find them much less expensive at places like Aldi's. But IF they are going to give me 100% of my purchase price back--and IF I am going to use those rewards on something that I really do use--and IF I can buy that item at a reasonable cost where it is not more expensive than just buying it straight out at Walmart--then I consider it a good deal. So I went ahead and bought the batteries, purchasing one package of AA and one of AAA size. It has been a while since I shopped with the Office Depot rewards, and this time I didn't even need to go home and submit my purchase--it submitted automatically for me, which I liked. And sure enough, it did not take long at all, but just a couple days later I received an e-mail telling me that my rewards had been credited to my account. I wrote myself a post-it note on my calendar, reminding myself to not forget to spend those rewards in the next little while.
Another one of our stops was JCPenney, where we went to pick up some pictures we had taken recently. At the time we had our pictures taken, it was less expensive to sign up for their picture "club," I think they call it "Perks" or something like that. It cost us $19 to sign up for their picture club for two years, and that membership will wave any sitting fees for two years of time. If we had not signed up for the two year membership, we would have been charged a $10 fee for each person in the photo shoot, and so for our little family that would have cost us $40 just in sitting fees, and that doesn't include actually any purchase of pictures. So even if we never went there for any additional pictures, it was still a money saver to sign up for the two year club membership.
On our way upstairs to the photo studio, my daughter and I walked past a summer clearance area. She has been needing some new sun glasses, as the ones she has work but they do not fit her face well and slide down her nose every time she tilts her head. We stopped to check out the 70% off sunglasses, and found some that only started at $7.00, and then were 70% off of that. In addition, she has also been wanting a summer sun hat that is "pretty." She has a more practical sun hat that looks good with jeans, but wanted a prettier one for wearing with sun dresses, etc. Well, with a bit of looking around we found one that she liked that was on clearance for around $4.00. While we waited in line to pay for these two items, I pulled the JCPenney's web site up on my phone using the store wifi and found a 20% off coupon that they were able to apply to that day's purchase. We ended up getting the sunglasses plus hat, including tax for $5.50. I thought that was a very decent price to make my teen happy, and besides that, she RARELY asks for clothes so when we do find something that was on our "to look for" list I am always happy. The weather is still warm enough for her to be using the sunglasses and sun hat right now, and besides that summer will be coming around again next year!
Another one of our stops was Kohls, where I exchanged an item I had purchased previously for the same exact article but in a different size. I have learned that if I have used Kohls cash to purchase something, and then need to return it, if I return it I end up losing my Kohls cash because of course they are only going to give me the amount of money that I paid for the item. But if I EXCHANGE it for the exact same item, just a different size, then my Kohls cash still applies to my purchase and I still get my article of clothing. Even if the price has gone back up, I will not owe anything extra if I am exchanging. So I did the exchange, and then we went to look for some new dress shoes for my daughter. Now, some people may have feet that are easy to fit, but my daughter is NOT one of them! Her feet are LONG and very narrow--my hubby refers to them as "flippers," because our daughter swims very well so he teases that that is why. AND in addition to that, she also has sensitivities to clothing--including shoes--so in all reality wants shoes (or pants, or tops, or dresses) that fit her body but that she cannot FEEL them on her body. If she can FEEL the shoes, they are uncomfortable to her. She is not trying to be difficult--her skin is just honestly hyper sensitive! SO. I am always taking a VERY deep breath whenever we head out to go shoe shopping! I also pray--a lot! And know that there is only a very small chance that we will actually come home with shoes from our first shopping trip, and it might take two or three trips, or even several months of looking before we find shoes that fit all the criteria they need to fit--and actually fit the feet as well! But having had good success one other time at Kohl's, since we were looking for shoes to replace the shoes we had found before at Kohl's, I decided to try there again. SUCCESS!!!! We found some! Black, dressy FLAT shoes--she does not want any heel at all if possible--that she said were comfortable! Well, she really needed one size shoe for her larger foot, and the next shoe size down for her smaller foot, but since I cannot afford to purchase two pairs of shoes just to end up with one pair, we buy the larger size and then try and pad up a bit the shoe for the smaller foot. The shoes we found were originally around $80, on sale for $45. I had a $10 off of a $25 purchase coupon, which did bring them down to $35. It was still more than I would have LIKED to pay--especially for shoes that she likely will grow out of after this winter--but she needed them badly and given the trouble we have finding shoes to fit her feet I looked at her and didn't blink an eye about rushing to the cash register and purchasing them!!! I was simply rejoicing that we had FOUND them! Besides that--two of her "new" dresses that these shoes will go with we found at two different thrift shops. One--a full length navy blue satin dress we found for $7.50, and it looks absolutely beautiful on her. The second--a full length black formal dress, we found at a thrift store for .75 cents. Yes, that is right--.75 cents. So if we needed to pay more for shoes to fit her, averaging things together her outfits are not ending up costing that much. And basic black shoes will go with everything.
The last thing on my list of saving money last week was making Apple Crisp! This is a yummy way to save money! On Sunday afternoon, we drove up to a fairly nearby apple orchard, and purchased two 40 pound boxes of their "seconds." Now, the seconds that they have in apples are not spoiled in any way--they are just either very large, very small, or misshapen apples. Sometimes they have a mark on the apple where a branch hit it in the wind, causing a small brown spot on the peel, but it is not a spoiled spot. It just does not look "perfect." But they taste just as good, and are a good deal less expensive than the "firsts." For years, I purchased six or more boxes and canned my own apple sauce, but even the prices of the seconds has gone up, and it has gotten where I can ALMOST purchase applesauce for the same price as purchasing apples to make my own applesauce, and the work of making my own applesauce and canning it is significant. So while I am not ready to say I will never make applesauce again to can, for now I am not. But I still enjoy purchasing some "seconds" of the apples and turning them into yummy apple crisp, as well as apple muffins, sometimes apple butter, apple pie filling, apple jelly, etc. So I purchased two boxes for $18.50 each box, which works out to .46 cents per pound of apples. I cannot buy apples at Aldi's for this price! It is true that I am driving farther to get to the apple orchard, but it is such a lovely drive that we all look forward to the drive each fall, and look at it as part saving money and part little mini vacation!
So there you have it--those are the things I can remember that I did to save money this past week. What did you find to do? I would love it if you shared!
~Susan
1 comment:
You got some really good buys!!
Also I just wanted to say that I think it is neat how the little thrift store's book section has grown! Sometimes it seems they need another bookcase! I would love to see a photo of the book section at your thrift store! Lisa :O)
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