The Thrifty, Frugal Mom

Friday, January 6, 2012

The Thrifty Frugal Mom Moved...

to Parents.com. Come visit my blog there!

For those of you that subscribe via email or a blog reader you will need to resubscribe to the new blog. And remember you can follow me on Twitter and Facebook too.

To learn more about my move to Parents.com read this post.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

My Savings in 2011

I was curious just how much I saved by shopping sales and using coupons this year so I went back and looked at my Monthly Spending Summaries and did the math. Here is how much I saved each month with both coupons and sales:

January: $551.47
February: $624.50
March: $554.15
April: $410.34
May: $265.12
June: $405.28
July: $206.80
August: $265.95
September: $461.74
October: $330.18
November: $525.66
December: $209.70

That comes to a total of $4810.89!

Add in the rebates (including Rite Aid Single Check Rebates) that I got and I saved over $5,000. So yes, I'm still sold on couponing, just in case you were wondering!

Monthly Spending Summary (Dec.)

I was very excited to come out ahead in my grocery budget for the year! After being over budget the last couple of months rather badly I was starting to think maybe I wouldn't be able to actually keep my budget for the year. But I really tried to keep my spending minimal for Dec. That coupled with the fact that we were gone for pretty much a whole week really helped.

Now I'm trying to decide if I should try to keep my grocery budget for 2012 at $190 or up it. I know the deals aren't as good as they used to be and yet I enjoy a challenge too. This past year I was able to stay within budget and that was even with buying ahead on diapers for this baby. (I have roughly 30 packs of diapers and several big packs of wipes stocked up.) I also have quite a bit of meat bought up ahead as well. So what do you think? Should I try for $190 again or up it to $210?

Monthly Grocery/Household Budget: $190
Total Spent: $74.56
Total Saved with Coupons/Sales: $209.70

Week 1: $19.43
Week 2: $14.91
Week 3: $39.2
Week 4: $1.00

Credits: $6.95
This was thanks to a Saving Star deposit.

Ending Monthly Balance: $122.39
Balance carried from Jan.-Nov.: -$91.41

Ending Annual Balance: $30.98
- In case you are confused, this is the amount I have left over for the year. So actually, I am under budget by $30.98 for this year.

Sunday Coupon Preview

Want to know what coupons to expect in this Sunday newspaper? Go here.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

New Printable Coupons

Food

Household

Health & Wellness

Pet Food

Monday, January 2, 2012

Weekly Spending Summary

I did very little shopping this week. The deals just weren't amazing enough to lure me out and besides we were away most of the week with family too. Other than a small Giant trip that I did I also went to Walmart and got a few things including some grocery items. But I had a gift card that I used for that purchase (I had gotten it with a package of samples etc. for new moms when I purchased something at Motherhood Maternity a while back) so it didn't even count against my grocery budget.

Giant: $1.00
Saved with Coupons: $1.00
Saved with Sales: $1.79

I went to Giant primarily to get some things for the food pantry I shop for. While I was there I decided to buy some WisPride spreadable cheese since it was on sale and I had a coupon.

Happy New Year...and a Few Other Things

I had a busy day yesterday so I'm just now getting around to saying....Happy New Year to all you Thrifty Frugal Mom readers! I hope this year is a great one for each of you and I hope that somehow this blog can play a small part in it being that for you.

I want to give you a little heads up on some changes that will be happening around here in the next couple of weeks. In November Parents.com contacted me about blogging for them on their website. It seemed like a no brainer to say yes to them and so right now they're working hard at getting everything ready for me to switch my blog over to their site in the next couple of weeks. I'm very excited about this opportunity to reach a broader group of people and impact the way they handle their spending.

As for how this will affect you, well really it won't that much. I'm going to be blogging about the same things I already do, only I'll be at Parents.com. Once my blog is moved you will find a redirect link here on this blog that will take you to my new blog location. Other than that the change should be painless for you all. :)

And as always, if you have suggestions on topics you'd like me to blog about, questions about saving money you'd like answered or anything else please feel free to email me or leave a comment on this post. I value your input and it really does help me know what kind of content you all benefit from. Not to mention the fact that it's always fun to know that what I'm doing is helping someone. Comments are like little pats on the back for bloggers. :)

Again, a Happy New Year to each of you!

Friday, December 30, 2011

Printable Coupons

There are some new coupons available to print. Take note especially of the $0.70 Kellogg's coupon (a great one for stores that double!) and the $2.00 Pull-Ups coupon. If you want either of those I'd print them now as they will definitely go fast!

Coupons.com

Coupon Network

$2.00 off when you buy any ONE package of PULL-UPS® Training Pants (Jumbo Pack or larger)

60¢ off when you buy any ONE (1) box of Beech-Nut® Baby Cereal

40¢ off when you buy any TWO Pillsbury® Sweet Rolls OR Grands!® Sweet Rolls

30¢ off when you buy TWO CANS any size/variety Pillsbury® Refrigerated Grands!® or Grands! Jr.® Biscuits

$1.00 off when you buy any ONE Snausages® or Snaw Somes!® dog snacks

$2.00 Purina Puppy Chow Coupon

Sign up and receive a $2 coupon good for any Purina® Puppy Chow® brand Puppy Food formula. This offer is only good until 12/31/11.

Tide 100 oz. (4 pack) $40.20 Shipped

Amazon has Tide Clean Breeze Scent with Actilift, 100-Ounce Bottles (Pack of 4) on sale right now for $40.70 with Subscribe & Save. Clip the $0.50 coupon (located right below the product description and price) to bring your total down to $40.20 or $10.05/bottle shipped directly to your house.

If you order this, don't forget to cancel your Subscribe and Save order once your detergent arrives, unless of course you want to continue to periodically receive them. Just because you order with the Subscribe and Save option does not mean that you need to keep getting these items. You can cancel your subscription at any time.

Amazon Diaper and Wipe Deals

* Huggies Pull-Ups Training Pants with Cool Alert, Boys, 2T-3T, 58 Count are priced at $15.82 with Subscribe & Save. There is also a $2.00 coupon that you can clip (just look right below the product description) bringing your total to $13.52 shipped (shipping is free).

* Huggies Natural Care Fragrance Free Baby Wipes Soft pack, 72-Count (Pack of 8) are discounted to $12.61 with Subscribe & Save. That's only $0.02/wipe!

* Huggies Snug & Dry Diapers, Size 4, 140 Count are discounted to $26.80 with Subscribe & Save. Clip the $3.00 coupon (look below the product description and price) to pay only $23.80.

* Luvs diapers are still on sale for $30.39- all sizes.

If you order these, don't forget to cancel your Subscribe and Save order once your wipes/diapers arrive, unless of course you want to continue to periodically receive them. Just because you order with the Subscribe and Save option does not mean that you need to keep getting these items. You can cancel your subscription at any time.