We all have those dreaded monthly expenses but why pay more than you need too. Don't be afraid of contacting the companies you pay every month and ask if your bills can be reduced. Shopping around for the best deal on car insurance cell phone(s), credit cards, etc. can save you money too.
I get a discount on my cell phone plan through 1 of the companies I work for. A few days ago I switched to a different plan and saved almost $40 in addition to the normal discount. That may not seem like a lot for some of you but to me that will almost pay my car insurance for the month. My car insurance renewed in October and I was paying way to much for the year of my car so I started getting quotes from other companies. I was able to save over $1000.00 in a year. That is an incredible amount of savings!! Plus the policy is for 12 months not 6 like the previous company. I got the new insurance before cancelling the other policy so there was no lapse in coverage, then I called the other insurance company cancelled my policy and got a REFUND of money I had paid last month. We got rid of our internet almost a year ago so we don't have that expense anymore. I upped the data on my cell phone and use it as hot spot for my computer. It cost less doing it that way and it's faster speed then the old internet. The internet in my area (rural) is so SLOW I don't miss that. Free TV is what we watch or movies we own. We got rid of satellite too. That was a little harder to adjust but we have now. Electric, water and propane all are priorities over paid TV. Depending on your income you can get a discount on your electricity-at least here in Arizona you can through APS-Arizona Public Service. Saving money is always in the forefront of my mind and thrifty living is huge part of who I am. I know that we will always have some type of monthly expense but I refuse to pay more than I should so I continually look for ways to reduce our monthly expenses. Don't be afraid to ask for a discount, you may be surprised how much money you can save too.
0 Comments
We like having a cat she is funny, sometimes moody and complete bed hog. The part that's not fun about having an indoor cat- is cleaning out the litter box. I've tried a few different brands and kinds of cat litter from clay to clumping. The higher the price doesn't necessarily mean it's going to work better than a cheaper store brand. We were running low on cat litter so when I stopped at Family Dollar I decided to try their brand of clumping cat litter. The price was good too is was $4.50 +tax for a 10 lb jug. It's about 1/3 of the price of the cat litter I was buying. It works like it's supposed too so I'm sold, I'll keep buying it. Our cat doesn't seem to care what is in her box, she just wants it keep clean. I grateful she's not picky either. Yes we do enjoy having a cat (especially when we can't smell the box...ha ha).
Thanksgiving was enjoyable and I was blessed to spend time with my family. Today however I'm enjoying spending time at home. Yes I will always have chores to do but today is more relaxing than normal. I got all the dirty dishes done before I went to bed and I dealt with the little leftovers we had so I'm already ahead of the game. Ha ha. I'm am not a black Friday shopper because I don't like crowds or fighting over those deals. So you won't see out & about today...I'm spending today at home.
I don't know about you but I like to have fresh vegetables in the Winter. I always start lettuce & spinach to have fresh salad greens throughout the winter. I cut some of the leaves and let them grow back. This year I also started radishes and carrots but so far only radishes have sprouted. Another tray will be started soon but I haven't decided what else to grow. The temp dipped down below 30 I'll be bringing the pans inside to put in a sunny window. You can do this too it's easy and good for you.
Not the ideal way to spend a Saturday but I hoping that next year my gardens will produce more than the last couple of years. I was disappointed in the garden results needless to say. I live in a rural area there is always neighbors with animals that produce more manure than they know what to do with....that's why I was able to get a truck load of horse manure that was pretty broke down already. It took me almost 3 1/2 hours to unload it (mostly by myself). I unloaded 7 wheel barrows then got smart and moved the truck closer to where I wanted the manure to go and tossed it over the fence and that help cut the time tremendously. I topped off all my raised bed gardens and the last amount went into my compost area. This is an inexpensive way to fertilize my garden and I'm truly grateful to have great neighbors like I do. Don't be afraid to ask your neighbors for compost items-manure, used straw, wood chips, etc. I wouldn't have thought about getting a truck load of manure until a neighbor read my WANTED sign out by my driveway. I was happy! I know that sounds funny I guess I'm easily entertained. Ha ha! I will post more on the results in the spring. I'm hoping for lots of moisture this Winter whether it's rain or snow. See why I said what a way to spend a Saturday...ha ha ha.
This was a quick trip after doing some merchandising work but even tho it was quick I was able to save $50.00 or 55% in this trip. I finally picked up the turkey for Thanksgiving- 18+ lb frozen turkey for $11.60, 6 boxes of stove top stuffing $6.00, Best Foods Mayo $2.99, 4 cans Swanson broth $2.00 and more for a total of $40.21. Now I was happy with that total. I didn't use any paper coupons but I did load digital coupons to my Safeway card.
After I got home I was get cash back from 2 apps on my phone. The first was Checkout51 where I earned $1.25 cash back. Best Foods mayo $1.00 Turkey-$0.25 The second was from Savingstar where I earned $1.00 cash back on Best Foods Mayo. So the mayo ended up costing my $0.99. If I would have printed a coupon (no longer available) from coupons.com it would have brought the price down even more on the Best Foods Mayo. Don't be like me and miss out on savings click on the link below and save on your broth. There are many other coupons available like Reynolds Foil, Campbell's Condensed Soup, Mezettas Olives, Ziploc Bags and more. Wow our pullets have grown so much and we put them in with the big girls so they all will be warmer this winter. They are so fun to watch, are discovering so many new things and learning a lot from the older chickens. I was worried for a while about them getting to cold but the weather has been abnormally warm so that helped to calm my fears. Now they are fully feathered so that will help keep them warm. The picture on the right are the older chickens and on the left is the younger (6 of the 8 we have). The older chickens have not been so nice when we've add to our flock previously but they seem to better with these girls, maybe because there is 8 of them not just 1 or 2. Chickens are so easy to raise and nothing beats having fresh eggs. You can't get more local than your own yard. I love my chickens. :)
They are happy and loving life right now, they can run around in a bigger area and they are out of our house. Those little things sure can make a mess so we were ready for them to go outside. They have a little house and a heat lamp ready to go for tonight. Praying all goes well and its not to cold for them. It would make me sad if I lost a chick. Yes my chickens are spoiled I can't help it so is our dog & cat. :) I've been composting for years but never seem to make enough for my gardening needs so each year I end up buying some to add to my gardens. Check out the video. www.growingagreenerworld.com is my favorite garden show.
My answer to this question is everyone. If you don't know where your money is going you should. I attended a free Financial Class this week and learned a couple of things which I'll share.
1. I need to start paying myself (savings) first before paying anything else. This isn't a new concept to me I just haven't been doing it and I really should be. We don't have any savings right now so saving even a few dollars a week will add up. 2. That I'm am doing quite well is all other areas. I/we got rid of satellite tv & internet and bought an antenna so we only get free tv. It's not very many channels but that's okay then I don't spend a lot of time watching tv. We can always watch one of the vhs movies we have if we get bored. Planning meals by what is on sale each week and using coupons saves me time and money. I smile when a cashier says wow you saved a lot of money and got a bunch of groceries. Usually I respond by saying I always plan my shopping trip ahead of time. On occasion when my schedule doesn't allow the time to plan my shopping trip I'll grab a sales flyer, go back out to my car and match up coupons I have to the sales items. It makes for a quick trip because I only buy the sale items. Recently I started to sell the excess Duck and Chicken eggs to help pay for their feed and a little pocket money. There is more ways to save but I'll save them for another post. P.S. the class I took would be great for young adults just entering the work force, newlywed's or anyone wanting to learn about budgeting. |
Click to set custom HTML
AuthorHello I'm Michele & I'm the matriarch of the Leverone Family Farm. I'm a wife, a mother of 2 grown/married sons and have 4 adorable grand kids. Thrifty for more than 30 years. I love gardening, cooking and saving money. Archives
November 2021
Categories
All
|