Thrifty Strategy- Ikea for breakfast

From Ikea.com

One of my best friends was in town last week and wanted to check out Ikea for some kitchen and bathroom ideas and just to see what the hype was about. I had heard that they have some good breakfast prices and I knew it was a child-friendly store, so my friend, me, and my toddler headed over on Thursday morning. We got there at 9:30, as I had heard that the cafe opened before the store opened at 10:00 am.

We were not the only ones there for breakfast, the place was busy! There were elderly folks, families with kids, hipsters, all kinds of people. Coffee was free until 10:00 and my friend got a full breakfast with potatoes, eggs, and bacon, for 99 cents. Our location offers free breakfast on Mondays. I had three Swedish pancakes with lingonberry and butter for $1.99, also a good deal. My daughter had a bit off of each of our plates. There was even a kids' play area in the cafe and a lot of high chairs and booster seats available.

So, if you're near an Ikea and in need of a tasty, reasonably priced breakfast, head on over. Their lunch and dinner food looks good, too. I also saw frozen yogurt for $1 and hot dogs for 50 cents. Have you ever eaten there? what do you recommend?

Thrifty Strategies for the Great Minnesota Get-Together

It's the end of the summer, and that means it's time for the Minnesota State Fair. Being a transplant to Minnesota, it took me a couple years to become a big Fair fan, but now I certainly am. Last year, I posted my insight on thrifty ways to travel to the Fair here. (hint: think park and ride, not driving and parking there yourself) We are planning to head there this Friday and so I'm getting my Fair strategy together. Some other tips:

From www.mnstatefair.org

The Blue Ribbon Bargain Book: This book sells for $5 both at the Fair and at Cub Foods and includes 125 different coupons. You can look on the website to see the vendors who are included. Some example deals include $2 off a corndog at Corndogs and Lemonade, $3 off BBQ Wings at Famous Dave's, and $2 off a steak or porkchop on a stick at Rajun Cajun. This could be a good deal for you if it includes vendors that you were planning to eat/shop at anyway. Sometimes you can find people giving theirs away as they leave the Fair, usually in the evenings and near the closing weekend.

There's an app for that. Yes, there is a new Minnesota State Fair app. It has a map and a cool feature where you can search for food vendors by categories such as type of food, prices, Blue Ribbon Bargain Book coupons, etc. You can also search for activities and merchandise.

Discount Tickets: Tickets are available for $9 (a $3 savings) at Cub Foods and several other locations in the Twin Cities through August 24. There are also several Discount Days during the Fair:
Thrifty Thursday, Seniors and Kids Day, Military Appreciation Day, Read and Ride Day, Seniors Day, and Kids Day. See the State Fair Website for more details.



Food and drinks can be a major expense at the Fair. There are so many fun foods to try, and you need to keep hydrated on a hot day. My recommendation is to bring some snacks and drinks with you.  Coolers are allowed but might be searched, and you're not allowed to bring in alcoholic beverages. Other than that, you are free to bring food and drinks.  Of course it's no fun to go to the Fair and not eat something on a stick, but even bringing your own water, soda, and some granola bars can save you a lot of cash when bottled water is selling for $3 to $5 each.

Have fun at the Fair! Post any of your Fair thrifty tips in the comments.

Maybe I've got this all wrong?

A couple weekends ago I heard a segment on Marketplace Money that really got me thinking. The author basically recommends that instead of cutting down on expensive lattes and finding other ways to save a little money, we should focus our time and energy on bringing in more income. In his estimation, this will be a better use of our time and will allow us to continue to live the lifestyle we want. Some ideas include giving private music or other lessons, helping create PowerPoint presentations, or organizing people's closets.

I see some flaws in this theory. First of all, if we increase our income but still continue to live just at or above our means, we will still have the same problem and will just have to keep earning more money. It seems to me that a combination of cutting our spending and increasing our income would be the best strategy. Come to think of it, I think that we could possibly solve the current fiscal problems in our state (Minnesota, where our state government is currently shut down), as well as national budgets with a similar approach!

So, you're looking to earn some extra income, where to start? If you have professional or technical skills, try http://www.elance.com/, which offers a way to connect businesses who are looking for writers, accountants, and many other skilled professionals to complete specific jobs or assignments. Craigslist has a section with similar postings. If you have some time, possibly look into direct selling such as Pampered Chef. If you're a stay-at-home parent, maybe you could watch another child some days. Or if you are handy you could do some maintenance or fix-it work for friends or neighbors.

Just don't forget to stay thrifty once the extra money comes rolling in.

Link to transcript of the segment: A new way to save Marketplace From American Public Media

Extreme Couponing: My Edition

Image from Google Product Search

As you may recall, I posted here about extreme couponers who go nuts buying items with multiple coupons and then storing the items until they need them. I decided to give it a limited try.

My first target has been toothpaste. It's something we use all the time, is easy to store, and we are not picky about the specific brand and type. Over the past few weeks, I have been clipping most manufacturer's coupons I have seen for toothpaste. This week, my first opportunity presented itself. A Target coupon book came in the mail which contained a $1 off Colgate Total coupon. Ha!  I had clipped a $1 off Colgate manufacturer's coupon two weeks ago. I marched over to Target and picked up a tube of Colgate Total for 64 cents by combining the two coupons.

A small victory, but I will take it. Do you have any recent coupon victories?

Post-Vacation Recovery

We just returned from a two-week vacation (one excuse for so few blog posts lately).  It was an amazing, memorable trip but wow we are now in major vacation recovery mode. I've been thinking about all of the things I/we have to do to recover from vacation. Here are a few:

Food and Drinks: We spent over half of the vacation in a rental condominium with full kitchen so that we could cook our own food and avoid eating out every meal. Still, the time away, with new restaurants, fast food, and fruity adult beverages and local brews to tempt us, left us in need of some detoxing. My usual strategy when we get home from time away, even if it's just a weekend road trip, is to cook and eat as healthily as possible for the first week. My trip to the grocery store when we got home included lots of fresh fruits and vegetables and my meal plan for the week includes fish, chicken, and milk or water to drink instead of beer or mai tai's.

Spending: When on vacation, it's OK and expected to spend more money than when we're at home (and we budgeted for it). Fun outings that can't be done at home (like diving with manta rays) come up, as do extras, like that fun new candy or flavor of ice cream you don't see at home or a cold bottle of water when you're out and about. Now that we're home, it's back to buying only what's on the list and planning out our bigger expenditures ahead of time.

The Random Things: There are a bunch of random things that have taken up my time since we got home. Things like laundry, opening two weeks worth of mail, organizing the almost 1000 photos we took, catching up on email and blogs, even adjusting our family's sleep schedule have all taken time. I'm almost there, though.

Soon to come is a post wrapping up the thrifty strategies we used while on vacation, as well as some specific reviews and suggestions if you're ever traveling to The Big Island of Hawaii.

Thrifty Strategy: Buying kid-sized clothes for adults

Right before a recent vacation, I realized I might need "water shoes," those flexible shoes that you can wear on the beach or in the water when there are a lot of rocks. I headed to Target to see what I could find. It turned out that the boys size XL shoes fit me better than the women's size 7, and were about $4 cheaper. Can you guess which one I picked?

I've used the same thrifty strategy when buying souvenir t-shirts, often the kids size large or extra large is the same size as an adult small, but costs less and sometimes has cuter design choices.

Have you found any similar deals?

Extreme Couponing?

From http://www.thekrazycouponlady.com/

Over the past year, I have read and seen several stories about so-called "extreme couponing." This involves using coupons and store sales to get items for a very low price or for free. Often these extreme couponers will get many many packages of a certain product and stockpile it, just because it is very cheap. Some of them are so good, the store will owe them money at the end of a purchase transaction because of the combination of coupons and sales!
Have you seen the TV show about these deal-finders? It's on The Learning Channel (TLC) and is called Extreme Couponing.

Here's a website that has tips and strategies, as well as weekly breakdowns for stores such as Target and CVS. http://thekrazycouponlady.com/

What do you think of the strategy? Have you ever done it? The jury is still out for me, but maybe I should try it for a couple weeks and see what happens...

Over 3000 disposable diapers avoided

Well, we have hit another cloth diaper milestone. Last week we went over the 3000 disposable diapers avoided mark. Here's a link to the post I did when we hit 2000 diapers. Every time I wash a load of cloth diapers (which is about every three to four days now) I make tick marks on a piece of paper taped to the wall to keep track of the number washed. I've been doing this since we started using cloth diapers when my daughter was three and a half weeks old.

By my count, we have saved $450 if we had used Target Up & Up brand diapers (about 15 cents each) and $750 if we had been using Pampers (about 25 cents each). Not to mention the money saved by using a cloth swim diaper rather than disposable swim diapers at 75 cents each.


Cotton Babies, a cloth diapering website, has been sponsoring a program called Change Three Things to have parents pledge to use at least three cloth diapers a day instead of disposables for one year. So far through this program they have avoided over a million disposable diapers going in the trash. Check it out!

Thrifty Strategy- Subscription Price Savings

Graphic from kingofalltrades.com

Wanted to share a method my husband used to save quite a bit of money.

We have had a subscription to SiriusXM Satellite Radio (used to be XM Radio) since 2001. My husband has always gotten the best monthly price possible by signing up for multi-year contracts. This year, when our subscription was up for renewal, the prices had gone up. It was time for a new strategy.

Tonight, my husband called XM and said he was going to cancel his subscription (disclosure: my husband had no intention of actually cancelling and was sweating a little bit, worried they might call his bluff). When asked why, he said it was too expensive. Miraculously, the customer service representative was able to offer him a "special" limited-time deal that was less than any of the advertised prices. So, we now have a year subscription for around $8 per month. Nice.

Thrifty lesson learned: if the price of a service or subscription goes up, see what they will offer you if you threaten to quit!

Thrifty Strategy- Salad Bar Tips

We've all been there. Just trying to have a healthy lunch, we head to the salad bar. We create a masterpiece of lettuce, toppings, and dressing. Then we get to the checkout scale and reality hits. That plastic box of greens cost over $10? What did I do wrong?

In March, the New York Times did an article on smart salad bar strategies "How to Beat the Salad Bar." The graphic they provided is below. In a nutshell, you should go for the items that cost more per pound on their own than the salad bar charges. So for example, piling your salad with sun-dried tomatoes that would cost $9.99 per pound elsewhere is a good value if the salad bar charges $7.99 per pound.


Graphic from NYT.com

 
Rachael Ray recently did a segment on her show about the same topic. Best Value at the Salad Bar One great tip shared there was to skip salad dressing from the salad bar and dress it yourself when you get back to your desk- just keep a bottle of your favorite dressing in the fridge or some packets of dressing in your desk drawer. That way you're not paying for the weight of the liquid dressing.

One tip I've learned from experience at olive bars that charge by weight- make sure to drain out any extra oil or marinade you might have picked up when scooping your olives. A drop here and there can add up.

Go get your (thrifty) salad bar on!

Let's Get Rrrrrrready to Rummage!

That's right, folks. Rummage sale season "officially" begins this weekend! For those of you in the south, I'm sure they last all year round, but here up north, most wait until the weather is a bit warmer to start. This is also the spring fishing opener weekend, so many men will be out on the lake, leaving their wives to hold sales or to go shopping!

Last year, I wrote a post about garage sale strategy. However, I thought today would be a great time to mention it again. Some key thrifty garage sale tips:
- With the price of gas at an all-time high, doing some research before setting out makes more sense than ever. Use Craigslist to search for garage sales in your area. Once you find some promising ones, map the addresses out using google maps in order to determine the best route.
- Take some time to empty out your change jar, pockets, cup holders, and other places that coins gather. Keep them in a ziptop bag in your car or purse and use them for your garage sale purchases. Garage sale hosts love getting more change, and it's "free money" for you.
- If you really don't need it, don't buy it. Even if it's only 50 cents.
- Check everything over to ensure it's in good condition, and make sure to disinfect or wash the items once you get them home.
- Have fun!

Over the past two days, I went to four garage sales and purchased the loot you see below. Any guesses as to how much I spent? Answer below.

Black jean jacket, fleece hoodie, fleece hat with matching gloves, 2 pairs fleece gloves, four Christmas hand towels, Strawberry Shortcake beach towel, hooded sweater with flowers, new tights, new swimsuit, four pairs of shoes (two being Stride Rite brand), Connect Four (not pictured).

Grand total..... $20.25. $5 of which was from my change bag so really I only spent $15.25 of "real money."  Nice.

Thrifty Tip- Rental Car vs Taxis

From Google Images

I learned a good lesson when planning for a recent trip. Make sure to check the distance from the airport to your hotel and the price of a taxi ride. Sometimes, renting a car is a much better deal. Plus, having your own car allows you to leave the hotel or resort to grab some groceries or eat at a non-hotel restaurant. When making your comparison, be sure to include the cost (if any) of parking at your hotel or resort. On our recent trip, we got a car for the whole weekend for $77, a one-way ride from the airport was going to be $60. Even with a daily parking fee we saved quite a bit of money and were able to explore the area on our own without having to hire another cab.

Also, when we reserve a rental car, we always pick the smallest/cheapest car on the website. And every time, when we get to the rental desk, they don't have that size and we get a free upgrade.

Any other rental car tips you want to share?

National Park Week- Free Admission

A photo I took in Yosemite National Park

If you're looking for an excuse to explore a national park or national monument, here's a great one. During the week of April 16 to April 24, admission is free. You can learn more at http://www.nps.gov/npweek/.

Some of our favorite vacations have been to national parks, including Yosemite, Acadia, and Sequoia to name a few. If you're trying to figure out which parks are near where you live, here's a site to help you www.nps.gov/findapark/index.htm

Get out and enjoy some nature!

Thrifty Strategy- Grocery shopping in your pantry (and fridge and freezer)

As I looked around our kitchen on Sunday, I realized that we were very well stocked. It was also near the end of the month and I was hoping to come in under on our March grocery budget. So on Monday I only grabbed milk and some fruit at the grocery store and decided to try to make it through to Friday without buying any other food. So far so good!

Sunday: Spaghetti. I had sauce and pasta in the pantry. Also served a spinach salad.

Monday: Tacos. We had a package of ready-made carne asada in the pantry (free sample from my husband's work), tortillas, spinach, salsa and cheese in the fridge. I also served black beans from a can we had in the pantry.

Tuesday: Frozen (homemade) Pizza. We had made and frozen an extra the last time we made homemade pizza, so I just baked and served with a spinach salad.

Wednesday: Chicken. Crock pot applesauce chicken thighs, sweet potato fries, and peas. Chicken, fries, and peas were all from the freezer. (if someone comments on this post asking for the crock pot recipe I will post later this week)

Thursday: Breakfast for Dinner. We are going to have baked eggs, homemade waffles or pancakes, yogurt, and fruit for dinner.

Throughout the week our 14-month-old ate from our plates as well as eating mixed vegetables I steamed for her, rice cereal, mandarin oranges, whole wheat bread, etc.

Lessons Learned:
1. It helps to keep a well-stocked kitchen. I think I'll do a post in the future outlining the key items to always keep on-hand.
2. I spent very little on groceries this week, but also avoided using gas for multiple trips to the store as well as those impulse purchases that always seem to end up in my cart.
3. It was fun to look around and figure out what I could make from what we had.

While we certainly won't use this strategy every week, maybe it will become a new end of the month tradition!

Thrifty Strategy- Free 411 Service

Thanks to my thrifty friend Nicki for suggesting this one. Do you ever find yourself needing to quickly find a phone number and just dialing 411? A friendly person answers, finds the phone number, and connects you. Then at the end of the month you find a hefty charge on your phone bill! There is a better way.

My husband and I had been a fan of google 411, but the service was discontinued in November of 2010. Never fear, Bing now offers one. Bing411 The number is 1-800-BING-411. It's voice-recognition based, and the times I've tried it I have found what I was looking for on the first try. The only charge is any that you'd normally pay to make a cell phone call or to receive a text if you have the number sent to you.

So, you might want to program the number into your phone for those times you need it.

Does anyone else out there have a free phone service that they use?

Thrifty Strategy- CSA's



Photo by Kimberly Aime

 I am thrilled to welcome my first guest post to the blog. Over the past few years, I have heard a lot about CSA's (Community Shared Agriculture), where you join and get a weekly or bi-weekly box of fresh produce from a local farm. My dear friend and fellow blogger Kimberly took the plunge and joined a CSA in 2010. I asked her if she'd be willing to share her experience in a blog, and she did!

Badger Girl Learns to Cook- CSA's: Time to Sign Up

The post outlines what CSA's are all about, her experiences, thrifty potential, and the pro's and con's of joining one. She even includes links to websites where you can find CSA's in your area. While you're at it, check out Kimberly's Examiner page. She writes about arts and culture in the Madison, Wisconsin area.

Frugal Fatigue?

Have you been thrifty for awhile and are growing tired of living frugally? Many Americans have been tightening their belts for a couple years now, and are ready to spend freely again. A segment on the Today Show on Wednesday explained this phenomenon and some tips to overcome it.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/41733492#41733492

Thrifty Strategy- Saving on Gas

Wow, gas prices are sure high! They have been between $3.15 and $3.20 a gallon in my area for the past couple weeks. When prices get this high, our family starts changing our behaviors in order to keep our budget in line.

Our main strategy is to cut down on driving as much as we can. This is easier said than done. The main way we do this is by combining trips as much as possible. For instance, I was at church for choir rehearsal last night, then stopped at the Cub grocery store nearby for a few coupon items on the way home. Yesterday, on the way home from library storytime I went to the post office to mail a package.

Some other tips:
1. We use our Exxon Mobil credit card to purchase gas at Mobil stations. We get a percentage back as a credit on our account.
2. Keep aware of which stations in our area are usually a bit less than others, and fill up there. http://www.gasbuddy.com/ can be helpful.
3. Make sure that the person in your family who does the most driving is driving the most fuel-efficient car.

What else do you do to keep your gas costs down?

Thrifty Strategy- Travel Websites

In the past week I have been planning (OK obsessing over) a couple upcoming vacations. I've used my usual online strategies and have been able to find some good deals, so I thought I'd share them:



From Source

Hotel Methodology:
1. Use Hotels.com, Kayak.com, or another agregator website to search for lodging. They have great filters so you can search for the exact amenities you need.
2. Once you have the list narrowed down to a few properties, go to each of the properties' individual websites (for example Embassy Suites or Holiday Inn Express) and search for rooms there. You will often find different prices and deals that aren't available through the agregator sites.
3. If the price is the same, always book the room through the individual hotel's website as opposed to through Hotels.com or another website. In the event that you need to change or cancel a reservation, you're much better off dealing with the hotel individually.

Other thrifty tips when deciding on a place to stay:
- Look for a place that offers free breakfast. You can often fill up on a free buffet which saves you not only on the breakfast itself but also on lunch later. Plus, breakfast prices at most hotels are exorbinant.
- If you will need to park a car, be sure to check for parking fees. At some resorts and hotels that can add quite a bit to your bill. It might be worth paying a little more at a property that doesn't charge for parking.
- Consider renting a condominium with a full kitchen or staying at a hotel that at least offers a microwave and fridge. That way you won't need to eat out for every meal.

Flight Methodology:
1. Use Orbitz or another website to search for flights. Sites such as these are helpful because they can combine flights on multiple carriers for more complicated itineraries.
2. Also look at the websites for any regional carriers who don't participate in Orbitz
3. If the flights you're interested in are all on one airline (which they usually are), go to that airline's individual website to find the same flights and to book. I have found it's better to book through the airline directly. You will get the best price and it's easier to deal with the airline directly if there is a problem.

Do you agree with my recommendations? Have any experiences to share?

I know you were in suspense...

I bought the below at Target yesterday and got some amazing deals. (see blog post from yesterday for teaser/preview) I got everything you see below for less than the original price of the shoes!

My purchases:
Butterfly sweatshirt $0.98 marked down from $3.99
3 pairs sweatpants (3 different sizes) $0.98 each marked down from $3.99 each
1 pair shoes $3.74 marked down from $14.99
2-pak fleece sleepers $4.98 marked down from $9.99

Total Spent: $12.64 (actually a bit less than that since I get 5% off for using my Target Visa and there is no sales tax on clothes in MN)
Original price: $40.94
Amount Saved: $28.30

Everything but one pair of sweatpants is in larger sizes for my daughter to wear during spring or for next winter. Just proves again that shopping at the end of the season can yield some great bargains.

For those who shop at Target there are a lot of baby-related items on clearance right now. Also some great deals to be had in shoes, toys, and home decor.