Online Shopping - Great Money Saving Ideas

When online shopping, I have learned a great idea for saving money which I would like to share: always search for coupon codes before finalizing your purchase.

Coupon codes are promotional codes provided by the online retailers to entice shoppers to their websites through offering free shipping or a percentage off.

I receive coupon codes in the mail frequently, but don't always have them handy when I need them to enter into the website. So, instead of purchasing the item without the coupon code, I "google" the name of the retailer and the word coupon.

A good example of this would be "googling" the terms "lane bryant coupon" all together (less the quote marks).

When I did this just a moment ago, I received a link to a page from coupon cabin which I have pasted below. It contains various coupon codes which I can use on the Lane Bryant website to save money when making a purchase. (certain limitations do apply, just like in the regular store)

http://www.couponcabin.com/coupons/lane-bryant/index.htm

or this one from Coupon Mountain:

http://www.couponcabin.com/coupons/lane-bryant/index.htm

It works for many online retailers. Try it out and if you find another great coupon posting website, please let me know!

Until another frugal moment hits,

The Frugal Queen

Red Box is the Best Find Yet!

Red Box is a new phenom which is extremely cool and extremely cheap! I love it!

On our way out of the grocery store last night, I spied a machine where we could rent a video. I had noticed earlier while standing in the pharmacy line that a large sign said "enter this code_____ and receive a free one night rental from Red Box". (Sorry, I don't remember the code right now.) Anyway, I thought what the heck, I would give it a try. Well, it turned out that the twins each decided they needed their own movie. (Like you didn't see that one coming.) So I decided to rent a second movie. Well, here is the best part - it only cost me a dollar!!!

Yes, that is one dollar (plus tax of course) for a one night rental of a new release (I am talking, it just came out this week new release). Unbelieveable! Here are the catches I saw:

1. Must be returned by the follow day, before 9 PM, or you will be charged another dollar for each day it is late.

2. If you keep it more than 25 days, you bought it.

Well, the original charge is not bad and the late fee is certainly not bad at all! I can tell right now that my family and I are going to be Red Box fans!!!!

Here is the link to their website if you want to check them out:

http://www.redbox.com/

You can search online to see where the nearest Red Box machine is located to you. Ours happen to be in a Giant Eagle grocery store and a Walgreens Pharmacy. I did read online that they are also located in McDonald's restaurants.

Here are a couple of other pluses:

1. You can search the inventory of the machine online before traveling to the location and also rent your movie ahead of time, so all you have to do is pick it up!

2. You can return your movie to any other red box machine, it does not have to be the same one where you rented it! (This is going to be great for long car trips!)

I will follow up in a few months and let you know how it is going. But right now, I am pumped about this new find!

Until another frugal moment hits -

The Frugal Queen

Frugality Must be Planned For...

...it is the times when it is not planned for that we spend the extra money. Case in point is this evening. The twins and I went down to the townhall to set up for the pancake breakfast. I really thought we were only going to be down there for a hour at most as there were also going to be a number of other people there to help.

The problem occurred when it was discovered that we were missing the cord to one of the griddles we use to cook the pancakes on. This meant that someone (me) was going to have to go get another one if we were to have three griddles at the breakfast in the morning. But, I had not yet fed the twins dinner.

So off to Dairy Queen we went on our way to the store to buy another griddle. I should have know better and fed them before we left the house. Or at a minimum have made them something to take with them.

Lesson learned. (Again.) I hope next time I remember and am able to be proactive instead of reactive.

Until another frugal moment hits...

The Frugal Queen

Frugality While on a Business Trip

This week finds me at the Ohio SHRM conference. (SHRM stands for Society for Human Resource Management)

In the past when I attended a conference, I would always come back loaded down with presents for those who I had left behind. No more I say! Those who were left behind don't really want a momento of the time they had to spend away from you. They want you home.

So, to appease myself more than anyone else, I have now started looking for kool items at the various vendor booths. What ever I find will be the "gift" to those who I left behind. Nothing more. This way, I won't have spent any money on the items.

Save your money for presents that count - holidays and birthdays.

Until another frugal moment hits,

The Frugal Queen

Dinner Savings

Dinner at our house has not always been the most cost effective of adventures. Tonight almost turned into one of those expensive mistakes, but I was able to "Just Say No" when tempted.

Would the pizza my husband offered to order have tasted good? Ya, you bet ya. But, the price tag was not something I was willing to pay, therefore we stuck with a quick, easy to make meal - bean & weiners. The package of hot dogs and two cans of beans cost under $3 for a family of 5. (We also had apples which did push the price up above $3.) The pizza would have cost almost $30. Plus, we already had the beans and hot dogs, so really there was no immediate impact to our budget.

Today's lesson: when grocery shopping, buy some easy to fix, quick meal ideas which can be made in under 15 minutes. This will save you money in the long run because you can usually convince yourself to fix a quick meal, even when you are tired.

So, don't get on a first name basis with the pizza delivery man. Check out these quick meal ideas instead:


1. Beans & Weiners

2. Macaroni & Cheese with either Hot Dogs, Tuna or Canned Chicken mixed in (not all togther, pick one of the meats to combine with the Macaroni & Cheese)

3. Boxed Dinners which come with the meat as well (I can't remember the name of these, but they are usually in the pasta aisle) - maybe Complete Meals?

4. Frozen Pizza (definitely cheaper than delivery!)

5. Peanut Butter & Jelly - it's not just a lunch thing!

6. Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup

7. Banquet Frozen Dinners in a bag - Chicken & Dumplings, Beef Stew, etc. They can be cooked on the stove top instead of in a crock pot.

8. Canned Ravioli


Hope these ideas help! Until the next time -

The Frugal Queen

Look for a missing item before you buy again

Today's frugal advice is centered around the decision to buy new items you believe you need. An example in our house would be a paint roller. We need a paint roller whenever we are going to repaint a room, like the backroom which we are taking on today.

When I have decided I want to paint, I want to do it now. Period. The problem is always that we can never remember where the paint roller was stored the last time it was used. This means that I usually run to the store and purchase a new one. This causes wasted money in gas and another paint roller which will eventually be added to our scattered collection.

Here are a couple of solutions to this problem:

1. Make up your mind that it is worth the time to find the paint roller (or other missing item). When you find it, you will feel great because you have saved yourself $$$. That always feels good.

2. Once you find the paint roller (or other missing item), find it a permanent home and always (and I means always) put it back there. Again, period. This will make it so you will always be able to find it when you need it.

I know this seems like simple advice, but you would be surprised at home much time and $$$ you can save if you follow this simple rule. You will also start to feel more organized. What a great bonus feeling!

The Frugal Queen

Follow Up to The "New" Frig Posting

I hate to admit it, but it just didn't work out at the auction today. It wasn't because I was outbid on the item - it was because I couldn't bring myself to bid on the refrigerator at all. :(

You see, I was all set to be the proud owner of an avocado green refrigerator which would of course need a little cleaning once we installed it at the rental house. Unfortunately, what I found was not circa 1970's, but circa 1940's to 1950's. Here is a picture:

I checked the inside and it seemed to be working fine, but I have a golden rule when it comes to rental houses I own - I will not rent out something that I wouldn't live in myself. Therefore, when I knew I would never live with this refrigerator if I had a choice in the matter, I couldn't bring myself to force someone else to live with it.

The trip was still worth the time. The house being sold (after the contents was cleared out) was built in 1884. It must have been built by a family with a lot of wealth for the time. It also must have been absolutely beautiful in it's day. There was a wrap around porch and then as you entered the front door a spiral staircase which lead to the second and third floors. On the first floor, there was a parlor with an ornate ceiling. (This ceiling compares to the ceilings I saw in a mansion I toured in New York State along the Hudson River - I believe the mansion belonged to the Vanderbilts or one of their early 1900's contemporaries.) The parlor had a fireplace with marble inlay. There was also a living room with another fireplace. There was a dining room off of the living room which could hold a family of 12 easily. Then there was a kitchen - nothing to write home about. The second floor was the most impressive with five bedrooms, three of which had their own fireplace. Wow! This home, with some loving restoration, could make a great bed and breakfast. Lots of peace and quiet out on the 400 acres which comes with it.

Anyway, here are some additional pictures I took of the house and one of the auction crowd:

It did take me almost three hours to decide I was not going to bid on the refrigerator. I was pretty upset with the auctioneers that they were taking so long to get to the item was I originally most interested in, but in the end time to have the time to think was a gift.

So today's lesson in frugality is - don't take it too far. If you don't feel comfortable that you are making the right decision for you, don't do it.

By the way, I did visit my local H.H. Gregg store this evening and was able to pick up a new Frigidaire Refrigerator for $399 plus tax. It was under $500, so I still feel okay about the purchase.

Until next time a frugal moment hits -

The Frugal Queen

A "New" Frig

Well, we need a new frig for our rental house. I really don't want to spend $500 or more on a new one. I just need a frig which works good.

We have finally been able to secure what seem like good tenants, so purchasing is not an option. We have to get one in the rental this weekend so it will be ready for them to move in on Monday.

I was ready to take the sale ads and hit the appliance stores/home improvement stores and try to grab the best deal, when a great idea hit me. (Actually it jumped out at me from the pages of the Advertiser.) There is an auction this morning close by where, among the listings of farm tools, guns and depression glass, they also listed a refrigerator for sale.

So, I am headed to the auction this morning right after I finish cooking breakfast for the kids. I will let you know when I get back if I was successful and if so, how much I saved. It is definitely worth a try.

The Frugal Queen

Would you like some wine with that cheese?

With this great money saving idea, you just may be able to afford a bottle of wine to go with your cheese! (Or at least a better quality wine to cook with...)

Today's subject is cheese shopping. To be more precise, shredded cheese shopping.

Next time you are in the grocery store and reach the spot in the dairy section where the shredded cheese bags are located, instead of reaching for your normal purchase or even the "store brand" at the lower cost, take a moment and look down. Normally under the shredded cheese bags are in the same cooler as the 8 to 16 oz blocks of cheese wrapped in plastic - and from the same companies that make the shredded cheeses!

The reason you need to look down is because if you don't mind taking a few minutes while you are cooking to shred your own cheese, you can save yourself quite a bit of money over a year's time. (Okay, only if you purchase shredded cheeses, if you don't eat cheese at all, stop reading now and skip to the next posting because you won't save any money with this idea.) The reason you will save money is because shredded cheese in the bag comes at a premium price. The manufacturers know that we are a convenience drive society. It is more convenient for us to open the bag of preshredded cheese than for us to shred our own cheese with a grater.

I say, stop the madness! Send those companies a message! Purchase the block of cheese (of your own choosing of course - ours are normally 1 of cheddar, 1 of mozzarella and one of another variety depending on what I feel like having my husband cook with the coming week). It can save you usually in the neighborhood of a dollar or more per each item purchased to choose the block instead of the bag of shredded cheese. If you multiply the dollar savings times each bag of cheese you would normally buy over a year's time, it really adds up! (For us it was a savings of $156 a year from our grocery bill.)

Here are some added benefits:

* The cheese will be fresher at the time of use when you shred it yourself (when I used to purchase the bags of shredded cheese, many times I could tell by looking at it that it had been shredded a long, long time ago - yuck)
* You will only usually shred what you actually need for the recipe, rather than dumping in the entire bag o' shredded cheese (more $$$ savings!)
* You can choose other varieties of cheese which are not available already shredded and enhance the flavor of your dishes with new and exotic tastes!

So enough about cheese, just remember look down when you get to shredded cheese section and watch the savings add up!

The Frugal Queen

PS - You can usually find an inexpensive grater at the dollar store. If you take care of it, you should be able to get your money's worth out of it!

The Frugal Queen's Blog

This is a new adventure for me and I hope it will be helpful for those of you who happen upon my blog and are also intested in saving money!

I promise to post money saving ideas which I learn about and try out for myself and which in the end really do save me money. (Not just those which promise to save you money, but actually end up costing you more...goodness knows I have ran into plenty of those!)

Just a little about me...

...married...four kids...work full time...my husband stays home with the kids during the week and works p/t on the weekends...(he is a chef, so I promise to post great, low cost recipe ideas as well!)....always looking for ways to keep myself busy now that I have completed my bachelors degree and professional, advanced degree by attending school in the evenings while working fulltime (glad that is over!). Let me rephrase...looking for ways to keep myself busy while not costing a lot of money and which involve lots of quality time with my family! :)

So, enough about me. If you find my blog and start to follow the postings, please feel free to add your own "Just a little about me..." reply to this message. Also, please feel free at anytime to post a great, money saving idea!

Well, that is going to be it for now. From here forward, I pledge to post money saving ideas....because after all, as my kids will tell you, money does not grow on trees. ;)

The Frugal Queen