My After Christmas Deals

I expect I will get more than this for after Christmas Deals, but here's a start! The food goes fast. I got some marginally healthy stuff in here too!

Buy $25.00 in Gift Cards, Get $5.00 Free

At our local Burger King, if you buy a $25.00 gift card, you can get a $5.00 gift card for free! I am not sure what locations are doing this or for how long, so you could check with your local Burger King for details!

Buy Christmas Items for Next Year Now!

Now is the time to buy Christmas items for next year. If you want specific things, you need to get to the stores as soon as possible. If you aren't too picky, you can get things cheaper in the next week or two. Now I am guessing most clearance sales are at 50% off, but later, they will go to 75% off and then 90% off. I like to buy at 90% off, but I don't need too many Christmas items either. Right now, you can also get Christmas clearance food times as well as long as you don't mind eating Christmas foods now!

A Few Good Websites to Help You Save Money

There are tons of good websites out there for savings. Here are a few of my favorites.

Here you can find a lot of good deals, some forums and some free stuff:

http://www.fatwallet.com/

Here is a great coupon site. Anytime you order online, be sure to check and see if a coupon code is available!

www.retailmenot.com

This is a great comparison site:

www.bizrate.com

Here is a coupon site if you are into coupons:

www.coupons.com

This one is for rebates. I go though phases with rebates and coupons so I have not tried this site but have had great success with other rebates I found online:

http://couponsdealsandmore.com/printable-rebate-forms/

Happy hunting!

How a 2 Bedroom/2 Bath Hotel W/ Kitchenette/Fireplace/Jacuzzi Tub, Waterpark, Themepark, Bowling, Gas and Eats for 4 Cost $215.79

We just had a great mini-vacation for our family of four. We stayed in a two bedroom two bath hotel room with kitchenette, jacuzzi and fireplace plus had waterpark passes for 2 days, themepark passes for 2 days, 8 games of bowling and shoe rental and all food and gas to get there for $215.79. It was boatloads of fun and my cheapskate ways weren't offended. As a matter of fact, they rejoiced! We went to the Kalahari in Wisconsin Dells and stayed in the Royal African Queen Suite.

http://www.kalahariresorts.com/wisconsin/rooms-reservations/2-bedroom-suites/horizon-suite

Normally this room plus the waterpark passes would cost anywhere from $239.99 on a weekday to $379.99 on a high traffic day.

Every so often, when the Kalahari is going to be slow, they offer some really good packages. This package included everything above except for the gas and eats for $135.49. This includes all taxes.

The waterpark is a blast!

http://www.kalahariresorts.com/wisconsin/photos-and-videos/photo-gallery/waterparks

The themepark is also great fun!

http://www.kalahariresorts.com/wisconsin/photos-and-videos/photo-gallery/indoor-theme-park

Here is the breakdown of cost for us:

Hotel room package: 135.49
I mostly brought sandwiches and microwave meals for us (3 meals): $15.00
Cracker Barrel, our one out to eat: $46.90
Gas @ 50 MPG Prius: $18.40
Total: $215.79

This normally would have cost on a different day and eating out cheaply:
Room and Waterpark: 239.99
Themepark: 103.80
Bowling: 36.00
Shoe Rental:10.00
Cheap out to eat 4 meals: $80.00
Gas at 32 MPG: $28.75
Total:$498.54

Or

This normally would have cost on a high traffic day and eating out at nicer places for 4 meals:
Room and Waterpark: 379.99
Themepark: 103.80
Bowling: 36.00
Shoe Rental:10.00
Nicer out to eat 4 meals: $175.00
Gas at 17 MPG: $54.12
Total:$758.91

We saved $282.75 over the lower cost package and $543.12 over the higher cost package. Of course, we would have saved the most by staying home but that also wouldn't have been any fun.

The trick to this is being willing to go when the deals are there. This can be tricky but works for us. We had to go on a weekday for one thing and there was only a 2 week time frame that this deal was offered. They have other deals at other times but this one is the best one I have seen.

Just look how much fun it is to be on a Ferris Wheel!

This is how I look after getting a bowling strike. 

Deals are there to be had if you are flexible and keep your eyes open. Happy deal finding!

$11.97 Worth of Christmas Cards for $1.17: How Buying Off Season Can Save you Boatloads of Cash

Every year after Christmas, I look at the Christmas sales. As you can see from the photo above, this can save boatloads of cash rather than waiting to buy items at Christmastime. The cards above were $3.99 each which amounts to $11.97. I bought them at 90% off so they were .39 each or a total of $1.17.

I do this with wrapping paper, wrapping bags, ornaments, decorations, anything you can think of that a person might need for the next year. You can see how at 75%-90% off of these items it definitely adds up to quite a hefty amount. The only peril in this is buying too much stuff. In that case, you can easily give it to a thrift shop and feel good for doing that!

Sometimes people think this won't work because they think the items they want won't be available. This can be true if you want things that are very specific. Otherwise, if you can be flexible and patient, you can find items that you will both like and will work for you.

I find the best time for excellent clearance is not immediately after Christmas but more like a week or two afterwards. For me, since I don't really need too many specific items anymore, I sometimes don't even buy anything. So, I just keep my eyes out for what might interest me. If you are just starting your household and you definitely need specific items, going the day (or two) after Christmas is probably best.

I remember when I first started doing this, the hardest part was having enough money for that first Christmas plus buying the clearance items afterwards. It was hard because we were very poor, but the next year I was very much rewarded with not having to buy things! I buy Christmas presents all year long too, looking for buys. After getting over that first year hump, it has been a pay off ever since!

How I Got $93.13 Worth of Items for $35.96

This time of year, Walgreens has some really great deals. All year long they have a number of freebie items but they seem to have more this time of year, plus they have jingle cash. You pay for your freebie items and then within 2 weeks need to use the coupons they give you that add up to the amount the items were worth. Three of the items in the above photo were free. These are:

1. The chocolate probiotics worth $7.00 for free.
2. The toothbrushes worth $2.98 for free. There was also a free toothbrush in the package as they usually have 2 to a package.
3. The vitamins were worth $10.00 for free.

The essential C was buy one get one free, so what would have been $18.98 was $9.99.

The Closys (which I use for the teeth regimen you can read about on another of my blogs) is normally $13.99 but was $10.99.

The Purex is normally $3.99 but was 2/$6.00.

As for the Silk milk and the bananas, someone gave us a $10.00 card  for Kwik Trip last year for Christmas and I rarely go to Kwik-Trip. I was driving by one yesterday so I got the milk on sale 2/$6.00 and the bananas for .38/lb. Then, I had two $1.00 coupons for the silk milk so the whole sale cost $5.63. I used the card so I got the stuff for free plus I have some money left on the card.

Then, because I spent $50.00 at Walgreens (before coupons), they gave me this to use next time I come in (it has an expiration date!) for $10.00 off. I counted that as $10.00 off this order.

Everything I bought with these coupons and the like was on sale or buy one get one free. When I have freebie coupons to use, I don't think "This is all free so I should just get what I want!" I still carefully choose every item to be on sale so I get the most for my dollars possible.

So, the total for all these items was $93.13 but in the end, after I use my $10.00 of jingle cash, I will have paid $35.96 for a total savings of $57.17.

Thanksgiving and Christmas Season: Stocking Up on Baking Supplies Saves $$

I should have done this blog a couple of weeks ago but time has a way of getting away. From a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving until Christmastime, I save a lot of money by stocking up on baking supplies. There are also other types of foods you can stock up on this time of year as well, like turkey, cranberry sauce, and the like.

This time of year, I buy all the baking supplies on sale I can and then I use them for the next 6 months or so. Most stores have a limit on the sale items you can get so I buy a lot and stock up. As an example of the savings I get, above you see:

Gold Medal Flour .99

Sugar 4# .99

C&H Pure Cane Brown Sugar $1.27

Hershey's Chocolate Chips .99

Canned Pumpkin: .63

I'm not even sure how much these items cost at full price, but I am going to guess I saved at least $4.00 on these few items. Since I buy this type of item whenever they are on sale and stock up, I probably save the $4.00 times 6 on the items above ($24.00) plus whatever I save on items like powdered sugar, sweetened condensed milk (which can actually be made with powdered milk!), cake and brownie mixes, crackers, and on and on. This time of the year is the time to buy these types of items. It is NOT the time of year to buy most Christmas presents and decorations. So, if you can get the when to shop down, the extra costs on stocking up for groceries this time of year does not become too taxing.

Here's to a full pantry and a happy holiday season. :)

Secretly Stretching Milk, Almond Milk and Juice: Snicker While You Save

For years, I have been stretching the juice, milk and almond milk in my house. I started doing this secretly because I was afraid the kids (husband too) would say "Mom! What are you doing?? Now it tastes funny!!" and the like. Much of that is psychological. So, I just did it in stealth mode. When I knew nobody was going to be around, like a ninja I would take milk out of the fridge and fill the jug back up. Of course, you can only do that so much before someone WILL notice for real.

This is a gallon of whole milk. I hardly use milk in my house anymore as we have switched over almost completely to almond milk (the angels sang hallelujah at that feat!). But we used to go through A LOT of milk. So, when the jug would get probably a little lower than shown above, I would fill it back up once and shake it. When you consider the price of milk and how much we used, I am sure I saved a few hundred dollars doing this. The above jug would then look like the one below:

I add water to almond milk and cashew milk now. I do it so it is hardly noticeable because I don't want to notice either. I have thinned juice since the kids were very small. When you consider that this also cuts down on sugar intake, it not only saves money but it is better for everyone as well. Oh, and I don't do it secretly anymore! Happy saving!

Saying Goodbye to Old Gray, The Truck: Almost 19 Years, 118,036 Miles, $16.37 a Month. .03 a Mile

The Old Gray Truck, she ain't what she used to be. My husband bought this truck 18 years and 10 months ago. We sold it this morning. We both literally had tears in our eyes. Okay, that's a little embarrassing, but we had Old Gray for a long time.

My husband paid $5,500.00 for this 1989 Toyota 4WD pick-up truck in 1996 when we lived in Oklahoma. Of course, it looked a lot better then. This old truck hit three deer and never left us stranded one time. Front panels were replaced, bumpers and other parts replaced, but Old Gray just kept on a-going. About 18 months ago, after Old Gray just about lost a trailer on the road, we decided to fix her up one last time. We said we were going to drive it briefly but then had a goal to buy a newer one in a year or two.

We paid cash for Old Gray when we bought it, so Old Gray never had any payments. My husband just sold her for $1800.00 this morning. So, it cost us $3700.00 to drive Old Gray for almost 19 years. That doesn't include insurance and registration etc. but you get the idea. Old Gray was a work truck, not a truck we used for driving around, at least not in later years. Old Gray moved us 6 times and my daughter 4 times. Old Gray hauled many tractors that my husband bought and sold and used for plowing and grading. Old Gray took us camping. Old Gray took my husband hunting and hauled many deer home for us.

$5,500.00- $1800.00= $3700.00. That is .03 a mile.

Goodbye, Old Gray, you were a good ol' pick-up truck.

Give Yourself a .06 Cent an Hour Raise Tax Free for a Family of Four! Low Flow Shower Heads.

There are so many variables with this I almost don't know where to start. There are many, many kinds of shower heads. In addition, some heat with gas and some electric. However, I do know this: a low-flow shower head will save you money.

According to this article, you can save up to $32.50 per year per person in your family by switching to a low-flow shower head. There are a lot of nifty facts in this article to help you see the facts and figures on this topic.

http://www.neo.ne.gov/neq_online/july2003/july2003.02.htm

If you want to be super duper frugal and save the most you can, you could purchase a navy shower head. You can turn the flow of water off with these so you can suds up with no water running. Personally, I'm a little more spoiled than that, but somebody might love this idea!

On a very quick google search, I see low flow shower heads from $9.62 (navy head) to $62.04. If you had a family of four and have an electric water heater, and you installed a low flow head  for $62.04, according to the facts and figures in the linked article, you will have paid off the shower head in about 6 months. After that, you would save $130.00 a year every year! That's about a .06 an hour raise for the year, tax free!

Buying Off Season: Three Bags of Candy for .25 each

One of the best ways to save money is to buy off season. This candy was marked down last week but I didn't buy any. I took my chances and waited to see if I could get some at rock bottom prices. Today I was at the store and BINGO! I got:

1 bag jelly pumpkins 1 lb. 2 oz for .25

1 bag peanut butter kisses 13 oz. for .25

1 bag 18 oz Autumn Mix for .25

They were just marking them down when I was there and I could have bought a whole lot more but it's not really a good idea to have that much candy laying around. :)

I buy most things off season this way, like decorations, wrapping paper etc. Autumn after autumn, Christmas after Christmas etc. The main thing is getting used to switching things around. After Halloween is probably the best candy buying time. The day after is probably best for chocolate etc. and you can save it in your freezer and take it out when you want some (sorry for not doing a blog on this earlier when the candy sales were really going on). This year, I didn't buy any but what you see above and it's 11/13, so you can get some later on but this will likely be the end of autumn candy sales.

How I flew to Santa Cruz, California for $0.00

Some of you know I just got back from Santa Cruz. Of course you didn't really think I paid for that, did you? No, of course you didn't! :)

We have an airline miles card. Some of them are better than others, but we like to have one with no annual fee. Right now, we have a Capital One Venture card. I use this for my online business to make purchases and we also use it for some other purchases as well. For this, we get airline miles. We pay this card off every month to make sure that we never have any interest or fees to pay. We make sure just get perks.

Here is a list of airline miles cards you can get:

http://www.creditcards.com/airline-miles.php

Here is another site that may also be of help:

https://wallethub.com/best-airline-credit-card/

I frankly find it very difficult to compare one card to another. I'm sure there is a way to do this but things vary so much from card to card I find it very hard to compare. Maybe some of you have some good pointers on that.

So, after we rack up miles for quite a while, we use this to take trips with. So far, my husband and I have gone to Savannah, Georgia together for free and my son and I went to Washington DC for a total of $70.00 one year. 

This year, my husband and I would like to go someplace warm together this winter. Since I used some miles already, it's hard to say how close to free we can get, but we will try and see what we can do. I think the main thing to remember is to always, always pay off the card every month, or there is a good chance you can go backwards and end up paying more than you might save on a trip. 

Happy travels. 

Saving Money Making Your Own Mix Recipes

There are many ways to save money making your own mixes. This does take time. However, once the mixes are made, you can just grab and use. Here are a few mixes that you can make. Many more can be found online. Back in the olden days, pre-internet, I was thrilled to find this thrifty cooking book at a garage sale, when recipes weren't at your fingertips.

Here is one for a brownie mix. I have also included a link to a recipe online for easy bookmarking:

http://www.lynnskitchenadventures.com/2008/09/homemade-brownie-mix.html

You can make your own taco mix! For this, I would recommend buying the spices at a bulk food store. Bulk food stores usually sell spices very inexpensively. The price range on spices can be pretty big between regular stores and bulk food stores. You also know exactly what goes into your mix and can eliminate MSG (mono-sodium glutamate) and things like that.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/homemade-taco-seasoning-mix/

Instant cocoa for those cold winter months! There are a lot of different recipes for this, some with powdered sugar and creamer and some not. You can experiment and see what you like best!

http://www.momables.com/homemade-hot-cocoa-mix-recipe/

Biscuit mix!

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/homemade-biscuit-mix/

There are so many money saving recipes at your fingertips! Anything you can thing up can simply be looked up online and it will likely be right there. I hope you have fun with these and save some money to boot!

How to Stretch a Chicken: 5-6 Meals Out of One Chicken for 3-4 people.

Here are 5-6 meals out of one chicken for 3-4 people. 

Day 1: Meal 1: Roast Chicken. Yum Yum! This is so easy to make with a couple of baked potatoes and side veg. I usually make extra potatoes for leftovers.

 Day 2: Meal 2 Leftover Roast Chicken and Potatoes. Heat and eat.

Day 2 or 3: Meal 3 Chicken sandwiches for lunch or dinner! Add whatever you want, lettuce, mayo, cheese etc.

Day 3 or 4: Meals 4 and 5 I will often make chicken burritos but today I made chicken noodle soup with all the meat left on the carcass.

Everything that didn't go into the soup went into the pot. I will boil this on low for about 4 hours and make bone broth. I will strain out all the bones and skin etc. I usually just drink the bone broth, it is so good for you! (Can be used for a meal 6.)

None of this chicken goes to waste! There should be enough soup left for tomorrow night as well. The bone broth can be frozen into cubes for later soup if desired.

Last but not least, scraps for the cats.

Reusing Aluminum Foil

If you use aluminium foil, like I did for these baked potatoes, you can rinse off the foil, dry it, fold it up and reuse it! This is a trick I saw my Mom doing growing up.

The Big Glean

Every year in this area there are a number of large potato fields that are harvested. They only take the largest potatoes and leave behind the smaller ones. Many people in the area go and harvest the smaller ones left behind. As you can see from the photo, these are not tiny potatoes, they are reasonably sized for eating. My husband and I went out and it took us one hour to pick these up. I did not weigh them all but I did weigh one 5 gallon bucket full at 35 lbs. The tubs have maybe two of the pails worth in them so lets say 7 five gallon bucket pails. That is 245 lbs of potatoes! Right now, I have seen russets go for about $1.97 for 10 lbs. or .20/ lb. so that's about $49.00 of potatoes. Take out about $2 for gas and it comes to about $47.00. It took my husband and I an hour to gather these so that is about $23.50/hour. We will use these all winter long plus I will give some to my parents and other relatives/friends who want some. I keep them covered in the garage and some of them might freeze but the ones closer to the house are usually good. I will end up throwing a few out at the end of the winter no doubt.

Beyond potatoes I do think about sustainability. According to this article, it says we spend 10 energy calories producing one calorie of food.

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/plugged-in/2011/08/11/10-calories-in-1-calorie-out-the-energy-we-spend-on-food/

Not only am I saving money by doing this, but I feel I am being a responsible citizen. I hate seeing this energy go to waste. These potatoes were planted, grown and harvested with oil. It makes me feel good to glean it off the land and put it to good use.

Fancy Schmancy the Frugal Way: How a 3 Day/Two Night Trip cost us $240.00 vs $475.47 Including Gas!!

My husband and I just got back from a 3 day/2 night vacation. We had a blast! But instead of this vacation costing us $475.47, it instead cost us $240.00 including gas to get us there and back. Since this is a blog about frugality, I would like to say here that if you are living next to the edge where you are only making minimum payments on your credit cards, taking a trip like this may not be in your best interests. A trip camping or something more frugal should be in the works. However, if your finances are in relatively good order and you are looking for a way to have a frugal but fantastic vacation, you could do something like this:

Here is my travel folder that I prepare before every trip. It has every coupon, every map to and from every destination we plan to go to plus a few extra coupons just in case they are needed.

First, hotel. I did a bid on a Priceline Hotel. Priceline has two ways to get hotels. You can go to their website and pick or you can make a bid on a hotel. I have historically always bid because you can get much better prices that way. The main drawback to the name your own price feature is that you cannot pick your own hotel. This means if you want certain features like breakfast or a pool you can't be certain of getting them. The only thing you can choose is how many stars and in what area. My first bid was $40.00 per night. This was rejected by Priceline and they told me I needed to bid at least $47.00. So I left. I went back later and bid $41.00 and they took it! Yay! I got a hotel with pool AND breakfast, so I was very excited. This was a La Quinta hotel. This would have been $75.00 per night otherwise. so $82.00 vs $150.00.

http://www.priceline.com/

http://www.lq.com/en.html?iata=99020724&cid=srch_google&sissr=1

We have birthdays this time of year which is one reason we go for a fall vacation every year. There are many restaurants that if you sign up for their newsletter etc, they will give you a freebie on your birthday. For this, you just have to search for different places you might be interested in and sign up. I had a few coupons for different restaurants.

Then, I saw an event I wanted to do and did a search for a coupon online, which a person can often find. I didn't find one, however, I found out that the twin cities has a coupon book that you can buy. The coupon book was more than I wanted to spend however and so I looked on Craigslist and found someone who was wanting to trade some of the coupons from this book. I wrote to this person and asked her if she would be willing to sell me some certain coupons. She was. Cha-Ching! I offered her $8.00 for four coupons and received them in the mail. These coupons saved me a total of $58.90. (I wasn't able to use one because the place was closed for the season.)

So the trip went as follows:

Buy one get one free for Birthday. Total cost $4.10 vs $8.20.

Next was a really expensive dinner. I mean really. My frugal bones just about couldn't stand it, but I did anyway. We went to Red Lobster where I got the Seaport Lobster and Shrimp and my husband got Yellowfin Tuna in Garlic Butter. We always order water in restaurants so there was no charge for drinks. Total bill $57.37 plus tips! Woah! But, my Mom and Dad (thanks Mom and Dad!) had given us a $25.00 gift certificate earlier in the year for our anniversary and I saved it for this trip. So total cost was $32.37 plus tips. Hey, we could have easily tried to stick closer to that $25.00 and done much better cost-wise, but we both ordered what we wanted and it was soooo good. :)

Next morning, free breakfast vs $20.00 somewhere else X 2 days = free vs $40.00.

I knew before we left that one coupon I had purchased was not going to pan out so I found a deal for a shooting range on Groupon. I knew my husband would enjoy that. It cost us $18.00 vs $40.00.

We ate lunch at Fuddruckers. (Were all the good names taken when they named that place??). I had a birthday coupon for a free burger $11.03 vs $18.12. My husband had the burger and I, the salad.

Then we went to a play at a theater. This would have cost $64.00 but cost $32.00 with my buy one get one coupon.

After the play we went to Woolley's.  This is a super good restaurant. Real tablecloths and napkins, excellent service and the best food ever! I forgot to take pics of the food here but here is a link to the restaurant. My husband had the Panko Walleye and I had a burger (the best burger ever!). My husband and I split both meals and traded half and half. We do that quite often. I had a buy one get one free entree coupon. So what would have cost us $40.60 cost $23.55.

http://woolleysrestaurant.com/

The next day, after free breakfast and a swim, we went to Mill City Museum. This is where they used to make Gold Medal Flour. It was very interesting. I had a buy one get one coupon. Regular would have been $22.00 but we were there for $11.00.

We had one more Dairy Queen coupon so it was back to dairy Queen for one last blizzard before we headed home $4.10 vs $8.20.

I still have some freebie coupons for birthdays. I hope to use one next weekend. These expire quickly and it seems impossible to use them all every year. 

So, this trip cost $240.00 vs $475.47 for a difference of $235.47. I spent about an hour and a half looking for these deals and putting them together. That's about $156.98/hour. Or if you wanted to give yourself a raise for the year, about .11/hour. 

Quick View on Walmart Ad Match: Deals I Got Today

I'm sharing these deals so you can see some of the deals I get on a regular basis doing Ad Match. Anyone with a Walmart nearby can do this!

Fresh Sliced Mushrooms 8 oz. .98
McCormick Taco Seasoning .25
La Choy Chow Mein Meal $2.48
Large Dozen Eggs .68
3 lb Apples $1.77
Blueberry Pie Filling $2.69
Gallon Apple Cider $2.99
Red Grapes $1.19 lb
Scott Bathroom Tissue 12 roll $3.98
Milwaukee Baby Pickles 32 oz $1.88
Cream of Mushroom Soup .49
Sharp Cheddar Cheese $2.99 lb

The photo above shows the print outs I make of the ads in nearby stores. I highlight and list what I want to make it easy at checkout. I do this almost every week and save quite a bit!

Tonight's Dinner; Very Healthy and Very Inexpensive Homemade Split Pea Soup

Tonight's dinner was a very inexpensive split pea soup. I didn't add up all the costs on this like I do on some things, but a 16 oz bag of generic split peas at the Mennonite Bulk store that I shop at is .88 lb. I used about a lb of these for this soup. I used pork bones for the meat which are very inexpensive. I added some vegetable juice that I made with older vegetables in my juicer that were getting older and I wanted out of my freezer. I had saved bacon grease from bacon that we had made previously and added that for flavor. I also added a few lentils for variety. This was topped with some cheddar cheese.

I used bread crusts from the $1.00 a loaf bread I bought the other day.

The lemonade was free Country time I got from Walgreen's. I water it down because it's too sweet otherwise and put a few squeezes of real lemon juice in it.

There is enough left over for leftovers for tomorrow night's dinner. Very inexpensive and healthy and tasty too! :)

Give Yourself an .18 an Hour Raise! Save on Heating Costs with Little Time or Money

What you see in the picture above is a programmable thermostat. I think whether you rent or own, you could possibly use a programmable thermostat in either case. There is some debate on whether programmable thermostats actually save money. In an article I read today about programmable thermostats that said they do not save money, it said that the people who use them think they are saving so much they put the temperature very low while they are gone and then very high while they are there so they end up not saving any money. Well, I thought that was kind of a no-brainer. You just have to use your head a little bit.

The concept is that people are not always at home and they also sleep, so you program your thermostat to your advantage. For example, if no one is home from 9-5, the thermostat can be turned down from 9-4:30. Then, as well, it can also be turned down while sleeping. I think many people actually sleep better in a cooler temperature. The point behind programmable thermostats is that how you program it is up to you. You can set it at any temperature that works to your advantage.

I used the below chart to come to the figure in the title. Annual savings of $365.00 a year and of course this will vary depending on how you set your thermostat.

You can spend a lot or a little for a thermostat. I saw them online from anywhere between $25.00 and $125.00. These costs should be easily recouped in the first year. There are a lot of videos on youtube  for how to program them. Here is another article for a few pointers:

http://www.houselogic.com/home-advice/saving-energy/programmable-thermostats/#.

So, you may be able to get more than an .18 hour a raise depending on your climate and how well you program your thermostat. Once again, an easy and relatively inexpensive way to save money with little time or money! Tax Free!

Saving on Meat: Today's Dinner

Since we have been starting to run low on venison, rather than waiting until we are out altogether, I check and see if there is any marked down burger now. These pre-made burgers are nice because I don't have to make them into patties (a real plus with Raynauds!)

I am making half of these today and half later on. I am also making some garden potato raw fries with them. Burgers are not really a cheap meal but they can be cheaper if you buy the meat on sale or mark down. I hardly ever buy really cheapy hamburger because we don't like it at all, so this is angus.

Yes, we did just go out to eat for burgers last night! However, I have half a burger left from my meal from last night and am going to eat that. We also have a few other leftovers (broccoli and rice) that I am adding as sides.

Dinner for Two: $11.50 Plus Tips vs $20.02 Plus Tips

My husband and I went out to dinner last night. (So sorry, forgot to take photos of the food!!) Anyway, we went to Stout Ale House. I hardly ever go out to eat without a coupon.

http://www.stoutalehouse.com/ 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stout-Ale-House-Menomonie/218813411614903

Stout Ale House has very good burgers. They are more of a sports bar/restaurant. I like the food and good deals (but wish they would turn down the music!)

Anyway, my husband had this:

Buffalo Curd Burger* - Topped with buffalo cheese curds and cheddar jack cheese and served on a kaiser roll - 9.49

And I had this:

Mushroom Bacon Blue Cheese* - Grilled mushrooms, bacon, and blue cheese crumbles top this 1/3lb chargrilled burger, served on a kaiser bun - 9.49

Many area radio stations all over the nation offer good deals on out to eat and all kinds of other things. If I were in a different area than I am, I would do a web search on the area radio stations and see what they offer. I would also do some web searches and just see what there is for coupon deals in that area. There are always, always deals to be found. Here in this area, there is also a place called Eau Claire Square that gives good offers.

Here are two places to get deals in my area:

http://www.eauclairesquare.com/intro.php

And:

http://wial.halfoffdeals.com/

So, our tab came to $20.02. Since I bought $50.00 of coupons for Stout Ale House for $25.00 plus a $3.75 handling fee, our total was $11.50. I have coupons left over for another time. These have to be used by a certain date or they will expire.

I hesitate to write about deals in my area thinking people will get discouraged thinking all the good deals are where I live. That is not true! You just need to sniff out the deals where you are, I know they are there. Happy sniffing! :)

Zipping Through the Store

Once in a while, I just need to zip through the store with no pre-planning. I zip past all the clearance stuff. Here is what I got today:

Marked down meat. These drumsticks are all natural, no antibiotics etc. The brats, well....:) But the yellow tags mean they are marked down. If you look closely you can see the amount saved.

Almond milk, regular buy. Yogurt was on sale for $2.00 each so I bought two.

Yellow tagged baked goods. Don't need these but bought them anyway. You can see my double-mindedness on health food. LOL!

Sugar was on sale at $1.48 each. I got organic decaf coffee on clearance for $4.00, Regular priced canned soup. Healthy tomato soup on clearance for $1,50 a carton.

These were on sale for .25 each. Half price.

When I can't buy eggs on sale, I get these all natural ones. Today they were $2.38. 

So, now you can see my confessions of a person who tries to eat healthy but kinda falls off the rails. Oh well. Anyway, you can see that I just zip through and save as I go!