Save Money: How I saved $216 at Macy’s
For the past two years, I have been doing the bulk of my summer shopping for the children, especially the older boys, at Macy’s. When my boys were babies and toddlers, I would shop at Once Upon A Child, a thrift store for children’s items only. I love this store and cannot say enough good things about them. But anyone who has boys knows that they are rough on their clothes, therefore, I could no longer find good, quality clothes and had to explore other options.
I used to shop Old Navy until they put a Macy’s up the street from me and I discovered how much I could save when they have a BIG sale. But, of course, that is not enough, I also have to utilize coupons. So I patiently waited for Macy’s One Day Sale AND they had a $10 off coupon for every $25 spend; I printed out six coupons!!! The catch was the coupon did not apply to all items and the sale and the coupon ended at 1pm. But that was OK, because I knew that the only way I could buy good clothes within my budget was to wait for a sale and use coupons (rules everyone, especially frugal shoppers, must follow).
I packed up the twins and the boys, because my husband had to work that day, and got to the store at 10am. I did not even feed the twins at home; I had my oldest son feed them when we got to the store.
I loaded up the cart with clearance items and sale items for my oldest boys, tried them on and headed for the register. Because I knew it was going to take some time at the register, I let several people go ahead of me in line. Finally, it was my turn at the register; the cashier was very patient with me in dividing up the clothes into the items that could be used with the $10 off coupon and those that could not be used with the coupon. Thirty minutes later, I had 3 transactions that totaled $250 and I purchased 29 items, which came to $8.62 per item. My receipts indicated that I saved $216…AMAZING!!!
But as my friend at www.frugalchick.net stated, it does not stop there. She has the same plan as I do to sell the clothes when they become too small. Since I am done having children and no longer have to save clothes for the next baby, I can start selling the twins clothes. Now, I separate their clothes into what I will sell and what I will give away. I usually don’t get that much money, about $20 for clothes only. But, every penny counts, right?
Save Money: 10 Minute Meal for only $5
In efforts to reduce our consumption of meat and reduce our grocery bill, I am looking for vegetarian recipes that are quick, easy and affordable. I try to cook a vegetarian meal once a week and my family does not like beans as much as I do, so I needed to come up with some new recipes.
Last month I was shopping in the frozen section at Aldi and decided to buy frozen cheese ravioli. I purchased it because I remembered my daycare provider mentioning that it was one of her favorite meals because it is quick and cheap. She is married and a mother of four boys and is always looking for a hearty meal that ways to save money. So it bought the ravioli, a jar of spaghetti sauce and a bag of frozen veggies. Before tax, I only spent $5.
This meal literally took 10 minutes to prepare; I boiled the ravioli and veggies at the same time, while seasoning my sauce. After 10 minutes, the ravioli and veggies were ready, I poured the sauce over the ravioli and we were sitting down to eat. This meal will definitely be added to my monthly meal planning rotation.
I love this meal because it is kid-friendly, its quick and delicious and because everything is frozen. Because I do my grocery shopping once a month, I have to plan my meals according to freshness of meat and veggies, which means this meal can be prepared at any time.
I am sure everybody in the world is familiar with this meal and I am probably the last person on the planet to cook it, but I just in case I am not, I wanted to share my new favorite recipe.