Today I thought I would share with you a few ways that I try to be frugal with our family’s household budget. Being a Family Manager entails a lot of tasks, keeping your house supplied is just one of them! I know it is always important, as Keepers of the Home to manage our resources wisely and become good stewards of what we have – but now it is just a necessity to make things stretch in this economy. Money saving tips are a must to incorporate into your routine.
I have always just thought of what I do as “normal” or as “normal” as I could be I guess (LOL) but when I would share some of these ideas to friends, they were surprised, shocked sometimes that I was so resourceful. So hopefully you will be too!
I won’t overwhelm you with too many ideas, so make sure you check back because I will post more in the weeks to come. If you would like to subscribe to my blog that would be a great way to keep up with these tips and other great ‘mom’ stuff.
I will highlight ONE of my favorite things that saves me TIME and MONEY!
Yes, I know….you know about amazon.com, in fact you have probably bought a lot of things on amazon.com, like books and CD’s but did you know you can get grocery items too?
I have been purchasing food and household items on amazon.com for a few years now. It takes a little knowing about the prices in your area for things you would normally buy, but if you do that homework it can go a long way. For example:
Our family loves Annies Shells and White Cheddar Mac n Cheese – I mean loves it!
We eat it at least once a week. So we use a lot. I can buy the family size boxes for $2.35 each when I use the ‘subscribe and save’ option. The subscribe and save option for those who are unfamiliar, is a feature amazon.com offers where your product will automatically ship to you on a time-frame you decide, anywhere from 1-6 month increments. You save an extra 15% off items, even ones that might already be on sale! Here is the best part – if you plan to only purchase it one time, you can start your subscribe and save option and cancel it at anytime, but you still get the discount! (Don’t tell them where you heard that!) I can purchase the same Annies Mac n Cheese product at my local store, but I can only get the 7 oz size and it is $2.39.
So here I am getting a larger quantity for a few pennies less, plus I don’t have to drive to the store to get it, and Mr. UPS man gets to come to my door quite often delivering it to me – no rounding up anyone to drag grocery bags in from the car. Also, most items are always FR*EE shipping, and if you have an Amazon.com PRIME membership (Which pays for itself so quickly!) you can order anything and it arrives to your house in two days!
A few of my other favorites that come automatically to me are Horizon Organic Milk in the Aseptic Container (good for lunches/travel). I subscribed when it was on sale, so now I get the sale price every time it ships even though right now it is not on sale. Isn’t that cool? But if you were interested in buying another brand of aseptic milk, they have with a promotion for Organic Valley White Lowfat Milk.
So using ‘subscribe and save’ along with the promotion it comes to a total price of $11.19 for the case of 12. No shipping charge, it ships for free! I also buy my feminine products, they are cheaper than Costco and they ship automatically so I never run out!
I also run across some things I normally don’t buy but they are such a great deal that I decide to try them. I was browsing the sale page on evening and found these great Crayon Fruit Juice Drink Cans on sale and with a promotion. So I purchased two cases (48 cans) for $33.60, that’s .70/can. It was a hit with my kids and perfect for all the baseball games we have been sitting through. Throw a couple of these in my bag and no one is pestering me to hit the concession stand for a $2 soda.
Does your family like Fiber One Bars? And I mean really like! If they do, then here is a screamin deal for you. With the ‘subscribe and save’ 15% savings and an additional promotion you can get a case (12 boxes – 5 bars each, so 60 bars total) for $2.58 per box. The price today at my local grocery store is $3.89 per box. That is a big savings! Need to bring baseball snacks? Have a family car trip planned? Need easy summer snacks for the beach? You could go through those bars in no time. I am gonna get me some! *Update* I just looked and these Fiber One Bars are even cheaper and they are my kids’ favorite – $2.02 per box – can you believe it?
I hope my sharing inspired you to take some time and check out how you could be saving more time and money to then in turn use with your family. Who couldn’t use more time or more money? Maybe I will have to create a spot on my site where I have my “bargain pick of the week”…… hummmm just might do that!
I would love to hear your favorite ways to save with your family budget too! Leave a comment or drop me a note. If you would like to save more time in your day I would love to help make that happen! Check out my Family Manager Makeover packages to get an Action Plan created just for you.
