Frugal Living | Getting Through the Day

Guest Post from Lisa – Nine Unexpected Places to Find Coupons

November 14, 2012 By Stacey Leave a Comment

Lisa blogs at The Domestic Life Stylist helping moms to “live life at home with finesse and style, amidst occassional domestic chaos but always great fun & fabulous food.” Lisa is stylish and chic herself and gives readers ideas on food, decorating, parenting, and more with lots of style and flair. You should definitely check her out!

Photo Credit: Fotolia

I heard a statistic recently that 75% of consumers in all income brackets use coupons at sometime or the other. Although most people think about looking for their coupons in the Sunday paper, read more to find nine unexpected places to find these little treasures.

1. Web Portals

The same companies that offer coupons in the Sunday paper also offer printable coupons. Websites like, Smart Source, Red Plum have coupons available for the printing. The coupons differ from the ones in the Sunday paper, so to maximize your savings, look for both.

2. Company Websites

Company websites try to make it easy for their shoppers and sometimes offer online coupons and printable coupons as well. Obvious places to try are websites of your favorite retailers (before you go shopping). I also recently discovered that websites like Target and CVS also have coupons available for printing, so don’t miss out on those.

3. Magazines

What are your favorite magazines? Even if you don’t currently buy any, be aware that companies often include coupons amidst those articles. This is especially true in health, beauty and women’s magazines. So the next time you are reading your favorite magazine, keep a pair of scissors handy. Shape, AllYou…the list goes on and on.

4. Virtual Inbox

One of the fastest growing areas of marketing is through the Internet. Once you sign up for store loyalty programs, promotions and events, email addresses are also used to alert you of savings in the form of sales and (printable as well as online) coupons. Consider setting up a separate email address for that purpose.

5. Friends/Neighbors

If your neighbors are not using their coupon inserts, they may be willing to pass the savings on to you. Just ask, you may be pleasantly surprised.

6. Store Circulars

Besides just alerting consumers of ongoing sales and specials, some store circulars even include store coupons that require clipping. Safeway andGiant grocery store are some examples.

7. Product Packaging

When engaging on your quest to increase your coupon repertoire, don’t forget product packaging. Boxes of cereal, foil paper, pasta, pretty much anything is fare game.

8. Entertainment Book

A friend of mine bought me my first Entertainment Book when I moved to Atlanta years ago. It is chocked full of coupons for restaurants, entertainment, vendors and other goods and services. It has been 10 years since I got my first book and I have moved to several places since Atlanta, but one thing is certain, I have never turned back. TheEntertainment Book is available in several cities and travel destinations and there is currently a special on all 2011 books.

9. Daily Deal and Group Savings Sites

Websites such as Groupon, Tippr, and Living Social give consumers an opportunity to explore tremendous savings from the convenience of their computer. Sites like LivingSocial and Groupon offer daily deals (with discounts up to 90% off), while the deals on Tippr are somewhat based on volume. The more you share the deal, the better the deal gets. On Living Social if three people buy the deal using your link then that deal is free to you.

So really, there is no reason why everyone shouldn’t be using coupons. They are there to get people to try new products but ultimately, they save consumers money. Are there any unexpected places that you have found coupons? They really are everywhere.

Simplifying Blog Design and a Sale!

October 26, 2012 By Stacey Leave a Comment

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We have been highlighting each of our Sponsors this week and they are all graciously offering a discount to you, Getting Through the Day readers. If you missed any of them, be sure to check out our posts on The Confident Mom, Happy Little Lovelies, and Plan to Eat. There are great deals on a weekly household planner, handmade jewelry, and an online meal planning subscription just for you!

Today we are featuring our last Sponsor, Deluxe Designs. Julie specializes in custom WordPress designs and also offers Blogger to WordPress migration, social media designs, and Blogger or WordPress premade designs. Michelle and I love her design style and I still frequently comment to my husband how much I love the look of Getting Through the Day. I mean, really…just look at her own blog. It is beautiful!

Michelle and I cannot say enough about how great it was to work with Julie. She completely custom designed Getting Through the Day from the header to the layout, navigation, and every detail you see. She was very easy to work with and was extremely gracious to endure through our many adjustments to the design. We were super impressed with her design skills and how easily she put into view exactly what we described.

Well, Julie is offering 15% off any of her design services for Getting Through the Day readers for 30 days. AND if you like Deluxe Designs on Facebook, you get 20% off! All you have to do is mention Getting Through the Day when you send an inquiry to get started. Check out Deluxe Designs if you’ve been thinking about switching to WordPress, need a whole new look for your website, or want to browse through her premade designs.

If you would like to promote your products, services, blog, or organization by becoming one of our Sponsors, check out our Advertising page or send us an email.

Simplifying Fashion and a Sale!

October 24, 2012 By Stacey 1 Comment

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I’m really excited to share today about our Sponsor, Happy Little Lovelies. Dana, who also happens to be my sister-in-law and dear friend, makes every item in her shop by hand. Every year she continues to add new styles, colors, and pieces and I love seeing what she comes up with every season. Right now, she has great fall colors in her necklaces, headbands, earrings, and bracelets. She also has super cute pieces for little girls and my girls love them!

The great news for you is Dana is giving Getting Through the Day readers 20% off with the code gttdreader20. She makes fashion for you simple and makes gift giving simple for your daughter, sister, mom, friend, or child’s teacher. Check out these beautiful pieces, but make sure to go to her shop, Happy Little Lovelies to see more, and use the 20% off code gttdreader20 to get a great deal!

If you would like to promote your products, services, blog, or organization by becoming one of our Sponsors, check out our Advertising page or send us an email.

Frugal Birthday Party, Part 2

September 6, 2012 By Stacey 2 Comments

We had our almost-triplet birthday party a couple weeks ago for my three little ones. Landis and the twins are 11 months and 3 weeks apart.

So, these guys turned 2.

Then, a week later, Landis turned 3.

So, along with 3 grandparents, 6 aunts and uncles, 1 big sister, and 5 cousins, we had a joint birthday party for all of them. As I mentioned last year after doing Karis’ 5th birthday party, I aim to be pretty frugal and I’m not much of a party host. So, with all that, I like to keep things simple. There’s also the factor of 2 and 3-year-olds don’t have a lot of desires for an elaborate party. They just enjoy being the center of attention, eating cake, and opening presents.

And while last year, I set out to make as much as possible myself like the meal for the family and the cake in an effort to save money, there are lots of different considerations including time and energy. With this being the week before school started, I was honestly just tired.

I wanted to keep it simple and frugal.

So the only decorations were each of them getting a headband or hat along with a little figurine for their favorite character. Landis loves Snow White and well, I just thought it was cute to do Micky & Minnie for the twins. We already had a Minnie headband and a Snow White figurine, so we just used those from home. Then I filled in the rest at the Disney Store and those things doubled as gifts. They also brought along their soft toys from home of Snow White, Mickey and Minnie.

Since we have so many adults eating, I really wanted to have good food that didn’t cost a lot, but at the end of the day, we just picked up pizza (with a 50% off online code), chips (on sale B1G1), a watermelon (from a farmer’s stand on the side of the road), and bought cupcakes from the grocery store. They weren’t the gourmet cupcakes, but the kids didn’t know the difference once they licked the icing off! And did you know cupcakes from one of those cute little bakeries are like $65?? I didn’t! The 2 dozen I got from the grocery store were $15! I’ll take it!

And then there are those little treat bags for all the kids. I have a hate-hate relationship with those things. I do understand and value giving a little thank-you to folks that take the time out to celebrate and bring gifts. I just don’t love giving or receiving lots of bags of candy (I know! I’m a Birthday Scrooge!). So, I chose little things from the dollar store that hopefully the kids would enjoy, badges for the boys, rings for the girls, and dress-up glasses with noses. Oh and did I mention I didn’t spend the time making these up individual little bags? I put all the items in a basket and they just picked out a couple items. Love a timesaver!

Overall, it was a great time! We have such great family that love our children so well. All the cousins LOVE playing together and the 3 birthday kids were happy.

If you want to get a better feel of how the evening really went, take a look at this time-lapse video my brother took while we were all together.

Simple and Frugal Fashion

July 6, 2012 By Stacey 3 Comments

I’m not much of a fashionista and you won’t see a lot of beauty and fashion tips here…unless they relate to living simply or frugally. Well, this is exactly what we’re about today, simple and frugal fashion. I typically have my hair cut fairly short, but lately have let it grow out a bit. However with the lack of a haircut to shape it up, it just doesn’t look good. So, I wear a pony tail pretty much every day right now. I like it during the summer and it’s a different look until I schedule that haircut.

After scavenging through Karis’ hair accessories, I found these cute pony tail holders I forgot she had. Happy Little Lovelies has the cutest jewelry and hair accessories (and also happens to be owned by my sister-in-law, Dana). I have 4 or 5 different colors in these pony tail holders and I love how I can wear with them when I dress up or down. It just adds a little pretty to a plain pony tail. Love it!

And here’s the best part. These pony tail holders are only $4 and YOU get 15% off when you use the code gttdfan at checkout. That’s a deal!

You should definitely check out Happy Little Lovelies for these and all her other lovely creations. Dana makes everything herself, it’s all super cute, super affordable, and holds up well.

What’s your favorite summer accessory?

Plan to Eat Gift Subscriptions are 50% Off This Weekend!

May 11, 2012 By Stacey Leave a Comment

My favorite meal planning membership is running a great sale this weekend on Gift Subscriptions. Plan to Eat features online meal planning that lets you

save your own recipes.
get a grocery list from your menu plan.
stores items you already have in a “Pantry”.
save menus so you can use them in a rotation.

These are just my favorite features, but you might also enjoy the menu database and sharing feature of Plan to Eat. You can read more here about how I use it every week. If you are a current member, you can buy a Gift Subscription for 50% off this weekend only. If you’re not a member, go ahead and join! Then you can share the love with someone you know for half off.

Best Makeup Buy for Under $8

April 17, 2012 By Stacey 3 Comments

I am a former makeup snob – one who only bought the higher priced stuff and never used makeup from a drugstore. I had lots of skin problems as a teenager when I started wearing makeup, so I needed higher quality products at that time. However, I’ve gotten older, don’t have many problems with my skin anymore, and have learned to live much more frugally. So, I started trying drugstore brands and while, yes, there is a big difference in these and products from department store makeup counters, they worked ok and were much kinder to my wallet. A couple years ago, Jane put out some high value coupons that when coupled with Walgreen’s sale, I ended up buying more than a year’s supply of foundation and powder for just a few dollars.

I used that faithfully until my supply ran out and drugstores here stopped carrying Jane altogether. I was becoming less and less satisfied with it and other drugstore brands I tried. I couldn’t get the color or the coverage right. I peeked back into a makeup counter at a department store and just couldn’t stomach the prices. So, I put it out there to my friends on Facebook and got several recommendations for this:

Mary Kay Creme to Powder foundation

Formerly, I had been convinced it just wouldn’t work for me, but after so many friends saying they loved it, I gave it a try. And guess what? I love it. The color and coverage are great and I can put it on fast. Retail price is $14, so why does this post title say “Under $8″? The best part about this is it’s two products in one. I have always worn liquid foundation with loose powder, but this one really is creme to powder. Imagine that, just like the name says. So, it’s like getting foundation and powder for $14. That’s a deal!

Check out my other recent best buys:

Best Organizational Buy for Under $5

Best Coffee Buy for Under $4

What’s your best buy lately?

Reducing Our Grocery Budget — Fresh Green Beans

April 13, 2012 By Michelle 7 Comments

At the beginning of this year, I looked at our grocery bill and was shocked at some of the high prices we were paying for processed foods that I could make on my own and save money doing so. I’ve set out to reduce our grocery budget by trying homemade recipes instead of the higher cost processed items. In January, I learned a simple way to make my own sour cream and in February I started making our own spaghetti sauce. This month I went out of order and decided to find a recipe for fresh green beans.

I love canned green beans. When I was a little girl, I would open a can of green beans and eat a whole can straight from the can! My kids seem to have taken after me and are also green bean fans. The problem is that because we live in China and were buying imported canned green beans, I was paying $3 per can. BUT, I loved them so much, that I really didn’t care.

I have recently found two different ways to cook fresh green beans that we are really enjoying. The first is so easy, that I’m embarrassed to have never tried it before.

SAUTEED GREEN BEANS
It does not get much easier than this. After snapping the ends of my green beans and then snapping them into bite sized pieces, all I do is cook them over medium heat with a little olive oil, minced garlic, and salt and pepper until they are tender. The kids love them this way!

ROASTED GREEN BEANS
The second recipe comes from a friend of ours. He’s a great cook, and when I told him I was looking for a better way to cook fresh green beans, he sent me this recipe.

Ingredients:
Green Beans
Red Onion
Garlic
Balsamic Vinegar
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Dried Oregano / Italian Seasoning
Grill Seasoning (e.g. McCormicks or Montreal Grill)
Salt (preferably larger grain like Kosher or Sea)
Pepper (fresh cracked is best)

Directions:
Heat the oven to 325-350 (depending on how hot your oven runs). Trim green beans and cut them in half. Chop red onion into medium chunks. Use a garlic press or finely chop 3-5 teeth of garlic. Combine in a casserole dish with balsamic vinegar (about 2 turns around the pan) and mix well. Let sit for 2-3 minutes. Add the seasoning, salt, pepper, and olive oil (about 3 turns, enough to coat plus a little extra). Mix well and insert into oven. Roast for 20 minutes, pull out, stir. Roast for another 15-20 minutes until the beans have shriveled up a little but still have just a little crunch and the onions are nicely soft and translucent.

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Best Organizational Buy for Under $5

April 10, 2012 By Stacey 5 Comments

I found this little wallet at TJMaxx at Christmas and it has been one of the best organizational buys I’ve made. Rather, I should say one of the best gifts I’ve received. Thanks, Mom!

Before this, I had a typical checkbook style wallet with places for cash, coins, my checkbook, and pockets for various cards and IDs. I have noticed my purse getting heavier and heavier and have really wanted to get rid of any unnecessary items. I noticed my wallet weighing a lot and took a second look at what was in it. There were plenty of unnecessary business cards and store member cards I had collected and never used again. And who really writes checks anymore? I very rarely do. I use Online Billpay with my bank anytime I need to send a check and I very rarely use a check at a store. So, here’s what I decided to keep:

license
insurance cards
debit card
any frequently used store member/discount cards
one check just in case I need it

It all fit perfectly and I love how compact it is and there’s no extra room to store extra stuff that I don’t need, don’t use, and that could weigh me down…literally.

There is a very small place for cash and coins in this wallet. However, since I use a cash envelope spending system, I don’t carry my cash in my wallet anyway. Currently, I either just use the paper envelopes from the bank or Dave Ramsey’s envelope system. I have seen cuter ones, but this works for now. Overall, I really like this new, pared down wallet for under $5!

What’s your best buy recently?

This post is being shared at Women Living Well, We Are That Family, The Better Mom, Life as Mom and Crystal & Co.

Saving Money with Cloth Napkins

April 6, 2012 By Michelle 30 Comments

I used to always use paper napkins, and until the number of children in our family starting to rapidly increase, I never considered using anything else. When we came home with children #3 and #4 and were going through paper napkins at an astonishing rate, I started to think about other options. Not only were we using them so quickly, but it seemed like more often than not, I was throwing away a napkin that had barely been used which seemed like such a waste of paper and money!

source

I found some cheap washcloths that were thick and soft, and I snatched up about 40 of them for a total of about $6. They came in a variety of colors, but I bought them in white. That was about a year and a half ago. We have used them daily since then for:

breakfast, lunch, and dinner
spills
wiping a counter
eating snacks on
burping visiting babies

There are still 40 of them, and they are still as white as the day I bought them. When we finish using one I shake off any crumbs and rinse it if it is exceptionally dirty, and then throw it into a small basin that sits on our washer. When I’m doing a white load, I throw them in and wash them with the rest of the laundry. After several are starting to look stained or dirty, I fill our kitchen sink with bleach water and soak them. Not only do I end up with fresh, like new napkins, I also have a clean sink!

For our family of 6, I estimate that it would take our family about 2 weeks to use a package of 250 napkins. Assuming a price of $1.50 per pack, that would cost our family $39 a year to buy paper napkins. I estimate that we have saved over $50 since switching to cloth, and that savings continues to increase each time someone uses a napkin!

Does anyone else use cloth napkins (washcloths or actual cloth napkins)? Where have you found the ones you are using and like? What tips have you found for keeping them clean?

This post is being shared at Women Living Well, We Are That Family, The Better Mom, Life as Mom, and Crystal & Co.