Where are you in your journey with coupons, deals, rebates, and more!?! Are you ready to eliminate debt with coupons, deals, & more? It is never too late to create a budget and save money!! Here’s my monthly report to encourage you:
I’ve (Litsa) remained a stay at home mom this past year and continue to work on our savings plan—–with coupons and deals to negate debt and to refrain from working outside the home until our little girl enters Kindergarten (just a few months left)! It’s a challenge to stay on course with a savings plan in today’s economy but to show you and myself that it matters, I tallied up our savings for January 2013, February 2013, March 2013, April 2013, May 2013 & muddled through June & July*—-and REALLY fell back in line in August & September! Our savings categories for the month of October are my final figures for end of this year, 2013—-I’m writing an exemption coupon to myself for the last two months of 2013.
Coupons (Used at Kroger, Walgreens, Wal-Mart, & Target): $331.48
Swagbucks/NCP/Cashback/ibotta/rebates/SavingStar: $54.83+
Items Sold (items around the house): $217 + I have started tagging items for a yard sale and neatly piling them in the attic….organization is key to savings!
Blogging & Freelancing: $25+ (waiting on checks)
Online/Retail Store Savings (various stores online) + Dining Out: Busy Living—failed to jot down!
Our family’s total was $628.31 for the month of October! That’s a grand total of $9340.68 (plus $1500+ savings for our vacation to Greece for six weeks*) for ten months of working from home on deal blogging, searching for deals before buying anything, shopping with coupons & sales, etc.
The best part is that I am going to COAST through the next two months buying ONLY what we need as we finish out the year with the holidays……unless the DEAL is SO, SO, SO good that I can’t pass it up (like $0.50 for boxes of Barilla pasta)!!
There’s always room to save! I opted to color my own hair again at home ($60 savings—and STILL not the perfect salon hair color—but I’m happy with it and that is good) and I’m not using a gym membership (rather working out on my own outdoor routines)! Additionally, stockpiles are still stretching us into the end of the year (& the freezer is full)! All of these SAVINGS funds were well spent negating debt (less stress as debt has been lifted off of us)!! Our medical bills from January that came at us like snowballs are down to the same TWO bills! I am elated and will focus on eliminating these by the end of the year! When I want to purchase something, I will think of paying lingering bills and having readers that are holding me accountable to my success—in turn I want you to be successful! How can I help you?
And again……there’s that dreaded budget word—–spend what you have coming in before you have the money in hand! That’s my focus for November & December as I watch sales, deals, and more to buy what we need and eliminate the WANT buying—-continuing an all cash budget for daily needs throughout the month is another goal! I love spending cash and not worrying about paying for daily needs on credit!!
There were many, many freebies too that came in the mail—-10+ magazines and more! As well as items from stores that I shop at weekly….I can’t even begin a list to share but here’s a feeble attempt: free carrots, several Starbucks cups of coffee, free paint from Lowe’s, Kotex liners, spices, shampoo, ziploc bags, coffee samples, VS panty, floss, and….and….and….
Let your journey of savings and having it all be just as prosperous as ours—begin today! One step at a time…
Set goals. Achieve—-as you envision where you want to be a month from now—or a year from now! My personal goal this fall is what I’ve already stated is to buy only perishables that we will consume so that we make full use of our stockpiles. We will PAY down medical bills the rest of this year, eliminate our mortgage PMI, pay extra on our mortgage’s principal, & more! We’ll continue to dine on season fruits and vegetables—-and continue the routines of clipping coupons as we menu plan and continue an all cash budget for daily living expenses.
*Our six week trip to Greece could have started with $3000.00 minimal fee for just two tickets to fly there. However, we were able to fly stand-by and stay with family—-only spending what we had to spend—the bare necessities—making our six week vacation only $2000 (Thus, a savings of $1500+). We also added in an unexpected trip to Disney and SeaWorld in Orlando in October and SAVED money there with stand-by flights and cooking in for ALL meals at a FREE condo stay—I don’t know what that saved us but I know it did SAVE since our flights were half the cost of one paid flight!!
Pick a savings pal and get to it! You CAN do this too! Watch your savings grow, eliminate debt, & live joyfully having everything you desire!
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