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 this past month, August! Our savings categories this month are my figures for the month.
Coupons (Used at Kroger, Walgreens, Sam’s, Wal-Mart, & Target): $593.51
Swagbucks/NCP/Cashback/ibotta/rebates/SavingStar: $77.84
Items Sold (items around the house): Took a break from this task this month mainly because I don’t have anything to sell but I have volunteered to help my cousin with her house organization. I sold a few items for her & she gave me items to donate to the mission for tax deduction receipts—over $900 worth for tax season! Every deduction counts!!
Blogging: $129.33
Online/Retail Store Savings (various stores online): $272.11
Our family’s total was $1072.79 for the month of August! That’s a grand total of $8093.92 (plus $1500+ savings for our vacation to Greece for six weeks*) for eight months of working from home on deal blogging, searching for deals before buying anything, shopping with coupons & sales, etc.
Now, I reiterate as in the past that I don’t encourage you to quit your job because the hours put in on accumulating this figure were FULLTIME hours! However, I can say that our stockpiles are still working wonders and will take us to the end of the year as we negate debt.
There’s always room to save! I opted to color my own hair again at home ($60 savings—and STILL not the perfect salon haircolor—but I’m still swimming & running daily so I spend more time washing my hair than styling it!) and I’m not using a gym membership (rather working out on my own outdoor routines)! Additionally, my mother in law’s garden and the local farmer’s market have both been great for savings this month! 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 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 September 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—-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: 3 packs of Nice Papertowels (Walgreens computer glitch/manager approved), 4 cups of Starbucks coffee at Starbucks, Free kid’s milk @ Starbucks, 2 tubs of free paint at Lowe’s, Free Ozark water (12 bottles), 2 packs of Coffee Melita Filters (200ct), &……
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+).
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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