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Couponing Makes Cents

by FruGal on November 9, 2009

in Frugality

Over the next couple of weeks, six finalists will be auditioning for the opening of “staff writer” at Consumerism Commentary. Each will be providing two guest articles to share with readers. After the six writers have shared their guest articles, readers will have an opportunity to provide feedback before we select the staff writer.

This article is presented by FruGal, a consultant for a prominent online educational program.

Chances are, I have something in common with either you or someone you’re close to. That’s right, I recently found myself unemployed. After a five-year employment with a steady organization and what I thought was a prosperous future, I woke up one morning to find myself blindsided by the news that I no longer had a job. Luckily, being a financially-conscious individual, I’ve always been wise about investing a percentage of my earnings in various places, such as high-interest savings accounts. While this left me with enough money to “survive,” I knew that there were some concrete steps I was going to need to take in order to ensure I was making the most of my hard-earned dollars and, in believe it or not, cents.

Cents you ask? Yes, cents. Coupon-clipping has changed my life. What has long been considered a hobby of a let’s say, more “seasoned” individuals (a.k.a. senior citizens) has truly become all the rage with today’s average consumer. As a 28 year-old single female, I may not be your “average” coupon clipper, but my point is coupons are a smart move, no matter who you are.

Coupons have long fascinated me, but it wasn’t until recently that I began to master the art of this ever-growing practice. Spend just a few minutes online, and you’ll probably find quite a few useful web pages where people dedicate their whole site to the art of coupon clipping, complete with weekly store deals, coupon links, and much, much more.

I’m excited to share with you just a few simple steps you can take TODAY (well, maybe this Sunday) to STOP seeing your hard-earned money dwindle each week, and START seeing incredible savings in your everyday expenditures.

1. The good old Sunday newspaper is an excellent place to begin your new-found hobby of clipping coupons! On Sunday morning (or perhaps Saturday if the early edition is available where you live like it is In my city), head out to your local grocery store or gas station and pick up a copy of the Sunday paper for generally around $2 or less. Your $2 will go far based on the incredible savings you find inside. (Also check out your local paper on Thursday, as they often have coupons and promotions.)

Inside your $2 treasure, you’ll find a wide array of coupon inserts from companies such as SmartSource, PGBrandSaver, and others. Note that your coupon inserts may vary from ones you’d find in other cities, but regardless, you’ll find endless deals inside.

2. Now that you’ve got your coupons, what do you do with them? Get out your scissors and start clipping! There are tons of different organization systems that you can use, such as keeping a three ring binder with inserts. What I find works best for me is a plastic file folder organizer with tabbed letters of the alphabet. You can find these at any office supply store, and again, the couple of dollar investment you make will be well worth it in the long-run.

Once you’ve clipped all of your coupons it’s time to file them into your folder. I clip just about everything, even if I think I might not use it, because you never know. You also might find yourself giving coupons that don’t apply to you to your friends and family members. Find a system that works for you, but I usually file by the brand name of the item, rather than the general category. That way if I’m going through my sales circular for next week (see the next step) and see that Cheerios are on sale, I can simply flip to the “C” section and pull my coupon!

3. The key to successfully using your coupons is in the timing. You don’t want to go to the grocery store and simply buy items because you have coupons for them. Instead, check out your local grocery stores’ sales papers ahead of time. Prior to your weekly grocery store trip, go online to your store’s website. Most stores I’ve ever shopped at post their weekly circulars on their site. Some of them even have copies of the next week’s sales circular just past the checkout near the exit, so pick it up on your way out to start planning for the next week. Once you know what’s on sale, match up those items that are on sale in the circular with those items you have coupons for.

Of course, you won’t have a coupon for every item you want to buy, but you’ll definitely begin to see some significant savings in your weekly spending. Once you become a coupon-clipping “expert” you’ll begin to see your grocery bills decrease more and more, with strategies such as clipping coupons on the web, taking advantage of stores that double (and sometimes even triple!) your coupons, buying multiple copies of your Sunday paper, and using online resources to plan out how to maximize your coupons at different stores each week if you’re super ambitious.

Since I’ve begun steadily clipping and using coupons, I’ve seen my grocery bills more than cut in half each week. Not only does this give me some degree of personal satisfaction, but it also lets me know that I have a bit more money that particular week to go out with friends, or buy that bestselling novel I’ve been wanting to read. Or better yet, maybe I should just get it from the library for free.

So, Consumerism Commentary readers, what do you think? Are you an avid coupon-clipper like me? Do you have any tips to share on how to stretch your dollars and cents even further at the grocery store? If you get a little thrill from looking at the bottom of your grocery store receipt and seeing your savings, I’d love to hear from you!

This is a guest article by FruGal, one of six finalists interested in being Consumerism Commentary’s staff writer.

Photo credit: Roadsidepictures

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The Real Cost of a Sandwich

by Smithee on October 6, 2009

in Frugality

The staff of cockeyed.com (it might just be this one guy named Rob, and sometimes his friends), has a series called “How Much is Inside?” which attempts to figure out how much mundane items should cost. Recently, they tackled the sandwich.

He weighed and measured and inspected every ingredient in your average turkey & cheese, grilled cheese, and peanut butter & jelly. And after some very funny and intelligent writing, he found this:

  • Processed turkey sandwich: 93¢
  • Grilled cheese sandwich: 48½¢
  • Peanut butter and jelly: 64¢

But that’s not all. Rob went all out and created the Sandwich Price Calculator, where you can assemble your own sandwich and see how much it should cost.

Read How Much is Inside a Sandwich?

But seriously

You should also check out Rob’s experiment to see if he could apply for a credit card using a torn-up application.

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Iced Coffee Savings

by Smithee on August 18, 2009

in Frugality

This is a cliché, but I need my coffee in the mornings. I prefer it iced, except in the very brief winters we have here in Texas, and for a long time, I was a loyal customer of the Starbucks Iced Coffee in a Can.

R.I.P. Iced Coffee

I’d have one every morning at least four times a week, at a cost of about $2.00 each. They cost more in the convenience stores, but at my former employer they’d have them stocked in the cafeteria downstairs. It was the perfect amount of caffeine, deliciously flavored, to help me self-medicate my A.D.D. And in terms of the Expensive Coffee-Related Drink factor, two dollars is on the low end of the scale.

And then Starbucks stopped selling them. Like Pudding Pops and the Bar None candy bar, my favorite treat was yanked out of my grasp with no alternative presented. Since then, I’ve gone back and forth to iced tea, water, some truly awful “energy+coffee” replacement that Starbucks is now doing, the bottled Frapuccino, and my more normal “iced venti vanilla latté, please.”

None of them have really satisfied in the same way. I just want roughly 8-10 oz. of iced coffee, and I want it to be easy. Well, I found a way (thanks to my wife) to make it easy, and cheap, through this cold-brewed iced coffee recipe at the New York Times.

The recipe makes a measly two drinks, so I just tripled the recipe to make a full week’s worth (give or take a day for the vanilla latté, which is something I like to do for myself on Fridays, anyway). I tried it out for the first time this morning, and it was an instant success. All I had to do was put some ice in a glass, pour in the coffee and go.

There are about three cups’ (the measuring kind) of ground coffee in a one pound bag, which is enough to make the modified recipe three times. That’s eighteen mornings’ worth of iced coffee for $10, presuming you’re buying the expensive ground coffee at Starbucks. Which I will probably continue to do. Nobody’s perfect.

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Posts of the Week

by Flexo on July 25, 2009

in Personal Finance

Here are a few articles from around the web I recommend reading.

A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins With a Single Step. A few days ago, Tom, the producer of the Consumerism Commentary Podcast, and I spoke with Matt Jabs and recorded most of that conversation for an upcoming episode. Part of the discussion focused on the core message of this article and its inspiration, a quotation attributed to Lao Tsu matching the title of the article.

This quotation inspired Matt to set goals and take the first step towards achievement, but for me the quotation reinforces the idea that your goal (of traveling a thousand miles by foot or making the world a better place) need not be reached. The steps you take towards that goal, the small things you do, are what define who you are. Look for more on this topic in an upcoming episode of the Podcast.

Carnival of Personal Finance: New Zealand Edition. Baker from Man Vs. Debt hosted the 213rd edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance on Monday, and put together an excellent presentation of the prior week’s best articles in personal finance. The articles are interspersed with fantastic photos from New Zealand, representing the backpacking journey through the country Baker and his family were undertaking.

Is Frugal Living Just a Fad? The media has made much to-do over the idea that Americans are saving more and spending less due to the economic recession. Some out of necessity, but there is an implication that frugality is now more mainstream than it ever has been. I believe that’s an exaggeration. Perhaps we have been to the point where circumstances necessitate a change in consumerist behavior, but very few things in life are permanent. Entire generations have been identified by generalized adjectives such as “frugal;” current behavior is simply a reaction, not a permanent shift in behavior.

I wouldn’t call the recent popularity of “frugal living” a fad, but it’s not going to stick around for too long. The economy moves faster than it did seventy years ago; changes that used to take a generation to complete may take much less. Before long, Americans will be back and spending in full force.

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7 Tips for a Frugal Valentine’s Day

by Flexo on February 11, 2009

in Consumer

It’s a February tradition on Consumerism Commentary to look at Valentine’s Day from a perspective of moderation. Each year, I consider how a couple for whom frugality is important can still feel involved in the holiday of love. If you have some thoughts to add, please leave your comments at the bottom of this article.

The way I see it, Valentine’s Day is an occasion mostly meant for companies like Hallmark who market Products of Love to willing consumers who do not communicate their feelings well enough throughout the rest of the year. But I’m not that cynical. Celebrating Valentine’s Day in a unique way can be a great way to express love for others in addition to all that can be done on the remaining 364 days. From greeting cards to diamonds, and from Lexus to 1-800-Flowers, companies and brands want to be associated, or indelibly linked, to the holiday. I say avoid mass-produced “love” and take a personal approach.

Today’s economy lends itself well to this alternate philosophy. According to government statistics, more people are out of work today than were in that situation one year ago. Looking at Valentine’s Day through a frugal lens can allow you to express your feelings without sacrificing your financial condition as you stretch to afford to spend a night in a hotel, go on a cruise, or buy a car and wrap it in a bow.

Here are some of my suggestions for experiencing a frugal Valentine’s Day this year, some serious, some with tongue firmly planted in cheek. (And if everything works well for you this holiday, perhaps your tongue find its way somewhere else.)

1. Make your own greeting cards. There are few things I can’t stand. One of the few is cards that play music when they open. Not only is it annoying, but the music is often recorded in horrible fidelity so that it can be stored on a tiny, hidden device. But even standard greeting cards aren’t worth the price. I can never find one that expresses the thoughts as they exist in my head, but what would it say if I could find one? It would say that my feelings are mass produced, and the way I feel about someone can be expressed in the same words that thousands of other people would use, and I refuse to believe that any individual’s brain cells and synapses are aligned in the same way as thousands of other people.

The bottom line is that it takes little effort to hand-write a note or design your own card. You don’t need mad Photoshop skills to make something, either.

2. Pass over the chocolate. First, I don’t consider M&Ms and Hershey’s candy to be real chocolate. Chocolate starts with Godiva or Lindt, but still has room for improvement. Better chocolate, like a drug, might stimulate the hypothalamus, increasing pleasure for those who consume. Chocolate is a great comfort food for that reason. But good chocolate can be expensive, so it may be something you’d like to skip this year.

Skip chocolate and choose fruit instead.

3. Don’t rent pornography. Rather than supporting a dangerous industry, pick up the camcorder, mount in on a tripod, and get to work. If you’re too shy to film your own, peruse your local sex library. If you do, however, choose to take the do-it-yourself approach with your partner, please be sure not to upload your work accidentally to a public website. Keep it private.

4. Avoid lingerie. Here is something that’s pointless. Why spend a lot of money for a small amount of clothing, particularly if the desired end result is the removal of said clothing. Stay naked. Nudity is sexier and doesn’t support terrorism.

5. Turn off electrical appliances. No television, no lights, nothing that draws power provided by an outside source. Light a candle if you need to see, but otherwise just get in bed and cuddle in the dark… without the aforementioned lingerie.

6. Skip the gourmet dinner. Filet mignon at Ruth’s Chris is unmatched in terms of taste. Another one of my favorites is fondue at The Melting Pot. Dining as an experience is an important part of life for many people, but it isn’t a frugal choice. I’ve been somewhat successful, romantically if not culinarily, cooking myself for the more important occasions. It helps that I don’t cook often; when I do, it’s a special occasion in itself. And remember, when it comes out, it smells the same whether it’s McDonald’s or Omaha Steaks.

7. Create a playlist. They tell me that mix tapes are out of fashion in the twenty-first century. I was big on mix tapes throughout high school and even college. It was never a challenge for me to find songs that I wanted to share with other people, and since I already owned the music for the most part, the only cost was blank audio tapes. Towards the end of college, blank tapes gave way to blank CDs. These days, it’s the MP3 player that seems to be the preferred way to listen, and the way to bring the mix tape up-to-date is to create a playlist and share a compilation of MP3s.

Also check out these 5 romantic outdoor day-date ideas under $30.

Note: Don’t feel bad if you are without a partner on this Valentine’s Day. All of the above activities can be accomplished as well, if not better, on your own.

♥ Happy Valentine’s Day from Consumerism Commentary! ♥

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Smithee Update: October 2008

by Smithee on October 15, 2008

in Debt Reduction

I’ve been naughty.

I went a little nuts a few weeks ago and bought a whole bunch of audio/visual equipment. I didn’t do this just for fun, though. It’ll probably end up looking like an investment someday.

I got a mixer and a bunch of microphones that we’re going to use to create alternative movie commentaries. The commentary tracks will be for sale, but of course there’s no way of knowing whether it’ll be profitable. I tried to find a cheap way of doing this, but the sound quality would’ve suffered. For what it’s worth, I did buy the “scratch n’ dent” mixer for $40 less than it would’ve been. And the microphones were a good value. You can pay hundreds of dollars for a good microphone, but I found mine for $50. Of course, I bought three of them, so… Also, I needed a pop filter and a desk stand for each of them. Those weren’t free.

Since I had already decided to be naughty, I also bought a new video camera. I already had one that provided a pretty good quality image, but the sound was just awful. It’s a small consolation, but I sold the old camera for $90 to help pay for the new one, which was about $650.

All of this went on a credit card, of course. That’s why I say I’ve been naughty. I didn’t pay for it up front with money that I’d saved.

But you know what? My friends and I got together this past weekend to record our first commentary, and we had a lot of fun. Maybe the novelty will wear off, maybe it won’t, but I’m starting to think that it wasn’t quite so naughty, after all.

In other news, I accepted a job offer at a new place that will be paying me a little over $9,000 more per year than my current employer. I figure that should mean an additional $600 per month, so my credit card debt will be paid off even faster. More importantly, I think I will love working at the new place. Aside from the work itself (Information Architecture, Usability) which I have a lot of fun with, I had a couple of extended interviews with some of my future co-workers, and I think we’ll get along great.

Naturally, Apple came out with updated notebook computers yesterday, and I’m thinking of upgrading…

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6 Tips for a Frugal Valentine’s Day (Reprint Plus)

by Flexo on February 14, 2008

in Consumer

This article was published here on Valentine’s Day 2007. I enjoyed it so much, I decided to reprint it with perhaps a few updates every successive Valentine’s Day for the rest of my life. Enjoy.

Do you want to be romantic and save money? In a world where romanticism is portrayed by the media as the giving of expensive gifts like diamonds, a Lexus, and a tropical vacation, romanticism and frugality are seen as incompatible. Here are some ways to bring the two concepts together in a beautiful marriage of ideas (without the expensive caterers, wedding dress, and relatives).

1. Make your own cards. You don’t have to be a great artist, but some effort can go a long way. Fold a piece of paper in quarters, draw a simple design on the front with no more than two crayons, and write heartfelt words inside (in pen). You’ll be fine, and you’ll avoid the clichéd imagery.

Personally, I can never find cards that express what I feel — they’re either too cheesy or too stupid — so I opt for blank ones anyway.

Chocolate Heart2. Pass over the chocolate. Chocolate (represented by the pictured chocolate heart) is expensive this time of year, especially if you’re a fan of Godiva. Chocolate is such a pleasureful food because its chemicals react with the chemicals in the brain to create a slight euphoria.

Other options that create the same feeling include papaya and other juicy fruit, as well as marijuana. Drugs may not be the most frugal choice, however, depending on your source.

3. Don’t rent pornography. Doing so supports a dangerous industry (and terrorism, of course!). The best alternative is to select your videos for free at your local sex library.

Another option: film your own scene for your private home viewing. It’s more “personal” but less sexy to anyone other than you, so keep it to yourself.

4. Avoid lingerie. Why spend so much money on small pieces of fabric that will quickly be removed from the body anyway? Nudity is much sexier, and doesn’t fund terrorism.

5. Turn off electrical appliances. No television, no lights, nothing that draws power provided by an outside source. Light a candle if you need to see, but otherwise just get in bed and cuddle in the dark… without the aforementioned lingerie.

6. Skip the gourmet dinner. Homemade filet mignon sends a message to your sweetie: I’m willing to spend extra money for meat depending on its originating proximity to a bull’s ass. Skip the fine foods. When everything comes out, it smells the same whether it’s Omaha Steaks or McDonald’s.

Note: Don’t feel bad if you are without a partner on this Valentine’s Day. All of the above activities can be accomplished as well, if not better, on your own.

♥ Happy Valentine’s Day from Consumerism Commentary! ♥

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Holiday Gift Guide, Part 4: Frugal Homemade Gifts

by Sasha on December 14, 2007

in Consumer, Shopping

Homemade gifts can be so much more than the sum of their parts, which makes them a great frugal gift option.

They are redolent of effort, of “I thought of you all year and worked on this for you” versus “I realized I needed a gift for you ten minutes ago and picked this up as I was driving here.”

knotted heartMoneySavingMom has an extensive collection of frugal gift ideas. Some of my favorite homemade gifts from her list follow:

* Homemade baking mixes
* Embroidered pillowcases
* Hand-stamped notecards
* Personalized CDs (with music, family photos, etc.)
* Custom-made photo calendars (every grandparent I know adores these)
* Homemade food, including freezer-ready quick meals and baked goods (I am seriously asking my mother-in-law for a giant vat of her famous fresh Tomato soup for the holidays this year)
* Canned vegetables, jam, pickles, etc.
* Scarves, sweaters and other knitted/crocheted goodies
* Fleece throw blankets
* Homegrown organic dried herbs (in a charming little jar, what could be better?)

I talked a bit about this in my last entry, but the ultimate “handmade” gift may not be a thing at all, but instead, a service. I love the concept of lending your personal services to someone else, especially in this age of so little free time.

If you’re good at sewing, what about giving certificates for mending and tailoring clothing? Or giving proofreading or resume help to someone still in school? Know someone who travels a lot? A few certificates for rides provided by you to and from the airport could be just the thing. Or create a scrapbook or photo album for someone with lots of memories and no time to compile them. Babysitting, yard cleanup, etc. are gifts which cost little but your time.

I’ve been blessed with some very creative friends, so in the past I’ve received amazing scarves, jewelry, gorgeous embroidered pillowcases, and even original artwork. This year, one of my good friends knitted me some very chic pure-white cashmere gloves.

My own talents are more culinary than crafty, so this year I’m giving out tins of several varieties of homemade cookies and a few premade freezer meals, like lasagna, for those in my life who don’t enjoy cooking as much as I do. If you’re not inclined to create gifts yourself, you can buy amazing and unique handmade gifts of all sorts at Etsy.com.

Any special handmade gifts you’ve given or received? Share your favorites.

Image Credit: Autreyu

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