Save Money with Coupons

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I used to be considered the “Queen of Coupon Clipping”.  I was saving so much money on food and household items. It was my part time job really. My local grocery store offered double coupons at the time which made it possible for me to get things for free with my coupons. I would get free food, free tooth brushes and toothpaste.

I also bought coupons on ebay so I would have 10-20 of the same coupon. This meant I was getting 10-20 free toothbrushes. The store would only allow me to use 3 coupons at a time so I would go in often. It was great but like I said before it was like a part time job.  I had to look over the weekly and monthly sales booklet the stores offered and find out which sales went with which coupons. I didn’t have to do much coupon clipping because I bought many of my coupons on ebay already clipped.

It may be that over used my “coupon-savings power” because my store stopped offering double coupons. I was very irritated when this happend and almost stopped shopping there but then I realized that was silly. I was the one taking advantage of the system.

So my point here is that coupons can really save you money. If your store offeres double coupons and you are abe to really get incredible deals then USE THOSE COUPONS.

Here are some coupon usage tips from the “Queen”.

1. Don’t buy things you won’t eat or use even if it’s a killer deal.

2. Use your grocery story sales flyer or booklet and coupons to make your shopping list. You will save more money if you plan your meals around the sales.

3. Don’t buy too much junk food even if you are getting them almost free. You may end up with a pantry full of junk food but forget to get meals you can eat. I know this from experience. Plus junk food is bad for you.

4. Check out coupons on Ebay. You can find some great coupons that can save you tons of money. Just besure the expiration date is far enough in the future so that you have enough time to use 10-20 coupons. And don’t get bid happy and pay to much for the coupons either.

When I had my part-time coupon-savings job I would say I I was buying $30-$50 in groceries that should have cost over $100. At that time our family of four was living on about $200 a month in groceries. Coupons can save you lots of money if you have a plan.

January 3, 2007 | Filed Under Recipes on a Budget, Saving Money with Coupons | 1 Comment 

Best Bean Burritos

Pinto beans are really cheap. You can usually by a bag that will feed a family of 4 for about $1.00. If you buy in bulk it’s even cheaper. My Best Bean Burritos recipe is not exactly one I can take credit for. Many people over the years have been making beans this way. I am just here to share a good easy recipe. This recipes is also a good time saving recipe.

For this recipe you will need a crock pot.

Ingredients:

2 lb Bag of Pinto Beans -$1-$2 (there will probably be leftovers)

Salt Pork (you can usually find this where the ham and sausage is) -$2-3

1 med. onion $.50 ish

Garlic Salt (should be a staple)

Pepper (should be a staple)

Cheese (should be a staple)

Salsa (optional) $1.50-$3.00

Sour Cream (optional) $1.50-$3.00

Water (should be a staple)

Burrito size tortillas ($1.50-$3.00)

 

Cut medium onion into small pieces (or however you like your onions). Salt Pork - you can either cut the salt pork up into little pieces or  leave itWash pinto beans. Poor beans, salt pork and onions and  in your crock pot. Cover beans with twice as much water as the beans. You may need to add more water as the beans swell. Cook on low in your crock pot for 5-8 hrs. Or high for 4-6 hrs. Add garlic salt and peper to taste.  I usually just sprinkle some garlic salt and pepper with all the rest of the ingredients, but if you are doing this for the first time you might want to do it to taste.

Tortillas - heat torillas in microwave for a few seconds or heat them on a gas stove. I usually do this by placing the tortilla on the fire until soft then I flipt to the other side and heat until soft. (Becareful not to burn your house down).

At this point you should know how to do the rest. Make a burrito.

If you find all these items on sale you can feed a family of 4-6 people for around $5 plus you will probably have leftovers. This estimate doesn’t include the optional items but the burritos taste really good with out them. Not bad huh?

November 7, 2006 | Filed Under Recipes on a Budget | Leave a Comment 

Beans and Rice & Rice and Beans

For some of us it’s not easy to live on a budget. We have to change everything about our lifestyle included how we shopped for food. It’s amazing how much you can save if you just plan. When our family first started budgeting and took a stand to stop borrowing money we had to make some major changes in our grocery shopping.

We are a family of of 4 and we managed to eat on $200 a month. I am still not sure how we did it but we did. We didn’t go hungry either. I had to find recipes that didn’t cost a lot to make.

Dave Ramsey (you may be sick of me mentioning him, but your just going to have to get over it) encourages us to save money where we can. He talks about the Beans and Rice diet.  It’s not like I just decided to eat beans and rice because he said so. It so happens our family really like beans and rice. So beans and rice was one of our main items on the list. Potatoes was another. There are a lot of good recipes with potatoes. Pasta is another cheap item. I will be sharing some of my recipes in future posts.

If you have a goal and a plan you can do more than you think you can. I have found this to be true for our family. I have a goal of getting out of debt and an plan to change my family tree. I will do what it takes to make it happen. With of course a lot of prayer o ).

 

November 7, 2006 | Filed Under Recipes on a Budget | Leave a Comment 

Beans and Rice & Rice and Beans

For some of us it’s not easy to live on a budget. We have to change everything about our lifestyle included how we shopped for food. It’s amazing how much you can save if you just plan. When our family first started budgeting and took a stand to stop borrowing money we had to make some major changes in our grocery shopping.

We are a family of of 4 and we managed to eat on $200 a month. I am still not sure how we did it but we did. We didn’t go hungry either. I had to find recipes that didn’t cost a lot to make.

Dave Ramsey (you may be sick of me mentioning him, but your just going to have to get over it) encourages us to save money where we can. He talks about the Beans and Rice diet.  It’s not like I just decided to eat beans and rice because he said so. It so happens our family really like beans and rice. So beans and rice was one of our main items on the list. Potatoes was another. There are a lot of good recipes with potatoes. Pasta is another cheap item. I will be sharing some of my recipes in future posts.

If you have a goal and a plan you can do more than you think you can. I have found this to be true for our family. I have a goal of getting out of debt and an plan to change my family tree. I will do what it takes to make it happen. With of course a lot of prayer o ).

 

November 7, 2006 | Filed Under Recipes on a Budget | Leave a Comment