Monthly Savings Tracker

I had a friend come by last week while I had coupon inserts, scissors, and piles of coupons spread across my table. She asked me how much money I saved by using coupons and I didn't have an answer better than "lots."

It really got me thinking and I've given myself a challenge. I'm going to track my savings during the month of August.

If you're up for the challenge, I'm posting a link to the excel spreadsheet I made. It's really basic, but I thought I'd share what I'll be using.  I'd love to hear at the end of the month how much you've saved!

The Monthly Savings spreadsheet can be found HERE.  There is an example at the top so you can see how to fill it in.  This can be downloaded by going to File, Download, and then using the spreadsheet to fill in your own numbers.

Local Thrift Stores

Secondhand shopping is a great way to safe money. Even though I still haven't had a chance to go by these thrift stores to check it all out, I wanted to post this advice from Sofia L. I'm just going to copy what she said because she says it so well!

"Savers on Mondays has reinstated their 99 cent Mondays with additional half price tags. So certain color tags will be 99 cents no matter what the price marked and then another color will be half priced.

At the Goodwill bargain bin all children's books are a quarter. Plus I love getting children's swimsuits there (I know that sounds nasty and ghetto but that's why God made color safe bleach) because the way clothing is priced by the pound the swimsuits end up being 20 cents. It's hood there, just to forewarn. Even if you don't have asthma, you might have an asthma attack because of smells."

Too funny. I'll wear my meat-handling mask to help with the smell when I go. Thanks for the tips, Sofia! Any other money saving tips out there?

BOOKS!

"I almost never read a borrowed book. I don't like to read borrowed books because I don't want to read a book without underlining things I want to remember. Since one doesn't underline someone else's book, I feel that if a book is worth reading, it is worth owning."
Boyd K. Packer, Teach Ye Diligently, pg. 197

There's nothing better than a good book...except maybe getting a good deal on a good book!

Janet H. emailed me about a local used book shop, "Grassroots Books, located at 660 Grove Street (near Reno Costco). They are a used book store with lots of new stuff too! Typical prices range from $0.99-$2.99. This week they are having a parking lot sale where they will have 15,000 books all at $0.99. It runs Nov. 18-22 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m." Sounds like this could be a bargain on good books. I also read on their website that they buy DVDs, books, and music, so that might be something to look into as well. Thanks for the info. Janet!

Cooking with MEAT

I used to cringe at the thought of cooking with meat! Boneless, skinless chicken breasts were my style and even then I'd be queasy.

I recently found a post on using inexpensive cuts of meat and now I'm a changed girl. Not only does it save a lot of money but it's not too hard either! I've even come up with a solution for my uneasiness towards meat.Just kidding...kind of. I seriously do wear the gloves. Go ahead, laugh if you must-I'm used to it; my husband laughs at me every time.I bought this pork shoulder for $0.99/pound last week at Safeway and it is yummy and easy to cook when used in this recipe, complete with a how-to demo, found HERE.

I bought 15 pounds and had two crock pots going in about 30 minutes. They cooked all day long while I sat around and twiddled my thumbs. I ended up with dinner for that night, a small roast (I had to cut some off to get it in the crock pot) and nine bags of shredded pork (four seasoned and five plain).

This week (11/11-11/17) the pork butt is $0.97/pound at Save Mart. I wasn't sure if this was a similar cut to pork shoulder, but luckily I know how to Google and I read HERE that pork shoulder is indeed the same thing. Try it for yourselves!

Are you brave when it comes to meat? Do you have any tips or recipes to share? Do tell!

(Thanks Being Frugal is Fabulous!)