Who's taking my money?

Okay, I know I sound like a broken record, but why the heck do prices at the stores keep creeping up by a few cents at a time?

Do the stores think we won't notice that a loaf of bread jumped from $1.09 to $1.24? How about the price of apples - jumped from $1.47 per pound to $1.69 per pound.

What's up? The more money I spend on groceries, the less food I bring home.

I live in the Midwest - is anyone else noticing prices jumping a few cents at a time? I've been watching this happen for the past few months, but I thought maybe it would eventually level out and stop. It did for a little while, but now things are jumping again.

Any thoughts?

Swapping Coupons

Do you use coupons?

I do, and some of my friends have suggested doing some swapping. In the past, I never had enough friends who actually used coupons for this to be a feasible idea.

Now with the economy going down the drain, everybody is looking for a way to save a penny here and a penny there.

Swapping coupons with friends is a great way to make use of coupons that are available (I hate to throw any away!), get a few more that you can use and spend some time with your girlfriends!

Put in a call - or email - to your gal pals and ask if they'd be up for a coupon swap.

Choose a time, day and location then start collecting those soupons!

Everybody meet at the appointed time and sort through and choose those you can use and give those you can't.

This is most effective if you are able to do this on a regular basis. Think of it as recession-therapy: Chat with the other chicks while you swap money-saving tips and coupons - get in some girl-time and get all your words out for the day, then save a few bucks to booth!

Save $100 - the easy way

If you're like me, having a regular savings plan seems to difficult.

To say "I'm going to save $5 out of every pay check" sounds so simple but to actually do it seems like pulling teeth.

Here's an easy - and painless - way to save $100.

Grab a can, a jar, an old teapot - whatever and stick it up on top of the fridge.

Every day - and I mean every single day - go through your wallet, purse, car seats, and couch cushions and scrape up 28 cents.

Put the 28 cents into the jar or teapot.

Leave it there. This is an emergency fund - so don't be dipping into it.

In 365 days you'll have saved up $102.20. Simple and easy.

If you decided to double the amount you put back every day - that's 56 cents - you will save $204.40 in a year.

My personal savings goal is 75 cents per day. That translates to $273.75 in a year's time.

If I had to stop and think about saving that 75 cents in one lump per month ($22.50) I probably wouldn't do it. Maybe because putting back that chunk of change at once is daunting, or because I might not have that much at one time.

Breaking it down into small, daily doses makes it seem easier and more conquerable in our minds.

Give it a try (in any amount) for 30 days. You'll get into the habit of saving and you might be surprised at the little fund you've managed to save up!

My frugal find of the day

I was in my local Kroger grocery store yesterday and had my frugal find of the day.

Cottonelle toilet paper - four-pack - was on sale for 99 cents. I had a coupon for 50 cents off floating around in my purse, so I dug it out and voila! I got a four-pack of toilet paper for only 49 cents!

What a deal!

{{{(((<<Doing the happy tightwad dance>>>>}}}}))}}

Frugal ideas from friends

I've had some frugal friends who have been discussing their favorite tips and I thought I'd share a few of them.

These aren't my ideas, they come from my dear friends in the homeschooling community. Homeschoolers tend to get very creative when it comes to saving money, because we have no choice!

Here are a few of my faves from friends:

Put liquid soap (shampoo, body wash, dish detergent) into pumps to make it stretch and use less. In addition, this will cut down on waste due to spills (or dropping the bottles!).

I personally have bought some hand soaps in pumps (on sale at $1 each), used them up then saved them for refilling. If you get some of the foaming pumps and mix soap 50/50 with water it makes the soap go further.

I also buy bulk containers of hand soap and dish detergent. You can refill the pumps containers and it's much cheaper.

Check back later for more tips!

Two ways to save using cheap conditioner

Cheap hair conditioner can be used in place of shaving cream when you shave your legs. It really works - I have tried it!

Suave brand or V05 are the cheapest brands in my area - less than a dollar per bottle (sometimes I can get them on sale for between 75 and 88 cents per bottl - what a deal!).

Conditioner can also be used to make inexpensive detangler. I have two little girls (and myself) who wake up every day with snarly hair. I was spending a lot of money on commercial detanglers and was never happy with the results.

I found that mixing a concoction of cheap conditioner with water in a cheap spray bottle (spray bottles can be bought at WalMart or Target for around $1) at a ratio of 10 to 1 (10 parts water to 1 part conditioner) works great. It helps remove the tangles and rats without leaving hair feeling greasy.

Just make sure to shake the bottle well to properly mix. One bottle of conditioner will go really, really far when being used for detangler, so the cost is amazingly cheap in comparison with commercial detanglers. And I personally think it works better.

Tips for feeding a family of 5 for less than $300 a month

First of all, we don’t eat a lot of meat. Oh, we’re not vegetarians or anything. We’re just not big on meat - except for chicken and turkey which are eaten at most once per week, sometimes only once every 10 days or so.

We eat pasta, rice, fruits and veggies mostly. I try to buy very few convenience foods (although I do buy several frozen pizzas each month to keep on hand for quick meal fixes).

I make a lot of things from scratch - or at least not from a can or a jar: Breakfast muffins, pancakes, homemade pizzas, pasta sauce, macaroni and cheese, bread, cookies.

When I do my grocery shopping, I try to stock up on all-purpose flour (which can be stored in the freezer for long-term keeping), sugar, bread flour, oil, rice and pasta which are staples in my pantry.

I usually do count in my $300 budget items such as shampoo, soap, toothpaste, toilet paper, paper towels (although I rarely buy paper towels - I use dish towels and cut up socks in place of paper towels). Typically though, these items are bought on sale and with coupons so their costs are minimal, or I purchase as much generic as I can.

 I rarely buy name brands unless it is on sale and I have a coupon. I try to buy items in bulk whenever possible, but on certain items that’s not necessarily a cheaper (I’ve found that a 25-pound bag of flour is actually more expensive than buying five five-pound bags of flour).

Another tip I use is to shop at more than one store. This may not be feasible depending upon where you live. In my town, my favorite grocery stores are within less than a mile of each other. I make my list and divide it according to what items I know are cheaper at each store.

More tips later, but I would definitely love to hear some of your favorite tried and true tips to keeping your grocery budget down.