Week 7: How I Saved $191

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how to save money with Ebates

Each week I share how I saved money, hoping that some of these frugal ideas could be helpful to you.

Check out the Resources Page for tons of other money saving resources!

If you’ve read other How I Saved posts, feel free to skip down to the deals.

If you’re new, here’s a little background about why I share my savings…

You’d be surprised how much money you can save when you really put your mind to it. It’s the accumulation of lots of small choices and habits that dictate the path your finances take.

The money that you save might seem meaningless in small amounts, but it truly adds up. It leaves more money in your bank account that you can use to pay off debt, save for the future, or do more of what you enjoy.

I absolutely love saving money and wanted to start sharing how I save each week. Not to show off, but to hopefully demonstrate different ways to save and maybe inspire you to want to do the same.

I strive to save on groceries, eating out, clothes, gifts, gasoline, etc. You name it, and I want to save money on it.

My main motivation for saving money is to pay off our mortgage in the next 2-3 years. Every dollar saved is in honor of that goal.

We’ve paid off thousands of dollars in debt over the past couple years. Wouldn’t it feel so awesome to be completely debt free? And get to keep most of your paycheck instead of immediately sending it away to pay bills? I think so.

I thought I’d share how much I save each week by using my favorite savings formula: combining sales and coupons. Or whatever other ways I come up with to be frugal. Hopefully some of these methods can be applied to your life.

You can get caught up and read the rest of the How I Saved posts here.

Related: Flat out broke? Try these 5 tips.

Here are my savings for Week 7 – February 12-18

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Grocery Savings:

This is the easiest way to save money. Each week, plan your shopping trip(s) based on what’s on sale. Then combine those sales with matching coupons to get the most bang for your buck. I always aim for at least 50% savings.

Related: Use one of these 5 easy meal planning strategies to make the most of your grocery budget.

I use coupon matchup sites to plan my deals. My favorites are Kroger Krazy, Meijer Madness, and Bargains to Bounty. They make it so easy by spelling out exactly what the sale items are, and which coupons to use. Such a couponing time saver!
The absolute best place to print coupons is coupons.com. It’s where I get all my printable coupons.

Here are the deals!

I didn’t need go to Kroger or Aldi this week, but my Meijer trip was particularly glorious.

Meijer Shopping Trip:

These are just examples of a couple deals. I recommend checking out your local ads and finding online coupon matchup sites for your favorite stores to plan your shopping trip.

I picked up my other free furnace filter, like last week.

There was a digital mPerk coupon for a free Chobani yogurt, so I cashed that in. I also had another free Arla cream cheese coupon that came in the newspaper inserts.

I had 3 manufacturer coupons for $1.50 off any size of Biotin mouthwash. They sell small bottles in the travel section for $1, so I got 3 for free.

I stocked up on ground beef that was on sale for $1.99/lb., like in Week 1, so I can preserve it in my Foodsaver to use over the next month or two.

Related: Read how I use a Foodsaver to save hundreds on meat here.

We were almost completely out of sliced and shredded cheese, so I was quite happy to come across a bunch of Sargento and Kraft cheese on clearance! I had a few 50 cents off 2 Sargento coupons that I used. That’s why I always bring my coupons with me. You never know when you’ll have the need for one.

You might be thinking “eww clearance cheese sounds disgusting.” But the Sell By dates were not until June-August, so I’m left to deduct that Meijer isn’t going to be selling those specific varieties of cheese anymore, so they needed to clear space.

Stores are not legally allowed to sell foods that are past their freshness date, so don’t be afraid to peruse the clearance section at your grocery store.

how to save money on groceries

Related: Here are 5 ways to change the way you grocery shop.

I had a $50 Visa gift card from a Black Friday Kohls rebate, so I stocked up on other items we needed. Don’t forget to send in a rebate if you come across one! Most people forget to.

Amount Saved: $111.47 (including $50 Visa gift card)

Amount Spent: $0!!

Percentage Saved: 100%

Ibotta Savings: $1.25

There were Ibotta 25 cent rebates on eggs, ground beef, cheese and 50 cents back on ‘any item’ from Meijer.

New to Ibotta? Click here for a $10 welcome bonus!

Gasoline Savings:

I paid the regular old listed price at the gas station. Booo! At least the price hadn’t just gone up 40 cents a gallon or something that day. That always seems wrong to me!

Miscellaneous Savings:

Bath and Body Works mails me coupons every month, and it always includes a freebie! Yes, I’m often that annoying person who goes into the store and gets the free item and nothing else.

This month the free item was a Wallflower plugin or refill. I really haven’t had great luck with these scents lasting very long. I do have some refills already, so I got a new plugin to see if that worked better than the one I had.

Only a very basic plugin was included in the coupon, so that’s what I got. But man, there sure were some cute ones that costed more.

how to use coupons

I booked our plane tickets to Seattle for our June trip. I went through Ebates to Expedia and will get $1.25 back.

New to Ebates? I use it to get cash back on almost everything I order online. The percentage back differs from store to store. It really adds up. They send you a check every quarter. It’s the easiest way to earn money! Simply go to Ebates and search for the store you want to order from. Click through to that store’s website from Ebates, and order like usual.

Click here to get $10 back from Ebates on your first purchase.

I also used our Chase Freedom Unlimited credit card to book the plane tickets, which offers 1.5% cash back. We only use it for big purchases, where the 1.5% would be impactful. I used it to book our lodging in Seattle as well, along with Airbnb. (If you’ve never used Airbnb to book affordable vacation lodging before, click here to get $40 off your first trip.)

The Chase Freedom Unlimited card offers $150 back if you charge $500 in the first 3 months. We signed up a few months back, as did a few family members, and have enjoyed the $150 back. If you’re really responsible with credit cards, click here to receive the same deal. Just don’t use it to buy anything you wouldn’t have purchased anyway.

I had the annual appointment with my endocrinologist this week. We discussed changing my dose of thyroid medicine. The new dose has a generic version, which saved me $50 for a 90 day supply. I was very excited about that, since that’s a $200 per year savings!

Amount Saved: $78.34 

Grand Total Savings for Week 7: $191.06

Total Saved Year-to-Date: $681.94

You can read the rest of the How I Saved posts here.

Don’t forget to check out the Resources Page for tons of other money saving resources!

What are your tricks for saving money? How did you save money this week?

Linking up with The Thrifty Couple for Thrifty Thursday!

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