Frugal Friday

Stocking up on items when they are on sale is a very easy way to save money (and time!). You would think that this would be a no brainer but it's ridiculous how many times I have heard someone in the store mention "You should buy more, it's on sale!" only to have a person answer "I don't need anymore right now." Okay, maybe you don't need more right now but I am sure that at some point you will be needing more cans of corn, or extra tubes of toothpaste. If it is something that you use on a regular basis then stockpiling it when you find it at an excellent price or on clearance combined with coupons is the very best way to save money on items that you would use anyway.

For example, when I was at Super Target last week I found 3 lb. bags of apples for 99cents a bag. That is only 33cents per pound! I bought three bags, but wish I had bought more when I heard the storage tip of wrapping them in newspaper and storing them in the basement...they last months this way! They also had 10 lb. bags of potatoes for $1.99...how often do you find potatoes at 20 cents per pound? I was in a hurry and my cart was full so I only bought one bag, but wish I had gotten several more as we are already more than half through that one bag. If I had been in a savings mindset I would be well stocked on potatoes and apples for this winter. Lesson learned.

I also use coupons and combine them with sales or clearance prices and get items for pennies or even free. That, combined with the large gift baskets that my parents put together for us for Christmas (which include razors, lotion, deodorant, and many other health and beauty items) mean that I rarely have to pay full price for these items. It is wonderful when we run out of something to go to the cupboard and pull an extra out instead of running to the store for one little thing.

I don't mean that you should buy every package on the shelf or buy by the case full. But if you find an item that you use regularly on sale, and know that you will not see this price for some time, than stock up on it as much as space and money will allow. Whether that be 5 cans of vegetables, or 20 cans stock up with enough to last you until the next sale.

Another frugal tip, is especially on my mind this week. Saving money on your heating bill. Our natural gas costs tend to just keep going higher and higher. It gets expensive heating a home, especially when the temperatures outside are so frigid and the heat seems to be running constantly. We have saved on our gas bill for several years by keeping the thermostat turned down. We go to the extremes really, and usually have ours set at 63 to 64 degrees during the day and 58 degrees at night. I understand that this is much chillier than most even want to tolerate. Quite frankly, we have gotten used to it and if we start feeling cold we just put on another layer of clothing. We now find this temperature quite comfortable and feel HOT when we go into a store. Our heating bills are much less than those around us. We had an energy audit when we first bought our house. The man was surprised at what we keep the thermostat at and complimented us on it. He said the majority of the homes he goes to are roaring hot and the residents are walking around in shorts and t-shirts and then have the gall to complain about their high heating costs and see if they can get assistance for it. If you don't want to go so low, you can still save money by setting your thermostat down a little at night or if everyone is gone at work or school during the day set it lower. A programmable thermostat will do all this work for you and I guarantee that you will see a difference with your first bill.