Frugal Friday

So sorry to be doing Frugal Friday so late on Friday the 13th. I just realized it was the 13th. You see I spent most of the night at the emergency room with Princess. She suffers from migraines at times and last night we had no pain meds other than tylenol. Which does nothing. So it was around 4 am before we returned home and I crawled into bed. Princess is doing fine now, they gave her a pain pill and she slept it off. She is exhausted and I believe this is what brought the headache on. She is going to school and working part time. Her boss at the Dollar General just keeps adding more and more hours on her however. She can't keep this pace up and get any rest or any studying done. So she is having a talk with her boss about it. Hopefully we will get it all resolved soon. So let's move on to frugal savings here.

How is everyone doing using their coupons? Are you noticing yourself saving money now? Is this helping? I certainly hope so. I didn't do much shopping this week as I have stocked up on lots over the last few weeks. However I did go out and pick some things up. I am happy to say I have stocked up on toothpaste, toilet paper, body wash, shampoo and beauty essentials. Walgreens is the absolute best place to do this. Look at their easy saver booklet you get each week in the mail. Match up their coupons with any for the same products. Double your savings. Most often this means the item is free or very near to free. Also at Walgreens you get those receipt coupons back. Always check those and do not throw them away.

I wanted to pass this deal on to everyone today. It's too good not to pass along. If anyone has a Super Target in their area they have a great deal this month. This deal is good till March 28. Their in house coupons is what I am talking about. But in particular the $2.00 off Sutton & Dodge® Steakhouse quality choice Angus beef Steak or Roast. You can print as many of these as you would like to use before the 28th. You may have to take them to the register one at a time I'm not really sure. I, unfortunately, do not have the Super Target near me. But $2.00 off a package of steaks and roast can't be beat. Even if you have to make several trips through the line. Click here to print the coupons out. This same link takes you to their site and several other coupons on it as well. Pass this along to your friends who have a Super Target near them.

This week we are going to talk more about how you can save a little, or maybe a lot, depending on your car. I have got a few suggestions to save money in this area as well.

I realize the price of gas has went down, but if you can continue to save on it, then go for it. One way is to empty your trunk out. Quit carrying around things in there you don't need. Of course keep your spare tire, jack and things of this nature but anything you "store" in your trunk. Toss it. For every 100#'s you toss out your car gives you back 2% in gas savings. Might not seem like a lot but it adds up.

Another very simple way is to SLOW DOWN. While I know everyone want's to get there in a hurry if you simply slow down to around 60 mph you save yourself quite a bit of money. 60 mph is the recommended speed for the best possible fuel economy. To make this easier on you set your cruise control to 60 mph. Let the other drivers fly by and laugh at them for saving nothing this way. In fact they might be flying right into a speeding ticket down the road.

If it's possible, carpool with your friends. This could be for going to work or even for a day of shopping with your friends. When I was working outside the home I carpooled with my best friend. I done the driving, as my car was bigger, and she paid me x amount a week. You cannot know how much this saved us both. Especially when you consider we drove 35 miles one way. so think about it. Carpool's work. Plus you get to drive in the carpool lane. Teehee.

Downsize your car. If you drive an SUV gas guzzler then why not switch to maybe van with less power and still close to the same size. Downsize your car to one that has smaller monthly payments or uses much less gas. Or better yet, trade it in on one that is paid for with cash and get rid of those monthly payments altogether.

Make sure you do an oil change every 2500 to 3000 miles on your vehicle. I believe it's recommended to get one every 2000 miles, but a simple small stretch to 2500 or 3000 will save you around $100 a year. Now this small delay will NOT do any damage to your car. I have talked to several mechanics about this in the last few years. And I have done this myself on my own vehicles. No major or minor damage but a savings each year.

Believe it or not if you maintain the same amount of tire pressure on all four tires you will see a savings of $1.00 at the gas pumps each time you fill up. Always check your tire pressure and maintain the same amount per tire. This will improve your gas mileage by about 8 cents per mile.

Check out your car insurance? It doesn't hurt to shop around each year for the best car insurance possible. Check and see what your deductible is? If you are paying a small deductible of $250 or $500 raise this to $1,000. This will make quite dent into the amount you pay yearly or monthly by simply doing this. Also if you have teenagers on your policy make sure they have taken a driver's ed course as you get a discount at most insurance companies for this. Also by your teenager maintaining a good grade point average as well. If you haven't already done so ask your insurance about this. Also if your teenager works, ask them to pay a portion of their own insurance. It's certainly not going to hurt them at all. You would be teaching them about the value of money and much more by them participating in helping make their own insurance payments.

A clean air filter is one of the easiest, cheapest ways to increase fuel efficiency. The FTC cites a 10% increase in gas mileage just by keeping your air filter clean.

Wash your own car! Not only does this save you money but you get exercise as well. You will burn about 200 calories an hour by washing your own car. I personally love to wash my own. It gets me outside when it's warm, I get wet and have fun doing this with the kids. Better yet, make those teenagers of yours wash it for you. Put your daughters out there in bikinis and let them have fun. So Srub a Dub ladies.


Till Next Week My Frugal Friends,