Saving money by using coupons is only one way to stretch the income you already have and improve your personal finances. One of my favorite blogs to turn to for additional money saving ideas and topics is Wisebread.
The writers at Wisebread have come together to create a go-to guide to saving money: 10,001 ways to Live Large on a Small budget. Here they have shared their best advice such as:
• 10 Frugal Ways to Care for Your Allergies: Tips include alternating decongestants, cutting 12-hour pills in half, and buying decongestants at bulk stores, to name a few.
• 13 Free Ways to Wrap Your Gifts with Style: Utilize everyday materials found around the house to create beautifully packaged presents.
• 6 Simple Tips for Buying Great, Affordable Wine: Award-winning wine consultant Brad Haskel of London Lennies restaurant shares inside-industry knowledge.
• 6 Steps to Eliminating Your Debt Painlessly: Snowball debt relief efforts using a high-interest-first debt-reduction plan.
• 11 Penny-Pinching Ways to Pimp Your Garage: Organize your garage into good use.
• 6 Warnings Signs That You Shouldn’t Take That Job: Understand telltale characteristics of lousy jobs, and why it may be best to cut and run.
• 3 Easy Steps to Finding Great Airfare Deals: Grasp the motivations behind airline pricing and develop strategies to consistently spot good deals.
I am very excited to be supporting them in spreading the word about their book AND be able to provide two of my readers the chance to win one of these books.
To enter this giveaway all you need to do is leave a comment sharing how saving money has improved your personal finances so far. I want to hear how your penny pinching is helping improve your life.
This giveaway ends Monday 6/1 at 9 PM CST. U.S. addresses only please.
I started researching these coupon strategies right after having my daughter. We really wanted to be able to afford having me stay at home with her, but the numbers just didn’t add up. We had enough in savings to get us through one year before I would have to go back to work. Well, thanks to all of the money saved on groceries, that savings account stretched further than we ever thought it could, and now, one year later, my husband got a promotion and it looks like I will be a stay at home mom for a long time!!
I’m so excited about saving money each week!
We are working to pay off our mortgage quicker using all the money we save each week with coupons that allow us to come in under our food shopping budget.
Its all about sticking to the plan and working hard at it!
Saving money is a hobby that both my husband and I have began to enjoy doing together. He supports me and get just as excited about my “deal of the week” as i do. Which has only brought us closer. It’s also helped us begin to plan for our future and dream big together about what we will do with our savings!
I hope i win this book – i think i would love it!
Saving money is enriching my marriage! Nothing says “I Love You” more to my husband than a low grocery bill!
Saving money has helped me not only to pay off my car loan early and attack the credit card debt, but it has also helped me not to continue to use the card those last few days of the month when there used to be more month than money. Thanks for all you do to help me achieve that!
Saving money on groceries and other items hs become a hobby. It really shows me how much eating out and buying things just because I thought i needed them wasted so much money.
It’s gret hearing my huband tell people all about my savings and how much we pay for a family of 4 grocery shopping.
I have been saving money by using coupons in the last few weeks. I went to Target yesterday and got about $30 in groceries for less than $2.00. It was incredible. I have found this website to be really helpful with matching coupons and have saved quite a bit in the last month. I sure wish that I had found this site a year ago! I could have been saving so much more! Thanks so much!
With the money I save the family my HB is able to have not one but two salt water fish tanks!! And anything that keeps him happy is great for the whole family!!!LOL
Saving money is such an awesome feeling! We are trying to save money for a down payment on a new house. Coupons are REALLY helping us out with this goal!
By matching up coupons and weekly sales I find we are able to actually eat better and doing it for less!
We’re at a point right now where we have to be careful with our money. My husband and I were married in March, bought a house earlier this month — and now he can’t find a job. He’s been doing freelance work, but that seems to be coming to an end, so we are really watching our budget carefully. We’ve sacrificed some things (cable and Internet at home, namely) and are making strides to eat out less and use lots more coupons when we buy groceries. We’ve had great success with our grocery budget so far, lowering it by about $35 per week (that extra $140ish a month is HUGE). I’ve also started carpooling to work, which almost cuts the amount I spend on gas in half. We’re also attending a Dave Ramsey Financial Peace class once a week to help us learn how to get out of debt and save. So we’ve definitely seen positive changes, even though times are a little tough right now, and we are learning things during this time that we’ll be able to carry over to better financial times, too.
We took out a loan to adopt our daughter with 2 years ago. We knew it would take a little while to pay off the loan. Clipping coupons and learning to be better stewards of our finances is speeding up our process as we strive to be debt free in the near future.
With 2 kids and medical bills piling up from the baby, I was drowning in debt and didn’t know what to cut off first. The electric, water, gas, or groceries. I had heard about websites where people saved a ton of money, but just thought I never had the time and it looked so confusing. Until I came across this site, I decided to give it a whirl, after all what did I have to lose, we were barely getting by as it was. Now I have cut my groceries from $120/week to about $30/week. Of course this hasn’t solved all the problems, but I am proud to say it’s been 3 months and I have yet to cut anything off and we are eating very well!! Thank you so much for all the time and effort you put in to helping others:)
MY husband and I have been working hard for the last year to cut our debt in half. We save by not having cable and using coupons for meals out or treats. We only drive where absolutely necessary and carpool whenever we can.
We don’t purchase clothes unless we have gift cards or cash. Penny pinching has helped us seriously cut out debt in half in the last year and I would love to learn more ways to save!
We’ve saved a ton on groceries since I started paying attention to prices and using coupons. I used to go grocery shopping and buy whatever I was in the mood for (and not use coupons). Now I buy what’s on sale and match that up with coupons for double savings. I’m AMAZED at all the great deals and free items I’m able to get on a weekly basis. Who knew?!?! Now I do 🙂
Saving money on groceries has helped us to put more money into savings. I also like to get free things that I know that I won’t use and pass them along to others (how big does my stockpile of pantyliners really need to be? I frequently find Carefree coupons for $1 and they’re free when on sale for $1…makes me feel good to be able to help others).
I love saving money! I love the challenge, i love the outcome! I love sharing tips and techniques with others! Saving money this past month on groceries allowed my family to be able to buy a deep freezer, which will enable us to save even more in the future by buying in bulk/making more baby food/etc. i think penny pinching has improved our overall life because we are always thinking of ways to still do things but do them cheaper and more efficiently! yay for saving money! i’d love to read this book and learn even more.
Combining couponing with a great budget has helped us pay off all credit card debt and two vehicle loans. We are now just down to our house payment, which we hope to have paid in full in the next 4-5 years. I can’t wait to walk in the grass when it’s paid for! 🙂
Thanks for the giveaway opportunity.
Saving money helped us to pay cash for a car last summer and is helping us go to the beach this summer. Would love to read this book.
I love saving money, and my children (5 + 3) have picked up on it. Once we get the receipts from stores, both kids ask how much money we saved with coupons. Plus my 5-year-old girl loves helping me cut coupons that I print or get from the paper.
Being careful with our money has allowed me to stop working so I can be home to raise my daughter.
We are devoted to frugal living and it’s paid off in the most significant way of all.
We are going to retire early!
With this blog i have been able to save so much money on groceries and many things, and expecially now i was recently diagnosed with a weird blood disorder and am on chemotherapy and my fiance lost his job and i cant work that much because of the treatments and now things are even harder, without this blog and all the coupon matchups i dont really know what i would do.
Thanks for the giveaway oppourtunity id love to read this book to help out other ways
For ME, saving money on groceries, utlities, etc … has caused me to be able to pay down $80K in DEBT to what is about $25K now … so very soon I should be DEBT free – and that has changed my life!!!!
I am a Stay At Home Mom so for us penny pinching is a necessity! I consider the money that I save each week as my ‘paycheck’ and I really do treat couponing and finding good deals on groceries and household items lie my job. I figure that without it there would be no way we would be able to pay our bills or be slowly working our way out of debt. I have been doing it for about 1 1/2 years now and I have no idea why I did not do this sooner or why everyone does not do it!
This is so funny, I just requested this book on my library list today! That is one way I have cut back on spending, instead of buying books, letting the dust gather, and waste money, I now check them out from the library which makes me read them because they must be returned.
Saving money by clipping coupons and watching sales ads has allowed us to save up for big purchases, like installing a fence or saving for a vacation.
I’ve been couponing for about a year now…combining that with drug store deals and it’s really paying off!
I get what I used to get at WalMart for free and really cheap now elsewhere…And I used to couldn’t leave WM w/out spending $100!! 🙂
Using coupons has allowed me to take my savings and do special outings with my family. We were getting confined to our house throughout the winter and by saving money we were able to get out of the house and spend some time together.
If you shop at Wal-Mart, you have probably seen the ALL YOU magazine. It usually holds about $80-100 worth of coupons per issue. They sell the magazine at 2.29. I am a consultant with Southern Living at Home and we are the makers of the mag. I can give you a DEAL on this magazine for only .75 per issue for 24 months. $18. Please see my website for details. You can pay by Visa, MC, Amex, Disc. on a secured site. If you have any questions, please email me at southerndecor@gmail.com
BTW- go to the allyou.com site to see the current coupons!
Saving money means that when the car insurance comes due, we have padding for it, rather than trying to fit a six-month expense into a mont’s worth of paychecks 😀
I am a stay at home mom to two one year old boys and have a baby on the way. This is the first time in our married lives that we are actually watching the balances in our accounts go UP instead of down due to clipping coupons, watching sales, and doing drug store deals. We are now saving for a new home.
Cutting coupons has not only reduced our monthly grocery bill, but has helped us pay down over 6,000 in credit card debt in only 7 months. Can’t wait til we pay it all off and be debt free in that area. I also take my savings totals and keep them in a spreadsheet, and in one year we saved over $3000.00 dollars in coupons and rebate saving alone. Would love to learn more saving ways 🙂
The recession has hit us kind of hard this year, but by saving on groceries and other items, as well as making cutbacks in other areas, has allowed us to keep the things we really want, and to understand what those things are.
I just really appreciate the peace of mind having a savings account brings me. So, even when we have to call the plumber for a backup, a repair man to help us with a major babyproofing project, and order invitations for our in-laws 50th anniversary party all in the same month – we take a hit, but we’ve got it covered. And that is an AWESOME feeling.
Thanks for the chance! Living on a budget and pinching our pennies until they cry for mercy has enabled us to pay off $10,000 in debt in just over a year, while allowing me to stay home with the kids on our limited budget. It feels so good to know that we control our money, not the other way around.
Saving money has become huge for us!! Coupons are the best…my kids don’t ask if they can have things at the store anymore, because they know if we didn’t circle it in the store ad that means its not on sale. And most of the time if its not on sale you’ll still pay too much even if you use a coupon. We make it family fun also…everyone helps out!
My family is all about saving money, but over the last year I have learned to use coupons at a new level and now we save even more!!! It has greatly helped us on our low income budget. This book sounds great!
the feeling of relief from paying off loans and debt.
For me saving money and living more simply means not dreading the utility bill or the trip to the grocery store. Now I can’t wait to see how low I’ve gotten my utility bill down to each month and how much I can save during each trip to the grocery store. There is so much more peace in my life now that I know I am in control of my finances. 🙂
we save money so that we can put aside more for our children
By saving small amounts of money for the past few years, I had enough to purchase a small condo while still in graduate school.
Saving money has helped us pay off our debt, which means we have less money being spent (wasted!) on interest! Yay!
Saving money is helping make ends meet each month instead of going behind!! Hopefully we can stay on this path and focus now on saving more instead of just staying afloat!
Since I never go to a store without a deal involved or a coupon, I have been able to stash away thousands of dollars since this time last year. Which will come in handy when I move and need to find a new job. Now I don’t need to worry about it, since I should be ok for about 6-8 months! Thanks again, love your blog. This sounds like a great book.
What a neat book! I love feeling like I am valueing my husband’s time at work more when I can use coupons or get good deals!!
by planting seeds, planning ahead, and expanding my garden I hope to save big on my grocery bills this summer!!! I also have my coupon binder and refuse to go to the store unless I am saving at least 60%
Cutting coupons and shopping the deals has elevated me to Super Mom status with my kids! They’re thrilled with the great food and snacks I’m bringing home and I’m thrilled by the response from my (sometimes surly) teenage children!
I also love the new friendships I’ve formed with my frugal, couponing friends. Right, Mercedes?!?
I’ve been saving nearly $200 a month in my food budget using sales and coupons. This has enabled us to put money aside for other important expenses that otherwise may have gone on a credit card in an emergency.
Saving money has allowed me to be a stay at home mom! I love it! I view couponing ‘n such as work in a sense, but I have fun doing it and it saves my family A LOT of money!
spending a little bit of extra time on this blog, HCW and others, our cc bill has been cut in half and we are able to save money towards our ’emergency fund’ and pay off some bigger expenses!
By cutting money on our household/grocery budget we were inspired to save more and spend less in other areas. Now we try and do it with everything. We tavel during the off season, barter with friends, attend free events, it’s really about having a frugal attitude. Waste not, want not.
By saving money in my spending it has enabled me to be more generous in my giving towards others.
me and my husband r very frugal. we think twice before buying, decide between need and want, short term long term, if we want it we look for the best deal. and we r living very comfortably. i would love to win this book. simplicity is the key to living a good life.
Pinching pennies has became a fun game for me! It has allowed my hubby and I to pay off his car early and use that payment to work on our other debt.
We have been able to pay off all of our credit cards (including our wedding debt) and have been functioning great on a strict budget for years. We’re able to save for a downpayment on a house and keep a padded emergency fund if the need arises. Looking for ways to save has become a hobby!
I have been clipping coupons since March 2009. In March 2009, I was over-budget in groceries by about $27. After 3 months of coupons and checking local ads and deals on the internet, I am $190 under-budget in groceries year-to-date! That is quite a difference! I am hoping to lower my costs every month to end the year significantly under-budget!
I have used coupons since I moved out on my own more than 7 years ago…but I have just recently learned how to truly maximize my savings recently, with the help of your website (as well as a couple others). My husband and I are fortunate to have a condo, but we want to move up into a house. In order to do this, we need to collect some additional savings and pay down some credit card debt. Every little bit that I am able to save on our monthly spending can go towards this goal. Yeah!!
Saving money helps keep the stress level down. If we are spending too much, it just creates guilt, frustration and worry.
Saving money is helping us pay down credit card debt. We started with about 8800 3 months ago, and we are down to about 7000 already! We are hoping to be credit card debt free by the start of fall (Sept/Oct timeframe). Less spent is more money to pay down the debt.
Living frugally by the “need versus want” philosophy has allowed me to stay home with my kids for the past seven years, during which time my husband and I have almost paid off our home mortgage!
(But the book would still help!)
Kim F.
kimsqs(at)comcast(dot)net
In February my hours at work were cut to 32 hours per week. By saving money with sales and coupons I haven’t had to touch our savings account once!
Since we are living on one income, I feel that trying to save money in every aspect has been my way of contributing and show appreciation for how hard my husband works for me to stay home with my children. I am always looking for new ways to save money though 🙂
I started couponing about six months ago and we have paid off our credit card with the savings! I would love to get this book to learn other valuable ways to save. I enjoy your site!
It has helped me to focus on what is truly important in life. Those things, like family and faith, do not really cost.
Couponing and living frugally is absolutely necessary for us! I have been doing this for the last few years and WISH I had known 6 years ago how to do it as my husband went to med school and is currently doing his residency while I try to stay home with our girls. We are on an extremely tight budget and I would love to learn more!
Saving money is not just a hobby for our family it is a neccessity! I am layed off from my job and have a lot of medical bills so I have and try and save money and time I can! We have turned it into a hobby so if we had extra money we would still do it!!!
I have been using the snowball debt relief for about 4 months now and I almost have my high interest credit card paid off. I have also been using coupons and shopping less in general. I would love to win this book!
thecitygirl74@gmail.com
Saving money means that we are paying down our debt faster and have a little more money for other recreational activities. Plus it can be fun to watch the savings “pile up”.
I am now spending the same amt. of money and have overflowing cabinets vs. BARE ones stocked with only what we need for THIS week!
I love saving money on my regular groceries by using coupons, it has allowed me to stock up my food storage and do it for the same amount of money!
We’ve been saving so much on groceries ever since I found commonsensewithmoney! My favorite day of the week is now Wednesday when I can tell my husband we got $xxx worth of groceries for $xx dollars!
Saving money on groceries (by using coupons!) has allowed us to use the money we would have spent on food on family activities (movies, amusement parks, games, etc.)
My husband brags to others (his Mom) about how well I do at grocery shopping!
searcher7105 at gmail dot com
I am THRILLED about saving money on my groceries and other things. We have stopped using the credit card every month because “there just isn’t enough money to get by” and are now throwing extra money towards our debt every month!!!! Thank you!!
Saving money (especially on groceries) is helping us put more money toward paying off a credit line used to open our business–yippee 🙂
I’ve cut our grocery bill in 1/2 thanks to your blog and a few others teaching me how to use coupons. I shop once a month at Harris Teeter or Bloom when tripling coupons. Then shop once a week (or every other week) for milk and produce. I used to shop at Walmart thinking it was the cheapest place, but now realize can’t afford to shop there when I get so much FREE from tripling! We are able to give away so much.
I have only recently started using coupons, and my husband and I are both amazed at the savings! This is the best way for us to get started on creating a college fund for our child.
Saving money (esp on food and clothing) helps us do some fun things with our daughter like going to the zoo, aquariums, and vacations. I love seeing all the coupon savings at the bottom of my grocery receipts!
Watching my families spending has helped me to stay at home with my newborn and 2y/o. My mother just finished a battle with cancer (she won!) and watching my parents realize that they lived to work instead of worked to live and how much they disliked that, made me re-evaulate what’s important to me and my family. I want memories not money.
Pinching our pennies has allowed me to go from full-time to part-time work, and has made a significant dent in saving for our 1 year old’s college fund.
Wow, saving money and scrimping has made me realize just how much stuff I have. I’ve been forced to use half-empty bottles of shampoo I’ve stored away, come up with creative ways to wear the clothes I already have, watch the DVDs that I already own instead of getting movie channels, read books I already have instead of buying more. Our economic situation has made me realize that I’m richer than I thought I was and happier with what I have!
Saving money has allowed us to finally meet a budget! Now, we are really saving money and able to prepare for whatever may come in the future. There is a lot of safety in knowing that I control my spending; it doesn’t control me!
Pinching pennies has improved our financial lifestyle and it brings us closer together as a family when we work together to achieve our monetary goals.
I recently started focusing on clipping coupons and matching those coupons with sales at the grocery store and drug stores. I’ve also started paying attention to rebates again. Not to mention that I’ve been trying for the past 2 years to get out of debt (while having 2 children in that timeframe). I am paying off my last credit card this month and then the only payment I need to get rid of is my car payment.
Between clipping coupons, eating out less and becoming more conscious of what I spend my money on, I was just able to pay off the last large chunk ($1,500) I owed on my credit card. My only debt now is my student loan and I’ll be paying that off soon too if I keep up my penny pinching strategies!! :o)
I have recently started couponing, and love seeing the amount of money saved. By spending less on what we need, and learning to stockpile, I am working to pay off my student loans more quickly. I would love to win this book to learn more strategies on how to live frugally!
Saving money helps me feel secure.
Saving money allows me to be generous. Because I save money on our everyday purchases, I am able to give to foodbanks, homeless shelters, and other people who are in need. In this economy, I think it is important that those of us who are blessed, share what we have.
Saving money and clipping coupons helps us. We are now retired. Our income has dropped and there is never enough money at the end of the month. I am happy to see so many young people starting out being smart with money. Clipping coupons, paying off debt and blogging about it. Hopefully they will have a bigger retirement account then we do. We love to eat out. To keep the cost down we have stopped buying sodas out , drinking water only with our lunch. I like to find entrees I can eat 1/2 of and bring the rest home for a lunch or light dinner. This can cut the cost of eating out, plus I do need to lose weight so I am not eating as many calories. Keep up the great work everyone.
I lost my job last July and saw your story on my local news sometime in Nov or Dec. So far this year I have save around $2000.00 using coupons and ECB’s/RR’s. This has helped me pay off my debt and still buy all of the food, cleaning supplies, and health and beauty items we are accustomed to (if not more). You have taught me a valuable skill that I will use for the rest of my life. I am always looking for new ways to save money now. Not to mention I am now able to donate items that I am able to get for free or close to free to my local women’s and animal shelters.
Saving money has allowed me to stay home with my daughter which is priceless in our book. It has also allowed us to save a full 6 months of living expenses in our emergency fund. It has also simplified our lives – we enjoy doing things as a family that don’t cost money – instead of paying for entertainment, we enjoy entertaining ourselves!
This would be awesome!!! Since we have just started living “frugal” in January, this would be a great resource for us.
Saving money through coupons and sales is still quite new to me (I only started a month ago), but it has allowed me to be more generous with others and to just be more responsible with what we do have and how we use it. I’ve also just become so much more grateful for all that we do have, which I once really took for granted!
Ooh, this book looks cool. Since I have discovered your site and others like it, I have saved so much on just everyday items. I currently have a full time job but would like to stay at home and possibly homeschool my 2 girls. My husband is ecstatic that I have found so many deals. While I still have a lot of work to do, i.e. better meal planning to save money, I am so happy to have found your site. Sites like this have empowered me to find deals in every aspect of my life.
The opportunity to stay at home and still feel like I am contributing to the finances by saving money is a wonderful feeling. Thank you!
Sarah
imascubagirl@yahoo.com
After reading Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover I started doing a budget. This has made my life so much less stressful! I think no matter how much money you have you should have a monthly budget so you know tell your money what to do and know where it’s going. I also love my coupon clipping and have a newly found love of the ‘drugstore game’! I’d love to learn new tips as I’m not on modified bed rest and not allowed to work ~ hence less income to work with!
Thanks,
Kristina
10 years ago I was a spendthrift, I shopped as therapy. When I was depressed or upset I would go buy stuff, stuffI didn’t want or need. I had the credit card bills to prove it! then I lost my job & had to file bankruptcy. It was if something clicked in my head, I started saving money, I paid my car off early, and never kept a balance on a creit card again. I started couponing, sale shopping, and stockpiling. When I was laid off from my next job I had money in the bank to relocate (and no car payment or credit card bills!) & got a better job. I lived well below my means & two years later paid cash for my suv. A year after that I bought a house, by myself! When I married my husband I converted him to the frugal, coupon clipping lifestyle. Now we hope to have our 30 year mortgage paid off in 7-8 years! Coupons changed my life!
I’ve been couponing for almost a year. I now have a nice supply of items like toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, and razors that I paid next to nothing for. Because of the savings, we have still managed to keep money in our savings despite the high cost repairs we’ve had to make on our home and cars. Couponing has become my hobby!
Saving money has been invaluable for me and my husband. His finances were in complete chaos when we got married, but we’ve slowly paid off his debts and are saving towards a new (to us!) car now.
I started couponing when my husband’s work cut his pay 50% in Febuary, due to the current recession. We went from a 60,000 per year salary to a 30,000 salary (he works for Toyota) By the grace of God, my friend Kim introduced me to couponing and it has truly blessed our family and kept us from going bankrupt. We have always been pretty good with money, we don’t have any debt except a small mortgage, but couponing just really really helped us through these tough times. Thank you for your faithfulness to your loyal readers (of which I am one). You mean so much to me and my family.
I’ve been couponing for years, but finding frugal ways to handle other, sometimes expensive aspects of our life would be a godsend.
Since November I’ve been unemployed and we’ve gone down to just one income. I’ve had to be very creative to stay in our budget. Coupons have definitely helped me do that.
By using coupons and trying to save as much as I can on everyday items, we are able to take nicer vacations and I also don’t have to pay for Christmas gifts as long at the beginning of the year!
Since Dec. both my fiance and I have been unemployed, and athough we recieve unemployment benefits, it’s about half of what we were used to living on. My mom introduced me to couponing in Feb., and I haven’t looked back since. It’s amazing to think that last year we were spending $300+ on groceries a month, and that included no household and beauty items! Now we spend about $150 a month on groceries and HBA (and being vegan now too, this number feels even more amazing to me). If I hadn’t started couponing, we would either have been eating only ramen noodles, or we would have had to move. I’m so glad that I learned how to coupon and stockpile. It’s really saved us financially.
We have been following the Dave Ramsey plan for about 2 years now and part of that is learning to live in a thrifty manner. Through that I have discovered a few of these wonderful blogs that help direct me to great coupons and deals, which have really been saving us lots of money. I have been so blessed to stumble upon these sites (this being one of them of course) and am always looking for more info/knowledge to make even better decisions. My husband has really been enjoying the deals as well -especially the freebies!!! Thanks for what you do!
I’ve been using coupons to save money for about 1 year. During that time I’ve been able to pay off my credit card balances!
We’ve eliminated credit card debt over the last 2 years and that felt so good. Now we’re working to lower grocery costs and have had fun learning the couponing game. Our goal is to allow me to quit my work-from-home job by the end of the year so that I can be a full time mommy without being torn between parenting and work responsibilities. Thanks for all the info you provide here!
This will be a great book to have!
Since I started to use coupons, promotions, freebees I was able to greatly improve our menu, I have more money to spend on healthy food, I constantly share coupons and also food and non-food items with other people, I increased my charity donations. All this makes me fill great and on a top of that I have more disposable money then ever before!
Saving money is awwwsome, I just love every oppertunity to save. It’s helping me be able to save for a good down payment on my 1st home in the future. Hopefully near future. 🙂
I’ve always loved finding a bargain or freebie. Using this site has made it even more fun! Thank you! I’ve found lots of things for our family through you. We are able to make our money go so much farther by taking advantage of freebies. Gives us all something fun to do, too.
I would love a chance to read this book! Saving money with all of the great deals I have been finding has enabled us to pay more on our credit card every month! I have always been a bargain hunter but never realized how much you can save with utilizing coupons! I want a zero balance on our credit card!!
This downturn in the economy has turned me into a couponing/discounting addict! I find that I am no longer able to make a purchase anywhere without using a coupon (or several). My husbands’ job is stable for now, but you never know in this economy. All the money I am saving will help us to keep living the way we do more comfortably, and now there is a little extra for a rainy day, just in case!
The more I save (using coupons and the deals I find online), the more I have to give away to others. I regularly help to stock our food pantry at church with groceries and personal care items that I collect. I give myself a small weekly budget for donations, then work hard to maximize that for some unknown recipient. My family is not the only one that benefits from my “deals.”
Thanks for the book opportunity!
I have been able to give bags of groceries to families in need in my community … It’s fulfilling to know that being frugal keeps paying dividends!
penny pinching has allowed me to be a stay-at-home mom and not stress over money issues. it’s great for a marriage too!
Saving money has tripled+ our savings in only 3 months and is allowing me to be a stay at home mom!
Thanks for the great giveaway!
Saving money by using coupons matched with sales has helped me stay home with my 2 small children. It has also given me a better attitude about spending money in general. I will NEVER pay full price for anything EVER again! 🙂
My local Kroger goes through every day and slaps mark down stickers on everything from eggs to meat to fresh produce. Since I cook mostly from scratch, this is perfect for me. I live only one mile from the store, so I go almost every day and see what they have on sale. These sales amount to from 50% to 75% off the regular price of the items. Often, when combined with coupons that they double, I take home groceries nearly free. It has become a game for me to see how little I can spend on the evening’s meal. I save enough on the food budget to finance an occasional evening out at a restaurant (especially when using the restaurant dot com coupons purchased at the end of the month) or a steak dinner prepared at home. We eat really well for very little coin.
Thanks for having the giveaway!
Just by clipping coupons and using the advice from Common Sense with Money I have saved hundreds of dollars and this has been very helpful as I am disabled and my husband was recently laid off. I look forward to reading this to learn even more ways to “pinch pennies”!
Finding the best value for my dollar has become a very enjoyable hobby for me, and I love reading about new tips to try (which is why I subscribe to common sense with money). The saved money has been used to pay off my fiance’s debt, and now we’re using the extra money to pay for a wedding and save for a down deposit on a house. Neither of my parents could ever afford to buy a house so this is very exciting for me!
We have always watched how we spend our money. This has helped us to be able to live a much nicer life than if we didn’t pay attention and just bought what we wanted when we wanted it. Thanks for such a great giveaway!
I have learned so much since I have started reading blogs and websites about saving money. It has totally changed my life and way of thinking. I would love to win this book and learn more ways of saving money. You can never learn too much!!!
Thanks for the giveaway. I would say that we have increased our savings by 25% just by watching our spending and using coupons. Learning to live more frugally has been a huge blessing.
Watching where our pennies go has been the best thing we’ve done so far. We’re finally living within/below our means. We’ve cut back on unnecessary spending, and reduced what we spend on other expenses (like groceries). As a result, we’re not getting into any more debt. Quite the contrary. We’ve paid off a small student loan, are paying down the credit card (at this rate it will be gone in 3 years!), and have more in savings than we have since we’ve been married! We actually have a whole month of expenses covered in our savings account (that’s HUGE for us who could previously only keep about $100 in savings). We’re still working on getting more in savings and paying more toward the credit card, but we’ve made a huge leap forward by trying to live very frugally. It has been a blessing to our lives, our family, and our marriage.
I’ve lived a frugal life for many years. In the past it allowed me save money for special things like travel. Given the recent economy, cutting costs has become a necessity – but using coupons, sales, Freecycle etc. does leave me a little surplus to spend on birthday gifts for friends & family.
We are frugal with areas in our life that don’t really matter to us. For example we save money because when we go on vacations we make sure that we bring plenty of healthy snacks and drinks with us for the entire duration of the trip. This only works for car trip destinations and yes it can be a pain and it involves thinking ahead. But we save so much by not stopping and getting a bunch of drinks and snacks at convenience stores. When we are in our hotel we have snacks for nightime and don’t have to visit the hotel vending machines.
Well, saving money has definitely helped me out. Through using coupons, shopping sales, and being thrifty about what I consume energy wise and cutting back on my living expense, I’ve been able to go from working full time to part time at my job so I can focus on writing my novel. My standard of living has not changed 🙂
Pinching pennies has allowed us to save for our very first family vacation. Disney here we come!
We’ve been able to use our food budget to increase the amount of items we get per week to the point where I’m now shopping for our church’s food closet too. It’s great to be able to get your own budget under control but even better to be able to help others on a regular basis and spend very little doing it.
Saving money is helping learn how to manage if I become a stay at home mom. We are trying to see if we can just live off of my husband’s salary. It is tight, but I think we may be able to do it!
Saving money has helped us buy our home, a rental property and our latest purchase is a mini farm. We were able to do this on one salary while I stayed home and raised the kids.
This looks like an amazing book and I hope I win a copy! Saving money has improved our lives significantly as I have a serious health condition that is aggravated by stress. Because of Biblical principles, we’ve chosen to live within our means and that includes saving money and not buying things before we’re able to pay for them. This has been huge for our family because it has taken the burden off me worrying about money and I can focus on simply staying healthy instead! It also allows me to be able to stay home with our daughter!
Since I’m a SAHM every penny counts so it only makes sense to get stuff as cheap as you can
I believe that just because you don’t make tons of money doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the things people take for granted when they do have lots of money.
Its so nice to look into our pantry and our bathroom closets and see them all stocked with great, useful things. I couldn’t have ever done that without coupons, and that’s okay with me. There is security in that. I can provide for my family just as well as someone that doesn’t necessarily pay as close attention to their grocery bill, even on our small income. I feel safer in these hard times.
I am so thankful and feel so blessed because of this.
🙂
Saving money has allowed us to feel more financially secure and not worry about losing a job as much.
Receiving your newsletters with reference to clipping coupons has been very helpful to me. While I have used very few coupons (I just don’t buy/use most of the products), I have become very aware of the unit price I am paying for food items and now know how to find the best deals for the items we DO buy.
Saving money has allowed me to survive on my small income, but also to give more money away.
Saving money via coupons and reading blogs like yours has helped us to NOT have a credit card. After we paid it off we completely closed it! I am hoping to start “saving” our coupon savings into our separate savings account every month, but we live already very tightly on one income. It is VERY hard for me to keep disciplined so visiting you, money saving mom, and afullcup helps me to keep it in perspective and to not blow so much money like I used to!
Thanks!
Since I was laid off in February, I’ve been surprised at how little I’ve been able to save simply by staying home. I have credit card debt accrued through previous overspending, but since being unemployed I haven’t had to accrue additional debt. In fact, I have more left over at the end of the month than before. My social life has suffered somewhat, but my peace of mind has not.
Foremost, I think, is that it’s made me feel better about myself. I’ve always tried to be frugal, but since I’ve been out of work for a while, I’ve discovered that I wasn’t as thrifty as I thought I was. At first, it took a lot of time to go through everything to find the best deals, but with blogs like yours guiding me, it’s a cinch. I love coming home with $100 worth of food that I got for $25. My family is probably eating better than ever, since I buy a lot less processed food, and I know I’m making a huge difference in the budget.
One of the best things about saving money is having more to give. We give food and other supplies to those in need because careful shopping has given us an abundance to share. All the couponing and deal matching also makes it possible for my family to try new things we couldn’t otherwise afford.
As a graduate student, I receive a small stipend…however, saving just a little bit each month has helped me in the long run…aka car issues!
mabelilly28 at yahoo dot com
Saving money and living frugally has allowed me to stay home with our son, and we’re saving up for a home in the near future. We’ve also got a decent-sized savings/emergency fund, so the current economy doesn’t worry me quite as much.
Having a budget, using coupons and cutting back on spending has aloud us to go on a great honeymoon to Europe and save for a house.