Creative Ways to Save

I have some really fun ways to save money to share with you today.

I am not a crazy couponer, but I do love a good bargain.  Especially when I can find a deal or a coupon for something that is already on my list of things to buy.  I do the majority of the food, gift and household shopping at our house.  I take it as a challenge each month to find great deals wherever I can.

Here are EIGHT ways that we've saved our family money this Fall:

1. STARBUCKS

Their drinks are delicious AND pricey.  Kevin is a gold card holder so I usually splurge on their drinks when he's earned a free drink.  I picked up this Pumpkin Spice Latte for less than $2.50 at Wal-Mart recently.  It was 14oz and could easily be divided in half.  I'd never tried an iced PSL so I was anxious to give it a shot.  It was so good and so much cheaper than swinging through the drive through.  My husband is the coffee connoisseur in our family and even he approved of this delicious money saving option. 

2. TARGET
Text TOY to 827-438 and you'll instantly get a text back with a coupon code for 25% off one toy.  I love finding great deals like this to be able to get a discount on my Christmas shopping.  Fletcher has a really fun toy for Christmas thanks to this deal.

Also, shop smart when they're running the weekly deals.  Last week there was a deal for every $40 you spend on clothes, shoes or accessories you earned a $10 Target gift card.  I divided my purchases up into $40 chunks and earned three $10 gift cards.  There was also free shipping on orders over $25.  We got stocked up on winter coats, winter accessories, snow gear, clearance kid clothes and a few other things and earned $30 in Target gift cards to use later.  AMAZING!!

3. AFTER THE HOLIDAY CLEARANCE
I headed to Meijer this week to check out their Halloween deals.  Candy was 30% off and everything else Halloween was 70% off.  I stocked up on books for the kids to give them next Halloween, cute hand towels to give away as gifts next year and several new glitter pumpkins.  They had tons of craft supplies, party supplies and costumes all at 70% off.  I didn't feel confident enough to buy Halloween costumes a year ahead because my kids are still so young.  However, if your kids love certain characters or themes it's a great time to stock up.

4. IN STORE MARK DOWNS
These items are nearing their sell by dates, but ARE NOT expired.  They're usually still good for several days.  I have the best luck with mark downs at Meijer or Kroger.  You can usually find these items in the same spot as the regular priced products, but they'll be in the front.  So these yogurts were on super sale and the first ones in their section.  Once I selected them I noticed all of the regular priced ones right behind them.  These items are unpredictable and I just get excited when I see all the orange tags.

I try to stock up on ground meat when it gets marked down.  My store marks stuff down in the mornings so I'll head to the store after I drop Olive off at school for the best selection.  I bought several packages of this Certified Angus Beef on discount and then divided it up into smaller portions when I got home.  I estimated one pound of ground beef per ziploc bag, labeled it, flattened it out and froze it for dinners later in the month.  The discounts always vary, but I figure every dollar saved is a dollar to spend on something else.

Kevin loves to try new beer and fun mixed drinks so he gets excited to find alcohol mark downs.  Our Kroger store is good about marking their stuff down regularly.  He picked up this beer on a great discount and often finds things like whiskey marked down.  Kroger has a designated clearance section that they fill up regularly with all kinds of products.

5. IN STORE REWARDS
Meijer store has also been sending out these coupons based on items we buy each month.  We just signed up for their free MPERKS accounts and earn rewards regularly.  We'll get around ten coupons with deals on some of our favorite items.  It's a no brainer to repurchase them especially when they're coupons for a free item.

6. DIAPERS
These Aldi diapers have been saving us so much money!  They are really great, cost around $0.17 each and the quality is impressive.  They don't leak, are super absorbent and are not bulky for kids on the go.  We used to buy Pampers or Luvs, but they're both way more expensive even with subscribe and save Amazon deals.  I do not care for Aldi wipes (they seem really dry to me), but we're saving lots on diapers each month.

7. SALES AT SAMS
Each month Sams comes out with their sales ad and I try to stock up on our favorites.  They're often $1, $2 or $3 off an item and have a limit of 4 or 6 per person per day.  My husband LOVES Jif Extra Crunchy Peanut Butter.  A big jar is around $7 in the regular grocery store.  Several times a year Sams runs a sale where you can buy two big jars for around $7.  So I try to stock up.  I'll buy whatever the limit is and keep them in our pantry for us to use until they go on sale again.  Right now Goldfish crackers are on sale, Skinny Pop goes on sale regularly as well as things like kitty litter or turkey sasuage links.  They're already a great price at Sams and the extra discount is too good to pass up.

8. FACEBOOK DISCOUNT GROUPS
I belong to a couple facebook groups that post great deals on all kinds of stuff.  Sample Sale Mom always has great sales.  They post lightning deals from Amazon and it's usually pretty huge savings.  I buy a lot of Christmas gifts and toys for kids this way to make our money go farther.


Do you have any deal saving tips for me??