The Frugal Housewife » Frugal Tips

5 Areas to Lower Your Household Budget

The Frugal Housewife — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 16:54:48 +0000

As the Chief Financial Officer for our household, I am constantly looking for ways to cut our budget and save money. There are many areas that I’ve been looking at recently – food, rent, electricity, water, and auto insurance.

The food bill has been cut through the use of coupons. Both the Frugal Hubby and I have been making a more conscious effort to purchase what we need with a coupon paired with a sale. We make our list and stick to it when we go to the grocery store. We’ve also started a stockpile – not a hoard pile but a stock pile. There’s just the two of us so we don’t need to go to the extreme and purchase 15 of any item – unless it’s on a really good clearance sale and they have plenty for the other couponers and shoppers who shop after me. We are not shelf clearers and want to apply the Golden Rule in our couponing.

We are looking at the rent which means that we are looking in different areas of towns for more affordable living. Much to our dismay, the rent that we pay for the size house that we live in seems to have already been lower than in other parts of town. We are in a safe neighborhood with low crime rate so this search has been halted for a while.

The electricity bill has been running a little higher because of all the extremely hot weather we have had. We have started making sure that the lights are turned off and appliances are unplugged. We are entering the fall season here in our part of Texas and we are not having to run the air conditioner as much, plus we have been able to open the windows more.

The water bill is another story. I’m currently in an argument with the city over what they are saying that we used in water. We have cut back and have no leaks that we can find. They say that we have used over 9,000 gallons of water. My dead shrubs and yard says – I don’t think so!

Auto insurance is an area that is taking a little longer to do the comparisons. The little wreck I had in 2009, even though it was a no-fault accident and neither party in the accident received a ticket, was classified as my fault by our current insurance carrier. Essentially, they are holding us hostage to them for another two and a half years. This was my first wreck since I have been driving – which at the time was 29 years. I’ve only had one ticket in all my driving years and that was when I was 22. So I’ve been a safe driver.

So what do we have to do to be able to be considered for the lowest car insurance rates? I am going to have to get a Letter of Experience from my current insurance carrier to present to other car insurance companies in order to get the lowest rates that are offered.

The Frugal Housewife is going to start a series on dealing with the car insurance companies, tips for getting the better rates and much more. So you will want to make sure not to miss this series. It’s going to be a very informative one that will answer a lot of the questions that I have, which I’m sure are questions that you have as well.

Fruit Yogurt Smoothie

The Frugal Housewife — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 19:55:01 +0000

Do you have an abundance of yogurt coupons that you think that you will not ever use? Here’s an idea! Use the coupons and purchase some yogurt and make a Fruit Yogurt Smoothie!

Here’s the recipe for how I made ours! I used Peach Fiber One Yogurt and Low Fat Milk. The Frugal Hubby liked it so much that he’s requested that it become a regular drink in our house!

Fruit Yogurt Smoothie

Recipe type: Drink

Author: JT Locke — The Frugal Housewife

Prep time: 5 mins

Total time: 5 mins

Serves: 1

The Fruit Yogurt Smoothie is a delicious drink that is quick and easy to make.

Ingredients

4 oz. container of any brand yogurt
1/4 cup crushed ice
1/2 to 1 cup milk

Instructions

In a blender combine ingredients, except milk.
Add milk as you blend ingredients to get the desired consistency of smoothie.

Notes

To make a very healthy Fruit Yogurt Smoothie, use Low Fat or Skim Milk.

Leave us a comment and let us know if you made it and how you liked it!

Twitter and Qwitter

The Frugal Housewife — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 15:21:57 +0000

Social media is a very important tool in building the readership of a blog. The Frugal Housewife uses both Facebook and Twitter. Facebook was easy to learn, but it took me a while to get used to Twitter. How do you write with only 140 characters? I tried using it like a text message but people don’t shorten words on Twitter like in a text. It wasn’t easy but I kept at it and now I like Twitter. Now I admit, I don’t spend as much time on Twitter as Facebook and I use it mainly for retweets. The retweets aren’t just for my blog, they are for news stories, other people’s blog posts, and quotes.

Before I start telling you about Qwitter, let me get this out of the way, this is not a “Paid Post”. It is simply my opinion.

One of the tools that I use to help me see who’s “quits” me on Twitter is Qwitter. I love this tool. Every so often I get an email list of the people who have “quit” following me on Twitter. It gives you an idea of people who don’t like your Tweets, who’s following you just to get followers, and who’s been suspended or have quit Twitter for whatever reason.

Every time I get the list, I click the links and it takes me to the “Qwitters” Twitter page and I can tell if I’ve been following that person. Most of the time the accounts have been suspended or I didn’t follow them back. I really do try to follow everyone who follows me which is evident by the fact that my follow to followers ratio is nearly equal.

There is one thing that really “grates” me and that’s when I come across someone who has followed me and I’ve returned the follow only to find out that they were following me just to get the follow back. This was the case this morning. Two “big” name bloggers were following me and I was following them and have been for a while. They appeared on my Qwitters list so I clicked the link as usual. The ratio for one of the big bloggers was 205 follows to 146,877 followers. The other’s ratio was 209 follows to 29,765 followers. Kind of out of wack there, wouldn’t you say! It’s quite apparent that they follow, get you to follow, then unfollow you because they really don’t care what you have to say. They only want to be heard and build their followers up and potential customer list.

Needless to say, their followers list dropped by one because I unfollowed them. I’m trying to build relationships with my follow/followers. I don’t want to only read the follow tweets or be a potential customer. There are other “big bloggers” that have a more even ratio that actually interact and talk to their Twitter followers by Twitter name. They read the Twitter feed and don’t just treat it like a potential customer list. They are building reader relationships with their followers. Isn’t that what Twitter is really about?

If you use Twitter and don’t use Qwitter, you might want to try it. They have a free service available (which is the one I use). They don’t bombard you with spam mail. I get this list periodically, probably once a month. Sign up for it and check your Qwitters. Like I said earlier, this is not a paid post. Just my humble opinion about something that could help you build a quality Twitter following and Twitter relationships.

$59.50 in Coupons in the August ALL YOU Magazine!

The Frugal Housewife — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 23:17:08 +0000

The new issue of All You will be hitting the news stands at Walmart next Friday, July 22, 2011! There are $59.50 in coupons and the coupons you’ll find inside are listed below! Be sure to check out the All You article Save Money On Groceries By Making Pricey Items Last Longer — Easy tips for stretching your grocery budget amid rising costs.

Advertiser	Coupon Value	Expiration Date	Page Number
A+D Ointment	$0.50	10/31/11	p. 155
AmLactin® Moisturizing Body Lotion	$3.50	09/30/11	p. 40
Butterball Turkey Burgers	$1.50	10/30/11	p. 112
Carapelli Olive Oil	$1.00	09/11/11	p. 105
Carnation® Breakfast Essentials	$1.00	09/19/11	p. 90
Case-Mate® Smart Phone Cases	$1.50	09/30/11	p. 136
COTTONELLE® Fresh Care tubs or refills	$1.00 on 2	10/30/11	p. 151
Country Crock	$1.00	10/14/11	p. 94
DOLE® All Natural Fruit Jars (Tropical Fruit or Pineapple)	$1.00	10/31/11	p. 114
Dove® Hair Care	$1.00	09/30/11	p. 48
Dr. Scholl’s For Her Insole®	$2.00	09/30/11	p. 42
IHOP at Home™ frozen breakfast	$1.00	11/26/11	p. 110
John Frieda® Frizz-Ease®	$1.00	09/30/11	p. 32
King’s Hawaiian Sandwich & Mini Sub Rolls	$0.50	09/16/11	p. 86
KLEENEX® BUNDLE PACK® Facial Tissues	$0.50	10/30/11	p. 116
Lane Bryant	30% off entire purchase	08/26/11	p. 55
Marathon® Multi-Pack	$1.00	12/31/11	p. 103
Mezzetta® or Napa Valley Bistro™ Product	$0.50	12/31/11	p. 97
Milk-Bone® Healthy Favorites™ Dog Snacks	$1.50	09/22/11	p. 142
Nature’s Path and Envirokidz Boxed Products	$0.50	10/31/11	p. 92
NIVEA® Women’s Body Wash	$2.00	08/31/11	p. 50
NIVEA for Men® Body Wash	$2.00	08/31/11	p. 50
Neutrogena® Cosmetics	$2.00	10/01/11	p. 37
NYC New York Color®	$1.00 off any item $1.72 or more	08/31/11	p. 52
Philips Norelco Hairclipper	$5.00	10/31/11	p. 26
Playtex® Gentle Glide®	$1.00	10/31/11	p. 74
Pure Protein 100% Whey Protein/Jillian Michaels Natural Whey Protein	$3.00	12/31/11	p. 60
Pure Protein Bars	$0.50	12/31/11	p. 60
Reshaping It All AND All You Magazine’s Smart Shopping Guide Special Issue	$1.00	11/15/11	p. 149
Reynolds Wrap® Pan Lining Paper	$1.00	10/31/11	p. 122
Sally Hansen Beauty Tool	$3.00 on any Sally Hansen Beauty Tool purchase of $5.00 or more	08/31/11	p. 45
Sally Hansen Salon Effects	$1.00	09/30/11	p. 65
Scott® Bath Tissue	$1.00	10/31/11	p. 138
Scott® Naturals™ Flushable Wipes	$0.50	10/31/11	p. 138
Scott® Towels	$1.00	10/31/11	p. 138
Seattle’s Best Coffee	$1.00	10/21/11	p. 120
ST. JOSEPH ASPIRIN	$1.00	12/01/11	p. 72
Tombstone Pizza	$5.00		p. 81
VIVA® On-the-Go Napkins	$0.50	09/15/11	p. 24
VIVA® Paper Towels Big Roll or larger	$0.50	10/31/11	p. 124
Zegrid OTC 42	$5.00	09/30/11	p. 63
Total	$59.50

Till next time,

JT Locke
The Frugal Housewife

Save Money with Deals and Coupons from MyCoupons.com

The Frugal Housewife — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 02:47:49 +0000

The Frugal Housewife loves to shout out about AWESOME sites that provide AWESOME deals to readers! This site is one that we found a long time ago on the Internet when the Internet was young and so were we!

Started in 1995, MyCoupons.com is the oldest and very first coupon site on the Internet. MyCoupons.com offers deals on everything from clothing to gift cards to computers. Be sure to check out the Home Depot Coupon Codesand Best Buy Coupon Codes. You can also findQVC Coupon Codes.

There are several things I love about MyCoupons.com.

Their site is very easy to navigate. Popular links and Popular Categories can be found on the left side of the site.
They feature a Deal of the Week prominently display at the top of the Top Deals. I don’t have to search the sidebar looking for the Deal of the Week!
They also have CouponPros that work with company sales executives to bring the best deals to their readers. Each CouponPro specializes in one area and works to bring you the best deals in that area. You can also follow the CouponPros on Facebook!
A weekly newsletter offering top deals and discounts. Plus you can get additional deals and weekly prize giveaways by signing up for their VIP list.
Plus MyCoupons.com was on top of getting the Google +1 installed on their site and you can recommend MyCoupons.com in Google Search now.

Did I mention that they also have printable coupons? They do! I’ve added them to my personal list of printable coupon sites that I visit to get my coupon stash! Soon they’ll also be added to our list here on The Frugal Housewife.

Another GREAT feature is the NEW Coupon Stats. The purpose of Coupon Stats is “to try to bring forward to you, useful data, for you to see most popular coupons, biggest coupon gainers, biggest losers, usage trends, search trends and more.”

If you haven’t visited MyCoupons.com, what’s stopping you? Head on over and check them. Let us know what you think!

Till next time,

JT Locke
The Frugal Housewife

The Frugal Housewife has a material connection because a cash payment, gift or item of nominal value from a company affiliated with a brand, topic and/or product that is mentioned herein has been received. This did not affect the opinions expressed herein. The opinions expressed are The Frugal Housewife’s and are for informational purposes only and should not be taken as expert opinion.

Sign Up Now for $5 in Free Kelloggs Coupons!

The Frugal Housewife — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 13:45:17 +0000

Couponing has become a big business! No longer do you have to wait for the coupons to come out in the Sunday paper. You can find them everywhere on the Internet.

One place I like to look for coupons is on the manufacturer’s websites. About a month ago I signed up at Kellogg’s website for their Kellog’s Coupon Newsletter. I received $5 in free coupons just for signing up.

It wasn’t very long after I signed up that CVS had a sale on their Kellogg’s products. I stocked up on cereal and saved even more money on that sale because I was able to use the coupons that I had printed when I signed up on the Kellogg’s site!

Sign up now for $5 in exclusive coupons! Join today and SAVE. It’s FREE!

Till next time,

JT Locke
The Frugal Housewife