I love reading all of the frugal posts popping up on Yahoo, all about being the newly frugal. Being Frugal is definitely the new Going Green in 2009. I’m right there too, with sharpened scissors clipping coupons, trying my best to save where I can, and get the most for my money.
One of my favorite ways to save is by checking Dollar General first before I shop my weekly shopping list at Wal-Mart. I often find better deals at Dollar General, and the savings are worth the extra trip. I buy my Sugar and Flour there, and I also pick up baking cups for just $.75 too. You can also find many cleaning products, pet supplies, kitchen needs, and even tissues for just $1.00! My favorite find is their brand of dryer sheets (that have a fantastic scent) for $1.00, you can’t beat that.
On to Wal-Mart… I’m a bit of an obsessive compulsive when it comes to shopping at Wal-Mart. Before I go, I make a shopping list that follows the order of the store, I then only shop the aisles that have items on my list. Sticking to my list helps me avoid picking up extra items that are costly. I also only park on the side that I am shopping on, that saves a little time too.
Another great way to save is by shopping Aldi. I make a big list for the entire month, and stock up and save. I am better about sticking to my menu if I already have the item on hand and ready to cook. At my last trip to Aldi I also picked up their cleaning supplies at $.97 each, the products work great and saved me a little too.
Walgreens is my very favorite place to use coupons and buy diapers. Walgreens also offers a great Easy Saver rebate program that can earn you gift cards towards future purchases, or rebate checks that you can put into savings for a rainy day. Their diaper prices are hard to beat, and the wonderful Walgreens associates always go above and beyond to search for a coupon that I might have missed. I love looking at the total and seeing just how much I saved.
Making favorite foods at home is a great way to save. Last August I started baking bread for my family, and at Christmas my mom gave me a Bread-maker to help out with the task. I have eliminated store bought bread from my shopping list. My favorite way to save with the bread-maker is to use it to make Pizza Dough. I make 2 pounds of dough which gives me a large pizza, and a medium pizza Making two pizzas cost me about $5.00 to make, toppings and all. There are always plenty of leftovers for lunch the next day too.
How have you changed your ways to become a Frugal McDoogal in 2009?
Your stores sound so great! Although we have a Wal Mart here (no produce or meat)…wish I had the other ones though.
Great frugal tips, Nico!
Excellent Post Nico! We’ve been buying the Dollar General brand for most of our snacks and crackers. I hardly ever go to Walmart anymore. We mostly shop the ads at the grocery stores. My number one saver lately has been to stock up on meat in bulk. Then we seperate it into pound bags for the freezer.
Thanks Susan! We just recently got out Wal-Mart Supercenter that has the full grocery section (about 2 years ago). It makes for easy one stop shopping, but it is tempting to venture down every aisle.
There are a few stores that I wish we had locally. I really wish that we had an Aldi, and a Dollar Tree too. A Target would be nice too 😉
Thanks Heather! Great tip for stocking the freezer too 🙂 I’ve been really happy with Dollar General’s products, and the price is always great too. Thanks for sharing your tips too.
Thanks Nana! Thanks for sharing your tip too. Oh how I wish we had a Braums, I love their Ice Cream! That is great that you can find so many of your grocery needs there too 🙂
You are just too good at watching ads! I wish there was Aldi here so it would be easier to save. I should start keeping track of savings at different stores and see how good I do.
Thanks Stacey! how I wish we had an Aldi here too, then we would really see some big savings 😉