A Call for Cougar Shares
-
Ladies, inspiration has struck!After last week’s post, I got some great comments from some of you sassy women about your own money-saving tricks. The comments were so great, I realized, “Hold my horses! I’ve got an untapped wellspring of fantastic shoppers here! YOU!” So this week, I’m going to share a few of my personal favorite ways to save save save, and then I’m opening up the forum to all of you readers to share with each other your best budget-slashing bargain secrets! Do you love buying all your presents for the upcoming year on December 26th? Do you only eat Ramen noodles? (Ick, but, I’ll give it you, it’s cheap.) Do you refuse to shop anywhere but at Filene’s? Spill the beans, ladies, and let’s swap ideas, cougar to cougar!
Okay. I’ll start.
1. Stores like Old Navy are fantastic for the basics. Flip-flops start at $3.50 (or $2.50 if you buy 2 or more), and plain t-shirts are only $10. Once you buy the basic stuff at really affordable rates, you can save that money to layer over it.
2. I loved last week’s comment from Linda about buying chicken breasts and frozen fish filets and keeping them handy for any time you need a fast dinner without paying a ton for takeout. But why stop there?! I freeze bread, cookies, and veggies & fruit. A bag of organic frozen strawberries retails at Whole Foods for $1.29 (which is, by the way, a full $1.79 cheaper than at Ralph’s) and add it to my cheap and healthy super-breakfast-basic oatmeal (the hot, steel-cut oats warm up the berries to a perfect temp!) So often, berries are especially expensive, but sometimes flash-frozen fruit or veggies have even more vitamins in them than the fresh produce in the grocery store.
3. Ever wanted to learn how to knit? How to play the banjo? Why pay $60 or more for a class every week? Trade knowledge with the best teachers around: your friends! Learn something new while enjoying some time with your fantastic friend/professor. This is also a good tool when you need help with something, but don’t have quite enough money…I have a great friend who is an incredible photographer, and in exchange for a photo shoot for my Christmas card photos, I catsit for her while she went away on vacation. Perfect!Now…it’s your turn! The forum is now officially OPEN. I can’t wait to hear what amazing ideas you all have come up with to pinch your pennies!
Subscribe via 
Leave a CommentSubmit a question to the writers or submit a Cat Fight
Subscribe
Featured Video
March 25, 2009 at 8:38 pm
I’m the “penny pinching” queen! I always cook,(truth be told my husband is the cook) extra so I can have a great lunch for the next day. I almost never buy anything if it is not on sale. I wash my own car, walk my dog to grab something quick at Trader’s, shop at the 99 only store AND have found the prices for produce at Sprouts and Henry’s to be the best ever!!!
March 25, 2009 at 10:19 pm
I would say be careful what you freeze. French bread freezes Ok, but loses flavor after a couple of weeks. Sliced white/wheat bread goes soggy fast if frozen. But do freeze items you don’t use very often. I love celery in soups but don’t like it raw so I chop it up when fresh and freeze it before it can wilt. You have to experiment and see what you like after it thaws and what just grows freezer burn before you use it up.
Also, look for the cheapest produce in your area. In my case, it’s a Jons market, but Food4Less and some ranch markets have good prices, too. If you have a farmers’ market a day or two per week in your area, check it out at least once unless it’s on a day when you’re at work so it doesn’t do you any good. It may be worth your while to travel to a market a bit farther away once a month to stock up on value-priced items – but it may not.
March 25, 2009 at 11:01 pm
OK, now I’m really in the mood to talk about bargains! My dear departed mom grew up in Alabama during the Depression and she could practically smell a bargain when she walked into a store. We lived close to a mall and by the time I was in HS, she’d taught me just about everything she knew! She’d run down to the mall on a big sale day, get there five minutes before the store opened, then swoop in to grab anything that looked promising, put it on her credit card and haul it home for both of us to check out. She knew what I wanted because we made regular spy sweeps through the store and I’d point out every item I wanted if it got marked down enough. Anything we didn’t like went back to the store and got taken off the card before daddy got the bill.
I don’t have that kind of time, but I have found some ways to shop for less and sometimes get free stuff. One of my favorite online outlets is the Roamans/Metrostyle/Jessica London conglomerate which offers regular customers big discounts (like 40% off any item) and freebies with an order. Some of the sites are for plus sizes BUT they start at 14 (and a lot of us aren’t as thin as we used to be) and have jewelry, shoes, perfume and accessories. Metrostyle is the youngest, trendiest and they’re all sizes.
Last month, I logged into one of their outlet stores and found a promotion for 25% off my total order plus a cute white canvas tote with mock croc trim + 2 smaller bags free with any order. I found two linen/rayon blazer jackets in bright summer colors marked down from $60. WIth the discount, I got a fushcia one and one in a terracotta orange for $11 each. I found a great straw hat I had liked last summer but wasn’t willing to pay $30 for and got it for $6. I also got a black tote that looks like leather for $7. And I got the 3-pc bag set free!
Since last summer, the free-with-purchase stuff I’ve scored from these guys include a burgundy mock croc bag (a ripoff of an Hermes that sells for $1800), a red mock croc tote, a gold metallic hobo, a big tan canvas bag that can be a carry-on, a red two piece luggage set (wheeled bag + tote), a quilted red tote bag with wheels and the aforementioned canvas tote set. All since last summer! Needless to say, I haven’t bought a bag lately.
April 1, 2009 at 8:19 am
Lucky for me I have always been a penny pincher and it works when you save your pennies on groceries and clothes you have more money for fun and entertainment.I always save a lot of money at Macy’s by waiting for there super saver coupons in the thursday newspaper. You can save up to 70% if you spend the time to shop the sales rack you will certainly find something cute and affordable.