Save Money at the Movies

Big Screen TV vs. Movie theater

In my post about furnishing for less, I mentioned at the bottom how sometimes I do believe splurging and spending money can actually save you money in the long run. I believe this to be true for a lot of things, especially in the media/entertainment/electronic areas.

This is where our decision to splurge on a 50 inch Panasonic plasma came in to play. My husband had plenty of his reasons, a list a mile long, but this was mine:

We'll save money.

You see, we are huge movie buffs in our family. We watch movies weekly, almost nightly, especially in the off seasons (of primetime- not sports). We used to go to the movie theater about 4-6 times per month in college. When we got married it changed to about 4 per month. When we had a baby, it changed to about 1-2 per month, and that never seemed to be enough to satisfy our movie cravings.

How much does it cost to go to the theater? About $8 per ticket, x 2 people = $16. It is impossible for me to sit in a movie theater and smell the popcorn and not purchase any for myself. I mean IMPOSSIBLE. I'd probably have a seizure if you made me sit through an entire movie with the torturous smell of buttered popcorn, and not have any for my own. So, concessions = about $10. Then, take into account the babysitter. About $10/hr, so around $25. This means ONE NIGHT at the movies will cost around $50!! That's not even counting if you want to catch a bite to eat before/after, or the cost of gas.

Alright. So if we spend $50 per movie and go 1 night per month, we will spend about $612 that year on the theater. If you go 2 nights per month, you will spend about $1,224! That's a lot of money. Our 50 in. plasma cost us $1,100. That right there has already saved us money.

Now take into consideration the value of watching a movie at home on a 50 in. plasma. No annoying people sitting in front of you or kicking your seat. You can pause for bathroom breaks or to put the baby to bed at any time. Rewind/volume/etc, etc. We long ago decided this set up was sooooo much better that sitting through a great movie with annoying teenagers chatting behind you. Add in our surround sound and blue ray/PS3 player we already had, and the quality and experience is WAY better than the theater.

So, where do we get our movies? We rent from Blockbuster All Access. Netflix is a good deal too, if you don't have a Blockbuster store near bye to take advantage of the in-store trades. We pay $20/month on the Blockbuster plan, and get unlimited movies and can change them out in store if we want. We rent, on average 20 movies per month. Yes, 20. I told you we were big movie people! If we were to rent movies individually at the rate of $4 per movie (or paperview), we would spend $960 a year! Instead, we only spend $240 per year... or about $200 if you were to do Netflix.

Now, I realize a lot of people might read this and think, "well why the heck do they even care to spend that money on movies... on the tv... on blockbuster... " This is where the LIVING your life part comes in. Everybody has their own source of entertainment/relaxation/bonding time/fun, whether it be watching football, mountain biking, shooting hoops at the gym, video games, or movies. Whatever your source may be, I really do believe it is important to spend a little bit of money on that every month/year to help keep yourself sane! This is why I do not like Dave Ramsey's debt payment plan. He thinks every single extra penny you come across should go to pay off debt. He does have many many other great pointers, many of which I'm doing, but with my own customized plan. I'm pretty sure Dave Ramsey would call me a fool for purchasing a 50 in. plasma when we have so many $K's in debt... Yes, I'm sure he'd probably laugh at me. However, if we didn't get the source of entertainment/relaxation/bonding/fun, then I'm sure this last year would have been much, much harder on us. (Wow, I just realized how much of a snob I sound like- really I'm not... I've been quite ashamed up until now that we even made this purchase!).

In conclusion- if you like movies and are thinking of purchasing a large tv... it might be a good financial decision for you after all! Tell that to your husband- he'll love you forever!

Paid to Shop CVS

I picked up three items at CVS today, paid nothing out of pocket by using previously earned ECB's, and earned $10.99 ECB back. ECB's are coupons printed at the end of your receipt, that can be used same as cash, but they expire one month from when you earn them.

This is how I did it.

Gillette Fusion razors: $9.99, get $5 ECB back. I used a $4 off coupon from the newspaper inserts I picked up yesterday, so the total I paid was $5.99 in ECB, and nothing out of pocket.

Then, the Covergirl Clean Foundation was $5.49, and I had a BOGO coupon on Covergirl products, so I paid with ECB's and got the concealer for free. Because the CG foundation is FREE after ECB's, I earned $5.49 back.

Another example of getting paid to shop. I really needed the razor and the concealer. I didn't really need the foundation, but because it got me the concealer for free and some more ECB's, it was a good item to purchase.

The reason I went into CVS was actually to transfer over a Rx. They have a promotion this month, if you transfer over a Rx you can get a $30 gift card. I also have a coupon for this promotion for a $25 gift card that expires at the end of the year. This is a great way to get some money to start your CVS savings adventures, and never have to pay anything out of pocket to get started at earning those ECB's.

I didn't get my gift card, however, because I have a government insurance, and because it is federally funded insurance, they won't give me my gift card, unless every time I refill my Rx I want to pay completely out of pocket! ha ha ha ha ha... yeah right. My Rx is about $100 for a 30 day supply! I get it for FREE from the Army post pharmacy, but they won't give me the full 90 days at a time, and I hate going in every 30 days to stand in line for it. But I guess standing in line every month at a crowded military hospital pharmacy is much better than paying $100 every month. Bummer. No $30 gift card for me.

Anyway- If you have Rx, and want to get started on the CVS trips for FREE to begin with, this would be a really good offer to take on!

Coupons - Get Started!

To be successful at couponing you'll need to:

• Make the time and effort
• Do your homework and make a pre-shopping trip plan
• Don't shop with children if at all possible (it's easier to stick to the plan this way)
• Don't be BRAND loyal (unless there's only one brand of facial cleanser that will keep you from breaking out- then by all means, stick to it!)
• Buy things even if you don't need it right away. Stock up when you can get it for cheap or free!
• Be willing to shop at multiple stores throughout the week and not be a "one stop shopper".
• SPEND MONEY to begin with. Especially if you are trying to start the CVS or Walgreens programs. Don't be discouraged... once you spend money at these stores a few times, you'll start coming out with bags full of free items later.

This first step to saving money with coupons is collecting and saving your coupons!
Sunday newspapers have inserts in them filled with tons of savings. My paper caries a Red Plum insert, Smart Source insert, and Proctor and Gamble once a month,. This is by far your quickest way to accumulate a lot of coupons all at once. So go buy yourself a Sunday paper or plan on it next week.

There are also many many ways to print coupons from online. http://www.coupons.com/ is a great place to start. You can simply click on the coupons you'd like to print and print them out. You may be prompted to install a program so your computer can correctly print these. Go ahead and do this. You'll be happy you did. Many store's registers have a hard time scanning home printed coupons, and if they don't scan, many cranky employees will refuse to accept them. Though you'll get just as many nice employees who will go ahead and push it through manually.

Alright. Once you've got your pile of coupons, you'll need to organize them. I group them by category, and store them in a coupon folder. I've seen people use 3 ring binders- I'm not a big fan of this method- it doesn't seem very mobile to me.

Now, start collecting your local stores sales fliers. I mostly do CVS and Walgreens right now. I buy most my groceries at Walmart, and do some coupons there, but because Walmart doesn't put out store coupons, it's harder to get good deals (Walmart does however offer weekly samples from their website, and coupons usually come with them). Because of this, I've started to buy most of my household products like cleaning supplies, t.p., and make up at the drug stores.

There's only one other option for groceries around here, the HEB, and I have yet to figure their coupon system out. I DO know that some stores like Kroger for example, have some amazing sales and coupons to go with it. So look around at the blogs I have linked on the right, and see what blogs are talking about your local sales. Now here's the most important part to keeping up to date... SUBSCRIBE to these blogs. Many of them will give you the adds right there on your computer screen. Most of them will give you a play by play on what to buy, when to buy, how to buy.

Now, how to actually get started at the store? Well, copy somebody else of course! Find a blog that seems in sync with what you buy and your local stores, and do what they do!

*Let me know if you have any questions, and if I can't answer it, I will try and find the answer from someone else.

To learn the Walgreens saving system, visit I Heart Wags.

To learn the CVS savings system, visit I Heart CVS. There are many many other sites who will explain these to you. I just find these two websites to be quick, easy, and to the point, without being confusing for beginners!

Furnish for Less

Just because you don't have much money, or you don't own your home, doesn't mean you can't have nice looking furniture. Most inexpensive furniture you will find at the Wal/Tar/K-marts, is inexpensive because it's cheap and will fall apart in a few years, or looks like it belongs in a dorm room. What about us people who want furniture that looks fit for a nice home? Do we have to spend thousands of dollars? Maybe. Sometimes. Most of the time- Maybe Not.

This week I finished my most recent furniture rehab project. I'm always in need of more living room seating, as well as a nice place to put my feet up. When we bought our new couches we opted not to get the coordinating ottoman, because of price, and the shape/size just wasn't right for me. Do you know how much a brand-new ottoman costs? Look it up... at least $100 minimum... much more for the nicer/flatter/more functional designs.

I found this piece at a crazy lady's house, while I was purchasing some $3 solid oak twin size headboards (still sitting in garage waiting for a make-over). She thought this ottoman was way too nice to give up for any less than $50. Seriously? Is she aware of what decade we are in? This thing was hideous, but the shape was right. I talked her husband into giving it to me for $8.

I purchased the most expensive fabric I've ever bought at $8.50/ yd, and covered it up. I also spray painted the legs a dark brown. It now looks fabulous with my couches. It's super comfy, and will serve as extra seating when we have a large crowd.

Total price including upholstery thread and a curved needle = $27.50.

Some other inexpensive furniture make-overs, you might remember from my other blog-

A toddler bed for my son, purchased for $6 at a thrift store. Add in some support boards underneath - $5, and a coat of paint - free from my garage. Total price = $11

Solid Oak side table for my living room, matches my other one perfectly, $12 from a thrift store. New coat of paint (around) $3. Total price = $15

Ethan Allen 1941 solid oak hutch and secretary for my kitchen, $80 from Craigslist, $5 coat of paint. Total =$85.

There you have it. It is possible to furnish your home without paying the full price of too much! Sometimes, though, I do think it's a necessity. Okay, maybe necessity is stretching it, but I really had no other options for my entertainment center, unless I wanted my living room to look like a dorm room (which we're trying to avoid). So after much searching I bought my most recent favorite piece of furniture for under $1,000. And by under, I mean $20 under. It was paid in cash, however. We're not using credit cards for anything these days. I've learned quite a bit in debt management this year.

Purchasing this lovely piece was probably not the best idea, nor was the tv, though we have saved (and will continue to save) money, believe it or not, buy splurging on these. More on that, and the debt thing later. You've gotta live, right?

Food Storage

Do you have a food storage? How much? A week? A month? A whole year?? We have a bit... probably a couple month supply... but what we're really lacking on in our storage is CHOCOLATE.

Yes, chocolate is a necessity in our house. I know a lot of people think you can live without it... while this may be true for you, I'm pretty sure this is not true for us. You see, I've tried, time and again to survive a day or two without chocolate. When the hubby goes without chocolate for too long, I start thinking of ways I could kill him off... I've come to the conclusion that it is a staple, right up there with food and water.


So today I worked on our one month supply of chocolate. I hope it lasts us that long. I'm not quite sure that it will, but we'll try.

I got all this at Walgreens for $16.45. I saved over $60.

Yay for coupons. Are you convinced yet? I know I am!

I got paid to shop!

Have you tried your luck at couponing yet? If not, you should! I just got paid $7 to purchase these items at Walgreens!

The request for more details on how to get started using coupons is quite popular, so I thought I'd break down for you what I did today.

• 13.5 oz Pert Plus
• Three - 4 oz. Children's Tylenol
• Glade Fabric/Air Freshener
• Colgate max fresh toothbrush (it has a scratch and sniff handle... kind of weird...)

I really should have made over $10, but I forgot to use a couple coupons on the Pert Plus. I think I'll go back tomorrow and re-do that, while I'm picking up a few other things.

Alright- this is how I did it:

Tylenol: $5.69 each. I used a $3 off when you buy 3 manu coupon, and $1.50 store coupon scanned 3 times. Total price for each = $3.19

Glade Fabric/Air: $3.99. I used a $1 manu coupon and a $1.50 store coupon. Total price = 1.49

Colgate Max Fresh Toothbrush: $3.49. I used a $1 manu coupon and a $2 store coupon.

Total price = $0.49 Then I used a $5 off a $20 purchase (after coupons I was below $20, but the clerk pushed it through for me anyway, since it was originally over $20)

Add in $0.69 sales tax and my total came out to $13.72.

I paid using a gift card from previous rebates**. The gift card covered the entire amount. $7 of Register Rewards printed out for me to use next time, along with a $4 coupon for a renuzit air freshener.. which I'll probably use.

**Walgreens has a great rebate system, where each month you can get many items for free after rebate, or at a great discount. You don't have to mail anything- just go to their website and type in your receipt number, and they send you a gift card. After the first time you receive the gift card, they just keep adding the rebate to that same card if you want. Easy Peasy!

There you have it. You can get paid to shop, you just have to do a little homework first! Studies show that people who spend 20 minutes a week clipping/organizing coupons, can save at least $1,000 per year!

If you haven't started yet, buy the Sunday paper this week. Pick up the sales fliers from your local Walgreens or CVS (or save them when they come in the mail, instead of trashing them), and start reading some frugal blogs to help you figure it all out!