My Summer of Saving

    My mom has been shopping at Aldi for years now.  For some reason I got it in my head that Aldi carried cheap, poor quality, knock off brands of items.  One blogger wrote that she thought of Aldi as "the poor peoples' grocery store".   It wasn't until I took my mom shopping at her Aldi's that I finally got a good look at the products and prices.  I was impressed.  I also learned that Aldi owns Trader Joes!  So now that I have an open mind I have been shopping at Aldi.  Here is a recent trip to Aldi with cost compared to my usual grocery store (Kroger). Half & Half 1 quart   Kroger:  $3.49   Aldi:  $1.79 2% milk half gallon   Kroger:  $1.89   Aldi:  $1.19 Sugar 4lbs   Kroger:  $1.89   Aldi:  $1.49 butter sticks 1lb :  Kroger:  $3.29  Aldi:  $2.45 Strawberries 16oz   Kroger:  $2.50  Aldi:  $1.19 Mandarin oranges 15oz   Kroger...

    While at a family breakfast this morning I learned another "Summer of Savings" tip.  This one comes from my daughter-in-law, Carrie who knows a thing or two about saving money.     Carrie shared with me how she has a separate gmail account that she gives out to stores to receive notifications of sales and coupons.  She only uses this account for this purpose.  She doesn't bother with the gmail account until she is in the market for a particular item.  She then looks at what the stores have recently sent her on this separate account to see if she has a coupon or who is offering the best deals.       I know that my personal email account is overflowing most of the time and I end up just deleting all the emails to clean it up.  I love the idea of the store emails all being in one place and not mixed in with everything else where I won't even look at them.  I also like that I can look at them only when I need them...

       Yesterday I had a couple of things to shop for.  I went to two independently owned stores in my neighborhood.  It reminded me that price is not always the deciding factor when shopping.  I want to keep these wonderful independently owned local stores in business.       First up,  Whistle Stop!  This is a great toy and hobby shop.  I found grand daughter Cate's birthday gift right away.  They have great customer service and plenty of help available. To top it all off, they do free gift wrapping!      Next stop, Gilbert's Hardware.  They have knowledgeable employees and fantastic customer service.  I went in to Gilbert's with a picture of my latest project, a side table I had painted and put a map of Rome and some mementos from my trip to Italy on the top.  I wanted to seal and clear coat the top.  Gilbert's found me just the right product and it worked bea...

     An update on one of the money saving choices I have written about. This is by far my favorite change!  I could not be more pleased with this S'well water bottle.  It is stainless steel and keeps water cold for 24 hours.  I haven't tried hot beverages yet but they say the bottle keeps them hot for 12 hours.  The bottle does not sweat, so no more little puddles of condensation on surfaces and papers.  I bought the 9 oz size for home.  I was always a lover of the small plastic water bottle size because I tend to finish them off then.  It isn't a big deal to drink the rest of a little 8 oz bottle whereas I would find half drank 16 oz water bottles everywhere!       Zoey is on board with this new change because she is my organic, green, mother earth daughter!  We found her this super cute S'well water bottle at Target.  The bottles at Target are 15 oz.  I got a second water bottle for sch...

   This post is for the ladies.  Can we talk about facial hair for a minute?  When I was younger I could tweeze an unwanted facial hair here and there and be good to go.  As I got older two things happened, first more facial hair and second less close up vision.  That is a bad combination.       A few years ago I discovered waxing at my hair salon.  What an amazing thing.  It didn't hurt near as bad as I thought it would and I was pleased with the results.     In my summer of savings I looked at how much waxing is costing me.  I stretch it as long as I can which is about 6 weeks.  It costs $15 for a chin wax (which I always need), $15 for the upper lip (I usually need) and $15 for eyebrows (which I rarely need).  My average cost is $30 plus $5 tip.  That is about $280 a year.     There are other issues as well besides the cost.  I have to make an appointment.  I can't always get a...

    I of all people should not be explaining anything technology related but what I learned today is just so stinkin' cool, I can't resist.  Just saying "stinkin' cool" gives my age away!     I recently learned about the Target Cartwheel App.  An app is short for application.  The way that I understand it, you download an application to your phone.  I do it from  iTunes since I have Apple products.   The Cartwheel App is free.  Once you have downloaded it, it will appear on your home screen (phone or computer). See the square with the red grocery cart?  That is the Cartwheel app on my phone. When I click on the Cartwheel app it opens to this (see image above).  You can then click on the category you are hoping to find deals in and find out the specials.   I clicked on "Back to School" and it shows me the specials above.  It is usually anywhere from 5% off to 50% savings.  In order to ge...

    I have been making a summer bucket list for several year now.  Being a teacher means that basically I get nothing done during the school year except school.  I started the summer with 20 list items and have since added a few.  I am not above writing down an item that wasn't on the list so I can cross it off!  12 of my 23 items are finished or scheduled.  2 items are pending.  I am working on painting a bedside table today (item #6).  Will and I are waiting to hear if he can rent a little cottage in Kalamazoo (item #22). According to my calculations I have 39 days left of summer break (putting myself back to school 1 week before I have students).       A bucket list works for me.  It helps me prioritize and focus.   Since things like writing a blog about saving money and reducing my cell phone bill are on the list it fits in with my summer of savings theme.  Other things are not quite as obvious for saving mo...

        Its that time of year again!  School Supplies are on sale.  I will admit that I love me some good school supplies for my classroom.  I will admit that I have purchased many, many items on my own dime.            Last year I learned a great lesson.  I let my students' families know what our classroom needed by publishing an Amazon wish list.  I received every item that I had listed!  I had one parent who waited until school started and then ordered everything that I had not received!  The lesson I learned is that I have to let people know what I am in need of.             Our special education program started a Facebook page at the end of the school year.  We have 105 members already, students, parents, bus drivers, former teachers and friends. Today I posted some of the school sale items that are available this week at Target just in case someone wants ...

    Today we went looking for a place for William to live while he attends Western Michigan University in the fall.  Last year he lived in the dorms and did not like it!  He felt like he could never get away from school.  This year he expressed the desire to live off campus.      He set up a couple of places for us to tour and then several to drive past.   Luckily his job is pizza delivery, so he knows the neighborhoods very well.      One was an apartment which had misrepresented itself online by saying it was $410/month and a two bedroom apartment.  Turns out you pay $410 for one bedroom and $410 for the second bedroom which of course is $820 a month.  We walked out on that one.      We drove by many more nondescript apartments in the price range we wanted.   We finally went to the second tour which was actually 15-20 minutes outside of Kalamazoo in Galesburg.  It was a one bedroom h...

    I must confess that I am a plastic water bottle junkie!  I keep a case of bottles at home and at school at all times.  I carry plastic water bottles in my purse, car and on my person almost all the time.  This habit of mine has been bothering me on several levels.  The cost, the plastic trash and the health risks that I am hearing more and more about have made me pick this habit to change.     It is time to face down this monster!  First, I needed to find a permanent water bottle.  After some research and just plain liking it, I ordered a stainless steel water bottle like this one from S'well.       Next comes filtration.  I chose this Brita Stream System.    Bottom Line:  I spend at least $5 a week in plastic water bottles=$260/year     Swell Water Bottle $25     Brita pitcher and one filter $29     Filters approx every 2 month at $7 a filter=$42/year ...

    I have been dreading taking on the area of cell phone service.  My large cell phone bills are really the main reason I started thinking about this whole "summer of savings" idea.     I started from scratch, looking at all the top carriers of cell service.  Companies make this so hard, it is nearly impossible to line the benefits up side by side.  My very non scientific method came out with the result that I should be with the carrier that I am currently with, Verizon.     I called Verizon to see if they could help me get my bill down.  One tidbit that I read somewhere, learn the persons name that is helping you and refer to them by name.  It highlights that you are both people and working on a problem together!     Annette (my Verizon representative), did an awesome job of going over my account.  She found that one thing that I had neglected to do is take off our Canada/Mexico coverage that I put on for a trip...

        I have a love/hate relationship with the public library right now!  Of course I love the library,  doesn't everyone love the library?  I brought my kids up going to the library.  I love to make the library one of my field trip destinations for my students.  I love browsing and holding the books in my hands.     So what is the problem?  When I am working full time, I find that the library books are just one more thing I have to keep track of or more likely not.  I have read so many partial books in order to get them back on time.  I have also racked up library fines because I forgot to return books.  Several years ago I gave up and stopped using the library.      Summer is a different "story" however.  I do think the library is a great way to save money on books, so in this summer of savings I have been giving the library a try again.  First I had update my card. ...

    This is so completely off the topic of saving money.....I could maybe make a case for it being Sunday and all, a day of rest from my usual subject!  Are you buying it?     Yesterday this cutie and I went to a Bridal Shower.  As we drove there we had a discussion about proper social behavior at an event like this one.  We talked about what kind of things were appropriate to bring up in conversation.  We decided that politics was a big no-no (and has gotten to be an even bigger no-no than before)!  We talked about how you shouldn't share real personal information about your life (thats a tricky one, what is too personal?).  No hogging a conversation came up in our talk.  That led to not hogging the guest of honor, she needed to spend time with all the guest not just us.       This little conversation is just a peek into life with a special needs young adult.  At this point in my daughter's life so mu...

      Today's to-do list contained a fun item.  Get a bridal shower gift for a dear friend's daughter.  Zoey and I are attending this event tomorrow.  The Bride to be is registered at Bed, Bath and Beyond.  We rounded up our coupons and headed out.      Let's talk coupons first.  Bed, Bath and Beyond has changed things a little in the coupon department.  They have always been known for honoring coupons passed their expiration date.  That is still true however the former 20% off coupons now become 10% off after a certain expiration date. Also, did you know that if you don't have coupons when you make a purchase, you can go back later with the receipt and get the discount after the fact?       Zoey and I are Bed, Bath and Beyond coupon experts already but we were about to learn about a whole new way to save money that we had never known before.  We picked out our purchases, presented our coupons, paid ...

            In my attempt to use and not lose our gift card monies, I planned a trip to Build a Bear with the grand girls.  We had $60 total in gift cards.  Our nearest Detroit Build a Bear Workshop was closed for remodeling so we decided to hit the one in Grand Rapids when we were bringing the girls home.  I briefly checked the website and it looked like the girls would be able to build a bear and get a few accessories for $60.          When we got to Build a Bear the girls went straight to Eevee (above), a favorite Pokemon character.  There was no doubt which one they both wanted.  The bears were $15-$25 dollars.  However the way cool popular Pokemon characters were $28.  I had of course looked at the $15 dollar bear and thought the girls could choose a sound chip for another $10 and then a little accessory (hair clips, guitar, ear buds) for another $5 which would keep us within the ...

                                              Summer of Savings Tip:  Try to get a company to replace a broken item.       The tip of my Wusthof paring knife cracked off a while ago.  I have been meaning to replace it.  But instead I went online and found the companies warranty/return policy.  They say that they don't replace items that have normal wear and tear but I decided to give it a try.  I wrote them about how I have a whole set of their knives and have always loved them.  I told them that I hoped they would stand behind their product as the reputable company that I always believed them to be.         I shipped the form, my letter and broken knife to the company.  Today I received a brand new Knife in the mail.  For the cost of shipping which was around $6 I got a new kn...

     I have a special guest blogger today, my mom!  My mom and dad did a great job of managing money and I can learn a lot from mom.  So this morning we talked about the ways that she saved money in her lifetime.      The first thing that she said is that her generation did not shop as a hobby.  She goes to the store because she is looking for something specific.  She doesn't just go to the store as entertainment.  If you go to the store with nothing particular in mind you will undoubtedly find something to buy.  I can't help but think of all the times I have stopped at the outlet mall on my way between Grand Rapids and Detroit with nothing particular in mind but just shopping for shopping sake.      My mom also brought up eating.  She remembers planning out meals and sticking to that plan.  Today we are so spoiled with so many food choices.  We may have something planned for a meal but then we...