I save my change, I am talking pennies mostly here, some quarters, etc. Where I shop, they have a coinstar thing. You pour the change into it and it gives you a receipt, which is basically the same as a coupon you give to the cashier at the time of purchase.
When I go to buy staple items for our daily meals during the day, if I have coupons along with the spare change, then sometimes it is practically nothing.
I got started buying one item at a time of healthy food items. toward the end of the month when our money was low and I would buy one item and it would last for about a week..this has saved us lots of money.
Sometimes, I have to get things such as pet food or trash bags this way too.
I have been making dry erase boards out of cardboard and clear packing tape and I put on one of them the amount of money in change I spent on groceries.
It came to about 20 dollars worth of food with just pennies, quarters, etc.
I am building up my ability to get one thing at a time and concentrate on savings. I am not worried about gas at this point, it is a learning experience.
I like to save the change up. I have scouted around and found that Food City has the lowest price on lowfat milk, at 2 dollars or less. When I take a bag of dry milk and mix it up with equal parts of the other milk in the gallon jug, it makes the milk go farther. It is so delicious!
Also, since it is spring and the kids are more likely to get grounded and fined from their allowance, I usually buy something good for them, like vegetables, Then when they are enjoying the food, I tell them they helped to buy it.
I am going to go around and see if I can find dry milk any cheaper anywhere around here. I keep a little notebook in my purse for comparisons on prices, although I usually remember where things are that are cheap.
I do realize that prices change with the season and I am keeping tabs on which stores raise prices on things I need and when.
By Robyn Fed from Hampton, TN
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Just be sure to check on your Coinstar machine what if any fee they take out. Unless it is subsidized by the retailer/bank there is a 9.8% fee taken out here in the U.S.
You can opt out of the fee at some locations if you chose a gift certificate from the ones they offer:
www.coinstar.com/
>>> Is there a charge to use a Coinstar machine?
Yes. For Coins to Cash service, we charge an 9.8% processing fee in the United States, a 11.9% processing fee in Canada, and a 8.9% processing fee in the U.K. Some retailers or financial institutions may choose to subsidize this fee. Coin counting is free in select regions of the U.S. if you convert your change to a nationally-branded gift card or eCertificate such as Amazon.com, Starbucks, Lowe's, or iTunes. To find out if this new no fee service is available in your area, go to the machine locator, advanced search.
>>> "...Also, since it is spring and the kids are more likely to get grounded and fined from their allowance, I usually buy something good for them, like vegetables, Then when they are enjoying the food, I tell them they helped to buy it. ..."
Forgot to mention: I loved that part!
:-)
Kudos to you for trying and working so hard at saving. Keeping it up is so hard. My husband and I save all of our change in a jar at home. When paying for anything we never spend change even if the bill comes to say $10.01 we would pay with $11 and put the .99 cents of change in our jar at home.
It really adds up and we don't miss the change, it has gotten us out of some tight spots more than once with there being $300 in the jar when full. Our jar is about 10 x 10 inch square, by the way I covered it with fabric to hide it some. There are ways to save if we just put out minds to it and stick to it. Keep up the good work!
Saving silver change in our house isn't easy. Hubby gathers and spends stray change when paper money runs short. However, I gather all pennies, and wrap them when my owl bank (it's really shaped like an owl, not a pig) fills up. More than once, my penny-saving has bought milk or other small items in the last days before payday.
I used to take the roll and spend it or cash it in as is. However, I discovered our credit union has a CoinStar, and they don't take out any fee. I fell instantly in love with it when I emptied my rolled pennies into it recently, only to discover two of my "pennies" were really dimes. (I'm visually impaired, and I guess the edges of those dimes had gotten worn smooth.) I didn't catch it, but that CoinStar did! I took the cash this time, but could've deposited it in my checking or savings, too.
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