Thursday, April 23, 2009

Hey! It's free...

While surfing the web for money saving websites, I ran across this site which I think is very cool: http://www.heyitsfree.net/

Simply put, this guy lists "100% legit, non-spammy freebies" and he lists LOTS of them.

You have to check it out. :)

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

The Grocery Guru...

If you don't know who The Grocery Guru is, then you either don't live in Utah, or you don't like to save money... this guy is seriously awesome! He has my dream job... he takes about 100 people shopping each week (in groups of 4-6) and shows them how they can cut their grocery bill by at least 50% by shopping the sales combined with coupons. (Now bear in mind here, that the primary purpose here is to save money, not to eat super-healthy, so you are not going to be buying a whole lot of fresh fruit and veggies on your trip with him, but you CAN build up your food store a bit.)

Last summer I went shopping with Ken! (No his given name is not really "The Grocery Guru", shocking isn't it?) All you have to do is call him on a Friday afternoon and leave him a message letting him know what area you live in and he will call you back on Monday letting you know when and where he will be in your area that week. You don't have to bring a thing... (he cuts all the coupons out for you)... all you have to do is show up, fill your basket with the things he tells you to, (leaving out anything you don't want or wouldn't use), and pay for it all at the end.

I got over $140 dollars worth of groceries and by the end of it all, it cost me about $38 plus tax. (That is at least 72% savings off of the shelf prices.) Note that the boxes that are raised are on MORE boxes of food at the back in this picture.


That price did include ten dollars worth of boneless, skinless chicken breast which I usually stock up on and get a bit cheaper when Smith's has their frozen bags on half price. It also included 8, yes I said 8 boxes of Fiber One bars, which are not my favorite thing to buy, (if you lived with my two boys, you would feel the same way), but all in all, it was a most excellent adventure which I highly recommend anyone living in the state of Utah sign up to do!

(If YOU want to shop with The Grocery Guru, or just find out more about his program, click here !)

*I apologize to anyone who read this post on my personal blog, I just thought it was a good thing to post on this blog too :)

Thursday, April 9, 2009

I'm Back! So here's a tip on air conditioning...

Blogging has taken a back seat the past couple of weeks as I have been quite busy moving in to our new home, but I think I am finally ready to get back on track! So with the weather getting a bit warmer (sometimes... we live in Utah... it can be almost 70 one day and snowing the next...), I offer this little tid bit of information on how to cut your air conditioning costs this season:

Did you know that the air conditioner is a major power eater? Try and keep your thermostat over 78 degrees during the summer to increase savings drastically. For every degree you raise your thermostat setting, you reduce your summer cooling costs by 6 to 8 percent. Use a ceiling or portable fan to feel 3-4 degrees cooler for just pennies on the hour. Also, make use of your blinds or curtains during hot times to keep out the heat. :)