Hope Santa was kind to you last week. I’m not usually given gift cards, but this year I got two. One for Crate and Barrel and the other for Barnes and Noble. I’m not sure what I’m going to buy at each store, but browsing around will be fun.

My local supermarket has an annual promotion called Bag of Dreams. During December you collect one reward for every $50 you spend there. Starting January 13th you can redeem your rewards for gift cards. Last year I was only able to collect enough rewards for a $10 gift card, but this year I’ve already earned enough for a $20 gift card. And I’m only two rewards short of getting the $30 one, but as the promotion ends in the next few days I don’t think I’ll make it. One thing this promotion does prove is the price of groceries has definitely shot up in the last year. I haven’t been buying any more groceries than I did at this time last year but now it doesn’t take much to spend $50 there. Who knows next year I might get the $30 card.

Speaking of grocery shopping, I’ve been looking through The Everything Meals for a Month Cookbook I bought last month. Yes, sometime soon I’m going to be brave and give this cooking for a month in just one day a try. I know it’s going to take some planning and I’ll probably regret it at the end of the day but I’m willing to try it at least once. I’m going to use that $20 gift card to stock up on more pantry standbys and as I have a couple of book projects that are going to keep me very busy though the end of February, I’m hoping to not only save some money by using this cooking method, but time too. One thing I hate is sitting at the computer all day, shoulders aching, fingers tired, and then having to drag my weary body into the kitchen. I’ll let you know how the whole thing turns out and if it’s really worth it…money and time wise.

I’ve been thinking about New Year’s resolutions and will be featuring the most popular ones for the whole month of January for Budget Smart Girl. Two things on my list this year are one, getting organized, and two, getting my Web sites actually up and running.


For money saving tips visit www.gardenandhearth.com/Bargain-Shopping.htm and www.gardenandhearth.com/EatingWellonaBudget.htm

Seems like most people left their Christmas shopping to the last minute. Our local news station ran a story about the fact that most retailers reported doing more business on Saturday then they did on Black Friday…bad snowstorm and all. Those shoppers interviewed said it was because of the deeper discounts; some items were 50-60% off. Plus, because they were in a rush to get all their shopping finished, most people said they were in and out of the stores buying just what they needed and nothing else. No browsing meant, no impulse buying, maybe we should all remember that the rest of the year too.

There’s nothing I like better than sitting down and browsing through a stack of magazines. I like it even more when the magazines are free. I got a free one-year subscription to Redbook for buying $20 worth of ELF products. And Stonyfield Farms is offering a free one-year subscription to Organic Gardening with the purchase of four specially marked yogurts. As Stonyfield Farms is one of my favorite brands it won’t be hard for me to collect those four lids very quickly. If you’ve never eaten their yogurt before try the French vanilla, whole milk, cream on top variety. Even if you don’t like yogurt I bet you’ll like this one!

And speaking of ELF products I received my order of their new mineral make-up and the body butter and body lotion. The makeup was just $5 each, and the body lotion and butter were both $4 each. Great buys, and really top of the line stuff. The body butter works wonders when the weather is so cold and dry and your skin needs moisture.

For money saving tips visit www.gardenandhearth.com/Bargain-Shopping.htm and www.gardenandhearth.com/EatingWellonaBudget.htm

When did feeding the birds get to be so expensive?
We have about six bird feeders in various spots around the yard. A couple of them are permanent fixtures left by the previous homeowners. I always like to keep all the feeders topped up because one, this is wonderful area for bird watching, two it gives the birds a much needed meal, and three, we have an indoor cat and it’s great entertainment for him.
While I was at the pet store a few weeks ago I went to look for seed and couldn’t believe the price, nearly $15 for a 10lb. bag? Has the price jumped up that much from last winter? It’s almost getting like oil prices. Anyway, I decided to buy some from the bulk bins and some slabs of suet, which are still under a $1.
But last week I got a great deal at the local DIY store. They were offering buy one 20 lb bag for $9.99 and get the second one free. I also had a $10 in store rebate from the Space Bags I purchased there, so I was able to buy 40 lbs. of seed for just 64 cents. Now if I could just convince the squirrels to stick with their critter food and leave the seed just for the birds.

Doesn’t it seem like very week you have some unexpected expense? Last week it was my car. I was leaving the local co-op and looked at the back of my car and for some reason I just happened to glance down at the muffler and thought, that looks a bit low to the ground on the right side. When I checked underneath the bracket that holds the muffler had rusted through and only the left side of the muffler was being held up. I very carefully drove home, called the repair shop and booked the car in for some emergency TLC the next day. The parts and labor was under $100 I’m happy to say, but what a lucky thing I noticed the problem before the whole muffler, and who knows what other parts just fell into the road costing me a lot more money to fix. Moral of the story, check every part of your car on a regular basis and nip problems in the bud, especially if you live in an area with snow and salt that eats away parts of your car.

For money saving tips visit www.gardenandhearth.com/Bargain-Shopping.htm and www.gardenandhearth.com/EatingWellonaBudget.htm

I’m beginning to wonder if I did my Christmas shopping a bit too early. In the last couple of days I’ve been getting e-mails from companies I purchased gifts from alerting me to their free shipping offer. I wondered if this offer was just for previous customers as a ‘thank you for buying from us’, but when I checked the Web sites I found the offer was good for everyone. Maybe next year I’ll wait till the last week to shop. And I thought being organized meant your saved money!

Don’t know if anyone else has been noticing this but more companies want you to renew services and subscriptions earlier now. I’ve been getting e-mail alerts that subscriptions etc. are going to be expiring in three months, even six months from now. Are they worried we won’t have the money at that time? Or thinking if we renew now, we won’t have time to shop around for better prices, or sit and think about whether or not we really need this or that magazine? I used to see these early renewal notices from time to time, but they always had some incentive attached to them. Renew your subscription to our magazine and we’ll give you two extra issues, renew now and get two year’s subscription for the price of one. But I’m not seeing that these days. Are those days long gone? Do companies want our business but can no longer afford to give us little bonuses for being loyal customers?

As the year winds down and you’re faced with renewing subscriptions and services, it’s a great time to think about whether or not you really need them? I have memberships in a couple of writer’s organizations that are going to be raising their prices January 1st and now I’m thinking what did I get from my membership last year? Would I be better off joining another organization that may net be more work and hence pay for the cost of membership?
And magazines, do I still enjoy reading them? Do I have time to sit down and really read every single article or am I just skimming them and then putting the magazine into the recycle bin? The cost of one membership or magazine doesn’t seem like a budget buster, but when you sit down and add them all up, canceling just one or two can free up money to put into another venture, maybe one that brings in money.


For money saving tips visit www.gardenandhearth.com/Bargain-Shopping.htm and www.gardenandhearth.com/EatingWellonaBudget.htm

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! We had our first measurable snowfall over the weekend and I’m so glad I got all my Christmas shopping done last week. Speaking of which, I found some nice buys at Coldwater Creek outlet...on line no less. I’ve discovered most company Web sites have either a clearance or outlet section and you can find some great bargains there.

I’ve mentioned many times that it’s a smart idea to check out books at the library before you buy them. I found this cookbook that I really like, Everything Meals for a Month Cookbook, 300 Smart Recipes to Help You Plan Ahead, Save Time, and Stay on Budget by Linda Larsen. I’ve checked out other once a month cooking titles but always found the recipes weren’t that appealing. However, this one not only has a good selection, but also gives different quantities in case you just want 6 servings or say 18 servings. And the directions are for either eating the dish as soon as you make it, or freezing it first. A real find and one I knew had to go into my cookbook collection. Now came the part of finding who had the best price. I found Amazon/Borders, Target and ecookbooks, AKA Jessica’s Biscuit were all selling it on line for $10.47 I decided on www.ecookbooks.com just because I’ve bought lots of cookbooks from them before and love their catalog. If you spend at least $25 you get free shipping. So I thought rather than pay just for shipping I might as well get something for my money and ordered two more books, which took my order to $26.45.

We had a notice from our cable company telling us as of January 1st the prices are going up. You probably remember me mentioning they’d be removing channels from our current line up, so now we’ll have less to watch but will end up paying more. We’re debating whether to drop our cable and rent more movies, problem is we get our Internet service from them too and the price is an extra $17 a month without cable service. I imagine they sensed what most customers were going to do when they go the notice about the price increase.


For money saving tips visit www.gardenandhearth.com/Bargain-Shopping.htm and www.gardenandhearth.com/EatingWellonaBudget.htm