budget

Extreme Frugality: Coupon/rebate deals.

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This is one in an occasional series of articles about saving money.

Back in the day, the coupon/rebate combo got me a lot of free stuff. A lot. For years I didn’t have to pay for toothpaste, shampoo, lotion, deodorant and other toiletries, or for certain food items. On the rare occasions when I did pay, the tab was a few cents to just under a dollar.

This was a godsend at the time, since I was living on less than $1,000 a month and working on a university degree. Bonus: I got so much free stuff that I supplied my daughter with many essentials, and donated a bunch to a social services agency.

Coupon/rebate buying helped me stretch my limited funds. It helped me help others. What’s not to like?

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But all good things must end, and coupon/rebate deals were no exception. The stores running these loss-leader promotions gradually fell out of the habit. Ever since I moved back to Alaska I’ve had almost no chances at getting the freebies.

Until, that is, I discovered a new coupon/rebate combo.

Now I use some (or all) of the following: the Coupons.com, Shopkick*, Ibotta** and Fetch Rewards*** apps; the Swagbucks rewards program and the CouponMom.com website. While it’s not as crazy-lucrative as it once was, I can say that it’s been worth my while. Two recent examples: 

 

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COVID hack: Use rewards points.

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According to a recent report from Bankrate.com, about one in three rewards credit cards holders did not cash in any rewards points in 2020.

That’s not surprising, given how many people save their points for air travel. Not much of that last year; only 11 percent of the 2,449 cardholders surveyed cashed in for flights.

On the other hand, 30 percent of those surveyed redeemed points big-time, to the tune of $300 or more worth of gift cards or actual spending cash.

When times are good, rewards points are a savvy consumer’s way of getting the most bang for the buck. And when times are not so good? That $300 cash-in can be a fine budget-booster.

“You could use it to defray big expenses or for small, everyday items to make your life better,” says Ted Rossman, a credit card analyst at Bankrate.com.

To paraphrase the credit card commercial, “What’s in your (virtual) wallet?” That is, what kinds of rewards points are languishing, rather than being given something to do? 

 

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Monday miscellany: Frugal February edition.

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Longtime readers know that I consider all months to be frugal. But since at least 2012 some folks have observed Frugal February, for one (or both) of the following reasons: Holiday bills have hit with a vengeance. Doing something for 28 days sounds lots easier than doing it for 31. Whatever the reason, Frugal February … Read more

Monday miscellany: Debt hangover edition.

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About one-third of U.S. residents took on debt for the 2020 holidays, according to a study from the Magnify Money personal finance site. Breaking it down further, there’s good, bad and worse news about these findings. The good news: Fewer people (31 percent) borrowed this year than last year (44 percent). The bad news: Those … Read more

Frugal stimulus spending.

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My fiscal stimulus* check got deposited a day earlier than the projected Jan. 4 date. Thus far I have used some of the money to:

Award $25 each to my great-nephew and great-niece, asking them to go forth and support the local economy.

Donate $25 to a GoFundMe for a Fairbanks woman in a tough situation.

Give $50 to the Food Bank of Alaska.

Buy $300 worth of gift cards at a small local restaurant. The young cashier was startled when I asked. “How much?” she said, and when I confirmed the figure she ran to get her boss. The supervisor thanked me several times and when I told him I’d done the same thing with the previous stimulus he said, “You’re helping us keep the lights on.”

Not sure where the rest of the money will go. But it will definitely go, i.e., it will definitely be spent. This is despite the advice I keep hearing to “invest it” or “save it.” Back in 2008 I resisted spending the fiscal stimulus, because I was anxious to rebuild savings depleted during my protracted divorce.

But that’s not what this money is intended to do. The idea is to give struggling businesses (local or national) a bit of a goose.

To be clear: I understand why some people would much rather build their own savings, or give the landlord a bit against the back rent, or pay down their credit card debt. I was there myself. But now I want to play some small part in helping others.

Some of you probably want the same. And I’d like to point out that it doesn’t all have to be bonbons and pretty shoes. You could also opt for frugal stimulus spending. That is, spending with an eye toward getting not just the most bang for your buck but also the most value from the result.

 

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Some frugal Christmas parodies.

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(Happy Throwback Tuesday! Yes, I know it’s supposed to be Throwback Thursday, but my sandbox, my rules. This article originally ran on Dec. 23, 2017. Get ready to sing along!)

This close to the holiday I’m still feeling the pull to buy, buy, buy. Even though we don’t have a television to deliver marketing copy six times per hour, consumerism creeps into our lives in other ways:

Ads on the classical music station (fun fact: a local shop packed and shipped more than 10 tons of Alaska king crab last Christmas).

Displays of holiday foods and gifts at the supermarket and drugstore.

Signs outside other stores.

Christmas decorations at restaurants and my neighbors’ homes.

Never mind that everyone on my list has been bought for and that all the gifts have been wrapped and either mailed or delivered. I still feel that I haven’t bought enough. That somehow I should be giving lots more. That maybe tomorrow on my way to a friend’s house I could just stop in somewhere and…

Noooope, as Lana would say on “Archer.” So I decided to banish those thoughts with humor.

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Monday miscellany: Disastrous beginner mistake edition.

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The delightful but definitely NSFW (in a good way!) personal finance blog Bitches Get Riches has tackled a topic that needs a perennial takedown: what to do with retirement funds. “PLEASE tell me you’re not making this disastrous beginner mistake with your retirement funds” is an essential read if you’re just starting out, but also … Read more

Why I threw away my underwear.

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Five years ago I wrote a post called “Why I sewed my underwear.” That piece still gets good traction; either people want to be justified in sewing their own smalls, or they want to read just why someone would bother repairing when replacement undies are so cheap.

(Well, cheap the way that I buy them: six- or eight-pack cotton drawers from Hanes. I’m well aware that solo scanties can cost $30 or more. I would never deny any woman – or any man, or any non-binary person –  undies that make them feel pretty. Personally, though, I’m built for comfort, not for speed.)

Today I threw out five pairs of unmentionables. And I feel just fine with that, for a couple of reasons.

The fixes weren’t holding. Either I’m a lousy sew-and-sew or some garments simply can’t be repaired over and over. DF thinks it’s the latter: “After one fix, out it goes.” And this is from a man who has been known to repair just about everything. Once, when the elbows of a shirt were threadbare, he cut the fabric above the elbow and started hemming his new short-sleeved shirt.

It’s okay not to wear tattered tighty-whities. I can afford new, whole briefs rather than having to slide (carefully!) into a few loosely connected underwear molecules. After all, I do have a job and that job lets me replace things that need replacing.

So yes, I bought new bloomers. But I did it frugally, because of course I did.

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What I don’t spend money on.

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Note: Surviving and Thriving is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Recently I encountered an article called “Things we do NOT spend money on,” on the ModernFImily personal finance blog. Although we have some differences – they have a small child and universal healthcare, and they don’t drink soda – this is a post I could have written.

That’s because it’s the kind of thing I’ve been writing about, for pay and for my own site, since 2007:

How to have the best life you can on the money you currently have, without losing your dignity or your hopes for the future.

How not to overpay even when times are good, in order to make your money go further in terms of helping others

How to edit the noise in your life so you can focus on what matters to you personally.

Their post inspired me to make my own, and to invite you guys to chime in with your experiences. So here goes, divided into a few broad categories.

 

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Monday miscellany: Single-mom stimulus grant edition.

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Note: Surviving and Thriving is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

On March 26, writer Emma Johnson created the 2020 Kickass Single Mom Stimulus Grant. Since then she’s given away a $500 cash grant every week to single moms in need.

The criteria are pretty simple:

You are a single mother.

You need the money right now.

If that’s you, head over to Wealthy Single Mommy and apply for the grant. And if you don’t need the grant but know of other single moms in need? Please share the link.

This is a no-strings deal, according to Johnson. Having worked with her, I can say if she says she’s going to do something, she does it. No BS.

 

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