Cha-Ching on a Shoestring™

Living Large on a Limited Budget

I WON!!

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Well, who would have thought?!  After diligently adding rewards codes on and off for the past few days and then slowly losing all of my points trying to win a $25 Visa Gift Card…I FINALLY WON!!!!! 

I’m not gonna lie.  It feels like Christmas.

You too can win.  Sign up for Huggies Rewards Program, if you haven’t yet.   Go here to find all the rewards codes that I’ve found (I’m guessing it’s around 100 points.)  Enter the codes, then click on ‘spend points’.  You’ll find several sweepstakes and instant wins to choose from.

Here’s one more code worth 2 points: RZMRR-QFZNP-WGPGB

I hope it’s a winner!  Let us know!

Giveaway: Handmade Envelope System Wallet

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In my How We Got Here post yesterday,  I introduced you to my friend Beckie who I consider my mentor in this money-saving journey that Wes and I have begun.

Beckie is not only the Queen of Freebies, but she is one of the most creative people I have ever met.  Head on over to her blog, Infarrantly Creative, and I don’t need to say anything more.  It’s chock full of crafty Eye Candy.

So, when Beckie offered to donate any one of her crafts as a giveaway for Cha-Ching on a Shoestring, I jumped on it.  In the end, the craft that I chose was a no-brainer.

Many of you are probably familiar with Dave Ramsey’s Envelope System.  I wouldn’t be surprised if many of you are using it.  It’s an excellent way to track your monthly expenses. As Dave puts it, “Grandma’s way to handle money still works.”

Of course, Beckie wasn’t content to use your average envelope system; she had to create one of her own.  (You can go here to see how she does it.)  Isn’t it pretty?

And now, you can win one of your very own custom-made envelope systems handmade by Beckie. Here’s how:

  1. If you haven’t subscribed yet, subscribe to our feed by e-mail or in a reader (see right side bar).
  2. Enter the contest by leaving a comment telling us that you are a subscriber.
  3. If you tweet or blog about this contest, add an additional comment for each to receive extra entries in the contest.

This giveaway ends at 8:00 p.m. EST on Monday, May 25th, 2009. We’ll use Random.org to select the winning comments. Winner will be notified by email and listed on this site.


The Cha-Ching Challenge Highlight

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Cha-Ching challenge

Welcome to the weekly

Cha-Ching Challenge Highlight!

I am pleased to announce our
Cha-Ching Challenge Highlight Winner.

This week’s highlight is Grocery Shopping Geek!

Marie is the Mom of 5 month old twins and has taken on the challenge of becoming CMO (Chief Maternal Officer) in her home.

Check out her post tracking all of her savings for the week. You are off to a great start, Marie!

While you are there, I suggest checking out her How Do I Keep Track of This? post.  It’s a great challenge to set goals and figure out how to measure them. 

Would you like to join us in next week’s Cha-Ching Challenge?

Simply come back on Friday and join the Cha-Ching Challenge by adding a link to your post sharing your great deals for the week!

 

How We Got Here, Part 4

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Read part 1, part 2, and part 3 of this series.

So, when Wes and I married, I had debt.  He didn’t.

I remember the conversation we had when I revealed to him the debt I was going to bring into our marriage.  He responded with such graciousness.  We committed to eradicating this debt within the first year of our marriage.

This was good.  Becoming completely debt-free is one of the best decisions we have ever made.

I am a pretty low-maintenance kind of girl, so I quickly adapted to the way Wes handled money due to his frugal up-bringing.  I did have a few ground rules, however:

  • NO milking our own goats
  • NO hatching our own chickens
  • AND ABSOLUTELY NO COUPONING!!!

Oh, every once in a while, I would buy a Sunday paper and make a lame attempt at using a coupon or two.  Instead, the stack of coupons would usually just sit there laughing at me that I had spent a whole $1.50 on them.  I was convinced that when God was handing out the couponing gene, He skipped over me.

It took Wes’s lay-off a little over a year ago for me to realize that there was so much more that I could do to save money.  I was pregnant with our second son and would be giving up my part-time job as a result.  Who knew how long we would be without an income?  I had no choice but to learn more about those evil things called coupons.

I began asking my friend Beckie, whom I lovingly referred to as the Queen of Freebies, to PLEASE mentor me through this foreign world of coupon clipping, deal hunting, and freebie finding.

Little did I know that my world was about to change.

I wrote this in my other blog a few weeks later:

Hi. My name is Kaley and I’m an addict.

I never thought it would come to this.

I’ve become a coupon/free stuff junkie.

It’s bad.

It all started because of Beckie’s influence and now I’m having a hard time pulling myself away from my coupon clipping, ad-scanning, web-surfing addiction to even tell you about it.

My mind is overflowing with CVS extra bucks deals and Rite Aid single check rebates and Price Chopper’s triple coupons and the sale prices of dozens of items.

Beckie tells me that in a month or so, I should be back to my normal self. I will no longer have nightmares about missing out on a free after rebate deal. I will stop making my husband wait for 45 minutes in the car while I just “run in” to CVS….for the third time that week. And I will be able to dedicate a little bit more time to the non-essentials in life like cooking and cleaning.

Eventually life did return to normal–but  a new normal.  My inner deal-hunting diva was discovered and I realized how do-able saving money really was.

Soon I began sharing what I was learning on my blog and quickly realized that I enjoyed helping others find deals as much as finding them myself.  I mentioned to Wes one day that I might actually enjoy creating a blog, chronicling our journey of saving money.  He loved the idea.

And that, my dear readers, is How We Got Here.

(And I haven’t had to milk a goat yet!)



Cellfire ecoupons: A simple way to save money

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In case you haven’t noticed the new addition to my sidebar, I’m happy to announce that you can now load Cellfire coupons directly to your Kroger and Safeway family stores loyalty card right here on Cha-Ching on a Shoestring!

What is  Cellfire?

Cellfire offers ecoupons that can be downloaded directly to your store loyalty card. The ecoupons are deducted automatically from your grocery total at checkout when you buy a qualifying item and swipe your loyalty card. Currently these ecoupons are available for Kroger and Safeway family stores, with hopes that many more stores will be included in the future.

What stores utilize the Cellfire program?

All Kroger and Safeway family stores accept Cellfire, including Baker’s, City Market, Dillon’s, Fry’s, Gerbes, Hilander, JayC, King Soopers, Owen’s, Pay Less, QFC, Randall’s,  Scott’s, Smith’s, Tom Thumb, Carrs, Dominick’s, Genuardi’s, Pavillions, Safeway, and Vons.

How do I use Cellfire?

Using Cellfire is easy! Just register your store loyalty card on the Cellfire site.  Then you simply save the coupons that interest you to your card. I would recommend saving them them all unless you absolutely know you will not use a particular coupon.

See my Cellfire FAQs page for answers to other frequently asked questions