Won a $ from Food Lion

The lady at Food Lion handed me 4 scratch cards for some Food Lion contest. I won a buck on one of them. Woot!

Total money saved: $50.33

New savings and found coinage

Found:
- 3 pennies
- 1 half dollar

Saved:
- 15% off Hibachi Express for being a student ($2.00)

Total saved to date:
$49.33

Hypermiling

For those unfamiliar with hypermiling, it is defined as the following: Hypermiling is the act of driving using techniques that maximize fuel economy. Those who practice these techniques are referred to as "hypermilers."

I've been trying to put some thought into hypermiling techniques lately. In my mind, the main principle of hypermiling is to make the most out of every press of the gas pedal. Using the brakes is basically a waste of kinetic energy produced by your engine. So without further adieu, I will list some of my hypermiling tips.

1. Turn on your car's real-time miles/gallon display (if you have one). Keep an eye on it as you drive to work and get a feel for the situations when it is highest/lowest/inbetween. I did this on the Mini and got a great feel for when the car uses the most and least gas.

2. Accelerate smoothly. Doing this is the most efficient way to get your car up to speed. Don't floor it at a stoplight so you can burn that 16 year old kid next to you. I know how tempting that is.

3. Get up to speed. In general, the faster you're going the higher your mpg. However, once you get past 60 mph your mpg decreases. Try setting the cruise on 65 instead of 70 and see how much gas you save.

4. Use the hills. The basic idea here is to use just enough gas to get to the crest of the hill, take your foot off the gas (push in the clutch if possible), and coast all the way down.

5. Make wide turns. Keeping speed as you make a turn conserves momentum and saves gas. Please make sure no other cars are close to you. This does not apply when you pull up to a stop sign!

6. Make a plan. Since your work commute is probably the route you drive the most, try to come up with a plan using the above methods. If you consciously think about hypermiling every time you drive this will become a lot easier. I admit that I have certain spots on certain roads where I know to push the clutch in and ride the hills as long as possible.

These tips might seem small and inconsequential but you are probably underestimating how much you drive. It's a daily activity for almost everyone and even small savings will add up over the coming months and years.

More coupon savings

Kroger + Food Lion coupons: $11.49

3 pennies I found on the ground at various locations: $.03

Money saved since this blog started: $46.80

New post with money saving tip coming soon.

Ebay external hard drive deal

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320565633432

Hitachi SD Mini Red 250GB HD USB 2.0 Portable for $39.99 with free shipping.

As of now there are over 10 available.

More savings

Found a catalina coupon left at self-checkout at Kroger for $.50.

Savings on food - $4.88

Total savings since blog started: $35.28

Permanent 10% off at Lowe's (and more)

This method might fall in the "slightly dishonest" or "pathetic" category with some of you, but I feel ok about it.

For those who know me, I recently moved to a house across town. What is one of the first things you take care of when you move? That's right, set up address forwarding with the post office. I never really noticed before but the change of address packet contains a lot of stuff to help you get acclimated to your new surroundings. One of these items is a 10% off card to Lowe's. You can see where this is going... each time you're at the post office grab a couple change of address packets and reap the benefits of the coupons. One quick heads up - the post office is trying its darndest to get you to use the online method to change your address (which costs $1), so you may have to ask the person at the counter for a packet. If they ask why you need it just tell them that you don't have the internet.

I recently saved $6.50 at Lowe's on some landscaping materials bringing the total saved since this blog started up to $29.90.

E-Coupons (must read)

Ok, so I don't know if this is new to most people but I had never heard of this method of couponing before. I have discovered that you can go to Kroger's website and add virtual coupons to your Kroger card. The first thing you have to do is create an account and associate it with your Kroger card number. Secondly, you browse the various coupons on their website and "load" the ones you want onto your card. Then, the next time you buy one of those items and scan your card at the register you will receive the discounted value of the online coupon. The website stipulates that it takes about an hour for the coupon to be loaded to your card. It's totally free and quite cool. In addition, the coupons are completely different from the ones you'll find in the Sunday paper. Try it!

You can get started here: https://customer.kroger.com/Login.aspx

If you don't shop at Kroger, see if your local grocery store has a similar program by visiting their website.

More coupon savings on various items this evening bringing the amount saved since I started this blog up to $23.40.

$3 catalina coupon today

Got $3 off my last purchase with a catalina coupon. I received that coupon for buying 36 cans of cat food. The deal was a dollar off 12 cans, two dollars off 24 cans, or three dollars off 36 cans.

Money saved since starting blog: $18.40

Stopped on a dime

I was bike riding yesterday and saw a shiny dime in front of me. I braked, bent over and snagged it!

Total saved since this blog started: $15.40.

Starting to coupon

So I bought a Sunday paper this past weekend for the sole purpose of checking out the coupons. I had little need for most of the products in there. However, I think anyone who eats, shaves, has pets, or goes to the bathroom can make his/her money back on the cost of a paper. I paid $1.75 for the paper, but I've heard that after a certain time on Sundays you can buy the paper at the dollar store for $1.

So far I have saved on the following items:

$.60 on A&W root beer via Kroger online coupons (more on this later)

$1 each -
3 piece chicken tenders at Hardee's
Hair product for wife x 2
Dentyne Ice
Instant Coffee Sticks

$2 each -
Catalina coupon
Special K diet bar

$3.00 for free fries and drink with purchase of 5 piece chicken strips at Hardee's.

I need to look into double/triple coupon days at the local grocery store and report back later. Please leave a comment if you have any knowledge of this.

Total saved since this blog started: $15.30

Cheap Vegas hotel upgrade trick

I have no idea if this works but I've heard a couple people talking about it.

http://www.thetwentydollartrick.com/

Maybe someone else can shed some more light on this.

+ 1 dime

Found a dime today in the Kroger parking lot.

Money saved since starting this blog: $2.70

Can you eat on a dollar a day?

This guy did. Check out his story:

http://www.grocerycouponguide.com/articles/10-things-i-learned-eating-on-1-a-day-for-a-month/

Thanks to Tripp for the link.

A quarter more

Found a quarter on the floor at Food Lion. Had to pick it up quickly because some kids behind me would have definitely snagged it!

Total saved since I started this blog: $2.60

Jon's Frugal Tips #1

This one usually makes people laugh when I share it with them. You ever go to a restaurant and see what looks like a magazine subscription card at the table? Usually they ask for the usual information like name, e-mail address, and birthday. If you've ever filled one out you know they usually email you some kind of pretty juicy coupon around your birthday. Normally, you get two weeks to a month to redeem it before it expires.

I managed to fill out one of these cards at twelve different restaurants. However, I supplied a birth date that is the 1st of a different month of the year on each one. This way I get deals every month of the year. This will save you a bundle since some of these restaurants offer up some pretty sweet birthday deals.

For example:
Birth date provided -
Applebee's - Janurary 1st
Dairy Queen - February 1st
TGIFriday's - March 1st
etc...

One last thing: I'd suggest you give these guys a secondary email account because they will definitely put you on their mailing list and shower you with spam.

One more dime

Found a dime in front of the newspaper stand on my way into Hardee's tonight. Into the jar it goes!

$2.35 saved since this blog started.

Free hot dog upgrade

Two nights ago I went to dollar night at a Salem Red Sox game. I used my flex tickets, which I paid $6.50 a piece for (regular $9). In the 6th inning I took my crispy George Washington and went to the concession stand to buy a hot dog. The lady behind the counter took my dollar and left to retrieve my dog. She came back and told me I was lucky because they were shutting down and had only jumbo dogs to give out. So I got a jumbo dog for the price of a regular one.

$2.25 saved!

$2.25 saved since this blog started.