Money Saving Book Review and Giveaway

Review by A REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY
Wow! You saved how much? is a book for anyone interested in saving money with coupons. If you already use coupons there is still information in this book that is worth the price of the e-book. The author Renita R. Perrone is a stay at home mom who home schools her two children. She started couponing in order to save her family money after she quit her job that paid more than her husbands salary. They had to learn to make ends meet just to pay their mortgage. Sound familiar to anyone? It’s becoming a common story lately.
Renita routinely saves over $500 a month using coupons and she lives in an area that doesn’t double coupons. That has always been my frustration with coupons. The area I live in doesn’t double, most stores don’t accept other stores coupons or printed coupons. I live in an area with large families so you’d think that the stores would be a little more coupon friendly than they are.
The other problem I have had with coupons is that I’ve never had a consistent system that made sense to me. Renita walks you through that problem in an easy to understand, simple way. If you have had trouble in that area then this is a book for you. She lays it out step by step and includes tips and tricks to stay organized and get the most from your coupons. I loved the easy style in which she wrote this book. You feel like she’s sitting next to you and you are just having a casual friendly conversation about coupons.
There are two ways you can get this book. You can order her E-book for $4.95 or you can order a printed book from Create-a-Space for $7.95.
Giveaway: One reader will win an E-book copy of Wow! You Saved How Much?
Open to Everyone
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Giveaway will end September 20th at 11:59 EST. Winner will be selected by random.org. Please make sure you have an email connected to each of your entries either by profile or in the comments so that I can contact you if you win. Winner will have 48 hours to respond and claim their prize.
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I bought my own copy of this e-book and was so excited about it I contact Renita to ask if she would like to do a giveaway. I received no monetary compensation to write this review.

Simple Saving Strategies / Weekly Deals 8/5-8/11/2010

Back-to-School time is quickly approaching! Have you been watching your stores sales flyers for the deals? I hope so! I managed to get some great deals at Office Depot last week. This week they are offering a free backpack with a $10 minimum purchase (while supplies last and in stores only). And most stores are offering some really good prices on school supplies right now. But, before you start buying, why not take yourself on a little shopping spree in your own home? We recently had to move our couch looking for something. Needless to say, I found enough pencils underneath to last us at least a year, if not more! I also needed a large 3-ring binder and didn’t want to buy one when I knew we had one somewhere. Sure enough, as we were de-cluttering our office, my husband found exactly what I needed, along with some page protectors that I wanted for organizing some of my children’s crafts. So, take a good inventory of what is in your own home before spending money unnecessarily. And don’t forget that the tax-free back-to-school shopping is August 13-15 for Florida residents. If you need more information on that, please click here.

A couple of other quick tips to help with your grocery budget:
1.) Make sure you are purchasing your produce in season. Publix has an easy guide on their site here. Or, you can find a guide map that shows each state (to help with purchasing local produce) here.
2.) Consider reducing the amount of meat you use. I will be the first to admit that this is very hard for us. But eating one meatless meal per week could cut down your grocery budget by a decent amount. Adding rice to a vegetable stir-fry will help it be more filling, and is also very healthy if you’re using long-grain rice.
3.) Stop buying all the different cleaners for your home! Most things can be cleaned perfectly well with vinegar, water and baking soda. Even bleach is a simple and effective cleaner that is very affordable. If you need more information on homemade cleaning recipes, please see my article on Frugality of Homemade Cleaning Products.
4.) Stop using paper towels! I know paper towels are convenient, but they are not very cost-effective. For many tasks, old rags work better and they don’t cost you anything. In addition, cloth napkins can save you purchasing paper napkins all the time.

Now, on to this week’s deals!

Know the Lingo
BOGO – Buy one, get one free
SS – Smart Source (coupon inserts in Sunday’s papers)
RP – Red Plum (coupon inserts in Sunday’s papers)
PG – Proctor & Gamble (coupon inserts in Sunday’s papers)
GM – General Mills (occasional coupon inserts in Sunday’s papers)
Blinkie – coupon dispensers in stores
Peelie – coupons found on products that you peel off
Hangtag – coupons found hanging on bottles
All You – Magazine sold at Walmart or via subscription
Whole Foods: Click here for their coupons.

If you prefer to shop at Publix, they should accept these as competitor coupons.
Publix Greenwise: Click here for their weekly ads.

Many thanks to IHeartPublix.com for their great tips on shopping at Publix!

For Publix “super deals” for 8/5-8/11, please click here.

For Publix full sale list with coupon match-ups for 8/5-8/11, please click here.

For Publix ongoing sale list, please click here.

For Publix Advantage Buy Flyer sales, please click here.

Renita's Favorite Money-Saving Sites
http://cvssimply.blogspot.com
http://www.specials.publix.com
http://www.iheartpublix.com
http://www.iheartwags.com
http://www.iheartcvs.com
http://www.cvsdeals.gather.com
http://www.grocerydeals.gather.com
http://publixpennypincher.blogspot.com
http://www.southernsavers.com
http://freefrugality.blogspot.com
http://getadealdude.com

E-Book now available!I’m excited to tell you that my book is now available as an e-book! So, you can save money while you learn to save even more money by purchasing an e-book instead of a traditionally bound book! For more information, please click here.

Renita is a resident of Palm Beach County, and author of “Wow! You Saved How Much?” For more information, visit her website at http://wowyousavedhowmuch.com.

I grant permission for every reader to reproduce on your website the article you are now reading but copy this article, without any alteration whatsoever. Include the copyright statement, too, please."

Copyright © Renita R. Perrone All rights reserved. Permission granted to reprint this article on your website without alteration (excluding the weekly deals) if you include this copyright statement and leave the hyperlinks live and in place." http://wowyousavedhowmuch.com

Make Saving A Habit

In today’s society, the majority of us truly do live paycheck-to-paycheck. Sometimes it is because we are actually overspending and sometimes circumstances get us into a financial pinch. However, one key component of getting out of debt is learning to save. I know what many of you are thinking right now. “How can I save when my paycheck barely covers (or doesn’t cover) the bills.” Believe me, I fully understand!! But saving money needs to become a habit. It doesn’t just happen when you finally have extra money after paying bills. If you wait until then, you will continue to get deeper in debt.

I strongly suggest that you open a savings account that does not have a minimum balance to avoid a service charge. Then take a set amount of each paycheck and put it into that account. We prefer to use an ING Direct account (http://ingdirect.com) for this for a couple of reasons. First of all, ING offers a better interest rate than traditional banks. And secondly, since they are an online bank, you don’t have immediate access to your funds. Transferring money to and from your account is easy, but it does take a couple of days. Be sure to check with your bank about withdrawal or transfer fees. This prevents us from using the money for impulse purchases. However, if you don’t have a traditional bank to use to transfer funds, call around and find a bank that offers an account to suit your needs. By the way, ING Direct is FDIC insured.

So now you’re still wondering how you are supposed to do this if there isn’t any extra money after the bills, right? Would you really miss a buck or two out of each paycheck? Maybe even $5-$20 is manageable. Whatever amount you decide upon is good. The real point is to make it a habit to save. Mark your calendar for about three months after you’ve started saving and see if you can raise the amount you are putting into the account. Hopefully, by doing this, the next time something unexpected happens, you’ll have the money there to pay cash and not get into further debt. And it’s a good way to reduce financial stress by knowing you have a small “cushion.” I know some people who take the money they save by using coupons and put that into their savings accounts. Where there is a will, there is a way!

I grant permission for every reader to reproduce on your website the article you are now reading but copy this article, without any alteration whatsoever. Include the copyright statement, too, please.

"Copyright © Renita R. Perrone All rights reserved. Permission granted to reprint this article on your website without alteration if you include this copyright statement and leave the hyperlinks live and in place." www.wowyousavedhowmuch.com

Budgeting

A few weeks ago I talked about being aware of what you are spending. This is an important first step toward getting on a budget. None of us like having to be on a budget. But, the reality is that we won’t get anywhere, financially, until we learn to live on a budget.

Before my husband and I got married, we sat down to set up a budget for him. At that point he never really knew how much money he had or how much he was spending. And he used a “rounding off” method in his checkbook so it couldn’t even be balanced! For an ex-banker, like myself, that was a nightmare! He was not very happy when he saw that he had less than $20 a month left over (maybe it was even less), but after a few months he started realizing that he was getting things paid off and it was actually easier to know exactly where he was at.

So, how do you set up a budget? It’s really pretty simple. Start with making a list of your routine monthly bills. You should note when each bill is to be paid and approximately how much it usually is. Then take a look at your pay schedule to determine which bills have to be paid out of each paycheck. Obviously, if you get paid once a month this is easier because everything has to be paid out of that one paycheck. However, most people get paid at least twice per month. Once the basic bills are done, think about the expenses you have to pay less often than once a month – things such as haircuts, insurance, car maintenance, etc. Then average out how much to set aside each month. For example, if you car insurance is $300 every six months, then you need to set aside $50 a month so you will have the money when the bill arrives. Be sure to figure in expenses paid in cash as well, such as groceries, gas, etc.

Once this is all done, I strongly suggest using some form of the “envelope” system. If you are not familiar with the envelope system, the basic idea is that you would have an envelope for each budget category and actually put the budgeted amount of cash in the envelope until the bill is paid. However, few of us pay our bills in cash any more, and even fewer probably want to retain larger amounts of cash at home. Therefore there are several ways you can do this. Personally, many years ago we found a computer program called Money Matters, which has worked wonderfully for us. I’m not sure if you can even still purchase this program. Another option is to simply have a savings account and some form of a spreadsheet with the various categories listed out and use that as your savings ledger. Before the age of computers, I used to use accounting ledger paper (yes, I’m showing my age here! LOL). The key is to keep track of how much money you have available in each category at any given moment.

Now, are you ready for the real secret??? STICK TO THE BUDGET! It’s that simple. It’s not easy, but it is a simple process. For an online tool to help you out, try Budget 5000. I have not tried this, but found it while searching for tools to help you out. It’s a free service that looks pretty good. You can find it here. http://www.budget5000.com/budgeting-successfully/

Good luck on your budgeting journey! You can do it!