Free Chocolate Friday: Sign up for a coupon!
I’ve posted about Mars’ Real Chocolate relief act before, but I just wanted to remind everyone again today to go sign up to receive a coupon for a free chocolate bar.
You can receive 4 coupons per household, so make sure to go back and register every Friday you can before the promotion ends Sept 25th.
Hopefully I’ll get a chance to redeem the coupons I’ve received so far this weekend to give myself a little post-move treat!
Bank of America’s Museums on Us this Weekend
It’s the first weekend of the month, which means Bank of America is offering free general admission to it’s card holders at museums across the country. For more information, read my original post here.
Currently there are 74 participating museums, aquariums, etc in 27 states. Check to see what’s available near you.
Unfortunately I’m moving this weekend, so I won’t be able to enjoy any of the museums in my area. Hopefully my readers can get out there and take advantage of this great opportunity.
Moving Tomorrow - Here’s How I Saved Money
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m moving tomorrow. This is the second time this year, but thankfully it will be the last time for a while.
Our internet service is supposed to start at our new place tomorrow, but who knows if it actually will. So if there aren’t any posts for a few days, you know why. I’ve tried to schedule a couple posts in advance just in case.
But as a nice review, here are some of the moving tips I used to save money over this three month, double moving adventure:
- I reduced the amount of stuff I had to move by giving away or donating unneeded items and made some money by selling books to used book stores.
- I found free moving boxes by getting them from friends and rescuing them from recycling bins in my alley.
- I saved money by shopping around and taking advantage of the cheap first month’s rent at Public Storage.
- I saved money by not buying packing supplies and just using items I already had.
- I saved money by using resuable products for cleaning, like reusable Swiffer cloths and rags instead of paper towels.
- I prepared for moving day by putting together a moving day kit and planning ahead to save money on the day.
So the big move is tomorrow, and then I’ll be back blogging for you soon!
Thrifty Moving: Save Money on Moving Day
Moving can be really costly. Extremely costly. If you hire movers, packers, the whole nine yards, it can be a couple thousand dollars to make your move. Whether you’re moving across town or across the country, there are a few ways to reduce the costs.
I’ve already covered preparing for your move by getting free boxes and being creative to save money on packing supplies, but there are ways to save money on moving day as well. Here’s a few tips:
Enlist the free help of your friends and family
Everyone hates moving and most people try to avoid helping other move. Still, this is one of the easiest ways to save money. It may take some bribing, but usually you can convince friends and family to give you a hand. Promise to help them move when the time comes, or take the opportunity to help them move ahead of time so they’ll “owe you one.” If they won’t be moving any time soon, think about trading other IOUs–promise to help them remodel their kitchen or pet sit when they’re out of town.
Make sure to feed your helpers! If it takes all day, provide them breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They’re doing physical labor for free, so don’t let them waste away!
Find the Cheapest Truck Rental or Borrow a Friend’s
If you only have a short-distance move and are lucky enough to have a friend with a pick-up truck, try to bribe them to let you borrow it for your move. If you offer to reimburse them for gas, there’s no reason they should say no.
If that fails, you’ll have to rent a vehicle. Shop around to find the best deal in your area. Uhaul is usually the cheapest, but not necessarily since they charge you per mile on top of your rental rate. Talk to your friends and family about how much their moves cost. We found it was cheaper to go with Ryder who had an online promotion with a flat rate for an all day rental, mileage included.
Have Food and Water on hand
You’ll need to keep your energy up and your body hydrated since moving is such a physically taxing activity. Have easy to eat and nutritious finger foods on hand to munch on during short breaks. I think the tendency on moving day is to just go grab some fast food, which isn’t healthy and can be expensive. Think about visiting the grocery store the day before to pick up some eatables.
Make sure to have plenty of water or sports drinks like Gatorade on hand. Instead of buying tons of bottles, consider purchasing a portable water cooler, like this 5 gallon Rubbermaid watercooler
Make a Moving Day Kit
A few days before you move, or as you’re packing, assemble items you’ll possibly need on moving day into one easy to carry kit. This will prevent last minute shopping because you can’t remember where you packed a screw driver. Check out what I put in my kit.
Thrifty Moving: Make a Moving Day Kit
It’s moving day, your truck is half loaded. You scratched your arm on the edge of a box and have a pounding headache. To make matters worse, you need to take your bed frame apart but can’t find a screwdriver to save your life.
You know you have all those items, but can’t remember where they were packed in that sea of brown boxes. So what do you do? You run to the nearest store and buy all the things you need.
The easiest way to prevent this last minute, emergency and impulse spending is to have everything you could possibly need in one place. The best way I’ve found to do this is to assemble a moving day kit.
I’ve actually seen these “moving day kits” sold online, which is ridiculous. I was able to put ours together with things I found around the apartment. Check it out:
Here’s what the kit contains:
- First Aid Kit
- OTC Pain Medication
- OTC Allergy Medication
- Tools (hammer, hex keys, screwdrivers, box cutter, etc)
- Measuring Tape
- Scissors
- Flashlight
- Tape
- Notepad
- Pen/Marker
- Umbrella (they keep changing our weather forecast)
- Papertowels
- Moist Wipes
- Garbage Bags
We were lucky to have a travel first aid kit on hand, but obviously if you don’t then you don’t have to go out and buy one. A ziploc bag with bandages, antibiotic ointment, gauze, or whatever else you’d need should suffice.
Other things you may want to include:
- Paper Plates/Cups/Cutlery
- A deck of cards (for possible downtime)
- Cleaning Supplies
- Specific Medications you may need
- Anything else that will help with your move!
Put it all in a convenient carrying bag. We have ours in an old backpack which can be tossed in the truck and taken with us from location to location.
Free Shamwow
Previously I talked about ways to save money by reducing paper towel use. How about reducing your paper towel use by getting 2 free Shamwows to use?
Just complete a brief survey about your cleaning habits. You’ll receive your two sample Shamwows in the next 2 months.
Thanks to Money Saving Mom!
Money Saving Tip: Shop the Yearly Sales & Clearances
I saw this yesterday on athriftymom.com and though it would be great to share with my readers.
Last week, when I was talking about planning a Beach Day, I mentioned how this the time of year when most of the beach and summer stuff goes on clearance to make way for Back to School and other fall sales. I always try to shop these clearance sales, even if it’s for something I won’t use in a year, because I know it’ll be a great deal.
I usually just go off of assumptions related to changes in the seasons, or what’s being promoted in the circulars, but momsbyheart.net has a complete list of all the yearly sales and clearances by month. I recommend you bookmark this list (I have!) and refer to it often.
For next month, August, here’s what the big sales are according to the list:
Loss Leaders - Back to School deals:
- Lunch foods
- School supplies
- Backpacks & lunchboxes
- Cereal, peanut butter and jelly
Clearance Items:
- BBQ equipment, charcoal
- Sunscreen
- Insect repellant
After my move, I think I’ll be heading to the store to snap up some great sunscreen deals. I really need to make sure I have enough to lather on to prevent any further Beach Day burns.
Today’s Awesome Beach Day!
Today’s Beach Day was a success–though we did sustain some mild sunburns despite obsessive sunscreen applications.
Here’s a breakdown of how the day went down and how we saved money:
We reused items that we’d previously purchased: like plastic cups, tupperware, cloth napkins, etc. There was no cost there.
Instead of buying food at the concession stand we packed a picnic. Using items from our normal grocery shopping, we assembled sandwiches. We made our own hummus based off of this easy recipe. I thawed some frozen fruit from the freezer for our dessert. For drinks, I mixed a pitcher full of juice for our drink cooler. Since we already had most of our food, the majority of the cost was for hummus ingredients. I’d say we spent about $3 on that.
Since it was a warm sunny day, we spent the majority of our time in the water swimming. While out of the water we sunbathed, and I also took some time to read a book I checked out from the library. Later we decided to attempt a sand castle, using those plastic cups from our picnic. All of those activities were free.
When we got home and realized we were a little red, we used some aloe cut from our friend’s plant to rub on the burns. Instead of buying a bottle of aloe, we were able to do that for free.
So, one very fun day at the beach cost us about $3. Even if you add in the cost of the food we already have, I estimate our total cost was under $10. Ten dollars for a full day at the beach is very reasonable to me. That’s cheaper than two movie tickets or going out to lunch would cost.
I’m sure we’ll do it all again in a week or two.
Off to Enjoy a Relaxing Beach Day
Today is our last beach day before the move, so the boyfriend and I are off to enjoy the sun and sand and of course, beautiful Lake Michigan.
There will be no thrifty posts this morning since I will be without technology, but I’ll have a nice post this evening detailing how we made a great, fun day happen for very little money!
I hope everyone else gets a chance to enjoy their Sunday as well!
Site Update: Moving Again
Just to let everyone know, I am moving again this weekend (July 31st), so posting may be a little light this week as I pack and prepare and complete the move. This will be the last move for a long time though, so yay!
Hopefully everything should return to normal sometime next week.
