One of those previously learned truths we’ve often heard- “Time is money”- has been grossly abused over the years. It’s “time” to make some corrections for this more fiscally dinged generation on the value of that statement. Saving money isn’t a chance occurrence, like winning the lottery. It’s a skill, which takes knowledge and willingness to research new ways to save. At the close of this article I’ve got a challenge for you to test your savings proficiency.  

 In the past, we equated personal time spent on a project to equal lost money. Hence we paid big bucks for dinners out, grocery store stops without knowing (or caring) about price and clothing purchases that were “on sale” when perhaps it wasn’t such a deal after all. These things saved us personal time, and after all, time is money, right?

 With almost an arrogant attitude about our individual time being worth a great deal, we, as a society, have freely handed money over to retailers and merchants left and right.

 Here’s where we failed in understanding the virtue of time equaling money- we stopped thinking about how many hours it took us to earn that money or if there were better means to spend less. Worse, we began to care little about saving money at all. And, here we are, suddenly scrambling to retract years of fiscal damage.

 Time really was money, after all. We should have spent more time learning how to save it.

 Let me give you an example from real life:

 I just whipped up a second steaming pot of homemade marinara sauce from homegrown tomatoes out of my garden-a plot I’ve tended since May, which continues to produce various items even now in October.

 My initial investment was a paltry $18 for two flats of plants, plus one bag of organic fertilizer (with coupon $5) and a single bottle of combination organic fungicide/pest repellant at a sale cost of $6.00. I could have made those last two items, but I’d moved and didn’t have a compost pile this year. The organic fungicide and insect repellant was a time saver that didn’t break my bank either. In years past, I’ve also grown my own veggies from seed to save more.

 All said, I’ve gained at least 50 bucks above my initial investment- much more if you account for the fact all my produce (even herbs) are organic. It’s taken time to tend my little plot, just as it did to scald the tomatoes, pluck their skins off, and simmer a pot of marinara sauce.

 But I’m from the school of time does equal money.

 Recently I was at Walgreens picking up sale items. The register receipt showed a savings at Walgreens of $70. After my coupons, Reward Bucks and savings, I paid in cash only $14.00 for $90 of items. I got a standing ovation from three ladies behind me in line. A brief tutorial and demonstration on getting Dawn dishwashing soap for $.25, (via stacking the Walgreens coupon, plus sale price, plus manufacturer’s coupon) was all it took to make believers out of them on the virtue of spending time to save.  

 The biggest mistake we make on this process of saving money is being unprepared, expecting to save without being skilled in the process or doing our homework. Everyone is talking about saving money now. But a wise person needs to understand there’s a skill factor involved. Talking or jumping on “sales” aren’t enough.

 You have to dig in and really research. The most important step is trying to find the best buy for every penny you spend. Before you drop a dime on that gallon of milk, morning coffee, weekend trip or salon visit- ask yourself, “Is this the cheapest route?”  “Are there other ways to get the same service or product less costly or are there similar products available cheaper?” If you don’t know the answer, you haven’t done your research and likely are spending more than you could be.  

 Do the homework. Google search “cheapest prices” or “sale” or “coupons for x item” and see what you come up with. Scour the newspapers for sales. Ask at your local grocery store, CVS, Walgreens for sale flyers and extra coupon books, and network with others.

 Take this challenge: For one week, don’t spend a single penny without first knowing you’ve gotten the best price. This includes gas, groceries, clothing and personal care products. Stopping after work to buy that gallon of milk? What places offer the cheapest prices in your town? Need laundry soap? Where can you get it on sale or are there coupons for this? I’m betting if you do this for a week, your spending habits will change greatly. It will take work and some time, but you’ll begin to see why saving money isn’t a lottery draw, but rather, a skill worth learning.

Time is your money- spend it wisely!

If you are poised to grocery shop, you might want to consider stalling for a few days. On Sunday, September 27h the Proctor and Gamble’s savings flyer is released. This, chock full of coupon goodies monthly deal will be in Sunday papers nationwide. You’ll find family favorites, such as Downey, Tide, Pantene and other P & G products. If you can hold off a bit longer, too watch for up and coming double coupons from K-Mart. For the last several months, K-Mart’s been offering these fairly regularly, with doubling of coupons up to $2.00 (in some participating retailers, this has been higher).

Other items not to miss- Get a CVS $25.00 gift card for transferring a prescription! (See link) Two caveats, it has to be a transfer, not a new or single use script AND you’ve got to use your ExtraCard at the time of purchase to obtain this savings. Print out the original voucher and take to CVS soon, because offer expires on October 04, 2009. You can’t use this to pay for the current prescription, but you can use it for any other purchases or other prescriptions storewide.

http://www.cvs.com/CVSApp/images/promotions/landingpages/rx/rx09027_triple_adv/coupon.html

And while we’re looking at super value deals expiring, don’t forget to login to Kmart, and sign up for their email newsletter here- http://www.kmart.com/shc/s/nb_10151_10104_NB_EmailSignup?adCell=WH

You’ll get a five dollar coupon off a fifty dollar in store purchase and another five buck coupon for online purchases! Hurry though, because these expire soon! (Store coupon expires by 9/26/09 and the online coupon expires on 10/03/09)

Sometimes ya just want a free lunch, or a free tube of lipstick or anything free- just because you can. For the ultra frugal spirits in all of us, I’ve posted a link to a range of freebie sites. Some do require “participation” (code for buying an offer for another product). However, it the product their coaxing you into purchasing is something you really did want, need or plan on buying, getting a free product along with your purchase is still a great deal. Just watch out for overspending on one of those participation style sites. ok? There’s a wide variety here, but mostly free cosmetics and skin care items. Nice, because most of us women never buy a brand we haven’t smelled, touched or slathered on our bodies pre-purchase. Try Skin Care Samples at join.ibel.com for a wide variety of select items or makeup samples at Free Health Samples- you’ll be glad for the “free lunch”. Others to try, “absurdly cool freebies finder” and free.com. Enjoy and have a great time sampling your free products!

FreebieDirectory.com 
A fun-to-browse site that offers loads of new freebies every day. Each freebie is reviewed in-depth and offers here include free product samples, contests, games, sounds, graphics, freeware and tons more. There’s also an advanced search engine, so you can quickly find what you need.

Freeware Files.com 
A nicely-organized, information-packed site, Freewarefiles.com offers truckloads of free software for Windows. There’s also a good selection of Net tools, utilities, programming files, Windows libraries and drivers, as well as free online Java games. Be sure to check out the “What’s Hot” and “Top Ten” features for a handy snapshot of the Web’s latest must-have freeware.

ActiveFreeStuff.com 
At this regularly updated site, you’ll find plenty of freebie listings in many categories. Free stuff sections here include arts and crafts, books, catalogs, deals and coupons, education, food and recipes, games, gift cards, health and beauty, phone freebies, samples, sweeps, and more.

Twimme 
Do you use Twitter? A handy site, Twimme shows you freebies, contents, giveaways, and other free offers that are currently being tweeted on Twitter.

AZfree.com 
A new freebies site that offers gratis goods in various categories. Topics include “cool tools,” games, graphics, music, pictures, samples, and more.

Only Free 
This freebie resource offers a large selection of various free items, including free product samples, free services and family freebies. Offers here include mouse pads, gifts, DVDs and more.

A few days ago, I mentioned the website, “Daily Steals” as being a hot shopping spot for unique and cheap items. In the past, I’ve ordered a range of items off their site. They’ve improved a long way from bizarre leftover-from-holidays-(aka useless) stuff. Today, I recieved my newest deal-  a Motorolla Blue Tooth.  The price was only $5.99. With shipping and tax, it brought the total to $11.99.  What the heck, I thought when I saw this deal. I’ll bite. I’ve certainly dropped $12 in worse ways before.  I’ve got to tell you, I don’t know how this site does it. Maybe it’s “hot” merchandise or possibly truckloads of Motorolla Bluetooth’s just fell from the sky. I really don’t care at this point.

 The item I recieved had a suggested retail of  around $50.00.  Having recieved it, as I did, I’ve got to tell you- it’s worth every penny of fifty bucks. The item came new, with an instruction booklet and charger. I’ve charged the little bugger, after some fiddling with the ear hook, (not savvy with these, sorry) I figured out how to comfortable fit the bluetooth. In the past, I’ve paid as much as $100.00 for these little babies. Only to have my daughter vaccuum up one, and lose another to the blackhole of our car… At a mere $11.99 I’m not going to feel as guilty if a misfortune occurs involving a Bluetooth. Though I hope to hang onto this one for a while. It works great at this point, all the features are as described and it responds to pairing immediately with multiple devices.

So here’s my scoop on what many people think is a hoax… Daily Steals, is a grab bag of items. Sometimes you do get a dud or they offer some odd products. But it’s still a viable source for great, great deals. Bookmark them and take a daily gander or sign up for their free newsletter.

Here’s the link to their site: https://www.dailysteals.com/default.aspx

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Some great coupon codes for your saving pleasure to be found at Shoes.com and Sears.

Shop Shoes.com for the whole family, with brand name deals, clearance at up to 60% off and a treasure trove of variety. Couple with a free Ebates membership and your rewards credit card and you can shoe the whole family for cheap! One of my favorite things about Shoes.com is their no fuss return policy and speedy shipping.  This week, use code Sale20 to save an EXTRA 20 percent off sale items! Or use code BTSSHOE09 to save 15% on back to school shoes. With hundreds of great kicks, your feet will love you!

Sears, ever the place of good home items, quality tools and truly affordable clothes is offering a fabulous deal till January 31, 2010. Use coupon code SEARS5OFF50 to gain five bucks off every fifty bucks you purchase. With this hefty sale, you can pick up those Craftsman tools for hubby’s holiday gift, or buy the kids’ winter jackets at a heart warming price. Enjoy the savings even more by using your rewards credit cards to pay and a free membership to Ebates to gain yet more cashback. (This offer is sweetened by an 8% cashback from Ebates! ) Also, check your credit card for special promotional cash back deals on Sears purchases, as several cards offer excellent seasonal or additional rewards in association with this retailer.

 Save extra $5 off $50 at Sears with code: SEARS5OFF50 at checkout! (Exp. 01/31/2010)
Plus 2.0% Cash Back! (With Ebates membership)

 Shop at Shoes.com this Back to School Season and save 15% with code: BTSSHOES09 at checkout! (Exp. 09/30/2009) or 20% off sale items with code Sale20.
Plus 8.0% Cash Back! (With Ebates membership)