i resolve to . . . save money in 2011! Lots and Lots of it!

Saving money is one of the big i resolve to . . .'s on my 2011 Resolution List.  There are so many easy ways to save money it isn't going to be a hard resolution to keep at all!  and to make it even easier, Kim, our STL Mommy put together a quick list of some ideas on how to get started this year.  I have added a few ideas of my own as well. All of the city mommies have great ideas on helping you save in many cities throughout the U.S., visit here to find your city if you are not local to Atlanta.   

So, here's to fulfilling resolutions and filling piggy banks! 

Let's get this party started!

Grocery and Household Goods Expenses

Be CentsAble: How to Cut Your Household Budget in Half

Written by Chrissy Pate

and Kristin McKee. who, I am proud to say, is

the mother of my nieces and nephew and the wife of my brother:-)

$11.10 on Amazon

KINDLE, $9.99

Coupons 

They are the most important addition to helping you save money. By using coupons along with sales ads you will save at least 25% more than what you have in the past! If you follow along I promise you will be able to improve that percentage to over 50%.  Here are some great coupon resources: 

Coupons.com 

Cool Savings

RedPlum
Magazines

 

Not a coupon clipper, check out Cellfire which can be used at Kroger.  You simply download the savings on to your Kroger Plus Card and it automatically takes it off at the register when you present your card.  easy cheesy lemon squeezy!

Another unbelievably easy way to save is to sign up for Upromise.  You register your cards with them and every time you spend money on just about anything, you get a credit. I have saved over $1000 with my Upromise account, which I in turn used it for books for college a few years back. Its savings you don't even think about!

You will find a bunch of savings in the Sunday Paper.  You can visit The Sunday Coupon Preview to find out which ones will be in your local paper each week. For keeping my coupons organized I use the folder method, filing inserts by date and source (Redplum, Smart Source and P and G) and storing them until I find a coupon matching a sale ad. Once clipped, I store them in my Couponizer.


Stop by each week and check out the weekly ads and coupon match ups, including stores like Kmart.  If you don't see your store listed on my blog, please check out Becentsable's Grocery Gathering for an extensive list of grocery stores and blogs that cover the best deals!

Entertainment/Restaurants

The BIGGEST addition to savings is Daily Deal websites. These sites give you at least 50% off of retail, restaurants, entertainment, plus, plus, plus. Some deals end up saving you up to 90% off!  Not only do I use the daily deals for Atlanta, I sign up for emails for deals in cities friends live or I travel to a lot.  The deals are usually good for 6 months to a year.  Plus many of the deals for the daily deal sites can be used no matter where you live in the U.S.

The Entertainment Book saves you bunches on everything in your city. These pay for themselves after using one or two of the coupons.  These are great to give as gifts to friends who are getting ready to move to a new city!  Right now you can save 35% off on each 2011 book you buy. 


Certificates from companies like Restaurant.com are good money savers too, just make sure you pay attention to the fine print.  Here is a post I did on Restaurant.com. 

Earn Money and get things For FREE

If you are on the internet a lot, a super easy way to earn money for free is Swagbucks! You just sign up and use Swagbucks as your browser which gives you free money that you can turn into gift cards! For example you can get gift cards to Starbucks and Amazon.com! Plus you get 30 Free Swagbucks when you join!

If you have kids in diapers be sure to sign up for Pampers Gifts to Grow and Huggies Enjoy the Ride Rewards Program so you can earn points towards freebies. Since you are buying them you might as well be rewarded!

Want to make some money for your time? Delve Market Research will PAY YOU to review products!  PVR is a company here in Atlanta that pays for your opinion.  At the moment PVR has a couple opportunities for you to earn some extra cash:

Taste Tests:  PVR Is looking for qualified participants for two taste tests coming up at our facility in Johns Creek, Duluth.  One will be held on Thursday, January 20th and the other on January 25th.  These studies will be held from around noon to the early evening.  Find out more here.

Expectant Moms: Answer our survey at the link below, or Call 678-473-5009 to see if you qualify for an upcoming study about baby products - Jan 24 or 25. Find out more here.

Follow PVR on Facebook and stay up to date on all of their upcoming projects!

A couple really good freebie sites to check out are Freecycle.org and Freepeats! I love Freecycle - we use it what seems like weekly at our house. You can find lots of things you might be looking for on Craigslist, but with Freecycle its, well, free! It's also a great way to get rid of items you no longer need and saves you a trip to the donation center!  

There are A LOT of times when I see a good deal on Facebook or Twitter which I will pass along through those medias but don't have time to post on it on the site, or even the other media. (for example, I may see a great deal on Facebook I don't want you to miss out on so I will "share" it on FB, but may not have time to tweet or post about it). Sooooo, to be sure not to miss out on any of the deals, special events, and whatnots be sure to follow My Atlanta Mommy on Facebook, and Twitter. You can also Subscribe to the once daily e-mail subscription.

Keep up with the freebies, coupons and deals by subscribing to My Atlanta Mommy today! You can also follow me on facebook and twitter. Thanks for visiting.