4 Ways I Saved in March and 2 Ways I Didn’t

I saved this past month but I also had some frugal misses. Ack. I don’t like that when it happens but it does! I’m sharing all six ways I saved (and how I didn’t) with you today.

I saved by using a rain check for $1 strawberries at Meijer. Strawberries were on sale at the end of February for $1.50/16 ounces. I was pleased with that price but they were sold out when I got to the store. I picked up a rain check at the customer service desk and when I got out to the car, realized she’d priced them at $1 per 16 ounces! I picked up 5 cartons (my limit) at this price. I washed and froze them right away for Andy’s breakfast smoothies.

I saved by shopping at the bi-annual children’s resale near us. Grace Point Community Church, just around the corner from Ascension, offers an amazing children’s resale two times a year. This was the third time I’ve gone and I’m always amazed at what bargains I can find for Nathan. Every thing is priced by the Moms who bring the items so I’ve found the prices to be quite reasonable. The selection is huge! Some Moms start lining up in the early morning hours. I arrived only 20 minutes before they opened, content to wait a bit. I didn’t find as much as I did previous years but I did find a couple deals. Plus, it has me excited for the start of garage sale season.

I saved by price matching Aldi’s milk at Walmart for $1.69. I wish we had an Aldi’s closer to us but we don’t. I go there on occasion and occasionally price match at Walmart. To buy milk for $1.69 a gallon was a price to good to pass up.

I saved by using a free $25 credit at JC Penney’s to take Nathan’s 1 year old pictures. The free credit came in the mail as a birthday gift to Nathan (from JC Penney’s). After combining the free credit, with a $3.99 coupon for the rest of the pictures, and paying with a bit of a gift card, we only spent $10 out of pocket for all of Nathan’s 1 year old pictures. We were able to buy adorable pictures for ourselves, Grandparents, Great-Grandparents, as well as Aunts and Uncles at this price. I was very happy to update his pictures at this low of a price.

I saved but like I already said, I also had a couple times I missed out on saving money this month. I’m blaming it on a very busy month for our family. They’re little things but it still pains me to miss out on opportunities like these. I share these misses as a reminder to pay attention to the deals but also as a reminder that we all make mistakes! 🙂

I didn’t save when I let a free product coupon expire. I had redeemed My Coke Reward points for a coupon for a free 12-pack of any Coke product. I knew the coupon expired at the end of the month but instead of using it the first time I realized it, I waited too long and it expired.

I didn’t save when I let $10 in Kohls cash expire. I had even picked up an extra shirt to earn the Kohls cash and then it expired before I could use it! To be fair, it needed to be redeemed the week I was doing an accreditation visit and the weekend we were at Nationals. It was simply too busy. Why do they have such a short turn around on Kohls cash anyway? I’ve heard some stores will still accept expired Kohls cash so I need to give that try.

How did you save this month? Did you find some good deals? Did you miss out on any savings like I did?