If You Save Just $5 . . .

I mentioned yesterday that I try to cook beans from scratch rather than buying canned beans, for a savings of maybe $1 per pound of beans. It got me thinking how couponing and many other frugal practices save us really only a few dollars at a time. Sometimes people use this as a reason not to adopt a frugal practice - "I don't want to spend time on that just to save $5."

Of course, the most obvious response to that is that many practices that save $1 or $5 at a time can in the end add to much more. However, I also decided to come up with a list of some of the things you could do with just $5. It's suprising how many my family and I could come up with. I hope they get you motivated to keep on pursuing all those little savings!


So . . . if you used 5 $1.00 coupons and saved $5 off your grocery budget, here's what that extra $5 could buy . . .

Five movie rentals from Redbox

A slice of iced lemon poundcake and a Tazo tea from Starbucks

One or two magazines

A bag of corn chips and a jar of salsa to share with friends

Five jars of baby food

A child's board book or a cheap paperback

Five $.99 greeting cards from Hallmark or ten $.50 greeting cards from the dollar store

A third of your way to a manicure at an inexpensive nail salon

Five song downloads from iTunes

A fast food meal

One or two quarts of motor oil

Half way to a decent bottle of wine

A small bouquet of flowers from the grocery store

A pair of earrings from Claire's

A box of Sushi from the grocery store

A quart of good ice cream

Two lbs. meat/3-4 dozen eggs/5 lbs beans

What else can you come up with?