A Little Splurge Warms My Heart

I know it might seem a little weird to post about a splurge with the Saving Adventure header, but I wouldn't have made this splurge if it wasn't a way to save.

Let me introduce you to my newest friend....

The best thing about this friend? Is that I got him for under $1! 

If Walgreens had not had Nutella on sale for $2.99, and Smart Source having a $2.00 off coupon, I would not have bought Nutella. I don't buy Nutella often because it's so expensive. But thanks to the sales and coupons, this little guy came home with me! 

If I needed any more justification, it was National Nutella Day...or World Nutella Day...or some Nutella Day, so I HAD to buy it!

This small splurge has made my month. :)

Thrifty Thursday Finds

A huge part of this saving adventure will be curbing my excess spending. I've been on a lookout to find some deals, and I found one over these past few weeks that I HAVE to share! (I also have to share a failure and how it's turned out to work out for the best.)

So, a few months ago, I was able to get three Crests toothpastes for a little over a dollar each. However, they weren't the type of Crests toothpaste that I thought they were. I've been debating about what to do with them, and then I thought, "Hey, why not add those to your Operation Christmas Child box to donate for next year?"

I started this year with toothpaste being the ONLY toiletry that I didn't have any backups on. Until the other day when I saw this deal at Dollar General.

These were on sale for $1 each. HOWEVER, since they were over 3 oz, I was able to use the coupons that I had! (Thanks to that 58% more!) I had one coupon for 75cents off of one, one coupon for $1.50 off of two, and one coupon for $2.25 off of three. I was able to get six tubes of toothpastes for $1.50. 

I was able to stock my shelf AND put those others I had purchased for good use. 

I was also able to snag these bars of soap for $2.24 total at Walgreens today. I went back and got two  more before work for the same price. Our goal is to put together 5 Operation Christmas Child boxes this year, and I'm hoping by purchasing a few items each month, it won't feel like such a hard hit on the bank account. 

Have you seen any amazing deals lately? Have any ideas on fun and easy ways to cut back on spending? Let me know! I'm always looking for a good deal! 

Prepping for 2015 - Adventure #2

My second New Year's Adventure for 2015 is one that I have been trying for a few years now and have been failing miserably at. I've always had a goal of putting more money in my savings account. At the end of the year, I want to add $500 to my savings.

As of now, I've only managed to put $300 in savings each year, but that gets taken out to cover my renter's insurance for the year. I have a little over one month's pay in savings, but I know that soon I will need a new car, so I need to start putting more money in savings.

There are many things that I spend money on each year that are unnecessary. I spend WAY too much money on fast food. I'm going to try to relive my Year of the Budget in order to add more money into my saving's account.

I found a saving plan on Pinterest and I look forward to trying this. The plan involves saving $1 per week, with the amount increasing by $1 each week. However, I like how this plan mentions starting at $52 a week and working your way down to $1 a week.

There are many places you can find this printable online, if you are like me and need a printable version to stay accountable, but here is an example:

The reasoning behind saving in reverse order is that is that most people lose motivation as the amounts get higher. This has been my problem. I tend to give up before April hits because I can't see how I can put that much money in savings. I think I'll stay on track better if I can see the amount that I'm having to put in the account decreasing each month. I'll feel that by the time I have enough free time to have a life, I won't be putting all of my spending money into my savings account.

Here's to getting thrifty, tightening the purse strings, and adding more money into my savings account in 2015!