Thrifty Thursday - Buying Groceries Online

It has been a while since we’ve shared a penny pinching tip around here (sorry about that).  But today I have a pretty good tip for you: Buying groceries online.

Now, the first time I saw amazon’s online grocery store, I was pretty skeptical.  For me, there is just something strange about order my cereal on a website and having it delivered to my house. However, my wife (the bargain hunter) noticed that there were often some really good deals (50% off section) at the amazon grocery store.  Not only were there good deals, but I didn’t even have to drive to the store!

The great news is that the savings can get even better! You can get 15% off your order PLUS free shipping using the subscribe and save feature.  Here are the details:

• Set a delivery schedule that fits your needs–every one, two, three, or six months
• Extra 15% discounts on our everyday price
• Free shipping on every order
• E-mail reminders of upcoming shipments
• The flexibility to change your schedule or cancel at any time–no risks, no fees

We’ve used subscribe and save in the past for children’s vitamins and other regular items we go though.  I’m telling you, online grocery shopping is a sweet tip.

Top off the good deals with good selection (they have a great selection indeed) and the amazon grocery store is a great thrifty idea.

Thrifty Thursday - Savings in Seminary

Several months before we sold our house in Richmond our savings account balance dropped below our bank’s minimum requirement. The consequence was that we had to either deposit some more money into the account (not really an option at the time) or we needed to close the account. As I mentioned, adding money wasn’t really an option, and at the same time I didn’t like the idea of having no savings account. For me, I’ve found that having a savings account, even if it only has a couple hundred dollars in it, is a good idea. The main reason I like it is that I am much less likely to touch that money unless I really need it. So, I began to see what other options were available to me.

Enter, The Orange Savings Account. Great rates, no fees, no minimums. When I found ING I was pretty psyched because not only did they have a great interest rate, but there were NO FEES and NO MINIMUM BALANCE. So, I closed our other savings account and moved our money over to ING. It was all online and really easy to do. The bonus was that when we sold our house, we deposited our equity into the account and now, since the interest rate is so good, we’re getting a nice little return each month (nothing earth shattering, but every $30, $40, is a nice addition).

Now, some might wonder why we put our equity in this savings account and not something else (like a CD or as a down payment on a new house). Well, for us, we decided to sacrifice our equity in order to decrease our monthly expenses for one year (with the hopes that something would change financially after that one year). So, for now, we have a monthly draw set up in ING that transfers our rent into our checking account each month.

In all, I’ve been extremely pleased with ING and wholeheartedly recommend it as a great Thrifty Thursday idea. Not only do I like the savings account, I’ve been so happy that I am considering changing over to their checking account -> Electric Orange from ING DIRECT: 1.75% APY or more. Free ATMs. FDIC. Open online now.. With the checking, the free ATMs is pretty sweet since my current bank doesn’t have an ATM near by and I usually pay about $10 a month in ATM fees… So, I think we’re gonna change over soon.

Oh, and yes, if you sign up for an account Going to Seminary gets some money…