Planet Fitness

If you're wondering how you'll make it through the winter I have your answer. After eating all that fattening comfort food one tends to feel a little rotund. It happens to the best of us; recently for me. I decided to join a gym because for a little bit the only exercise I was getting was walking to school. My fiance and I felt terrible. Granted I was eating canned food every single day and he was also eating terrible. The food dilemma was impossible to avoid so we decided to remedy this problem by joining a gym.
Initially I was in sticker shock. Some gyms charge upwards of $50 to join, plus fees and an additional $40 every month and if you decide to cancel your membership there's a fee for that too. So ridiculous!
Eventually I heard about Planet Fitness. They run membership drives throughout the year, which is when I joined. I joined for no money down and pay $20 every month (with a small yearly fee). I'm also allowed to bring a guest to my home gym and I get special offers. They also offer a $10 a month membership where you can cancel at any time. Even in an off-sale time its $40 to join and at most $20 a month. Here's the rough math:

Normal gym: well over $600 every year
Planet Fitness: Black card under $300
                         normal card under $200

Although I cringe at paying to exercise when I could just go outside, I know it's for the best. Planet Fitness is a clean and friendly establishment. I go to the one on Carerra Drive in Lancaster. They've recently expanded to twice the original size so even at peak hours there is plenty of equipment to go around. The link is below. Check it out.
http://www.planetfitness.com/ClubOffers.aspx?clubid=10126http://www.planetfitness.com/ClubOffers.aspx?clubid=10126

Penny Pincher

I'm here to start a revolution; a penny revolution! The next time you are walking down the street and you see a poor lonely penny just laying there on that abandoned patch of sidewalk; stop and pick it up. Believe me you won't regret it.
I know what you're thinking; I don't have time to pick up that worthless piece of metal. Well if you don't have time to, then I will and here are some reasons why:
     1. Those little Lincoln's really add up. If I really stop to think about it, I find at least one penny on the ground a day (sometimes even more on a good day). If I found one everyday for an entire year that's $3.65. That doesn't sound like a substantial amount but that can buy six cans of vegetables or two frozen pizzas or three loaves of bread or five cans of soda out of a vending machine...  In my mind, bending over for that penny is totally worth it.
     2. Pennies are wonderful. Often time I'm out and I have a total purchase of $4.06. Instead of breaking that extra dollar, use some of those trusty pennies. Save the dollar bills!!!
     3. If you're concerned with all that jingling in your pockets, head over to Metro Bank. Even if you're not a bank member you can still get your coins counted for free. Also if you can guess within a dollar of the correct amount you get a prize (great for kids). Did I mention free lollipops in the lobby?
Here's the link: https://www.mymetrobank.com/

Those may not seem like good reasons to you, but it literally takes five seconds to bend over and pick up a penny. Come on people. Show Lincoln some love!

My Secret Love Affair...

I'm talking about Crock Pots you filthy minded people :) I am absolutely obsessed with the fact that I can make over ten meals by barely lifting a finger. I mean, what's so difficult about throwing random ingredients into a pot and making incredibly delicious meals. Not only do I love Crock Pots because I can be lazy, but they are so great for cheap comfort food. For instance, I make a soup that I refer to as Italian Chicken Vegetable Soup. I throw vegetables in such as corn, green beans, onions, potatoes, peppers and carrots, along with tomato sauce, chicken stock and shredded chicken. This recipe is super cheap (no pun intended). By buying either frozen or canned vegetables (half fresh) and seizing opportune sales, my last pot of soup (which made eleven servings mind you) cost roughly $8... if you're counting, that's seventy-three cents a serving. Doing this is so much cheaper than canned soup, along with being healthier and tastier.

This is very inspiring.

Although I am a cheapo, I am also a design lover. I think this is an amazing effort to increase awareness of the gulf oil spill, while recycling seemingly unusable material. A++++

http://www.coolhunting.com/design/oilwater-do-not.php

Shopping

Girls love to shop... It's a fact of life (so guys get over it). The thrill of having something new is momentous enough. Saving money on that said item is priceless (no pun intended). If I feel the urgent need to go shopping, specifically for clothes, I have several go-to options. Stop what you're doing and go to either http://www.rossstores.com/ or http://www.gabrielbrothers.com/. Both of these links will take you to store sites where you can save up to 70% off retail. Locate one of these stores and GO! Need a push? I went to Ross one time for back to school shopping. I just have one question to ask you. Have you ever bought 3 pairs of jeans for less that $6? I have... at Ross.

Last Week

 Last week, I went to WEIS (a grocery store) with my roommate. Before I went I acquired one of the sale papers for the supermarket out of the Sunday paper, which I didn't buy. I went through and made a list according to what was on sale... By the way lists are a lot of help in avoiding temptation. At the end of my shopping trip I had only spent $98, which is enough to feed my fiance and I for an entire month. The best part was, I saved $42 and got a $2 off coupon for my next purchase. Another cool thing my market offers is gas rewards points. Get enough and you could be driving like its 1995. Don't catch my drift? Well let me explain. I went to the store twice in two months and spent a total of roughly $200. I redeemed the points I earned at a Sheetz gas station and saved sixty cents a gallon, bringing my price per gallon to $1.95.

Since I am technically an art student, I tend to spend half my life buying stuff for school. Probably one of the best tips I can recommend is become acquainted with acmoore.com. At the top of the screen they have a coupon link. Enter your zip code and then click on the store to bring up the week's coupon. Last week the discount was a solid %50 off a single, regular priced item. Since only one coupon can be used per person, I gave a coupon to my roommate and gave him money so that he could get a discount on another item I needed. For an extra strength glue stick and matte board I spent about $3.50; half the original price!

TIPS  -Cut coupons, but make sure they are for worthwhile items. Some deals sound good until you read the fine print.
-Find a local farmer's market and buy your produce there. You will save loads of money and your produce will be fresher. This is the one I go to. http://www.centralmarketlancaster.com/

Introduction

Hey, how's it going? My name is Amanda and I'm a design student from Harrisburg, PA. Currently I attend the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design in Lancaster, PA. Although I'm required to do a blog for my Senior Self Promotion class, I've always wanted to start a blog. Now is as good a time as any to tell you about my life as a cheap-o. My fiance teases me all the time on how cheap I can be, but he knows it will benefit him in the future :)
Well, anyway, I've decided to start this blog for not only sharing my experiences and savings, but I would also enjoy hearing from everyone out there. Did you clip a coupon? Find a great sale? Cut a corner? Skip going out, to eat at home? Seriously I want to know about it!