Saving money for vacation
I, too, use coupons and stockpile -- I have found by doing this, my grocery bill (including those "quick stops" in between), runs less than $100 per week for a family of 5.
I also do the online surveys. I don't find that I fit the market for most of the surveys, but I can usually get a few small-value gift cards out of it over the course of the year (make nice stocking stuffers at holidays). Some are better than others --you have to experiment to find the ones that work best for you.
As far as savings, I use a couple of techniques, that net a surprising amount of money at year's end:
Whenever I get a "big" check (rebate, tax refund, honorarium, birthday gift, etc) I immediately subtract 10% of this and put it into an online bank money market account. The interest is better than a building-based bank, I can take it out whenever I want, and there is no minimum deposit, as there would be with a CD. In addition, every week, when I pay bills, I round up each bill to the next dollar. The difference between the actual amount and the rounded amount goes into savings. Some weeks it's $1.52, others it's $6.50, others it's closer to $10. The point is, we don't feel it, but it adds up. Using these two techniques alone, we save enough for a vacation each year.
Happy saving!
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