Here are some of the savings I found at JCPenny and Giant Eagle

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Throughout this site we often talk about living within your means and then expanding your means. One way to expand your means and have more financial security and freedom in your life is to cut your expenses while still maintaining the same quality of life. Additionally, we shoot for a minimum goal of 25%; cutting our overall monthly expenditure costs by 25%, expanding our household income by 25%, or both! When you review your budget you should see many different categories listed. Each represents a specific area in which you spend money each month. Gas for your car, clothing, food, rent, and even magazine subscriptions are examples.

Once you have established what you have been spending each month and that the expense is reasonable and necessary your goal is to find ways to reduce that amount by 25% without sacrificing quality or your enjoyment. Another alternative would be to get 25% more of that item for the same amount you have been spending. For example, if you received $125.00 worth of groceries for the regular budget amount of $100.00 you received an additional 25% and you probably won't have to spend as much on food next week.

This week I thought I would share two of the purchases I made that I believe fall within the 25% rule. I needed gas for my vehicle and new T-shirts for the gym. (Actually, I didn't think there was anything too wrong with my old shirts, but I was starting to get unflattering looks and comments) See receipts below!

At JCPenney, I used the $10 coupon they mailed to me and combined it with the sale. These higher quality T-shirts were normally $10.00 each, but if you bought two they were $4.99 on sale. That already beat my 25% rule but with the coupon I was able to buy $40.00 worth of T-shirts for $9.28; about 75% off. Again, many people were taking advantage of the sale, so no real news there, but the point is to arrange your purchases around these kind of deals over and over again and over time you will be saving money in many areas of your budget. That will lead to the 25% overall expense reduction we chase.

On the gas station side I traded in my 70 cents per gallon Fuelperks discount from buying groceries at Giant Eagle. I received $21.00 off of the normal price of $94.76 which took the final bill to $73.76; about a 24% savings. Not quite the 25% I demand of myself, but Giant Eagle did give me a bonus of 3% off my next grocery bill as a reward for buying gas. So I am going to go ahead and chalk this one up as a small victory! What kind of deals are you finding? How are you cutting your costs? Please share your ideas!

For more stories about deals visit the Deals and Savings Archive Page!

JCPenney and Giant Eagle coupon and membership card savings