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I'm quite a long way from retirement but some people retire young and I'm anxious to know how they do it. Is it really possible for everyday people?

One this is for certain, retiring early is not going to happen easy! It's a goal, a very ambitious goal that must be worked at. To succeed at retiring early will take detailed planning, hard work, and massive dedication.

Live Frugally

Live on less than you make. This needs to be a steady habit because you'll be doing this once you retire too! This means more than just clipping a few coupons but a total life change. I know that this tip isn't sexy. People hope for something magical. But you know what? As simple and mundane as it sounds, that is the number one secret of money. Spend less than you make. Frugality is an important part of personal finance whether you decide to retire early or not!

Save a Lot

This goes hand in hand with living frugally. What you don't spend, you save. To retire early you'll need to have a lot set aside. How much you should set aside is up to your preferences, your lifestyle, what you hope to do during retirement, and (even though it's no fun to talk about) how long you think you'll live. Retiring early means you'll have fewer years to earn your money but it also means you'll have more years in which you'll have to rely on your savings.

To give you some idea of how much you'll have to save let's look at some numbers. The average life expectancy in the U.S. is around 75 years and the medium income is $50,000. If you are 35 and would like to retire at 60 with 80% of your pre-retirement income, you'll need to save just about $1 million. Not to mention that that is assuming you'll get the estimated Social Security payment and that might be a big assumption. You can check out a retirement calculator to fiddle with the numbers yourself.

Earn More

Frugality has it's limits, you can only trim away so much of your budget. Although, theoretically, there is no limit on how much money you can earn. You could scour the internet for the best franchise opportunities, develop the latest and greatest toy of the year, or sell your plasma. On the other hand you could find smaller ways to increase your income. Keep in mind that these sacrifices are short term and the pay offs are long term (this tip can be applied to paying off debt too!). What ways can you boost your income? What skills do you possess? How can you earn more money?

- Get a second job.

- Start a work at home business.

- Sell the things you have.

- Work longer hours/ask for a raise.

There are many ways to earn more income but you'll notice that they all require sacrifice. Online surveys will earn you a few extra dollars but to turn your skills into a real money-making endeavor you'll have to find something a bit more time consuming. Check out this list of fifty ideas to get you started.

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Your entire Petsmart order will ship for free when you buy any Advantage or K9 Advantix flea & tick product at PetSmart.com! This offer expires July 23, 2010. I found this deal while searching for my little Lucy's medication and thought someone else might benefit from it. :)

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$0.01 Deal - Limit 2 - available Sunday through Wednesday with a $5 purchase

Staples Washable School Glue - $0.01

$0.25 Deals - Limit 2

Bic Matic Grip Assorted Mechanical Pencils (5-pack)
Slider Pencil Case
Staples 3″×5″ White Ruled Index Cards (100-count)
Buy 1 Staples Photo Plus 4″×6″ Paper at $9.99, Get $9.74 Easy Rebate

View the the entire Staples ad here.

Thanks, Coupon Katarina!

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When you fill out a short survey you'll be able to print a coupon for $5 off any 10 Weight Watchers Smart Ones products.

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I've never posted about Walmart deals before but I thought it might be a good idea so here goes! By the way, please give me a little feedback to know what you're thinking. : )

Oh and please keep in mind that Walmart sales vary by region of the country so what's a good deal for me right now might not be one for everyone.

Carefree Liners – $0.94
Use $1/1 coupon from the 4/25 SS insert
Free after coupon

Reynold’s Recycled Aluminum Foil – $2.88
Use $1.25/1 printable coupon
$1.63 after coupon

Revlon Nail Clippers – $1.47 (you can always use an extra pair right?)
Use $1/1 coupon from the 4/25 SS insert
$0.47 after coupon

Carefree Liners – $0.94
Use $1/1 coupon from the 4/25 SS insert
Free after coupon

KC Masterpiece Barbeque Sauce – $1.46
Use $1/1 printable coupon
$0.46 after coupon

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Do you love Marie Callendar meals? Personally I've never tried them but I'm wanting to branch out and I've heard nothing but good things about them. Right now you can get a coupon for $1 off 1 Marie Callendar's Asian Recipes or Pasta Al Dente. It's quick to order this coupon and it will arrive by mail in 4-6 weeks. If you've tried Marie Callendar meals let me know what you think of them.

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Right now you can grab a coupon for $1 off any Banquet Family Size Entree. A quick and yummy dinner for cheap? I'm all about that! : )

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Expo dry erase markers now have a washable marker! I use to love dry erase markers as a kid but I knew to never get them on my clothes because it wouldn't come out. Now, thanks to washable markers, we don't have to worry about that! Right now you can print $1 coupon for Expo washable markers.

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Juice coupons! Juice is a favorite in our household and I always try to buy healthier juices. I hate the labels that claim to be 100% juice but is mostly apple juice and not cranberry, pomegranate or whatever was on the label. Old Orchard is one of our regulars, especially their Healthy Balance juices. Old Orchard has released some new printable Old Orchard coupons, including a $0.50/1 Old Orchard Juice coupon. If your store doubles coupons, you can pair that with a sale to get a great deal on Old Orchard Juice! They also have a printable coupon for $1/2 Healthy Balance juices. Enjoy! : )

Pin It Now! Take a look at this fascinating article from Associated Press. I would have never thought of this!

MILWAUKEE – Here’s a way you might save $20 this year: Change the font in the documents you print.

Because different fonts require different amounts of ink to print, you could be buying new printer cartridges less often if you wrote in, say, Century Gothic rather than Arial. Schools and businesses could save thousands of dollars with font changes.

Data on the subject from Printer.com, a Dutch company that evaluates printer attributes, persuaded the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay to make a switch. Diane Blohowiak, coordinator of information-technology user support, has asked faculty and staff to use Century Gothic for all printed documents. The school also plans to change its e-mail system so it uses Century Gothic.

“The feedback we’ve gotten so far has been positive,” she said. “Century Gothic is very readable.”

The school of 6,500 students spends about $100,000 per year on ink and toner cartridges. Although students and staff can change the default font to something more ink-intensive, Blohowiak said the university expects to save $5,000 to $10,000 per year with the font switch.

When Printer.com tested popular fonts for their ink-friendly ways, Century Gothic and Times New Roman topped the list. Calibri, Verdana, Arial and Sans Serif were next, followed by Trebuchet, Tahoma and Franklin Gothic Medium. Century Gothic uses about 30 percent less ink than Arial.

The amount of ink a font drains is mainly driven by the thickness of its lines. A font with “narrow” or “light” in its name is usually better than its “bold” or “black” counterpart, said Thom Brown, an ink researcher at Hewlett-Packard Co., the world’s top maker of printers.

Also, serif fonts — those with short horizontal lines at the top and bottom of characters — tend to use thinner lines and thus less ink than a “sans serif” counterpart.

Read the full article here.

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Here's a printable Red Plum printable coupon to Save $1.00 on 1 Quaker True Delights Oatmeal. Scroll down for the coupon. Remember to hit the back button to print this coupon twice. Enjoy!

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I'm excited to share this Buy One Get One Free Coupon for Physicians Formula! Once you fill out the short registration for the coupon they'll send you an email with a link to the Bricks coupon. Remember that you can print two coupons by hitting the back button.

I've had several people ask me about the Target logo that shows up on some printable coupons. Even though there is a Target logo on a coupon if it says "Manufacturers Coupon" you can use it anywhere. The Target logo is just an ad saying that Target sells this product.

Enjoy the savings! Be sure to always look on Physicians Formula make up for peelie coupons. They'll often have "Free After Rebate" stickers on the product itself.

Pin It Now! Save $1.10 on one Yoplait Simply Go-Gurt with this printable coupon! This is a Brick's coupon so don't forget to hit the back button to print it twice. Enjoy!

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Upromise March eCoupons are now up! There are over $36 dollars in coupon savings this month. Load your coupons and have them saved for any purchases during the month!

How these are different from other ecoupons:

1. You can use them at almost any store!
2. The money does not come off at the register but is put in your Upromise account.

Can I use a coupon too?
Most certainly, yes! These are not tied to coupons or discounts in the store. Potentially you could still use a manufacturer coupon, a store coupon and get the item for free PLUS the extra savings you're banking in Upromise!

Don't have a child...
No problem! If you're planning to have a child in the future you can open the account in your name and once your child is born you can change it to your child's name. Grandparents can also sign up and have it go to their grandchildren! We have 2 sets of grandparents all saving a little bit for our account. You can change the beneficiary at any time. If you don't plan on having kids or your kids are all grown and through college, ask friends or family if they would like you to save for them.

Upromise Coupons

$1 off BIC Comfort 3 Advance
$1 off BIC Soleil Triple Blade
.50/1 Bounty Napkins
.50/1 Bounty Paper Towels, 6ct+
$1 off Charmin Fresh Mates
.50/1 Charmin MegaRoll
$1 off Charmin Sensitive
.75/1 Elmer’s Glue-All
$1 off Elmer’s 3-D Paint Pens
.55/1 Elmer’s Foam Board or Project Display Board
.50/2 Farmland Breakfast Links, 12 oz, or Roll Sausage, 16 oz
.50/1 Farmland Fully Cooked Breakfast Links
.50/1 Farmland Bacon Any Variety
.50/1 Farmland Smoked Sausage Any Variety
.55/1 Fisher Culinary Touch Salad Topping
$1 off Gold Bond Ultimate Hand Sanitizing Moisturizer
$1 off Huggies Snug and Dry Diapers
$2 off Huggies Little Movers, Little Snugglers, or Overnites Diapers
$1 off Huggies Pure and Natural Diapers
$1/2 off Huggies Baby Wipes
.50/1 Instant Krazy Glue
$3 off Konsyl Fiber Supplement
$1/2 Marzetti Refrigerated Dips
$1/2 Marzetti Refrigerated Dressings
.50/1 No Yolks Egg White Pasta
$1.50 off Resolve Bright & White
.50/1 Resolve Fabric Treatment
.75/1 Sister Shubert’s Food Item
$1/2 Snyder’s of Hanover Pretzels, 16 oz
$1.50 Snyder’s of Hanover Pretzel Chips
$1 off Snyder’s of Hanover Premium Pretzel Sticks
.50/1 Snyder’s of Hanover Flavored Pretzel Pieces or Nibblers, 10 oz
.50/1 Wacky Mac Multi-Shaped and Multi-Colored Pasta
.50/1 Wacky Mac & Cheese Dinner

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Here are some of the great deals you can get at Staples starting Sunday, 3/7/2010.

Dry Erase Board Eraser, $1

5.5×4.25 Poly Notebook, 200 sheets, $1

Staples 3 Hole Punch, $1

Scotch Magic Tape, $1

Westcott 7'' Scissors, $1

Staples Medium Gel Pens, 12 pk, $2

Bicmatic Grip Pencils, $2

BIC Brite Liners Highlighters, 5 pk, $2

Hammermill Printer Paper 500 sheets $1 (after rebate)

Staples Photo Paper 50 sheets $1 (after rebate)

For more information go to the full size sneak preview of the Staples Ad.

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New printable Campbell's Coupons have been listed! Print coupons for $1-$1.50 off Campbell's soups, $.55 off Pepperidge Farm bread, & $1 off V8 V-Fusion juice. Pair these with a sale and you could get Campbell's soup incredibly cheap or even free.

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World Market has a coffee club that will give you a Free bag once you buy 6 bags. They have little punch cards that you can pick up at the register.

World Market now has “Wake-Up Wednesdays” which gives everyone double punches. This means that you will get a Free bag for every 3 that you purchase.

Combine this with the $10 off $30 printable coupon you will get some cheap coffee! This coupon is good through 3/14 so you could also do this next Wednesday as well.

Deal Scenario:

These are priced from $5.99-$8.99

The lowest price per bag would be:

Buy (6) bags at $5.99= $36.00

You will then get 2 more bags for Free so bring 8 to the register
Use your $10.00/$30.00 coupon
Total Price= $26.00 for 8 bags of coffee or $3.25/bag!

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Here's a HOT printable coupon for The Children’s Place. This coupon will take 15% off your entire purchase through February 18th, 2010! Some exclusions apply so make sure to skim over the small print.

Pin It Now! I've clipped coupons for years and am a firm believer in it but this week the Wall Street Journal took a look at coupon clipping in a way that most people don't. They are looking at it as a job, that's right a job...and I think it's a great job! : )

They looked at the money saved by using coupons as money earned. What a neat way to think about it! They say that the average coupon savings is $1.44 (that seems a bit high to me but I'll go with it). A minute to clip it gives you a pay rate of $86.40 an hour. They pointed out something that I had never thought of, this is money that pays no taxes, Social Security, etc. so it's equal to getting $108-123 an hour (variance depends on your marginal tax rates)! That sounds like a pretty great job, doesn't it?

Now, we all know you can't cut out a $1.44 coupon for something you actually need every minute for a full hour but the basic math does prove without a doubt that those small amounts saved are well worth the time it takes to clip and use them.

The writer of this article points out that if the average person can save $25 a week (I do that easily and hope you do too), then that's $1200 you DIDNT spend on groceries, household supplies, etc. so think of that as an extra bonus in your paycheck.

Even in this economy, 99% of coupons are thrown away each week.

What about you...what do you think?

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Straight from the website:

"You want to be fit and in shape physically, don't you? What about mentally, spiritually, emotionally ... and even financially?

We're here to help you train your financial muscles to get you fit. Included in this bundle are 4 of Dave's main resources to help you get started dumping debt and creating a budget that works for you."

I love the Dave Ramsey plan because it works! It's common sense advice that will walk you through the baby steps you need to get financially fit. This bundle has a $85 retail value, list price of $79.98, and is now on sale for $29.99!!! That's a value of 63% off the list price! This sale ends February 18, 2010 so don't put off buying it if you're interested.

What's included (from the website):

• The Total Money Makeover (Retail: $24.95)
  
  • Dave's most recent New York Times best-seller
  • 7 organized, easy-to-follow steps that will lead you out of debt
  • 50+ real-life stories from people just like you who have followed these principles and are now winning with their money
  • Designed for everyone, regardless of income or age
    
    
• Cash Flow Planning Audio CD (Retail $14.95)
  • In this core Financial Peace University lesson, Dave shows you how to live on less than you make, pay your bills, allow for entertainment, AND still have money left over at the end of the month.
    
    
• Dumping Debt Audio CD (Retail $14.95)
  • In this core Financial Peace University lesson, Dave shows you how to become debt free as he walks you through the necessary steps and details of dumping debt with the Debt Snowball method.
    
    
• Financial Peace Personal Finance Software CD ($24.95)
  • Build your monthly cash flow plan
  • Calculate how quickly you can roll through the debt snowball
  • Determine monthly savings needed for retirement
  • Plan for annual expenses
  • Balance your checkbook easily