Have you heard we are in a recession? I am fortunate enough to still be working (nursing is recession proof) and hubby is
super lucky to still be working because construction is not recession proof! But things are more expensive and I am paying private school tuition for 2! So I am trying to become more frugal.
My biggest inspiration and source of help has been Kim at
STLMommy. She is a stay at home mom that has learned some great tricks for getting the best deals and shares it
DAILY with the rest of us. Kim teaches you how to use coupons to their maximum value and provides links to
free stuff. I receive free items almost daily in the mail now! Yeah! She also has great giveaways...like the
concert tickets I won!
Kim also provides list of the great deals at grocery stores (St. Louis only) and Walgreens AND matches coupons to their sale items! She provides a tutorial on how to shop at Walgreens. It is honestly not that easy until you understand all the different sources of coupons Walgreens has. The savings are unbelievable!!
Did I mention her service is FREE! I encourage you to take a peek and see all that she does to help moms like us!
Now...here is how I shop. I only buy items on sale unless they are necessities...milk, fruit, veges or that I item I need to complete a recipe. I stock up using as many coupons as I have...often 3 or more of a single items thanks to internet printable coupons! I plan menus around sales and items I have "in stock".
Here is a look at what my coupon organizers look like...
I really do need 2! I clip EVERY coupon, regardless if it is a product I currently use. OK...I don't clip the bladder protection ones. The trick is that some of these items could be free and I will try anything that is free!
A look in my pantry...7 unopened boxes of cereal. There are also 5 opened boxes stored on the other side. I paid less than $1.50 for each!
Pasta and potatoes...9 boxes of instant potatoes to be exact! I only paid $0.25 for most of those! Did I ever mention I hate real mashed potatoes but love instant! CRAZY!
This is inside my bath closest and yes...that is 9 unopened deodorants! Last week I bought most for less than $1. I think that's enough of them for a while!
This is the upstairs hall closet. It stores all the cleaning, bath supplies and nonfood items. Still room on the top shelf!
Here is everything from hand soap to dish soap to medications and the list goes on............
Yesterday I went to
Walgreens and spent $46.52...I saved $52.48! That doesn't include the $7 in register rewards and the $4 EasySaver rebate...increasing the amount saved th $63.48! That DOES includes $17.00 for diapers. {OUCH} There is never a good sale on diapers. I guess my cheap self needs to potty train the little wild man!
Have you heard we are in a recession? I am fortunate enough to still be working (nursing is recession proof) and hubby is super lucky to still be working because construction is not recession proof! But things are more expensive and I am paying private school tuition for 2! So I am trying to become more frugal.
Awesome job! Thanks so much for the post and for your kind words about me and stlmommy. It's a lot of work but it's also a lot of fun and luckily things like this make it all worth it! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks again,
Kim
Great to see you are having fun learning to be frugal. I am re-learning how to be frugal, no work for 8 weeks. I used to be frugal once, but got a bit slack with having a little more money available. Trying again now out of necessity.
ReplyDeleteJust received a check for over $500.
ReplyDeleteSometimes people don't believe me when I tell them about how much you can get by taking paid surveys online...
So I show them a video of myself actually getting paid $500 for paid surveys.