While we strive to live in a budget friendly manner reality is providing for five and soon to be six people it tough. Plus I love shoes.. and purses- not just any purses of course but COACH purses.
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| The dream baby bag! :) Coach of course. |
Now my husband has been known to indulge my addiction by purchasing a bag or two here and there for random holidays. He knows they make me smile and with the exception of currently being pregnant your feet are never fat and you can always find a flattering style for them- Your body as all women know is not always as forgiving. Luckily my two loves have yet to cross paths in my closet and I have not bought Coach shoes...
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| Although these are awfully cute! |
Cute though they are none have really grabbed me, they are terribly expensive and with shoes in many instances I am a realist- quantity usually will win over quality!
But none of this is really pertinent to my post. What is important is that I have found a helpful way to cut real expenses. Of course we do simple things like turn of lights when we leave a room and keep the thermostat set at a reasonable level. But my new trick is I have started couponing...
Yep, that's right I strive to be the crazy coupon lady at the store. My kids just wander buy as I sit in the chair and snip away and ask if I am "touponing adin?" which makes me smile and simply say yes.
While this is all very new to me I have found a ton of websites that are user friendly ways to get started- such as classycouponclippers.com which is a very nice lady in a nearby community who knows the area and is very helpful, classes (also provided by Rebecca of Classy Coupon Clippers), and trial and error. Truthfully I don't have the space to go crazy with this. I won't buy something just because it is on sale, I don't dumpster dive for inserts and I don't buy dozens of papers. I will probably never save 90+% on the things I buy.
I did however set up a gmail acct for just my couponing stuff to go to, I ordered a - as in ONE- Sunday paper, and I started signing up for promotions on product websites. I watch the match-ups done by Rebecca and a few others via Facebook and when I have the chance I gather my mother in laws inserts. This along with the printable and electronic coupons online allow me to get several items without spending tons of time or money. I don't spend days and days doing this stuff. I spend some time Sunday afternoons clipping and organizing while the boys nap and then search inserts for deals when they come in. Then at some point during the week I will work on my list and Saturdays I try to go to the store. Living in a rural area makes it harder since many of the deals are at stores that are not convenient and I am lazy about going all over for $0.10 savings.
Now I have only just begun this journey but so far I am happy with my return on the time I spend doing this. For instance last week I saved 30% off of my bill at the grocery buying items we needed and will use in the next little while. I am not concerned with getting everything for free but saving any money is always a help in a family this size and I think that over time I will get better at knowing when is best time to buy! As it is an $80 savings for the week on the bill made me smile- almost as much as a new pair of shoes- almost!
