I have always prided myself on being a bit of a tightwad. Having managed my money very well growing up and in my early 20s, I am able to do so much more than many people my age -- without the debt. Thankfully, Chris also bought into my financial philosophies. I have also gone through Dave Ramsey's "Financial Peace University" and listen to his broadcast when tooling around in the mornings. His teachings reinforced my practices.
I hate paying full price for things. My neighbor gets the Sunday paper, but never uses the ads. Each week, I jack her ads for weekly plundering. This week, Walgreens was having coupon days, so I decided to stock up and refurbish our household office supplies. In addition to the ad coupons, they have a 15% military discount on Tuesdays! Score!
| Item | Original Price | My Price | Savings |
| Bubble mailers (3) | 1.59 x 3 = 4.77 | 0.39 x 3 = 1.17 | -3.60 |
| Scotch tape | 1.29 | 0.39 | -0.90 |
| 10 Ballpoint pens | 1.99 | 0.39 | -1.60 |
| Wooden ruler | 0.99 | 0.39 | -0.60 |
| 70 Index cards | 1.99 | 0.39 | -1.60 |
| Composition book | 2.29 | 0.17 | -2.12 |
| 50 sheet protectors | 4.99 | 1.99 | -3.00 |
| Scissors | 2.99 | 1.49 | -1.50 |
| Posterboard (3) | 0.89 x 3 = 2.67 | 0.39 x 3 = 1.17 | -1.50 |
| 60 Ziplock bags | 1.89 | 0.99 | -0.90 |
| 200 Kleenex | 1.99 | 1.29 | -0.70 |
| Salt | 0.99 | 0.50 | -0.49 |
| Plastic wrap | 2.79 | 1.99 | -0.80 |
| Candy corn | 1.39 | 0.99 | -0.40 |
| 2 Pink erasers | 0.99 | 0.39 | -0.60 |
| Bleach | 1.99 | 0.99 | -1.00 |
| Rubber gloves | 2.29 | 0.99 | -1.30 |
| TOTAL | 38.29 | 15.68 | -22.61 |
| In-store savings | | -1.34 | |
| Tax | | +1.02 | |
| | | 15.36 | |
While many people may begrudge the "annoyance" of waiting for deals, using coupons, and delaying gratification, but I find it to be a sign of maturity and discipline. In addition, Chris and I are able to do things like paying cash for our basement finish. Another example: Instead of buying wall art for the nursery, I researched DIY projects. Not only did I save a TON of money, but I satisfied nesting urges.
I have several thrifty blogs on my Google Reader and enjoy finding new ways to repurpose, save, and DIY.
Where do you go for your deals?
1 comment:
you might like Money Saving Mom and The Thrifty Mama. I have their links on my site. They are pretty insane with the deals but I have heard about some good deals through them. Once I got like 250 address labels for $1 shipped that was pretty awesome.
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