First Post

So, I am starting my second blog today. Instead of emailing out my money saving ideas to my friends, this will be an easy way for you to look at updates and recipes, etc. that I have found throughout the week.

So, first, a little history......

For the most part, we have always been able to buy whatever we want (within reason) when we want. However, since we have moved, and now own our home, the money doesn't seem to stretch quite as far. After the initial move in, I KEEP finding stuff I need or want to buy for the house that we have not budgeted for. Luckily, a sweet friend got me a job at her company working part time from home, so I am able to buy what we need out of that! However, I began to try and find ways to save money here and there so that we would have more cash to play with.

When we moved in, a young girl came to our house offering us a ridiculous price for the Orlando Sentinel. We signed up for the Sunday paper, figuring we could use some of the coupons out of it! This is what started my money saving journey. I started clipping coupons for items that we often use, but stayed away from keeping every coupon or from buying items just because I had coupons for them. After that, I started finding websites that helped find good deals, which lead to websites for cheap dinners, and websites to save money on online purchases. I believe it has now become a game to me! How much money can I save!!??

I am, by no means, great at this, but I figured we could all learn together. If you find a good way to save, share it on the post comments, so the group can benefit from what you have learned!

So....here we go!

FIRST STEP: find a local paper who has coupons. Subscribe to it. Like I said earlier, I subscribe to the Orlando Sentinel, but I am sure there are plenty out there to choose from. I get the Sunday paper for less than $1 a week!
a) Separate the coupons into "trash" and "useful". Do not worry about cutting them right away. For some of us locals, we could pick a day to swap our "trash" coupons. That way, if we all use different stuff, would could benefit from each others coupons! Just a thought!!
b) Next, find a good coupon website. I used www.couponmom.com. You can find even more coupons for free that you can print out from your computer!! There are not nearly as many as in the paper, but they do usually have a few different ones to choose from.
c) Discard the paper and the "trash" coupons, and set the "useful" coupons aside and clip them while you are watching tv or something. The clipping is pretty mindless.
d) You will need to find a coupon organizing system that works best for you. I just have a little coupon folder, that has slots in it for all the different kinds of coupons (dry food, cold food, cereal, baby, health and beauty, paper and plastic, meds, misc., and finally in the very back, I keep store coupons...like bed bath and beyond and restaurant coupons).
e) Remember, only keep coupons for things that you use. There is no reason buying things just because you have a coupon for it!
f) I like to flip through my coupons about once a month or so and just take out expired ones so that I do not get mounds and mound of paper in there.
g) Once you are organized, each week will get easier to just sort, clip, and shop!

***An optional step is to go to a website called Money Saving Mom. She is always announcing where you can find great deals, and which coupons (from Sunday papers) to use at what stores to get the best deals. I plan to post things that I find on her website, too, as we go along!