Money Saving Madness

To add to the craziness of dossier paperwork, home study meetings, fundraising, training courses, and the general craziness of life these days, we are doing our best to save as much money as possible for our adoption. We have tightened up our budget considerably. I have found that it takes lots of time and effort to pinch pennies. I have opened up a bank account just to get the promotional $75 in free groceries; I have put more effort into menu planning and sale watching; and I have even rolled a big bucket of change to put in the adoption account. But perhaps most notably, I have become a coupon superhero.

I had always loved to be frugal. I'm kinda a nerd about it, actually. I enjoy making a game out of how little I can spend on something. For a while I have read on friends' blogs about the crazy-good deals that they have gotten shopping at drugstores, somehow coming home with bags full of goodies for a couple of dollars. It intrigued me, and I wanted to give it a try. But it also sounded complicated to figure it all out, and who has the time? Well, the need to raise $25,000 provided the motivation to get me started.

My friend Robin pointed me to the Money Saving Mom website for the tutorials on how the process works at Walgreens and CVS. Basically you combine sales with coupons with in-store rebates and end up getting lots of items for just pennies, or even for free. Each week she post lists of what is on sale that week and where to find great printable coupons.

This has become my new hobby. I have such fun planning out my shopping trips and coupon strategies. I “reward” myself with time to clip coupons and plan during Madeline’s nap after I have gotten my work done. I know….it sounds terribly dorky. But when I go to CVS and come out with a couple of bags full of items that I paid for with change, I feel high!

Here is what I purchased this week at Walgreens and CVS for $1.30. How fun is that?!