More serious savings

So the great thing about having my own blog is that I can write about whatever I want. I have this blog for many reasons. The primary one was to keep my family and friends involved with our growing family, especially seeing pictures and videos of Bailey as well as writing about some of my hobbies, like competing in triathlons. But lately, you may have noticed that a lot of my attention has been directed towards couponing and saving money.
I am shocked at how my the economy has hit our little community here in central Oregon, and have seen many of my friends go from living comfortably to selling their possessions, sharing family homes, tapping out their unemployment benefits, and home loan modifications. While this grieves me, I am also encouraged to know that many of my friends and I have really started getting REAL with what we can afford and what we can live without. That's why I am so excited about couponing, and saving my family money.
I follow a coupon of online blogs that regularly give me the 411 on sales that local stores are having, as well as direction on which coupons work with those sales. It is amazing to me that I can go to the store, and with the combination of sales and coupons, walk out with items for free, or the store actually paid me to buy from them! It happened today, as I spent the afternoon couponing and shopping in Bend (before and after my prenatal appointment).
My purchases ended up being valued at $195.71 and I paid just $55.05 total. That's a savings of $140.66! Big ticket items in here include:
2 packs of fresh pork ($9.50 each)
1 large bag of Kingsford Charcoal ($10.00)
120 total diapers in two separate packs (29.00) ***including Pampers Swaddlers, my favorite!
3 Pints(?) of Starbucks ice cream ($2.99 each)
2 new to the market Air Wick air fresheners that are awesome (about $20.00)
Plus miscellaneous cleaning supplies, groceries, beverages, etc.

Now, I will tell you...couponing is not the easiest thing in the world. It does take some work, but it's like playing a game, or starting a new hobby. I have had a few couponing snafus, but it gets easier as I go along. Each store you shop at has rules, and when you learn to play their game correctly, it's super fun. I can also tell you that not everything that I bring home is vital for me or my family to have. Did I NEED to get two new Air Wick air fresheners today at Target, or 5 cans of Mighty Dog dog food? Absolutely not. But the fact that all of those items were completely FREE after coupons (in fact, one of them, I gained $1.00 on) makes me say, "Why not?" Those Air Wicks are making my house smell awesome, and if I had tons of money and could buy whatever I wanted, I would probably get them for my house all the time.
The greatest feeling though, is getting items on sale that you know you are going to use. Like diapers. After paying more than $50.00 a month for the past 3 years, I am completely done paying full price for those things. And while it's not really possible to get diapers for free, getting them at 50% off is not bad, especially when I can get the ones I want, like Pampers Swaddlers. With sales and coupons, they are still cheaper than knock off brands, I like the way they smell, and I know that they are the softest disposable diaper I can put on my baby.
So, with all that to say (and this is much more than I usually blog about), I am happy to put in the time to save money for my family and find a new hobby that I can do with all of my friends that are in the same financial state we are in. And seriously, I am a woman and I like to go shopping. And if I am really honest with myself, I like to spend money. But to be able to spend so little to get so much...well, that makes me proud to be frugal, and thankful to God for His provision.
Our church is actually going to be holding a couponing class soon, so if you are here in Central Oregon and want to learn how to get in on this crazy maddness I call fun, let me know and I will give you the skinny on it.