Frugal Friday

I know everyone in the world has heard of coupons, but I've been going coupon crazy lately. I was encouraged from one of Rachel's posts to subscribe to the Washington Post Sunday paper. It so happened that the paper was having a 50% off sale, so for a 6 month subscription I paid a whopping $15.

Now when I get the ads for my supermarket or a nearby store I check the sales and my coupons. Coupling those two together has saved a lot of money. Usually over $15 per trip. I do make sure that I only buy things that I will use. Currently I have about 5 tubes of toothpaste, so I'm not planning on adding any more to that. On the other hand it is nice having a surplus, because you can give some away. At that point you're happy that you were able to get such a good deal and even more happy that you were able to supply someone else with a need they might have.

Often when new items come out they will have a coupon for you to get a free one, no strings attached. In the last two weeks I got a free razor and some Kandoo wipes. I will offer a word of caution about these free coupons. Both of the times that I had mine in the pile of coupons they didn't actually go through, with neither the cashier or I noticing. I had to go back and get a refund. So double check your receipt before you leave the cash register.

For more great tips visit Biblical Womanhood.

Frugal Friday

We're not as frugal in this household as many others. My husband makes a pretty decent income. We buy nice things occasionally. I spend quite a bit of money on food. We don't mind eating out. We don't skimp on electricity or heat. We drive without worrying about paying for the next full tank.

In many ways, I admire many other women who are able to keep costs down. There is one thing I do, though. I often refrain from buying unnecessary items. My shoes are over 4 years old. I've never really cared for them, but they're not falling apart, so I refuse to buy a different pair. (Speaking of shoes, my daughter has a pair of sneakers and dress shoes. Coming into the summer, she'll probably only have one pair of sandals and that's it. Even though she's a girl, I'm not raising her to need multiple pairs of shoes.) We have two couch sets, both of which were handed down to us. They are not the most comfortable or attractive couches around, but again, these ones are still functioning, so we haven't invested in others. The other day the kids broke one of our kitchen cabinet doors. The cabinets are old. We could've gotten ourselves into debt because the "cabinets need to be updated anyway" and had them refaced. Instead I bought a couple of good clamps and some heavy wood glue and fixed it myself. Most of my clothes were given as gifts or handed down to me. So, while we do tend to spend liberally, we also withhold from overspending... I think.

For more frugal tips visit Biblical Womanhood.