Pinching pennies ...........

Another day .... another dollar.

And if you are anything like us .... you are trying to stretch it as faaaaaaaaaaaaarrr as it will go.

I throw on another log on the fire, another sweater on my shoulders and turn the heat down a couple degrees.  We take an inexpensive roast and work it in three different ways for three different meals.  We can tomatoes, pack lunches, darn socks, do our own oil changes and make any car repairs possible.

A couple of weeks ago, I decided that we should do the 52 week money challenge this year.

We have a fairly aggressive savings plan and have maxed the 401K.  Cutting the morning latte or the 2 martini lunches out of the budget aren't options!!

Cuz they weren't there to begin with!!!!

And we were in the "Great Recession" six years before the country was there!!  That's us ... ahead of our time!!

Hellooooooo, plant closing!!!!

So I decide we need to crunch a few more dollars into the savings account.  Particularly since I want/need a new kitchen.  ;)

But I put a different spin on it.

It has to be found money.

Return bottles and cans = found money.
Scrap metal from the farm = found money.
Sell things we no longer use = found money.
Couponing = found money.

You get my drift.

I am not a big user of coupons.  Most coupons are for convenience foods and we rarely buy convenience foods.  But there are coupons for coffee, cereal and paper towels and I do use those.

So I research and plan my shopping trips and clip my coupons ............ and leave them on the kitchen counter.

:(

Or ..... I'll be at the fabric store and search through the debit/credit cards, insurance cards, medicals cards, gift cards (Starbucks for $1.34, anyone????)  as I dig for my educator discount cards.

While there are 20 people behind me.

With only one cashier.

Yea ..... I am that woman!

No -- to tell you the truth -- I die of embarrassment because I am sooooo not organized and I can't find the card that I say,

"15% off my entire purchase? No big deal.  Go ahead, just ring up the order."

Not any more.


Notice .... my new coupon organizer!!



There is a pocket for grocery coupons and a pocket for sewing coupons.  And little pockets that just fit those loyalty cards that are crammed everywhere in my billfold!  That I can never find until I go to search at the next stop on the shopping trip!

Nothing was purchased to make this. I used scraps of four different fabrics that I had. The piping was left-over from a pillowcase.  The button was the lone one left on the card.  And I even pieced together scraps of interfacing to stiffen the organizer!

Now --- if I remember to put it in my purse.

;)

Comments

colleen said…
The money challenge works great for us. If we have extra we "knock" off a big weeks whenever we can. Love your outlook on things. I'm trying to use things up before buying more. .....use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without!!
Marion Dunn said…
Like they say, "challenge accepted." Not only is that a good challenge, it is a great trade as well. Scrap metals rack up much profits, with the right buyers with the sharpest deals. That should definitely be all ways exciting and enticing with everyone benefitting. Thanks for sharing that! All the best to you!

Marion Dunn @ Global Resources

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