Questioning

Friday, September 4, 2009

Not too long ago I approached the corporate office for Dream Dinners looking into a possible partnership for the Breast Cancer 3Day. I met with the owner of the local franchise and we got to talking about blogging and social media in general.
A few days ago, I stopped in to meet the team who'll be managing her sites, just to introduce my self. I ended up staying for over an hour, offering answering questions, offering advice and sharing my opinion.

It was fun. It was stimulating. It felt good to feel smart and knowledgeable. It felt good to have something to contribute, something of value to offer. If felt good to be needed.

Sometimes I wonder if the time and energy I spend on this space is really worth it. In the long run, it doesn't make a difference, or help anyone. It's not a catalyst for change. Should I be be putting the effort somewhere else?

If I found something that offered the same type of connection and sense of satisfaction I get from this space, can I commit to both? Will I have the time? Can I have both? Could I walk away from all this?

Gettin' My Frugal On: Coupons Are Awesome!

Wednesday, September 2, 2009


*Update: I've added a few more blogs to my reader and I've included them below.

I've been reading more frugal blogs lately hoping to pick up tips on ways to cut our food costs. Since our mortgage went up we're really feeling the pinch. All the sites I read advocate coupons. I use coupons whenever I can, but have never tried all the price matching scenarios because it seemed like so much work.


I figured it wasn't worth the hassle to save a dollar or two. Why burn the gas? Why buy things we don't eat? Man, how I wish someone had smacked me upside the head! Or that I'd met Erin, Erin and Alyssa sooner (met them at General Mills, more on that later). Done right, the savings can be way more than a few dollars, especially if the items go toward building a stockpile (that's frugalista lingo for a huge stash of non perishable foods, toiletries and household items).

Since it's been so. damn. hot. here, this past Saturday I decided to put some of what I've read recently about the Kroger Mega Event into practice and take advantage of the air conditioning (here in So Cal we go to Ralph's). I printed all the coupons I needed, loaded others onto my Ralph's Club card and left the boys here to swelter.

And I returned home with all of this:



Before coupon total: $117

You'll never guess how much I paid for it. Go on, guess.


Nope, try again.


Ooooh, that's close!


You're getting warmer!


Give up? (just tell me the damn total already!)


I only paid $43.95!!!

I know! I was impressed with me too. I think I could have done a little better though. I didn't make a list and I'm pretty sure there was something I forgot. Part of the Mega Event is an in-store promotion where purchasing 10 eligible items automatically took $5 off. Looking at my receipt on the way to the car I had 27 items. If I had counted before checkout adding another three items may have paid off even more.

(Our Armageddon Stash stockpile)

Between my anal compulsive-ness and my competitive-ness, it's totally grocery game on! I even put a note on our mailboxes asking all my neighbors to give me their coupons if they're not going to use them. Tomorrow is trash night and I'm not above doing a little digging in the paper recycling bins.



I will admit that this took a long time. I was on the PC (for printing) and had my new! laptop next to me and I was cycling back and forth between blog posts and the coupon printing sites. But, I have a feeling it will get easier as I get used to when the coupons reload, which sites I like best, what stores I like, a better system for organizing my coupons and which blogs I find most helpful. Hmm... that still sounds like a lot of work...

If you're new to all this too, here's a list of what I've found most helpful so far:

Print coupons from*:
P&G eSaver (Proctor and Gamble)
Simple and Delicious (ConAgra Foods)
A Full Cup (you can print Target coupons here)

Smart phone options:
Cellfire.com (I loaded coupons straight to my club card but I'm also going to try the free app for my iPod Touch)

Blogs to read:
$5 Dinners (Erin, I totally stalk her, but she's cool with it)
Jane 4 Girls, $800 Annual Budget (Erin, and no, that's not a typo!)

Newly added:

Couponing 101

Save At Home Mommy
Stretching A Buck


Buy extra coupons from:
The Coupon Carryout (for when you know of a great sale price and coupon match, affiliate link)

Clip coupons from:
Sunday paper (Smart Source and P&G)
Red Plum mailer (I've been tossing this in the recycle since the coupons are bundled with other junk, sob!)
All You magazine (sold at Wal Mart, but I'm going to subscribe)

If there's something you know that I don't please share! Does anyone match coupons for Albertson's? And if you've picked up any good tips spill those too, this is all so fascinating to me!

*I did have to register at many of the sites but so far no Spam (photo credit from here)
 
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