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Welcome to Centsable Savings Stories and Struggles!
This week we are featuring Katie’s story.
My family: Sometimes I feel a bit outside of the online savings/coupon loving/frugal community because I do not have the average family life. My boyfriend and I moved in together in December and have formed our own little trio of the two of us and our adopted cat, Shadow. No kids, and no plans for babies anytime in the near future! We both cringe whenever a friend or family member brings up babies or marriage – we are both extremely happy with our current lifestyle and are just starting to get used to each other after a 3 year long distance relationship while we were both in college! I do love to share my free treasures with our families (who get super excited when a box is dropped off!), the local women’s shelter and humane society.
Struggles: I used to go to the mall just for fun – spending money was easy and while I loved a good bargain, I always absolutely needed a new outfit or $20 eyeshadow for the weekend. I just opened my first saving accounts (yes, plural!) last week at the ripe old age of 24. I am finally realizing the importance of emergency funds after my car maintenance and insurance, furniture buying, and a frenzied scramble to come up with rent money after a trip to the mall -all of this helped me to rack up a few thousand dollars in credit card debt…oops!
My boyfriend and I have an epic struggle with the what do we need versus what we “deserve” dilemma. Who doesn’t want to grab a drink (or several) after a long and stressful work week? Or why shouldn’t I be able to buy fabulous new outfits for the upcoming holidays and a family vacation to Vegas (the worst vacation destination for someone trying to save money!)? And we love to go out to eat and do it often – especially when there’s been a few too many days (or weeks!) between grocery trips! We both have crazy work schedules (I go out of town once a week and he works 10-14 hour days!) so it’s easy to justify picking up a pizza instead of going to the store.
When I first discovered the couponing blog world, I became a bit obsessed! I absolutely had to get every deal and would get super stressed whenever I stepped foot into a Walgreens, CVS, or Riteaid. I would literally get a headache, sweat a little, and be miserable by the time I left b/c a product was out of stock, I lost a coupon, etc. We would drop off our recycling and I would try to grab the coupon inserts from the newspaper bins to avoid purchasing several papers every weekend. I realized that I was going to far and my boyfriend thought I was psycho the day that I seriously considered climbing into the recycling bin to get my hot little hands on coupons that were out of my reach. I basically went from one extreme to another! (I still grab coupon inserts from the recycling bins but I no longer try to jump in!)
Where we are now: I realized that I need to seriously cut down on my shopping after I dropped off a car full (literally) of clothes to goodwill that I no longer wear or like. I still make the occasional trip to the mall but try to use gift cards that I receive from work as a bonus and I am extra choosy and try to only buy those pieces that I have an instant connection with and know that I can’t live without! It’s tricky trying to be a frugal fashionista but I’m getting better! We use coupons when we go out to eat, including our brand new Entertainment book and try to go grocery shopping once a week. We do Ebates, the drugstore game every week (I can’t even remember the last time we paid for toothpaste, shampoo, or deodorant!), and just try to live a more simplistic lifestyle. I’ve gotten to the point that I can pass up a deal during a busy week without feeling guilty. Stockpiling doesn’t work for us – we forget what food we have and get annoyed by the crowded cabinets in our small kitchen. We do still believe that we “deserve” a new video game or pair of shoes – but now we try to trade in old games for a discount and wait until there’s a great sale/coupon to buy the shoes! I doubt that will ever change – but we do have a savings plan to hopefully save 20% on a loft apartment that we are trying to purchase next year!
What next: We just started doing some serious savings to purchase that loft apartment and our both trying to chip away at our student loan debt. I put all of my “snowflakes” towards my credit card and student loans – and try to convince my boyfriend that I’m not going overboard with our savings plan! We both love the tips we find on “the blogs” ( as we call them) and try to achieve a more frugal and green existence. I have all sorts of ideas and tips saved in the back of my mind for when we do start a family – and then maybe menu planning, stockpiling, etc will work for us. Sometimes my drugstore savings balance out with my shoe purchases but everyone is working the game for a different reason…I may not be the best or most frugal person out there but I’ve realized that we needed to make the game work for us and now it does…and I’m loving it!
Katie
Each week we feature a different shopper’s story. If you are interested in sharing your family’s story (successes and struggles alike!) contact Chrissy (centsable.chrissy[at]gmail.com). Non-bloggers welcome!!*****************************************************************************
Now – time to share your great deals for the week!
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