Welcome to Centsable Savings Stories and Struggles! This week, Julie of Maricopa Mommies is sharing her story. I love Julie’s enthusiasm for saving!
If you’d like to share your story, I’d love to hear from you. Please email me at centsable.katherine[at]gmail.com. More details are at the end of this post.
About Me
I’ve always wanted to be a mommy. In school when I was asked what I wanted to be when I grow up, my response was always, “A mom”. How would I describe myself now? I’m a mom. I love to blog, play Legos, spend way too much money on date nights and I love FREE! Yes, I’m a coupon shopper, guilty! Never will I pay for toothpaste ever again.
I had friend growing up whose mom coupon shopped. I literally laughed in her face. How rude of me, but come on! Seriously? Buying 20 cans of tomato sauce at once? Currently, I have 23 in my pantry. Never would I have believed this day would come.
My Story
Shortly after I married my husband almost 6 years ago I was pregnant. Yippie! Not in the plans yet, but that’s OK! I gave my notice to my job if 5 years, seriously, like the day I was pregnant. I had a plan and I was ready to quit 3 weeks before the baby came. I worked really hard, including getting a second job to prepare financially, keep myself busy and stay physically fit. I had two very physical jobs, and it worked for me!
My beautiful son came and life was blissful. My husband has a very demanding and lucrative job, and I always felt blessed. Then the day came that I was approached by his boss to work for my husband’s company to help out. I did miss my career and mommyhood was rewarding, but the benefits are often hard to see if you’re not counting your blessings. I said yes. Yes to leaving my son 10 hours a day to be raised by another mother. I cried often. It was hard, but I really wanted to be able to buy a house! (California is so expensive!)
Quickly, I was promoted to a management position because of my experience. I was given a great salary and really enjoyed my lunch dates with my work friends and my husband. After 18 months of working I was expecting my second child. Things had to change! I gave my notice, again right after I found out I was pregnant. This time I would be quitting three months before baby #2 — my reasoning was so I could “reconnect” with mommyhood and get the hang of it again. Now that’s just sad. (Looking back, I’m getting very emotional about this. This was a very hard and selfish time in my life.)
Just before my daughter was born I decided to start a blog. Everyone was doing it! On a trip to visit my mother in Arizona, I went to a church activity that had a frugal living class. Little did I know it was cleverly disguised as a coupon class! I loved it! I sucked it all up like a sponge. I wanted the free stuff from the drugstores, I wanted to get baby soap for $0.50 and the diapers for $4! The instructor introduced me to a couple websites (including this one), and I hit the ground running! When I would see the pictures of all the great deals the blog mommies were getting, I wanted it all, too! Stockpiling was amazing to me.
I selfishly shared my new love for coupon shopping with my closest friends because I needed support and cheerleaders. They all loved their new frugal lifestyle, too! During my first trip to Ralph’s a little over a year ago, coupons in hand, I spent $10 on 13 items, including cereals, carpet cleaners, paper plates, popcorn and deodorant. I was hooked! I ran home to blog it! My husband was laughing so hard at me. Some nights after coming home from CVS, I would be cheering, “I MADE MONEY tonight! I got paid to shop!” My husband would look puzzled. Girls’ nights would include a trip for deals at CVS! Date nights would include time for letting me run into Walgreens to shop for free!
Changes
Work moved us to Arizona. It’s sad and hard to accept that some of my coupon buddies and lifelong friends are 300 miles away. Ugh. We talk, I vacation in California and we blog, but I needed coupon buddies here in Arizona! Coupon shopping has become my hobby, my outlet, my life! (Obsessive I know!) Thankfully my sister-in-law is a great source of coupon inspiration and food storage and lives less than a mile away from me! But, I need more friends! So, I decided to start a coupon blog for the mommies in my area. Maricopa Mommies. Yay!
My mother-in-law is grateful that my family blog is no longer infiltrated with coupon shopping and deals. My husband thinks I’m a little crazy for now having three blog. The other one is a recipe blog. My BFF Cari is laughing at my large amount of posts and probably wondering how I find the time. I love to blog. I love to manage my own little community on my computer. I love to use the blog world to get exited about saving money. Oh, and the teacher of the coupon class I originally went to now lives a half mile from me and our boys are friends!
What’s life like now?
I’m a mommy again, and that’s all I’ve ever wanted. I can afford to stay home because I’m willing to clip coupons and shop the sales. That desire to be with my children keeps me motivated to save money! If we hit the lottery, (which would be pretty hard since I’ve never bought a ticket) I think I would still coupon shop. There’s no way I would pay $2.50 for toothpaste. I just can’t do it!
Now, with a family of four and plans for more, I live a frugal lifestyle, and I love it. I shop Fry’s, a Kroger affiliate, Walmart, Target, CVS and Walgreens. I’m not as cheap as I wish. I still waste money on fast food and restaurants, I love expensive things and good steaks. I want a large TV and I like nice cameras, BUT I’m happy with my type of frugal. What’s your type of frugal? If it works for you, stick to it! You don’t have to be 100% cheap! I like my 50%. It works for me. Happy Saving!
Each week I feature a different shopper’s story. Centsable Savings Stories are the stories of people just like you who are working toward reducing their budgets, bargain hunting, living a more frugal lifestyle and constantly learning along the way. If you are interested in sharing your family’s successes and struggles, please contact me at centsable.katherine[at]gmail [dot]com. Bloggers and non-bloggers are both welcome to participate. Click here to read the stories of shoppers featured in the past.
