Long Absence

So, I do still have a lot to say, I just got lazy about saying it. While Facebook served as my frugal outlet, I've learned that I can't keep writing notes for every little tidbit I'd like to share... so the blog is back! I've added a lot of arsenol to my frugal living, while simultaneously simplifying my couponing. First, the couponing...

So while I was a true binder girl for quite a long time, I have since grown tired of clipping, sorting, and filing my coupons. My theory now is that my time is precious, and I can coupon almost as well by doing barely any work at all. So here's what I do: my coupons come in the paper, I pull them out and file them in a dated folder. I carry all my folders in a messanger bag that I can tote around with me, and when I want to plan a shopping trip, I visit a coupon matching site and just reference the date that the coupon I need came out. I clip it at that time and file it into an envelope with the rest of my coupons for that shopping trip. I write my shopping list on the outside of the envelope, tuck my coupons inside, and I go shopping... much much easier than before! I'd say that I spend about 30 mins. planning a couponing trip, but that 30 mins saves me 75% or more of my grocery bill... that's like $150 or more per hour of my time!

The other changes in my frugal arsenol revolve around online deal sites. Sites like Groupon, Eversave, Jasmere, Ideeli, Hautelook, and Swirl all feature a limited number of deals for that day... usually at drastically reduced prices. While it takes a lot of self control to figure out what deals I should take advantage of vs. pass up, I think it's worked in my favor so far. I've tried a bunch of new stores and products that I hadn't tried before, but we've been really good about not going overboard. For example, I've been wanting to make pesto for a while, but pine nuts around here are so expensive. We took advantage of a Groupon deal a few weeks ago for nuttyguys.com, $25 worth of products for $10... we got pine nuts and granola for much less than I would have paid for the pine nuts alone, plus we discovered an online retailer that we really like. We liked our products from Nutty Guys so much that we immediately jumped on the deal a week later at Eversave for $18 worth of product for $1! Our almond slivers, candied almonds, and flax seed should be here in less than a week, and we paid less than $7 total! Some other deals we've taken advantage of have been American Apparel (I got three dresses for $33 from Swirl), Demeter (I got perfume for $10/bottle from Hautelook), and tickets the the VA Science Museum ($9 for museum, Imax, and Planetarium from Groupon). I'll try to share more in depth reviews of each of these sites in future blog posts.

So for now, I'm back... ready to post and share my frugal living tips with the world. We may not have it perfect yet, but I think we're doing fairly well as a young couple on a limited income.