Welcome

Wow, I can't believe I have started ANOTHER blog. I asked my family, friends, and Aggieland Mommy blog readers if I should separate the savings portion from my family blog and everyone thought it would be a good idea.

So this is the beginning. Let me tell you how I started and where I am so far.

A few months ago, I saw a lady on Dr. Phil who was explaining how she cuts costs dramatically by clipping coupons, organizing them in a binder, matching them with the weekly ads from different stores, and cutting her costs by MORE THAN HALF!

So I clicked on her blog and then a few links on her blog and became really interested. I am a working mom of 3 children under the age of 5. My husband works nights and runs his own business as well as taking classes online so our budget is really tight. As a matter of fact, you would never believe that we were in MAJOR debt until last June. That's another story.

This fall I will get to go down to teaching half time which means my income will be cut in half. We aren't sure yet what the future holds for my husband's job and business but I thought NOW is the time to figure this coupon thing out.

You have to start slowly. Have a plan and build on it a little each week. We started by signing up for the Sunday paper. But you don't have to. You can find tons on coupons on the internet.

Then I bought a cheap coupon organizer at Wal-Mart.

Next, I took my very organized shopping list spreadsheet (I can email to you if you'd like) and pasted all those items into a new spreadsheet so I could start to track their prices. I sorted those items alphabetically. How else will you know if you're getting a good deal? This new spreadsheet has columns for me to compare prices at our main grocery store HEB, then Kroger, Wal-Mart, CVS, Walgreens, Sam's, and Target.

Each week I have sat down with the Sunday paper and documented all the prices the stores charge for each item onto my new spreadsheet (I can email to you). My list keeps growing and growing and I have been adding items that my family doesn't normally use but I have seen other bloggers get for almost free.

THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!
I have found the following price differences so far:
A 75 oz container of Cascade dishwasher gel was $3.99 at CVS and a 60 oz container of the same thing was $4 at Wal-Greens!!!

Excedrin Migraine 100 count $6.99 at CVS, 40-50 count $6.99 at Walgreens!!

KNOW YOUR PRICES! And know your coupons.

As I clip coupons, I make a note on my spreadsheet next to that item that I have a coupon for "x" amount off. When I see that item on sale, I jump on the sale price and use my coupon.

On this blog, I will be sharing my finds with you, including how to get free samples. I just received my 3 free Huggies diapers and free sample of dog chews.

What I haven't done yet:
If you visit all the blogs I have links to, you will find out how to get things for FREE at Walgreens and CVS! Last Sunday I ran into Walgreens and CVS and didn't find much on clearance. Walgreens had more but still not what I see on the other blogs.

If you have read this far and want to read my earlier posts on my family blog (the beginning of it all), then read here. It's a work in progress.

Thanks for stopping by, please leave me a message, I like hearing from you.