Thank You, Frugal Bloggers

Thanks to frugal bloggers, I got everything in the above picture (plus one more pack of Post-its) for $.81.

Thanks to Cherissa's encouragement, I got back into couponing. I consider myself a dabbler, not hard-core, but it has been a huge help to us. I was very into it when I was teaching and Jeff was in grad school, but I had gotten away from it. I subscribe to one other frugal blog and take advantage of some of the deals and coupons she writes about.

I bought 3 packs of diapers this week at Target (with coupons) because they were on sale and giving a $5 gift card for the purchase. (Yes, Grace is in cloth, but sometimes disposable diapers are helpful...like when we go to the snow!) Buying the diapers was my first transaction. The stuff in the above picture was my second transaction. I had coupons for most of the things, but not the toothpaste and deodorant. But, we were in a pinch and needed them. My total, after coupons, for everything, was $5.81! (Some of my coupons had higher values than the prices of the items.) But, since I used the $5 gift card that I had earned with the diaper purchase, my total was $.81!! As you can imagine, doing this now and then is a big help to our family budget.

The biggest "aha!" for me is that you can "stack" manufacturers' coupons and Target coupons for the same item, making them cheap, free, or even getting some money back (which I did on the light bulbs.)

I have decided to add one more frugal blog to my reading and see if it's worth my time. I found one that's local to me on the map that's in the footer of my blog. Take a peek! I hope you find some good deals that help your family like I have. And thanks, Cherissa, for getting me started again!