Things in the world are feeling a bit of a mess. Gas is over the top, produce prices are rising for those of us who don't have a garden plot and on and on and on.
All this focus on stretching a buck takes me right back to the days when Jim and I got married and tried to live on nothing while he was in medical school and interning. His smallish salary as a doctor drafted into the Air Force (does anyone remember that?) seemed like a fortune.
I cut coupons with the best for years. My sister used to tease me that my favorite brands were all the same ON SALE.
After our kids grew up and left home I let up a little and often paid full price for things. No more. Things have completely flippd around full circle.
So I decided to do some blog research to catch up with the frugal tactics folks are using today.
I can tell you this - across the country familiesp are working hard to make ends meet. Budgets are tight. And the blogs share ideas on how to squeeze a nickel a bit tighter.
The world of the coupon savy is way more complicated these days than just clipping a coupon on Sunday and heading to the supermarket on Monday. Check out this smart mom to see how it can be done. She left me in the dust with my head spinning.
After following many on their trips to supermarkets, dollar stores and other frugal stops I was beginning to think that most of the ideas were about the same - look for a good deal. Some new twists, like the man who drives 90 miles each way once a month to the cheapest store near him were impressive - but then I remembered that we used to drive from Chapel Hill to Pope Air Force Base in Fayette once a month to shop at the commissary.
Then I hit on this. The first really new idea I hve stumbled across came from this blog - She is raving about Wrap-N-Mat. Check this to see reusable sandwich wrappings. I hahve never seen that before - a sandwich wrap that doubles as a place mat. I was intrigued until I read the fine print on the website. "made in China" - oh, drat, why dos everything have to be a political decision?
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1 comment:
Ellouise, I share your pain. Even in the second-hand stores I check for the "China" label. I just don't want to buy stuff made there if I can avoid it.
I've been a penny pincher all my life. It's a habit I've never broken. I won't say I'm good at handling money--I'm not--but I can sure make it go a long way. My sons call me the queen of junk. But I love buying used and thinking about where the stuff has been, and who owned it. And I'm recycling at the same time!
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