Freebies!

The exhibition hall is basically just the adult version of trick or treat. Bring on the tote bags, water bottles, and pens!!!

Frugality Requires Information Literacy

As I've started to accept the fact that I'm going to be our sole supporter and I make a really rotten salary for where I live, I've become obsessed with bargain hunting and frugality as of late. One of those practical research projects and all.

I've discovered couponing (or cou-porning as my obsessive poring over weekly circulars makes it seem). Online coupons are disappointing since they require the installation of a coupon printer (the concept of which bothers me in the first place but which is made more obnoxious by my not being able to use it with the printer at work). Turns out that Walmart sells a weekend edition of the local newspaper for a buck, though, and the coupons usually pay for the paper pretty quickly.

The one good thing about living in Southern California is that Ralphs and Vons double coupons up to a dollar, so $1 off is really $2 off, which makes for a pretty good deal when combined with a sale. There's a post at the Simple Dollar that suggests holding the coupons for a month and then everything will be on sale. I find it easier just to hit Hot Coupon World (or, as I've Freudian-slipped a few too many times, Hot Cou-porn World) and check out the forums.

And then there's CVS... CVS has this Extra Bucks program where you get instant rebates on the bottom of your receipts for certain items on sale every week/month. Once you have that initial pile (I usually have $6 to $10 myself), you can flip them over for other items with Extra Bucks in a never-ending loop. (The Money-Saving Mom has a great CVS 101 guide.) If you only buy items with ECB (and preferably the ones that are free after ECB and/or coupons), you can get out of CVS spending under a dollar at a time. Which maybe isn't as good of a thing if you go there several times a week like I do, but it's still very little actual money out of pocket, at least until you actually *need* something you haven't had a chance to find on sale yet. (Then it's straight to Walmart--CVS's regular prices are atrocious, even on their generic brand items, even with their standard $3 off $10 of CVS brand merchandise coupon.) There are whole sites devoted to the deals you can get each week. I love the use of wikis at Slickdeals where users collaborate to match coupons with the sales.

So thanks to my new-found frugal information literacy, I have toothbrushes, mouthwash, shampoo, lipstick, eyeshadow, and razors that I got for free over the last month. My husband wants to ban me from CVS, though he does enjoy his collection of Gillette Fusions. Every day I get a little more middle aged/suburban, but at least I haven't started scrapbooking. (Not only would hubby leave me, I'd leave myself.)