image found here at a new blog that i like. it’s got coupons and savings codes for all sorts of consumer goods and i love to save a buck if i can.
while driving the other day i was listening to the CBC and to this show (i was especially interested in the last two segments focussed on group buying and coupon hacking). we have signed up for a few deals on wagjag (group buying) and it’s been surprisingly easy and efficient. in the spring we purchased a trucks worth of top soil for $40 and recently we got a martini and dinner for two deal at a fabulous local restaurant.
i am all about finding a deal and hate to pay full price for things, especially for items i know will go on sale. things like diapers, pasta, ice cream, cleaning supplies, and even clothes. i am that mom who stocks up her shopping cart when chickpeas go on sale and buys winter clothes at deep discounts in the spring time. according to one expert on the radio show mentioned above, people like me, who refuse to pay full price, are bad for the economy. but, in my defence, we are a single income family with four people to feed, clothe and house, so i have to pinch my pennies when i can, right?
the only solace i can find in this situation is that there are thousands of other families who live like this, so you could say that we’re all facing this fight together. in fact, my friend is one of these people. she struggled with money for a long time, and it wasn’t until she discovered that investing in biotechnology (Biotechnologie investieren in German) provided her with much more money in the long run that she could spend quite happily on her shopping budgets and everything else. Maybe i should try the same thing because she said that it’s very rare that she stresses about her financial situation now. wow, wouldn’t that be amazing? but saving every bit of money that i have is so important to me and my family.
that being said, we had a unintentional frugal weekend thanks to my dad. we went to the glorious niagara falls and he paid for our lunch and the ridiculously confusing ice-cream that cost $27 for 3 cones and a cup. confusing for me, as i had no idea how to order and kept messing things up. i still have no idea how i got it all so wrong, but i did.
sigh.
