$45.00 and Yard Sales!

I went and did a little shopping today.  I am not overly satisfied with my trip. I ended up spending $45 + tax I saved almost 50% of what it would have cost by price matching and using coupons.  What I am happy about is that I got lots of quick lunch stuff so I can hopefully get in the habit of packing my lunch more often. I eat lunch out pretty much everyday during the week! Expensive! 

I also plan on finishing inputting all the bills into the Money software on the computer and fine tune a plan to start paying stuff off and saving more $$$

I've been looking around the house even though it seems like I donate to Goodwill all the time there's still a TON that can probably go.  To have a yard sale or not?? Most of the stuff is odds and ends small stuff but I still could probably make a few hundred dollars.  But I HATE yard sales! Not other peoples just my own LOL I find them to be a massive pain to prepare for and execute.  But the $$ would be nice to pay off a bill.  I just don't know if I have enough junk I mean precious treasures to pull one off.  Okay I think I convinced myself to do it.  I might regret that decision, but I am sure you will all hear about that too LOL.

Tri-Cities Coupon Queens

The purpose of my blog is to serve as a journal of sorts of the journey to buying a house and using coupons to save extra money to do this.  While I will post some deals and pictures on here if you are truly interested in the artform of couponing there's lots of great sites out there to assist you.  A friend and I actually have a Facebook page we run called Tri-Cities Coupon Queens so please join!!!!  There's tons of info there.  Also don't hesitate to ask questions on here either. 

Coupons!!

Here's a picture of me on a dive!  A pic of all the inserts I scored one day while dumpster diving!!! There's tons of people that just toss them out! And here's my coupon helper, our kitty Jenny O Turkey Bacon. 

What a long day!

It's been a busy long day!  But lots accomplished before my day off tomorrow!  I even got a dumpster dive in at lunch-scored lots of coupon inserts!!!! So tonight I've been clipping coupons and looking at some of the deals I want to score in the next couple days.  I need to stock up on my food items so we are not tempted to eat out as much.  I have a lot of snack type stuff, but I need more ingredients for meals!!!  Speaking of meals remember my meal chalkboard? Well I made the mistake of making tonight "On your own" meaning we each do whatever, heat up left overs, microwave something etc. at home. Jason did whatever and chose McDonalds! Well this worked well.  We also had lunch together today and that was over $20 okay so I am off to a rough start.  But I did start putting our bills into a Money program on the computer to help me better manage pay offs etc. Before I was using a calendar method with due dates, but this way I have way more info in there.  So I am feeling accomplished with that started. 

Some of my followers may not be familiar with dumpster diving for coupons-it's just the recycle bins so it's usually clean.  You don't get in just dig through what you can reach.  I have a step stool and gloves in my car.  Word of caution if you want to try this coupon scoring method-make sure it's legal wherever you are doing it!!! Wouldn't that be a sight being arrested for being thrifty!  I use dumpster diving as one of my main sources of getting coupons because it's FREE! And people throw so many away.  Like the misfit toys these abandoned coupons need a home I am happy to provide for these money saving little slips of paper!!!   

Where's the off switch?

To my mind???? It's 2am really! Zoey must be having a good dream I can hearing her giggling in her sleep-so cute, but it's still 2am! I am thinking of all of these things I want to start: A more detailed budget, really have a plan to paying off a few things and how long that will take.  The mortgage broker thinks we will be in shape to revisit her at the first of the year and that gives us time to become accustom to "paying" the mortage (since we will have been putting that difference in savings).  New furniture here I come-Look out! My hot pink and black zebra living room will be a reality!!!  Yes I really said that! It's the diva in me if zebra were color it would be my 2nd favorite LOL. 

We eat out A LOT (I know I know how expensive!) we have cut back quite a bit to what it used to be, but it's still too often.  I HATE to cook and never have a plan for dinner even though as a couponer we ususally have some stuff on hand, but it's WAY easier after working all day to let Pizza Hut cook and bring it right to me-they are so nice :-)  LOL So I have had this chalk board in my kitchen for the last I don't know six years so I thought maybe I'd plan out meals.  So at least I half way knew what I was doing.  I'll admit it's not Julia Child by any means, but it's eating in and saving $$$.  And after coming home from work at least I don't have to use that last little bit of brain power to think up dinner.  I also mapped out breakfasts and lunches for the weekend.  Between thinking about house plans, work and of course coupons! Who doesn't dream about coupons? It's not normal? Oh I mean I don't but if I did dream about fabulous sales and aisles filled with unlimiited products lining the shelves awaiting to find a home with me and all the other coupon queens of the world I am not sure I'd be able to switch those thoughts off!  Okay I am going to attempt to crawl back in my nice fluffy bed and count coupons...err I mean sheep!

Getting it together....

For quite sometime my husband (Jason) and I have wanted to own our own home, but financially were not in a place to do that.  My goal was to own a home by 30.  Well there were 30 candles on my cake last August and I sit here typing this in our rented townhouse....hmmm....we really should've/could've buckled down long ago and made this happen.  But thinking of the things we should have done back then won't help me now.  I was so excited a few weeks ago when someone gave me the name of a mortgage broker and I actually made the call to her and I filled out the on-line application.  The next day the phone rang-Your credit really isn't where we need it to be.  What now I figured?  Surely she won't help me figure out what comes next.  But instead she said there's just a few things that are fixable fairly fast and we set up an appointment to make a plan.  So today I went to my appointment.  She went over the things that will add points to my credit score failry quickly, told me to pay down some debts, don't open or close any accounts and start saving back the difference between our current rent and what we expect to pay for a mortgage.  All of it made sense, hell all of it I knew I just need to stay on track.  The whole time I was thinking of all the money I have been saving since I started couponing earlier this year.  And how if I continue that it will help save the money we need to make this dream a reality.  This blog will be like a diary of my journey to becoming a homeowner.  I can't promise it will always be entertaining, but it will be real.  And there will be a lot of coupon talk for this couponing way of life is what is going to lead to the savings that is going to buy this coupon queen her castle....(Yes the King, Princess Zoey and three royal cats will also be moving into this castle!)