{cheap}

Frugal, practical, bargain-hunter. All of those words definitely describe me and have always described me. I've always liked to get the best deal for my money. And now that we are living on A LOT less money at our house, I have had to really step it up and find ways to save money on everything we buy. I've gone from being frugal to downright cheap, which I don't think is a bad thing. Whey pay full price for something when you can pay half or even less than that?!

I thought I would share some of my favorite online resources for coupons and other deals to help my fellow bargain-hunters. These are the blogs I check on a daily basis:

http://freebies4mom.blogspot.com/

http://www.mamacheaps.com/

http://www.survivingthestores.com/

http://www.moneysavingmom.com/money_saving_mom/

http://hip2save.blogspot.com/

I print lots of online coupons that I find through these blogs, and also through the websites like shortcuts.com and of the stores we shop at like Meijer, Walgreens and CVS. And don't forget the Sunday circulars - you can find great coupons in those.

Since we live right near a Walgreen's now, I always pay attention to their sale flyer because they offer reward dollars for buying certain items. Mixing those items with coupons can result in serious savings, and sometimes scoring items for free!

I think the biggest lesson I've learned in the short time we've been on this tight budget is that I don't NEED a lot of the things I think I needed. I can do without many things I thought were necessities and still be pretty darn happy. And if there is something I want to buy, I have learned how to be patient until it goes on sale or I have a coupon. The feeling of saving our family money makes it all worthwhile.

Here's to saving money!