While I still have the Internet handy and can spontaneously share what I'm thinking:
I've been preoccupied with coupons lately.
On the Tuesday after Christmas, half of the people who were here at my grandma's house were all sick. And the rest weren't really a bundle of energy either. So we spent the day watching TV. (As an aside, that was one of the most enjoyable days I have ever spent watching the television. Even TV's not so bad when you share the experience with some of your favorite people.) Most of the time was spent watching Extreme Couponing. Although I had heard about it, I had never seen the show before. I tend to live in a television no-man's land. But one of my cousins obviously does not live in the same land, because when I turned it over there, he said, "Oh, I love this show!"
And he really did. As episode after episode came on, he had already seen each one of them. Multiple times.
As I was discomfitedly lounging in a recliner, willing my head and throat to stop hurting, shivering, and praying for the coughing to stop, I was captivated. People saving 98% at the grocery store, 99%, 100%, even 104%. It was amazing.
I never have been afraid of coupons. I've always had a soft spot in my heart set aside just for them. But my family never has used many. Coupons take organization, and as long as my family has been in the position where saving money has been really appealing, we've been rather unorganized. Everyone has their strong points, and that was not ours while I was growing up. In our defense, we've had challenges that don't facilitate organization, but at the same time, there was room for improvement even with those challenges. But again, everyone has their strong points. And grace is sufficient for the rest. And grace has covered the disorganization. Back to the point, in the midst of the disorganization, better employing coupons has been a closet dream of mine, but I gave it up.
However, life is new. I like new. I am 23 years old. When I was a kid, I couldn't do much. But now, as an adult, I am in a better position to help foster more organization in my family as long as I am still a part of the closely knit unit and take on a job like this myself (or mostly myself). In the middle of working, raising kids, taking care of the house (or apartment, trailer, wherever we happened to live), and trying to stay sane in the middle of chaos, my parents did just about all of the organizing that they could. Their long patience and faithfulness has paid off, and now they have a child who can help them. :-) Also, I hope soon to be gainfully employed, and with money of my own, I can buy food. And, another new thing is that my family has seen some of the hardest times we've ever experienced lately, so the motivation do better has increased to a new high.
Thus, my dream of masterfully wielding coupons has been rekindled. And it seems more tangible now than it ever has before.
My trouble is we still don't have access to the Internet at home. The Internet is key in all of the fantastic money-saving strategies that these extreme couponers come up with. They compare store ads with a few clicks of their mouse. They find coupons online that can't be found in print. The world wide web helps them do serious research, and as is usually true of research, it's profitable. I can do a certain amount of research going to find wifi, but printing is a sticky situation.
Also, I'm not interested in buying junk. There are a lot of coupons out there for junk. I don't care if frozen dinners are on sale and with a coupon I can get them for $0.10, I don't want to buy them, because I don't want to eat them. Not only has poverty made my stomach shrink, it's made me realize how important the things I do eat are. And in the average collection of coupons I see, I don't find any for a lot of things I want to buy. But as I haven't done much research, who's to say they're not out there?
Back to where we began, then, I am preoccupied with coupons. More than just coupons, I'm preoccupied with finding ways to save money so that my family and I can have a better life. I want to see what I can do. I want to see what tools are available. I'm not expecting anything too grand, but I'll never know until I try.
So I'm sitting here at my grandma's house googling coupons. In time, I'll let you know if anything comes of this. Who knows, maybe I'll be on TV one day.
I've been preoccupied with coupons lately.
On the Tuesday after Christmas, half of the people who were here at my grandma's house were all sick. And the rest weren't really a bundle of energy either. So we spent the day watching TV. (As an aside, that was one of the most enjoyable days I have ever spent watching the television. Even TV's not so bad when you share the experience with some of your favorite people.) Most of the time was spent watching Extreme Couponing. Although I had heard about it, I had never seen the show before. I tend to live in a television no-man's land. But one of my cousins obviously does not live in the same land, because when I turned it over there, he said, "Oh, I love this show!"
And he really did. As episode after episode came on, he had already seen each one of them. Multiple times.
As I was discomfitedly lounging in a recliner, willing my head and throat to stop hurting, shivering, and praying for the coughing to stop, I was captivated. People saving 98% at the grocery store, 99%, 100%, even 104%. It was amazing.
I never have been afraid of coupons. I've always had a soft spot in my heart set aside just for them. But my family never has used many. Coupons take organization, and as long as my family has been in the position where saving money has been really appealing, we've been rather unorganized. Everyone has their strong points, and that was not ours while I was growing up. In our defense, we've had challenges that don't facilitate organization, but at the same time, there was room for improvement even with those challenges. But again, everyone has their strong points. And grace is sufficient for the rest. And grace has covered the disorganization. Back to the point, in the midst of the disorganization, better employing coupons has been a closet dream of mine, but I gave it up.
However, life is new. I like new. I am 23 years old. When I was a kid, I couldn't do much. But now, as an adult, I am in a better position to help foster more organization in my family as long as I am still a part of the closely knit unit and take on a job like this myself (or mostly myself). In the middle of working, raising kids, taking care of the house (or apartment, trailer, wherever we happened to live), and trying to stay sane in the middle of chaos, my parents did just about all of the organizing that they could. Their long patience and faithfulness has paid off, and now they have a child who can help them. :-) Also, I hope soon to be gainfully employed, and with money of my own, I can buy food. And, another new thing is that my family has seen some of the hardest times we've ever experienced lately, so the motivation do better has increased to a new high.
Thus, my dream of masterfully wielding coupons has been rekindled. And it seems more tangible now than it ever has before.
My trouble is we still don't have access to the Internet at home. The Internet is key in all of the fantastic money-saving strategies that these extreme couponers come up with. They compare store ads with a few clicks of their mouse. They find coupons online that can't be found in print. The world wide web helps them do serious research, and as is usually true of research, it's profitable. I can do a certain amount of research going to find wifi, but printing is a sticky situation.
Also, I'm not interested in buying junk. There are a lot of coupons out there for junk. I don't care if frozen dinners are on sale and with a coupon I can get them for $0.10, I don't want to buy them, because I don't want to eat them. Not only has poverty made my stomach shrink, it's made me realize how important the things I do eat are. And in the average collection of coupons I see, I don't find any for a lot of things I want to buy. But as I haven't done much research, who's to say they're not out there?
Back to where we began, then, I am preoccupied with coupons. More than just coupons, I'm preoccupied with finding ways to save money so that my family and I can have a better life. I want to see what I can do. I want to see what tools are available. I'm not expecting anything too grand, but I'll never know until I try.
So I'm sitting here at my grandma's house googling coupons. In time, I'll let you know if anything comes of this. Who knows, maybe I'll be on TV one day.
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I like conversation. Your comments promote conversation. You know what to do. Vielen Dank.