frugal wife.

Many people have given me a hard time for being somewhat "cheap." It's true that I've never been a "spender" and have always looked for ways to save my money. Then I married my husband and when the forces of savers combine, you get...the Hogan household. Lately, my frugality has gone to a whole new level, to the extreme delight of my husband. My secret? I started frequenting "frugal mom" blogs. I know. Weird. Mostly because I'm not even a mom.
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So you may think this sounds completely boring but I'm bringing this up because I think it has some validity in life more than just saving a dollar on a box of cereal (Or $48). We have chosen to save our money in areas that aren't as important to us in order to allow us to splurge in areas that are important to us. For example, I'd much rather eat generic brand food and be able to afford a weekend getaway with the money we saved throughout the year not buying name brand everything. Overall, it allows me to live a more deliberate and simplistic lifestyle. Now I'm not saying you should skimp on everything and that some things aren't worth the money. Actually, the opposite, saving money on certain things frees me up to spend money on things that are worth the extra investment. Instead of simply spending money without thinking through what I'm doing.
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And just in case you really don't care about having that sort of lifestyle yourself, here are a few things I've gotten in the last 3 weeks.
*Free breakfast at Mimi's Cafe (I had Eggs Benedict, Matt had real French Toast and we both had one of their famous muffins & juice. Worth at least $25)
*Free lunch at Domino's (2 pasta bread bowls. Worth about $15)
*Free lunch at KFC (2 grilled chicken meals. Worth about $10)
*Every Sunday we get 2 blizzards at DQ for the price of 1 for dessert.
*Free stuff from CVS
*A few things I've gotten free in the mail over just the last few days: toothpaste, lotion, shampoo, tea & candy.
(Other things I have on the plate that I haven't used yet: free stuff from Starbucks, TCBY, Texas Roadhouse, Buffalo Wild Wings, Wal-Mart, Target, the list goes on...)
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In case any of this intrigues you, start out by taking a visit to www.moneysavingmom.com where you will find plenty of deals of your own. There are hundreds of other websites but you've got to start somewhere :) And if any of you have even read this far and actually care, I can give you more information.
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Somehow in the last 6 months I suddenly enjoy cooking, eating healthy, exercising, clipping coupons, putting money in an investment account, recipe hunting, DVRing HD movies instead of renting or going to the theatre, decorating my home, dreaming about sailboats & islands with my husband and reading frugal mom blogs. It's okay, I won't be offended if you call me cheap.