Adventures in {Mini} Extreme Couponing

The other day I jokingly told a close friend, "I need to find a boyfriend just for economic reasons... someone to pay for all my meals & drive me everywhere."  Now, of course, I'd never ever {in a million years} "get" myself a boyfriend for financial reasons.  It's just hard sometimes when you open up another bill or see the gas prices sky rocket as soon as your tank is getting low {it's like Newton's Law that it will always happen so}.  God hasn't called us to worry about well, anything, but especially not His provision for us.  Say it with me, "He will provide!"  Just look at what His Word says:  

   "Once I was young, & now I am old. Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned or their children begging for bread."

-Psalm 37:25 NLT

This doesn't mean we just sit around & wait for the manna to fall.  Nope, we have to work & be smart with what He blesses us with {it's all His anyway - I wonder if that would help sometimes when we're about to make a not-so-wise impulse purchase, if we'd just think, "I can't squander God's money on a teal taffeta skirt that will just sit in my closet, now can I?"}.

Taffeta aside, this year I'm trying to do something new, bold, &/or brave each day.  On January 1st I did something new & created a coupon binder.  If you've read Bess' Bag {my main blog} then you probably know I'm pretty thrifty - make that, majorly thrifty.  It's just the way I am.  But, even though I'm frugal by default, I know I can be even smarter with my money if I try.  I don't know how many times I've let a coupon's expiration date slip past because I misplaced it or forgot.  So, I cut some scrapbook paper to size, added some stickers & decals, & created a coupon binder.   

I don't claim to be anything like those couponing ladies that can take a $150 buggy of groceries & come out with a receipt that reads $10 {but I wish I was} =); I'm just trying to corral my coupons in one place & organize them a bit {which I haven't finished yet - I need to create some tabs with headings like: groceries, bath/beauty, fast food, miscellaneous, etc.}.  

Here's some more money saving/couponing tips for us single girls:

-print coupons off the Web {Google coupon sites}

-many companies offer coupons/deals if you "like" their Facebook page

-the Dollar Tree just recently started accepting coupons, which could make for major savings {even freebies}

-if you eat a lot of frozen meals from a particular brand see if they have a rewards program where you can enter points & earn stuff {I participate in Stouffer's Dinner Club & Lean Cuisine's Delicious Rewards (I just earned a lunch box with Lean Cuisine)}

Love,

-Bess-

P.S.: Don't forget to give back to God: tithe. =)