Welcome

Hello!

My name is Stephanie and I'm 23 years old, and I want to welcome you to my new blog.

As a little background; I currently live (born and raised, actually) in Baltimore, MD, and still live at home with my mother and my 28 year old brother (who was born with Down Syndrome and also later diagnosed as autistic, as well).  I am a Graduate Student at Loyola University, pursuing my M.Ed in School Counseling.  Being in graduate school doesn't always leave a lot of wiggle room in my budget, which is partly why I still live with my mother (the other reason is to help care for my brother).  Given the momentous cost of school (not to mention car payment/insurance, credit card bills, etc) I've been trying to live the frugal life while still enjoying my life.  I've had a lot of success with it so far, and I actually find it fun to see how much I can get for how little.  It's become like a game, that's sometimes more fun than shopping itself (which my bank account appreciates).  

As time has gone on, I have friends coming up to me asking me how to get deals on certain things, or how to use coupons, etc.  In fact, my own mother won't even go to the grocery store anymore.  She has me do the shopping for the whole house now when it comes to groceries, household cleaners, toiletries, etc because she figures I'll have a coupon for it or be able to get it cheaper than she would.  I managed to bring our our grocery bill down from about $150/weekly for three adults down to about $60/week.  She even tells me, she'll go to Target, see a bottle of shampoo (or whatever) she wants and won't pick it up, because she figures I can probably get it for less elsewhere or with a coupon. 


I do work, two jobs, in fact.  Given the status of the economy, I have many friends my age that have multiple jobs in order to make ends meet.  That being said, I'm not starting this blog as a way to make money.  I'm starting it, because I find so many deals and tricks throughout the day and throughout my perusing of the web that I want to share it with others, and maybe learn some new tricks myself.  You can never know too much when it comes to saving money, I believe. 

I'm not your typical frugal blogger, in that, I don't have children or a husband to speak of. But, I am your typical blogger, in that, I get super excited over an awesome deal (like I get ridiculously excited when I see my grocery store receipt and see how much money I DIDN'T spend).  I believe that there is very little in life that you have to pay full price for...and there IS very little I pay full price for.  Despite this, I still consider myself a newbie to the frugal arena.  Hopefully this blog can be helpful to others, and I can get some new insight on things along the way, as well.


So as you read this, I hope you enjoy, and maybe get a few deals or tricks that you can use for yourself.  Pardon any bumps that may occur as I am new to this and I'm learning as I go along.  Anyone with suggestions, I am open to hearing them!