Am I really that cheap??

About 1 year ago, Jeremiah and I went through the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace course. After taking it, we decided to go to a completely cash system and tighten up our budget to pay off debt. The first month, it quickly became very clear to me that I spent WAY more money than I thought I did. I actually ran out of money in my grocery budget half way through the first month and we barely squeaked by into the next month. But, I was diligent and decided I had to make this money go further. Now looking back 1 year later, I have become really cheap. I mean, it is actually becoming a little bit embarrassing because I will do mostly anything to get a good deal. Here are a few things I have done recently to "pinch a penny": 

~This past weekend I went away on a girls weekend with my bff Jessica to Charleston and it became glaringly obvious that I have become cheaper than I ever thought I would be. On the way down, I insisted on taping a bunch of white spots to myself, wearing a snout I printed online and going to Chick Fil A for a free meal. Yes to save $5 I put my pride behind me, dressed up like a cow and even took a picture with the cow. Of course, Jessica was not going to join me and just took pictures and laughed at me. Still, I am $5 richer. 

~Then we got to Charleston and needed to find a hotel. Everything was so expensive, we ended up at the Country Hearth Inn North Charleston that I had found online. (a 2 star motel right outside the ghetto) We get there and they tried to charge us $65 for the room that was advertised at $49.88 on hotels.com. So, I sat in the hotel lobby and using the free hotel wifi I booked the room on hotels.com to save $15. Shameless. 

~I started couponing after that first month on the cash system (because my family was not going to eat if I didn't). I have been "extreme couponing" since then (yes there really is such a thing). I have a dear friend who took me under her wing and taught me how to coupon and it changed my budget. For example, today at Publix I spent $23.91 and saved $109.98. This is for a weeks worth of groceries and all things we use on a regular basis. Last week I spent $17.43 and saved $114.17 and the week before spent $17.27 and saved $82.03. You get the picture. I actually get a coupon high when I walk out of a store with a whole cart of groceries and only paying a fraction of the cost... I'm sure I will blog more about this in the future as I have not even scraped the surface of my love for couponing and saving money. But, coupon shopping does come with some embarrassment. It takes forever to check out and people behind me do not love me and a lot of times the cashiers get annoyed by all my thousands of coupons. People look at me like I am crazy when I load up my 10 things of A1 or 20 Pace salsa's, even if I am getting them for better than free. I have become the crazy coupon lady. (At Publix, my cashier actually calls me the crazy coupon lady and I take it as a compliment. I really am cheap.)

~The other thing I have come to love is free stuff. A couple of weeks ago I planned a whole day around the fact that I could get smoothies for free at 2 different locations. I planned both lunch and dinner around getting free smoothies, threw the kids in the car and were off to a free day. We packed a lunch to go with the first smoothie and ate dinner at home before going for smoothie deserts at the second place. It was actually really fun and we had a good time doing it. Smoothies that are free even taste better. 

I'm there is more to tell because I am constantly around "deal hunting" and checking my favorite websites for coupons, deals and free promotions (some of those are to the left of this blog). Basically, I have become shamelessly cheap and am here to confess it to anyone who might be reading. I will write more about all of my great deals in future posts, just know you are reading the blog of a really big cheapskate.