Saving a bit of $$

Do you follow Money Saving Mom ?  If not, you should!

Who isn't trying to save a dollar these days?  Especially with the climbing gas prices.

My favorite are her Target coupon match-ups.  Target puts out their own coupons, both online and in the Sunday paper coupon packs.  You can match up the Target coupons with one manufacturer coupon for the same item.  Often this makes items free or almost free.  She also notes which coupons can be used for travel-sized items (not common, but out there sometimes).

Crystal also posts various online deals (like cheap diapers or products on Amazon) that are very useful.  She pulls from other online saving sites and shares the best deals (always crediting the source).

Her site also has tons of advice, stories and inspiration for paying off debt and living debt-free.  One series is called "We Paid Cash" and is stories of readers (and Crystal's family) paying cash for small to large items.  Crystal and her husband Jesse paid cash for a HOUSE!

I find this site very inspirational in our quest to pay off debt and not incur anymore and live like no one else.

I saved $16 at Target tonight matching up coupons.  I only buy items that we would normally buy or use.

Here's a sample of what I paid for various items after coupons:

Pack of gum: .24 cents

Secret Clinical Strength Trial size: $1.49

Venus Razor: $2.24

Colgate toothpaste: .50 cents

Flinstone Vitamins: $2.84

Suave Detangler 2-pack: $2.50

Reece's PB Cups: .69 for two

I'm still figuring out how to shop efficiently with coupons.  I don't have a great organization system yet.  But on my trip tonight, I got some ideas.

By following Crystal on Twitter, I got a heads up on a gym membership giveaway and I won a 3-month membership.  Which I didn't hardly use, but I was excited at the time!

I also "liked" her page on Facebook and see various deals in my newsfeed.

You can subscribe to her newsletter too for a summary of posts.  There are often several to dozens of new posts daily on her blog and this is a great way to see them all at one time.

So, go check it out.  Save some money!!

**this post is totally my own opinion and I'm sharing about Money Saving Mom because I love her blog so much**