I read a book recently called America’s Cheapest Family. To a competitive person like me that just seemed like a challenge. Now I know that I am cheap enough to give those people a run for their money.
They are big on coupons. I’ve never had much luck with that since I don’t tend to buy name brands. I also don’t pay to have a paper delivered so finding coupons can be hard. Sometimes I download coupons but I’m not convinced that saving a couple of dollars is worth an hour’s work for me.
They also advocate planning meals in advance and sticking to a list when shopping. They shop for a month since they have freezer space. I plan my meals out a week at a time and I do save a lot of money when I have a plan versus when I just buy what looks good and then can’t put together any meals from what I have.
They stressed buying meat in bulk and on sale. Ha! I’m a vegetarian. I’m saving lots of money right there.
What else? Don’t have credit card debt – check. Pay off your mortgage – how about having your ex pay for it while you live here for free? Pay off car loans and then only pay cash for cars – I’m working on paying down the car loan. Buy thrift store clothes – check.
So now it is official. I’m cheap.
