Confession Number 59: Favorites, Money Savings Blogs

A few months ago I became intrigued by the amount of money my friend Nicci over at Nix9to5 was saving by couponing.  I used to clip coupons and use them when I could, but I often found that the store brand was still cheaper than the name brand with the coupon. 

I figured out that the secret to couponing was to match your coupons with the store sales and to stock up when things were at a good price.  With the help of some useful blogs I find sale/coupon match ups at stores like CVS, Walgreens and Homeland.  These blogs also have pointed me to other money saving sites that I'll share with you on another day.  I try to visit them at least once a day, usually during Kennedy's nap or while she is busy with something else. 

Yes, this takes up a bit of time, and I'm not sure how into it I would be if I were still counseling, but for now, with me staying at home, it works for me and is saving us some money in the process.  I am not wild and crazy into it, but I am saving us some money, especially with personal care and toiletry items.  I have seen a decrease in the amount of my weekly Wal-Mart trip, and I think most of that is because I rarely buy a non food item there any more.  Most of my savings is due to the ladies who write these blogs because they do all the searching and match ups for me.  I just have to read, find or print my coupons, make my list and go to the store.  There is no telling how much money these women have saved families across the country with all of their hard work.

Simple Saving Savvy-  Amanda is the brain behind SSS and it is her goal to save money so her family can give more to others.  Sounds good to me!  She is located in Oklahoma City and many of her match ups are for stores in the metro area.  SSS was the first saving blog I started reading, thanks to Nix9to5.  I love her match ups for Walgreens, CVS and Homeland.  I have to be careful on the Homeland match ups because my store doesn't always run the same ads as the stores in OKC.  She also posts other deals as they come up.  Her site is easy to read and follow and is great for beginners.  I also won a contest on her site a couple months back, so she is a favorite in my book!

Passion for Savings-  I found Passion for Savings by searching for blogs that did match ups for Harps, a local grocery store in our area.  Heather writes Passion for Savings and I absolutely love her site!  She does tons of match ups for the NW Arkansas area including Harps, Wal-Mart and the drug stores.  Unfortunately, her Wal-Mart sales are rarely the same as my Wal-Mart, only an hour away.  She loves to save where she can so she can spend where she wants to (for Heather, it is often her designer jeans!).  This is the old tell your money where you want it to go philosophy.  She also has great links to printable coupons and other saving strategies and sites.  I love her links for Swagbucks, Groupons available nationwide and tons of shopping sites!  I'll talk all about those another day.

Wild for Wags-  I love Christie!  She is absolutely the craziest Walgreens shopper I have ever seen!  Her entire site is devoted to finding great deals at Walgreens, which, let's face it, is normally sky high.  Since there is a Walgreens less than 5 minutes from my house, I love the match ups and scenarios she offers each week.  For example, today, I got PAID 11 cents for taking a bottle of dish soap out of the store.  Crazy!  Want to know how I did it?  Check out Wild for Wags and start saving!  She also throws in other money saving tips as she runs across them. 

I know there are about a bazillion other money saving blogs out there, but these are the three that help me out the most.  I hope they can help you too!  I've almost found this couponing thing to be a game.  How many things can I bring home for the least amount of money?  It's fun!  I'd love to hear if you have some favorite sites to visit to save you money.