A lil about myself.

I decided to share here a little bit about myself and how I got into this crazy world of finance.
I was born and raised in a third world country and always been careful about money. Coming to this country I realized that everything was material and people bought more than they needed and could afford. I made many personal and financial mistakes since I left my parents house. I got my first car at the age of 18 and it cost me $300 bucks that car lasted me almost 2 years. I wish I knew more about cars then so I could have taken better care of it and I would still have it. I live in a modest rented apartment with my husband and my son and we plan to save enough to buy a house of our own. Right now we are both working on getting rid of our debts so we can achieve our main goal. We plan well through out the year so we can vacations and enjoy life. I am the responsible adult in the relationship therefore I am the one always reminding about our financial situation and goals. Living in a poor country taught me to be a better person, to find other means to entertain myself instead of depending on money. We walk, visit parks, beaches and everything that is free or low cost. I dont need fancy bags or brand names. I am happy with hands me down and giving back to society what no longer interest me or my family. I hope that with this blog others see what I see. We can all live with less and be happy about it.

Freebie at Sams Club!!!

Freebie of the day.... Just for listening to some guy speak for 15 mins at sams club about a knife set we got a free knife... Well the only thing that could have made me smile wider was if my hubby hadnt actually bought the rest of the knives... Then the next day I got a free bag of cinnamon swirls bc someone messed up my order at taco bell. I love free stuff!!! who doesnt???

365 days of free stuff!!!

Yes my fellow followers... you read it right. I took upon myself a challenge. For the next 365 days. Aug 2010-Aug 2011. I wont be doing any shopping. May sound crazy but it can be done and I intend to prove it. People throw away and give away stuff everyday. I guess this idea was inspired by sibling rivalry. My sister is the Queen of coupon but she is always buying stuff which makes me wonder if she actually save up when she buys so much. Yesterday I was looking online for a cheap bookcase and I came across someone that was giving away a bunch of drapes. Good drapes!!! Drapes that I would spend a good amount of money myself. So I went for it. My only expense was that I had to go pick it up but I can do so much with all those drapes. Its a lot fabrics. I will start this experiment and keep you updated. I am still looking for a FREE bookcase. If anybody knows of someone getting rid of one please let me know. Thanks.

P.S. I want to make clear that even though I wont be doing any "shopping", I will still spend on necessities such as groceries and utilities but always willing to pay less for it....

My 25 ways to save money

1. take food to work.
2. wash clothes at laundrymat once a month.
3. buy groceries once a month.
4. shop at low discount grocery store such as aldi.
5. swap clothes with my sister and then later on donate to goodwill.
6. save change on a change jar.
7. cook meals at home.
8. cut the cable and get netflix.
9. visit the parks and beaches during summer for free entertainment.
10. brew my own coffee in the morning.
11. buy at thrift store and dollar store. My favorite favorite is Dollar Tree.
12. Collect change and once a year deposit in the savings account.
13. Buy generic over name brand.
14. Pay myself first and put it in the savings.
15. Own and drive one car.
16. Use skype to call long distance.
17. Buy diaper and formula on bulk at Sam's Club
18. Buy soda from the supermarket when they are on sale.
19. Cut the phone and only use unlimited cell service such as Boost Mobile.
20. Buy clothes items when its out of season and clearance racks.
21. Drink tap water.
22. Reuse bags. groceries and ziplock
23. Combine errands to save on gas and walk whenever I can.
24. Plan our once a year vacation and family events months/weeks ahead so I can search for better deals.
25. Coupons, coupons!!!

There you go. This is my 25 ways to save money. What is yours???