When I was still working in the real world, I was reminded on an annual basis by my employer about the need for further education. Not only did the continued education help me to remain a viable employee, but it allowed me to progress slowly through the ranks of a successful employment. The education not only helped my employer though, it helped me as well because it allowed me to be a more prepared employee with the tools that I needed to succeed. Forward ahead four years, and I come to the realization that I still need continued education to keep me on my toes at saving money, and living frugally. I actually find enjoyment at doing both so it definitely does not feel like a job, but a way of life.

Along the way, I have had to try new things, change my way of thinking (code for accepts change well), and yes, work well with others; all items that would have been listed on my annual review. Even though I’m a housewife, I still have to look at my life as a job and apply things that I learned during my working years to my stay-at-home life. The two really are more similar than one would think. After all, I rise each morning for my workday just as everyone else does, although my day is a little different with snacks, and playtime interspersed with house work.

I furthered my education slowly at first, learning along the way as I went. I didn’t have a clue where to start, except that I knew that I would need to use coupons in some fashion to help me save. I had tried to use coupons in the past, but they never really worked and I would only save a dollar here or there, nothing that really excited me about using coupons.

My first introduction to learning how to save creatively landed me on CouponForum a discussion board that talked about saving money, using coupons, and coupon experiences that other board members had experienced. I was excited about the opportunity to learn from other moms who were just like me. I learned a lot about shopping at CVS and Walgreens, and how to use coupons more efficiently.My next and greatest fascination was finding another mom’s blog. This of course was long before I started my own blog. The mention of the MrsMoneySaver blog (then, it was Frugal In Virginia) was a topic of discussion, and after I landed on her blog, I can clearly say that I was addicted to the blogging world of other moms.

Between CouponForum and MrsMoneySaver, and now other blogs, I have learned a good deal about saving money, where to find the deals, and when to limit my spending, even if it is a good deal. After all, it isn’t really saving me money if it’s not something I would use already, even if it is a good deal. There is certainly a learning curve when first figuring out all the changes that can be made to help save money. There are so many ways to save money that it can be a little overwhelming at first regarding all the changes that you can make to help stretch your budget just a little further.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 4th, 2010 at 2:30 am and is filed under Simple Living. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.