Behind the Blog

Hi everyone! My husband and I moved to the Bay Area of California earlier this year. While we love the people, weather, and beauty of the bay, one thing we did not like was how expensive everything was (and still is!). As we added on to our family with our first child, an adorable baby boy, money became even more tight.

We realized that we had more money when we were poor college students in Utah than we did as college graduates! So, we started making sacrifices and living as cheaply as we could. We did the obvious - small apartment, no cable, etc. One of the areas that we skimped on was food and toiletries. We lived off of cereal and Ramen noodles (my husband loves to eat it dry and crumbled - I will never understand why...). Whenever we did decide to splurge and buy something like a can of pineapple, we always bought generic. It's the cheapest, right?

It wasn't until my friend Christy showed me a video on YouTube that I started to think otherwise. We were over at our friends, John and Christy's, for dinner when she told me that a lady in Massachusetts could feed her family of 6 on only $4 a week through couponing. I didn't believe her. I said there was no possible way and I wanted to see the video for myself. Sure enough, she did it! And this wasn't random junk either! She fed her family full home cooked meals, including meat, produce, and (gasp!) name brand products! Could there really be a way? I was skeptical. I dismissed it, as she lives in a different state. ("Things are just more expensive here, that's all.")

But, then I saw Christy saving! She showed me all of the groceries and toiletries that she was buying for almost nothing! Sure, it wasn't as cheap as this lady in Massachusetts and many others, but it's a start. So, I started. And I started small. I got 30 packages of wipes FOR FREE! Well, I had to pay a few pennies for tax, but you get the idea.

How did I do this? Coupons, sales, learning to shop smart. It's a process, but you have to start somewhere... and it's worth it!

I still think that living here is expensive, but it is possible! I'm creating this blog to make things easier for me and for all of my friends and family. Good luck and let's start saving!


Want to see the video that got me thinking? Here it is!