Thrifty Thursday: Beyond the Coupons (Guest Post)

The following is a guest post courtesy of Melissa!

Beyond the Coupons

I like to save money. I do. I’ll occasionally rifle through my local Valpak for coupons and shop for the best deals at the grocery store. But I’m admittedly lazy when it comes to couponing.

I do not have the dedication—or the attention span—that it takes to save substantial amounts of money through coupons alone. At the end of each month I’ll bemoan my checking account balance to anyone who’ll listen, but do I change my habits? Noooo! I eat out with my friends, I shop for shoes, I go to concerts. What can I say? I like to indulge. And since indulgence plus a low-paying job does not a decent checking account balance make, I knew I had to make some modifications somewhere. Here are three:

DIY – As a single woman, I’ve had to learn how to do many things myself. As a not-rich single woman, I’ve had to learn how to do many things myself that many others would pay to do. In the past, I fell into that “many others” category. Not so anymore! I recently switched from renting an apartment to renting a house (I know, I know; I shouldn’t be renting, but that’s a post for another time), which means I have a lot more upkeep expenses than I used to. At first, I opted to pay for things like plumbing and basic car maintenance. Then, once I realized I couldn’t do that and maintain the lifestyle to which I’d grown accustomed, I opted to let things fall into disrepair. That didn’t last long. After I realized that neither Option #1 nor Option #2 were viable solutions, I took the advice of my mother and learned how to do many things myself. I decided that getting my hands dirty was worth it if it meant I could afford the manicure afterward. I like to learn new things, so once I got started, I quickly became fascinated with how many things around the house that had once baffled me actually had rather simple solutions. I also learned that it wasn’t just repairs that I could do myself, but also improvements. Gradually, my house and car are a.) working again and b.) actually improving. Of course, I didn’t do it alone. I frequently referenced the DIY channel’s website and other fix-it blogs. I’m also a fan of blogs like Made, All Things Thrifty, and Thrifty Décor Chick that have great tips for decorating and revamping your home.

Online Shopping – As previously mentioned, shopping is a hobby of mine. I like to browse through the stores at the mall, fingering the fabrics and trying on the shoes. I’m hypnotized by all the bright colors and neatly folded stacks. Unfortunately, neatly folded stacks frequently connote full-priced items. Sale items are often relinquished to racks and—shudder—bins. Did I mention my lack of dedication and attention span? Thank goodness for the Internet because it allows me to combine my two non-loves: paying retail price and sorting through sale bins. On the Internet all of the discounted items are just as neat and eye-catching as the full-priced items. Plus, lots of stores’ websites have things that they don’t carry anywhere else. And I’m not using the gas I normally would to get to the mall. I’m saving money AND the environment!

Groupon (As if they need more advertising) – The thing that I love about Groupon (and LivingSocial, and YipIt) is that it offers deals on the services that I would normally pay for anyway. Remember the goals of all of this money-saving in the first place? The manicures and dinners and so on? Well, not only am I now saving money for these things, I’m saving money on them, too! All of the deal-of-the-day sites are great, but I tend to like YipIt the best because it gathers deals from several other sites and it tailors them best to what I enjoy doing.

Some or all of these things may seem obvious to the savvier saver, but they are fairly recent revelations to me. I’ve even started using my previous money-saving tricks differently. Before I’d always just halfheartedly try to save money when I could. As in, save money on one purchase so I could spend it on another. Now I use money-saving tools to actually SAVE MONEY. As in saving money. As in checking account balance going up. I wonder if this means I should open a—gasp!—savings account?

Melissa is a single gal just trying to make it in this crazy world!  She enjoys cooking, traveling and spending time with her rather large family.