Cheap tricks

Well, I've had a fairly busy week, so I haven't done much writing. I've been a little under the weather, and the weather's been kind of wintry this week. The kids got out of school Friday because the flu has been running rampant through the county, but they'd have had a snow day anyway. The day before, we were "supposed" to get a bunch of snow, but that didn't happen. I think most of the kids who missed Thursday were tired from staying up late anticipating a snow day. At least, this is the story my daughter tells me. I've spent a little time working on the house, and a little time planning the Super Bowl party for our youth at church, and a lot of time looking for bargains.

Randy likes my "new" hobby of looking for bargains. I told him that's because it actually benefits him. Yesterday I spent quite some time viewing sites that came up when I Googled "coupons." I don't like these survey-type sites where they send your e-mail to advertisers who offer "free" stuff for $1 shipping - & of course they want your credit or debit card to get your $1. I feel like all that's a big waste of time, between the multiple times you end up answering the same question & the zillions of e-mails you get from these people. Instead, I prefer going to the sites of brands I like to buy. I signed up with "My Coke Rewards" yesterday. If you don't get the Procter & Gamble coupons from your local paper, try www.pg.com. The Tennessean's Ms. Cheap has a regular column in the paper plus every year she has a "Cheapest of the Cheap" contest.

We filed our taxes this morning with Turbo Tax. I've been using this program for years & I highly recommend it. It's not free, but it's been cheaper for us than going to a tax preparer, & I feel better using the program than doing it completely by myself. Unfortunately, I didn't realize I could log in through my bank and get it cheaper until I'd already filed. Dang! So if you're a U.S. Bank online customer, be sure to click on "Special Offers" at the left of the screen.

Now, I know all this sounds like I've really gotten far away from my "shop locally" message. I like to save money on some things (like cleaning products, shampoo, etc.) so I can have a little more money to splurge on the things I buy from "the little guys." If I'm going to eat out, I prefer Stratton's in Ashland City to their neighbor, McDonald's. But occasionally, I might go to the golden arches too.