My History as a Frugal Shopper and Frugal Blogger
Saving money and being able to afford to live on my disability-retirement income has motivated me to follow many blogs over the last few years. Having been a coupon shopper since my college days (in the late 80s), returning to my old ways has been a welcome relief on my extremely tight budget. After watching so many episodes on television about women shopping and paying mere pennies on the dollar for the whole cart of groceries, I knew that I had to figure out how to do this. After all, if a deal is to be found, I AM the one to do it!
For several years, I shared “deals” with many, many of my friends. I’ve forwarded links to coworkers, posted them on my Facebook wall, ordered samples for others, you name it, I’ve done it! I recently realized that my Facebook wall was no longer “my” wall, it was a “deals” wall and realized that now was the time to get serious about starting and sticking with blogging.
My daughter and I played around with names for several days and came up with the idea of “Deals from MS Do.” Deals was an obvious choice as part of the name. MS because I have Multiple Sclerosis and the orange because it’s the color most often associated with MS and the National MS Society. Do because I’ve often been called Do like do or Do like doe.
I created my logo myself, using only FREE software. I’m a self-taught techie, it’s just one of those things that comes naturally to me like the couponing does! My logo represents me so well, not just my blog. I think it’s a true reflection of my attitude toward shopping and home economics.
Thrifty? Yep, you bet! I must confess, I have frozen eggs before. We’re not egg eaters, so I’ve frozen them just to keep them from going to waste and have them available for when we needed them. I have since discovered powdered eggs! Much easier. I have grated cheese when it was considerably cheaper and I’ve sliced it too.
When I worked and had nearly double the income, I refused to use my time for things like grating cheese. I spent the extra ten cents for refried beans, I would NOT buy pintos and mash them like my mother has always done! Of course, I now make them in a crock-pot and freeze them for the price of one can! My daughter was amazed at the price comparison. This led to my coupon blog turning into a recipe blog which is now the mainstay of my traffic.
I’ve always enjoyed home decor, yard sales, thrift shopping, repurposing, and DIY projects. My site is a great way to showcase these great deals and projects while teaching others how to live and decorate well on a very tight budget.
When I first retired, my daughter called our shopping habits and our lifestyle “The Great Depression II”. She is very happy that I’m doing so well physically though. Her attitude toward shopping has greatly improved since I’ve started hanging out online and studying the online blogs. She’s amazed at the quantity and quality of what we can purchase with my newly refined habits and those that she’s picking up as well. She also dresses better than she ever did when I had more income.
Of course, I’m also a retired teacher with a kid in school all day. What else am I going to do with my time? LOL, You don’t expect me to clean do you?!?
