What is your family doing to deal with the economy?
Here at the Horn household, we are putting a bunch of money in savings. Our hope is that we will have enough to pay off our house in a few years, but otherwise we will have a cushion in case of emergency. (If you’re interested, we use ING Direct, and you can get a $25 referral bonus if you open an account of at least $250 with them through the link above.)
I’ve been couponing off and on for a while now, but I need to get more consistent about reading ads and finding matching coupons before I go to the store. My neighbor is starting a coupon trading club together and I hope some of my coupon buddies from church will join up. I have found that serious coupon shopping can cut your grocery bill in half, so it really is worth doing.
I am also learning more about trusting God with the future. A global economic meltdown is scary, but it does help us realize how much we depend on Him for everything. God wants us to use our resources wisely, but not to worry or obsess about tomorrow. And he loves it when we talk to him about what’s on our minds, whether it’s about money, relationships, work, or anything else.
So what is your family doing to deal with this recession? Are you cutting expenses? Changing your investment strategy? Taking out a remortgage on your house? If you have any money-saving tips, investment ideas, job strategies, or just ways to keep from worrying about it all, please share them by using the Comment link below. Thanks!
Andrea
We have been trying to get debt-free for a while now. We cut the cable a couple years ago and paid off some small debt with proceeds from selling our house. We have put buying new furniture on “hold” indefinitely until we figure out what is going to happen with the economy. We do have a savings account and I clip coupons and use comp ads with groceries. It takes longer to shop, but it is worth it. Some ladies in the church told me about a couple websites for free coupons- couponsurfer.com and eversave.com.
I am trying stay faithful in believing God and his perfect will and perfect plan has all this figured out and will not let us suffer. We have bought a little extra here and there and put it back just in case. I think this is a great thing you are doing.
Thanks for posting, Margie! I understand about putting purchases “on hold,” and admire your bravery for cutting the cable. We have talked about that many times but keep chickening out.
Good to hear from you.
Andrea
I visited and signed up at The Grocery Game, but was disappointed to see it is only for CVS and Walgreens. I have been comparison shopping for a while now and they are higher on their regular prices than Wal-Mart and Homeland. Do you buy a lot from CVS and Walgreens? Do you have any suggestions on specific items?
Margie,
The trick to getting bargains at CVS and Walgreens is to buy items on sale, combined with coupons and rebates. The reason I like the Grocery Game is that it does all the matching up for you–you just look at their list for what you want that week, then clip and go!
Drugstores’ regular prices are higher than places like Wal-Mart, but they make up for it with great sales and rebates. You just need to stockpile when things are cheap, even if you don’t need them right away. Make sense?
Andrea