Karen blogs on ways to save us money every day! Thanks for sharing this post with Mama’s Little Helper!
Check out her Blog here: www.mommyluvs2save.com

Make Your Savings Count !

I don’t know about you, but I’m a bit of a “savings dork”. I get such a rush out of leaving the store with a cart full of groceries for under $20. I feel like the IKEA lady “START THE CAR”!! It’s so fun to stand at the register watching the total go down (and down and down). I love to send off for the freebies I’ve wanted to try and the rebates for the products I already did. I keep track of my rebates by writing them down in my little planner. It’s fun to come home to a mailbox full of samples, freebies and rebate checks. I gasp in horror at my fellow shoppers who go through the line with NO coupons or go to Walgreens without even picking up the coupon book from the front of the store. Is that even possible? Are they wealthy? Did they recently hit the Powerball?

I remember life before saving money. There was a time when I paid full price. Sadly during this same period of time I was horribly in debt and living in ignorant bliss not thinking about the future. I worked a lot, but spent equally. I made big mistakes with money. I once went on vacation to the Bahamas for 5 days (on credit) without paying my electric bill. They shut off the power as I was getting ready to go. What did I do? I packed in the dark silly! Crazy, huh? I am embarassed to admit it, but I once even had a credit card confiscated by a store clerk because I hadn’t paid the bill( I was young-that’s my excuse). I think he even got a reward from the credit card company or something (funny now-not then). My point is this; wherever you are- I’ve been there. Don’t ever think you are too far gone or there’s no hope for you financially. You can always turn your “ship” around!

If you are on this site, you have already made a conscious decision to try to do the right thing for your family financially. I started out in much the same way. After I became a “savings dork” I decided to put every penny of my savings towards my family’s debt. As of today we have paid off over $84,000 in debt. That includes a $30,000 student loan, paying off a 2 year old mini van that was $23,000 and just over $31,000 in credit card debt. I would urge all of you to set aside at least a portion of the money you save towards paying down or off your family’s debt. You will be amazed at how quickly your balances will shrink. This will truly give your family a future, your marriage peace and you- a whole new stress free life!

My family is not debt free yet, but we are getting there. When we get debt free I plan on doing two things:

1. Going to the Bahamas (paid for in cash).
2. Coming home to a house that has electricity!