Coupons, School Supplies and Other Embarrassing Hobbies...

Recently, I've noticed that some of my friends and family members seem to find the fact that I'm always looking for ways to save money quaint, a little hobby that apparently entertains me. Somehow, instead of seeing it as a smart way to be frugal, make ends meet and even have a little financial peace of mind, I am portrayed as a bored housewife with no life, no interests and lots of time for my 'fascination' with coupons. So instead of spitting back some interesting four-letter words, I thought I'd tell a little story...

On a hot, humid evening last August, we got a fax from our realtor with an offer on our home in New Hampshire. It was less than what we'd been hoping for, but it would mean the end of 12 months of paying two mortgages, and still leave us enough money to pay off the home equity loan. So we signed the papers and went to bed thinking things were definitely looking up.

The next morning I sent my older son to school and had barely settled in front of my computer, coffee at my lips, when the phone rang. It was my husband, Kevin. He was on his cell phone, and he sounded kind of funny. "They let me go," he said.

"Let you go where?" I asked, my caffeine-deprived brain unsure what we were talking about.

"My job!" he spat out vehemently. "They let me go! I got laid off!"

There was silence. My peaceful morning routine was shattered and the previous night's relief was gone. Nothing like this had ever happened to either of us, and after eleven years together, we had no idea what we would do. Although he had ten weeks of severance pay, we had nothing to fall back on. We'd moved to Georgia because of a great job opportunity, but they only paid a fraction of our moving expenses, and we hadn't had a lot of savings anyway. Although he made good money, we'd been paying two mortgages the entire time we'd been here. Our savings was gone, we had two young boys, and I hadn't worked outside the home in nearly a decade. It was a sobering time period.

However, like always, I stopped thinking about it and started doing something about it by finding ways to make this work. We negotiated a few more thousand out of the deal on our house, overhauled out budget, and I sat down at the computer determined to figure out how all those people on TV got $485 worth of groceries for $22.17 out of pocket. I would get there if it killed me--and trust me, it almost did.

As my husband, Kevin, spent his days on the phone networking, updating his resume and going to interviews, I read money-saving blogs, clipped coupons and did research. Name brands were thrown out the window and replaced with generic everything. Our family "entertainment" budget was immediately terminated, and with gas prices through the roof, when I went out I had a list, a plan and a stack of coupons. If it wasn't on my route, then it wasn't getting done until the next round of errands. It was serious crunch time.

It was a long, hard autumn season, but by the time Kevin started his new job on December 1st, I'd learned a lot about saving money, shopping, and in some ways, survival. I've discovered that you often get what you pay for, nothing in life is truly free, and everything is what you make it. I made some new friends, discovered what I'm really made of, and actually learned a lot.

It's been 11 months since that day in August, and it's been almost eight months since Kevin started his new job. The benefits are better, but he took a $10,000 pay cut. We got rid of that second mortgage, but our Homeowners Association fees almost doubled. Kevin's job seems stable and he enjoys it, but he's on the road four days most weeks, which leaves me a single mom about 75% of the time. Life is good, but it's far from perfect and I'm the first to admit that I am always looking for ways to save money. Being a single mom, even part-time, is a LOT of work and being able to afford little extras to make my life easier is just as important as making ends meet.

Consequently, I've spent hours and hours scouring all the information that's out there, searching for deals and steals. Believe it or not, they exist, but you have to be willing to exert some time, energy and, unfortunately, some of your "cool" to do it. A lot of my friends laugh at me--even the ones who subsequently tell me they don't have the money for girls night out or tickets to Bon Jovi. Well, here's an example of why I do what I do. This is what I've spent for school supplies so far, and how I did it:

2 Spiral Notebooks -- "FREE."
*Last year, Walmart had spiral-bound, wide-rule notebooks for five cents. I bought ten of them even though my son only needed one. This year, when I saw that he needed two, I already had them in my cabinet. Since they came out of last year's budget, I consider them free. You could say "10 cents" if it makes you feel better.

2 Packages of Wide-Rule Notebook Paper -- "FREE."
* Do you shop at CVS? Well, if you don't, you should. What they do is offer something called Extra Care Bucks (ECBs) and in this case, they put the paper on sale for $2.00, but then gave me $2 ECBs to spend on anything else in the store. Essentially, FREE, since I always need shampoo, conditioner, contact lens solution, etc.

2 boxes of #2 pencils -- "FREE."
Another CVS deal!

6 3-prong folders -- 96 cents at Walmart
* Currently on sale for 15 cents each (plus 6% tax)

1 24-count box of Crayons -- "FREE."
* Last year, I bought clearance crayons for 10 cents a piece and put them away for when I needed them. Again, these were already bought and essentially cost nothing now.

1 box Highlighters -- $1.06 (at the Dollar Store)

2 Packs of Dry Erase Markers -- $3.18 (on sale at Walmart, tax included)

2 Reams of Copy Paper -- $5.30 (on sale at Walmart, tax included)

2 bottles of Elmer's glue -- 42 cents (on sale at Walmart, tax included)

1 package Crayola colored pencils -- $1.00 (on sale at Walmart, tax included)

1 roll paper towels -- "FREE."
* I buy these in bulk when they're on sale, so there's always plenty in the pantry!

1 box tissues -- 94 cents (Walmart, tax included)

1 pair Fiskars scissors - ZERO (saved from last year)

1 pencil box -- ZERO (saved fromm last year)

There are only two things left on my list: 1 bottle hand sanitizer and two 4-packs of 3x3 Post-It notes. I know CVS puts hand sanitizer on sale all the time, plus I have ECB's I can use, so it will definitely be free. Depending on the ads in the coming weeks, I can most likely get the Post-Its free also, or no more than $1-2.

Grand total for Back-to-school Supplies: $12.86
Retail Cost without deals (it's not exact, but close): $40

Having the Last Laugh (as I schedule a pedicure using my savings): PRICELESS!

P.S. There are many web sites and blogs that have all this information available in one place, many of which are free, as well as printable coupons and other deals!!! Have fun...

Rainy Day Finances

Southern Savers (for people in the southeast)

Cool Savings (nation-wide)

Coupons (print right from your home printer, redeemable everywhere so far)

The Royal Court of China--Still Rockin' More Than 20 Years Later!

Every time I hear my friend Joe Blanton sing, I fall a little bit in love with him. Yes, yes, I'm happily married (and so is he), and our spouses are friends, blah blah blah. I'm talking about music, people. Rock and roll, to be more specific. At the risk of stealing Joan Jett's line, I love rock and roll. I loved it way back when my Dad took me to see Tanya Tucker at the Dade County Youth Fair in the early 1970s, I loved it in high school in the 80s when Ratt and Motley Crue posters covered my walls, and I still love it today, whether it's Nickelback or Carrie Underwood or Katy Perry. Music that moves you, in a general sense, is all rock and roll--I don't discriminate between country and R&B or metal and pop. I love it, and seeing it live literally and figuratively rocks my world.

A few years back--okay, it was probably more like 21 years, give or take a few months--I was an intern at the A&M Records promotion office in Miami, FL. A&M had signed a band called the Royal Court of China and they were coming out with their second album, Geared and Primed. I listened to it all the way through just once and decided I was in love with this band, especially the lead singer. His voice moved me. It sucked me in the first time I heard it in 1988, and listening to it 21 years later, it still makes my stomach do one of those little flip-flops... you know the kind, like when you're first falling in love? It's trippy, and frankly, I'd rather have great music than drugs or alcohol any day.

The first time I saw RCC live was in Tampa in either late 1988 or early 1989. I'd memorized the words to all the songs on both of their albums, and hearing them live blew me away. As we partied before and after the show with friends and record company executives, I remember thinking that this band epitomized rock and roll; they were talented, accessible and genuinely grateful for their success. 21 years later, while a lot of things have changed, the basics have not: They're still incredibly talented, they're still accessible, and they still get a charge out of playing for their fans.

Walking into the Exit/In in Nashville on a Friday night in July was like stepping through a time machine in some ways. Rock and roll venues just haven't changed that much over the years. They're still dark and dank, with not enough chairs and somewhat spartan decor. Despite the ban in smoking these days, the room still looked and smelled a bit musty, the ghosts of rockers past lurking in the shadows like sentinels overseeing the continuance of tradition. Downright eerie, but in a good way!

First up was another band that had me dancing by the stage once upon a time, the Rock City Angels. This is one of many bands that was, in my humble and unsolicited opinion, signed by a major record label (Geffen) and then used as a tax write-off. These guys had it going on, and their lack of major distinction is both questionable and unforgivable. Say what you want, but after 20 years, a new line-up, and a new album, I was impressed with how good they sounded. And trust me when I tell you that the Exit/In is not a mecca for sound engineers; between too much bass and not enough guitar, a lesser band might not have even been capable of melody, much less a hard rockin', gritty, energetic set!

Lead singer Bobby Durango is older, but in a lot of ways, I think he's better. His voice was rich, his body language sensual yet energetic, and his interaction with the fans was unmistakable; they liked him and he liked them. What more can you ask for?

Even newcomer Adam G (bass) brought something tangible to the table with both his stage presence and his background vocals. I enjoyed their entire set, but it was their finale that sent it home for me: I still knew most of the words to "Deep Inside My Heart" and hearing it after so many years brought me back to a small, smokey club in L.A... but I digress.

By the time RCC took the stage, I was pretty geared and primed myself, moving down to the floor to cheer them on, despite the ache beginning in my feet, since they are no longer accustomed to spending more than a few minutes in four-inch heels. Yet the moment they broke into "It's All Changed," my painful feet were forgotten and I had the strangest experience where I was seeing them live in front of me, while simultaneously seeing them in my mind's eye back in the early 1990s...




Freaky, isn't it?













Although I'd stayed in touch with Joe over the years, I hadn't seen Drew (bass), Chris (drums) or Jeff (guitar) in a long time, but I recognized their style, musicality and stage presence immediately. This was RCC at its finest, and there was a vibe in the air that made me happy. Not just because it was fun seeing a band from back in the day, but because this was really good music that I could listen to all day. From older songs like "Geared and Primed" to brand new stuff ("Blowing Sunshine") and even recycled music from some of Joe's other projects ("New Machine"), this wasn't a group of bored, middle-aged men trying to recapture their youth. The only discernible difference between now and then was basically the length of their hair; everything else looked, sounded and felt the same.

Despite some technical difficulties that held up the show a good ten minutes, Joe did his best to engage the crowd and crack some jokes. Luckily, once they figured it out they let loose with more great music that made everyone forget the delay. A true high point in the evening came as Joe asked the crowd, "Guess what I've got?" And most of us knew the answer: SIX EMPTY BOTTLES! Their somewhat unlikely anthem is undoubtedly a crowd favorite even though it was never even a single, and there's nothing like watching even the smallest audience sing a song word-for-word.

From the moment they struck the first chords to the last notes of their "Man in Black" encore, the energy was palpable. It wasn't the biggest club, the most crowded audience, or even the longest set, but this was rock and roll the way it should be--with a band that plays hard, an audience that knows most of the words, and music that reverberates long after all the instruments have been put away. Personally, I think a new album is long overdue. So, what about it, boys? Got anything up your sleeves for us?!

For more info on the Rock City Angels, visit their MySpace page here.

If you'd like to check out more about the Royal Court of China, you can visit their site here.