Finally, a new purse

I'm not sure anyone knows how to obsess like I do :D.

After spending way too much time searching for the "perfect" purse, I finally put myself out of my misery today. I've shopped online and been to anywhere in Yuma that has purses. Marshalls seemed to have the best selection and I often found purses there that were much closer to something I wanted than anywhere else I had looked. I think I went there twice a week for the past few weeks hoping that one of their purses would be the "perfect" purse.

Initially, I wanted a nice brown leather or suede purse and I wanted it to have more pockets inside, like a zippered pocked that divides the purse in half. This one is Marigold. It's a bit colorful for me, but hey, I'll be hip now, right? I like the double pockets on the sides, perfect for keys in the zipper and phone in the open pocket towards me when wearing it and I can put my camera in the zippered pocket on the other side and my sunglasses in the open pocket. I really like the magnetic closure for the main body - it's one of those magnets that is under the leather (really neat!). And it's real leather. While it wasn't super cheap, it didn't break the bank either. I saw a few purse possibilities that were about $25, but really, how long will a purse that price last? This purse, which retailed for much more, was on clearance at Marshalls for about $50. I tried it out at the commissary today and while it is deeper than my old purse and easier to loose things down there, it seems to do it's job. And obviously, it will take a little time to adjust to, too. So, it's over.....I can move on. And I have room inside to carry my coupons and money organizer and that was my main objective. WOOT! WOOT!

Sweet Rewards!!

Had a good today full of lots of coupon savings!!! This is a picture of me and my son having drink treats - and we used coupons for both!!! I love teaching my family about smart shopping. After our busy Target shopping where we saved $2.05 (we only bought gum, shampoo and soap for the kids, and a travel size Johnson & Johnson baby shampoo that was free with the coupon) we needed to treat ourselves to a little drink. I had a coupon for $1 off a frappachino and one for $0.55 off an Odwalla drink that I used at the Starbucks inside Target and only spent $1.55 for both drinks!

$0.05 of our Target savings was for using our own bags.  Check out my son's blog about being green!

Savings update:
$18.35 at Commissary on 02/05/2010 (late about posting this)
$2.05 at Target today
$1.55 at Starbucks today
$18.48 at the Commissary today

Today's savings of $22.08 + last week's commissary savings of $18.35 + $117.19 saved already this year = 157.62 saved for 2010 so far!!

Getting Organized

With my new love of coupons, I decided it was time for a coupon organizer. While I was at, I bought one for my money too.  (They were under $4 each at Walmart)

Dave Ramsey promotes the use of envelopes - spending your money on paper first and then setting money aside for those expenses. In an effort to be more efficient than envelopes, I thought a coupon organizer for my budgeted money might work. I did this once before and found myself robbing from Peter to pay Paul or taking clothing money to pay the babysitter, so let's hope that I'm more stringent this time around. I'm quickly discovering all the things that weren't budgeted for. Like party favors for my son's birthday, wanting to buy a tomato plant for our garden and the $30 I had to spend on printer ink. My husband and I were both allotted some "blow" money that is ours to spend how we choose, but it wasn't very fun taking $30 of my blow money to buy computer ink. Hmmmm.....still working out the kinks. Now with my new handy money organizer, our going green project is in effect. My husband got paid on Friday and I took out a big withdrawal from the ATM and then sorted and divided the cash into the various categories.

As for my coupons, it's much nicer having them organized. I watched Collin's video on coupon organizing to help me determine what dividers I would want. I'm missing something for bread...packaged goods? I'm hoping this smaller, accordion organizer will suffice for a while. Collin using a binder and I'm just not sure I want to carry something that big around with me to the store.

Speaking of taking all this with me to the stores - I need a new, bigger purse now more than ever. I found one that would do the job at Wilson Leather when Hip2Save posted about a save they were having, but without being able to see it in person, I just couldn't commit.

Will all this work and be full proof? Obviously not. But I'm open to adjustments.

Saved $34!!!

Another successful commissary shopping trip. I save $28 yesterday. I bought 79 items and all but about 25 of them (some of them were produce) I had a coupon for. I had a few high dollar coupons, so not sure when I'll be able to top a $28 savings. Also, I saved $6 at Walgreens, getting 4 small boxes of Ritz and Saltines for free and getting Visine for about $2.50, plus I got $1 RR back. So, that brings my daily savings to $34 and my annual savings to $59! Most of my coupons come from coupons.com or from links posted on Hip2Save. I admit, my grocery shopping takes a bit longer, but there's also a thrill to using coupons and watching the total drop with the scan of each one!

Current purchase obsession - I need a new purse

I'm very ready for a new purse.  I was hoping to do some purse shopping while I was in California at Christmas time, but ran out of time.  I have a coach bag now that I've been very happy with.  The leather braided strap stays on my shoulder, it's not too big, it has the perfect pockets for my keys and iphone.....

but I've had it a year and a half and I want something with more room and more pockets.  I want one that opens at the top with a covered magnet closure (no flap like my current one and no zipper) and 1-2 dividers in the main compartment so that I have nice ways to keep my coupons and sunglasses separate from other contents.  My friend recently got a new coach bag, the maggie, that I thought was perfect, but after trying it on I found that the leather straps slip right off my shoulder.  It's a good thing too, because the retail price on that purse was way more than I'd like to pay. 

I know what you're thinking - what, Coach purse?  I thought this girl was thrifty with her coupons and trying to save money by paying with cash.  But a girl's gotta have a good purse!  We all have our weaknesses, right?  It's a balancing game - I save with coupons, bargain shopping, buying second hand and then every couple of years, I splurge and buy a good purse.  If it's any consolation, this last purse was bought at the MCX at the recruit depot in San Diego.  If you're not familiar, an MCX is a Marine Corps Exchange (my husband is active duty) and they sell name brand items at a lower price plus there is no tax....so it was a little bit of a bargain ;-). 

I found a great purse at the Cole Haan outlet.  It was brown suede and slouchy and had leather ropey handles, but I was afraid that one of the straps would keep falling off my shoulder and it didn't have any of the dividers inside that I was looking for.  It was on sale for 60% off, but I was afraid I wanted it for all the wrong reasons.  I'm having buyers remorse and wishing I would have bought it.  Not sure if I'll find "the" purse at that price. 

I've looked online and I'm burnt out.  I went to a few local stores like Marshalls and Dillards, but can't find what I'm looking for in a brand that I like.  Plus, I have shoppers guilt when making such a purchase this big. It's humbled me enough to be happy with what I have for a little while longer. 

Hopefully, I'll get a new purse before summer :-P.