Welcome to FrugalistaPDX

Welcome to FrugalistaPDX.  I decided to start this blog because I was sharing deals on Facebook a lot but I felt like I was probably being annoying to those whose walls I was taking up with virtual advertisements for various companies.  So I started this blog to share ideas with people who actually seek them out and want to hear about it and I will leave my Facebook profile for general gossip and witty quips…  I also wanted to create this blog to keep me accountable with my goals and attempting to be a 20-something not buried in debt. 

My discovery of coupons and frugal living started a couple of years ago when I was still an undergrad working very part time as a waitress and more than part time as an intern (*read un-paid slave laborer).  The husband and I were barely scraping by and even though we had a savings account, it never accumulated because we were constantly dipping into it for emergencies.  While searching the internet for coupons I came across a couple of blogs that covered a world of frugality that I was unaware of.  Most of these lovely bloggers were stay at home moms who wrote about the savings involved with cloth diapers as opposed to disposable but here and there I came across a deal that was beneficial to my small family (myself, husband, and crazy cat).  

Living on the cheap has not been easy and I’ve had numerous ups and downs- like spending hours coming up with awesome coupon deals to save $20 on my weekly groceries to then spend $75 for dinner and wine on a Tuesday night (no special occasion involved).  I chalked this up to being in my 20s and the fact that after working for free for a good period of college I was making a decent wage doing a job that I could stand and could afford to celebrate life.  Money didn’t have time to burn a hole in my pocket.  It never made it into my pocket to begin with.  2010 was a super crummy year for my family and me and my wallet paid a heavy price for sure.  This year I hope to make bigger changes that have more lasting effects.  I hope to clear away a good portion of consumer debt that we have accumulated and start saving for my future goals (more on that later).  I struggle to stay on the straight and narrow of spending wisely on a daily basis but now I get to share that all with you.  Don’t you feel lucky?  I promise not to be super annoying with my stories of personal struggles when it comes to money but I hope that I can inspire some of you to save some dough because if I can do it, you can too!

Cheers,
     A