As far back as my memory serves me, I remember coupons.  My mother was, and is, The Coupon Queen.  She has this little black box that’s filled to the brim with every kind of coupon one can imagine.  The good ones, too. For stuff you want to buy, not rainbow raspberry mouthwash.

Growing up, I remember our family did not waste money.  We “shopped smart”, turned off the lights when we left a room, and propped the shampoo bottle at an angle to get all the shampoo out before throwing it away.  Wasting money was, well, a waste.  It was etched in my brain to be responsible with what I was given and to maximize all my resources.

But still somehow I became careless.

I don’t remember when it started, but I think it had something to do with being “busy”.  Too “busy” to want to take the time to look at the sale ads, too “busy” to clip coupons, and definitely too “busy” to shop at multiple stores.  I wanted to go to one grocery store, buy what I needed at the moment, and go home.

That fun run of wrecklessness came to a screeching halt one day when half our annual household income vanished with the changing economy.  We suddenly found ourselves looking for ways to save money.  We also were going to have to seriously change our ways.

Over the next few months, we bought the newspaper and began watching the store ads.  We used coupons and stocked up on things on sale.  Our pantry and freezer grew full, even though we were spending less than before.  We also started looking at other financial areas we could “trim” and made changes.

I created Once Upon a Coupon to be a resource for those who are also looking to make changes in their spending habits.  It is a collection of the best deals on groceries, household items, and family-fun activities that I have discovered in my quest to stretch my family’s income.  If you have a success story you would like to share, simply use the contact form to submit your information.  If your story is published I will include your name as the source and a link, if applicable, to your website.