Back in the Day, Beverages and Birthdays

When I was married, I used to have to work very hard to save money.  We were newly married and I had only been out of college for a few years.  Also, my husband was a fool, and a fool and his money are soon departed.  So, the Frugal Diva had to depart as well.  But, I digress.  Anyway I cut coupons and did a lot of traveling back then to save money.  I went to Farmer Jacks for double coupons, F&M for discount health and beauty items and Save a Lot for pop and produce.  Now, I collect the various sale papers that I get in the mail and I sit down and compare prices and determine who has the best discounts.  So, I only go to one store.  When I went shopping on Friday, the winner was Safeway.  I wish I could say that I learned to shop smarter on my own, but I didn't.  When I first graduated from college, I had trouble finding employment and my grandmother asked me to shop for one of her friends who had become home bound.  Ms. Russell did all of her shopping from home.  She would read all of the sale papers, and then she would make a grocery list based on what was on sale.  I still went to more than one store, but I had a grocery list for each store.  She was able to save money and I learned how to be more frugal. 

Remember back in the day, when saving money meant buying Kool-Aid.  Well, for some those days are back.  Frugal Divas do participate in nostalgia.  Was it, 10 Kool-Aid packages for a dollar?  However, we do look at more frugal beverage alternatives besides soda (pop).  Ice tea can be economical and healthy.  Also, if you purchase herbal and flavored teas at places like Burlington, TJ Maxx, Ross, Tuesday Morning or other discount stores, you can get good flavored teas at a discounted price.  And, you can enjoy cold healthy beverages with different flavors, antioxidants, and, you can control the amount of sugar or sweetener that you put in beverage. 

While I was internet surfing I came across an article stating all the freebies that you can get on your birthday.  Well, some may not be freebies but discounts.  But, a diva is all about saving money especially on their special day.  You can find a lot of sites by googling birthday freebies.  These are the sites that I went to and liked...     

   http://shopping.yahoo.com/articles/yshoppingarticles/665/fabulous-freebies/ 
     
   http://thefrugalgirls.com/birthday-freebies
   http://www.frugalliving.tv/free-stuff/birthday-freebies.html

Getting Down to Business

One of the most obvious ways to say money in your budget is to go after the grocery portion of the budget..   However, a Frugal Diva knows that what, you consume directly affects the health of you and your family.  Therefore, fresh  or frozen produce, whole grains and legumes are essential.  Meat, if you eat it, is desired and refined or manufactured products, not so much.   Why, because a diva knows that even though you will find more coupons and sales on latter items, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes are costly.   And, the latter items provide the least amount of nutritional value.   Food is fuel, especially when you are budgeting, so you have to pick your items wisely.  The local health food store may have some sales, but some items can be pricey, but there are ways to get  around it.

So, let's get down to business.   Where do you shop and how do you save money.   Well, I shop at Asian Grocery stores.   They usually have great deals on produce, grains and legumes.  Also, because the Asian diet is usually higher in produce and fish, the stores have a higher turnover rate.  So, your chance of getting fresher food there instead of regular grocery stores are higher.   Farmer's markets and co-ops are also great places to shop.  There are local grocery stores in my area that have discounted groceries, but I am not always happy with the quality, but I have found some good items there.  The bottom line is that you may have to go to more than one store and you will have to determine what is good where.  My secret weapon for whole graian shopping are online discount health food stores.  I like to shop at iherb.com and vitacost.com.  These are online vitamin stores that happen to sell some whole grains as well as vitamins at a discounted prices and free shipping, depending on how much you spend. 

The Frugal Diva Rules
1.   All sales and discounts aren't good.  A frugal diva is a smart shopper, who doesn't just buy because it is on sale.
2 .  Frugal Divas eat healthy to take care of their health.  Because, illnesses cost money.