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My Utmost Tightwad Survival Secret....

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As I bend as far as I can figuratively, before breaking, I realize that this article was one I really needed to write, and one I could no longer post-pone. I apologize if I offend some of you, as I reveal a crucial part of myself. I have struggled to keep this private in my writing here, but feel I really can no longer do this. For those of you that do not share the same beliefs as I do, I apologize. I hope that you will at least get some benefit out of this article, even if it is only this week's "Cheap Meal." Thanks so much.

While I was riding with some friends this week, I began to share some of my biggest secret to surviving with my family of five on one income. This particular secret was identical to the one I had heard some years before from another friend. I remember her telling me about her childhood with one parent and two sisters very close to her age. Her mother would be just pennies away from insurance for the month at times; and how they were always doing all that they could to "make it", through the month, through the week, through the day. How could it be possible that her mother's car could run on empty for weeks? How could it be possible that without a penny left for wood and food, they were delivered anonymously to their door?

My family and I have experienced like situations many, many times. I can't tell you how many times I drove with kids in the back on an empty tank driving slowly (sometimes up steep hills) to get to the gas station to only be able to put $1 or $2 in when we got there. Or how many times I only had $20 for the week for groceries, and I got all the things I needed for my family for exactly the amount I had, or slightly under.

This week's scenario: Unlike most weeks where we put aside about $40 for the week's groceries, we decided to take part in a limited "double coupon" promotion. I took a total of $70 (I did this in three trips: thirty the first time, twenty, the second, and twenty the third) knowing that this is going to need to last us primarily for a month, I carefully planned, scouted, tracked the best coupons, every in and out of the policy and then verified with a different store that matched prices if they would honor the promotion as well. I went with the hope and thought in mind that I would be able to receive many items for little, many items for free, many treats my family rarely gets, and many things to share with those less fortunate than ourselves.