Doing my part

"Thanks for doing your part Simon." I heard Gary say to my adorable son this morning. "You saved us almost thirty cents. Way to go! Way to be dry all night."

Ah, so that was it. I laughed out loud along with Gary and along with Simon who didn't have a clue as to why we were laughing. Gary and I are taking a Dave Ramsey class at church on Wednesday nights. Although Gary is a skeptic and thinks we don't need to class, I'd like to ask the following questions. Who worked ahead in the workbook? Who made their own budget sheets? Who shows me every night what cool new thing he did on the excel spreadsheets? Who announces that their son is doing his part to save us big bucks? Yup, you guessed it.

It has been really good for us to take this class. We are being more deliberate about our spending. We are thinking about where our money is going. With a possible strike looming in the next couple of weeks, we are planning and preparing ahead. It is good. Plus, Gary isn't spending as much on good deals anymore. For those of you who know Gary, you know that he loves and searches for and dreams about good deals. It is something that I love about him. He has saved us plenty of Benjamins over the years with his hunting. He also spends money on good deals for things that we don't really need. Alas. . . .

How am I doing my part? I always shop sales, but I'm being more picky these days. I sat down with a savvy friend and asked her what products she gets at Aldi. I now have a list of go-to items on my fridge. A friend at church is offering a "clever couponing" class next Friday night. I don't know how clever I am, but I'd like to be better. It has been kind of fun to gather our receipts each week. I even called Gary from the Meijer parking lot to tell him how much money we saved. Yup, another perk of being a stay at home mom: getting excited about savings. Either that or I'm a little nutty. Perhaps both.