So-- hi! I started a new blog for 2009. I figured since "getting the most value out of every dollar" is something I think about every day, I would use my blogging powers for good this year and try to share some of the stuff that's really worked for me.
But first, perhaps, a little about the Culwell obsession with saving money, which certainly can be traced back to my father (or perhaps to my Depression-era grandparents, or maybe a little of each). Mine kicked in right around grad school, where (as I might have mentioned over on my other blog, Funny Strange, which I know you read every day), I made $8,000 one year, and had to plan my food choices very carefully so that I could wash my clothes at the end of the week. This period of time forced me to become very aware of "living below my means," so to speak, and it turned out that I had quite an aptitude for it. In fact, several years later, when I was living in San Francisco and got a job at a dotcom, I used these strategies to pay off all of my student loans and credit card debt (as well as my husband's), and we've been building up our net worth ever since.
Also, I'm doing this blog because I think (especially given the current economic times), we really need a new word for "someone who stretches the dollar as far as it will go." Tightwad, cheap, thrifty-- these terms really denigrate the financially savvy person, although really, call me whatever you want, and I will still be trying to figure out how to get things for cheaper so I can save and invest more and be a super multimillioniare when I'm old. That's what I'm talking about.
So, that's it-- CouchCoins.com is really just a running list of things I am doing to save money, and this actually is a subject that I think about every day. If any of them appeal to you, by all means, feel free to use them. If any of them make you go "I would never do that, that would make me feel cheap," then definitely don't do those.
Let's be clear, though-- I definitely consider myself financially savvy, not cheap or stingy. I don't think the two are mutually inclusive, at all. I wear designer clothes, eat at nice restaurants, and almost always overtip my wait-people. We also give alot of money to charity, always give good gifts, and bring nice wine to parties. I absolutely know that you can do these things and still save alot of money, and I am going to show you just how this can be done.
