This is very inspiring.

Although I am a cheapo, I am also a design lover. I think this is an amazing effort to increase awareness of the gulf oil spill, while recycling seemingly unusable material. A++++

http://www.coolhunting.com/design/oilwater-do-not.php

Shopping

Girls love to shop... It's a fact of life (so guys get over it). The thrill of having something new is momentous enough. Saving money on that said item is priceless (no pun intended). If I feel the urgent need to go shopping, specifically for clothes, I have several go-to options. Stop what you're doing and go to either http://www.rossstores.com/ or http://www.gabrielbrothers.com/. Both of these links will take you to store sites where you can save up to 70% off retail. Locate one of these stores and GO! Need a push? I went to Ross one time for back to school shopping. I just have one question to ask you. Have you ever bought 3 pairs of jeans for less that $6? I have... at Ross.

Last Week

 Last week, I went to WEIS (a grocery store) with my roommate. Before I went I acquired one of the sale papers for the supermarket out of the Sunday paper, which I didn't buy. I went through and made a list according to what was on sale... By the way lists are a lot of help in avoiding temptation. At the end of my shopping trip I had only spent $98, which is enough to feed my fiance and I for an entire month. The best part was, I saved $42 and got a $2 off coupon for my next purchase. Another cool thing my market offers is gas rewards points. Get enough and you could be driving like its 1995. Don't catch my drift? Well let me explain. I went to the store twice in two months and spent a total of roughly $200. I redeemed the points I earned at a Sheetz gas station and saved sixty cents a gallon, bringing my price per gallon to $1.95.

Since I am technically an art student, I tend to spend half my life buying stuff for school. Probably one of the best tips I can recommend is become acquainted with acmoore.com. At the top of the screen they have a coupon link. Enter your zip code and then click on the store to bring up the week's coupon. Last week the discount was a solid %50 off a single, regular priced item. Since only one coupon can be used per person, I gave a coupon to my roommate and gave him money so that he could get a discount on another item I needed. For an extra strength glue stick and matte board I spent about $3.50; half the original price!

TIPS  -Cut coupons, but make sure they are for worthwhile items. Some deals sound good until you read the fine print.
-Find a local farmer's market and buy your produce there. You will save loads of money and your produce will be fresher. This is the one I go to. http://www.centralmarketlancaster.com/

Introduction

Hey, how's it going? My name is Amanda and I'm a design student from Harrisburg, PA. Currently I attend the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design in Lancaster, PA. Although I'm required to do a blog for my Senior Self Promotion class, I've always wanted to start a blog. Now is as good a time as any to tell you about my life as a cheap-o. My fiance teases me all the time on how cheap I can be, but he knows it will benefit him in the future :)
Well, anyway, I've decided to start this blog for not only sharing my experiences and savings, but I would also enjoy hearing from everyone out there. Did you clip a coupon? Find a great sale? Cut a corner? Skip going out, to eat at home? Seriously I want to know about it!