Have you noticed how many sites are promoting ways to save money these days? I saw one story made it to the Yahoo front page with the headline ‘people who are taking the frugal lifestyle too far’. I was intrigued and clicked on the link. The article was about a woman who cut tubes of lotion in half and used every last drop. And she made her own cleaning products. What a minute, I thought; I do that; doesn’t everyone do that? I always cut tubes of body lotion and hand cream, even makeup foundation in half. In fact, I have a tube of hand lotion that I cut in half three weeks ago. Yes, see my point, I’ve had another three weeks use out of it. You’ve paid for it, so why not use the whole thing. And homemade cleaning products. I use things like vinegar and baking soda because the smell of most cleanings products gives me a headache. So was the woman in the article going too far? Not in my opinion and not just because I do those same things. She was just being a Budget Smart Girl.

Each week I always think, wow, I don’t think there’s anything to buy this week. I’ve stocked up on groceries etc. Can I go a whole week without making a purchase? If only…
This week it’s the print cartridges that have been my pet peeve yet again. I couldn’t get the black ink cartridge to print. I went to Walgreens to see if they could fill it and get it working, but I was told the bad news that it had dried out. Dried out, equals more money than I want to spend on cartridges. So online I went to see who had the best deal. A company called www.databazaar.com won the contest. Free shipping too. You know how much I love free shipping.

And while I was waiting in Walgreens, I thought I might as well roam around the store to see what deals they had. I found Walgreen’s own brand called Tuf, paper towels. 8 rolls for $5. And Walgreens’s toilet paper, 12 double rolls = 24 single rolls for $5.99. It claims to be comparable to Charmin.

And here’s what’s happening on this week’s Budget Smart Girl. I’ll be telling you about a way to make the most of your purchases with a new reward system. And ways you can still afford to eat out in a restaurant besides the fast food ones.

Have a good week and Happy St. Patrick’s Day.