I graduated. Again.

My family loves to joke about my somewhat long scholarly career. At the ripe old age of 48, which is not really that old when I think about it (mother nature is just playing a cruel trick with the calendar on me) I just graduated with my MSN degree in nursing. The joke is that when I was six years old my mom took me by the hand for my first day of school and said, "Come on, sweetie. You have to go to school." Mom says she didn't mean for the rest of my life. I graduated with a BA in communications first, swearing that I'd never go back to school. This was at the age of 21 when I suddenly decided I was filled with the knowledge only bestowed upon ancient wizards. At 30, I realized that I didn't know everything after all, and went back to school off and on for many years. During this time, I got half a business degree (I refused to retake literature so that my courses would be in sync. I graduated before the core curriculum was enforced, and I can be stubborn at times), minored in Forensics, took several writing courses, got my ADN degree in nursing, said I was done with school, then went and got my BSN and said I was done, and then went back AGAIN for my masters'.

The good news in all this is that once you get that ADN, which will cost you blood, sweat, tears, much of your sanity, and maybe your marriage (nursing school hatches life changes. In my class, 3 people got divorced, 2 girls got pregnant and were competing to see who would go into labor at graduation, one got married and several took up smoking), getting the BSN and MSN is really easy. Mine was all online, and other than taking lots and lots of time, along with the dreaded group projects, it really is pretty easy. Out of the 20-something courses I took for the last two, I made all A's with only two B's while working full-time. It can be done.

For graduation my mom made me promise I won't go back to school again (I won't) and my dad was mentioning something about me getting a PhD (no, thank you). I'm really done this time, except for writing courses and the like. I was just happy to graduate before I would need a walker to get to the stage with. Lots of people are now graduating high school and college at this time of the year. My best advice to the 20-year-olds graduating? Never say you'll never go back to school. After a few years, you may very well eat those words. And if your employer offers tuition reimbursement or any kind of help with school, you're an idiot not to take them up on it. A few workplaces still offer totally free tuition coverage for employees without them having to pay it up front and get reimbursed later. Since the pension plan has gone the way of the dinosaur, take advantage of any kind of educational assistance you can get for free. When I was a new nurse at UAB years ago, they totally covered my tuition for advanced pathophysiology. All I had to do was buy a used book. So that was like tax-free money since I never saw a bill for the class.

Think about it.

Do You Have a Coupon For That?

I talked my boyfriend into letting me buy his groceries one day. He gave me the money, and I returned with several bags totaling around $70. I had saved $30 with coupons and sales, and we had more to eat than just a box of cereal and some junk food.

"Why is it when I shop I come home with $200 worth of stuff and it only lasts 2 days?" he asked as he helped haul in the bags.

"You don't know how to shop," I told him. It's true. He doesn't have the time, inclination, or know-how to peruse sale ads, cut coupons, and troll the internet looking for deals. Case in point--earlier this week his fridge was practically empty. He went to the store without a list, and pretty much just went up and down every aisle and grabbed a little bit of everything. I met him at his house, and thought I was going to pop an artery.

Yes, he had lots of groceries...he should have. The grand total?? $350.00!!! I nearly had a stroke. My grocery bill for the month of February was $111.00. Yes, it's just me, but still, he only buys for himself and his son and I on weekends. He works out of state all week and I'm like how on God's green earth can you spend so much on groceries when you're never home???

Even worse, when I helped put things away, I could count up at least $50 I could have saved just with coupons, not even worrying about sales, or using Target coupons (I love Publix for that), or any of my iPhone apps that have coupons and other savings programs.

Now my running joke is to tell him I had a coupon for something after he buys it. He said for me not to say that after the fact, when I wasn't in the store with him. I tell him if I'd known he was going to the store, I could have hooked him up. It must have worked....for the last couple of weeks every time he mentions going to the store he says, "Oh, do you have a coupon for that?"

Just goes to show, ya gotta train them right, and make smart shopping a habit. I'm attempting to introduce his teenage son to the joy of coupons, so we'll see if it takes hold. 

Got to go check for the last day of the week's sales I don't want to miss tomorrow at CVS and Walgreen. I love their rewards programs, and I have $10 in CVS bucks burning a hole in my coupon holder:)

Until next time, happy saving! And watch those spring allergies. They are starting up around here. 

Happy New Year of Saving!!!

Welcome to 2013! Here's hoping everyone has a happy and prosperous year. My grandmother always said, "A penny saved is a penny earned." Well, her pennies went much further back then than my dollars do today, so I'm going to share some money-saving tips with you. There are many ways to save money--on groceries, entertainment, clothing, and just about everything you buy!

Think how hard you work to make enough to pay for the 200 channels of cable you don't watch, or buying another pair of black boots to go with the other six pairs in the closet. Makes you think, huh? As a nurse, I find it handy to ask," How many butts will I have my hand up in to earn enough to buy XX with?" Do you really want to throw out a full workday of 8+ hours on that purchase?

The best way to start is to know where those dollars are going. I'm "auditioning" several apps on my iPhone for tracking my spending. So far, the winner appears to be Pocket Expense Personal Finance Account Tracker by Blue Tags. It meets my most important criteria--easy to use and FREE!!! If you need more than just the basics, you may have to pay a few dollars for apps that do it all. Remember, in most cases you can upgrade later if you need to.

Got to go work on my coupon organizer. If you want to start the new year learning how to save big on groceries, there are dozens of web sites to get you started. One of the best I recommend (and she has a very good book to accompany the site is The Krazy Coupon Lady. You can follow her on Twitter at @KrazyCouponLady.

Till next time, happy saving!

Roma