Howdy!! My name is Mary and I am a young stay-at-home mom of 3 wonderful children (ages 3, 5, and 8)…2 boys and 1 girl! I'm so blessed to have a wonderful family, especially a supportive (smart and handsome too!) husband who loves God and his family and is an inspiration to me every day! I live in beautiful Austin, TX and I love finding bargains around town, online, at the stores, you name it! I have always used coupons when grocery shopping, but never knew how to use them to their full potential. I would cut coupons for a product I needed, use it regardless of if it was a better deal, and be thrilled when I'd save $15 on a $350 shopping trip. Yikes!
In college (Gig 'Em Ags!), my husband and I had 2 children and were barely breaking even every month. After graduating from college with a lot of student loan debt, we soon became pregnant with our third child. I had a desire to work to bring in more income to help make ends meet, but knew that being a stay-at-home mom was a more important "job" for me and my kids. So, I slowly started "extreme couponing" in January 2009 after hearing how my friends and sister were saving so much money with coupons…I thought I'd give it a shot too and see if I could really save hundreds each month! At first I thought all the clipping, filing, organizing, comparing, shopping, etc. was way too complicated and didn't believe that using coupons (really!?) could save me hundreds every month. BUT, after extreme couponing for over a year (took about 3-4 months to get the hang of it), we have cut our monthly grocery budget by more than 70% and are loving the ability to focus on other areas of our finances (like paying off our student loans!)! And the thing I love most about extreme couponing? I can save hundreds of dollars each month by using coupons AND be a stay-at-home mom at the same time…it's really the best of both worlds! I started Hooked on Bargains in May 2010 because finding bargains and saving money is all too good to keep to myself! But most importantly, I want to be a wise steward of every resource that God has blessed me with and I want to help others learn how to make their dollars stretch too, especially during these hard economic times! I hope that you learn something "new" from Hooked on Bargains and that I can help you learn ways to spend your resources wisely so you can save more!
In addition to loving nature and the outdoors, I love to laugh, have fun, and just be silly at times (I think I can thank my kids for that!?)! I am so blessed…what can I say!?
– "And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus." – Philippians 4:19
