Marie Turner, VA
When I was a newlywed, I remember reading an article in a woman’s magazine about a Coupon Queen. I read about her getting all of her groceries for pennies. I thought it was too good to be true. I figured she had some secret, or that groceries must be really cheap where she lives. I read it over and over, but figured that would never happen to me. Groceries for pennies? Or even better free? It must be to good to be true. Yet I started looking out for good deals anyway. I don’t think I am ever saving as much as I could or worked at it as hard as I should. But I do enjoy the deals that I get it on. One thing that has really surprised me, is how many things you can actually get for free. I am not just talking about groceries either. Recently my son enjoyed going to the library and picking out a free book. At his preschool there is a library van that comes and visits. They get them excited about visiting the library, and they give them a free coupon for a book the next time that they come in. He really enjoyed that, and so did I! Courtesy of my daughters school, she has been able to enjoy ice cream parties, free pizza and baseball games. I read 2 books to my children every night. By simply charting those books on a reading log, she gets a ticket for a free personal pizza every month. By logging the books she has read, she also has a free tickets to the local baseball team for every month in the summer. A long with a big ice cream cone. My DH is in the Navy and I have found some wonderful discounts and freebies by being military. Of course not everyone can take advantage of these offers, but if you can you should. I recently printed off a voucher for a family of four to go to Busch Gardens for free. We will be going sometime this summer. We also got to go to a popular museum for free on Navy appreciation day. This also included a free Krispy Kreme doughnut! Our area also offers a lot of discounts. We love taking our kids to the Cinema Café where all movies, except Friday nights, are only $2. There are also dollar theaters and theaters that offer free kids movies in the summer. My favorite "freebie" of course is the library. Ours offers new release DVD’s along with a vast collection of books. Plus they offer incentives for young children to encourage them to read. I am a book worm and hope to instill that in my children, so this really helps out. I always thought that you couldn’t get discounts on too many things. Mainly clothes when on sale or clearance and food. I didn’t realize that there were discounts on oil changes, restaurant, movies and more. I also love to do frequent shopper cards. I have earned gift certificates to my favorite scrapbook store , free hair cuts and more. To make a long story short, it is possible to get things for free. We can get discounts on some of the finer things in life, not just our groceries. This is a picture of my daughter with 2 of her teachers, enjoying a free double scoop ice cream. Keep sending in those great stories. I love to read them! Marie Turner Norfolk, Va