Jada Edwards
My New Refunding Corner! Jada Edwards, Grayson, GA This is a story of a refunder’s workspace gone out of control, and her husband’s sweet gesture to regain control of the chaos! There is nothing I love more than couponing and refunding. It’s my hobby, and a fun way to relax while saving money for my family. The problem with my hobby is this: with a full-time career outside the home, two children (and a hubby) to love and care for, and a list of household chores and responsibilities that never seem to end, my refunding hobby occasionally has to take a backseat. In the meantime, the coupons keep coming, the mail keeps piling up, and the refunds and qualifiers collect dust bunnies waiting for my attention. See the “before” picture? What a mess! I was missing a lot of good deals because I had no organization and no place to put my piles of potential good deals! The little cutie pie on my bed is my three month old Lauren. She’s the reason I don’t have much refunding time anymore! In my defense, I promise the rest of my house doesn’t look like the “before” picture! The dishes are done, the laundry is put away (OK, almost), and the bathrooms are clean. Even the kids’ toys get a quick pickup every night. I have a home office, but it is used primarily for bookkeeping and surfing the Internet, as well as entering my completed refunds in the Rebate! Rebate! computer program. I do my refunding and coupon clipping at night after the kids are in bed, so my bed and nightstand had become my refunding desk: my little corner to fill out refund forms, complete trades, and clip coupons. Well, one Saturday morning my husband Anthony took a look at the ever-growing messy buildup and declared that he was going to find a small desk just for my coupons and refunds! He was tired of our bedroom’s sloppy look, and even more tired of my complaining every time I missed a good deal because I couldn’t find what I needed. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I agreed to his generous offer and off to the furniture stores we went! We decided to look for a small drop-lid secretary’s desk that was small but functional. We were discouraged to find that the prices could be outrageous-up to $1200-but we finally found the perfect desk. It is small, but has ample drawer space and plenty of little nooks and cubbies for organizing my paperwork. The wood is a fairly close match to our bedroom furniture. The best thing of all is the price: $199! I consider that money to be a long-term investment in my ability to save more money in the future. I finally have my own little space, to get away every night for a few minutes and do something I love to do in a space that I now enjoy. My “after” picture shows me doing a little late night refunding before the end of another long day. What an improvement, huh? It took two weeks before Anthony could take the “after” picture because it took me that long to clean up my mess! I have no doubt that I will occasionally have a chaotic pile on the desk, but at least it’s off the floor and I can close the desk lid to hide the mess when I need to. The only thing left on my nightstand related to refunding is my Shopper’s Hotline scanner, but I can live with that! I think it’s important to have hobbies to escape the drudgeries of household chores and work-related stress, and now I realize the importance of having a space of my own as well. Thank you for visiting my new refunding corner! Until next time….Happy shopping!