artofthecoupon.com

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Welcome to any new readers that found me from MSN Smart Spending.  I am Coupon Artist.  Around here I blog about a lot of different things- most obviously, of course, my extensive and creative use of coupons.  I don’t pay for toothpaste or toiletries, or really many groceries at all… and if you hang around here and read my posts long enough, hopefully you won’t have to either.  I also blog about general financial stuff and personal finance stuff- things like saving money, getting out of debt, and/or just my general thoughts on the state of personal finance in America.

I encourage you to explore, check out some posts, and hopefully subscribe to my RSS Feed or subscribe via email.  I post an average of once-a-day during the week, so you’ll always have something to read

Carnival of Personal Finance at Earn What You Spend included my Coupon Quiz.

My Couponers Creed was an editors pick in the Festival of Frugality at Always The Planner.

Carnival of Debt Reduction at Man Versus Debt included my post, Debt Forgiveness and the Tax Bill

Carnival of Personal Finance at Weakonomics included my post, Why is it so Much Harder to Thrive in America Today.

The Money Hacks Carnival at i pick up pennies also included my post Why it is Worth my Time to Argue for my Coupons.

This post at Cash Money Life asks if there is a living wage in the U.S. and ponders the question of why it is so much harder today for blue collar workers to make enough to get by, and/or support large families.  I firmly believe that the “progress” this society has made has all but eliminated the ability of low-wage workers to be successful.  There seem to be several causes all working together to contribute to this problem: (more…)

To go along with the poem, A Law Students Lament, that I wrote a few months ago, I decided to write a Couponers Creed.  So, here it is, I hope you enjoy: (more…)

Thankfully, I got my car back and it cost nothing.  It was some sort of hose problem, and they repaired it and the light is off.  I am very very glad though, that I bought a certified preowned car so that I haven’t had to pay for any of these issues. I’ve had the car for almost two years now (it will be 2 years in May) and it has been to the repair shop 3 times, and each of those times I have spent nothing (knock on wood!) for the over $1600 worth of work that was done.

I know you can buy extended warranties on non-certified used cars, but when I looked into that option, it seemed like very few (if any) of these warranties were serviced by the dealers, and they all seemed to have little catches thrown in (like you had to pay out the money and then send it to be reimbursed, or you had to go to in a”in-network” mechanic).  For the piece of mind, and the 3 year warranty I have to say I am very happy to have made the choice I made.

As I mentioned, I’m trying to look for ways to bring in more income so that I can pay down my debt faster.  I know that I should just be looking for jobs- any jobs, including jobs that I am not really interested in doing (like jobs that take advantage of my degree) if the jobs pay well.  The economy is still not doing very well (duh, right), and unemployment is causing all sorts of problems for everyone, not just people who lost their jobs (who obviously are affected) but also for people who are lucky enough to find new jobs or people who already have jobs (no negotiation for pay/benefits, wage freezes, etc.).  But, as of this point, I am still resistant to applying for jobs I am not interested in, just for the sake of the income.  (more…)

I’m having car problems again.  Last month, I took the car in because the Check Engine light was on.  Thankfully, the service ended up being covered by my warranty and so I didn’t have to pay anything (including the $95 diagnostic fee that is required to see if the service is covered).  Then, a few days ago, the check engine light came on- again!  I made an appointment for tonight, but I just hate that risk of paying the $95 to see if it is covered, since if I have to pay for the service I definitely will not be getting it fixed at the dealership.

is up at Mighty Bargain Hunter.  Check it out.

Carnival of Debt Reduction is also up at SimplyForties.  Check that out too

Is up over at Stretchy Dollar.  Check it Out.