Saving money...

...means getting back to the basics.

Five years ago, my life was much different. I spent four months as an unemployed, unsupported and unsure single mom to a beautiful infant. I had to do something that was unimaginable thing for me at the time, I had to go on welfare. I feverishly sent out job applications -- desperate for any work I could find. I wracked up all of my credit cards in an effort to live from day to day with my daughter. I didn't have it in me to ask my parents for money and I was stubborn enough to make sure that even if I had to do it all on my own, we'd live a life that was happy and bountiful. It was a horribly, depressing, dark and gut-wrenching time in my life. The toll that my divorce had on me was monumental. It literally changed my outlook on life and my beliefs. It changed me as a person. I wasn't strong until that time. I made an effort to surround myself with distractions. I lost 80 lbs in 6 months. I got a professional job that was a challenge and occupied my mind. I spent countless hours with Alyssa trying to develop her talents and even more hours hugging her and sheltering her from any stress that my heart was feeling.

My introduction to coupon cutting came as a necessity. While unemployed, I got very little in the way of food stamps and even less in TANF benefits. In order to eat healthfully (which can be expensive) I had to get creative. After doing research, I found out that I was able to use coupons with my food stamps and I would get those coupon values as "credits" for other items that weren't normally allowed on foodstamps - such as toilet paper and diapers. I would make sure to cut enough coupons to save as much money as possible AND allow me to buy soap, shampoo, diapers and other necessities that I wouldn't have been able to on my TANF alone. At first, I despised it. I spent many hours crying uncontrollably with a pair of scissors and the weekend paper in my hand. I would go around to grocery stores and corner stores and ask them for any extra coupon inserts they might have had. It was a dark time in my life. I was ashamed.

But somehow, those feelings of depression and sadness gave way to something totally different: Fun. It became fun. It became a game. I'd clip my coupons and get the fliers from all the different grocery stores. I'd match things up. I would drive to three different grocery stores and get my weekly groceries. I was able to keep my out of pocket cost for groceries to $20-$30 a week for Alyssa and I. And we ate well.

When I got my job with Husson, the clipping didn't end there. The day I got my job, I contacted the State of Maine and asked that my welfare be cancelled. They argued at first, but ultimately took me off welfare. With the money coming from my paycheck, it because more important than ever to keep using the coupons. It got to the point that Sherry at the front desk would save the Shaw's flier for me and deliver it to my desk. I'd spend my lunch hour writing down the sales. Every weekend I'd to go Gramma and Papa's house and clip coupons that Gramma would save for me while Alyssa played. Every week Papa would ask me if I was able to actually save money that way and ever week I'd tell him that I actually saved between $40 and $50 a week doing it. He'd make some kind of crack about how that was a good wage for my time. (have I mentioned lately how much I miss Papa in general...but REALLY miss THAT version of Papa?)

And then I started succeeding at my job even more. I saved money. I bought my mobile home. Life started its wonderful upswing. And as I earned more money...it became less necessary for me to clip coupons in order to survive. And slowly, convenience took over and I didn't want to go to more than one grocery store. And before I knew it, I was spending $60-70 a week for groceries. When WHSjr moved in a few years ago, it only got worse. I now was for the first time in a double income situation. Groceries became $80-100 a week. But more often than not, we'd go to the grocery store more than once a week. That is a killer for a budget. And then we started eating out more...all out of laziness and convenience.

But between Dave Ramsey (see previous post) and buying our new house, the money saving bug has hit again. Last week, after clipping coupons and watching the sales, I saved $56 at the register and got two $10 rebates for a grand savings of $76. As Papa would say, "Not a bad wage for my time." I've rediscovered the fun. We're going to start using a menu again. We're going to stop eating out as much. We're going to get on a budget again and kick ass.

Sure, we could survive without it...but it is more fun to make our money work FOR us and not against us. And to do that...we'll go back to the basics.

A lot has changed in the past five years...but saving money should never go out of style. :)

Life has this pesky way...

...of interrupting you. ;)

So, it has been awhile since my last post. Not intentional, mind you. There has been a lot going on. We've had some major work to be done here at Husson, getting our Pre-Candidate status for the School of Pharmacy AND...

...we're finally closing on the house! Tomorrow at 11am, we'll be signing our lives away to purchase our first "real" home in Bangor. (I use "real" in quotation marks because I like to think of our mobile home as a "practice" house. ;)) Alyssa is beyond thrilled at this notion...and so are we!

So, now that we're going to be homeowners, I'll have to really step up the things I know...

...like saving money. ;)

I now have a new title...

..."race director".

David Colby Young is a kindly fellow I met back in January. We didn't actually get to chat, but he was outside of the Frozen 5k in Scarborough in January, dutifully set up with his video recorder and camera. Initially I thought he was just a relative of one of the runner's. Upon returning home, I realized he was much more than that.

David is the heart and soul behind mainerunningphotos.com. He takes photos of as many running events in Maine as he can and collects photos of events that he couldn't attend. His archive is amazing. And his drive is truly that of a man with a deep passion for the experience. After he found a picture that I had taken from another race on flickr, he contacted me and asked if I had any other pictures from the race. I added him as a contact and was blown away by what I saw. In addition to the actual mainerunningphotos.com website, he also has over 100,000 photos on his flickr account.

It was at the Polar Bear 5k in Portland in February when I actually spoke to him for the first time. I thanked him deeply for his dedication and for being the only way I have proof that I actually started running. We had a nice chat and once again, shared photos of the event after. Then at the Irish Road Rover in March, I was disappointed when I looked around and didn't see him anywhere. WHSjr and my friend Chris "Fava Beans" Sprague had expressed interest in meeting this person of whom I'd spoken so highly of. The race started and I ran the race thinking that he must not have been able to make it. But, I was wrong. :) Upon getting home, I got on flickr and saw that he and one of his associates had both been there. I started the process of filtering through the pictures to find myself...when I noticed something. Photos titled, "Audrey". He knew how important these pictures were to me and not only took the time to find me in the photos, but took time to title them so I could find them easier. He even was able to find some obscure shots and cropped me out so I'd have easier access to them. It was such an incredible gesture. Still makes me grin endlessly to think on it.

My April races were a little more obscure, and up in Central Maine. He obviously wasn't able to attend these races, but I more than willingly gave him open permission to take the few photos I had from the events. In May, I was eager to say hello to him at the Mother's Day 5k in Portland. I had been training hard and was prepared to get a PR for the event. I was eager to have him there and be the one who photodocumented the moment. Unfortunately, in what I can describe as the biggest disappointment in my running 'career', I sustained an injury the day before while running the 4 mile Rabbit Run in Bangor. After a day of crying, I resigned myself to the fact that I'd not be able to run the Mother's Day 5k. Imagine my surprise that Sunday night when I had an email waiting for me from David, asking if I'd ran under another name because he didn't see me. It was yet another touching moment in my running career, provided by David. Someone noticed that I wasn't at a running event.

Me. Audrey Brissette. The girl who in high school couldn't finish a mile in 20 minutes. The one who was a goalie in field hockey for the express purpose of avoiding running. The person who only five years before had reached a top weight of nearly 300 lbs. Someone noticed that *I* wasn't at a running event. It was brilliant.

So, June came and my resolution was in danger. There were no 5k's that I could run in June that wouldn't conflict with other previous engagements. Instead of watching my resolution go away, I took matters into my own hands by "creating" a 5k race. I used the same course that the Old Town Animal Orphanage 5k race used, and called upon my friends and family to participate. I wanted to show the people I cared about WHY I was so in love with running. I wanted them to see that it didn't matter if I was slow. It didn't matter what place I finished. I wanted them to see that 5k isn't scary and unattainable. I wanted to share my love for this thing that has literally changed my perspective on life.

I made t-shirts. I had my father time the event. I had bagels, banana's and water. I made bibs. But it was ultimately all in fun. Only six of us ran, but it was a raging success. A great time was had by all and my resolution remained in tact.

And then...once again...David entered in and made the event even more special. He asked me if this was a timed running event, and I said that it was, but explained to him that it wasn't a 'real' race...just a little thing I threw together. I asked him (half jokingly) if he wanted the times for the race. Here is his response:

"Yes, send me the results, PLEASE! I am your media. I would be glad to cover your race.If you do the same thing next year you might need a few more volunteers, If you are the race director, you can make the rules. You can control the number of people in your race event. Do I call you Race Director now?"

I laughed...but then found this link on mainerunningphotos.com

I'm convinced now that we will do this next year. And it WILL be something to look forward to. And David Colby Young epitomizes everything that I've loved about running and runners:

Runners are among the most supportive, thoughtful and accepting bunch of people I've ever known. No one is there to cut anyone down. Everyone is in the race for their own reason, and everyone embraces that. I've gotten a hug from the person who finished first in a race...even though I barely broke the 37 minute mark. I've crossed finish lines with a group of other runners waiting for me...even though they undoubtedly had been waiting for twenty minutes. I've been at the end of a race and waited for the last person to finish...and stood there with a group of people - SCREAMING - for that person in the same way one would for someone breaking a world record. It is an amazing thing. An amazing thing. And I can't wait to see my friend and thank him again, in person, for all of his dedication and passion for not only his own path in running, but his passion and dedication for supporting everyone else on their path and making sure it is well documented.