I need your votes!!! click here please. I was nominated as one of the thriftiest families in Arizona, not really a title I will place on a resume or anything like that, but I'm really excited I could possibly win--with your help of course. Here is my original application that was submitted for AZcentral
Your family: Our little basketball team consist of Tim and Sharla Wood, high school sweethearts and three adorable girls, Kiora, 7, Kylee, 5, and Kamryn, 1-- oh and one fat dog bowzer.
How you save: I am known as the coupon queen, and rarely spend more than I save on groceries. I even buy the food with the bright orange and yellow stickers that scare the other shoppers away, because they are about to expire. When we go out to eat I use buy one free coupons and always order water, I even save the napkins, straws and medley of sauces when we order fast food, usually from the dollar menu. I've even reused the disposable bowls, plates, and boxes after all the food has been devour. I prepare tasty affordable meals like macaroni and cheese and if it's really a special occasion macaroni and cheese with hot dogs mmmm. Our beautiful home is fashionably designed with the latest curbside furniture, you know the lovely furniture placed on the curb with a cardboard sign with the most beautiful words in the English language written in black bold letters FREE. I even made my curtains from a queen-size sheet I bought for a dollar, shhh my husband has yet to find out. I make my own cleaners, baking soda and water, or vinegar and water for glass. My girls all piling into to bath tub and suds up together, and then I use the water to wash the dog. I even extend the life of my towel buy using them to dry off a couple of times, then as floor mats, and then to dry the cars after washing them in the rain. It's a beautiful cycle that not only saves time and money, but it also conserves water, you can call me the goddess of green living. I water down everything, shampoos, soaps, even the girls juices to extend the life of the product. I even can afford a home gym of milk jugs, and water bottles filled with rocks to make handy dandy weights. Getting out and having fun is what I do best. I religiously search the free section of events and activities on the amazing calendar found at azcentral.com. (hoping for brownie point there) We rent movies from the library for an unbeatable price of free--there's that word again, I hope you are getting excited, or I try out free trials online for blockbuster, or other home movie delivery service. We surf the internet using hot spots, read magazines online, and even bowl in the park using two letter soda bottles filled with water, or slide down a grassy hill on a block of ice, run through sprinklers, swim at the lake, play in the various neighborhood parks, hike, camp, you would be surprised and how much fun you can have will ditching the wallet. And to mix it up with a little class and education we visit the various museums on their free night. For the kids, I buy their toys after Christmas or I hide them in the garage until they forget they ever had that toy and then become a their hero when I surprise them with a new toy wrapped in Sundays funnies because they are great kids.
Best thrifty story: I scored my designer coach bag for a dollar at a goodwill, which I use as my diaper bag. Yes ladies you heard me right I put diapers in a coach bag, shame on me. Thrifty tip: Be creative, and have fun. Just because you aren't rolling in your money doesn't mean you or your family can't live the lifestyle of your dreams. Try to imagine how to get what you want without selling your first born to get it. I love music and to sing and play the piano, and instrument not easily purchased and carried around like a guitar but I was able to barter my way into having a life full of music and a piano in my living room just by watching someone’s baby for the summer.
Thrifty how long: I don't know I guess I can kind of see myself as a baby trying to convince the doctor that I’m sure the I could find a way to put that umbilical cord to good use. Growing up in a large family, five brothers, and one sister I’m sure money was tight for my parents, and my dad would put all of the contestants to shame, so I guess he unknowingly was my inspiration for frugality. I never really fell into the pit of needing name brand things, and spending hundreds of thousands of dollars just to make me happy for that moment. I love to design, create, and be unique so even as a small child I would find ways to design my own clothing rather than going to the mall, which was only 350 miles away. Growing up in a tiny town which didn’t even have a movie theater might have had something to do with it too, oh and watching Captain Planet—he’s my hero. My husband and I were just crazy in love, poor college kids who always had our hopes, dreams and our some days. Someday we will have a honeymoon in Hawaii, a nice car, a fancy house, fancy trips, all the latest high tech gadgets, etc. 8 years later this Tuesday, and three more added to our duo we are still waiting for our some days, but as the wise John Lennon put it "All you need is love", so our somedays can wait
