Pets

Last week my family purchased a puppy from the Maricopa County Animal Control. We were able to walk in, find the puppy we wanted and purchase her within an hour. I was very surprised at how fast we were in and out of there. She is a very cute puppy with a black back and brown and white paws and chest. She has the markings on her face of a Doberman Pinscher, Rottweiler, or German Shepherd. Her paperwork says she's a German Shepherd/Queensland Heeler mix but at 6 weeks old she doesn't have big paws and is barley longer than my size 10 foot. She was spayed at 4 and a half weeks by the pound, which seems very early to me. She also had received her first set of vaccinations. The pound requires you to take the animals you adopt to the vet within 10 days.

Because I am a frugal person I decided to call around to find out pricing at vets. I know that a puppy needs many visits to the vet for check ups every three weeks till they are 4 months old. I don't want to skimp on vet care but do want the best bang for my buck. I pulled up a list from Google of all the Vet clinics within 10 miles. There aren't a whole lot, only about a half a dozen. I created a spreadsheet listing all the vet's, their address, phone number and created columns for Vet Visit, Rabies Vaccine, and 4-1 Vaccine. I called each clinic to see what their prices were as well as checking on the reviews I found online. I was very pleased to find out that the clinic that was the least expensive was less than a mile from my house.

My little puppy has some congestion that started the same day but prior to the vet visit and she has Giardia parasites. Her medication alone was a little over $75. This made her first visit to the vet cost $133. WOW Hopefully we get her all healthy and she is a great family dog for us.

Things to consider: Although rescuing a pooch from the pound seems economical and a wonderful thing saving a doggie, you may be getting a sick pooch. The pound will not likely tell you that the pooch is sick and they may not even know they're sick. Vet care is very expensive and you must consider this when getting a pet for your family. I found that microchips from the pound are only $25 when a vet will charge you substantially more. Also searching online I found you can get medication much cheaper on sites like http://www.discountpetdrugs.com/ but the fall back on this is you're not getting the medication same day as you may need it. However, these types of sites are great for preventative and continuous medications.

If I were to do it again, well this is a hard one. I am certainly upset that a public agency such as the pound is willing to put sick animals into people homes and risk the health of those living in the home. Vet care is very expensive and getting a healthy pet is important to many of us. I researched http://craiglist.org/ to see what puppies were available, what the rehoming fees were and if the breed was compatible with two young children ages 4 and 6. I was unable to find something that would be a fit for our family at the time we were searching for a pup. So, if I were to do it again, I think I might still go to the pound. I think saving an animal from the pound is a wonderful thing to do, you need to consider that all the animals that go in and out of those places are exposed to so many other animals and less than clean and ideal conditions.

Josy, our new addition, will hopefully get over her problems and become a healthy, playful pup.

Why Frugally Me

Although my family is not strapped for cash we choose to be smart and frugal in the way we shop. I have created this blog to post ideas on how to be frugal with out being to extreme.

I was brought up as an only child with a single mother who worked jobs that paid just over minimum wage. I learned very young how to make a penny stretch. My mother was never a coupon shopper but we did shop the discount stores, bag your own grocery stores, and other bargain outlets. I never had the 'best' of anything but I had was was necessary to make due. As I got older I kept these values even when I could afford more expensive items.

Last year I was introduced to couponing via http://www.couponsense.com/ I was amazed at how much their system made sense, easy to follow and required far less time than I thought was needed for couponing. One thing I hate to do it waste time. Their website has matched up all the Sunday published coupons with the local weekly grocery ads. It tells you what's on sale, what coupon to use, how much with or with out coupon. They have a section to track your grocery bills and savings. The website also features an interactive forum for members to chat about any and everything, get local advise from other frugally minded folks, share savings advise and post great finds.

In the last year I have cut our grocery bill by 75% or more. I no longer pay $4 for a bottle of cleaner, $2 for a tube of toothpaste, $12 for toilet paper, or even $1 for a toothbrush. Now days I won't pay a dime for toothbrushes, deodorant, or toothpaste. I won't pay more than $1 for razors, shampoo, conditioner, or bar soap. I won't pay more than $2 per pound of 90% or better ground beef or $2 per pound for skinless boneless chicken breasts. $1.50 for a box of Brand Name cereal is too much in my book now days. I don't pay for Mustard any longer. I won't pay more than 35cents per roll of toilet paper or 16 cents per load of laundry. I shop the ads and use coupons to lower my grocery bill even more.

Today if I don't save at least 65% on my grocery bill, I feel that I didn't do a good enough job on that shopping trip. Not to many years back my husband and I used to shop at Safeway as our main grocer. We would go though the check out and out bill would be around $60 we would 'bet' on the savings. Our guesses would always range between 5-10% and one of us would win. We never saved more than 10% just using out shopper card and not planning our trips.

The couponsense.com system is so easy to use. I file my coupons each week from the Sunday paper. Each Wednesday or Thursday I go to the website, see what great deals are available and put together my shopping list. I clip only those coupons I am going to use for that shopping trip and hit the road with money savings on my mind. I can fill my trunk with groceries and only spend one to two hundred dollars. Costco is expensive to me now days. I love it. I never felt more in control of my shopping as I do today. My husband, on the other hand, would beg to differ. Our pantry is very stocked, out linen closest is packed with free toothpaste, deodorant, and other misc free items. He thinks I've gone mad, but I think I have gotten smart.

So why am I here? I am here to share ideas on how to save money, even if you choose not to coupon shop. I will also post about new products I try, how I liked or disliked them, where I heard about them, and of course, if there is a coupon available.