One fine quality of the wife of noble character described in Proverbs 31 is that she “sees that her trading is profitable.”  Some women have a real knack for this.  I do not.  I watch in awe as other women find designer clothes with the tags still on at garage sales, slash their grocery bills in half, and never pay full price for anything.  When I pray for myself, I consistently ask God to help me to wisely allocate my time, talent and money.  The whole coupon topic has been a source of frustration–it seems like I can never find coupons for things I actually buy, or the coupons I find are for different brands that are higher (even with said coupon) than what I actually buy.

     Plus, I live in a rural area where there aren’t a dozen stores to choose from to truly “shop around.”  However, I saw signs of God’s goodness yesterday, surrounding my weekly trip to the Wal-mart Super Center.  Wal-mart is a good twenty minutes away, and I don’t usually enjoy the trip.  I normally leave feeling like I have overspent, even when I have stuck to the items on my list.

     When I was going through the check out, the lady behind me said, “If she hasn’t rung up your cottage cheese, yet, it’s a dollar at the Hi-Vee in Chillacothe.  They’ll match.”  Well, thank you, kind lady.  Saved a little there.

     On the way home, the Lord reminded me to buy a Sunday paper for one of the bigger cities to check for coupons–a tip provided by a girlfriend a couple of weeks ago.

     Finally, when I got back to the house and had the groceries put away, I spent some time on Facebook, decompressing from the grocery shopping trip.  I announced my need for usable coupons, and a friend sent me the following link:

http://www.stlmommy.com/search/label/best%20current%20coupons

     I am so grateful for the help I have received in learning to be a better “trader” from my friends, and the stranger at the Wal-mart check out line.  It is also especially nice to have a link suggested by a friend, because the number of frugal living, couponing, etc. blogs and sites is overwhelming.  This particular site allows you to pick which coupons to print off, and lets you check stores in your area for items you actually buy to price compare!  How wonderful!