Welcome readers of the New York Times! If you happened to read the School Supply article in the New York Times today and decide to visit the blog, thank you for coming!
My name is Kristin Cooper and I am mother to 2 children, Emily and Jacob. We are also expecting baby #3 next year. School supply lists are getting longer and longer and our budgets aren’t getting any bigger. In July I posted Emily’s 1st grade school supply list to find out if it was average length or if it was excessive. It sparked a VERY interesting discussion and it turns out that everyone’s list is getting a lot longer, although mine was about the longest that people had seen.
But since I am a bargain hunter, I was able to get all the items on the list for about 60% less than retail price. I requested the back to school list in June and shopped for it throughout the summer. I got free paper towels at Target, free baby wipes at Rite Aid, and a 1c pack of copy paper at Staples (they are repeating that deal this week!). (Note these aren’t necessarily pictured in the paper. Emily had started school on Wednesday and I had already turned in her supplies. What you see pictured is extra items that I had in my stockpile.)
I encourage you to take a moment and look around the blog. I call the blog Couponing to Disney because we use all the extra money we save from using coupons, rebates, etc to pay for our yearly trip to Disney World. We saved $3200 for our May 2010 trip and not one dime came out of my husband’s paycheck. If you are interested in learning about all the features on the blog, you can read this article.
Thanks again for stopping by! If you have any questions at all, please leave a comment below or feel free to email me directly.
Note: This post will be a sticky at the top of the blog. Please scroll past it for new deal posts.
{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
Kristin…warmest congratulations on the article!! So happy to see you recognized by such an important newspaper! Thanks again for all you do. (The photo of you and Emily is super cute, too!)
Thanks! My mother in law made her dress. :)
Congrats. I’m so thrilled for you and Emily. Emily: you look wonderful in your dress. Good luck in first grade. You’ll do Great!
Kristin: I love your hair.
Keep doing all that good stuff you do, inbetween all that other stuff you do…kids, hubby, fam, etc.
Congrats Kristin on such an amazing opportunity and article! It is so wonderful to see a fellow Alabamian bargain hunter get such awesome recognition. If anyone deserves it, you do with all of your hard work!
With love from your fellow ‘Bama Blog,
Aubrey
EasternShoreMom.com
CONGRATS! I guess I missed that post the first time around. I teach high school (and I’m happy if they come with paper, pencil, and a calculator). It seems that the teachers are asking you to bring supplies that they will be using as opposed to your kids. I’d think the school should be supplying things like white board pens and cleaning solution. It’s crazy to me to have to ask the parents for those types of things!
Congrats on the article!!!!
Wow! Congratulations, Kristin, on all the amazing things that have happened for you recently!
I have to comment on supply lists because I am a teacher in an urban school. Our money has been cut to the bare essentials (we are even afraid we may not have enough toilet paper and paper towels). I spent over $2,000.00 for classroom supplies out of my pocket last year (receipts that I actually remembered to keep). That would have paid for my family to take a trip. I do think that some items can be excessive to ask for but teachers cannot continue to do it out of their family’s budget. I am thankful for your website because you help me find the best deals when I do need to get things for my classroom. Some stores let me get more than the limit if I show a school ID.
Congrats! We all appreciate all you do! I’m so happy you were recognized by such a prestigious newspaper :)
Congrats on the well deserved recognition of all you hard work!
That was a great article! Congratulations, and great job sticking up for teachers! :)
What an awesome recognition! Great job Kristen & Emily
I woke up this morning, and (of course) went to your blog first :) – this totally made my day!
You are such a great blogger to work with, and you blog with good intentions, which shows through tremendously.
I’m pretty sure this is the 3rd time I’ve written a ‘Congrats’ comment to you in the past couple months, but you truly deserve it…
So Congrats again on the beautiful design, new baby, and awesome recognition in the NY Times!
oh, and LOVIN’ the new hair girl! LOL :)
Aloha! Your article was in the Honolulu Advertiser on Sunday as well. Page A3. It is a different picture though – still super cute with you and Emily looking at each other. Congrats on getting some national coverage. Looking great with the new hair.
So yeah, I would have splurged for a new haircut and highlights for the NY times too!
Congratulations…New York Times…WOW!
Kristin – Congrats on the article! I’m so excited for you! I love it when newspapers feature couponers / coupon websites! Keep up the good work :-) Oh, and your hair looks great!
Love the hair!!!! So happy to see your article. Congrats!!!!
Congrats on making the NY Times! Great hair!
WOW Kristen!! Congratulation on the article! :)
Yay Kristin!!! I am so glad that others are going to get the opportunity to see how great your website is. You work so hard to help us all save money!!
Kristen, I enjoyed the article. How exciting for you. You deserve it as I see everyday how much work you put into this blog. I appreciated all of the good info you have helped us with. Also, I really liked your haircut too!