I’m a wife, mother of two, daughter, friend, and servant of God who has learned that our economic status does not have to determine our level of family fun.
Born in Chicago, I grew up with a thrifty mindset. Even in school, I was always looking for ways to do things for free. Since then I’ve lived in Atlanta, Chapel Hill, The Bahamas, Mexico and Jupiter, Florida, where I was fortunate enough to meet some of my best friends, including my husband. However, living in one of the most affluent zip codes in the United States proved to be a challenge.
When I was pregnant with our second child, we found ourselves in one of the most difficult economic situations of our lives – After trying to sell our house unsuccessfully (during the peak of the market), I found myself unemployed and having to sell our car just to make ends meet. Everyday I would put my two kids under the age of two in our double stroller and walk to the grocery store, drugstore, bank, park…wherever we needed to go! It was a unique experience that taught us to reevaluate our priorities and our budget. We learned what was really important and saw first had God’s faithful hand of provision.
Our family now lives in Nashville, TN, where I’ve taken my thriftiness to a new level. With a plethora of free family activities and a community of money-saving moms by my side, I’m committed to sharing all I’ve learned and continue to discover about life’s fun and free opportunities. Mix in a healthy love for Disney and a passion for teaching and Voila! a blog is born!
If you have questions or suggestions, don’t hesitate to leave a comment – I’d love to hear from you!
Thanks for visiting. I look forward to hearing your story…
Sami
To learn more about the Cone family, visit our family site at http://conehome.wordpress.com/
To hear Sami’s radio interview with Debbie Alan from “On the Home Stretch”, click here
eCONEmic Living: Finding the FUN in FrUgal liviNg! 
My name is Robin from the DHS office. Thank you so much for giving me your website. I have only been on here a few minutes and I have already printed coupons. Hope you and your family well. What you are doing is so great and has helped me and i will pass it on to help others also.. So once again Thany You..
Robin B.
This sounds really interesting. Thanks for putting this together. I’m going to pass it on to friends and family!
Sami, So happy for you all living such a happy family life!
Here’s a question for you, and I apologize if it’s answered somewhere on your site I didn’t find….
What’s the best way to keep everything in order and on hand? I ALWAYS find myself at New York & CO, when my coupon is at home…or at TRU without my rewards certificates….what’s your secret?
Kym – That’s a great question!
I’m in the process of putting together an “instructional video” and quick sheet that will help people get started and be effective in their couponing and saving, but to give you a quick answer, here is what I do:
-I have a small business card carrier that I keep all my Store Reward cards in
-I have a medium size “wallet” (actually a sectioned makeup case) that I keep all my gift cards in
-I have a coupon organizer (a freebie I got from my mother-in-law) that I keep my clipped coupons in (sectioned off with index cards by areas of the grocery store – as well as restaurant coupons)
***All the above I always keep in my purse – as you can imagine, I never carry small purses!
-I used to keep all my newspaper inserts in a 3 ring binder, but it was getting to big, so now I keep the inserts organized by date in my filing cabinet next to my computer, so I can clip them as I print off my grocery list each week.
I hope that helps and I’ll have more details on this soon!
I went to Trevecca with Rick and got your website from his Facebook! He brags about you constantly! I will be taking advantage of your money saving tips…so thank you very much!
You probably know about these family deals, but I thought I would send them your way just in case.
Kids Bowl Free: summer campaign for free bowling
Regals Free Family Film Festival Free Movies on Tues and Weds throughout the summer.
Mysty-
Thank YOU for your kind words and great tips – keep them coming!
99 cents a pound