Screeme said:
Well, hey, if you need some help, just send it my way and I’ll spend it for ya! 
I see where you’re coming from, David B, but sometimes you have unforseen emergencies. Personally, I would rather see if there is any “fat” I can cut out that month first before I resort to dipping into savings or, worse, putting it on plastic.
I look for bargains all the time, but we all make choices about our spending based on what is important to us and our lifestyle. For example, my husband lives walking distance from work and we have good public transportation, so we drive a 1985 BMW, instead of having to make car payments and increased insurance every month. Others might need a more reliable car, because they have no back up transportation.
To be honest, I don’t get much out of coupons because they seem to be mostly for overpriced convience foods. The only ones I seem to use are for detergent and cleaners. I kind of miss the States, because we don’t have double coupons or store brands in the commissary. The only generics we have are for medicines. The name brands are a little cheaper than at Stateside stores, but my grocery bill is higher because I don’t have the store brands I used to buy.
Ellen is absolutely right! You probably will have to shop around to find what brand fits your baby’s proportions best, but Huggies are not necessary. I think I had the most luck with Drypers brand. They are a national brand but cost about the same as store brands, plus you can always get coupons.
Another baby hint, call the 800 number on the package and see if they have any deals or promotions. A lot of companies have mailing lists and they’ll mail out coupons and samples. Also, be sure and ask all of your friends and family to clip baby coupons for you.
Cars, and clothes
As for cars, I guess Hondas aren’t exactly CHEAP and we do buy the nicer trim lines, but the fact is the others we know in our “peer group” drive nicer makes and models. Well, we’re just not car people. In fact, we’ve had people ask us how we like the CR-V or “Don’t you just LOVE the Accord?” and when we shrug, they think we’re damning the car. We’re not. It’s just transportation. Plus we’ve paid cash for the last two we bought, and I’d MUCH rather write a check for $22k than $38K. It’s not that much worth it to us to pay for the nicer ride and more luxurious options.
As for clothes, I love consigment shops. And I won’t turn my nose up at discount stores–in fact, I’ve been very surprised at some of the clothes there. You have to look carefully, but sometimes you can do great. I got a long black linen shift from GASP K-mart that I’ve gotten tons of compliments on–and it was $20! I am reasonably sure I would get thrown out of Junior League if anyone knew.