Meet CFO's Drugstore Game Padawan: Nicole

Update: If you're joining this series in progress, be sure to also read my Drugstore Game Primer and Common Sense with Money's FAQ so that you can understanding the abbreviations and terminology used in the subsequent posts.

Last week, I asked for someone to become my Drugstore Game Padawan, and I got some really fantastic applications. It was incredibly hard to choose, but I'd like to introduce you to Nicole. I asked her to write up a little introduction, to give some context to what we'll be doing in the coming weeks, and here's what she had to say:

I'm Nicole, a newlywed student living in East Central Iowa. Just before my husband and I got married, we decided that I would be going to school full-time, and working part-timeish. This was a HUGE cut in our total income, but I became determined to not let my studies impact us financially. Also around this time, we took a major look at our finances, and decided to go with the Avalanche approach to paying off our debt. It was at this point that I turned to couponing.

I've got a pretty good handle on how to deal with the grocery shopping end of it, despite our limited selection of stores. I am ALWAYS in awe of the people that have mastered The Drugstore Game, and when the opportunity came up to be CFO's Padawan, I jumped at the chance. I work very close to a Walgreens, and go to school near CVS. I look forward to learning The Drugstore Game, as it will allow me to shop for things that we need/want, and settle a bit of my urge to go shopping, even when we're working towards some large financial goals. Currently, I'm shopping for myself, my husband, 3 dogs, and 3 cats. Since we have a smaller family(the pets are a pretty consistent expense), I wanted to see how The Drugstore Game could apply for us. We don't have a lot of the kid related expenses that families do, but I still want to save us as much money as possible. I'm excited to see where this goes. :)

Thanks, Nicole - I'm really looking forward to working with you!

As Nicole said, she works near a Walgreens so it's easy for her to go there. She's planning to stop by tomorrow to do the following transaction to get her feet wet:

1 Thermacare Pain Relief 1ct $2.49
- $1/1 printable coupon

Pay $1.49 plus tax, get back a $2.50 Register Reward

I also asked Nicole to take a look around the store and see if they have any good clearance sales going on, since some blogs are reporting a few good finds. We'll keep you updated on how it goes!