Testimonial from Tawra
We paid cash for my beloved picket fence!
My Dream
Ever since we were married almost 16 years ago I have wanted a cute little house with a white picket fence. I know it sounds corny but gardening is my passion! I especially love cottage gardens so the fence was always a dream of mine.
When we first got married we weren’t able to do it right away because we couldn’t afford it.
In the first five years of our marriage, we paid off $20,000 in debt and medical bills on $22,000 a year average income. In the years following, we endured a job loss, the selling of one house and the buying of a new one in the country.
How We Did It
Finally, after working and saving for 13 years, my picket fence was going to be our first big “fun” purchase. We hadn’t been on vacations (except to visit family), didn’t eat out and were ultra frugal. I was excited!
In six months, we were able to save up enough cash to pay for it! And we paid $800 for fencing that should have been $1500.
Our store offered a coupon where when you bought $50 or more you would get $10 off. Each time you purchased something, the register would spit out another $10 off of $50 coupon.
It took us three hours to go to two stores for all of the supplies. In all, I made twenty transactions but saved $200 in coupons and another $500 because the fencing was on sale. $700 for three hours of work is a great savings in my book!
I kept telling people who would get in line behind us that we were going to be a while and they were all fine with it and found another line.
One lady decided to wait and I told her what I was doing. She said, “Cool, I’ll have to do that!” She had about $600 worth of stuff in her basket so she was glad for that tip!
We installed the fence ourselves, saving another $2000 and now I have my wonderful, long awaited picket fence! You can see that the flowers already love it!
Tawra Kellam, along with her mom, runs www.LivingOnADime.com and are the authors of Dining On A Dime Cookbook. In the three years since they’ve paid off their debt, Mike and Tawra have also paid cash for lots and lots of plants, a car, a baby, a riding mower, furniture for their new house, plus paid down 50K on their house.
Have you saved up and paid cash for something — large or small? Submit your story for possible publication here.
I love it! Great story!
My sister has given me all your books. Love them!! Thanks for all your ideas and money-saving lessons. You are a beautiful, real-life example of frugal living.
Beautiful. I love it! Great how you rolled those coupons too!
I love these stories .. very inspiring. Please keep ’em coming!
What a sweet story!
We too are saving for a fence for our yard. It is crazy how expensive those things are, even if you install it yourself! Love the determination and drive I read in these stories about real people.
@Chelsea, Yeah, we were just going to put a wooden one but after doing a price check and seeing the coupon deal it was only $200 more for the vinyl and I didn’t have to paint it!! 🙂
I don’t think it’s corny…it’s beautiful!!! …and some clever coupon shopping to boot!
@Jennifer C., thanks! I’ve always loved gardens with picket fences! Our house is for sale right now and the day we were getting ready to show it the first time I burst into tears and said “I don’t want to leave my fence!”. Hubby promised to put up another one at the next house if we sell this one. (Yep, he’s a keeper! 🙂
Your fence is so pretty! I’m a big fan of Livingonadime 🙂
@Courtney, Thanks!!! I’m glad you’re enjoying our site.
It looks beautiful!
The white picket fence is a dream of mine too! 🙂 So I’m happy to see someone accomplishing their goal. We just bought a house out in the country and the landscape is… well… quite bare. No trees, no nothing. So we get to start from scratch! We’ll fence in the back yard next summer, because there is a steep drop off on the edge of the yard and I’d hate for my little girl to topple over the edge. :S
@Celena, That’s just the way our house was/is. We put up the fence but we still don’t have hardly any trees. There was a big ice storm here 4 years ago before we bought the house and all the trees were torn down.
When it’s 108 like it was here today we sure do wish we had some!!! The plus side is our 1 1/2 acres is easy to mow!!
What a beautiful fence! Your flowers are gorgeous, too.
Good for you and your husband!
I think what you did is very good. Most people would have given up on their dreams. I am not one of them. If, I set my mind on something, I save up for it, too. I like to pay cash for everything except for my house and cars. This way I know that it is mine. If, I can not pay cash for it, I do not need it that bad. It has worked out well for me.
Very beautiful! And a very inspiring story at that- me and my fiance are still in the paying-off-debt part of our relationship- but hope to one day splurge on something great. Congrats!
What a charming story. And thumbs up for warning the people behind you in line.
@WilliamB, Yes, thankfully even though it was a busy day, all the checkout lines were open so there was other lines for people to go to.
Thanks Crystal for running our story!!
Beautiful!!!
aww…so pretty! That belongs on Better Homes and Gardens!
GREAT job!!! It looks absolutely gorgeous.
Wow – that is awesome!! Great job!
Looks beautiful…..thanks for sharing it with us!
Beautiful! We installed some fencing in our garden to keep out the critters and I’ve been enjoying it. It isn’t anything pretty or fancy, just normal wire mesh, but there is something about putting in the work yourself that really makes it yours.