Applicant #3: Ashley Marie

Ashley is a 24-year-old from Edmonton.

Ashley's video application:

Ashley online:

+ Twitter

Ashley's current situation:

Hi, I'm Ashley Marie! I am passionate about film making, photography, living life to the fullest, and tacos. I love to have fun and spend time with friends. I am ambitious, driven and love to be creative and original. I think this would be a wonderful opportunity!

Ashley's blog post:

The Future of Saving?

When I was a student, I know I struggled trying to balance my finances between textbooks, tuition, food, and fun. The necessities, right? Now I am working on paying them off.

Either way, I think everyone is always looking for good deals on the things we need because at our age every penny counts!

Last year I thought I had found the most amazing solution! I signed up through a company who offered coupons, with great deals, to large groups of people. You could get discounts on restaurants, attraction passes, haircuts, etc. After seeing all these deals, I registered my email to 3 different companies. I knew I would be able to scope out the best deals and make sure I didn't miss out on any savings!

I was in my glory! I knew that that summer would be my start to becoming a responsible, saving adult. I could still pay off my loans, while enjoying eating out and having fun!

But soon I noticed something... I didn't seem to be making any progress with my savings. Where was all my money going?

That was when I realized that I was spending more money than I was before using coupons. It didn't make sense. Everything was such a good deal! But that was the problem. They were great deals, but to things I might not normally spend money on anyways.

I know that if I don't go in a shopping mall, I won't spend money on things inside that shopping mall. That's easy! But all of a sudden I had products and services being emailed to me on a daily basis. It was much harder to escape the temptation of easily purchasing a coupon for something I could use in the future. Especially, when individually, they were fairly inexpensive. Yet, all those small amounts I spent on random coupons, really added up quickly.

Worst of all, there were some coupons that I didn't get to use before they had expired. It hurt to know that I had just thrown money away.

So here is the lesson to take away from this. There are many sites out right now that offer amazing deals on products and services in your area, but you need to be level-headed. It is always great to support local small businesses and you should definitely be able to treat yourself to something nice every now and then. However, think before you purchase a coupon. Are you buying a coupon for something that you already spend money on? If that's the case then it's virtual gold! If not, discard it.

For me, I have a hard time convincing myself I don't absolutely need something. I moved those emails to my junk folder and haven't bought an online coupon since.

For right now, I'm ok saving money without all those "huge deals!"

Ashley