Couponing

Yes, I started couponing. Not in the extreme way the crazy ladies do on TV. I started really out of necessity. I found myself in a financial situation where I needed the shit I like to not cost so damned much.

My basic rules are this: I ONLY clip coupons for things and brands I know I use. Paper towels? I don't care about the brand, so I clip them all. Use what is necessary when they are on sale. Toilet paper? I only clip Cottonelle.

I don't buy excessive amounts of things I don't need. But, yes, I do stock up on toothbrushes, deodorant, etc. By stock up, I mean 5 or 6. But those things come in handy when the daughter is visiting and her friends decide at the last minute to spend the night. Or she will take a few home to stock her shelves for the same purpose. I get them for 10 cents or so, so why not?

My mom saves her coupons for me. If there are coupons in the big paper as well as the local paper, right there I get 4 of the same coupon. We also bring our leftovers to work and share them that way. So, it is possible for me to get 6 or more of the same coupon in one week, without spending any money at all. So when an item and brand I use goes on sale and I have a coupon, you bet I stock up.

I do not go crazy with my shopping like the ladies on TV. I have a real job and a life and don't have time for that. But I do tend to make a trip once a week, maybe every other week.

Here is this week's trip. I will give the regular price, then what I actually paid out of pocket.

What I got: my favorite Oil of Olay moisturizer ($22), Cover Girl foundation ($9), Cover Girl face powder ($6), a huge Oil of Olay body wash ($8), a snack ($1.50) and $10 worth of gas at Shell (where I can use my Kroger discount for an additional 10 cents off per gallon). Plus, I got $2 ExtraBucks to use on my next trip (it is good for a month). I spent only $22. In the end, I paid for the moisturizer (that I needed) and got all the other stuff (that I also needed) for FREE.

Is there anyone else out there that coupons a lot? Anyone that wants to?

Personally, I would love to hear stories of others that are asking themselves (like me) "Why haven't I been doing this all along???"

 

I'm always relatively interested in it when I think about it, but I don't have a printer, I don't subscribe to the paper, and I'm not very organized. So I'm guessing it's not for me.

 

Girl! I am all of those things you mentioned above! And I make it happen. I print at work. The BF buys the papers and I take the coupons. Get the rest from my mom or my co-workers (this is the best source). I use baseball card holders in an old nasty binder.

DONE.

 

I have a freezer full of Chang's egg rolls that I bought for nine cents each.

I have a shelf full of free Gatorade and Powerade.

My sister is big into couponing and she gives me all kinds of stuff she got for free or really low prices.

Of course, there are n coupons for meat so you almost always have to pay for that (except hot dogs).

 

Haven't jumped into couponing since I don't get the paper.
But I've started to make Walmart pricematch, and go to publix to get things I want on sale (like the Publix yogurt that was 25 cents a cup a couple weeks ago). Buy one get one means half off. Usually, it's at least a quarter off my food bill and usually a third.
Have looked on line at Coupons.com, cereal.com and redplum.com and the selection of coupons is lame.

 

We're going to get a Shop-N-Save in our area, so this is something that I'd like to start taking advantage of. No other stores in our area doubles coupons.

 

Some of them are too good to pass up. Replacement razor cartridges are ridiculously expensive. Just used a $5 coupon on a Schick 4-pack, coupled with the sale price of $8.99.

Two-liter bottles of Dr. Pepper's new "Ten" diet version were free with a coupon. Had two, and used them.

 

My wife coupons pretty hard core. We do not have a bomb shelter full of energy drinks, but she does clip, inventory and cross reference coupons each week.

She normally saves 20-30% off of our grocery bill, and I am very proud of her for doing that.

I was also able to buy about $75 worth of good four-blade razor heads for about $10 with her couponing. I have found that you can really, really make big scores at drug stores.

But...

With all the money she is saving, the things that are not on sale seem to not make it into our refrigerator, freezer and shelves. She often will forget to buy the staples like milk, cheese, meat and bread, so I run out and get those. No biggie, but I hate not having certain things in the kitchen.

The perfect couponing world for me would be her continuing to buy all the couponing items she can, but I make a special trip to BJs or Costco for fresh fruits, milk, cheese, meat and bread. Those things are just never on sale and much cheaper at the big stores.

She will also buy discounted meat too often, and, well, it sometimes makes you sick.

 

By this, you mean you have a career outside the home and are too busy for "extreme couponing," I hope.

Otherwise, you just insulted the shit out of every stay-at-home-mom on the planet. Because, trust me, my wife definitely has a real job AND a life.

 

It crosses the line to crazy when you dumpster-dive for coupons.

 

http://thekrazycouponlady.com/print-coupons/

http://www.ppgazette.com/ http://www.5dollardinners.com/printablecoupons http://www.couponhoundhunt.com/


Check out these links. I spend about an hour or so a week printing coupons.

 

Have you seen the show? There is clipping coupons and then there are the ladies on this show. They are half-shit crazy.