Coupon Crazy

Yes, that's me....I have gone CRAZY over couponing!!!

Now let me tell you how it all began.

A couple months ago I started thinking about when Gary goes back to school full time and will only be working part time. I started worry about finances. Then I decided I better start thinking about ways to help our family make a bit of money. I started thinking about possible part time jobs: going back to teaching, working retail, etc. Then I started thinking about "side jobs": selling Pampered Chef, or jewelry, etc. Then I had a true epiphany! Why not figure out how to help our family SAVE money rather than MAKE money?

That's when I started looking into coupons.

Boy, am I glad I did.

And though I may seem a bit obsessed with it at times, I think that Gary is actually glad I've gotten into it too!

Here's a look at just a few of my recent purchases:

Fresh Market

Total Out of Pocket (OOP) Expense: $.71

Mac and Cheese = Get 1 FREE coupon

Salad Dressing = Get 1 FREE coupon

Vienna Sausage = $.69

Fresh Market wasn't having any good deals and I didn't want to go up to the cash register with only FREE items, so I bought some vienna sausages, knowing full well that my kids would eat them up! Not a bad deal

Walgreens

OOP = $1.16

No, I'm not kidding. With my coupons I got ALL this stuff for $1.16....and $.96 of that was tax! Pretty awesome, right?

Without coupons it would be $19.76 = 94.13% savings, PLUS I earned $7 in Register Rewards to use on my next purchase. Basically, I got paid to shop.

Walmart

OOP = 11.78

I didn't buy anything on this trip without a coupon!

That toy truck was $9.96....I had a $10 off coupon!!

Hungry Hungry Hippos and Connect 4 were $5.24 each and I had a $4 off coupon for each!

And so you see, as crazy as I am about it, this couponing thing is really, totally worth it.

Smith's

OOP = $.16

Are you kidding me?!?! 16 cents?! No joke. I had $14 from my rewards certificate, but even without that I would have saved over 80% on this trip.

Without coupons and discounts it would have been $73.78

I saved 99.78%

And so the story goes.

If you are interested in this coupon business I would be happy to help. However, I would NOT recommend it to anyone who does NOT have a bit of time to spend. This is quite time consuming. Thankfully my kids go to bed at 7pm and Gary just studies. So, I coupon!! And my kids take a nap at the same time in the afternoon (like right now) so, I coupon!!

But I have come to realize that I am NOT spending any more time on this than I would a part time or side job, plus, I can do it while my kids sleep! AND I'm helping us save money while building up storage at the same time!

On occasion I'll clip coupons while the kids are awake. Kyri says, "You're couponing, Mama?! And then they both love shopping with me...especially if something good is in it for them! :)

Next on my list of purchases? Toy Story 1 AND 2 in the Blu-Ray and DVD combo. ToysRus had a sale to get each movie for $16.99 each if you bought both. Well, yesterday when the movie came out I got to the store 10 minutes after they opened and they were already out of Toy Story 2, so now I will go to Walmart to price match! What makes this deal even better? I have a $10 off coupon for EACH movie, making them only $6.99 each. And what makes it even better? I don't have a blu-ray player, so my sister will pay half of each and will take the blu-ray and I'll keep the DVD....now how's that for a GREAT deal?!?

For a look at someones budget for the month of February go here: http://callingallsupersavers.com/?p=1296

This is for a family of 4. She still has 1 in diapers and this budget includes EVERYTHING! Diapers, cleaning supplies, food, etc.

If you can't tell, I am totally excited about my new obsession!!!

PS - I DO realize "couponing" is NOT a real word found in the dictionary. However, it is definitely a real word in the world of coupon-ers!

THE END