Up until a few months ago, I knew nothing about coupons.
Nothing.
Well, except for the fact that they were a pain in the doopah, were guaranteed to expire before I would find them crumpled at the bottom of my purse, and that they were an overall embarrassment to everyone involved.
Dude, was I ever wrong.
Coupons aren’t just for grandmas anymore. {Do grandma’s even use coupons?}
They’re crazy cool.
In fact, the whole concept of utilizing coupons to cut your grocery bill down is downright brilliant, financially savvy, and dare I say it…a little sexy. To know you’ve walked away with an entire cart stocked with necessities…for way less than you would have paid – half price, even {some accomplish free…but I’m not there yet…baby steps}…how can that not be deeply satisfying to the soul?
Especially for a stay-at-home mom who wants to do her part in contributing to the financial burden of daily life. If we can’t make money…why not save it?
So here’s a nutshell version of what I’ve learned from my fabulous friend M…who is one of the most organized, frugally minded {might I add…sassy} women I know:
Let Coupons Rock Your World 101, Non-Aggressive Version:
- Buy a Sunday paper, save the coupon inserts {Redplum [RP], Smartsouce [SS] and Procter & Gamble [PG]}.
- How you organize your coupons {and whether you clip coupons right away, or simply date and save the whole inserts} will be determined by how serious you are about saving with coupons, how much time you want to invest, and what system will work best for your lifestyle – check out the sites listed below for more.
- The key to maximizing your coupons is using them on sale items. This was a revolutionary concept to me. Woah! I had never thought of this {not that I ever thought about coupons anyway…but you know what I mean}.
- The key to saving even more still…is stacking a store coupon on top of a manufacturers coupon…on a sale item. Woah Nelly!
- Be a student of savings: learn…read…explore. There are so many incredible sites and blogs dedicated solely to maximizing coupon use, cutting your grocery bills in half, and learning how to get free stuff by combining coupons and pharmacy loyalty cards, that you’ll pull all-nighters just to glean from their infinite couponing wisdom.
- Get into the mindset of stocking up. This is huge! I used to not buy something unless I needed it. And then when I needed it, it was rarely on sale, so I usually paid full price. I will never do this again. I stock up. Literally. I have a shelf full of shampoo, conditioner, body wash, deodorant, razors, toothpaste, etc. that I paid less than half price for {by using coupons on top of sale items}. And that’s just the bathroom cupboard. Our pantry and garage are well stocked with cereal and pasta and the likes. This way when we need something, we ‘shop’ from our own supply…and never pay full price. It’s a mindset…you’ll want to get it! *{This concept hit home for us while my husband was laid off last year..we had just lost insurance, had just had our second child – who we’d just discovered had a heart condition – and out of the beautiful blue, we were bowled over by a couponing wife of one of the officers my husband had worked with…this couple dropped off boxes and boxes of household items, groceries and toiletries…all things she’d stocked up on thanks to clipping coupons. Talk about motivation to build up my own stash, eh!}.
- As you get into the groove of couponing…you may want to buy more than 1 Sunday paper. Buy 2 or 3. Heck, one good coupon will cover the cost of the additional papers.
- A good thing to keep in mind is: don’t buy what you don’t need or won’t use. If you do…you’re not actually saving money.
- Keep your eyes out for coupons…learn to look: in magazines {All*You Magazine is cheap and awesome! They even have an alphabetized index of all the coupons in their magazine right in the front}; online through coupons.com; stuck to items on the shelves in stores {called a ‘peelie’}; or in the little automated dispensers on the shelves {called a ‘blinkie’}; or printed out with your receipt {called a ‘catalina’}…seriously, I did not come up with these names. They are the ‘love-names’ of the veteran clippers out there who have established the ground work and language of today’s smart shopper {I’m not sure whether to be impressed or terrified}.
- Take time to sit down with the weekly papers/ads early in the week…see what’s on sale, take a peek at your coupons for what you might be able to use on top of sale items, create a list {based on a meal plan…super smart idea!}, then paper clips the coupons you will use to your list to make your trip more streamlined.
- It’s smart to keep your coupons with you whenever you go to the store…you’ll kick yourself if you spot something on clearance, or that has been reduced for quick sale, that you have a coupon for…at home. This is gut-wrenching, I kid you not!
- Be flexible! If you’re not willing to try different brands or flavors, you’ll miss out on some incredible deals {not to mention the opportunity to try something new}.
So without further ado…for your visual enjoyment…I proudly present a demonstration of my newly acquired couponing prowess:
It was a sunny Wednesday morning. And into Target I was headed…armed with a carefully-thought-out shopping list and a stack of coupons thick enough to make any teller shudder. Kids on hip. Giddy with excitement…{you get the idea…}
Here’s what I got: miscellaneous household delights…along with a hefty amount of razors, body wash and tightey whiteys. And other schtuff.
Spent: $99.72
{that may seem like a lot for this small stack of stuff…but razors are outlandishly expensive…and they were the stock-piling jackpot of this trip}
And get this…
I saved: $75.28
Now that’s what I call a wicked good deal!
A sampling of my shopping joy: $8.99 razors for $1.50 each {thanks to 2 coupons and Target’s $5 giftcard deal. And $65 in razors {the price is almost enough to make me want to go au naturel. almost} for the slightly more palatable price of $45.
You still with me? I apologize for any corneal twitching you may be experiencing for this ridiculously long post. Bear with me…it’ll be over soon…and worth it in the long run.
My bliss today: these 3 items below – totaling almost $15 – I got for *FREE* thanks to coupons. Absobloominlutely free. No kidding!
The kicker…I scored 3 of these babies below in the process {$5 gift cards for purchasing 3 ‘batches’ of specific items…ALL of which I had at least one coupon for}…AND I got to pay for today’s shopping extravaganza with 2 of the $5 gift cards I earned last time.
{Be still my beating heart!}
Ready to jump on the {crazy sexy} coupon bandwagon with me and get wicked cool deals like I did today?
I thought so.
A few good places to start {and as I said…there are gazillions of sites/blogs dedicated to the art of clipping coupons…simply type “coupons” into google and you’ll see what I mean}:
-
The Coupon Mom – and her great book {I learned a ton from reading this}
Be sure to check out these sites {when you have some time to really dig in and explore} and then find these gals on Facebook…you’ll see alerts and updates about killer deals, along with links to smokin’ hot printable coupons online.
See…I told you…clipping coupons is a fine art. And yes, it takes time to learn…but man is it worth it. And the thrill you’ll experience from walking out of a store, having saved a truckload of money, is second only to dark chocolate and a glass of wine on a childless night.
Clip coupons…it’s the crazy-sexy-housewife-of-2010 kind of thing to do!
