After avoiding my ever-growing pile of unclipped coupons for far too long – and kicking myself in the store every time I would see something that’s on sale that I know I have a coupon for somewhere in that heap {at home}…I decided it was time I pulled back my sleeves and dove in.
I love how I feel afterwards: equipped, resourceful, and sexy. Okay, I’m lying on that last one, but I figure the more I say it…”clipping coupons is sexy!”…the more I’ll believe it. After all…saving my family money is downright sassy. And sassy is sexy. Sort of.
I digress.
With enough hot beverage in hand, I don’t mind the process either. I find it’s like laundry: just when I think I’m on top of it…there it is again, taunting me, while it multiplies like bunnies. If I just chipped away at it methodically, once a week even, it would be much less of a beast {one I have to muster the courage to conquer}.
So I snuggled into bed just after midnight last night, a mug of hot tea in my hands and a stack of Sunday paper inserts on my lap. Surrounding myself with {what I consider to be*} the necessary tools: scissors, stapler, paperclips & mini accordion folder, I clipped my little heart out.
I turned out the light just before 2:00am, little piles of coupons neatly organized and paper-clipped to my shopping lists…ready to blaze my money-saving trail in the morning.
Despite a minor, unplanned detour on the way to Meijer this morning {which involved zipping into a deserted office block’s vacant parking lot, stripping the lower half of my daughter and assisting in the squat to avoid any splattering of her beloved pink cow-girl boots after she had urgently whispered from the backseat…”mommy, my wee-wee is starting to come out…I need to go potty!”}, all went as planned. Well, sort of. I had to break out the lollipops and use a little Sandy-the-Penny-horse bribery.
While clipping & sipping {hot tea, not this} I noticed that Meijer was running a special; when you purchase $35 of Procter & Gamble products, you receive a $10 Mastercard gift card. Considering I had multiple coupons for Downy {my guilty laundering pleasure}, Vicks, Palmolive, Swiffer, Bounty and other miscellaneous household items that were already all on sale, I knew I was set.
But once home {a 25 minute drive} I realized that not only did I not get the $10 card, but I didn’t pay the sale price on the Multigrain Cheerios I had purchased {I paid $4.29 per box rather than the advertized $2.50}. A quick call to the store solved my dilemma.
The manager I spoke to was incredibly gracious and generous: not only did he take my address to mail me the $10 gift card, but offered to send me a $5 gift card for the cheerios error…which, he enlightened me, was actually my error. I had read the sign incorrectly. None the less, he blessed my socks off!
{side note: thank you, babe, for teaching me to be bold and just ask…I hated to rock the boat before I married you, but you’ve taught me to do it with grace and style}
Coupons are so worth the minimal time it takes to clip and sort. Some systems don’t even require pre-clipping and sorting…like the Coupon Mom method.
Another trick my hubby and I take great delight in utilizing to trim our bills {although sometimes we get a little discount-happy and buy more that we probably should}…is to constantly be on the lookout for items that are reduced for quick sale {at Kroger these are called ‘Manager’s Specials’}. These items are usually very close to their sell-by date, but typically have plenty of time left until their use-by date.
We don’t typically buy juice, but we do love Bolthouse Farms natural juices and protein drinks…so we stock up on these babies when they’re 40% off.
Did you know you can use a coupon on a clearance item too? Sign up on the mailing list at Bolthouse Farms and they’ll randomly send out $1 off coupons. Hit up the reduced selection and Voila!…an antioxidant-loaded health drink for the cost of a McDonalds pop.
Super-dee-duper!
Save even more at Meijer by checking out the Meijer MealBox Coupons before you hit the store. These are store coupons, which can be used on top of manufacturer’s coupons, which both could be used when an item is on sale…which equals freaking fabulous savings!
See, don’t you feel a little sexier just knowing all this?
{You don’t have to answer that. I’ve come to terms with my oddities}
*Learn more about clipping, organizing and maximizing coupons here and here.
