It seems whenever life gets overwhelming I decide it’s a great time to take on a new venture. This time it’s couponing! I’ve known about couponing for years and have even been to a class about it but could never see myself as a couponer. To me coupons were for those who loved spaghetti and canned veggies or had 10 kids and needed two shopping carts of food per week. A couple weeks ago a coworker was sharing a link with me for a particular baby item that lead to southersavers.com. The site is full of weekly deals and links to other coupons; honestly all a little overwhelming for someone who has no idea was RP or SS is. The main thing that stuck out was their Publix weekly deals article. Just like Publix shows you each week on their website they share the buy one get one deals and things that are on sale except under each “deal” is links to other coupons you can use on top of that. For instance if Publix has buy one get one free bread the manufacturer of the bead could have a coupon for $1 off.
I spent one Monday during lunch and breaks diligently clicking on all the coupon links and carefully planning out my grocery list and meal plan. That night I went to Publix and spent $95 and saved $60. The best part being it was things we eat! It was things that wouldn’t waste space in the panty like boxes of pasta or jarred pickles. It was practical. I walked out of the store elated. One day of putting out effort got us $60 worth of free food. During that week I played around on a few different sites and even score coupons from the Sunday paper all prepping for my next Publix trip. My list wasn’t as organized and my hopes were not as high because who could really save that much again? We walked out of Publix Monday night spending $100 and saving $65! I just couldn’t believe it. And this time if I broke down the $65 savings a lot more that money was because of coupons not in store deals. I’m officially hooked.
I’ve always assumed couponing was something it’s not. Taking a little time and planning has already saved us so much money there is no way I could walk into the store blind again. I won’t be posting pictures of my products with the savings but just know it’s easy and wonderful. My favorite places to look so far are the Sunday paper and southersavers.com and coupons.com. Southern Savers also has links to Smart Source and Red Plum (the inserts that come in the Sunday paper) so if you not ready to venture on the newspaper yet their printables are good. I’m looking forward to building up my pile of coupons and getting a little more organized so as the months go by I can expand to CVS and Walgreens to save even more!
I challenge all of you money conscious people to give it a try!
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3 comments:
I went to staples and got the plastic baseball card holders and a binder and that's how I organize my coupons. I pull the ones I know I'm going to use that day but take the whole binder just incase I may need them. just thought I'd share... it makes it much easier to organize them.
I'm a big fan of couponing! I posted about it here http://ashley-taylor.blogspot.com/2010/05/my-semi-initial-attempt-to-make.html and gave some organization tips too if you're interested (or have time... I had a lot of time when I was pregnant, but a lot less time now to be THAT organized). Another great resource is Target.com. Target lets you combine their coupon and manufactor coupons for more savings! I have made Venus razors pay for themselves between coupons and $5 Target gift card promos. I also love it because Target does a good job or matching their coupons with sales too... Good luck!
Thanks for the tips! Kelli I have never thought to use the card holder, smart thinking! I just organized them into baggies but even then you can't see what you have.
If anyone else has tips let me know!
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