I’m just curious to see the different coupon strategies other real-life moms are using.
I love watching Extreme Couponing & seeing how much people save, but I just can’t bring myself to spend that much time & effort couponing and I wouldn’t want a stockpile like the ones those people have anyway. I can’t even seem to use the three pounds of ground beef in my freezer before it goes bad.
But I do like saving money. I like it a lot. So I’m curious about getting more into the whole coupon gig.
Right now we pretty much just cut out coupons for stuff we will buy anyway, like the occasional $3 off diapers coupon, and when Abby was on formula those manufacturer coupons were awesome!
I did get a free pair of jeans at Target today because they were on clearance for $4.48 and I had a $5 off denim coupon, but they weren’t even my size. That’s ok because I’ll donate them to our church clothing exchange, but that’s kind of what I mean. I don’t want to end up with a bunch of junk I don’t need/can’t use just because it was free.
Plus the key seems to be getting lots of certain items & my grocery store only lets you buy 4 of an item with coupons, although they do double up to 99 cents.
Where do you stand on couponing? Do you have any tips & tricks of the trade? Or do you tend to avoid it?
I coupon – most of the time – and love it. I save tons of money using coupons. I started my “stockpile” about a year ago. I have about 6 months worth of supplies (paper towels, toilet paper, contact solution, soap, body wash, shampoo/conditioner, on and on and on) that I got for either free or super cheap. It’s easy to coupon – not easy to EXTREME coupon. Those people are crazy. Just take a few minutes each day to look at the deals and see if you want/need to take part in them. Check out my “couponing” section for more info on what I do.
I coupon and it saves me a ton of money. My store also has double coupon days where they double coupons up to a dollar and then add an additional dollar to coupons over a dollar. Today I bought 5 boxes of cereal for free. There are three rules you MUST follow when couponing so it doesn’t get out of control. 1) the item must be on sale. 2) you must buy the item on double coupon day. And 3) the item MUST MUST MUST be one that your family would have bought anyway, something you KNOW you like and will will use. It’s ridiculous to have a bunch of stuff nobody wants to eat. Getting non-perishables like toilet paper, toothpaste, etc. For free is a great way to build up an emergency supply!
i was just like you–only clipped coupons for things i bought anyways. until i went to a coupon class and learned how to really coupon! now i pretty much do it like the other girls who commented. i only use coupons on sale items that i would normally buy or that are so cheap (like 0.50 or free) that it won’t matter. I do have a stockpile but not more than my pantry/closet can handle.
you just have to start kind of slowly and after awhile you get the hang of it and it is fun to see the good deals you get!