Couponing & Being Thrifty

Recently, about 6 weeks ago to be exact, I became couponing. My goal is not to buy anything that I will not use just for the sake of buying it, but rather my goal is to save as much money as possible on things my family and I use on a daily basis. This evening, I had one of my best "Couponing" shopping experiences. Thankfully Harris Teeter was having Super Doubles (they double all coupons up to $1.98) and there were a bunch of specials (BOGO or BOGO50%, etc.). Harris Teeter also has electronic coupons that you can clip to your store card and can use a manufacturer's coupon with. The only catch is that you are only allowed 20 coupons per transaction, which is pretty typical among all stores.

Here is the result of my shopping experience:

Without coupons and store specials, this order would have cost $95.42. Completely crazy right?!?! It doesn't look like that much stuff. But, with all my coupons, I was able to save $57.52, bringing my total to $37.90.

Here is a peak at my Coupon Binder. I want/need to get one with a zipper, but before I spent the money, I wanted to test my couponing skills and make sure that I would stick with clipping, organizing and using the coupons. I think I a hooked!

I organize my binder by general food categories and by the way the stores are set up, so that if I see a good deal while I am shopping, I am able to find the coupon rather quickly. This last trip, I made an excel spreadsheet to keep track of everything (quantity, original price, sale price, coupon value, amount I would pay after coupon) so that I knew going in what my bill should be and sure enough, I was within $1 of what I calculated!

All I do is get the Sunday paper, clip the coupons from the inserts (Smart Source (SS), Red Plum (RP), and Proctor & Gamble (P&G)), organize them and then look at blogs that have my local stores for matchups.

It's hard to save on fresh veggies, but there are some coupons out there and the blogs are really helpful for that. In lieu of saving on veggies, I decided to grow some!
I know, I need to mow... It is on my "to do list" this week :)

On Thursday night, I was able to score two free tickets to the local Cajun festival for Friday night, so Ryan and I were able to listen to some great music by Cowboy Mouth for FREE! We also had dinner on Saturday at a local sushi place and used a 20% off coupon that I got in the mail. The sashimi was melt in your mouth delicious! Today I have been making bridal luncheon invitations for my Sarah and I love them and her!!

Much love.

Couponing

In an effort to be faithful to one of my New Years Resolutions...being thrifty...I have recently started couponing. It is not easy, but it is satisfying when you save over 50% of the value of your purchase.

Thankfully, I have a good friend who is a coupon pro and has been guiding me. Apparently sticking with it and being organized, knowing store policies, and finding a few great websites to follow are key. Several stores double coupon that are under $1 and most accept a store coupon and a manufacturer's coupon.

I have been doing it for a little over two weeks and when I use coupons, I save anywhere from 50% to 80% and that is pretty sweet! Granted, I am not saving that on my entire order, I am only saving that on items that I have coupons for. Ryan and I are not 100% brand loyal people which is good, but we do have preferences and we eat a lot of fresh food which rarely has coupons. I don't plan to be an Extreme Couponer, but it would be really nice to be able to live off of $200 or less in groceries each month. When it is just me at home, that is easy peasy, but when the hubby and kiddo are here, that will be a little more difficult. Luckily, if I stick with it, my savings should only increase!

Since I am not working (I know you this doesn't bother you honey), it bothers me to spend money on myself. But when I can save with coupons, I feel much better if I have to spend money on myself or any luxuries like the $13 mojito from Date Night!

Resources:

The coupons in a Sunday paper

Facebook has a lot of pages that are geared toward saving/couponing

Restaurant.com is great for dinner dates and gifts!

There are also a ton of blogs about couponing such as KrazyCouponlady, CouponChallenge, but the food stores are geared toward my area of the country.

I will continue to update you on my progress. Wish me luck! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask, I will be sure to try to direct you in the proper direction.

On a free note, I won a beautiful pair of earrings this weekend. They are silver teardrop hoops with crystally looking diamonds on them. On a thrifty note, I purchased a dresser for my stepson's room! It is three large drawers, painted black which is the color we planned on painted any dresser we got and it does not have any hardware. We will have to get some at Home Depot and they just happen to give a 15% military discount! Pictures to come!

Much love.