Couponing

Last month we were watching TLC and discovered a new show, Extreme Couponing.  At first we cracked jokes about the people on the show.  Most of the families profiled go shopping and leave the store with 3 or 4 shopping carts full where they buy something like 30 boxes of cereal and 15 bottles of mustard.  All of them have stockpiles of items they will never use in this lifetime like 250 sticks of deodorant.  I understand a good deal when you see one but really this seams like a form of hoarding.  Living in 810 square feet I am a strong believer if we buy something new, something old not being used in the house must go.

Right of the bat I knew this was not for me, somewhere around the third show I was watching I started to think there might be something to this whole coupon thing.  I had never paid much attention to coupon, I always believed coupons were for single income homes with kids to feed.  The number one myth I believed was I did not have time to clip coupons.    After a little online research I started to change my way of thinking, with online blogs and websites it really took most the work out of everything.  Unfortunately my first weekend I wanted to start was Easter and there were no coupons in the Sunday paper.  That was fine, it gave me time to organize a binder and start a list of things we might need in the house.  By the next Sunday I found myself scissors in hand and clipped almost every coupon I could find.  I left behind all the diapars and food coupons for stuff we don't eat or use, but have decided next time I will clip them as well and offer them to friends that may use them.



I have really taken great pride in my binder and coupons and have already been stopped a few times inside stores by people asking about my binder system.  It is simple laminate pockets used to organize baseball cards and I just put them in a 3 ring binder and dividers broken down in different categories.

Here is a simple example of couponing, I bought these two bags of candy and two power bars for only $2.  It was a $7 savings because of use of in store specials and newspaper coupons.







This is another example I made a trip to safeway for some desserts, dog treats and dinners along with some good smelly house stuff.  I can not remember how much I saved on this trip but I remember being pleasantly surprised.  Over all I think I have found myself a new money saving hobby.  Keeps me busy and out of trouble.