August 21, 2011

My name is Jill, and I'm a coupon addict.

In yesterday's post I mentioned "couponing" and said I would discuss more later.  Well, it's later!

Here is the story of my coupon journey:

I kept seeing things about couponing - how people would save crazy amounts of money on name brand items, shopping at drugstores and expensive grocery stores - we grew up buying store brand items at warehouse prices, so this just seemed ridiculous to me.  Every time I saw someone post a picture on facebook, where they saved tons of money, I would ask them how they did it, but never really got a response.  So one Sunday, I bought the paper. I scoured through the Publix and Kroger ads and tried to match the sales with the coupons.  It took me 3 hours and I saved $30.  I spent 3 hours ignoring my kids and family for $30? Not worth it.

I almost gave up until a facebook friend mentioned that she knew two ladies that taught a coupon class and referred me to their blog.  Two Coupon Cuties

A couple of things on their blog captured my interest:

The Two Coupon Cuties do not eat, breathe, and live coupons 24 hours a day.Who has time to spend all day, every day searching multiple blogs, ordering coupons, clipping coupons, and spending hours in the grocery store? Our goal is to save you money with the use of coupons in the most efficent manner. Not everyone who uses coupons is obsessed'

'Do you want to make your money go further at the grocery store? Do you want to fill your pantry, fridge, & freezer for half the cost? Are you tired of spending hundreds of dollars at the grocery store, & having little to show for it? If so, a Clipinar is just what you need!' 


I thought, "oh hell yeah!" "Yes, Please!"and scheduled a class at my house.

That was June 12th.  Since then, we have literally saved hundreds of dollars and our "stock pile" has gotten so big that we had to buy an extra shelf for the garage!

A few quick things:
1. Our shelves are not stocked with 500 bottles of mustard. That would be dumb.
2. When things go on sale and I have coupons, if it's something we use, I will stock up.  For example, ketchup was $0.33 the other day, so I bought 4.
3. I do the shopping for myself, my husband, my Mom and my two kids.
4. If something is free (for example, BBQ sauce today) I will use all of the coupons I have (5) and buy the items, and then give away the ones we won't use.
5. I go to Publix once a week, and Riteaid or CVS about twice a month.
6. I check the Southern Savers website more than Facebook or my email. She is the coupon QUEEN!
7. I spend about 2 hours TOTAL a week couponing, and that's only because I enjoy it! :)
8. (and most importantly) I'm going to start posting pictures on my blog of my savings specifically to HELP other people save too! PLEASE ask me questions!


Here is today's shopping trip: (I went to CVS, Walgreens, Kroger and Publix - this is EXTREMELY rare, and I only did it because my Mom SO graciously watched my kids for me, plus there were specific items we use at each of those stores with a price worth the trip. For example, Walgreens had my Mom's toothpaste for $0.99 - usually $4. This was actually my first time going to Walgreens)

Retails $165.99 Total out of pocket $67.15 Saved $98.84

Here are some more savings from the past month:

Publix: Retail $209.80, Spent $84.47, Saved $125.33!

RiteAid: Retails $140, Spent $28.50, Saved $111.50!

Publix: retails $69.12, spent $23.20 - saved $45.92!

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