So I have seen so many articles on extreme couponing and how much money these people saved and it made me think. Can I do it? How is this done? Can I teach others?
First thing I did was grab the Sunday paper. I live in a small community so it’s limited to one in a 30 mile radius. If I were in a larger city, I could find more varieties. I clipped my little heart out for about two hours. Next thing I did was get online to www.coupons.com (great website) and found some coupons that interested me. So here I’ve got all these scraps of paper sitting on my big dining room table and now I think, “okay how do I get the ultimate savings?” Here’s something that helped: I have an envelope where I store all my coupons by expiration date. For those who are doing the extreme way, might want to invest in those recipe boxes that are alphabetized. Organization is the key with couponing.
Next, I looked through the week’s specials. It’s back to school time so naturally all the office supplies and snack foods are on sale. Find the coupons that match with the already reduced prices and BAM: huge savings. I went to Walgreens and got a can of shaving cream for $0.99! It was originally $3.99. It got reduced to $1.99 and I had a $1.00 off coupon. Toilet paper was another big item on sale there. A twelve pack of Cottonelle toilet paper was on sale for $4 and I had a $0.50 coupon. If I didn’t have such a limited budget, I would have found another coupon and gotten two or more. Toilet paper never spoils and you know you’ll need it so that’s a good item to keep stocking up on.
The key to couponing is organization. Open up a new email account just for coupons and special deals. Go to every major company’s website and sign up for deals to be sent to your coupon email account. While checking those emails, also look for coupons or online checkout codes to add on top of what’s on sale. At my work, I’ve included some coworkers to be couponers so we are working together. After I have gone through my coupons and picked out what I will use, I give the ones I do not plan on using to my coworkers. They do the same for me. With a group, you can find more savings.
Another good idea for couponing and savings are to sign up for mailing lists. Use that coupon email address for weekly specials to be sent to you. Most department stores are texting savings and specials directly to your phone so you’ll rush to them after work. Take advantage! As long as it’s free and informative, you might as well.
An alternative could be to build your savings account. Calculate how much you saved with ad matches, coupons, and even reduced prices then take that total amount out of your checking to be deposited into your savings account. Check on it after one month and be amazed at how much you have racked up! You won’t even realize it’s gone because you would have spent that much on the retail value of your product anyway. Now this is if you can afford to do that. I’m on a very tight budget and have very little wiggle room so at this moment, I cannot practice this savings building tip. When I can, I do though. Teach your kids at a young age about this tactic so they can build their savings before they learn how to spend freely.
Happy clipping!
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