I have a bottle of Tabasco sauce that's sitting in my fridge, 3/4 full, that doesn't expire until 2012. So why the heck did I go out and buy two more bottles this weekend? Or three toothbrushes? Or last week when I bought a box of penne pasta, even though we weren't making pasta for dinner?
Because I'm a coupon nut now. I actively look forward to Wednesday, when we get our grocery store circular in the mail so I can see the deals. I can't wait for Thursday and Saturday, when we get our coupons with our newspaper. Sounds lame, but for a penny-pincher like myself, it's enjoyable.
I know Grace previously blogged about the show on TLC called "Extreme Couponing". In that show, people spend 20+ hours a week preparing for their grocery shopping trip where they will spend $500 or more, only to have their final total reduced to less than $10 because of coupons and store reward cards. It's amazing to watch, albeit a little ridiculous (seriously, what are you going to do with 100 bottles of Maalox?). But the idea of taking the time to match deals from the grocery store with a collection of coupons is worthwhile, and something Grace and I have started to adapt (on a much smaller scale, of course).
For example, this week our grocery store had a sale on Tabasco sauce- 10 for $10 (or 1 for $1). In this week's batch of coupons, there was a $0.60 off coupon for any size Tabasco sauce. Since my store doubles any coupon, we'd end up being on the positive of $0.20. Essentially our grocery store paid us to walk out with two bottles of Tabasco sauce. We did the same with toothbrushes this week as well, with toothbrushes being on sale for $1, and us having three $1.50 off coupons. Three free toothbrushes, $1.50 profit.
Besides the savings, Grace and I are starting to create a nice "stockpile". Our pantry is becoming loaded with items we purchased on sale and with coupons. I feel like we're getting to the point where we can go to the grocery store and shop out of want instead of need. What I mean by that is, let's say I want to make lemon chicken for dinner, but chicken is not on sale this week. Because we bought chicken three weeks ago in a massive sale coupled with a $1.75 off coupon and froze it, we are not subject to pay the higher price for something we want for the week. We want to get to the point where we only buy what we want (sale price items with coupons) because we already have everything we need at home.
Anyway, I encourage you to try it. Yes, it does take a few extra minutes to clip the coupons and get ready for your shopping trip, and I can already guess for some (cough cough Kevin cough cough) it might not be worth the time. But let me tell you, it is such an awesome feeling to walk out of the store with something you not only got for free, but got paid to take out. Plus I'm like crazy-set on Tabasco sauce.
~Mikey D
PS~ I still can't decide whether I'm happy or sad with the Lion's draft. ESPN "experts" seem to love it, Detroit fans and writers seem kinda 'meh' on it. I don't know...And why couldn't they have drafted Greg Jones??? Boo...
Because I'm a coupon nut now. I actively look forward to Wednesday, when we get our grocery store circular in the mail so I can see the deals. I can't wait for Thursday and Saturday, when we get our coupons with our newspaper. Sounds lame, but for a penny-pincher like myself, it's enjoyable.
I know Grace previously blogged about the show on TLC called "Extreme Couponing". In that show, people spend 20+ hours a week preparing for their grocery shopping trip where they will spend $500 or more, only to have their final total reduced to less than $10 because of coupons and store reward cards. It's amazing to watch, albeit a little ridiculous (seriously, what are you going to do with 100 bottles of Maalox?). But the idea of taking the time to match deals from the grocery store with a collection of coupons is worthwhile, and something Grace and I have started to adapt (on a much smaller scale, of course).
For example, this week our grocery store had a sale on Tabasco sauce- 10 for $10 (or 1 for $1). In this week's batch of coupons, there was a $0.60 off coupon for any size Tabasco sauce. Since my store doubles any coupon, we'd end up being on the positive of $0.20. Essentially our grocery store paid us to walk out with two bottles of Tabasco sauce. We did the same with toothbrushes this week as well, with toothbrushes being on sale for $1, and us having three $1.50 off coupons. Three free toothbrushes, $1.50 profit.
Besides the savings, Grace and I are starting to create a nice "stockpile". Our pantry is becoming loaded with items we purchased on sale and with coupons. I feel like we're getting to the point where we can go to the grocery store and shop out of want instead of need. What I mean by that is, let's say I want to make lemon chicken for dinner, but chicken is not on sale this week. Because we bought chicken three weeks ago in a massive sale coupled with a $1.75 off coupon and froze it, we are not subject to pay the higher price for something we want for the week. We want to get to the point where we only buy what we want (sale price items with coupons) because we already have everything we need at home.
Anyway, I encourage you to try it. Yes, it does take a few extra minutes to clip the coupons and get ready for your shopping trip, and I can already guess for some (cough cough Kevin cough cough) it might not be worth the time. But let me tell you, it is such an awesome feeling to walk out of the store with something you not only got for free, but got paid to take out. Plus I'm like crazy-set on Tabasco sauce.
~Mikey D
PS~ I still can't decide whether I'm happy or sad with the Lion's draft. ESPN "experts" seem to love it, Detroit fans and writers seem kinda 'meh' on it. I don't know...And why couldn't they have drafted Greg Jones??? Boo...
7 comments:
Meijer prints out coupons for me at checkout. The computers know what I usually buy and print an appropriate coupon for the product. And sometimes its not even for a product, it's just a flat $5 or $10 off the next purchase.
I throw those away. So yeah, I'm probably not going to start clipping coupons.
WHAT?!?! You throw away the $5/$10 off coupons?!? Why???????
Haha, I planned on using the first few, but I could never remember them when I went shopping. They just accumulated in a drawer until they expired. After playing that game for a while I just gave up, and now I don't even bother trying to save them anymore.
But I think a better reason is that it provokes a good reaction from you. A comment with that many question marks is definitely worth $5.
Hahahaha, Kevin you are one of a kind. Only you.
I'm going to take that as a compliment.
Which newspaper do you get? Sunday only or every day? We've considered doing it, but we don't get a newspaper.
As to the draft picks, I agree that their first three were good. The rest was junk. I have NO idea why they went with the LB that they did.
It's weird- our plan is for Wednesday through Sunday, so I guess that's a partial week? But coupons come on Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, so there's 3 chances for us to pick up some good ones.
Post a Comment