First I want to say thank you to all of my new readers. I currently do not have great internet access at my new apartment, but I will do my very best to keep my blogging up.
I want to welcome all of you that are new to reading my blog and to some of you that are new to couponing. With the new year upon us come of you are searching for ways to save money, build your stockpile, maybe pay off debt or just spend smarter. I want to spend some time going over a few basics.
First and foremost.. For those of you that have found my blog after watching the TV show Extreme Couponing.. Let me say this. That is a TV show! It is great entertainment and great inspiration. Those shopping trips are not usually realistic. The show insures that they have a large supply of high value coupons. They buy large amounts of just a few products to make their totals crazy high, They spend a crazy amount of time preparing for just one shopping trip. I don't know about you guys, but that isn't me. I'm real. I'm a mom, a college student, and a woman trying to get by.
My first piece of advice is just simply use coupons for things you already purchase! Sounds easy enough, right? Well it is. For example how many of you with little ones buy diapers or pull-ups? By printing pull-up coupons from the companies website I am able to purchase Pull-Ups and wipes for much cheaper than the off brand.
That brings me to my next point. Is the store brand cheaper? Well, if it is then buy it. I often joke that my favorite brand is whatever is on sale! Often times though a coupon will make the name brand cheaper than the store brand. Why buy the store brand if you can have the store brand cheaper!
Watch your sizes. Bigger is not always better! Often times smaller is better when using a coupon. If a product does not have a size limitation buy the smallest one to have the smallest amount of out of pocket expense. For example if you have a $1 off Any Secret deodorant why buy the big bottle that is $3 when you can buy the small one for less than $1 making it FREE! Doesn't get any better than free.
Use coupons in conjunction with sale prices. This is a win win situation. A great sale plus a coupon means maximum savings. For example not too long ago Dawn Dish soap was on sale for $1 at CountryMart. I used a $0.50 coupon found from the previous weeks Sunday paper. CountryMart doubles coupons so it made them FREE!
Finally my last and one of my most important pieces of advice.. stock up so you don't have to pay full price! If you get a great deal on something buy extra. For example not too long ago I was able to buy bottles of Softsoap hand soap for $0.25. I could have bought just one but instead I bought 5. This way when one runs out I don't have to pay full price for another one. There isn't any need in hording a bunch of stuff you will never use or that will go bad, but buy a few extras to last you until they go on sale again.
Happy Shopping! :)
