So I have started a project that seemed simple enough but has been alot harder than I thought. I have been trying to save some money with coupons, I had no idea what I was getting into. I bought 2 papers and then I steel Mine and Nates parents coupons every Sunday. They say that the best way to save is to start out with seven papers! holy crap that is alot of coupons. After really trying this for the first time I can totally see what they mean. There were so many time where I wished I had two or three more coupons.
Anywise I used to sort my coupons by not cutting them up and filing them by the date they came in the paper but it was such a pain when getting ready for a shopping trip because I would have to sort through all of the inserts multiple times and that started to get old fast. Now I spend a day and cut them all out and organize them into sections ( frozen, Kids, Pets, Hygeine etc ) and then put them into a binder. The first time I did this I had ALOT to cut 4 or 5 weeks worth and four copies of them I was about ready to give up. But I kept going and going and going and finally got them all clipped out and organized.
Next I looked on some of the coupon sites. Some of my favorites are The Krazy Coupon Lady and Totally Target I see what is on sale this week and put together a list of what I want. The trick to this is not to buy what you need right now but to buy what you will use in the next 6 months. its a totally different way of thinking. You want to eventually be to the point where you never have to buy something unless it is on sale and you will also have a nice stock pile of supplies etc. on hand whenever you need them.
Now its time to shop this I think was the worst part of it all! actually going to the store and finding the product BEFORE they are wipped out is going to be the biggest challenge of all. I know that I am in trouble when I go to the store and Find three other ladys with their coupon binders, and I know that we are all looking for the same deals, because we all follow the same sites and the sites all follow each other. I ended up saving a good amount but still spending more then I really wanted.
This is what I got:
Total Amount of merchandise $111.57I ended up spending $65.53
Amount saved with coupons and Ads $46.04
Amount earned in store credit $26.00
So I got $111.57 worth of product for $39.53
Its not extreme but its a start!
