Jan
2012
Saving Money With Coupons: My Experience This Week
A great way to save money these days is by using coupons. I have to admit, I never use to think that using coupons would actually help save you money until a few months ago. I discovered, through a family friend, that using coupons is actually one of the easiest ways to save money. After she gave me some resources and showed me her stockpile, I was sold. Even then, I didn’t take couponing seriously because I didn’t have the time for it and was so busy with school.
My dad recently lost the house, so we are currently in the middle of moving everything out and into the house my sisters used to live in. I knew that there had to be some way I could help out, and that’s when I thought, “Hey, I can start couponing!” I tried explaining to my parents that you shouldn’t be embarrassed to use coupons, especially ones that will help you get things for free. You shouldn’t be embarrassed to save money.
The key to couponing is to wait for a sale and a store promotion and then stack it with a coupon for optimal savings. Starting a stockpile, even a small one, is a great way to save money, too. If you buy in bulk while a product is on sale, you won’t have to buy it later at a higher price. This week, I made a resolution that I would help my parents save more money on groceries using coupons.
Let’s Break It Down:
At CVS I bought: 9 bottles of Pantene ProV Shampoo, 8 bottles of Dawn Dish Liquid, 12 bars of Ivory Soap, 4 Nivea Lip Balms, and 2 Colgate Toothpastes. My total retail value was $65.97! This is what we would usually pay for all of these items- something that has got to stop. After store promotions and my coupons, I only paid $5.97! A savings of 90% Can you believe that? I sure couldn’t. And neither could my mom when she saw me come home with all of these and my receipts.
At Target I bought: 2 packs of Poise Hourglass Pads, 4 Aquafresh Toothpastes, and 4 UP2U packs of gum. My total retail value was $34.42 and I ended up paying only $13.42 after store promotions and my coupons. I even got back a $5 Target Gift Card, bringing my total down to $8.42! A savings of 75% I was mostly excited about the Poise Hourglass Pads deal, no doubt.
At Kroger I bought: 4 Tide Detergent, 8 Old Spice Deodorant, 8 Covergirl Eye Shadow, and 4 Softsoap Hand Soap. My total retail value was $64.40 and I ended up paying just $21 after store promotions and my coupons. I saved 67% on that trip. Lastly, at Walgreens I bought: 1 Cottonelle 12-pack Toilet Paper, 2 Nivea Body Wash, and 4 boxes of Fiber One Cereal. My total retail value was $22 and I only paid $6 after sales and my coupons. A savings of 72%
So How Did I Do?
My total retail value for everything I bought this week was $198 (including tax). I only paid $43.90! So that means that I saved my parents $154 (or 78%). My parents were so proud. They actually used to make fun of the fact I would clip coupons each week saying that I was wasting my time. Well, I think I have them convinced now that you can save so much on groceries using coupons. And in just one week, too! I loaded up these groceries and put them in our new stockpile room in our house. I’m hoping to see it grow each week, and save my parents more money.
Do you coupon? What is your favorite couponing trip? I’d love to hear about it!
Molly W.
January 6, 2012 at 6:42 pm (499 days ago)Wow that is seriously impressive and something I’ll have to look into. Where do you find the coupons?
17sirens
January 7, 2012 at 7:21 pm (498 days ago)You can find them in the Sunday Paper. You can also find them online and facebook sometimes.
hayat
January 7, 2012 at 12:06 am (499 days ago)im so proud of u…hopefully soon u will see the stockpile grow… i can go a moth without stepping foot in the grocery store if i dont like the sales and we live off our stockpile…it will be a great feeling once ur able to fill all ur shelves and you dont have to run to the store every other day because youre running out of things…keep up the good work!
freebie lover
January 7, 2012 at 3:35 am (499 days ago)Whenever a new product is introduced, manufacturers place advertisements in popular TV programs, magazines, newspapers and on the web. They are fully aware of the fact that there isn’t a better way that spreading the word of mouth. If people receiving free samples like the product they will not only buy the product but will also recommend it to their friends. This is what would help the manufacturers to boost their sales.
Go to http://dailycanadianfreebies.blogspot.com/ to get daily free samples and coupons
Kelsie Harris
January 7, 2012 at 4:15 pm (498 days ago)Wow, that is a lot of money saved. I very rarely use coupons. Maybe I should give it a shot.
17sirens
January 7, 2012 at 7:21 pm (498 days ago)Definitely worth a try!
Brandi Elam
January 7, 2012 at 9:13 pm (498 days ago)Wow that’s great. How many papers do you buy each week?
17sirens
January 7, 2012 at 11:36 pm (498 days ago)I usually just buy 4 from Dollar Tree. If I’m feeling EXTREME I’ll buy 10. There are 9 of us in my household, so ideally you want to buy a paper for each person, but that’s too expensive.
Emily
January 8, 2012 at 8:41 am (498 days ago)My boyfriend laughed at me at first too, especially because I was paying money to buy coupons (we don’t usually buy newspapers) but recently we had company and finances (or lack there of, lol) got brought up and he’s like you guys should use coupons come look at this. Then he showed them our stockpile and was pointing out the different items we got free, what ones were like .40 each, etc. I think that’s proof that i’ve won him over, haha. :)
Tara Sutton
January 10, 2012 at 12:13 am (496 days ago)I admit, I’m not extreme in the least when it comes to couponing. My average savings is around 40-50% max. I don’t mind because I am at least saving money! I would probably use more if we didn’t have such sensitive skinned people in my family. We can’t switch detergents and soaps at random and some are horribly irritating to each of us (hubby often gets a rash, I get hives, my 2yo gets eczema) plus I have asthma so no strong scents. I actually make up for that “loss” of savings by making my own laundry soap as well as using cloth diapers. Great job on your savings though! I’m about to embark on a shopping trip to restock after living off our stockpile during December. Wish me many percentages in savings!!
rocking savings, im savings, internet savings
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