I do. I always have, sometimes I'm more focused on it than other times. When my children were young, they hated it! They would get so embarrassed but that didn't stop me. Heck, it's free money and if the manufacturer's didn't want me to use their coupon, they would not have made them available to me. Does this make me a tightwad or a cheapskate? Yes. Do I care? No. We have worked hard for our money. I will continue to work hard to spend it wisely. So now with this new zip in my step, my coupons are now organized in an old 3 ring binder. I have wanted to do this for 30 years! It took days of working on it and now it is fabulous and so easy to use.
With the new Extreme Couponing show on TLC, a new fire has been lit it me to be more focused on my grocery shopping. (The more I read about these people on the show, the more I understand that most of what was on the shows had been encouraged by the show producers and they don't shop that extreme in real life. Or at least they didn't. ) I do not shop that extreme. I do not need 60+ bottles of mustard, but if I have the coupons for 5 or 10 and the sale is good enough that I would get it for free or almost free, why wouldn't I get 5 or 10??? Do I need 1000 tubes of toothpaste? No, but if I could get that many for free (well maybe not 1000!) and give them away, yes I would.
I have always had a stocked pantry. It's just what I do. I also go through times when I only use what is in the pantry and freezer without going to the store. I often challenge myself to plan my weekly menu using what I have stocked in my kitchen freezer without taking anything out of the big freezer. I have gone weeks without going into a grocery store. I seldom pay full price for anything. I garden and I can and we eat well--maybe too well.
I sit down and clip my coupons, put them in my notebook and make my grocery list according to what is on sale. I am lucky to have 3 stores close together that have pretty good sales. I also have Winco and Costco that I keep shopping lists for. I do not make special trips to town (10 miles away) just to "go to the store", I plan my errand day to go everywhere I need to go, in the order I need to go to them. I do not enjoy shopping and want to go in, get what I need and get out!
Now I need to organize the rest of my life. But not today~~~
7 comments:
wow! I'm impressed. I coupon on a small scale. I only cut out coupons for items I already normally buy. I've had a small coupon organizer for years.
I only watched one of those shows, it looks like too much work-but to each his own.
Some probably think I sew too much--eegads! perish the thougtht! :)
I also have the 3 ring binder method. I couponed a lot when my kids were young, and just got back into it. My 19 year old and his girlfriend are learning, and just say "wow".It's true, when you work hard for your money. This way, there's more left over for fabric. LOL.
What kind of plastic sleeve is that? I was just saying to hubby yesterday, that my coupon system is not working for me. This is very timely.
I've noticed that there are almost no coupons anymore that don't have an expiration date. There used to be some out there that you could hang onto forever. I do clip and hate when I forget to take them to the store with me. Glad yours are organized.
We have never really lived in a town with more than one grocery store until recently. So couponing is a pretty new idea. I would cut out the coupons in the Sunday paper or use the ones the grocery store offered but that was all. Maybe now I can learn what it is all about.
Coupons are not that plentiful here...usually for $1 off something I would never use, or a brand new product. You are so organized!
I used to be a better shopper/couponer when my daughter was growing up. I still do it on a small scale when I shop at Walmart or the other stores for groceries. More than half our food shopping is done at Aldi, though, and they don't take coupons, but things are so much cheaper anyway. Good for you for getting organized. I think that's key. I've only caught the TV show once or twice, and it's pretty amazing, I have to admit!
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