I've always liked coupons. I remember helping my mom clip them when I was little so she could put them into the blue velcro wallet set aside for that purpose. I remember her bringing that wallet out at checkout and being fascinated that those little slips of paper counted just the same as money! Once I became responsible for making purchases, I clipped coupons on occasion, even though my mom had gotten out of the habit, but I only clipped products I knew I wanted to use and I never went to any trouble matching up deals, etc. This continued for years, and it wasn't until Ethan was born that I became more deal-savvy.
By the time Ethan's first Christmas rolled around, I had yet to really get into couponing, but I was always looking out for deals. I was proud to boast that I bought Ethan over $100 of toys and gifts for Christmas for less than $10 out of pocket. Since I was doing so well saving money on irregular purchases, what in the world was stopping me from saving money on our day-to-day needs? And thus the coupon obsession began in earnest.
Now, I'm not quite like those people you may have seen on TV. I'm not generally going to buy things just because they are a good deal if I'm not actually going to use them (unless I'm going to make money on the transaction). I don't have a room full of toilet paper, and I have yet to purchase an extra freezer. But I do have a binder full of almost every coupon that's come in the paper, carefully clipped and sorted according to type (The only ones I don't clip are for dog food, hair coloring, weird supplements, and diapers since I will never use any of those). And I do spend time matching up coupons with in-store deals in order to make the most of my stash. I've even gone to more than one store location when the first one was sold out of a certain desired item. But it is definitely worth it! Just today, I was paid $2.51 for taking a bottle of pain reliever and two large tubes of toothpaste out of the store.
In just the past month, I have gotten the following absolutely free (or made money on it!):
- 2 packs of 500 sheets of copy paper
- 1 roll painter's tape
- 3 bottles hand soap
- 4 tubes toothpaste
- 1 12-pack of pens
- 1 6-pack of mini-legal pads
- 4 granola bars
- 5 packages of feminine products
- 1 bottle of pain reliever
And here are some of my favorite non-free deals from just the past week:
- Wisk detergent - Retail: $11.59; Paid: $0.99
- 2 bottles of John Frieda shampoo - Retail: $6.49 each; Paid: $0.49 each
- 2 Degree deodorants - Retail: $4.79 each; Paid: $0.44 each
- Nexcare Bandages - Retail: $1.87; Paid: $0.32
- Sally Hansen nail polish - Retail: $2.54; Paid: $0.58
As you can see, it doesn't take long for the savings to add up! And those are just the ones I remembered off the top of my head, so I'm sure I've gotten more for free in the past month. For a growing family, it just makes sense to save wherever possible, especially when one person is staying at home. It requires you to relinquish some level of brand-loyalty to take advantage of the best deals, but already, I probably won't have to buy myself shampoo, toothpaste, or deodorant for at least a year. Who knows how much I'll end up saving in just the first year of Ethan's life?!?
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