I should not watch TV....it is a terrible thing. I see Hoarders and then decide that I need to walk into a room in my house and just throw out everything. Extreme Couponers has gotten me hooked, so now I have decided that I can do that too!
Now, before anyone starts to panic please understand that I have no desire to give up my garage to a gabazillion products that will just sit there for the next 100 years but actually saving lots of money on my groceries that I can put toward other things would be amazing. Being unemployed has given me the time to do my thing, by which I mean research, research and more research. Two weeks later I am still researching and evaluating. I did my first shopping trip yesterday with just internet coupons and store sales and saved a good 50% on what I bought. This afternoon Joe and I will sit down with the lists and actually evaluate the trip......did we really need this, was it actually a good deal or was it me getting overexcited.....These things happen ;-)
This is not your grandmothers couponing, there are several websites out there that actually track store sales and tell you which coupons to use and where to get them. These are under evaluation and so far my favorite is savingsangel.com.....this is a PAID service, costs about $20 a month but you can also offset that by referring friends ($5 for each friend). This one is super easy to use, will actually build your list for you and then provide a list of coupons you need to pull for the trip it also links to any online coupons so you can just click the link, print and go. The information is accurate and has the stores that I shop at (HEB is not currently there but I just got an email that it will be added very soon!) As a side note, if you are interested in trying this service they have a sign up program that gives you a 50% off to try it. I signed up for 8 weeks at $20 to really give myself a chance to test it out. If you want to try it out don't forget to use my code 42879.
To get started the first thing you want to do, even before you start looking at websites is to start getting your Sunday paper. Grab the coupon ads (Redplum, SS and any others) and put the date on the front, clip them all together and then file them. All of the current websites refer to the ad and the date it was in the paper, then watch your website and only clip when you actually need them!
There is also a magazine that they consistently refer to "All You" and it is available by subscription or at Walmart. The June issue is currently out and costs $2.24 in the store, subscription costs $19 a year for a monthly magazine.
At the beginning of the month all of the coupon sites update with brand new stuff, coupons.com is a great one. I went on and just printed anything that looked like I might use. Some of them only have a limited number of prints allowed total so not a bad idea to go and get them at the beginning of the month. I clipped them all together, wrote the month on the top and then went on my merry way.
I refuse to collect 10 newspapers or go dumpster diving or anything crazy like that, I will also not put in 70 hours a week trying to look for sales and clipping coupons. These websites make things super easy and the only reason I have spent so much time the last week is my constant cross checking and evaluation. I will try to keep everyone updated on my progress (In case anyone cares).
Theoretically I will have the energy and inclination to write up my shopping trip evaluation and will post it later. Now I am off to enjoy my weekend and not look at another ad or website or coupon until Monday ;-) When I post the evaluation, I will also give some do's and don'ts....I can think of at least 2 that I did during this one trip.....happy couponing!
Here are the links for some of the websites I have been looking at
https://savingsangel.com/
http://www.couponmom.com
http://thekrazycouponlady.com/krazy-this-week/
http://www.allyou.com/
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