Because I'd rather spend my money on something fun.

If you're not interested in couponing, feel free to skip this one.  Though if I can do this, anyone can because you don't have to be a coupon fiend to save some serious money.

 

See that load of loot?  It's worth about $110 and I paid only $56.

Let me confess right now that I am not a crazy coupon lady who can get things for over 80% off.  Nat and Deb, I bow to your superior skills.

Here's what is in that pile: 24 rolls Charmin TP, 108 diapers, 4 cans Enfamil formula, 25oz Pantene shampoo, two #35 Clorox wipes, 240 Bounce dryer sheets, two Oreos, Colgate toothpaste, 24oz Dawn dishsoap, Kellogs cereal, eight bounty paper towels, Puffs tissues, nasal spray, Nyquil and baby wash.

I might have been closer to 70% off, but the diapers and Nyquil threw things off because they were things I needed and pretty much they don't come cheaper than what I paid for them, though I did have coupons for each.  The toothpaste, nasal spray, tissues and baby wash were all free and the Clorox wipes were only 99 cents each.  I went to Walmart, Target and Walgreens to get these deals.  Other items I've gotten for free on recent shopping trips include Olay facial moisturizer and soap bars, Secret deodorant and Irish Springs soap.

So, I hear your inquisitive mind asking how I accomplished this.  Coupons.com, the P&G Everyday Solutions coupon booklet, Target web coupons and the Sunday ads provided the coupons themselves.  The websites Krazy Coupon Lady and Couponing to Disney helped me to use them.  I'm not exaggerating when I say that I wouldn't do all this without help from online resources.  Why do the research yourself on weekly deals when someone else had already done it?  The only cravat is that coupons do differ by region, and even by the paper.  For example in my area, the Oregonian has more coupons in it because their paper pays the company for them, versus the Register Guard, which is limited in the inserts they carry.  Both of those blogs listed above are for the east coast, so I have to filter through all their region-specific stores to get to mine, but it isn't that hard.

Did you know that Target allows both a Target coupon and a manufacturer coupon to be used on a single item?  I didn't.  Did you know that Walgreens gives you vouchers on certain products that can be used just like cash on your next visit?

Couponing (I know it isn't a word, but that's what I'm going with) isn't difficult to do.  I only get one copy of the Sunday paper (which I got a good deal on over the phone after I signed up for a free trial) and get the rest from online.  On Fridays or Saturdays most of the coupon websites have previews of what is going to be in the Sunday ads, so I can look ahead of time to see what I want.  These deals go really fast, so go to the store as soon as you can.  I don't shop on Sunday and sometimes even by Monday the stores are out of the sale items.  I think it's bait and switch by the stores to only carry a limited supply of those items just to get people into their stores and then make them buy something else... but I digress.

This is one situation where it really pays (I didn't even get that pun until I was proofreading later) to be organized.  I quickly type up the list of items I want to get at each store and next to it list the coupon(s) I have for that item.  Then at the store I cross them off as I go and when I get to the register, I give the paper clipped stack to the clerk.  Now, for a quick lesson on courtesy and not getting ripped off.  It takes longer for coupon transactions.  I like shopping during 'off' times when the store isn't busy and I don't take my kids because you have to be able to focus, especially at the register for reasons I will discuss soon.  So this means I normally do my shopping at 8pm, but that's OK with me.  I tell the clerk right at the beginning that I have many coupons and I also let the person behind me know in case they want to choose another line.  I didn't do that the first time and I could feel the little daggers hitting the back of my head from the people behind me.

Now, here's a warning for Target shoppers.  I think their machines deliberately rip you off when you present coupons.  Each time I've used a whole stack of them I find later that it got messed up, even when I'm watching them.  A $1 coupon will come up at 50 cents, or a 50 cent one will go through as 5 cents.  Grrr.  So ask the clerk to go slow and watch on the register as each coupon goes through to make sure that your total goes down by the proper amount.  Target is the only place I've had problems with this, but it occurs every time.

Finally, couponing doesn't mean you have to limit yourself to wacky brands and cheap things.  Like you see above, I'm still getting items that we like to use.  Yes, I can get generic dryer sheets cheaper, but my kids and I have sensitive skin so we can only use certain dye/perfume-free laundry items.  I have a big weakness for Oreos, so I stock up when there is a sale.  When a company introduces a new product (like the Kellogs Crunchy Nut shown above, or the cinnamon Cheerios released recently) the company will often mark them down and have coupons.  I got 4 boxes for 50 cents each after I taste-tested the first box.

If there is anything else you'd like to know, even after this ridiculously long post, about being a not-so-crazy-because-I-have-a-life-beyond-saving coupon lady, let me know.  Because we all have things we'd rather spend our money on.