Two more tips to couponing 1. When you start to collect coupons keep then organized in your purse (google "coupon organizer" -Mine is just from the dollar store) This way they are always right there with you if you happen to come upon a good price. 2. Keep your eyes open. This doesn't mean searching every single shelf in the store, just, keep you eyes open.
It must just be a good night for shopping. After I posted about my ShopKo trip Matthew came home from work and was looking for NyQuil - which we were out of. So I ran down to Fresh Market and picked some up. I had just paid when I noticed 7 or 8 carts off to the side labled "discount - All sales final". Prior to couponing I wouldnt have bothered looking, I would just assume all the good stuff was already gone - plus I had already paid. But I wandered over to take a look. lol.. Here are a few things I bought:
3 full size bottles of Skintimate Shave Gel (which is the kind I always use - yay!) Normally $2.75-$3.50 or more. They were discounted to $1.00 each. I was holding two of them looking through my coupons when the lady next to me (who was also looking through her coupons) :) handed me a coupon for $1.50 off two bottles of any Skintimate product! How nice! She said she had 4 more of the same coupons so she thought I should use one! So, they came out to be $.50 each - food storage!
Also, there were bags of Frosted Mini Wheats (yum!) normally $1.50 each discounted to $0.75. I grabbed two and used a coupon for $1.50 off two bags of that brands cereal! = Free wheaties! lol... I'm such a dork. Anyway, I just wanted to show that couponing works and that its worth your time.
Something else I want to point out is that couponing and other ways of saving money (includng paying tithing and getting out of debt), helps us, like I said to stretch our budget and live more fully within our means. We don't have to worry as much because we have enough for ourselves. When that happens - when we don't have to worry as much because we have enough for ourselves -it puts us in a situation where we can then "worry" about other people and by "worry" I mean show more compassion. We can share, because its not a threat to us if someone else gets something great too! Like the lady tonight that gave me her coupon - she knew that she would have "sufficient for her needs" (think about it) so she could help someone else get what they needed. What a nice mind set.
Hey... we have been couponing for a while now... It is awesome. My sister mindy who lives in Spanish Fork teaches classes. For free. YOu should go to one. I think they are at the library there in S.F. every 3rd or 4th saturday of the month. If you are interested I'll give you her email/phone number. Just let me know. We can get a grocery cart worth like 150.00 of merchandise and pay about 20 dollars for it. It's amazing. You are definitly on the right track and doing great!
I hope this isn't weird for me to post. Tahnee told me that you are using coupons. Aren't they so much fun? I am addicted to coupons. It's to the point that my 3 year old has a shopping cart and a binder with coupons in it and walks around our house shopping for things using coupons. I LOVE IT. I get 5 Sunday papers delivered to my home so that I can get 5 times the savings. This helps me build my storage 5 times as fast. I have a blog where I post deals that I find and my shopping trips if you would like a little help finding great deals. You can also go to www.savvyshopperdeals.com this website is amazing at helping you find the best deals in Utah County. I just bought $30 in groceries at Smith's and paid $0.13 for it. No joke. I can also help you find more then what you find in the paper. I get 90% of my groceries from the paper but I do find others as well that help save me money. I talk about all of this is my class. It's FREE too.
I want to go to these classes! Tiffany are you going to go?