Ok, so like I mentioned in my last post, we've put ourselves on a pretty strict budget and tried to start cooking at home more. Dustin encouraged me to try couponing and turns out, I love it. In fact, I'm probably getting border-line addicted, which might make the budget thing an issue again.
Some friends have asked my system so I said I'd post it here. I've drawn a few conclusions about couponing that I'll start out with. (I'll put the system itself in another post for those who aren't interested in or too busy for my phisophizing....)
THE HUNT
I enjoy couponing because I enjoy finding great deals. My mom taught me the art of thrift store and yard sale shopping ("treasure hunting" we sometimes call it) from a young age, and I've always enjoyed the search and the find. I didn't mind being in the store for hours to find a great deal, and I almost always found that thing (or things) I didn't know I needed. :-)
The thing is, at this point in my life, I don't need any more stuff. I don't need clothes, I don't need interesting retro furniture pieces that I'm going to re-make "one day," and I don't need more cookware or whatever else I tend to pick up at these stores and yard sales. And besides that, I don't have any room for any of it. But food? You always need food. It gets consumed regularly. So couponing has been killing two birds with one stone for our budget. I get my "treasure hunting high" from finding great deals at the grocery store and in the ads, so I save the money I would have spent at D.I. on things I don't need, and I also get the food we do need for less.
My point? If you are like me and like to shop, couponing might be a good outlet for you. Because for me, the shopping was about the hunt, not necessarily the catch. Ya, a new pair of jeans is fun, but the buyer's remorse is almost not worth it sometimes.
The opposite might be true as well. If you don't enjoy the shopping process, you might not be a couponer, or at least you might not enjoy it. But you can keep it pretty simple--I basically cut out a portion of Facebook time (which who doesn't need to do that anyway) to go through ads and clip coupons. I can also work on it while I watch a show at night with my hubby so it doesn't have to be your new hobby if you don't want it to be.
A COUPONER's FOCUS
Ok, one of the reasons I put off couponing before is because I felt like there weren't coupons for the things I buy. Well, that has changed in two ways.
1. I became a mom and so I do buy things now like Cheerios and boxed meals, which are things that OFTEN have coupons available.
2. I changed my focus to creating food storage. When something non-perishable is a great deal, you stock up. You have canned foods and boxed meals for a rainy day (like the end of the month when you've maxed your grocery budget and you are trying not to go back to the store till next paycheck)
Couponing has also made me more aware of the grocery ads. When you coupon, you want to use your coupon when the item is also on sale so you maximize your savings. By looking through the ads (something I rarely did before), I have started to notice when the things I DO buy (that I don't necessarily have coupons for), are on sale. I am able to get the best deals on produce, household items, milk, eggs, etc. just by going to the store that has them the cheapest that week. Most of my savings has actually come just from getting sale items, I think.
Along with changing my focus, couponing (and the things I can buy with coupons) have changed the way I cook. Where I never would have bought Hamburger Helper before, I couldn't resist buying it at 9 cents a box this week. I noticed that as a busy mom, it's nice to have something there in the pantry that is already a meal. I can add fresh vegetables and experiment with the sauce and such, but the seasoning/sauce packet that's already in the box gives me something to work with. I'm one who hates coming up with meal ideas and I tend to doubt my cooking abilities so for now, these boxed meals are actually helpful.
So now I admire my lovely stock of boxed and canned goods in my pantry rather than trying to stuff yet another dress into my closet (or chair into my living room--yes, that was happening), and I feel really good knowing that if money got tight, we would be alright for a while.
See the next post to see how I'm couponing. I'll keep it simple (in case you are like me--avoiding it because it's too much work to even read how to do it)
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