I recently participated in a LIVE chat about couponing in the Frugal Living community on BlogFrog and I had no IDEA this community of savers existed. Describe a time when you saved BIG.
I’m a spender.
There’s no pretty way around it. The best way for me to save money is to just not step foot in a store. No store. If I go into the gas station with the intent to pay for gas I will instantly start glancing around for things I might need that I didn’t know I needed until I saw it staring back at me. Like a king sized bag of Skittles or something along those lines.
I’ve always thought coupons were simply advertisements to get people into the store to spend more money. After joining the Frugal Living Community on BlogFrog I have discovered this is not so. And I am here to tell you that there is a group of women walking out of the grocery store with as many groceries as me for HALF the freaking price.
These women clip and share and blog and discuss all their latest finds so that everyone can benefit. They speak a foreign language. They carry binders FILLED with coupons to help them slash their spendings on each shopping trip.
When they discussed their monthly spendings at the grocery store I about fell out of my chair. Some of them spend in one month, for a family of 4+ what I spend in a week. No joke.
So they’re getting in my head.
I thought I was SO smart when I saved big on an online purchase by buying over 150 dollars worth of groceries for free shipping.
That’s my big savings.
$12.95 on groceries that would actually be free to purchase if I’d just get off my lazy ass and go get them myself.
Or make Pat do it…which would really be the win/win in all this.
I have so much to learn.
ps If you’re interested in entering a fashion photo contest for a chance to win a $500 shopping spree at ebates, click here:
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Now it’s your turn!
Choose a prompt, post it on your blog, and come back and sign Mr. McLinky. Be sure to sign up with the actual post URL and not just your basic blog URL (click on the title of your post for that URL). For good comment karma try to comment on the three blogs above your name!!
The Prompts:
1.) I recently participated in a LIVE chat about couponing in the Frugal Living community on BlogFrog and I had no IDEA this community of savers existed. Describe a time when you saved BIG.
2.) Over at SITS we’re hosting a week long Back2Blogging event that will end with someone taking home a brand new washer and dryer from Electrolux. Since September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month and Electrolux is working to promote awareness and early detection, I’ll be writing about a survivor or supporter that inspires me at SITS on Thursday. That was a long way of saying, Describe a woman who inspired YOU. If you answer this prompt remember to also link up your URL Thursday on SITS for entry to win a brand new washer and dryer!
3.) Write about what blogging means to you. Why do you blog? What purpose does it serve you and how have you benefited from sharing a piece of yourself online this way? If you answer this prompt remember to also link up your URL Friday on SITS for entry to win a brand new washer and dryer!
4.) Why did you do it? Write about a time you chose to break a rule.
5.) Describe an awkward conversation you had with someone recently.
{ 34 comments… read them below or add one }
So you’re getting into couponing now? We’re very alike, you and me. I’m usually last to get into things. Now today could be an exception since I’m the first to sign in at the Writing Workshop. This is just an exception.
I have a huge Irish family of relatives with a fair quota in the United States. My mother often used to visit her sister there and she always told me that her sister collected coupons like crazy and saved a sizeable amount of her grocery bill with them. It made us laugh at ourselves because we’d always assumed that people who used coupons were mean. I’ve noticed U.S. based bloggers discussing the whole coupon thing and it makes sense because of what my mother told me. And you know, that was back twenty years ago. So it’s been going on a while!
I used to be on a first name basis with the grocery delivery guy; online grocery shopping is the best thing since sliced bread! Well worth the extra money… even for a cheapskate like me.
I really need to learn how to save better. I am amazed at the amount of money some of these men and women can save! I consider any sale to be serious savings.
I am so glad I clicked over to see the prompts…I get to double dip – I am participating in the SITS Get Back to Blogging Challenge as well. This week was a toughie for me. I did love your Erma Bombeck post that inspired it.
My mom was ALWAYS a q-pon clipper and I would laugh at her, and she will even clip q-pons for me….pampers, huggies, pull ups, soda, chips, cookies….all the junk that I DO NOT need but would buy with a q-pon and why is it that I ALWAYS leave that stupid q-pon at home?
Love your prompts this week.. Started with no. 3, might be back with more.. :)
I’ve never been organized enough to make couponing work. I get to the store and half have expired, and the other half are for sizes or brands the store doesn’t carry. If you get the system down, I hope you share the tricks with us!
I’ve never really tried couponing as it is not really a big thing here where we live. Most deals that I find are via advertisements in the local papers.
NO kidding – I think most of us have plenty to learn if we want to make couponing really work for us – it’s all too easy to get sucked in to buying more than what we want of something to save a quarter. Sounds like these couponers are in the driver’s seat! Good for them (and you).
I too am a spender. It is just so difficult for me to go into a store and get only what I need. Maybe we needs a 12 step process or something.
I did “The Grocery Game” for a while and fared pretty well. The problem that I ran into…It’s easier to just swipe my debit card than clip and maintain a binder full of EFFING COUPONS!!! Seriously! It was exhausting and I only lasted a few months. If I had to run into the store for a just a few items, and God forbid, didn’t lugg my briefcase-o-savings with me then I felt like a failure. And I don’t need any help feeling like a failure….I HAVE A TEENAGER!
Grocery delivery is the way of the future. You don’t make your own pizza or go out to get your own electronics do you? I say if it can be bought online then buy it online. Far as I’m concerned it’s a HUGE saver because it costs me all kinds of time (which is worth money) to get myself & The Dudes presentable for human eyes. Plus, the money, in the form of candy and TV time that I used to bribe them, could be used to buy other things like shoes and clothes. For me. Clearly I’m not a good candidate for the Frugal Living Community of which you speak. Clearly.
I am so far from being a frugal shopper when it comes to groceries! I think I am somehow denying my domestic side…..
I need to get my spending under control. Seriously.
I’ve done the coupon thing and it is a lot of work. I lot more than those ladies make out. First you have to collect the coupons (which sometimes involves buying them), and then you have to organize them (which always took me forever because I would put it off until I had a bunch), and then you really have to follow the coupon boards/communities to know what is going on that week to be sure you are really getting the best deal, and you basically have to stockpile things you use all the time at the lowest price to save the most money. When you have the time to devote to it then it can be an awesome. When I was on maternity leave I got enough shampoo FREE to last us for a year.
I cut coupons but I am nothing like those ladies. We’re a family of 3 and I spend way more on groceries than they do. I read there tips and I try but I’m not organized or committed but I really wish I was! Maybe I could pay them to shop for me? O, right, that would defeat the purpose.
WARNING: sure couponing can save, but it can also be addictive. You’ll need to get your next fix, you’ll challenge yourself to save more, and maybe even try to get it for free, and sometimes, you’ll walk out with nothing because you know you’ll get a coupon soon or you’ll wait til it’s a BOGO! Think carefully before you join this crazy addictive lifestyle! :)
When we went to FL in April, my dad and Craig ran to the grocery store. They got in line behind this woman who had so many coupons that she only paid $10 for a cart FULL of groceries!
I love that your solutions to most problems ends with “Make Pat do it”…. HAHAHAHA Sounds like a win win to me too.
We shop at Kroger and use their little card thing which saves us a lot and I always shop for the meat department on Monday morning because that is when they mark down the meat they didn’t sell over the weekend. I’ve gotten meats for over half off and they are still perfectly good, they just didn’t sell it over the weekend!
When I saw your prompt this week, I could not resist! Just like you had no idea about the underground world of savers, I had no idea what blogging was! Once the coupons are in your head, it’s hard to get them out! I always thought couponing was a waste of time until I started learning some of the tricks out there, and saving for my family. It really does work! I haven’t kept good records(I should), but I know I have slashed our grocery bill in half-AT LEAST! :)
This Ozark farm chick saved fifteen dollars last stock-up but nothing like I read of thrifty chicks across the nation. Livin’ smack in the middle of Nowhere, no all stores take coupons and not a one has a double coupon day. I stay out of a store as long as I can. I go into Tiny Town to resupply twice a month. I find I spend as much if I go once a week….so I guess ya can kinda say I cut my food bill in half.
Ya’ll have a wonderfully blessed day from the thrifty hills and hollers of the Missouri Ponderosa!!!
I become giddy when I save $10 at the grocery store. I have a lot to learn too, clearly!
Its amazing the language that has developed around couponing! When my first was a babe, I used coupons regularly for just his diapers & food (well obviously, not when I was nursing! lol) and I’m sure I saved easily $500-$1000 in the first year alone. I need to get back to using coupons. Without them, its like I’m just throwing my money away…yikes! Now, if only there were the same number of coupons for gluten/casein/soy/preservative/chemical/dye free foods as there are for the rest of the junk! :>
So excited that I finally am able to link up with your Writer’s Workshop this week!!
Hope you are having a great one (especially since you don’t have a stalker!! :>)! :>
I’m not as hardcore as some of those women but for about 2 hours of time every week finding and clipping coupons I regularly save over half the cost when I shop.
My normal grocery receipt usually looks like this:
Total Cost = $150
Savings = $80
Total Spent= $70
Not too shabby! And our cabinets are always stocked full of goodies! I never have to stare into the kitchen wondering what I have to make for meals because I ALWAYS have plenty to choose from… and at more than half the cost!
I am one of those crazy hardcore couponers:) I get a thrill out of seeing what I save at the grocery every week, my best saving at the grocery to date-$90something saved $81 spent and that is for a family of four for a weeks worth of groceries.
there are a few sites I am dedicated to these ladies are great about showing you what to buy and what coupons to use to make the most of your purchase. Here is my latest brag about my savings http://wyattabbymom.blogspot.com/2010/09/i-love-target-deals.html
I shop deals whenever I can but coupon clipping got to be more trouble than it was worth. We just don’t buy a lot of name-brand items, a LOT of the coupons are usually for snacks or toiletries or things we just simply don’t use, plus I have nowhere to store “10 for $5″ in our little house. That said, I’m constantly looking for deals and savings everywhere I go.
Protip: Buy produce at a farmer’s market. It’s usually fresher and a LOT cheaper.
**coupon queen in training** been at it for about a year now. It’s definitely you get what you put into it type of thing. If you really do the work, you can save big time. My sister in-law is a serious couponer and she “helps” me.
There is truly money to be saved with coupons but it is a lot of prep work and also making sure you are getting the exact items on the coupons. If you have the time, it is a great money-saver.
Wish we had coupons to clip here in the Philippines. I’d love to save money while grocery shopping!
I am always amazed by how much money there is to be saved in couponing. Although since I typically buy only the from scratch ingredients and in bulk, I don’t get to coupon as much as I would like to. And ummm I don’t know as much about it as I should…. The women who go do this? They AMAZE me. Truly.
It’s true couponing is addictive, it’s also true that it takes time. Once you have a system in place it’s really fast and easy. I probably spend less than an hour a week organizing my coupons. Shopping does take more time too. Last week I sent my daughter through a separate line and she came out with 4 boxes of pasta and 3 packs of gum for 39¢. She agreed it was pretty exciting.
I can’t handle the coupons. It’s so stressful
I am very much the same way–the only way for me to save money is not to leave my house. If I leave, I might pass by a Sonic…
I do some couponing but I am not coupon mad-momma. Wish I were!
Loved the prompts again this week! And loved your post! I need to get into couponing too!
:-)
Megan
You’re not like this, but a few weeks ago I left the store with $150 worth of groceries and they ended up owing me $1.50. True story