Hey Y'all! I have a lovely little treat for you today! If you are a new reader from the Coffee and Conversation link-up or GFC Collective, WELCOME WELCOME WELCOME! I hope you will grab your favorite cup of something to drink and make yourself at home in my little corner of the Internet. Stay a while, take a tour, and let me know you've stopped by. I would love to visit you and your blog!
For those of you who have been following along with my blog: So, you know how I posted last week on Organize To Thrive? Well, this week I have asked Ashley over at Ash Ann Pow to take over and share some of her wonderful ideas that I received from her in regards to my previous post through comments.
Ashley and I "met" in a very unique way! My husband and I went to St. Lucia for our honeymoon. It just so happened to be that when I posted Our Honeymoon Recap, she and her husband had just been to the exact place for vacation. We even go as far to both be Tiger Fans! Needless to say, small world! I am so happy to have "met" Ashley the way I have and I love keeping up with her these days. Plus, this post is one that you will not want to miss out on because it is full of TIPS!!
Friends, I truly was overwhelmed by the number of emails I received asking for more planning or organizing tips! Thank you, thank you for such an interest in a wonderful topic. I am so thankful that I can share this part of my heart with you all. Also, I am thankful you get to hear tips from another wonderful blogger as well! Next week be on the look out for a post on my planner for all those who asked about the photo included in the previous post. :)
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I loved Kalyn’s post Organize to Thrive. When I read that she always couponed, my little heart started fluttering. I am a former extreme couponer. I say former because I only did it extreme for about 2-3 months during a summer break. Okay, I'm still an extreme couponer at heart. This is how I Organize to Thrive.
My husband, Robert, and I got married in April of 2011
For those of you who have been following along with my blog: So, you know how I posted last week on Organize To Thrive? Well, this week I have asked Ashley over at Ash Ann Pow to take over and share some of her wonderful ideas that I received from her in regards to my previous post through comments.
Ashley and I "met" in a very unique way! My husband and I went to St. Lucia for our honeymoon. It just so happened to be that when I posted Our Honeymoon Recap, she and her husband had just been to the exact place for vacation. We even go as far to both be Tiger Fans! Needless to say, small world! I am so happy to have "met" Ashley the way I have and I love keeping up with her these days. Plus, this post is one that you will not want to miss out on because it is full of TIPS!!
Friends, I truly was overwhelmed by the number of emails I received asking for more planning or organizing tips! Thank you, thank you for such an interest in a wonderful topic. I am so thankful that I can share this part of my heart with you all. Also, I am thankful you get to hear tips from another wonderful blogger as well! Next week be on the look out for a post on my planner for all those who asked about the photo included in the previous post. :)
I loved Kalyn’s post Organize to Thrive. When I read that she always couponed, my little heart started fluttering. I am a former extreme couponer. I say former because I only did it extreme for about 2-3 months during a summer break. Okay, I'm still an extreme couponer at heart. This is how I Organize to Thrive.
My husband, Robert, and I got married in April of 2011
I started extreme couponing in May. I honestly started it as a hobby because of TLC’s TV show Extreme Couponing. It’s true what they say, you do get a rush after saving so much money! Now, I tried to give myself boundaries ie, only buy what you need. I started going a little crazy in the beginning. Getting free Preparation H wipes just because I made $1 off of them by taking them off the shelf when I clearly did not need them! I really tried to stay away from “money makers” if I don’t need the product. It wastes so much space in our little stockpile, and before you know it the product is expired, so what was the point?
Anyways, for those short months I stocked up on things that are necessities that fall into the miscellaneous category, such as hygiene products, Kleenex, toilet paper, paper towels, cleaning products, etc. You can read about my early couponing days here , here, and here . The last post is at wordpress because I cheated on blogger for a little while. But, I'm back in blogger no worries! I have really grown since then. I would buy 2 Sunday papers at the beginning of every month when the P&G insert would be released. I got a lot of ideas and learned the best way not to over due it from the Krazy Coupon Lady. By July, I had turned our guest bathroom into our own little convenience store. Robert would say if we had anymore Lysol Wipes and I’d simply reply “Check the convenience store!” I stacked toilet paper and paper towels in the bath tub and hid the clutter with the shower curtain, and I removed the towels from underneath the sink and organized our stock all of our products under there.
After July, we no longer had to budget these miscellaneous items because we had years worth of products stocked. I wish I had taken pictures from the beginning and now. I still have at least 3 containers of body wash, 2 boxes of 6 rolls paper towels, 7 containers of Kleenex and more… you get where I am going. If you only do this extreme way of doing it for a set amount of time, you can stock up and then stop to get your budget back on track. It takes time and it takes planning, but it is worth it. In our budget, of course we have it separated for bills, student loans, groceries, and then we have one area for miscellaneous/couponing. We have this separated because this is a special trip I take aside from grocery shopping that I have to sit down and plan. My little extreme couping fix, if you will.
For instance, the hubs came into my office while I was studying and informed me he needed razor blades. Now, a year ago he would have just went and got them himself, not thinking but now he knows if I plan a trip I can get his razor blades plus a better deal. Keep in mind, this does take some planning time. But it’s worth it. My husband uses the Gillette Fusion Proglide razor blades and they are crazy expensive! But he wants what’s best for his face, so can I blame him? I don’t want to buy cheap shampoo! So I start planning, I’ll break this down for you step by step. I know I have a CVS coupon in my inbox that was emailed to me because I sign up for their email subscriptions. I look through the circular for this week, CVS has a deal on all Gillette products. I then look at my P&G coupons that I got at the beginning of the month. I have 3 aids already just because he needed to get razor blade cartridges.
So, now I plan.
1. Email Coupon states I have to spend $30 to get $6 off.
Okay, easy his razor blade cartridges are around $30 if I get the 8 pack. However, the total has to be $30 BEFORE taxes (but not after coupons). This is very important to keep in mind or you will run into trouble.
2. CVS deal is if you spend $30 on Gillette shave products, you get back $10 in Extra Bucks. (if you total ends up being less than $30 AFTER coupons it’s okay, you still PURCHASE $30 WORTH of Gillette Fusion products).
Let me explain Extra Bucks, they are used LIKE CASH on another transaction. Did you hear me? On another transaction. It’s okay to be a pain in the butt if you split up transactions in one shopping trip. Yes, people are going to moan and groan and the cashier might just give you a sassy look, but who cares? You are saving money!
So I must spend $30 on Gillette products, so let’s look at our P&G coups.
3. P&G Coupon for Gillette Fusion Shave prep. Buy One get One Free (B1G1)
I’ll take it. He’s going to need shaving cream, this is NOT something we do not need and I’m just trying to get up to that $30.
Here is the sample transaction:
1. Gillette Fusion Proglide razor blade cartridges 8 pack- $28.99
2. TWO Gillette Fusion Shave Prep 7 oz ($3.99 x2)- $7.98
Here is the sample transaction:
1. Gillette Fusion Proglide razor blade cartridges 8 pack- $28.99
2. TWO Gillette Fusion Shave Prep 7 oz ($3.99 x2)- $7.98
Subtotal (before tax and coupons) $36.97
Coupons:
- $6 off a $30 purchase $30.97
- B1G1 shave gel (-$3.99) New Subtotal- $26.98
So you finally pay $26.98 before taxes, those are just unavoidable, and get back $10 EB (remember, because you purchased $30 worth of the products even though you used your coupons). You can look at is as you only spent $16.98, or you spent $26.98 and get to use those $10EB next time! Either way, you freaking saved some money!
After all this, I leave with razor blade cartridges and 2 shaving creams and $10 in EB. I can either be done and save this $10EB and use it before it expires, or if I needed tooth paste, toilet paper, lotion, etc. I would begin another transaction with my extra bucks and my coupons for those items. I wouldn’t use it the same day unless we really needed something else.
If you decide to do a little extreme couponing for a few months, be smart and take advice from me on these things I wish I had thought of before…
- Watch for expiration dates. I got a ton of toothpaste one time because they were on clearance and I had coupons but I didn’t think, “I have 5 of these, will they be used before they expire?"
- Rotate your stockpile after every trip and/or monthly to make sure that the close to being expired items are to be used before the ones you just bought that have a year to go. (As you can see I had a problem with expired items)
- Don’t stock more than 2 or 3 of the same items like hair spray and mouse unless you know for a FACT you will stick with that brand for about 6 months. I ended up switching hair spray and I have 2 cans of the old kind still in our stockpile that I’m forcing myself to use.
- Plan before you splurge. If you are curious to try a new product, go to their website. There is usually always a coupon on their website for trying a new product. If you can’t find one, go to the Krazy Coupon Lady under the coupon tab and look. She is awesome at always updating this!
- opt for samples, to add to the above. If the product has an option on their website to give a free sample, YOU TAKE IT! They will usually send you a coupon. Recently we went on a vacation and needed travel sized items due to the airplane regulations and I had almost everything I needed because of samples I had received over the years (don’t worry they weren’t expired). Think about it, if you need travel size items you go and spend like what? $10 after all is said and done…it was all free for me because of samples!
Another thing to keep in mind about couponing, ummmmmm… think of it all the time!!! It doesn’t just have to be for groceries and hygiene products. I love the fact that I can utilize emailing. I have a separate email account for ALL things couponing. Have fun with it! Mine is SavyAshley ya know, cause I’m coupon savvy and I live in Savannah so I just put one V. Anyways, subscribe to all your favorite retail stores and I mean all! Do I always go to Victoria Secret? Do I always go to Banana Republic? No, but when I do, I want a coupon! Even Petsmart has email subscriptions to save money on my little fur babies! EVEN GROOMING, that's a big deal! If you don’t have a coupon in your email, you can go to Retail Me Not and they will probably have one for you! Retail Me Not also has an app in the Apple app store, but I’m not sure about other software systems. Also, aside from the Krazy Coupon Lady and Retail Me Not, a friend of mine Ashley (most popular name in the 80's & 90's obviously) dedicates her blog to her love of couponing. She is awesome! Check her out!
I'm by no means the perfect
Thanks for reading, friends! Ashley, thank you for such a phenomenal post! Does this post not make you want to run and grab the nearest newspaper and start couponing!? I love being frugal, getting more for less, and sharing new blog friends with you all! Do me a favor and go jump over to visit Ashley at Ash Ann Pow.
Have a wonderful day, friends!
As always, until next time- Happy Blogging!
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