Couponing 101

I have a new hobby this year: COUPONING! And when I say hobby, I mean hobby. It's really fun! I get so excited when the list for each week comes out and it feels amazing to walk out of the store having found some great deals. It also feels great because I am helping my family save money.

I knew that one of my friends was a couponer and I was always envious of the deals I knew she was getting, so I asked her to teach me how to do it at the beginning of the year and she did. 

Let me clarify that I am not an extreme couponer. I do not have 345 bottles of shampoo and 234 bars of soap cluttering up my basement. I think that's what most of think of when we think of couponing thanks to "reality" TV. 

My reality is that I buy items when they are on sale, but I buy enough to last us until they go on sale again. And if you buy them with a coupon on top of that, then you get them for as cheap as you possibly can, and you never have to buy them at full price. 

I do have one cabinet that I keep my extra items in if we buy several of something to last until it goes on sale again. 

Because I work, I only shop at two stores, CVS and Ingles. I don't want it to be all consuming. I have found that for our family of 3, I can find almost everything I need at those two stores.

It usually takes me about one to two hours to get ready to go shopping, between comparing what's on sale, finding the right coupons and making my plan for dinner for the week. 

However, I have found that spending two hours getting ready is well worth it, for several reasons. 

1) We never have to "run" to the store at inconvenient times to get anything. We always have extras of what we need. 

2) I have gained a good knowledge of exactly how much of items we use and for how long. When I see things on sale, I know how long they will last our family. I feel that we don't waste as much as we used to. 

3) We currently spend less money then we did before on toiletries, but we have a much larger selection to choose from. There are currently 5 tubes of extra toothpaste in my cabinet (that I got for an average of 50 cents a piece) that we can choose our next flavor from. 

4) I can give items away! I love to contribute to the different drives at church and having the supplies to do that already at the house is exciting. 

5) We are eating more local and seasonal foods. 

And our total savings for this first half of the year.....drumroll please....$945.13!!

I know that couponing is not for everyone and it shouldn't be. As my mama always told me, she buys biscuits because she can't handmake them like Great-Grandma Head did. As women, we should know what our strengths and weaknesses our and what we do well for our families. Because I work in the mornings and have a busy 9-month old and have a smart phone, I can research deals in between classes, or while I am nursing. I don't have as much time to make things or find creative alternatives, but I can coupon shop. 

I'm still learning, and am nowhere close to being an expert, but I am very thankful to my friend for teaching me. And if you ever want someone to walk you through how to get started couponing, I would be happy to :)