Why I Coupon

I believe some people are confused by why myself and people in general coupon.  So I wanted to shed light on the subject. 

First of all, "coupon" is a verb to those of us in the Couponing World.  So is "couponing."  I tell my husband all the time: "I need to coupon," or "I'm going couponing!"  I just wanted to clear that up.

Second, it seems like people think I coupon because of lack of money.  While I'm sure we could all use more money, this was not my motivation.  My family lives a normal existence, my kid takes music lessons and I have a year old car.  Nothing fancy happening over here, but we're fine.  No, my motivation came from keeping my hard earned money.  Why spend it if I didn't need to?

What I have found is that if I put a little effort into my shopping, I can get ANYTHING from a drug store for close to $1.00, or better yet, FREE or sometimes I even get paid to take it from the store.  You read correctly.  We used to go to Wal-Mart or Target at LEAST once a month and spend $100 on all of the toiletries everyone uses.  Soap, shampoo, conditioner, razors, make-up, 
vitamins, medicines, etc...  Never again!  Now I shop with the knowledge that I control what I will pay for the item.  Not the store and certainly not the manufacturer.  My biggest recent score was a 4 year supply of Tide laundry detergent for $30.00.  It worked out to .03 cents per load or $7.50 a year.  Can't top that!

Don't think I don't do this at the grocery store!  I usually aim for a 50% savings at the grocery store.  Which in California is very good.  Don't be fooled by what you see on TV.

Couponing is also a high.  I'm serious.  I am a hunter and free dish soap is my prey!  Don't get in my way, or worse, behind me in line when I'm out on a hunt.  Believe me, I mean business.  It's not unusual for me to get the shakes during or especially after a good hunt.  I may have a small issue.

I hear all the time, "But are you really going to use all of that?"  YES!!!  I hardly couponed at all in 2013.  My family didn't need to shop for any of the necessities, I had them in my stockpile.  Only when I got down to 4 bottles of laundry detergent did I start to panic.

Now I'm back at it and can't wait to build up my stockpile again.  Anyone can do this, but it does take work and know how.  I easily spent 20 - 30 hours researching and learning at first.  Now I spend a few hours a week on couponing, but the savings works out to an amazing hourly wage.  I encourage everyone, especially stay at home moms to try this.  It's like adding an income to your household.

If you would like to see photos and details on my shopping trips, you can look here.  They are mostly pictures from 2011 and 2012. 

Did you like this post?  Want to hear more about my coupon trips?  Comment and let me know.  ;-)