Before I get into this latest adventure, I want to, as I do every now and then, take a second to acknowledge how much I love my job. I was doing shows this weekend, as I normally do, loving on the kids in the audience, just sort of having fun as I go along. As I walked around the theatre in one of the 5 shows I do a day, an older gentleman in the audience grabbed me by the arm and said "Excuse me, do you know what you're doing up there? You're making hundreds of children unbelievably happy! You're doing a wonderful job." I swear I could've broken down into tears right then and there. But! The bubble machine needed tending to! So I thanked him and was on my merry way. But he was absolutely right. Not about how well I was doing, that would just be obnoxious and I'd require a swift kick in the bum if I was ever that conceded. I mean about the number of kids affected show to show. I really only get to talk to a few kids a show but there's so many more out there that I try to make eye contact with and make a connection with throughout each performance, and for them, seeing these "stars" on stage is as exciting as it gets. I get to be a part of that. :)
Any hoot- Now to what I really wanted to touch on today-my first attempt at couponing!! I should tell you, I did not do this completely right. I should've thought ahead and bought the sunday newspaper and I'm sure my success would've been even greater than it was. All I had to work with were those sort of lame-o coupons they put in your mailbox that usually go straight into the trash, online coupons, and the Publix sales for the week. I looked through The Krazy Coupon Lady's site and the Coupon Teacher's site and pretty much just went for it! I highly recommend these sites, they have an insane amount of information. I still plan on going back and reading much, much more.
After reading up on some of the rules that my local grocery store set (in my case, it was Publix) I really just sat down and planned my grocery trip. In essence that's really what I would consider it, more so than actual couponing. I looked at the list of things that needed to be purchased and made a grocery list from those things. Then I went through this weeks specials at Publix- did any of the things we need have sales, BOGO's, or coupons offered? Was there anything on sale that we were running low on?
Once I added to my list and specified what would be a store coupon or a BOGO, I sat down to do some online detective work. This was my favorite part!! I searched online via sites like Coupons.com and found that a lot of these sites run the same coupon at once. I clipped and printed any of the coupons that pertained to the things on my list. Then I went through and searched specifically for coupons on the brands I would be purchasing. SO MANY brands offer printable coupons right on their websites. Look for them! From Coffeemate to Mueller's Pasta to Pillsbury to V8- loads of coupons are just sitting out there, waiting for you to save money!
This common sense tip to a seasoned couponer was brilliant news to me- if you have a coupon that requires the purchase of 2 of a product, buy one get one free counts as purchasing 2. So you're really only paying a discounted price of one for 2 of that product. Yes, that may be couponing 101 but I had no clue so I thought this was sheer genius!
I walked into Publix with my little stack of coupons and my very carefully planned list. I may have looked like a crazy person but I was on a mission! In the end, I saved $34 on that trip. I was so proud!
I wanted to put up this post because I feel as though all these couponing shows are making it seem like you have to buy 100 deodorants if you want to save any money. I believed that to be true! I found out yesterday that it's really not the case! I have so much more to learn about this coupon business but I think for my first attempt I didn't do too shabby. It was actually fun. Just set aside half an hour to do a little online searching, you'd be amazed what's out there. I don't know that I'll ever try grocery shopping without atleast a couple coupons. It's easy to think "what's $.50 going to change?" but when you have a stack of coupons, each saving you $.50- it adds up! Give it a shot and let me know how it goes!
Couponing aint just for old ladies any more! No offense to the old ladies, of course.
