My Least Glamorous Post Ever

I want to preface this post by stating that I get immense satisfaction from weird 'adulting' tasks.  You know, handling shit on my own.  I don't always necissarily enjoy the process, but the end results can be so gratifying.  Case in point, finding health insurance each year for our family.  (I highly recommend looking into your area Farm Bureau health plans if you reside in Kansas.) This year, due to my diligence we should be able to save HUNDREDS each month in health insurance.  Hundreds of dollars, folks, not clam shells.  So exciting.  But I digress...

Finding hew health insurance is just one way that I am able to help my family succeed.  As an uber glamorous stay-at-home mom I am not always able to bring more money in for my family, but I can always find ways to save.  We have the cheapest cable tv package possible, we keep our heater on low in the winter (put on a damn sweater, people!), I make meals from scratch (yes, even when I'm tired and feeling lazy), and my personal favorite: I CLIP COUPONS.  

I've watched the extreme couponing shows and while that is aspirational, I cannot achieve that so I don't even try to purchase $600 worth of canned goods for $4. I would liken this to working out each day thinking I can someday look like a Victoria's Secret model.  These goals are not feasible for me so I try to set reasonable goals and hit them rather consistently.  Therefore, I try to run/walk several miles per week to keep myself healthy and I try to save as much as possible when couponing.  

The following is a rough outline of my couponing system.  On this particular excursion I managed to combine store coupons, Sunday paper coupons and sales in order to save $107 on a $300 shopping trip.  (Okay, technically it was $106.97 but this is my story and I'm rounding up the three cents.) 

I like to shop in the mornings as the stores are much less crowded.  It is worth it to me to get my behind out of bed and get going in order to miss the lunch crowd, the 'we're skipping naptime and that's why my kid is having a meltdown' crowd and all sorts of other various less desirable groups to shop with.  I find that shopping in the mornings usually leaves me surrounded by older men in overalls, and I'm perfectly at home in this environment.  

Shopping in the mornings means that I need to spend time planning my shopping trip sometime the day before.  It doesn't take me long; I just need 30 minutes to get prepared.  I'm not sure how else I can 'make' over $100 in 30 minutes for my family (despite what all those online businesses promise). 

Behold, my shopping list below which is really quite simple.  I list out everything I need.  The asterisk * next to items indicates that I have a coupon.  Two asterisks ** indicates two coupons for that item.  Also, I write a small description next to items that I have a coupon for.  This saves me soooooo much time in the store.  I don't have to search through all my coupons to find out if my cottage cheese needed to be 12 ounces, 20-30 ounces, buy two get one free, etc.  I simply write out briefly next to each item.  

• Soy sauce >55oz. *

(Purchase soy sauce, greater than 55 ounces, use a coupon.)

• Cheese, 24-32oz. **

(Purchase any cheese, 24-32 ounces, I have two coupons so purchase two packages of cheese.)

Also, you may notice that I have soy juice listed on my shopping list.  I do not, nor does anyone in my immediate family, drink this.  We love our dairy!  However, when my sweet little grandma asks me to purchase this I won't say no.  Whew.  Glad that's off my chest. 

After writing out my list I take a moment to sort through my coupons and order them.  I normally accumulate more than one coupon for the same item so I put all my salad coupons into one pile, all the cheese coupons in one pile, etc.  Then I can place them into my coupon divider quite easily.  The coupon divider is a small item that costs approximately $8 and allows me to sort coupons into categories.  One space for: refrigerated groceries, shelf stable groceries, toiletries, cleaning supplies, baby items, batteries, etc.  You can certainly arrange categories depending upon your personal needs.  

Also, turn your head sideways and view the coupons below.  I often have multiple coupons for the same product.  I place them in chronological order so the coupon expiring the soonest is on the top.  When pulling out coupons from my divider in the store this makes for one less hassle. 

Also of importance - COUPONS DON'T ALWAYS MAKE THINGS CHEAPER!  Behold below.  I really like to use Persil detergent (please consider this a plea to sponsor me, dear Persil executives).  I had a coupon for the Persil tabs.  After reviewing the unit price for each I noticed that the tabs were DOUBLE the price of the liquid detergent.  My $1 coupon was not enough to make up for the price difference.  (Also, I realize that the example below is for cereal.  It was the best picture example I could find on Google.)  

And there you have it folks, my couponing system in a nutshell.  I wasn't lying, this is likely one of my least glamorous posts ever, but perhaps one of the most important ones to my family.  If I can do this with three kiddos in tow I have faith that you can too.  I can't always bring in extra money, but I can always find ways to trim the fat and save for my family!  Now go forth and save!