Coupon Craziness

For as long as I can remember I lived in a coupon crazy house. My mom never bought anything without a coupon and my brother was obsessed with mail-in rebates. My parents' house was continuously stacked with school supplies, computer stuff, toiletries, extra food, etc. So much so that my brother started stashing stuff at work so my parents wouldn't see it. He was definitely a hoarder, and I never wanted to be that way. My friends and family would always ask for stuff and I would try to sneak it when I could and share with them. When I went to college, there were certain products that I never bought because I knew I could go home and restock my supply for free. Well now I am married and own my own with the coupon clipping, and of course we need to tighten our budget just like everyone else, especially since we now have a kitty cat to feed as well. I thought we spent way too much money at Publix, where I always liked to shop so I can get a Publix sub. I have always used coupons, but never really knew how to maximize their effectiveness. When my awesome wedding photographer Devynn started posting about all these great deals she got, it reignited the shopaholic in me and I wanted to learn what she knew, so I attended one of the coupon classes she went to.

I have always gone to couponmom.com for coupons, but never paid attention to the 8 page guide on how to cut your grocery bill in half. Most of the things in there are common sense, or things I already knew, but she mentions in there some great tips that I never knew until I heard about them at the coupon class. I highly recommend the coupon glass and the guide at couponmom.com.

My favorite tip from the class was this:
When purchasing BOGO items (buy one get one free), you can use 2 coupons, one per each item, even though you are only paying for one. This week, ALL laundry detergent was BOGO ($5.99 each regularly) and there was also 2 coupons for $1 off any ALL detergent. So I bought 2 bottles of ALL and used 2 coupons, therefore only paying $3.99 and purchasing 2 bottles of ALL.

I will be posting some other bargains as I find them in the future =)