Is it just me?

Wow,   I have taken some time off from blogging, never stopped couponing, just took a break from blogging about it.  I am now going to "vent".  I subscribe to a few different couponing site and FB pages, but I am getting frustrated with the negativity out there.  There seems to be a negative stigma about couponers.  I read so many posts and comments about couponers clearing shelves and hoarding all the inserts and stealing inserts and being sneaky with products and sales.   WTH  Why is this?  Why is everyone so perturbed about couponing.  There are a few of us out there that coupon for a good reason.  There are a few of us that don't clear shelves and don't steal inserts.  Believe it or not, some of us actually have big families and are supporting them very well with coupons.  My family in particular donates MANY of our couponed items to church or to the military, so we buy lots and lots of one thing at a time.  Not every couponer out there is so selfish people.  Quit the negativity and quit the couponer bashing.  There are 6 people in my household and I often donate to my church, to the military, to the firemen, to my sister, to my sister-in-law, and to my mother-in-law.  When I buy 20 or 30 of something I often order it from the stores and don't clear the shelves all the time.  Now, I know you guys are thinking that I am taking the comments personally, but I am speaking for everyone.  None of us need to pass judgement on any couponer that we see out there.  I know that I get some dirty looks when I am in the stores, from people that I don't know.  They are judging me all the time.  We can never and should never judge anyone.  We don't know theor story, we don't know their reason for couponing, nor do we know how people they are helping to support.  People......please put your judgements aside and look within.  By automatically judging those people and approaching them with negativity, you are being just as ugly in your heart.  So stop, talk to them, find out their stories before you bash, or blog, or judge.  Enough about that....move on.

OK, so coupons CAN pay for your school supplies too!

Today was a daunting task.....school supply shopping!  Ugh!  I absolutely HATE school supply shopping, HATE IT!  I have been to two Walgreens, and two Walmarts today just to get it all done in one day.  I have three girls and thank the Lord they are not picky about what color they get or what brand it is.  I got 75% of our shopping done at Walgreens - I used my coupons and shopped the sale ads, not too bad, I only spent $38.   I was impressed there.  Then headed to Walmart - they were out of everything we needed.   So, headed to another Walmart.  For Saturday ONLY, Walgreens has Keri body lotion on sale for $.99 after the $5 register rewards.  For any of you that know me, I don't like doing Register Rewards, so I price matched at Walmart.  On my second trip to Walmart, I found three of these lotions on the shelf, well I snagged them.  I bought the remainder of my school supplies (construction paper, glues, and colored pencils), then price matched the Keri Lotion, and then used a $2 off any Keri Lotion coupon.  YES!  The Keri Lotion was a money maker!  I made $1.01 on each one!  The lotion was regular price $5.97, and I price matched it at $.99, then used a $2 off coupon.  My bill should have been $11.48, and I walked out only paying $3.83!  Woohoo!  Score!  See..... coupons can help you pay for your school supplies too!

One two three...recon mode!

So I am traveling this week and bought a paper in BlueRidge, Texas today......they have four inserts in their paper!  WTH!  Why don't we have four inserts in our Tomball papers?  Why is Blueridge different?  I would have bought a bunch of papers, but they charge $3 for the paper in BlueRidge.   No thank you!  I am NOT spending $3 for more than one paper.    I also plan to do some recon work while I am here.  I am going to go by the Dollare General in town and look for the $2.25 Nivea Bodywash, and I will visit the Target and Walmart in McKinney.  Let's see if their stores are better than Tomball's. 

Reorganized my growing stock pile today

You know, I have taught many people to coupon and every time I teach someone they have the same issue.....they can't build a stock pile.  Now I know, stockpiling is not for everyone, but if you don't want to spent all your time hunting deals and browsing the grocery store, then you HAVE to stockpile.  There is no other way to truly benefit from couponing unless you stockpile.  The whole idea is to find the free or insanely cheap items, buy a ton of it, and not have to buy that until it goes on sale again.  If you only buy one or two or even three papers, then that is all the free items you're going to get.  Think about it.  I buy twenty papers every Sunday that there are coupons.  That way, when I do find the free items or insanely cheap items, then I can buy 20 at a time.  For example....I bought 20 Wisk detergents a few weeks ago, I got them for $1.49 each, so I spent $29.80 for all of them, that's less than the $15 I used to spend on 2 Gain detergents.  I have four kids, so we would regularly spend over $30 a month on detergent, which is why I bought 20 Wisk detergents.  That will last for for a LONG time, then I can mark that off my shopping list for months!  That is the idea behind a stockpile.  Find an item free or cheap, then stock up, that way you can mark that OFF your list for months and months!    I will never pay for toothpaste again, ever.  I have over 50 tubes of toothpaste in my closet right now because when I found them for free I bought every one that I could.  That way I won't run out before I can find them for free again. 
       I reorganized my pantry stock pile today.  It was a big task, but I enjoyed every minute of it.  I love seeing the fruits of my labor.  I completely emptied out my pantry, cleaned all the shelves and put everything back all nice and neat.  It was definitely a moments of pleasure for me.  I know that sounds weird, but I love seeing right there in front of me how much money I saved my family.  Everytime I find an item for free it makes me feel like I have accomplished something for my family.  That is one less item that my husband has to worry about paying for.  One less thing.  I love it.  I want to teach everyone to stock pile.  I want to teach people how to have piece of mind and feel at ease.  I am including some pics so everyone can see and enjoy.  Let me teach you to do the same. 

     Once your stockpile starts growing and has all of the essential items, then you don't have to go shopping all the time.  All you have to look out for is free or insanely cheap items.  My grocery list now only includes things like fresh meat and fruit.  Everything else I already have from stockpiling.  I love it.  Here are the pics

We are WAY stocked up now!

Today was an EPIC COUPONING day for me and my girls!   We started the day at Dollar General and as soon as we walked in we found the Degree Men's deodorant on the $1 rack!  I used the $1 off any Degree Deodorant coupon and that made them FREE, I bought 22!  I knew this was going to be a great day!  We shopped and shopped at Dollar General and found some great deals.  Example - Ragu pasta sauce, on sale for $1.50, used the $.50 off one coupon and got them for $1, bought 24.  My total bill should have been $122, after coupons I only paid $53.  I was uber excited. 
Then we headed to Walmart.  I usually only do one-stop shopping and price match everything, but I had heard about $.25 Nivea at Dollar General and it wasn't in the ad so I had to go check it out.  Anyhow, the Nivea was NOT $.25 after coupons.  Not sure where they found that, they were going to be $.75 after coupons at my Dollar General, so I didn't get them.  It's funny how cheap I can get!  Anyhow, headed to Walmart to browse.  Notice I typed "browse".  I ended up getting $322 worth of groceries!  Nice browsing right!  I usually focus on personal care items and don't coupon too much in the food department, but today I decided what the heck, here goes nothing!  I focused in on only things that I had coupons for, which is kinda hard when you have kids with you.  All I heard was "can I have this" the entire time we were in there.  I did end up paying retail for a few things, but oh well.  They weren't ridiculously expensive, thank God my daughters like Ramen noodles.  I bought them three cases of 12, but they were only $.28 each, so that didn't bother me too much.  I ended up only spending $189 out of pocket, so I was still very pleased.  I did lock up the register again!  That happens everytime I go in to Walmart with coupons.  I think I may be on a first name basis with the CSMs.  Oh well, all is well in the pantry tonight, we are stocked up, the kids are happy, hubbie is happy that I saved so much.....all in all, great day shopping!

Wow, that was alot of work!

Ok, I teach couponing, so I should know better than to let my coupons pile up, right!?!?!  I had not filed or cut my coupons for two weeks!  What a dumb idea!  I spent the majority of my day today cutting, seperating, and filing coupons.  This is exibit A of why you should not let your coupons pile up!  I ended up with loads of coupons to send to the troops, which is a good thing, but.....this should all have been done long ago.  I had to ge this all done today, because I have gotten a request to go shopping with one of my students to teach them one on one in the stores.  I surely can't show up with coupons binders that are a hot mess!  Anyhow, long story short...I am now organized and have ALL current coupons, I have marked up all the ads, I am ready for shopping.  Finally.

BTW....I am scheduling more classes very very soon.....I will post all dates as soon as I get them all arranged, so keep an eye open for them! 

Great week to START!!!

If you have been thinking about starting the "couponing thing", then this week is a GREAT time to start!!!  There are 4 inserts in this weeks Sunday paper!  Smart Source, Red Plum, Unilever, and P&G!  Go get your papers NOW!!!  Buy multiples!  I bought 20 myself.  These coupons are going to be put to GOOD use!

If you have questions about how to get started, then let me know.  You can contact me via email, via FaceBook, or call me.  I am available to answer anything! 

I will be booking more classes soon too, so if you missed the first two, then don't you worry, there will me more! 

I am trying to book right now in the west side of town and more in the north too.  If you have a location where we can host a class, please let me know ASAP.  I can teach in homes, in church, etc. 

I want to teach EVERYONE how to save BIG money!

So proud of my little Couponing Monkeys!

So, today I had to take my kids in to work with me.  This could have been a disaster or it could have turned out for the better.  I brought my coupons to keep them busy for a while.  This was a BIG stretch for me, I usually don't trust anyone with my coupons.  I bought 20 papers on Sunday and some people had given me their coupons too, so I had 44 inserts that needed to be sorted so I can cut them.  My kids went in on the conference table and sorted ALL 44 inserts like pros!  I was so proud of my little monkeys.  They did an awesome job.  They sorted and then stacked them all just like I had shown them at home.  They always help me on Sundays, but usually end up quiting and going to play outside.  This time they stuck it out and got it done in no time.  They brought me a huge stack to my office and smiled and said, ok, now what, we're bored!  LOL  I think I have found a new job for them every Sunday!  They can be my official coupon sorters. 

Walmart and Kroger today! Saved $169!

I had a great day shopping today!  First I went to Walmart and price matched and saved $94!  My bill would have been $155, but I only spent $61 after coupons.   Then went to Kroger to pick up the Brut Deodorant I ordered last week - saved $75!  Here's the details....

Walmart -
20 packs of Schick 12ct razor packs - retail $1.97, used $1 off any one coupon, and BOGO = $.49 each!
18 Pure Silk shaving creams for women - price matched Walgreens $.99 - used $.80 coupon = $.19 each!
40 cans of Pedigree - retail $.68 - used BOGO coupon = $.34 each
18 Colgate toothpaste - price matched Kroger ad  for $.99 - used $50 coupon = $.49 each
18 Crest Pro-health toothpaste - proce matched CVS  for $.99 each - used $75 coupon = $.24 each
16 Sniders Pretzel pieces - retail $2.98- used $1 off coupon = $1.98 each
8 Bar S hotdogs - retail $.88 ea - used $1.50 off coupon that was on the Sniders bags = -$.62 overage!
Subtotal was $155.19.......I only paid $59.39 before tax! 

Kroger
Special ordered 25 Brut deodorants - retail was $2.79 - on sale for 5 for $5 - used $1 off ANY Brut product coupon - made them FREE - had a -$3.31 overage!  These will be on sale until 8/7 so go get yours!

All day I only spent $58!  GREAT DAY SHOPPING! 

Big FIND!

Hello couponers -

Just found out about a great deal!   Wilkinson Razors are $.97 at Walmart for the 4 pack - a $2.00 off ANY coupon was in the paper this past weekend.  That means $1.03 overage!  You can use that overage on anything you want!  I am going tomorrow to get mine!  I bought ten papers last Sunday, so I'll be buying 10, making $10.30 overage that I can use on anything!  LOVE IT!   Thanks Coupon Gods!

Haircut anyone?

So....I get bored with my hair pretty regularly.  I decided to look up on the internet hair styles.  There are some awesome videos on YouTube on how to cut your hair yourself.  I watched a few...ok, like 10.  Anyhow, I then got in the car and headed to Sally's to get me a razor comb.   That is a magical tool you know, a razor comb.  I came home and REALLY cut my hair.  My hubbie was not so thrilled, he was actually really worried.  The floor was filled with hair, the sink was filled with hair, and I just kept on cutting.  He was standing there staring at me like I was an alien.  Long story short....I have a brand new AWESOME haircut!  I love it!  It is hip and now and not too short, but not too long.  I love it!  After I ws done, he was so shocked.  He was like, "Wow, it really looks good".  Surprised, like he doubted me.  See I have skills.  I love YouTube.  You can look up anything!  So, the last time I got a haircut at a salon it was $38, and that wasn't even a blow dry, just the haircut.  The cost of the awesome razor comb was $5.95.  So I saved $32 by cutting it myself!  Booyah!  I love saving money and I love my new haircut! 

new Website!!!

I am so excited!    I met with the awesome woman that built my website last night, and we re-did most the the content!  I am beaming!  The website flows much nicer and is soooo much more user friendly!  Go see what you think!
http://www.epiccouponing.com/

Nancy - you are the shiznit honey! 

Thank you!!!!!!

Saved $235 at Kroger today! Here are the details!

I ordered 50 Sierra Mist and 20 Wisk detergents the other day from Kroger and went to pick them up today, I found more deals when I went in the store.  Go figure!  So here are the details of my transaction.

50 Sierra Mist - on sale of $.89 when you buy 10, $.75 off coupon, makes them $.14 each
20 Wisk HE detergents - on sale for $3.49, $2 off coupon, makes them $1.49 each
10 Ozarka Gallon Waters - on sale for $.50 each when you buy ten - no coupon
4 six packs of Dove Men Care Bar Soaps - on sale for $5.49 - used $4.00 off coupon - $1.49 each
10 Mentos candies - 2 for $1 - didn't have coupon with me Grrrrr!
1 pack of Duracell batteries $4.97 - didn't have coupon
1 bag of Purina Cat Chow - $3.98 regular price - used $1 off coupon, made it $2.98

Bill should have been $301 - I only paid $68!!!  Saved $235!!!! 
It says 78% savings on my bill!!! 
GREAT DAY  of SHOPPING!

ps. - I found BRUT deodorant for 5 for $5 and we have a $1 off coupon, that means FREE!  I ordered 25! 

Great finds in this weeks SmartSource insert!

Ok, I keep seeing people complaining about the insert this week.  There is only a SmartSource insert and not a RedPlum, so that's kinda bad, but OK.  Let's make Lemonade out of those lemons!   Here is what I think is good in this week's insert.......
$2.00 off ANY Gain - that means if you find a travel size, then possible FREE item!
$.35 off any Comet Cleanser - go to a small chain store, like Food Basket, they will triple this is $1.05, then the Comet is only $.99, so FREE!!!  Go stock up!
$3.00 off Huggies - combine this with Printable Target coupons - BIG savings!
$1.00 off ANY Schick Disposable razor - the 2 packs are usually $.99 at Walgreens!  That FREE to you!
$.40 off ANY Viva Paper towels (including one single roll!), this will triple at Food Basket or Food Town, for $1.20 off - that means possible FREE paper towels!
$2 off ANY one Wilkinson razor!  They are cheap cheap cheap at Walmart anyway - see if you can find a single or double pack - guaranteed cheap!

I like this weeks inserts - I will be searching for these deals this week!

Couponing Partners....I've got mine! Do you have yours?

So I was thinking (watch out!), I want everyone out there to have a couponing partner.  I cannot stress it enough that it is so very important.  I think as humans, we do things better when we have support.  People have always gotten together and done things in numbers.  When you have someone there with you in the store, you feel more confident, you feel more at ease, and you find better deals.  I have found that "finding deals" partner in my friend Heather.  She calls me up, we get our binders, and we head out to get deals!  It works so well.  Even if we go to the stores seperately, we are still coming back and telling each other what deals we get, and what coupons to use, etc.  It works so well.  That support is something that keeps me going.  It keeps me wanting to find all the deals , and wanting to cut my coupons, and wanting to save more money.  Heather and I both consistently save over 75% on our everyday items for our families.  That makes both of us feel incredible! 
And now I have an announcement.......Heather and I have decided to do this whole website, and teaching thing together!  We are now "business partners"!  I am so excited!  So now, when all of you out there come to the Couponing Classes, you won't just be getting my knowledge, you'll be benefitting from Heather's experience too!  Wow - 2 for one!  Heather is an experienced and dedicated couponer!  She is vivacious, and energetic, and fun!  This will be a definite positive!  She has so much to add to the classes and always has great advice.  I hope everyone welcomes her with open arms! 
Thanks Heather for being YOU!

Hmmmm - anyone still buying one paper anymore?

It's so funny how things are changing.  I went in to the local Valero this morning, just lik I always do every Sunday.  My son and I walk in and he helps me get 20 papers (it's alot to carry!).  The people behind the counter used to be shocked at me getting 20 papers.  Now they are just like, oh you must be a couponer.  They ring me up like I am as normal as the guy behind me buying a soda.  It's so odd.  Actually it's kinda nice not to have people freaking out all the time when I am buying so much.  I had to start buying papers at Valero instead of Walgreens because Walgreens has started limiting their papers to 2 per person.  I understand limits and why they do it, but what about people like me that want to buy 20 papers at a time?  Where am I suppose to go to get what I need to buy?  Valero is nice as can be to me everytime I go in there to buy my papers.  Walgreens started out nice and then BAM limits all the sudden.  Weird.  Now, don't misunderstand me, I am not one of those people that goes in and buys all there is all the time.  I do leave some for other people.  I am not completely greedy.  I think if stores see an increase in sales, then they should up their buying.   They should order enough papers to meet the needs of their customers, instead of limiting.  They would make WAY more money that way.    I am just glad that I have found my favorite spot and they are nice to me when I buy there.  They actually told me that they will make sure they have enough for me when I get there everytime.  Now THAT is how it should be.  Great service, plenty of papers, happy couponer! 

Walmart trip July 9th! $121.53 for $50.53!

Got some great deals at Walmart today!

Here's my list.....

39 Black flag Fly papers $.98 - then $1.00 off coupon - made + $.02!
4 - Cap n Crunch cereal small box - $1.00 reg price - used $.50 coupon - $.50 each
19 Ruffies trash bags (12 count) - $1.62 ea reg price - used $1.00 off coupon - $.62 each
4 Chex Mix and Golden Grahams treat bars - $2.44 reg price, price matched from HEB made them $1.00ea, then used $1.00 coupons - made them FREE!
5 2 liter Cokes and Sprites - $1.25 ea reg price, Price matched CVS for $.69 ea - $.69 ea
38 3 Muskateers Bars - $.50 reg price - used $.50 off 2 coupon - made them $.25 each
4 Sierra Mist 2 liters - $1.25 each reg price - price matched Walgreens for $.99, then forgot to use my $.75 off coupons!  Ugh!
1 Early Sunday paper - reg price $2.00

All of this would have been $121.53, wiith all of my coupons it was only $50.53!!!  Woohoo!  I love coupons!

One more thing - I tried to price match the Snyders Pretzel pieces from Big Lots for $2.00, but Walmart wouldn't do it!  I was so mad, but the ad mays 10oz and Walmart's was 14 oz because it was a bonus bag.....so low and behold, I didn't get them.  I was bummed, because I have a coupon that only makes them a $1.00 each.  AND.....there was a coupon on the bags that said if you buy two then you get $1.50 off any package of hotdogs!  I was going to buy 16 and get 8 packages of hotdogs (reg price $.88) and they would have given me the overage!  Oh well, I'm going to another Walmart to see if they will do it for me.

Academy!

Just got back from Academy Sport and Outdoors!  They have clearanced all the summer stuff, like floats, and stuff for the pool.  Everything is 50% off right now.  I got a four new floats for our pool, three were $4.88 and one was $.99.  Cheap enough for me! Just FYI!

Lots of great clearance shorts on sale for girls too.  I got my daughter a few shorts too.  Each one was $4.88.  Good deals!

Organizing - THE BINDER

I am completely in love with my binder.....I know I know....ewwwwwww right!  No, I'm just saying that if it wasn't for my binder I would be a hot mess couponing in the stores.   I know exactly where everything is, I can flip to them easily, and I have all the tools I need right there.  For example - I have a calculator, scissors, a pen, and stick on tabs right there in the zipper pocket.   I keep all of the current sale papers in there too so I can price match any store I want.  That section comes in very very very handy!  You can use the sticky tabs to mark the sale papers for different items, so when you get to the register you aren't fumbling through papers to find the right advertisement.  I personally carry two binders, one for edible items, and one for non-edible items. 
Here are the categories that have helped me the most:
Non-Food Binder -
Eyes
First Aid
Medicine
Teeth / Mouth
Hair Products
Bodywash / Soap
Deodorant
Lotion
Face Products
Makeup / nails
Female items
Shaving
Garbage bags / Ziplocs
Paper Products
Glade / Airwick etc
Cleaning
Laundry
Dish Soaps
Misc (everything else)


Food Binder:
Dog Food
Cat food
Yogurt
Biscuits
Dairy
Frozen Food
Frozen Desserts
Meat
Bread
Breakfast
Oils / Baking
Spices
Condiments
Peanut Butter / Jelly
Rice
Meal Kits
Etc (everything else)

I hope this helps everyone.   I want everyone who coupons to have an easy, stress free time......no flipping through a gazillion bins for coupons and no getting frustrated.  Get organized, make it easy on yourself. 

I did something kinda crazy tonight... :D

So I got a little ambitious tonight....I went through all of my stockpile upstairs and decided to add it all up.  I wanted to see the fruits of my labor.  I wanted to find out the value.   WOW....was I shocked.  When you add it and add it and add it little by little, it's hard to really see the value.  But wow, when you add it all up at once, you really see the "big picture"!  I added up $2259.88 in products....that's if I had paid retail price for everything.   That's alot of money.  My cost, with my coupons is just $158.82!!!!  Cam you believe it!!!!  That means that I have saved my family $2101.06!!  I am astounded....and overwhelmingly happy!  That means that I have put $2100 back in my family's money!  This is exactly what I needed to keep me going.  This is what I needed to see.  I have people doubt me everyday. I know people that make fun of me for using coupons, or look down their nose at me for carrying in these big ol coupon binders....well look at me now.  $2100 richer and happier!   I want to teach everyone!  I want everyone to be able to save save save too!  I had someone tell me today that I it seems like I am just bragging, but I don't see it as bragging.  I want to teach everyone how to do this, I WANT people to learn and do it themselves too.  I want everyone to feel the awesome feeling of getting things FREE!  I want everyone to have success stories.  I teach people right there in the grocery stores all the time.  I was giving a customer at HEB a lesson today, she was in th line behind me and was asking me a gazillion questions.  I talked her through everything.  See is as you see it, but I want everyone to save just like me.  I think everyone can afford to save money.