Couponing

I was at knitting last night and the subject of how we are living on unemployment came up. One word answer, couponing. I get something for nothing, most of the time. I work very hard to follow the deals and get it for free.

Yesterday's excitement: We had lunch at Noodles and Company, FREE! All 3 kids and me... lunch for free. We even had left overs for dinner that night. How awesome is that?

I got 10 cartons of Breyers ice cream and 1 Clorox for colors, and I paid 1.50, and I will get 4.49 back in a rebate. YUP, I made a money on ice cream.

I have also gotten Peanut butter for 25 cents each, cake mixes for 15 cents each. These are brand name products, Skippy and Betty Crocker.

People think I am crazy, but I don't shop like a regular person. I buy what is on sale, with a coupon and I buy a lot of it. When we run out, we shop in our basement, NOT the store. We never pay full price for anything. It is such a change in mindset for so many people. People say to me, I don't need 6 jars of mayo. I look at them and say, how many jars of mayo would you say you eat a month? If they eat one a month, they will use the mayo before it expires, why wouldn't you get it if you could get it for free? Oh, I don't want that much, it is wasteful. My feeling is always, ok, more for me.

It takes a need for someone to come over to our side of the mountain, but once they are there and they see how we live, they stay. Sure, I was lazy for a while there... still might even say that I am. I certainly don't do every deal, I don't work any deal as hard as some, but I get enough for us, and I am happy. I am not trying to sell this stuff like some. Still, I spend less than most single people on food, and I feed 5.

If you are interested, you can learn about it by doing some research. If you live in the Chicago area, check out couponerswanted.com. The link is here: http://www.couponerswanted.com/index.php?referrerid=4825 If you live elsewhere, checkout hotcouponworld.com. Every region has it's own site out there somewhere. Hotcouponworld is the global group, and usually you can find someone who will point you in the right direction. I know I did.

When I hear people complain about the price of things, I know it is because they don't want to take the time to shop properly. They are not interested in learning how to do it, or trying something different. That is fine, but circumstances may change your opinion on that, and when it does, I will be happy to show you the ropes.

This is why, I generally do not talk about my coupon deals in my blog. I don't think most people are really interested. But, since it seemed the folks at knitting were pretty into it, and a couple of others I have mentioned it to, I will post various deals as I think they warrent posting.

We spend $50 a week on groceries for 5 people. Next time you go to the store and spend $100, $150, $200 bucks, for one weeks worth of groceries, think, you could have more than 1/2 that money in your pocket if you tried something different.