We stayed with my sister-in-law while we were in New York. She was a gracious hostess but I probably drove her crazy with my obsessive cleaning and organization. You’d think as fat as my ass is – I just sit around and watch TV all day… but, the only relief I get from parking my ass in front of my laptop is to get up and clean. I’m not much of a TV person. I don’t really get into many shows. I prefer the news – and even after an hour or two of that, I’m done. So, I washed her walls, cleaned her bathroom, and was always moving stuff into neat stacks. Her house wasn’t dirty – I just couldn’t sit still. Plus, with Aboy driving in the immediate area – it wasn’t like I could go on the road with him – to drive him crazy.
The last week of our stay on Long Island – his job put us up in a hotel. They kept extending our stay to the point where he held their feet to the fire about getting us back to Texas. If they’re paying for us to stay – their pocket should be a motivation to get us out of there (so we thought).
During the day, I would stay in the hotel, while Aboy went to work. I caught up on some of my writing. I had a customer that was going “live” in a few days – so I had things to keep me busy.
After a pretty long day of configuring data – I just wanted to be a vegetable for a little while and turned on the TV. I flipped through the channels until I came across a show called Extreme Couponing. It was a marathon because they were getting ready to open with the new season – so they were showing all the episodes from the previous season.
Raquel had told me about it a while back and said “we need to do that shit!”, but I don’t really watch TV – so I gave her the “yeah, yeah”. Needless to say - after watching, I was very interested.
After watching 2 half hour shows, Aboy walked in from work. I told him about the show and said, “you have to see this shit!”… so, after the first half of the first episode, he turned to me and said “WE need to do that shit!”… yeah – you know what WE means. I get to do it – he’ll buy the papers (for the coupons).
If you haven’t watched Extreme Couponing, it is a show where people go shopping, using coupons and save ridiculous amounts of money (upwards of 90% of the bill). Well – if you’re buying $1,000 worth of groceries and you spend $7.14 to get it – that’s pretty extreme. To us – it was a challenge.
There are quirks in my personality that make me different from some people. First thing is – my passion. If I set out to do something, I don’t just do it… I DO IT! My feeling is… if you aren’t going to give it your whole hearted attention, then you weren’t interested in the first place, don’t waste your time.
After a pretty long day of configuring data – I just wanted to be a vegetable for a little while and turned on the TV. I flipped through the channels until I came across a show called Extreme Couponing. It was a marathon because they were getting ready to open with the new season – so they were showing all the episodes from the previous season.
Raquel had told me about it a while back and said “we need to do that shit!”, but I don’t really watch TV – so I gave her the “yeah, yeah”. Needless to say - after watching, I was very interested.
After watching 2 half hour shows, Aboy walked in from work. I told him about the show and said, “you have to see this shit!”… so, after the first half of the first episode, he turned to me and said “WE need to do that shit!”… yeah – you know what WE means. I get to do it – he’ll buy the papers (for the coupons).
If you haven’t watched Extreme Couponing, it is a show where people go shopping, using coupons and save ridiculous amounts of money (upwards of 90% of the bill). Well – if you’re buying $1,000 worth of groceries and you spend $7.14 to get it – that’s pretty extreme. To us – it was a challenge.
There are quirks in my personality that make me different from some people. First thing is – my passion. If I set out to do something, I don’t just do it… I DO IT! My feeling is… if you aren’t going to give it your whole hearted attention, then you weren’t interested in the first place, don’t waste your time.
So, that was a Wednesday. Aboy and I talked about it and said that once we got back to Texas, we’d really do the research and get the ball rolling. Saturday morning, we left to go to Texas. Sunday morning – we stopped in Wytheville, VA for a Walmart break. That’s when our couponing adventures began. We picked up a couple Sunday newspapers and as we drove through Tennessee, I cut out coupons. By time I finished, I had filled up a Ziploc sandwich bag with coupons. I didn’t know what I was going to do with them – but I was ready!
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When we got to Texas, that Tuesday – I started researching “couponing”. I found websites and “how-to” videos. I really wanted to try it. Not that I wanted to be that extreme, but I knew that I’m pretty good at puzzles and this seemed like putting pieces together – along with some strategy – right up my alley.
There are websites (and blogs) that tell you what the deals are. They even tell you what coupon to use and which insert (name/date) to find the coupon that you need. It really is very simple. I followed all the “how-to” instructions, bought a binder to organize my coupons, and set out on my first venture – a Walgreens haul.
Raquel was sick – but she came with me. She said she needed some Dayquil because she had to go to class, then afterwards had a meeting – that she couldn’t miss. We went to Walgreens, binder in tow. I had a list of items I wanted to get – some Ricola cough drops, some Dayquil and some Nivea lip balm. After they rang up my order – and I handed over my coupons, I ended up paying 24¢. I was hooked.
The feeling that you get when you’re standing at the register – is like a rush. You know (in your mind) how this is all supposed to play out – but, just the uncertainty – that something could go wrong, gives you some anxiety. Once the order is rung up and you hand over your 24¢ (for $20 worth of items), a sense of calm (and a rush of accomplishment) comes over. It’s a feeling of “I just legally walked out of here without paying”.
Soon after that, there was a great sale at CVS on dish detergent. After coupons, I ended up paying 18¢ a bottle for 21 bottles of dish detergent.
Why do I need 21 bottles of dish detergent?
Why do I need 21 bottles of dish detergent?
Well, this is my thought on the subject…
Do you use dish detergent?
Yes
Yes
What do you use it for?
Clean my dishes, utensils & pots
Clean my dishes, utensils & pots
Does it go bad or expire?
No
No
What happens to the dish detergent when you’re done with it?
It goes down the drain
It goes down the drain
Can you reuse it?
No
No
So why wouldn’t I stock up on an item that I am going to get very good use out of that cost me almost nothing to buy – that is just going to go down the drain, anyway? Plus the fact that now I don’t have to buy dish detergent again for at least a year (unless it is so cheap – or free that I can’t pass it up). That’s one item I can remove from my grocery bill (for at least a year).
Here’s the math:
Palmolive Dish Detergent: $1.50 (retail) * 21 (bottles) = $31.50
I paid 18¢ (sales & coupons) * 21 (bottles) = $3.78
I got 21 bottles – for the cost of 2.
What can you do with an extra $27.72?
I feel comfortable with my cleaning habits – that this is not a “hoarding” issue. This is common sense, to me.
What bothers me most about the whole thing is – I wasn’t doing it when the kids were growing up. My house was the hangout house and it would have been great to keep a lot of extra stuff around for all the kids that used to come hang out. Wes could eat a box of cereal and drink a half gallon of milk - a day. Ben would cook up the dinner food – for his friends, for lunch… teenagers like to eat! I just kick myself thinking of all the money I could have saved – but, we live and learn.
This is not my mother’s couponing, either. She would take 1 coupon and buy 4 items. I take 4 coupons, buy 4 items and pay for 2 items – but use all 4 coupons (Buy one item, get the second item free).
This is not my mother’s couponing, either. She would take 1 coupon and buy 4 items. I take 4 coupons, buy 4 items and pay for 2 items – but use all 4 coupons (Buy one item, get the second item free).
My intentions are to use my new hobby for helping others. Not only have I taught my kids how to coupon, we’ve begun donation campaigns (and goals) to help our community. Everyone falls on hard times at one point or another (unless you’re the privileged 1%) and this is an opportunity for us to give back.
It’s really opened my eyes to the reality of retail too. How much do you spend on a roll of toilet paper (you know – that gets flushed in the toilet)
This is $210 worth of stuff that I paid $33 for...
what can you do with an extra $177???
what can you do with an extra $177???
