So I have just discovered the coupon world. I'm not sure what I think of it. One one hand, I find it thrilling to be able to bring a little piece of paper that I have carefully cut out to a store and be one of the few that is able to cleverly combine a coupon with a great sale to get an item for next to nothing. However, I have no ability to filter which "great deals" that I take advantage of. It would be one thing if I used even half of the products that offer coupons, but I don't. I would say that 95% of all coupons are for things that I would rather not use. I have coupons coming out of my ears for cleaning products, medicine, and beauty products. I use vinegar and baking soda to clean almost everything. I rarely, if ever, use actual medicine. I do not use beauty products and make up with crappy chemicals. But all of these deals are so tempting! I broke down and got some Revlon lip gloss. I hate it. I feel like I have melted tires on my lips. I am going to return them. I got Kevin some Irish Spring soap (for free.) The bottle has advertises an "8 hour fragrance system." How does that work, a fragrance system? It is so tempting to "stockpile" Colgate, Cheerios, Cover Girl, Claritin... but even though it is a ridiculously good deal, I know that I will not use those products. Is is worth it to stock up and have a garage sale?
I think maybe I should put more effort into shopping smart for the things that I do buy. It is just a little more difficult.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
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good to you!
ReplyDeletei use lip-gloss if my lips skin were how to say it .. 'crack'(?)
you also could use toothpaste for cleaning tea or coffee stain.
we usually even only use water to wash dishes. only if it's too oily, we use some dish-washing soap.
I am right where you are sister--I have right now a mound of coupons piling up and nothing to do with them!
ReplyDeleteYou're so funny! It's also probably hard, because it sounds like you totally "get" how to do that part of couponing. It becomes a game, doesn't it? I'm working on a post for my blog on saving money on organics/natural products. I'm sorry I didn't get to that when I talked to y'all. I've been thinking about it since you asked me the other day. Until then, I'll try to answer some questions from your post:
ReplyDelete1. If you want to do it to have a garage sale, and if you have the space to store things in between sales - I think they're worth it. I had 2 garage sales last year and made $600 (between the two) and that was mostly selling things I'd "purchased" with coupons. At my last sale, I ended up with a list of people who want me to call them whenever I have extra shampoo, toothpaste, or toothbrushes.
2. I clean with baking soda and vinegar, too. I use the drugstores primarily to save big on diapers/wipes (you obviously don't need them for that). I also use them to build up ECBs or RRs to use on coffee filters, garbage bags, foil, kitty litter, etc. So, the Irish Spring - I'm betting you got that at CVS. It was Free after ECB and if you used the .75/1 coupon it was a moneymaker (especially if you used another ECB to pay for it). I'd then hold onto the Irish Spring ECB and use it the next week on another moneymaker - slowly building up my ECBs without spending much(if any) of my real money. Then when I need any of the things I mentioned above, I "cash out" and start over. I either give away all those extra products I don't use or sell them. (We have so many friends and family who are so lovely and generous to our kids - it's nice to be able to give them a huge bag of stuff that they do use.)
3. Learn the stores - see what they carry that you DO use. Walgreens carries Toms of Maine products. CVS and Walgreens have the Burt's Bees for grown-ups line. Both places stock baking soda and vinegar. You won't get any of those for free - but you can roll them into other deals.
4. Learn your main store. So, if it's Whole Foods - keep track of prices. Then if you run across something you use somewhere else - you'll know if it's a better deal. Or, you'll know when it's a really great deal at Whole Foods - then buy a case (if it's non-perishable) and save 10% more. Visit their website and check their ad before you go the store. They may have printables on their site. (Whole Foods had a $10/$50 about 6 months ago).
4. Many, many organics companies have printable coupons on their sites. Check there before you head out.
5. (This one's a whole post in itself.) Know what you're spending now. Track your grocery spending for a month. Then decide how much lower you want that figure to be. For us, $250 a month is just what I have to spend. I'm not shooting for that figure just to do it - I don't have a choice. (If I want to continue being a SAHM.) Your number may be high enough that you don't have to do all of the really crazy couponing. I do stockpile products we don't use - but that lets me feed my kids the way I think we should.
Sorry to hijack your blog! I'll let you know when I get the other post finished.