Not So Extreme Couponing

     Sometime in the spring of 2010 I watched Extreme Couponing for the first time. I think my feelings about the show were similar to many others. Envy: I wish I could walk out of the store with hundreds of dollars of foods for pennies. Disgust: Look at those hoarders ! Who needs 100 candy bars??  Disbelief: It's not possible and finally it's to much work: Who has that much time to clip coupons and organize a shopping trip.


     As envious as I was of those couponers I didn't think it was possible to extreme coupon in Maryland because not one store in my area would double a dollar coupon and my local store would not accept internet coupons. I scoffed at the show. " Did you ever notice most of those people are fat?" I would comment. " You can't eat healthy and coupon like that." I said over and over again


     Then In July several things happened that push me in to giving it a try. I read Pick Another Checkout Lane, Honey: Save Big Money & Make the Grocery Aisle your Catwalk!     and my husband,the pirate, tore a rotator cuff and needed surgery. While he was out of work on FMLA his union called for a strike. Rather than worry about what would happen if they were still on strike when  the pirate returned to work or if the new contract had the 20,000 in concession Verigreedy was asking for  I decided to be proactive and make changes that would put us in a better financial position. I
needed to find a way to save money so I could pay off debt, build up savings and put us in a more secure financial  position. Was couponing the way to do it? The Krazy Coupon lady assured me it was.


     The Crazy coupon lady stated quite emphatically in her book that you could eat healthy when couponing,that you could save hundreds of dollars and that she would show me how. I was skeptical but determined to try. I started with a small binder which was quickly trade in for a larger one. I start trying out different grocery stores since the one I normally shopped at only doubled coupons to .99 and they did not accept internet coupons. I have been couponing for 5 months now and I have saved hundreds of dollars. I have achieved a 90% on toiletries and 50-60% on my groceries I am not an extreme couponers but I am definitely becoming a Krazy coupon lady.


Here are a few of the things I have learned and some of my favorite resources:


The Krazy Coupon Lady


Check with your local library and see if they have her bookPick Another Checkout Lane, Honey: Save Big Money & Make the Grocery Aisle your Catwalk!   if they don't you can always get it at Amazon.com They have a Kindle Edition  for only $3.99 that is 2/3 of the price of the paperback book! And you do not need a Kindle to read it you can download a free copy of Kindle for PC. I found the chapters on how to stack coupons and how to use the different deals at Rite Aid to be invaluable. They helped me to achieve a 90% savings on shampoo,body wash etc. The book also includes list of various stores and their coupon policies.


Visit her website and she'll tell you how she does it. Sign up for her email list and save yourself the hassle of matching your coupons to the different stores. She sends out a coupon match up email that does the work for you.


Like her facebook page for the newest deals


Coupon Divas  Great website that list all the sites for printable coupons. They have an email that also does price match ups. Like their facebook page and you will get sneak peeks on upcoming deals


Printable coupon sites


Swag Bucks  When you print coupons from Swag Bucks and redeem them you get 10 Swag Bucks each coupon. Swag Bucks can be redeemed for free stuff. My favorite is the $5 Amazon Gift Card. I earn about one per month. If you decide to use them please click on the link above so I get credit for referring you.


Coupons.com  You can print lots of coupons from this site. They are the same coupons as on Swag Bucks but you don't earn freebies


SmartSource  This is one of the company that print the Sunday paper coupon inserts. If you don't buy a paper you can print the coupons here or if you see a good deal in the paper you can print a second coupon


Red Plum Another company that prints the Sunday paper coupon inserts. If you don't buy a paper you can print the coupons here or if you see a good deal in the paper you can print a second coupon


Saving Star  Don't want to be bothered clipping all those coupons? Check out this site that links coupons to you store loyalty cards


A couple of things about printable coupons: You have to let them download a piece of software to your computer that will print a special bar code on each coupon that identifies you. This is to prevent coupon fraud. NEVER EVER make a copy of a coupon after you print it. This is fraud.


Happy Couponing!!  If you enjoyed this blog post or checked out any of the sites please post a comments letting me know. I am a new blogger and I need encouragement!