Thursday, January 23, 2014

Top 13%

I received a pretty cool email earlier this week from my one of my favorite stores---CVS.
In 2013, I was in the top 13% of all savers in the nation who shopped at CVS.
Their calculations do not take into account all the manufacture coupons I used at the store as well.

The price of EVERYTHING is rising, and the only way I know how to stay under budget is by utilizing coupons when I shop.

For us, $755.22 is a lot of money, and we have managed to build an impressive stockpile by combining sales and specials with store and manufacture coupons.

Currently, our stockpile has at least 2 years worth of hair care, razors, cleaning products, laundry detergent, dental care, and make up.  We have about a 3 month supply of paper products on hand right now.

For most people, I think they have a misunderstanding of the couponing process, and those who coupon. There seem to be two different stereotypes: Extreme Couponing and Grandma Couponing.

Extreme Couponing: Thanks to the TLC show, Extreme Couponing, many people think that when utilizing coupons, you have to buy 90 packs of hot dog weiners at a time,100 bottles of Ragu, and must dumpster dive to get enough coupons.

False. Most people who coupon, do not go to this extreme. I have never, nor do I have any plans to dumpster dive for coupon flyer's or buy 100 bottles of mustard. That's just insane.

Grandma Couponing: The shopper is haggling with the cashier over .30C off a box of Wheat Things, and the process takes 10 minutes, the line backs up, and while everyone is waiting for a manager, people in line are starting to grumble.

Both of these are not how I coupon. On average, I can walk into Target, and buy a cart full of groceries, personal care items, clothes, electronics, and books, and manage to save around 35-45% and the process to scan my coupons takes about a minute and a half.

I have posted a guide to couponing in the past, and I would be happy to do a refresher if y'all want. The best part is, it really takes me less than an hour a week to plan, and then I shop during the week. It is easy, I promise!

(If you want to see how much I save throughout the year, click on the savings tab at the top.)

Are you a couponer?

4 comments:

Ashten said...

"Grandma Co0uponing" < HAHA!

I have never used coupons while grocery shopping.. funny that you mentioned Target because I love to get everything there but friends make fun of me because items can be more expenxive there. I will have to check out their coupons online.. is that still where you get most of them?

Brooke said...

i lost my mojo once jay's business picked up. it'd definitely help on the quest to be debt-free, but i'm soooooooooo lazy.

signed,
the girl recently signed up for her 3rd 26.2 mile race

Denise said...

me no coupons. me lazy!

Amanda S said...

I love coupons along with Target and CVS. I always feel that my money goes farther then when I can pair all the deals with coupons. It really is worth the time and planning!