Why I Coupon

I coupon to save money and to create a stockpile of food for my pantry and freezer.  Those two reasons are why I clip and sort coupons weekly, why I ask friends to save me any coupons they don't use and why I surf the internet for coupons.  I don't spend hours looking for coupons on line as I find I get the most use out of coupons from the newspaper flyers.

We do not have any grocery stores in our area that double coupons or have store loyalty cards.  I really believe that this is true for most people and that is why I wanted to write how I feel about couponing and the new TLC series "Extreme Couponing."

Yes I watch Extreme Couponing faithfully and I mainly watch to see how the women/men get their coupons and how they store them.  Many of them go further than I will ever go with couponing such as dumpster diving for coupons, but a big part of me wishes with all my heart that I could become an extreme couponer and shop at stores that double coupons.  Why?  Because I would be able to donate more to our local Food Pantry. 

At some time in the lives of these Extreme Couponers I would think that a point would come when you would have too much of something such as toilet paper or deoderant (in the case of Extreme Couponers this could be hundred's of packages) and you would then donate to a charity.  Some of them do donate to charity but it would appear that many just like to stand and look at what they have been able to acquire for little or no money at all.

But for the rest of us that do not have stores that double coupons or have store loyalty cards we must save with what resources we have. 

I am patient with my coupons and I wait until items go on sale so that I can get the most savings when I use the coupons.  Also, when some big dollar coupons are coming close to expiring and there has yet to be a sale, I take them with me as I shop and check the prices at both of the grocery stores in town and when I happen to be at Wal-mart.  Then I make a decision as to whether I will use them or not.  An example of a big dollar coupon would be the ones that I have seen for $3.00 off disposable razors.  If I have plenty of razors on hand, then I let the coupon expire knowing that before I run out there will be more coupons and perhaps a sale.

This week, without double coupons I was able to purchase 4 bottles of KC Masterpiece Barbecue sauce for only 28 cents a bottle, six packages of Oscar Mayer Hot dogs for only 49 cents each, two 24 oz. bottles of Ketchup for 49 cents each (limit of one for .49 cents and another for regular price of .99 cents and used a 50 cent off buy two coupon), 30 oz. jars of Miracle Whip for only $1.49 each and 6 pkgs. of Right Guard Deoderant for only 69 cents each.  A couple of weeks ago, Hy-Vee had 150 oz. jugs of Purex Laundry soap on sale for one day for only for $3.99.  I had three coupons for $3.00 off each.  That was a great deal. 

From now until the end of the year is when I use a lot of coupons and it is also the time I stock up on many items.  This is when I find the deals on condiments, canned pork n beans, hamburger, hot dogs, pickles, salad dressings, pasta and more.  It seems like we go from Memorial Day to Labor Day with sales on more and more of those type of items and then we go straight into the holiday baking season. 

It is late May through the end of December that I spend the majority of our grocery budget stocking up on the items to put in my pantry and freezer and then I spend January through May eating from what I have stocked up in my pantry and freezer. 

This year I found that I have been able to live off the majority of the items I have stockpiled from those last 6 months of last year.  Since March I have bought a minimal amount of groceries each week because we have been able to live off of our stockpile.  I honestly believe that this is going to become the way I buy groceries and stockpile for the rest of my life.  It will definitely help while we pay for our youngest son's college education beginning in the fall.  It works for our family and we continue to save a lot of money.