Coupon Mania

I wanted to take some time off blogging about clothing in order to show you all a more personal side of me. I know you’re probably asking yourself “what’s up with all these pictures of Chapsticks and toothbrushes?” Well let me clear that for you…

Fall 2010, my wife and I decided to leave beautiful California and move to Phoenix, AZ in order to live together and finish school faster. The first two months we stayed with my sister in order to save some money for a car, rent, and find stable jobs. We found an awesome small apartment a few feet away from my former employer and my wife’s school.

Moving in together was great and everything, but boy was it expensive! We were so limited on spending budgets and at times it was really stressful. One Saturday morning I was flicking through channels and saw a segment on couponing. People claimed that they used coupons to score free essentials and what not, which I found hard to believe. Convinced this was a gimmick, I researched couponing online and I came across this blog that would give you matchups and a list of items on sale and what coupons to use to score them for free or for a low price.

These coupons can be found either in the Sunday newspaper or online. I began by clipping and printing coupons for dish soap, paper napkin rolls, and detergent. Dish soap was on sale for $2 and I had coupons for $1.50 off a bottle. Paper napkins were $1.07 and I had a coupon for $1 off per roll making them $0.07 each, and detergent was $5 a bottle and I scored them for $2 each! I couldn’t believe I scored so many items for a few dollars!

I got so hooked up on couponing that I decided to invest more time on it. Within a month, I was making trips to our grocery store twice a week and purchased brand-name shampoo, body wash, toothbrushes, detergent, hair products, and food, for little to nothing!

After couponing for over a year, I want to say I saved anywhere from $8k to $10k in purchases. Working full-time and attending school full-time, I decided to stop couponing until my stockpile was low. It’s been over 3 years and I still have enough shampoo and body wash to last me 2 more years, toothbrushes for the next 3-4 years, hair products for the next two years, and Chapsticks for the next 5-6 years and Ziplocks for the next 3-4 years! The beauty of couponing is that I was buying enough to stockpile at our place, my mom’s place and we made sure we bought enough to take back to my wife’s mom and dad.

It feels great not having to run to Walmart for a razor or detergent knowing I have my little stockpile that will last for a few years.

Here are some pictures of the items I purchased and how much I paid:

Got2Be Gel

Regular Price $4.99

Sale $2.99

Coupon $2.50 off per bottle

Final Cost $0.50

Toothbrushes

Regular Price $1.99

Sale 10 for $10

Coupon for $1 off one toothbrush

Final Price FREE!

Palmolive/Dawn Dish Soap

(purchased 3 years ago)

Regular Price $2.99-$3.49

Sale $1.49

Coupon $1 off one bottle

Final Price $0.50

If you would like to get into couponing I suggest you visit www.thecentsableshoppin.com