I can call it a serious coupon. I am not the kind of woman who subscribes to a problem with Sunday newspapers, can reduce four or five or ten coupons, and then throw away the rest. This is too easy for someone like me. Instead, I took out the coupon from the recycling bin. Once a week, I took my child to my in-laws and took a huge box to the local recycling center to store my newly discovered inserts. I am agile, sporty, young, so for me, it's usually not a problem for big metal recycling bins [by the way, they are not rubbish bins, they have almost nothing, but newspapers!]. I used to have a flashlight, but it is too difficult to work efficiently.
Christmas, my husband bought me a flashlight tied to my flashlight and released my hand so that I could dig, dig and dig coupons. I look like a miner who is misplaced and tends to scare people who plan to put down their files. For some reason, people don't want to find someone sitting in a huge metal box full of newspapers. Therefore, the paper that I have thrown many times on my head is usually more scary than the drawer. My husband said that this will only affect my psychological problems.
Once I get the coupon, I need to make sure I can find them as needed. No sissy envelope or 3x5 card holder for me! No, sir, I have a large filing cabinet dedicated to my coupons. When I got home from "diving", I cut each inserted file uncut. Usually, I get 20-30 of the same insert, which is equivalent to 20 or 30 of each coupon. When I need a coupon, I open my Excel spreadsheet, where I enter each coupon and its location, find the coupon I need, and then take the insert file from my drawer. That's when I cut them off. Believe it or not, this saves me time - otherwise, I will cut and submit about 200-300 coupons a week and risk losing them.
People [usually my mom] often wonder why I am going to extremes for my coupons. It's simple - if used properly, coupons can be a major way to save money. There are many coupons that, when combined with sales, can be free or cheap. I often go to the grocery store, fill two cars, and pay less than $25 for the whole thing. I never buy one. Instead, I bought 30 identical items [and even how many coupons I have], almost guaranteeing that I no longer have to pay the full price. This is called storage. Now, I have about 70 pounds of white rice, another 50 pounds of seasoned rice [yellow rice, this uncle, rice Ronnie], 45 pounds of pasta in all shapes, 20 packs of Keebler Fudge Shoppe biscuits, 100 packs of Gerber babies. Food, 18 gallons of apple juice... and more. All of this is free.
In fact, my biggest problem is storage. Now, not only is my kitchen cabinet full of edges, I have three bookshelves tightly wrapped together, my entire laundry room is occupied by shelves, half of the linen closet is full of personal belongings, and the bottom of the two bathroom sinks is full. Some other delicious things. . I used to put toilet paper [30 4 pks] under my living room bookcase, but then we got rid of that piece of furniture.
Many stores carry out promotions, and they use a total of free movie tickets before the coupons. I have 40 boxes of Raisin Bran, all of which I paid about .50 boxes [thanks to a website called Upromise, I will make a box for my kids and college funds]. Give me a free adult movie ticket for every 7 boxes. I hate paying more than $1 for a box of cereals, but sometimes I do it - I recently paid $1.50 for cocoa puffs and each box received a free children's movie ticket. I also attended Walgreen's movie ticket special program in the summer and got about 10 free movie tickets. So my grocery store often gives me free entertainment!
The biggest kicker is a coupon for "any" or "any size." Believe it or not, these do mean any size - including trial sizes. Therefore, I have about 200 trial-sized toothpastes in my home and 100 trial-size shampoos. These are great for travel, but to be honest, I tend to send them away. I kept a box for charitable donations and usually at least throw in one tenth of my freebies - almost all trial items [I did save some for travel and "emergency"]. This means that I not only have to help myself, but also help others, even though we have very little budget.
Most people - especially my mom - think I am crazy. My best friend told me that she didn't have the time or dedication to use coupons like me. For me, it is not time, but money. There are two children on the diaper [only one of them is baby food, thank goodness], this year I spent less than $1,200 on groceries, cleaning supplies and personal items [shampoo, soap, etc.] [this is #] just over 100 USD/month]. My cabinet is broken; if necessary, I can buy milk and bread for at least the next three or four months. This gives me a sense of security that is enough to make up for the time and effort I put into the coupon.
Orignal From: Confession of Couponaholic
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