SAVINGS: Part 1 – Introduction to Couponing and Saving Money

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Saving money – everybody wants to save money but sometimes they don’t know where or how to start! That was me, I wanted to save money but had no clue where to start and I was getting frustrated. I started couponing in 2010 when I found out I was pregnant with my first child. I found out at 13 weeks and that was a shocker for me and my bank account! I mean there was barely anything to save living paycheck to paycheck anyway, so I needed to make a change! I needed to do something different and I was very interested in couponing! Who wants to shop and make money? I know I do!

Ever wonder how you have one pack of diapers and some grapes in your shopping cart and your total comes up to over $30.00 but the person behind you has twelve packs of diapers, wipes, juices, toilet paper, razors, shampoo oh and toothpaste and their total is under $4.00? Well, that’s what you call couponing! You “pay” most of your bill with your coupons and gift cards instead of your money. The good news is anyone can learn and start to use coupons! It’s not only about getting free things, but it’s also about saving money and making money. Yes, I said making money!

After days of researching about how-to coupon I got myself a HUGE binder, subscribed to ten newspapers a week, signed up for store cards, subscribed to various printable coupon websites, matched up store deals to plan my weekly meals and shopping trips and I became an extreme couponer within a month. I learned all the tips and tricks about couponing and I became addicted, addicted to seeing the total amount due “going down” at the register, addicted to getting free products, addicted to getting money back on a gift card all while helping my friends and family save money too!

Couponing is very time consuming, but it all depends on what type of couponer you want to be. You know how much time you have to spare towards saving your family money. I suggest you start off as a casual couponer and work your way up. My favorite stores to coupon at in South Florida are Publix, Target, CVS, Walgreens, Kohls, Dollar General, and Walmart. I also shop at other stores but these are my local go-to places that offer the best deals. I always shop through Ebates, TopCashBack or other links to earn cash back on my purchases, it all depends on who is offering the most cash back at the time of my purchase. I order a lot of stuff online and by shopping through cash back websites I get back at least a few hundred bucks a month. Everyone has things they need to purchase and everyone buys groceries but if you start couponing or shop through cash back links you get money back!!!! I know that extra money can definitely help out every month.

To start, I recommend creating a new e-mail address dedicated to couponing because you will start receiving a lot of e-mails with printable coupons from various consumers and you don’t want your main e-mail filled up with coupons. I’ve made this mistake in the past and my inbox was a mess! Don’t forget to double or triple your savings by signing-up your significant other, mom, dad, child, grandma or anyone else in your household with their permission of course!

In the next couponing series, I’ll talk about a few websites to sign-up for and how to keep your coupons organized. 

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Next articleSAVINGS: Part 2 – Jumping IN, Signing UP and Getting Organized!
Annie Makhanlall
Annie Makhanlall is the co-founder and owner of Broward Mom Collective, LLC. Wearing many hats is her specialty. She brings creativity and sparkle to everything that she does. Her followers are always looking forward to seeing her savvy couponing skills and daily adventures while balancing life. She is the mom that walks down the hall with 2 bookbags on her shoulders; lunch bags in one hand and coffee in the other all the while managing to take pictures of her daughters… Yup, that’s Annie! She enjoys spending quality time with her family; creating arts and crafts; holding nostalgic family picnics at the park; baking and decorating delicious cookies and adding glitter to just about everything she does! She loves connecting and networking with the people living in her community. She is a night-owl, very creative, family-oriented, coffee lover, glitter mom, passionate, and always pushing herself to be better than the person she was yesterday! She strives to connect families with local resources while helping local businesses. She is constantly brainstorming, hoping to crack the code on Motherhood while being the Perfectly Imperfect Mompreneur.

14 COMMENTS

  1. Love this article and I could definitely use some money saving couponing tips. ♥️ Looking forward to reading your other articles.

    • Thank you Steve, we appreciate your expert feedback! Couponado is mighty nice as well, happy to collaborate if given the opportunity.

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