COUPONS!!!

With the purchase of the new furnace and air conditioner money definitely got tighter.  I started watching TLC’s show “Extreme Couponing” and I got hooked!  Now grant it, couponing in Canada is not the same as couponing in the United States, we definitely don’t get the same selection or volume of coupons as our American neighbours do.  But I took a stab at it, and became addicted. 

I follow a few different coupon blogs but my absolute favourite is MrsJanuary.com.  She regularly posts links to coupons that pop up on different sites.  She has some great how to articles and lots of links to helpful advice and links to printable coupons! 

There are coupon sites that will mail coupons to you: Save.ca, Brandsaver.ca, Websaver.ca and Gocoupons.com.  These coupon sites are chalked full of helpful coupons for running your house hold. 

I started actively collecting coupons in November.  Using the helpful hints from MrsJanuary.com and other sites I have been successful in saving a fair bit of grocery money.  People have started to ask me how much I have saved so far, it’s hard to say as in the beginning I would just use one or two coupons here or there.  Zellers had a great promotion on during December and I had to prepare extensively for it.  If you spent $40 they gave you a $10 gift card.  With price matching, sales, coupons and the gift card (that I used on a second purchase right there in the store) I spent $50 on $125 worth of stuff.  That was the biggest haul to date that I have achieved. 

I register for coupons for my Mom (as my parents don’t have a computer) and every time I have coupons sent to me I log into a second account and have them sent to my Mom as well.  We share the coupons as we don’t always buy the same stuff.  I now register for the freebies I see posted on line.  This past December my Mom called me up and told me that UPS just dropped off a box full of Kellogg’s products.  Much to my delight, I thought I was registering for coupons, she received (I received almost the same box the following week) 3 Full sized boxes of cereal, a box of Rice Krispie squares and a box of snack bars; all of Kellogg’s newest products.   Added bonus there was a book of really good coupons included!  Using coupons has helped to stock my cupboard which makes me feel good.  We aren’t completely destitute but it is nice to keep a bit of extra money in our pockets while keeping our bellies full.  And who doesn't like free stuff?!?!?

It’s has almost become a game to try and find the best deal.  Some people may think Coupons mean cheap or poor, but I think it’s just common sense.  If a company wants to give you a deal, why not use it?  Better in my pocket then theirs!