Let's Talk About Couponing...

It's all the rage right now, thanks in part to the TLC Extreme Couponing show.  I admit to watching the show and getting all excited at the prospect of saving 1000's of dollars on stuff.  What they don't stress on the show is that the results on the show are nowhere near typical.  If you watched all the shows you also see that they are all "stocking up" on the same items like Purex detergent, Yakisoba Noodles (I have yet to see a coupon for these), Barilla Pasta, Vitamin Water, etc... They are also lucky enough to live in towns that have stores that do double coupons, in some cases up to $1, and they are combining these with rewards cards and the like.  In the town I live in we have ONE chain that doubles coupons, but only up to/including $0.50 and they only double 2 like coupons.  This store also does not have a rewards or loyalty card, they don't price match and they don't have triple coupon days like they used to when I was a kid.  Until the tornado we had a Dillons, they had a loyalty card and they doubled coupons...I am SO ready for them to re-build!

I went all gung ho, like I do with just about everything and I built this binder within a couple of weeks of starting to coupon.  I wasn't too sure about the binder thing, but after a couple of trips where I had to flip through tons of coupons just looking for something I realized that this was going to be the way to go.  It's WAY easier to find stuff, but I don't like to carry it into stores, it's too big, and it's a total pain to get in and out of a bag.  I am in the market for a good sturdy zipper binder, but I am just in the looking phases so far.  I like that when I am in the store and I see something on sale I can just flip to the section I need to see if I have a coupon.  Otherwise I try to plan my trips out as much as I can.

This is where we come to my couponing pet peeves and complaints!  I LOVE Walgreens now and I love to get Register Rewards, to the point that I have to rein myself in or I will just buy stuff to get the RR...it's crazy, I know, but it's totally addictive!  Here is where my list starts...

• I coupon to save on the things that I need, the things I would buy normally, not to stockpile.  For instance, Walgreens had a sale a couple weeks ago on Purex Laundry Detergent, the paper that week had a coupon in it for the same detergent.  I had 2 coupons and I got 3 bottles.  They were on sale for $1.99, the coupon made them $1.49 and I paid the sale price for 1.  I ended up with 3 bottles of detergent for $5.  I was overly happy with that, I was paying almost $4 a bottle for one detergent I like. I wouldn't go buy 10 papers to get 10 coupons so that I could buy 10 bottles though.  That's another point altogether!
• I don't buy things that I won't use.  I don't even keep the baby coupons, or dog food coupons, most air freshener coupons, etc...  I don't use Airwick things and just because I can get them for free with a coupon doesn't mean I am going to go get 10 of them!  What's the point, it's a waste of a trip, of gas, etc... for something that I don't use.  Same goes for things like bottles of hot sauce or post it notes, the list is endless!
• I don't buy more than 2 papers.  I get one Joplin Globe and one KC Star and some weeks I don't even get the KC one.  Dollar Tree will have the KC Star for $1 but 9 times out of 10 they are sold out before I get there less than 2 hours after they open.  I know the reason they are sold out is because people are buying stacks of them for the inserts.  It's annoying so I just go pay and extra $1 somewhere else.  Buying too many papers is hoarding...plain and simple.  They say a couponer should buy one paper for each member of their family, but I don't even see the need in that.  It's enabling someone to go and clear a shelf before some of us can even make it to the store!
• Shelf Clearing, plain and simple...it's just wrong.  We just recently had 2 new Walgreens open up, but before they did the one I shopped at would have shelves cleared by Sunday afternoon.  I went in a couple weeks ago when they ran that Revlon RR.  It was on a Sunday at about 4:30, there was a lady at the cosmetics counter with, I kid you not, several carts full of stuff and inside the carts were baskets full of stuff where she had separated all her transactions.  The counter was literally covered with stacks of coupons.  She also had a basket full of Revlon nail polishes and a basket full of the Pert Plus bottles that was another of the good RR's that week.  Consequently, there were no more bottles of Pert Plus on the shelves and only a handful of Revlon polishes left.  She had been there for some time already and I shopped for about 30 minutes...she was still there, still with carts full of unpaid stuff when I left.  It's annoying to see that, really.
• I don't do multiple transactions, I don't roll my RR's in the same trip.  It's a personal thing for me.  I am not very confrontational and I feel like it's wrong to do that.  I know that it's not, but it makes me feel weird for some reason!  It's a pet peeve, I guess.  I feel like if I were the cashier I would be totally annoyed and I don't want to cause that for someone else.  To me it's like taking advantage of the system or something.
• I always want to use coupons the way they are intended to be used.  People who take advantage of the system are the ones who are making stores change their coupon policies.  That's why Price Cutter only allows 2 like coupons to be doubled, etc...  If a coupon says $1 off a $4 purchase, it means you spend $4 on the items that the coupon is for and you get a $1 off, leaving your total at $3.  It doesn't mean that you buy 4 things for $1 each and use 4 of these coupons so that you get them for free, it doesn't mean that you have to have a combined store total of $4 or more. It means you spend $4 of the products to get $1 off...SIMPLE.  Just because the store pushed it through after an hour of trying to get it to ring right doesn't mean it's right.  It means that when the store sends those coupons in to be reimbursed for them they are going to come up short and then they are going to change their coupon policies.
• Coupons are to help you save money, they aren't supposed to be a way to get things free.  Sometimes you do, but in most cases you are going to be lucky to save 50%.  I am happy when I save even 30% of my total with coupons and I feel like I have done good.

I am really not trying to rant, but there are things about this whole idea of Extreme couponing that are just plain wrong and I feel like the show kind of advocates that.  I think that in some cases stockpiling is hoarding and on the show there were several women who did just that.  For the most part they were donating excess and sharing with family members and I applaud that wholeheartedly, but there were a couple who just hoarded plain and simple. 

That's one of the reasons I don't like carrying my binder!  It's so stupid, but it's all about perception, I don't want people to see me with my coupon binder and just automatically assume that I am a crazy hoarding couponer, I so am NOT!  I am just trying to save my family a little money.

I don't stockpile.  I think I have 5 bottles of Laundry Detergent, I bought 2 big packs of Charmin yesterday (40 rolls) and I have a couple extra bottles of shampoo and conditioner, body wash, shaving cream, etc... but that's the extent of what I will keep here.  I have no room for it and really, since I am trying to save money, it seems pointless to spend it on stuff just to be able to say I have a stockpile!

Oh, and I LOVE getting samples and freebies in the mail!  It's fun to get the mail every day to see what I have.  This is what I got today.  I got a sample of Kashi Cereal and a coupon, a sample of Burberry perfume in a fancy glass bottle, a Gain coupon and a coupon for a FREE box of Garnier hair color.  Facebook is one of the best places to be for the free stuff.  Most brands will do some type of sample or giveaway at some point in the month.  I should have stuff rolling in every week from this point on.  I even got a subscription to Shape Magazine for $2.50 off a tip from someone on Facebook!

So, I am interested in what you all have to say about couponing.  Do you coupon?  Do you have pet peeves and annoyances like I do? 

Well, things are changing around here!

I think it will be for the better.  Jake thinks so anyway!  I have been looking, not seriously mind you, for a job the past few weeks.  Actually it's hasn't even been that long.   Last Tuesday after Bailey got her braces on we were at the mall because I needed fleece and that's where our new Joann's is.  I wanted to go into Macy's to look around and I saw that they were hiring so I picked up the little card with the job description on it and a web address to apply online.  What could be easier?  Applying for jobs online is always so much easier than going in and hand filling out an application.  So, where I remembered on Thursday morning I applied for the 2 openings that they had there, ventured over to Target.com and filled out an application there and then one at Walgreens.com.  The next day I got an email from Macy's saying that I didn't meet the qualifications of what they were looking for or whatever and so I just figured, oh well at least I tried.  Then about an hour later I got another email to go online to schedule an interview time.  Apparently I was qualified for one of the 2 positions that I applied for.  So, long story shorter, I went in for my interview this morning and he offered me the job provided that my background check comes back okay!  I haven't had so much as a ticket since 1993 so I don't think that I will have any problems.  It's for a receiving/merchandising position and it's perfect since the hours are 6am-2pm.  Jake will have to get up and get the kids off to school, but I will be home before they are every day so that's a plus.

So, what does this mean for Pink Punk Boutique?  I am not sure right now.  For the time being I am going to continue to take orders and see how it goes.  If you are a regular customer you will notice that I have done some major house cleaning in the store.  I took out a lot of stuff, mostly things that aren't big sellers, but I did take out all the add-ons like the logo embroidery, appliques, etc....  Since I have to take the embroidery out to be done, I just don't know how much time I will have once I start working so I am not going to offer that at all now.  I am going to see how many hours I will be working and go from there.  I will say this though, I will probably be limiting the number of orders I take, especially as we get closer to the holidays and I will shut my store down for a couple weeks again like I did last year.  So, if you are thinking of giving the gift of Pink Punk Boutique this year you need to start thinking about what you want and start getting your orders in right away.

Here are a couple things I have finished up in the past little bit.

A couple of Coupon Clutches

A double sided photo prop quilt

 An Izzy Purse and matching accessories

 A Laptop Messenger Bag, Laptop Sleeve and accessories

I have also been doing some couponing but not extreme in the least!  I have been saving at least 25% on my groceries which for me is a win.  I am saving more on non food items though and slowly building up some stock in HBA items and cleaning supplies.  Here is a shot of some of the free stuff I got last week while shopping.  All were free with coupons.

 
I have also been doing a lot of freebie signups on the internet and TONS on Facebook.  It's amazing the stuff you can get for free online by just filling out a simple form!  I started filling them out about 5 weeks ago and I am just now starting to see them in my mailbox.  Here is what I have gotten in the past week...A couple of samples, but I also got a full size Duck Brand Packing Tape with the pink and black zebra print and a BIC Atlantis pen.

Well, I have to get these kids off to bed so I can watch some more Lost Girl Season 1 while I wait for Season 2 to start on Sunday!   Have a great evening!

Another busy week...

I am trying to get semi-caught up with work this week, but it's been hard.  It seems like this is the week I am making a lot of new stuff.  New stuff takes time and patience to write out the pattern, work out the kinks with dimensions and all that.  I worked on this backpack yesterday evening and managed to finish it up about 9 pm!

I still have one more of these to make and 2 matching lunch bags which are also new products.  I still have to finish my final pattern for those.  My goal is to get all those done today so we'll see how that goes!

I got the dividers in the mail for my Coupon Clutch and ended up having to change the dimensions on that to accommodate the width of the dividers.  Here is the new one I made for myself.  I still need to work out the dimensions for the other sizes.  I really like this fabric, it's my new favorite!  I pulled the pieces for the ruffle from a Jelly Roll and a Honey Bun so I didn't have to cut them or zig-zag the edges to keep them from fraying since they have pinked edges.  I think I need to get a pinking blade for one of my cutters that will save me a ton of time!

I have been doing some more couponing.  I am learning that I really like Walgreens!  I didn't know about their Register Rewards program before, but it's an excellent way to save.  I messed up a little yesterday and missed out on $4 in Register Rewards, but it was a lesson learned and I won't do it again!  We went on Sunday and I got all this stuff for less than $25 and I got back $7 in RR so I saved about 60% on it.

 I went to Walgreens again yesterday along with Target, Walmart and Pier 1 Imports and I got all this for only $36...I saved over $65!

 

I used my RR at Walgreens earned more back and I had a $10 off a $10 purchase at Pier 1.  I am done shopping for the week now!  I am going to make a list of stuff I want to stock up on then I am going to start watching the ads for those things and save on them when I can.
 

With all the stocking up starting I decided that it was time to clean out and organize my pantry!  It was pretty pitiful before and it was full of stuff that needed to be tossed.  Here is the before and after.  I got some little plastic baskets at Target in the $1 spot and I used them to group like things together to make them easier for everyone to find and to corral some of the mess.  I have a stack of empty containers down in the bottom to use if I need them in the future.  I also have a big lazy susan in my corner cabinet that I need to clean out some time this week.  I actually put some of the lesser used big pots and small appliances up there on the top shelf.

Well, I have to get lunch together and in the oven, then I have to get to work on the other backpack so I better run!  Have a great day!

It's been madness here this week...

We started out on Sunday with Dillon getting sick in church, followed that with a day of stomach sickness and fever.  I felt awful the whole next day which resulted in my getting nothing done for an entire day and a half.  On Tuesday I had to run errands and grocery shop so I took Dillon with me since he had been stuck inside for 2 days.  We hit up Target, Joanns, Sally Beauty Supply, Office Max, Hobby Lobby, Food 4 Less, Walmart, and then Wendy's and Wing's 'n More for lunch for everyone.  It was  A LONG morning of getting in and out of the heat.  I got home after spending way too much money and made a batch of the freezer burritos, I posted the recipe in my last post.  I decided that I needed to be more frugal and try to not spend so much money and even more to get more out of what I do spend.  I want to do more meals like the burritos so that Jake has different stuff to take for dinners and we have options here when it doesn't seem like we have any food in the house.

I had talked to my little sister Jami last Saturday about couponing, I know she has been doing it for awhile, but I really didn't know too much about it.  I started watching all the Extreme Couponing shows on TLC, actually I watched them all in 2 days!  I decided that maybe this is what I need to try.  I don't want to be an extreme couponer, but I do want to be smarter about what I buy and if I can get the things I need at a discount, then why not?  I am starting small, but this is my coupon haul for this week

 

I have a couple of things that aren't pictured, a 5 pack of Zyrtec and a Velveeta Box dinner.  Here are my totals on what I have here...

• Total Before Savings - $54.47
• What I Actually Paid - $28.84
• What I Saved w/coupons and specials - $25.63
• I saved 47% on things that I would normally pay full price for

Now there are a few things that I bought to try since I had a coupon, but that's when I normally try new things, when I don't have to pay full price!  Here are some of the better deals

• Zyrtec 5 Pack (not pictured) - $0.27 after coupon
• Advil  - $0.82 each after coupon  
• Tums 3 roll pack - $0.99 after coupons
• Pop-tarts - $1.32 a box after coupons
• Shower Curtain - $1.32 after coupon

Our Target will stack a store coupon with a manufacturers coupon, but you have to watch them close to make sure they scan them all.  I learned this yesterday!  She somehow scanned in 2 of the Skintimate gels when I only got one and didn't manage to scan in the $1.50 off coupon because she was too busy making sure to tell me that I need to make sure that the MFG coupons print the barcode so I can actually use them.  I knew that she didn't scan the coupon, but she insisted that she did and I didn't catch the double item until I checked my receipt.  I knew the total was off so I had to take it to the service desk to get the additional item refunded and then she gave me cash for the coupon that the cashier didn't scan.  It was a whole ordeal and I know who to avoid when I use coupons at Target from now on!

This is new territory for me.  I tend to avoid any kind of confrontation with store personnel if at all possible.  I don't like to return things, I don't like to point out mistakes, etc...when I am checking out.  I always let Jake do that.  I guess I am going to have to get over that if I am going to make this work!  I am not looking to stockpile like the extreme couponers do, but I would like to save some money when I can.  My next step is to start getting the Sunday paper and start clipping those coupons.  All I have done so far is use printable ones.

I got all excited and made this Coupon Clutch for myself!  It will have dividers in it as soon as I get them in the mail.  I had to order them since I found them in boxes of 100 for pretty cheap.  I am offering these in several sizes in the store and they will come with 20 dividers, but I can add more if you need them.  I am not to the point of Binder Organization and even if I were I would still prefer something like this to carry with me when I shop!

In other news here at home, I took Bailey to have a consult with an Orthodontist and it looks like she will be getting her top braces put on in a couple of weeks.  She was freaking out the day we went in, but now she is looking forward to getting them.  It's going to cost us a small fortune, but it's not as bad as some!  She has the same impacted eye teeth like I did and I know how awful I felt about mine for so long and I don't want her to have to go through that.  I didn't have mine fixed until I was pregnant with Colton.  My mom didn't have the resources to pay for us to have braces, so it was something that I did when I was older.  I don't want my kids to have to do that and we have dental insurance that will pay part of it so we will be stretched even thinner for a couple years, but we will make it work like we always do!  An even more important reason to coupon!!

Well, I have a TON to get done this morning while Jake has the kids out so I guess I should get to it!  Have a great weekend!