rockncouponistas

I have come to the conclusion that to be a successful couponer means that you no longer have to jump at every deal. Your stock pile is diverse enough that you can skip a week or 2 of deals because they aren’t as good as previous weeks. You can choose to wait until a sale comes back around and you are getting the BEST price, and not just because it’s on sale. I feel like I’ve finally reached this goal.

My stockpile has a good variety of products, and I continue to clean it out and to give to family and friends without it affecting our stock. I LOVE LOVE that feeling. Knowing that your family is in need, and even though you can’t help them financially you can help then out with sustinance and hygiene products to help them on there grocery list!

I feel like I was sooo caught up in the mindset that I needed to get every deal, whether it was an awesome deal or not. I then realized, hey I don’t need 20 sticks of deodorant! I don’t even know 20 people to give it to! So I started only buying for my families ACTUAL needs and then extended family. I spent so much time every week running to various stores and getting papers or going to recycling bins and cutting and sorting that I was missing the real point. I’m doing this to help my family budget but not instead of spending time with them.

I now use 2 systems for organizing my coupons.

1. My binder (I use this when I know I need to get a few items but want to catch non-advertised deals or clearance items)

2. Filing cabinet (I file whole coupon inserts and then cut coupons as needed, a lot less stressful that way)

I usually only use my binder if I’m going to the commissary because it’s a little  further from the house and I don’t go often so I don’t want to miss out on anything.

What are some of your tips and tricks to newbies starting out? How do you organize your coupons? Comment below and let us know!!

I gotta say, it was nice taking some time off from trying to blog and figure this whole coupon whole out!

I must confess, I am a slacker, well maybe not a slacker but more like a person who takes on TONS of projects and then gets burnt out on them and eventually returns to them one by one. I missed blogging, but to be honest I gotta tell ya, I have no idea how other coupon bloggers find the time to post 15 times a day!! I have a 15 month old and a pretty demanding day to day life.

I think I’m going to revamp the page and concentrate more on the fundamentals of couponing and tricks that I have learned by just doing it for over 6 months hard core. I may post daily deal type posts if I feel it will benefit the major or if it’s a great ‘beginner’ type deal.

I hope you don’t mind my rambling and thanks for checking back 🙂

In March Victoria Secret had a promo when you bought $10 worth of items in one transaction you would receive a secret card that would be revealed in April that could be worth up to $500.00!  Well one particular day (I want to say it was the last day in March) they had an extra promo attached to this, buy $10 in one transaction (online only) and get 2 cards instead of just one!  *this promo is no longer available*

This past Saturday I had to use my secret card because 4-30 was that last day you could redeem it. I had 2 print outs I wanted to use and get more for my money! Victoria Secret and VS PINK often have freebies when you buy a certain thing or sometimes anything in store. So the above pictures are the FREE panty from PINK with any PINK purchase (it can be the smallest thing you can find :)) Then VS had a FREE Rush lipgloss with ANY in store purchase.

I bought:

1 Warm & Cozy PINK body splash $15.00 (on sale half price) = $7.50

1 FREE PINK panty with my PINK purchase $8.50 value = FREE

1 Hand sanitizer travel size = $3.50

1 FREE Rush lipgloss $11.00 value = FREE

Total = $11.72 (with tax)

USE Angels Secret Card Value of $10.00 = $1.72 out of pocket for all that stuff!!

*Victoria Secret Angels Reward Card no longer available*

To get the PINK panty coupon you will need to go here and sign up for a PINK nation access! (exp 5/11/11) You can go to here to get the coupon for the FREE Rush lip gloss! (exp 5/4/11)