I had another blood sugar episode yesterday and found myself trapped on the couch. I don' usually do this, but I turned on daytime television and caught the end of the Ellen Degeneres Show. On this particular episode she had a guest named Joyce House a.k.a. the Coupon Diva share her secrets of coupon collecting and saving. I know, I know I hate coupons too, but I had to be impressed with Joyce's consumer savvy and the amount of money she saved. In most cases the coupon diva could save herself 90% on her grocery bills. Sometimes the stores she shops at owe her money for shopping there. You check out her website here.
Here's the Coupon Diva on the Today Show
This isn't the first time I've seen people able to save like this. I have a friend on Facebook who shops at CVS and leaves with a crap load of stuff that she only pays dollars for. My friend Kelly has a blog called The Clipper Queen's blog were she explains how she is able to save so much money at stores like CVS and RiteAid. You have to check her out.
All of this is very intriguing, but I'm still not sure this is the way I want to go when I shop. I usually look at the circular of the store that I'm going to shop at, check out the meat deals and then plan meals around that. Also, I shop at Redner's Warehouse Market (a Local Grocery Chain) that is already full of heavy discounts. When I emailed Redner's and asked what their coupon policy was, they responded that they accepted coupons, but because they try to keep their prices so low they wouldn't double or triple coupons. If they did this they would have to raise the prices elsewhere in the store. Hey, I totally get that. So, I'm led to believe that discount stores might not let you get away with being such a coupon diva like some of the more pricey chains out there.
Maybe I'll attempt this someday, but I'm not really sure this would lead to simplicity in my life. It actually seems like a lot of work, but I like what the Coupon Diva says in responce to that very argument. "If you think it's too much work, You just haven't been broke enough!"
I agree! I'd love to do it, but I've heard women say clipping coupons is like a part time job. And I have been "broke enough". But, I save way more by shopping at stores like Amelia's and Aldi's.
ReplyDeleteI agree about the coupon bit...I'd much rather just shop at Redners, or Walmart for cereal and other stuff that is already a lot cheaper than the big stores like Giant.
ReplyDeleteThat being said some people on my FB recommended some great coupon websites and you can go, just check off which coupons you want, and hit "print" and voila! Now, that only took me less than 15 minutes, and for 50 cents or a dollar on items that I will already be using (like snack stuff or the kids lunches, deodorant, tampons, etc.) then it's worth it to me. I hit up those sites for the first time this week, so we'll see how it goes. If you're interested, it's in the comments section of my status asking about grocery budgets, or I can send them to you in an email.