I LOVEEE Couponing(:

I am SOOO excited to start this blog! My mom and I recently started couponing and we just fell in love with it! I'll admit, we're couponaholics(: lol It is just so addicting and I love to see how much we can save!  Our favorite store is Publix because they have a ton of BOGO (Buy 1 Get 1 free) sales each week. They double up to $0.50 and they also have a special penny item each week on Wednesday. Yesterday, it was Apple Juice.

So far we've gotten Cheese, Toilet Paper, Vanilla Wafers and now Apple Juice for ONLY $0.01 each!(: 

Anyways, we tried couponing before and quit, but this time we've got it and there ain't no turning back! We can't believe we use to pay full price for things that we could've been getting for really cheap or FREE! There ain't a day that goes by that we don't look at our coupons at least once. Sometimes it does get frustrating, like when you go to buy something and there all gone. Well, were not EXTREME COUPONERS and we're not going to clear the shelves so that nobody else can take advantage of a nice sale. We don't have 50 of the same coupon so there is no way we could even if we wanted to. Some people think stockpiling is 'hoarding', but there is a HUGE difference in my opinion. My mom went into couponing thinking she didn't wanna stockpile because she didn't wanna have so much stuff, but I think you will find you stockpile before you realize it. I've had to clean out a few cabinets to have room for things and we've only been at this a couple of months maybe. I read a blog the other day and she explained it better than anybody i've seen. Sales cycle every few months so when something goes on sale you want to buy as many of that item as you can. (Once again, not saying clear the shelf) You want to have enough though to last you til that item goes on sale again if possible. As soon as I find her blog again i'll link to it so you can read all that she said. Another option is donating. I've heard a lot of people ask about expiration dates for things, I ask the same thing, but when you can get something for really cheap or free, but you don't think you will use that item before the expiration date then just donate it because I guarantee somebody out there will use it and they will be so thankful for you(: When it comes to couponing you can't be BRAND PICKY. You have to try new things because your not gonna find coupons for the EXACT stuff you would regularly use. Couponing is VERY time consuming, but SO worth it when you get BIG savings! It will overwhelm you at times though. You will start to accumulate so many coupons and you don't know what to do with them all, but it's all about finding a system that works for YOU! Apparently, my mom and I have different systems that work best for each of us, but somehow we put both together and it just works(:

This is my mom's way of organizing:

This was the first thing I bought when we got into couponing and it quickly got to the point of NOT closing, but no matter what we've tried my mom always goes back to this. She's the kind of person that it doesn't matter how cluttered usually, she knows exactly where SHE put it so it don't matter if anyone else can find it.

Here is my way of organizing:

I've turned into an organizing freak....I've organized our cabinets to the point where my family was scared to touch stuff afraid of messing it up. My dad even went without his medicine one day I think. Seriously though, I NEED it organized. I can't find anything in my mom's coupon holder.  

Are you thinking, "Does she seriously carry that Big Ole' thing in stores?"

Yes, I do(: It's kind of embarrassing, but what's even MORE embarrassing is paying full price for stuff so i'm ok with carrying it(:

We've tried the binder and that didn't work for either of us.

Here's a neat website my mom found that might be helpful to you. It's called Track My Coupons and you just enter your coupons and it keeps up with them for you(: It tells you when coupons are about to expire too. It might help those just starting out. We tried it, but we already have so many coupons that we didn't wanna go through ALL of them and put them in.

Ok, I guess i'm finished rambling for now so if you have any questions just comment and i'll try my best to answer(: