Real Weird Blog
A fun blog about real life and the real weird things we encounter.

Hi visitors! I am so happy to have you here. Please have a look around and let me know what you like or don't like :/ Leave a comment or send me an email! I love to hear from my readers.


Where to find coupons
-Online
-In the Sunday’s Paper
-In stores hanging off of the shelves
-On and in Products
-By requesting FREE Samples
-Snail mail like Val Pak

*Be sure to check out Hip2Save's coupon database!*
Where to print coupons
Coupons.com
SmartSource
Target Coupons (for store and Manufacturer coupons)
Betty Crocker
CVS Pharmacy (for store and Manufacturer coupons)
RedPlum


Are you an Extreme couponer?
No. I do not think of my self as extreme an couponer. To me an Extreme Couponer is going to be someone who has a house full or garage full of products that they could not possible use all of or possibly a neatly organized hoarder. I am instead an avid couponer. I enough product to last until another sale comes around. When things get a few months withing expiration I will share them with friends and family. Instead of having 40 boxes of toothpaste I generally have 2 or 3 extra on hand. I have a personal rule to never pay for certain things. Toothpaste, Shampoo, Conditioner, Lotion, Tooth brushes, and more. With the influx of couponers recently some of the deals are not as good as they use to be, but those items above can still generally be purchased for free. Another thing that helps me is that I am generally NOT brand specific.


How many newspapers to buy
-The answer to this question always depends on who you are. First and foremost if you have neighbors or family that will give you their papers of course that would be the best. I unfortunately know no one who gets the paper. Personally I only buy 2 papers when I know that there are more than $2 worth of coupons I will use ($2 is the cost of my paper). I also only have a family of 3 and we rarely eat at home, so I don't use many of the coupons in the paper.
-Another factor is how cheap can you get the paper? I have a subscription for 1 paper per Sunday. My work schedule changes sometimes and I like to ensure that I at least get 1 paper. If I need another, I will go to the store and buy it. In my area Walgreens frequently sells the paper for $1.25. I have heard in many areas that Dollar Tree and Dollar General sell the paper for $1. My local Big Lots frequently has a sales person for the Richmond Times Dispatch out front. He sells a paper subscription for a certain number of weeks and you get a gift card when you sign up. The most important thing to think about is how much you are paying for the paper vs how much you are saving.

How to organize coupons
-There are 2 main ways to organize coupons: the file folder method and the binder method. I personally use a mixture of the two. I cut out the coupons I know I will use and file the rest for any random good deals.

The file folder method
What you will need:
-file folders
-a file bin
-a marker
-COUPONS!
How does it work?
You will need to make a folder for each month of the year. I also have an extra folder for random coupons. I include any peelies, coupons included with FREE samples or any other random coupons I find. We are big on eating out so I also have a folder for restaurant coupons so I can save money on our bad habit. Each week when you get your coupons you will write the day they printed in the paper on the front so you can easily locate them later. I also include my All You magazine in the monthly folder as well.
The binder method
What you will need:
-Large sturdy binder
-Plastic sports card holders
-Scissors
-dividers or sticky tabs
You may also want to include:
-2 plastic folders or pencil zippers
-Scissors
-Pen/pencil
-notepad
-calculator
How does it work?
First, you will need to choose how you are going to divide your sections. For this method most people divide their sections buy product type. So you might have a section for toiletries, food, baby products, and so on. Once you have those sections labeled on you dividers put them in your binder with a few plastic sports card holders in between. Next you will need to cut out all of your coupons and sort them in your sections. The plastic folder or zipper case can be used to hold all of the extras that you may want to bring like the calculator, scissors, and so on. The other zipper pouch or plastic folder will be used to hold any extra coupons you have not had time to sort. Many couponers will also include the store coupon policies in case they have issues with a cashier in a store.

How to save dining out
This is one of my favorite topics because I have a huge problem with eating out, so I need to make sure I am saving as much money as possible with this. When I am not working my 1 to midnight shift we eat out EVERY day. Enough about me, how can YOU save money? The absolute main thing is to sign up for every restaurant newsletter possible. For 2 reasons: you will usually get a sign up reward like a FREE appetizer and the other reason is that they will frequently send you coupons through email!
-Another awesome way to save money on eating out is with Daily Deal Sites like Groupon or Living Social. With these sites you may be able to purchase a $40 gift certificate for only $20!
-Lastly, one of my favorite ways to save money eating out is with Restaurant.com. They very frequently have sales where you can get a $25 gift certificate for only $2 and then get cash back on top of that. There are a few downsides with this site though. One of the main things is that popular restaurants can sell out quickly! These usually do reset at the beginning of the month though. Another downside is that they may not have any restaurants that you like. I live in Richmond which is a decent size city and there is only one restaurant that I like on the list. I am also picky so you should still check out what they have for your area.    
I have a ton of info to share and will be adding several updates to this page. In the mean time if you have any questions leave a comment or just drop me an email realweirdblog@gmaill.com.

2 comments :

  1. I love to coupon!!! With a family of five, it is hard to keep us all happy on a budget. I dont do extreme couponing, but sometimes I sure as hell impress myself going out and getting stuff. I know I have a lot of nail polishes and make up and girly stuff, barely spend anything on all of it too!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the insightful tips!! I can be a couponer too!

    ReplyDelete