With the recession in full swing, everyone is trying to find ways to trim their budgets and save more money. As food and gas prices continue to escalate, and unemployment stays hovering around 9-10%, now more than ever Americans are looking for more creative ways to get more for their dollar to survive this economic storm.
Take the “Coupon Lady” in this video for instance. In this video she buys $116 worth of groceries but only pays $6.80 using the myriad of coupons she cuts and saves over a long period of time. This is flat our remarkable and is definitely something that may motivate you to start paying more attention to the coupons that you receive in the mail and the newspaper every so often, so you can save the kind of money she does on your next grocery bill!
As we know, a dollar here and a dollar there eventually adds up to a lot of dollars!
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I guess this is OK, but is she buying things she really needs? I never drink Miller beer or Powerade, or eat Ritz crackers.
Good for her!
A few years ago, I financed A TRIP TO ENGLAND by saving coupons. It took about 5 years, but was not only painless, but challenging fun to do it. I kept a dedicated bank account where I stashed every penny I saved through coupon use. At that time I was a stay-at-home mom, not bringing in any additional income, but it was obviously MY OWN money, which would not have accrued to the household without my own efforts. Thirty years later I still treasure those memories.
Interestingly, my son spent a summer in England a few years later, and he and his wife took a vacation in England and Paris soon after their marriage. I don’t think she fully appreciated it, but I think my son did. And it has got to be good for a family to see that the wife/mother is resourcefu, financially educated, and persistent.
Everything she is buying is crap and not healthy.
Lets see some coupons for fresh fruit and veggies.
I work in retail, and I can tell you one thing: the customers who are behind this woman in line are going to be angry!
@Jill…I understand your frustration with some coupons but if you watched the video you would see one of the first two things they have her putting in her cart is bananas and lettuce that she was able to get a coupon for and on sale.
What I do is supplement my coupons with going to the farmer’s market…fresher, supporting my locals, and in lots of cases cheaper than anything I can find at the grocery store.
Good luck
I’m unfortunately frugal in different ways. We don’t pay for a Windows or Mac operating system in our homes, opting instead to use a Linux distro, thus avoiding the need for software upgrades and virus protection. However the on-line coupon printer software program was written only for Windows and Mac operating systems. I’m unable to download the software for a supposedly “web-based” application because it is unable to download something onto my computer…. Anyway it kind of stinks because my favorite organic dairy company regularly has $1 off coupons for all of their various products… of course available only via this particular coupon printer.
It’s amazing how much money one can save on groceries with coupons, IF you buy things you use regularly, and actually eat. HOWEVER..with savings like this, I buy things I don’t eat, for the savings of course, and give these food articles to the local food bank. My gosh, what a delight it is knowing I’m helping my community neighbors and their family for just pennies on the dollar. How rewarding it is!!
Ask anyone who works in the manufacturing business what coupons REALLY mean. They’re simply forms of advertisement, and the sooner you realize this, the better.
People look at coupons for razors, food, drinks, toiletries and say “That’s cheap, I need that!”
What they don’t show you is the woman who gets $600 worth of groceries for $20, but it’s all paper towels, barbeque sauce and Pringles. Sound sustainable? Yeah right.