Last week I posted a status on my personal facebook page about an awesome deal to get Big G cereals for .38 cents a box. I thought I was the only one who would care but was so excited I just had to write about it. To my surprise I got an outpouring of responses. While I do not take couponing to an extreme, what I do, do majorly helps our family out in the finance department.
We are a young family of 4 living in NJ and are a one income family. When we had our youngest Luke (who is now 21 months) my husband and I had a long talk about whether or not I should go back to work. Daycare in New Jersey on the cheaper side near us would run about $1800/month for both kids, which was about what I was bringing in before we had Luke. It would have been a complete wash, so we made the decision for me to stay home. We told ourselves to give it 1 year. If we could make it past the first year we could do it. It has now been almost 2 years! (yay!) I am not going to lie some months are stressful in the finance department but we get through them together. We have had to change our way of living and thinking in many different ways but from doing that I have found my family and I find such happiness in simpler and littler things than we ever had before.
My husband is not a doctor or a big CEO of a company to have made our decision of me staying home easier. We are just an every day blue collar working class family getting by. My husband works harder than anyone I know to provide for all of us and I could have never asked for a better man to call my husband. I can only hope that one day my daughter will find a guy who is as much a family man as a working man as her daddy is. Being able to stay home with the munchkins has given me the opportunity and the time to finish up my Master's that I stopped once my daughter was born and has also given me the opportunity to venture into the world of business ownership. While I may have student loan debt that my great grand-kids will probably be paying for me and we can't take big fancy vacations right now. I can honestly say I am happy and content with every choice we have made and I see nothing but positive things for my family in the future. We have become a very close knit family already.
Now onto the savings!!
Just took a trip to Target & Shop-rite and shaved about 50% off my total. Here is how I did it:
Target:
Note: Target allows you to stack coupons by using a Manufacturer and a Target Coupon)
- Archer Farms Trail Mix is on sale for $2.99 -Target has a coupon for 1.50 off 2 (Knocks each bag down to $2.24)
- Right Guard Hair/Body Wash is $3.49. Target has a coupon for $1 off 1 (print x2) and Coupons.com (use zip 90210) has a coupon for $2.00 off 2 knocking the price down to $1.49 a bottle.
- Nabisco Crackers (I bought Ritz and Wheat Thins) On sale for $2.00. Target has a coupon for $1 off 2 boxes and Coupon Suzy (type in zipcode 90210) has a coupon for $1 off 2. Price per box is now at $1!
- Dial pump soap - $1.27 Target has a coupon for .50 cents off/1. Making total .77 cents
- Up and Up ibuprofen - .99cents/24 count Target has a coupon for $1off/2. Total .98 for 2 bottles!
- Right Guard Deodorant $3.34 Target has a coupon for $2off/2 and Coupons.com (use zip 90210) has $2 off/2. Total cost $1.34/deodorant!
Total before coupons: $26.89 + tax
Total after coupons: $13.89 + tax
TOTAL SAVINGS: $13.00!!!
Shoprite:
Note: Shoprite doubles most coupons which are under $1.00
- Kellogg's Crunchy Nut Cereal (Caramel Nut) On Sale for $1.99 Coupon at Kellogg's (free membership) .50cents off/1 Total price: .99cents!
- Kellogg's Crunchy Nut Cereal (Honey Nut) On sale for $1.99. Coupon at Coupons.com (use zip 90210) .70 cents off/1 Total Price: .59 cents!
Total before coupons: $3.98
Total after coupons: $ 1.58
TOTAL SAVINGS: $2.40!!
For the little shopping I did today I saved my family $15.40 and everything bought were things we use and need.. no extreme 70 jars of mayo here! ;)
A lot of you are saying no way can I take the time to figure out sales and coupons and when they line up, right? Trust me with 2 young kids running around, school work, etc.. neither do I. But today is your lucky day because there are FREE websites to do that for you. check out Krazy Coupon Lady and Coupon Mom. They will match up sales and coupons, what the best deals are, and where to get the coupons, for grocery stores, big chains (e.g., Walmart and Target) and pharmacies.
I dare you to give it a try. I guarantee you will be hooked when you start to see the price drop at the register!
Happy Couponing Everyone!
<3 Kris
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