Saturday, April 30, 2011

How did I get started and how should you get started?

I get asked this all the time, every day, several times a day via email, in person, and I've even had friends text and call me. I figured this would be a great place to let people know what I did to start couponing so that you can decide how you want to start.

What do I buy?
Buy newspapers! You can use a coupon clipping service such as http://www.thecouponclippers.com/ or use any of the clippers off of eBay (eBay is probably my favorite source since a lot of the time it is cheaper than the other services). I started off buying 4 newspapers, and I clipped and saved EVERY. SINGLE. COUPON.

Why am I saving all these coupons?!
The coupons you have today might not be at full value today! If you look on your coupon most have an expiration date. That means you do NOT have to run out to Wal-Mart and use that .25 Dawn detergent coupon TODAY! Hold on to that coupon until the item goes on sale! For example... in the April Proctor and Gamble insert came a .25 Dawn detergent coupon. Most people would scoff at a .25 coupon and say something to the effect of, ".25?! That's an insult! What do they want me to do with .25?" The coupon had an expiration date of 4/30/2011. I saved the measly .25 coupon, and it paid off! This week and next week at Fred's Dollar Store Dawn detergent was on sale for .75! Well guess what! On every Saturday Fred's just happens to double coupons up to .70 so I was able to take my measly little .25 Dawn coupon and double it for .50 turning that .75 sale into a .25 bottle of dishwashing liquid! Today I bought 10 bottles of Dawn for .25 a bottle thanks to that measly little coupon that I held on to for an entire month!

How do you organize your coupons?
I use a binder. I love my binder. My husband calls it the Holy Grail of Couponing. He's so silly, but he likes my savings just as much as any husband loves it when their wife spends less at the store than usual. I use baseball card inserts that you can get from Hobby Lobby using the nice 40% off coupon they sweetly provide every few weeks. I use a 4" D-185 Case-It Binder that I bought off of amazon.com. It's a little pricey, but I wanted something with a zipper, handle, and lots of room. I use pencil holders for each store so that I can put the coupons I intend on using BEFORE I hit the store and add more to it while I'm in the store, and I use dividers so I can divide my coupons into sections. Mine are divided into sections like HBA, soap and deodorant, refrigerated, condiments, frozen, drinks, cleaning supplies, air fresheners, dental.... You will decide for yourself what categories work best for you.

What are your favorite links?
This is my favorite place! I love to refer to my favorite websites!

  • weusecoupons.com - This is a wonderful forum! Nathan Engles is the owner of this forum, and he is known as Mr. Coupon. This is where I share ideas with other couponers, watch for all the deals that others are getting, share the deals that I am getting, see and share how others are organizing their stockpiles, and just be in the company of others who enjoy saving!
  • http://thekrazycouponlady.com/ - I absolutely LOVE this blog! This is a great place to watch the match ups!
  • http://www.southernsavers.com/ - Another great place to watch all the sales, blogs, Sunday coupon previews, and what's going on.
  • http://www.iheartwags.com/http://www.iheartcvs.com/ - I love these two because I can plan my shopping even before their ads are released in the Sunday paper! I can do my match ups early!
  • http://www.sundaycouponpreview.com/ - I get to see what coupons are coming out in the papers on Sunday so I know what I need to clip early so I can get to the drugstore before the crowd!
Those are my favorite places! If you have any questions PLEASE feel free to ask me in the comments section, and make sure to become a follower of my blog so you get to see all the deals this Cajun couponer has for you!

~The Cajun Couponer

What and WHO is The Cajun Couponer?

For starters let me tell you a little about me! I am a stay at home mom of 4 beautiful babies ages 15, 6, 3, and 1. About a year ago money got really tight for my family when the bottom fell out of my husband's job. We held on for awhile through the help of family members, but things were and are still really tight. With 4 children to feed, a $2,000 a month house payment, a $350 a month car payment, $900 a month in child support and all of the other bills that go along with life I realized that we had to do something. I had dabbled in couponing for awhile, but I knew it was time to get serious. 

A friend of mine sent me the link to ABC Nightline where a man named Nathan Engles and a woman named Jill Cataldo saved tons of money on their shopping trips using coupons, and it inspired me. If they could do it then I knew I could do it also! I started by going to the news stand and getting 4 newspapers that first Sunday. I watched the blogs, watched the forums, matched up a few sales, and I was hooked! The next week I bought 6 papers, and matched up a few more. I knew it would take me a month until the savings really started, but I was doing ok. By the time week 3 came I was getting 10 papers, and when in my fourth week I saved over $300 in one week at a clearance sale at Walgreens I  knew I was in hook, line, and sinker.

Then I realized we didn't have any stores that doubled coupons. WRONG! We do have some. They are not the best stores, but we do have them. One of them is definitely not price competitive, and the other is a dollar store with limited groceries. However... they are there. Mostly what we have is one big box store (Wal-Mart), another small big box store (Target... not even a Super Target *gasp*), and a few local stores that have great produce, great meat, but not very competitive prices for those of us looking to save. So I started shopping around, paying attention to prices, and working hard at saving. 

I then realized I could indeed do this savings thing. I might not get a 90% savings every week, but I could do it! 

I started to get successful, and now I have people asking me all the time, "How do you do it? How did you get started? What should I do? Where do you get these deals?" I LOVE to help people save, but saying the same thing eleventy-ten times a day was getting rather repetitious. So here is a blog to help you other people learn to save.

In this blog you will see deals ranging from Cannata's in Louisiana, Rouse's in Louisiana, Fred's Dollar Store, Wal-Mart, Target, Walgreens, and CVS. I may do some Albertson's deals and a few other Baton Rouge stores since I loooove going to Baton Rouge. If you are not from Louisiana you will still find great deals on this blog since I do a LOT of shopping at the drug stores and Wal-Mart, but Cajun people don't have the fabulous stores like Krogers, Food Lion, Publix and such so we tend to get discouraged with coupons. However.... good news to all you Cajuns! There ARE savings to be hard even at Rouse's and Cannata's! This week alone I was able to get Parkay for .25, Heinz vinegar for .29, free Duncan Hines brownies, .25 Dawn dish detergent, free Yakisoba noodles, .99 Purex Crystals, free Degree deodorant, free Purex 3-in-one sheets, free Tide, free Nivea body wash, $1 Clean and Clear body wash, a money making deal on Luster White toothpaste.... the list goes on and on!

I can't wait to share what I have learned with all of you! 

~The Cajun Couponer