Becoming a COUPON DIVA - Part 4 in a Series

Anyone can be a coupon diva BUT I will warn you that it takes a good amount of time on your part. You are not going to be able to shave 25% or even 50% off of your grocery bill if you view take it nonchalantly. You have to invest time into couponing and the rewards will pay off every time you go to the store and come home having spent significantly less.

I have tried many time in the past to become the coupon diva that I see others being but it just seems too complicated. I am going to make it work this time though. It’s not hard, it is just a commitment. To me it’s worth it because I truly HATE going grocery shopping and spending most if not all of the money I have budgeted only to need more groceries before my next check arrives. I am literally sick to my stomach every time I leave Wal-Mart now just because I am amazed at the amount I spend there on groceries that in one week will be GONE.

Here are some statistics for you:

• If you invest 2-5 hours per week you can look to shave 15-25% off your entire year’s grocery bill.
• If you invest 5-10 hours per week you can look to shave 50-75% off your entire year’s grocery bill.
• If you invest 30-40 hours per week you can look to shave 90% off your ENTIRE year’s grocery bill.

If you’re like me, I can’t spend 30-40 hours per week on my couponing. I will considering invesing 5-10 hours of my time though. This time spent includes looking for coupons, traveling to the stores, actually grocery shopping and creating menus. If you really think about that then 5-10 hours can add up pretty quick.

First things first.  You need to check your stores policies and guidelines regarding coupons. When do they offer Doubles, Super Doubles, Triples? These are they day that you want to shop with your coupons. A lot of companies don’t advertise these dates but if you ask they will tell.

Here are all the ways that you can get coupons:

• Circulars - this is the Sunday paper. Buy more than one – it is a great way to get lots of coupons for a small investment. Red Plum and Smart Source are the two major circular coupon companies.
• IP – Internet printables, this is becoming a very easy way to get coupons. Sign up with a few sites and they will send you coupons all of the time. It’s a great thing!
• Catalina’s – these are the coupons that print out at the register when you get your receipt. These are GREAT simply because they are usually for an item that you bought therefore more than likely will buy it again.
• Blinkies – these are found in the stores next to the item it is for, you know the ones that all the kids like to take coupons from (or is that just my kids) 
• Tear pad – found on little pads near the product.
• Peelie – these are found on the products themselves such as Grands biscuits.
• Wine tag – these are found on the bottle neck of a bottle and are mostly in the soda pop section which is a section I am TRYING to avoid.
• Rebate – this is a coupon that you mail in and receive money back. (Your hours per week spent couponing should also include filling out rebates. The woman saving 90% of her grocery bill will be using these to their fullest potential.) Don’t ever throw rebates away!
• Ask family and friends! There are a million coupons that get thrown away every year! Tell everyone you know that you will take any coupons that they don’t use. Pass them on when you sort through what you want.

Make sure that you have a loyalty card and that you use it for stores that you frequent. Also take advantage of stacking. That is using a store coupon such as one that can only be used at Target and stack it with a manufacturer coupon. TWO COUPONS on one item!

Your ultimate goal would be to use coupons on sale items ONLY. If you build your coupon stash and only buy when things are on sale, this is where you will see the biggest savings. You can typically use 3 coupons per item. I did not know that.

Here are some secrets!! 

• If the coupon says do not double at the top it WILL still double if the store you’re at doubles and it starts with a “5” in the barcode area. If it starts with a “9” it won’t double.
• If ANYWHERE in the barcode there is an “8100” you can use this on ANY item. For example there are a lot of coupons for Cream of Mushroom Soup by Campbells. It says it is for Cream of Mushroom only, BUT if there is an “8100” in the barcode it will scan and be accepted.

These are legitimate ways to use coupons and you are not doing anything illegal by simply knowing how to use them.

There you have it!! Now get to working and scour the earth for coupons and USE THEM! Let me know how your next grocery trip goes.

MISSION: Budget Savvy Momma

I just sat down at the computer to do a bit of work but before I could do that I had to do some blog hopping and I have to tell you, I came across two of the most awesome sites known to woman!  That is if you like to save money.  I am a horrible financial manager in our household and although I have come a long way in recent years, I still have a looooooong way to go.  [hmmm.....I guess my spell checker doesn't think "long" should take that long to be spelled either.]

First off if you haven't learned about Dave Ramsey's Envelope system, then you must learn about it HERE.  Stupid me I took a Financial Peace class by Dave Ramsey and haven't implemented anything that I learned.  How stupid is that?!?  I'm not looking back anymore though....I am going to put this into practice NOW!  This is going to help me get organized and figure out where my money is REALLY going.

Now once you have that in place, check out Money Saving Mommy and The Krazy Coupon Lady for LOTS and LOTS of helpful tips, tutorials and articles on how to save money on just about everything.  While you're at it check out how Kelleigh does it all!!  It's amazing and I hope to be like these women someday.

I have used coupons in the past only to get frustrated with spending the time getting coupons for things that I don't ever use.  It is soooooo frustrating!  How do these women do it?  Hopefully I can come back in a month and let you know how they do it and also let you know that I am doing it too!  We'll see how it works out.

Take the challenge with me, will you?  I'm a little excited!!

What are some things that you do to help your budget stay under control?  Do you use the envelope system?  What are some things that you have figured out DO NOT work for you?

50/30/20

Do you know what this is??  This is how your money SHOULD be budgeted.  I know ours isn't that way and so I am going to rework our budget and try to get it to this formula this year and I encourage you to do the same.  This is researched to be a healthy mix of where your monthly income should be going.  50% to needs, 30% to wants, and 20% to savings.  If you're spending more than 50% on your needs then maybe you're trying to keep up with the Jones' too much and need to cut back a little.  If you are spending more than 30% on wants then maybe you and your family need to indulge a "little" more.  If you are saving LESS than 20% then unfortunatel you are like many other American's and need to bump that up a bit.  Start with a little at a time and don't change everything all at once.  That's a sure fire way to fail at the new budget.

Personally, we were WAY low on the wants and we had money left over according to the nifty calculator that I found online.  Maybe I wasn't as truthful as I thought I was.  It's easy to forget the little things that you spend money on that you don't even realize.  The cappucino I used to get every morning, the tobacco that my hubby chews, the packs of gum that my daughter wants every time we go to the store.  I am sure that you can name a few of those too.

Personally I need to REALLY see where our money is going in order to make this work right.  If you don't know where it's going how can you put it in the right catergory.  A little work here will make  ahuge difference in what your budget "should" look like and what it "actually" looks like. 

I encourage you to spend the next month and track where your expenses are going and see if you are in the 50/30/20 ratio.  Take small steps and maybe make it a goal to be at the 50/30/20 budget by the end of the year.  That's what I am going to do.  Don't seta deadline that you can't meet.  It's better to set one that is reachable than one that is completely out of reach.  It's better to see yourself losing 10 pounds rather than 100.  Our budget should be looked at the same way.

Where does your money go?  Will you take the journey with me this year?  I look forward to hearing what you think :)