Coupons and Giving...

What is your coupon policy?  To use or not use?


I go back and forth (usually dependant on if we are eating organic or not!)  but for right now I am once again entering the world of couponing.

 I do hope to get things at a good price and save us some money!

 I have joined a face book group called CRAZY COUPONERS and they have some awesome finds-- I am amazed when they post a picture and have ALL THIS stuff that they spent like 20 dollars on!

My pictures are NOT quite that good!

This was last weeks shopping trip.  We were out, AND I mean completely out of shampoo, deodorant, razors, body wash etc and needed things like batteries... so a lot of my budget this two weeks went to just stocking up on those needed items.  It meant I had less to spend on groceries!  I ended up going over my budget for the two weeks by about 23 dollars BUT I got a lot of stuff for my money!  These pictures do not include 3 2 liters and two additional girlie razor refills (6.99 value), there are 6 packs of double A's and a lot of shampoo, body soap, deodorant and razor supplies, including a NEW guy razor and the replacement blades which were over 10.00 each.    The nail polish was just a really good buy and the girls wanted new polish!

My total was 240.10 and I paid 144.10

Savings 95.00

Plus I have 5 dollars off anything coupons for next time and a 10 dollar gas card.

NOT. BAD. FOR. A. NEWBIE.



I do not like buying things I don't use! That really annoys me. I also don't like buying brand name simply because I have a coupon, but I do like a good deal so I will do my best to take advantage of the good deals and leave the rest alone!


Interesting coupon facts:

Target Coupon Policy  ---Did you know you can use a Target coupon WITH a manufacture coupon? 

You can also do this at Walgreen's.

At CVS on a Buy One Get One situation you can use a manufacture coupon on BOTH items, but at Target you can only use ONE manufacture coupon.

So many things to learn!  Makes my head explode.

At Kroger's you are supposed to be able to use 3 of the same coupon on three different items (no matter how many you buy you can only use 3 coupons) but at Target you can use up to 5!



What is your Giving policy?  Where, When and How Much???


I like to give and I want to give!  So I just need to purpose to make that happen!

My goal besides lowering my monthly grocery bill with couponing  is to USE a portion of that saved bill to buy things for other people with. 

For instance if I can get an awesome deal on diapers or deodorant or peanut butter... I will buy extra (only with my extra funds) and give that away to whomever.

I am starting with 15 dollars of my bi- monthly grocery allowance... if I start saving a LOT than I am hoping for the number to go up drastically, but I am wanting to really knock my budget down by a lot as the main priority right now-- as I get the hang of this couponing thing!

We are also going to hopefully save a portion of the savings to buy a goat or chicken or something around Thanksgiving through Heifer International.  But I want the kids to realize okay we aren't going to buy "x" this month so that we will have enough saved to GIVE in October. 

I would also like to for each of the kids to sponsor a child through Compassion International starting in January. 

My third goal is to of course give more of our time...I talk about this but yet it doesn't seem to happen much!  I am co-leading the home schooling group this year and I would like to coordinate events with SERVING as the focus!