EXTREME Couponing: Learn Slick Housewives Style!!

TLC’s,  “Extreme Couponing”  has shocked everyone with the incredible potential of coupon savings. It has also given people unrealistic expectations and doesn’t represent the majority of couponer’s.

If you want to learn to coupon and save 50% or more on your grocery bill, then I can certainly help! You will not need 60+ hours or more of your time to learn and incorporarte couponing into your life.

Time

Realistically,  I spend about 1 hour a week clipping coupons and putting together a shopping list. This is typically for shopping at 1 grocery store  and 2 drugstores. How long you spend on this depends on how many stores you shop at and how long you have been couponing. After you organize your coupons it gets faster and faster ! I made a whole section on the website on how to organize coupons.  Coupon sites like mine even match up coupons for you which saves you a ton of time! Currently we do coupon match-ups for Kroger, Target, Publix and Walmart.  We also do the drugstore match-ups for CVS, Rite Aid, and Walgreens.

How much does it really cost?

The people on the show save a ton of money, but how much did they really spend to get that savings? First of all I would like to say that time is valuable. To have results like they do on the reality show “Extreme Couponing”, you would have to coupon like it’s a full-time job! That’s not realistic to most people including me! I want time to be able to spend with my family. Second, they don’t show how much these people are spending on hundreds of inserts. Many use clipping services which do charge a fee per coupon. Lets say you went to the grocery store and got 1,000 items for $2,000 but with coupons only paid $100. If you paid 10 cents a coupon for 1,000 items that’s 100 dollars in additional expense. So really you spent $200.  Yes, that is still a great job, but it costs twice as much as what they are showing on the show! Now don’t get me wrong, I have saved over 80% in shopping trips and sometimes even made money, but it takes time and a little bit of learning. I think everyone can use coupons. It is not true that you can only get processed and junk foods using coupons. I often find coupons for healthy snacks and foods including milk, yogurt, cheese and produce!

Stockpile

Ok, having 100 boxes of cereal in a stockpile is not realistic to me! I have 5 people in my family and couldn’t go thru 100 boxes of cereal before they expired.  You will start to notice that sales come in cycles and it’s good to stockpile at that time. I usually buy 5 papers a week because there are 5 family members in my house. If I find that there is a good coupon in a paper of a product we love I might adjust that number. You can also go online and order coupons from places like the Wiz Kidz. Once you get a good stockpile going, you can cut down on the number of papers you buy and be more selective.

Be Realistic

Please don’t expect to save 95% on your very first coupon shopping trip. Most extreme coupon experts did not get to that level overnight. You can certainly learn the tricks of couponing in a year. However, considering sale cycles average every 12 weeks and some coupons are released only around certain seasons, it takes at least a year to create a stockpile diverse enough that you only need to buy when it’s FREE or close to FREE.

We are here to help!!  I suggest reading some of the posts in my Couponing 101 before you begin. It covers topics like Coupon Lingo, and How to Organize your coupons.  Be sure to subscribe to my FREE email updates to get couponing tips, deals, and freebies sent to your inbox! You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter for up to the minute deals!!

About Me: Hi, I’m Bianca! I am a Christian, Army wife, Mother of 3 awesome kids! All that I do and everything that I am blessed with is because of my awesome God! I am from the peach state of Georgia. I have not always been a frugal person, but when I learned that I could bring my grocery budget from $250/week to $50/week, I was addicted! We now are able to use higher quality products than ever before and for really next to nothing. It is very possible to be frugal and live abundantly without being cheap. I have learned a lot from my sister who still finds the most amazing deals and shares them with me! Our family is on a journey to become debt FREE and I am here to pass on what I learn to you! Come and join us over at http://www.slickhousewives.com

“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” ~Matthew 6:33

 

EXTREME Couponing: Learn Slick Housewives Style!! was last modified: September 12th, 2017 by Bianca

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About Bianca

Hi! I'm Bianca. All that I do and everything that I am blessed with is because of my awesome God! It is very possible to be frugal and live abundantly without being cheap. Our family is on a journey to become debt FREE and I am here to pass on what I learn.
Connect with Bianca on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Comments

  1. Thank you for this realistic and helpful way to get into couponing. I am new to it and am overjoyed to save $10 to $15 out of a couple hundred. It is a start and I will definitely be reading more of your tips.
  2. Because of you and one other very honest and practical site I saved 63% at Kroger today. That's the most I've ever saved and was so proud of myself. It's truly unfortunate that this show is so miss leading and that so many stores are changing their coupon policies because of the show. For example no more ecoupons and paper coupons combos. It's just made it tougher for the common couponer. I just want you to know how much I appreciate the time and effort you put into this website and your facebook page. Without you I wouldn't have learned so much and saved so much. Much appreciation, Kim..TN
    • Thanks Kim! I was reading today that Kroger might be changing their coupon policy yet again to accept paper coupons with e-coupons! Here's hoping! I love being able to help people especially knowing, you can take what you learned and help others!!! Bianca
  3. I watch the show as well and I there is no way that I can even come to close to what they are doing on the show, mostly because I do not have a store around me that will double and coupons and the coupons that come out in my flyers say "one coupon per purchase" or something very similar. I did save $40 in my last shopping trip to the store but I felt like all I got was junk food and drinks. What am I doing wrong?? I am printing, clipping and e-couponing!! any tips?
  4. I just want to start off by saying I am new here, but after spending ridiculous amounts of time researching different sites I am sad i didn't come across this one sooner. What a wonderful, well organized, straight forward, and helpful site you have compiled. I cannot imagine how much work it must have taken to get your site so awesome, but I do know that I appreciate it greatly!!! Thank you!
    • Hey Shawna! Welcome! I'm so glad that you found us! We are a fairly new website and I'm growing very fast! Make sure you follow us on facebook and twitter & don't feel shy to ask questions!! The best way to get your questions answered fairly quickly is on facebook because I check it throughout the day! Bianca
  5. I am so glad that I found you guys through Facebook! I am totally up for the challenge of saving & couponing! I am so excited to save money while I attend college and doctorate school. Saving money means my family can live more comfortably! Seriously - I am spreading the word about your site - totally love it and how practical it is!
  6. Thanks for the great info! I'm still learning to coupon! It's hard for me since I eat mostly organic! But, I do what I can! Thanks so much!

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