January was really the first month that I committed myself to using coupons and boy has it been a journey! I've really learned a lot and I am much more sure of myself with each check out that I do. I've learned a lot about the scanning code of practice, which stores will accepted printed coupons, mail in rebates, Optimum points, HBC points the list just goes on and on. I'm very excited to share all I have learned with my readers and can't wait to continue on with this journey.
My stockpile is well on it's way, and I've been able to help out others in our family with free items or majorly reduced prices. I've gained the title of personal shopper and couponing diva from a few! But the biggest gain that I have had this month is massive savings. I didn't start using coupons to this extreme until mid January and everyone around me thought it would just be a fad and I would quickly move onto something else. After seeing this months savings of $884.81 I can proudly say that I will never stop using coupons, this is the first month in a very long time we have come out ahead and we will continue to stay ahead because of our frugal nature.
How did I do it? Well I will be the first to admit that I spent too many hours reading on smartcanuks.ca and talking to the amazing members on there! Without those ladies I truly do not think I would have had half the savings that I had. They pointed me in the right direction, posted lots of great deals and took trades from a newbie like me to get my coupon binder beaming!
I matched my coupons to sales for all of the items that we use and maximized our savings this way. You would not believe the amount of regularly used items that go on sale in rotation that you can find coupons for.
I emailed and called too many companies to even begin to mention to give thanks to and many of them sent me coupons to use towards their products. I've said it before and I'll say it over and over again it pays to compliment!
Price matching at Walmart has become one of my favorites! Not only do they give you .02 cents off the competitors prices but you save gas because your not driving all over the place! This has been a huge savings for me.
I hope to do more detailed posts on each and every one of my savings tips that I have gained along the way. I know there are many people out there who would love to have this kind of savings but they just don't know where to start or think that you have to make a career out of this. You do not have to make a career out of it, sure I spend a ton of time on it but that is because I am not working right now. This gives me an opportunity to stay at home with my kids without having a bigger financial burden on us but we can still pay off our debts, build savings and still eat healthy! Anything that you want badly enough in life can happen it just takes a lot of motivation and the determination to really go for it!
Stay tuned I will be posted in detail how to price match, use coupons most efficiently, building and maintaining a stock pile, how to get the most Shoppers Optimum points possible and how to save yourself money! There are so many ways to save money each month besides just using coupons and I will tell you how!
Happy Savings!
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