Coupon Crazy

I have found that over the past week I have been thinking in status updates and blogger entries. It is weird for sure, but if I had enough time I'd just sit down and post it. But life doesn't stop for deep thoughts.

I am relearning things about coupons and think I may share the Coupon Craziness here. You see, I love a bargain (a concept my 4 yr old asked me to explain). But we are watching a pennies as close or maybe even closer than ever right now, so I even have to beware of the Coupon Frenzy. Bloom just had triple coupons (still going on through Tuesday although I dare not set foot in the store again!) This is when I really noticed Coupon Craziness and was able to save myself to some degree. I scoured through all my coupons that were at least .50 up to .75 (cause lets face it...there are no .99 cent coupons). And then I went to the store...twice. I got some great deals and saved nearly 75%. What I discovered was this...even though I talked myself out of lots of things, I still bought things that I didn't really need. Will I use them? Sure, but do I NEED them...No.

Also, I still overpaid on some things even with the triple coupons. Let me explain. Lets take for example that I bought Soft Soap body wash. I usually just use a bar of soap. Now I think it was around $4 originally and I got $2.25 off. So that's more than half off. But I could have bought 3 bars of soap for around the same price...so which is better? Truthfully, when done right I could have done a drugstore deal that would have made it basically free...eventually.

And lets talk about basically free. The drugstore deals...they can be incredible! And you really can get things for pennies on the dollar...eventually. You see these items involve coupons AND rebate or Register Rewards. So you are fronting most of the money...and then you get rewarded. Now if you have the money to front...this is the way to go. Just don't forget to use those reward dollars before they expire. Or don't forget to send in for you Rebates! Then you get to wait for the rebate before it feels like you actually did a good thing as far as bargains go. It's a little confusing and a bit of a hassle if you ask me, but I think if I can save enough cash from my initial couponing (and not go overboard just cause I have a coupon for the item) I may use that money to start the drugstore ball rolling.

Once you front the money for enough items (that you need and that will produce a number of rewards) then you can use the rewards to buy the new items that will then produce new rewards...you see how this could be a great never ending cycle. Still I'm not sure I'm ready for this level of thriftiness yet.

Then there is the issue of prices. Well, so Publix has a store coupon for $3 off diapers and I have a manufacturers coupon for another $1 off. So I could get the diapers for $4 off...their price. You see. it's still not as good a deal as if I went to Aldi and bought their diapers which work fine at this stage in the baby game. So If I went overboard on Couponing I'd think...well I got this name brand for a great deal! But I don't NEED that brand...and thus I would be overspending.

I think to make the coupon craze better I'm going to sort through my coupons and order them from needs to would love to have at the right price and throw out the rest that I truly never should buy. Maybe not throw out, but separate into a totally different box...only to be used if it ends up being free.

So much to keep up with. I think that's why I gave this up a while ago. Trading time for money...which is what you do I guess if all you have is time!