Every now and again I like to write an article to keep everyone on track for frugal living. I just received a heart warming e-mail from reader Jill that “for the 1st time in my life, I’m living below my means.” I have to say that really hit home with me. I know we have a wide range of readers on this blog – Some couponing out of dire need and some couponing to have some extra money and some couponing for a cause. Why are you couponing? Always keeping the goal in your minds eye is very important and will help to keep you on track. Here are some simple rules of the road;
1) If its FREE or you’ll get overage on an item then BUY IT! (example the freebies @ Target this week on the Up & Up brands and the fly swatters @ Walmart)
2) Don’t go out of your way for a deal. Make sure you’ll be doing your shopping on your way to or from work, school or appointments etc. Try to avoid making a special trip out just to go shopping – gas is too expensive to waste.
3) Use a separate e-mail when signing up for all of your free samples, newsletters, freebies etc. You won’t want to mix up couponing with your person e-mail.
4) Make use of rebates. Think of rebates on an annual or semi annual basis – file for rebates every chance you get. You’ll find “rebates” under the categories in the right side bar. Its a good way to get a little bit of money back each month that can add up to a nice sum at the end of the year! (don’t forget about Single Check rebates @ Rite Aid too)
Please keep the e-mails and comments flowing. We really like to keep our site personal and hear from everyone.
Thank you so much for this website! I am a mom with a husband, 5 kids, 2 brother-in-laws, 1 mother-in-law, 3 dogs, 3 cats, 1 bird, and chickens to feed and supply needs for on 1 paycheck. My husband works so that I can be a stay-at-home mom to my latest set of twins. I enjoy being home, but miss the extra pay. I have attempted couponing before., but have not quite gotten the hang of it, lost or forgotten the coupons when shopping, or any other number of things have gone wrong and I have given up. I am once again trying to coupon. We need the extra money just to be able to keep up with the bills. Through your website and numerous others I have found a lot of information and have learned so much more than I ever have when it comes to coupons. I even got my husband into using coupons on certain things!
I just wanted to say thank you for all the time and effort you put into keeping up this website and letting everyone know about new deals that are coming up!
Laura – thank you so much for that compliment. We really apprecite it! Please share Family Frugal Fun with your friends! You can click on “Spread the Word” on the top left of our Facebook page and tell your other faceook friends about us. Thanks again and we wish you well!
p.s. Beth (my best friend since age 12 adn blogging partner on this blog) has twins too!
Quick Question – I have a $5 RR to use by today. It says compliments of P&G (I bought the Gilette ProGlide Razor last week). I know I can use the RR on my purchase of Gilette Body Wash….question is….Will my $3 RR print out from the Gilette Body Wash deal since it is also a P&G product? Thanks so much. Walgreens is very difficult to understand sometimes 🙂
Hi Victoria! Rule of thumb (not 100% perfect) is that as long as you are buying a different item, you can use a previous RR and a new RR will still generate. Remember that you can only use 1 RR or coupon per item so think before you go in if you’ll need a “filler.”
And thank you so much….this website has taught me so much about couponing….I learn something new every day 🙂
You were right!!!! I used the RR on a different P&G Product and it printed out my new RR. Very excited. Still working on figuring out the filler item thing…I understand you can’t have more coupons/RR vs. actual products but i always seem to have to get one more thing while at the register to make something work. Thanks for your advice & help 🙂