Team 10: 21 Things to to be an Epic Couponer

[Giving-Small]

Welcome to Team 10



Some of you may have taken a peek at the other groups so you have an idea of what's coming.

Learning as group is terrific -- it's fun to share your enthusiasm about what you find out and ask questions and swap stories.

I'm looking around for a co-facilitator. Any senior interested? PM me.


Our Group 10 Team Members are:

• NicMoon Sylvan Lake, Alberta
• banana Sunshine Coast BC
• lucy16076 Sarnia, ON
• Out_of_the_Loops Kamloops, BC
• katie333 Southwest ON
• freebie_fan Toronto ON
• Ml Gel Vancouver BC
• onlybluemomma ON
• lmwst77 Vaughn ON
• dahliagrower Victoria BC

We are all on the learning curve together so please contribute what you've found where you are - things are different regionally, from city to city, and even from store to store.

Here's what I will do for the group:

-I have volunteered to facilitate
-I'll post up show and tell photos, pictures, answers to questions, videos, slidecasts, interviews, etc. and I invite you to do so too
-I'll send out a coupon train (no board pass for conductor) -- to be explained when we talk about trains [may take a little longer than the other groups, I need to replenish my stash of coupons]


Here's what I hope you'll do and your fellow team members are expecting:

1. Please participateand share your ideas, opinions, stories, and questions. The idea is that we'll all learn together and hopefully make some coupon buddies along the way. And it's more fun.

2. Do the activities. From time to time, I'll post a question or an activity (let's make your first wish list, all related to Smart Canucks and take just a couple of minutes) etc. I'd like everyone to try to answer and share. I know that our families, friends and self care time comes first, so fit it in when you're able, but please fit it in.

3. Have fun. Feel free to discuss more than couponing. We'd do that if we could meet face to face.

4. Give me, your facilitator, lots of feedback and suggestions. Please.

Okay - let's dive in.


FAQs for Visitors

1. Can visitors (non-group members) post in this thread?
Answer is in this post.

2.Is this group full? Yes but no worries see #3

3. When would the next group start?
Last group was Fall 2011. Not planning to do anymore.

4. How do I sign up for a new group?
Just send me a message and let me know your town or city and province.

[Giving-Small]

Reserved for train in future

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[Giving-Small]

Saved for future use

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[Giving-Small]

I have posted a slidecast (slideshow with audio) that show you my coupon "binder", coupon stash, stockpile and some tips on stockpiling just to get started.

You can jump ahead to the particular slides that are of interest and the sound track will skip along accordingly.




Start the slideshow. (16 min)


Your Activities

1. Create a post and introduce yourself a bit (ie. from Kamloops, mom with 2 kids ...). Just hit "reply" on this thread and type away.
   
2. Share the story behind the Smart Canucks "name/handle" you chose
3. Tell us how you found out about couponing.
4. Do you have a pet(s) and if so tell us about them and post a pic if you like ...
5. Share your thoughts on the tour and whether you think you'll stockpile a little or a lot.

Bonus Question

Anyone have ideas for a great name for Team #10? Please post your idea(s) here and then we'll pick one.

[banana]

Hi!!! my name is AJA!! and i have three kids! 3yrs, 19months, and 3 months! I have two dogs whom I am very mad at right now and DH! I like saving money(getting a great deal!) sewing and am looking to start a cloth diaper service in my area as we dont have one! any tips would be great!

[lucy16076]

Hello all, I'm soooo new at this I was grateful that "banana" posted so I could see how to post a "thread."
I am a separated mother of a 14 & 12 year old, so I have a bit more time than some to plan & execute deals. A bit...I also work full time shift work. No complaints though as it's allowed me a bit of freedom financially & is satisfying work.
I enjoy sports, music, & deals! I stumbled onto SC a while back, put it on the back burner only to forget about it then came upon it again just recently. I love the deals, the forums, the blogs!!! It's such a great community that gives back in every way!
I look forward to "blogging" (if that's what it's called), and sharing tips, coupons, info & good conversation!
Welcome to my story from Sarnia, Ontario.

[Giving-Small]

Welcome AJA and Lucy -- great to have you posting on the Team 10 thread.

Any ideas for names?

[Ml Gel]

Hello!
My friends call me ML...from my too long hyphenated first name!! I am married, no kids yet but we have a cat! I live in Vancouver and I am very new at couponning! I started couponning not so long ago after talking with some ladies at work and watching the mind-blowing TLC show "Extreme Couponning"! It only makes sense to save up where possible and to have fun with it!

Still thinking about a name for our train! talk to you guys soon!

[NicMoon]

Hello everyone! I'm very excited to be part of this group! I started couponing because my life changed very dramatically in the last year - one year ago I was a single girl living on my own only worrying about myself. I got married to DH in July, who has full custody of his 9 year old son, and we got pregnant on our honeymoon with twins! So one year later I am a wife and mother to three wonderful children - my b/g twins are 2 1/2 months old now. Money is a lot tighter than it used to be, so I'm always looking for a deal!

I'm not very good at creative group names, but I'll try to throw out some random crazy ones: DEALiminators? Save-More Pirates? Newbie Couponers? Shelf Ravegers? Okay, thats all I've got!

NicMoon

[NicMoon]

I just watched the slideshow, and it was awesome! So informative! I'm curious to find out at what point you buy items - for example the Tide - what do you consider a great deal? I just got two 32 use containers for $4.50 each, but I think I could have done better!

[katie333]

Hi All!

I'm Kate, aka katie333. I picked that name because I was forced into using on a message board years and years ago and it stuck. So glad to be a part of this group.

I started couponing only about 2 weeks ago. Prior to that, I'd used coupons but only sparingly and only in certain situations. I've learned SO very much from this board, from the how-to to the specific deals and flyers and freebies. I can't believe it has only been 2 weeks. I was inspired by extreme couponing show and I will admit and while I'll never aspire to either that level of insanity or even savings, it did guide me along this path. I am happily married and we have no kids but 3 very spoiled cats.

I loved the tour (confess that I jumped ahead and watched it earlier), it has helped me to organize my growing pile of coupons. I don't mind the thought of having a mini stockpile, my true goal is to avoid paying full price for the things we use all the time by buying them on sale and with coupons wherever possible.

I love all of NicMoons name choices!

[Out_of_the_Loops]

Hello,

A big thank you to Darlene for helping us newbies out. I am from Kamloops BC hence my user name. I just started couponing and it started with diapers as I am a new mom on maternity leave right now. In searching around on the internet I stumbled upon Smart Canucks and now I am hooked.

I would like to build up a very modest stock pile. Just enough so that I don't run out before another good sale comes up. I can no longer stand paying full price when I know i could get it so much cheaper if I wait for the right sale. I am still learning when is the right sale as I think I have a good deal and then next week there will be an even better price and then I wished I had saved my coupons.

For me right now it is time consuming on the learning curve. I am hoping that by the time I go back to work from my mat leave I will have it down to a science. That way I can continue to save even when I am more limited on time.

In addition to my new baby boy, I have three furbabies (2 cats and a dog).

I look forward to getting to know everyone.

[freebie_fan]

Hi, I'm really excited to be apart of this group! I first started on SC while looking for free stuff hence the name (& I still love my freebies!!). I'm currently in grad school here in Toronto, working towards a MSc. I am supposed to be doing a PhD after that, eek! Thankfully I do get funding for my program, however, it isn't all that much so I have to watch my bills pretty closely. Really all that means is that I *need* to be super frugal for the next 4 years guaranteed!

I have almost always bought primarily sale items but I never really focused on coupons (& often forgot to use them before expiry when I did grab them). I've been couponing for a couple of months now & had a good giggle when you mentioned the binder in the video - that is where I am at, but I feel like I am just constantly adding new pages and its getting heavy already! What I don't like about the other methods is that I lose track of what I have when they are just in a file folder & I simply just don't have the time to type out a list of what I have to use for myself.
I did use >$30 of coupons on my shopping trip today (with no tax at RCSS today, woo!) but I am finding the most difficult part (as a couple others have mentioned already) to know what the best sale price is. I've discovered that if I go to a different neighbourhood than normal the prices can be dramatically different! I also hope that as one gets better at couponing it goes a bit faster.

My boyfriend and I foster rescued/shelter dogs and there is a pic of my current foster as my avatar pic. We love her to pieces and are hoping to find her a fabulous forever home.

As far as stockpiling goes its not much of an option for me as there is two of us plus a dog in a little one-bedroom apartment. I tend to buy 2-3 items if something is a good sale (or at least I think it is) and I have multiple coupons, otherwise I try to stick with what we need for the next week or two. I don't make it to the grocery store every week...

I like DEALiminators or Save-More Pirates from NicMoons suggestions

Looking forward to many discussions about coupon experiences and learning together!

[katie333]

I just watched the slideshow, and it was awesome! So informative! I'm curious to find out at what point you buy items - for example the Tide - what do you consider a great deal? I just got two 32 use containers for $4.50 each, but I think I could have done better!

There was a great post (in this forum section I think) about 'what would you pay?' and many seasoned members commented some very cheap prices for things. Detergent was maybe $2.00 for 32 loads? That's terribly ambitious for me at this point. I've paid $3-3.50 using coupons the last two weeks for similar size laundry loads.

I've come to realize, like Out of the Loops, that I have jumped the gun on purchases a bit. I don't have that many coupons so it's exciting to be able to save anything on something you can use.

[Out_of_the_Loops]

I am not very creative but here are my suggestions:

Tenacious Tens
Sassy Savers
Frugal Foxes