Introducing myself

[kimcool]

Hi,

About me:
I'm Kimberly, Live in SE Calgary. New to couponing, sort of. I'm at home with my 7 month old right now. Unlikely to return to full time work (if possible) so decided I had to find a way to reduce spending asap. I say "sort of" new above because in the 80's my mom was a super "refunder". She used to get big shopping trips $400-$600 worth of grocery items for free as well as contests and lots of refunds in the mail. Looking back I am quite proud of her. It was fun, especially as a kid. I remember watching tv on weekends and drawing out UPC codes by hand lol. Anyway, somewhere along the line it stopped and I also lost my mom a few years ago. So I joined this site to get acquainted with coupons again.

I am so impressed with all that you guys are doing. It does take a lot of work and good organization! I'm hoping it gets easier in time!

Are there any Calgary meetings? I think it would be cool to go to a monthly meeting where I could trade coupons. Like right now, I'd love a bunch of those old el paso coupons, by the time i get any in the mail, the sale will be over. I'm having trouble getting a trade list and wish list together with so few uniterrupted typing minutes with the baby Even this message has been accomplished over about 5 stops and starts! It seems like a daunting task to hold auctions for coupons.
About my goals etc:
In general I am looking more for food coupons (brick cheese, lactaid and reg. milk, shell eggs, cereal (not special K), quaker, baking goods, baby food, and pampers, possibly huggies. Knorr, Campbells and Old el paso also Tide and bounce (preferably Tide free "he" and bounce free) for example. Not sure if I'll end up using formula or not. baby hasn't taken to it. I gave a way a bunch of $5 coupons before i got into this but am starting to save them again.

I have been trying to pick up coupons for personal care, formula, and pet foods etc for trade. I also don't like yogurt and only about half the cereals and processed foods available so as I accumulate those coupons they will be for trade too.

I inherited (literally inherited from my mother) a small stack of stamps. They are older - not the permanent kind - but have a dollar value on each. I would be willing to use some of them for trade. I'd rather trade coupons if possible but I see that stamps can be kind of like cash around here.

Well that's a small introduction. Like I said a newbie and admittedly lots to learn. Looking forward to getting to know you and the site. Still eagerly awaiting my new coupon purse from etsy too....

k.

[monkeyincowtown]

Hi Kimberly
Welcome to SC hun! We do most of our local coupon and deal chatting on this thread here:
http://forum.smartcanucks.ca/74079-c...ads-up-canada/

We do meet up in person for swap meets, but its rather sporadic. Sometimes its twice a month and sometimes we don't have one for 3 months. Most of us have little ones as well and usually end up bringing them with us
There is no set day that we meet, but usually someone will suggest a meet in the coupon hunters thread and then anyone else who is interested in meeting up will respond. Usually takes a week or 2 to see how many people are interested and then decide on a where and when.
If you are interested in doing mail out trades across Canada, you don't have to go the auction route. you can just PM someone an offer (I'll trade you these coupons for those coupons) and they will usually respond to let you know if they are interested or not. I've done lots of trades this way and so far, never been burned. the whole auction thing is a newer thing that's popped up recently and i guess its to get the most bang for your buck so to say. Personally i don't have the time to do that either! If you have any questions at all please feel free to PM me and i will do my best to respond quickly. I have a 2 year old and a one year old so some days are better than others looking forward to seeing you in the calgary coupon hunters thread

[tdjca]

Welcome Kim! I'm fairly new here as well. Joined awhile ago but actually started using the site a couple months ago. I'm sure you are really going to enjoy it and probably get hooked like most of us lol. I just got back into couponing a few months ago and found out about LD stacking in Sept. Wow does it make a difference!!

I'm a stay-at-home mom as well and use couponing to stretch the monthly budget. I've got a 14 month old and twin 7 yr old boys so completely understand how trying to get through posting or organizing coupons, shopping lists etc is all start and stop lol. I'm also looking forward to some coupon swap/get togethers and meeting other couponers in Calgary.

[kimcool]

I saw a friend of mine today and mentioned my new hobby and she said she just joined this site today herself! I suggested perhaps we have a swap meeting at her house.... I'll keep you posted. She's an all aroun dawesome person too.... yes, son was sick and hubby home sick and volunteer responsibilities have kept me from keeping up on the site this week.

Thank you so much for the welcome too. I'm glad to be here!

k.