Smile Team 11: 21 Things to to be an Epic Couponer

[Giving-Small]

So far just one kitten ... are their no animal lovers out there?



Photo from flickr
The black and white border collie blue heeler is Maggie - our sweetheart.

The puppy - who is still a puppy at 6 1/2 months and 70 lbs -- is my daughters.

His name is Rocco and he's a pound puppy - german shephard and husky or akida ... First picture is 2.5 months -- 2nd is 5 months.

Ack .... it's like having another teenager to feed.

[mamajules]

does anyone know if there is a way to make it so i can get an email notification everytime someone replies to this thread? i had no idea other people posted till i came and checked, i think i may be one of the youngest people in this group im 25 (26 in june) im happy to meet all of you we have been spending about $100-$130 about every other week in groceries too which is alot my boyfriend (i call him my non hubby hehe, weve been together 6 years) is the only one with a job right now, i stay at home for my boys so we are hoping to learn new ways of saving (which is a hard thing for us to do) and cant wait to start!

also nice to "meet" you all!

[mamajules]

@giving small i love animals! unfortunatly we cannot afford a dog, my bf is allergic to cats and my landlord doesnt allow animals! cant win here!! my dad has a golden retriver named Suki i think shes about 8 months old now shes so adorable i dont know how to post pictures yet if someone can show me how i will!! also they have a cat that they rescued off the street when she was a baby named cinnamon my son calls her min min too cute! and my sister has a bunny named sniper shes so tiny and cute! since we cant have animals here i spoil my dads pets! haha

[Giving-Small]

No cats for us too - all of us have asthma and allergies. I love cats though.

It's hard to find landlords that allow pets.

I have a tip on posting photos in the Group 3 thread: SC Tip: How to Post Flyers from photos you take with your camera.

[LissaLovesCoupons]

I think it would be great also, to have an email notification for this thread, not sure how to do that though.
Darlene, I just watched the slide show, there was a lot of great advice in there, thank you for posting that. I liked your lunch box...I am using a binder for my coupons, but I agree that it can be a bit of a pain to carry around in the store. I stick it in the cart on the child seat, but sometimes worry someone will take it! I also have a stockpile..I try to put aside a little bit of my grocery budget every week just for stocking up on things that are a really great deal, and of course get free stuff where I can. So far we have a ton of canned goods, cereal and granola bars and of course laundry soap and toothpaste, other toiletries. I am curious about how you get so much ensure? My gramma loves that, I would like to get some for her.

Also, I love cats too...I just think I have enough creatures around here to clean up after!

[Giving-Small]

Great question.

When you post in a thread you are automatically "subscribed" just by posting. You won't necessarily get an email -- it'll depend on your global settings.

You probably don't want every thread to email you ... you'll be swamped.

Here's how to get an email notice when a thread that you really want to watch such as this one:

Step 1. Look for the Thread Tools link on the upper right burgundy line menu.




Step 2: The default will be: no email notification (most likely) and a folder called Subscriptions (you can add extra folders ... hold on to this idea because it'll be useful down the road when we explain some power user tips)





Step 3: Pick the type of email notification you'd like.

does anyone know if there is a way to make it so i can get an email notification everytime someone replies to this thread? i had no idea other people posted till i came and checked, i think i may be one of the youngest people in this group im 25 (26 in june) im happy to meet all of you we have been spending about $100-$130 about every other week in groceries too which is alot my boyfriend (i call him my non hubby hehe, weve been together 6 years) is the only one with a job right now, i stay at home for my boys so we are hoping to learn new ways of saving (which is a hard thing for us to do) and cant wait to start!

also nice to "meet" you all!

[tdjca]

Hello everyone . First thanks Darlene for putting all these groups together!!

My name is Tracy, I live in Calgary AB. I came up with tdjca years ago when I needed a nik for a website. Basically it is my initials and ca for Canada. Not too exciting lol.

I have couponed on and off for years. Last fall I had a month left on my mat leave and going to just one income (DH - not married yet but same dif lol) I started searching for more ways to save with my coupons. I found a website of a lady in BC giving "classes" and though I knew alot about couponing I figured if her claims were true I would give it a shot for $15. It was online and other than her telling me that LD allows stacked coupons I didn't learn anything. She did refer to SC and I started looking around here more (already had an account her but forgot about it) and this is my "coupon" home now lol. Anyone who ever asks if they need to pay to take a course to learn to coupon I always say "no way!!..just go to SC!!".

Anyway I quickly went from a folder in my purse to a stack of photo albums from the dollar store to a binder for my coupons. Now I use a different version of the binder... I have no room to set it in the buggy seat because my 18 month old sits there and is always grabbing lol so I took each category and put them in duo-tangs and they are in a book bag which I carry with me when shopping. When I need a coupon I pull out one duo-tang and can hold it out of reach of my little guy and it is easy to flip through and find what I need.

Ok I kind of sidetracked lol... I am mom to 5 kids... DS 20 (not at home), DD 18, DS 7x2 (twins) and DS 18 months. DH is a taxidermist so work is seasonal. Oh and we have a Chihuaha (sp??) who is adorable. Her name is Belle.

I do stockpile. My rule is if it will last I will stockpile up to a years worth. With DH's work and the fact that for a number of years I was a single mom (on my own with the twins from birth) and struggled to keep food on the table, I vowed that would never happen again. So like many my stockpile is my insurance policy that my family will not be in "need" again. Oh and because DH is a hunter as well we try to stock up the freezer with meat during hunting season.

Hopefully all of this made sense lol I am trying to type this as my little guy keeps climbing on me for hugs and kisses in between playing lol.

PS. I did my first dumpster "reaching" today lol. Our dumpsters have small slots to put your recyclables through so I had to turn my head sideways then reach an arm in and carefully dig through the papers and cardboard (made sure I avoided the areas that were moist...eeewwwwwwwwwwww lol) and hit the jackpot in one! Came home with 21 Smartsource from this weekends papers, a sample of Finish Quantum and $2 cpn and some Wendy's coupons. The whole time I was trying not to think of the people driving by looking at this crazy lady hanging inside the recycling bin lol

[squark]

Pets?? Petsssss?I have a zu called Davinci....... he's a modey SOB. Only 4 years old. Love him to pieces....... But will most likely be my last small dog. Wife is allergic to EVERYTHING that moves lol....... Even the dog. She can pet him but if he licks her she's done. Clariten coupons are a most lol. Later

[Trillium15]

to Trillium15 - my husband is from your neck of the woods. Beautiful area.

where exactly ippy? We're just outside of Marmora. Small town of 1400 people which grows during camping season!

[tdjca]

Darlene thank you for trusting me with co-facilitator. I look forward to getting to know everyone and helping in anyway I can. Remember there is never a stupid question and we are alll at different levels of couponing so lets all learn together, have some fun, and save some money Go team!!

[mamajules]

thanks for the tips giving small
here is a picture of my dads pets they are so cute i just love them




Suki is the dog and Cinnamon is the cat! In a earlier post i mentioned a bunny, but i cant seem to find a picture of her oh well next time!

[Trillium15]

@squark - I too have a goal to reduce my grocery budget. For the 2 of us plus the step kids every other w/d I spend $130/week. My goal is to reduce that each week by $20. I'm hoping as I learn more I can get it down lower. I am taking the cash out each week (started that this week) and using an envelope or change purse for it. Paying cash for my groceries and then whatever is left over at the end of the week goes in a jar. On the 1st of every month when our pick up truck payment is due, I'm going to add whatever's in the jar on top of the existing payment. It's due to be paid off August 2012 but I'm hoping to shave it down to Easter next year.

tdjca - our village has 1400 people and no dumpsters that I know of to dive through. Everyone gossips and I'm not sure I can bring myself to walk through town and snoop through bluebins...if I had a dog that I walked, I probably could get away with it. Might have to find out what day blue boxes are put out at my mom's in Oshawa and go for a visit the night before!!

Maybe when we get saavy enough Mamajules we can meet up in the 'shwa and do a big extreme couponing blitz one day! LOL I go out there every few weeks!

And to everyone else in the group, I am SOOO glad to have people who share the same goal and passion of couponing. My hubby thinks I'm a bit nuts (he has 8 Adidas Deodorants in his bathroom b/c with a coupon they only cost me .27) but he's thrilled when I come home bragging that my bill was 40$ less after coupons or this was free, that was free...so I know it's early...but here's today's brag...

Walmart
6 x VH Teriyaki Sauce $2.00 each - Save $2 WUB 2
Adidas Deodorant $2.27 - $2.00 coupon
St. Ives Facial Scrub Travel Size $1.00 - $1.00 coupon
Olay Body Wash 2.97
Olay Body Wash 2.97 - Save $2.00 WUB 2
2 x Hamburger Helper 1.47 (coupon on box for $3.00 off ground beef)
Total before coupons:24.15
Total after coupons incl tax 14.35

I also ended up getting a raincheck on 5 Sweet Baby ray's BBQ sauce which was on sale this week for $2. and I have coupons from the recent SmartSource for $2 so they're free (except for the taxes).

I don't think my neighbor was all that thrilled when I whipped out my binder which is a 10"x10" picture album that I slot things into but then again...SHE'S not paying MY truck loan is she! LOL.

[ippy]

@Trillium - we all start somewhere. My DH is the same, doesn't like to listen about it, but loves that I'm saving cash. He was born in Belleville and lived in Foxboro and still has family in Stirling.
@tdjca - duo tangs? do you find they work better? I have a hard time find the 4 x 6 photo protector sheets (I can only get them at Staples for over $5 for 10 - definately not part of my money saving strategy).

As for pets, we have had several cats, a dog that passed away last year -purebred cocker spaniel, cute as all get out but dumb as a box of hair - and currently we have fish (oh, and the dust bunnies can't forget those.....

[tdjca]

[QUOTE=ippy;3404684@tdjca - duo tangs? do you find they work better? I have a hard time find the 4 x 6 photo protector sheets (I can only get them at Staples for over $5 for 10 - definately not part of my money saving strategy).
[/QUOTE]

Right now I am using the paper ones but plan on switching to the plastic ones from the dollar store (I know I have a bunch packed away downstairs). I got the baseball card sleeves at the dollarstore (8/$1) and my 4x6 photo sheets I got at a thrift store. Look for old photo albums and check to see what kind of sheets are inside. I ended up with probably 40-50 sheets for maybe $3. Garage sales are starting too and you could probably find supplies for your coupon organizer that way.

I'll post a picture tonight.

[Giving-Small]

Hello everyone . First thanks Darlene for putting all these groups together!!


PS. I did my first dumpster "reaching" today lol. Our dumpsters have small slots to put your recyclables through so I had to turn my head sideways then reach an arm in and carefully dig through the papers and cardboard (made sure I avoided the areas that were moist...eeewwwwwwwwwwww lol) and hit the jackpot in one! Came home with 21 Smartsource from this weekends papers, a sample of Finish Quantum and $2 cpn and some Wendy's coupons. The whole time I was trying not to think of the people driving by looking at this crazy lady hanging inside the recycling bin lol

I'm sitting here laughing just imagining you trying to fish these out.