My story/ Your story

[tweet03]

So I was just wanting to share my story of why I've started couponing and hoping others will share their stories and share ideas on how to cut costs other ways. I am a stay at home mom with 2 great kids and my husband is in the military. In November of 2010 my husband was told that he was getting medically released from the military and with that comes a big pay drop (which we recieve for only 2 years after release). So our dilemma: We were posted out here almost 3 years ago and were stuck buying a house in the high market and basically had gotten to the point now where we were stuck living paycheck to paycheck. So with the up coming release we had to make a hard choice and our decision was we have to sell our house and move to another province for a fresh start because we won't be able to pay our bills if were to stay. So because of our lifes situation I felt that I had to do my part to help save money, which is what lead me to couponing and it has been a great (especially with one of my kids still in diapers). And am happy to say that after 4 months of being on the market as of today we are SOLD!!!!

[HD00141]

congrats!!!!! to the selling and thnx for the sharing ur story always nice to see how ppl ended up here

[kschott]

Thanks for sharing! Smartcanucks has been an invaluable resource for my husband and I. We are both currently studying and our only income is my modest graduate research stipend. Some months the money we save with coupons allows us to spend more on diary or other pricier foods and other months we have largely relied on what we are able to get free or very cheap (ex. Campbell's soup and Side Kicks) in addition to staples like flour, potatoes, sugar and oil. By responsibly managing our finances now we are hoping to stay debt-free while in Canada (something especially important for citizens of "developing" countries where a monthly student loan payments of $100 could easily represent 25-50% of a respectable monthly wage.) Best of luck to everyone here and keep up the great attitude!

[rewogd]

I have used coupons for many years. I used them rather differently though. I only kept coupons that I knew I would use that month. I never saved coupons and I never waited for the item to go on sale to use them. To me saving $.75 was just fine, I never though about waiting until that item was on sale to save an additional $.50 on top of my coupon. Sheepishly I'll admit that it wasn't until Extreme Couponing came on that I realized how much more I could be saving. Don't get me wrong I don't want to be like them at all and get a stockpile but I do like the idea of saving a little extra money. I decided to look into it more, found this site and joined. I love the coupon trading and possibly joining a train in the future. My goal is to save a little money, make some friends and have a little fun. I must admit, now that I have some coupons saved up I like looking at flyers and getting that little rush realizing how much more I'm saving.

[mhk]

tweet03 - moving to another province ? But good luck wherever you go, and thank your DH for being in the forces. What would we do without our brave brave forces! Take care, and congrats on the sale of your house.