How do you shop almost every day, work fulltime/care for your kids?!!!!

[leopakes]

I am sooooooooo jealous!!!

I see so many of you posting that you saw coupons and got great deals almost every day, how do you do it??????

Between our kids, the house and working fulltime there is NO way I can get out to any freakin' store everyday even for a few minutes!!!



How do you do it?

[ex0ticb3lla]

The only thing I can suggest is that maybe they don't work fulltime. That's the only thing I can think of.

I'm in the same boat as you, at the end of the day the last thing I want to be doing is arguing with cashiers over coupons.

[AmberLab]

I'm a SAHM, and for all the "free" time we supposedly have, honestly, even I don't get to the stores everyday. Thursday night is grocery night, Saturday morning is anything else. Husbands and toddlers don't like to shop. (Hubby has to drive me and the kid doesn't have a choice but to come along.) So I have to plan like heck for those few hours I do get to shop.

[blueegg]

I agree that this couponing thing takes time. I have been curious as to who works full time and who doesn't too. I notice a lot people are on maternity leave . . . I am on sick leave so I do it when I feel well enough and it helps me feel more productive than just watching t.v.! Since I can't drive right now I sometimes have a hard time getting to the stores so I got my collection of coupons up by shopping at Shoppers Drug Mart on the bonus days and then trading points for coupons. The Coupon List has a search option so you can search through peoples collections for the coupons you want and when you find them you'll probably also find that almost anyone will take SDM pts. Stock up on the ones you use regularly.

Then if you don't have time to sit down with all the flyers you can just check out Arch Dandy and CouponLady's posts b/c they post all the really good flyer deals so you can plan your shopping trip.

[blueegg]

Ha! Just realized that you have traded a lot more than me and have been a memeber since 2007 - aren't I just a helpful Betty!?

[Patty Smyth]

I am at home caring for my mom with Alzheimers and my dad, both 84 and the 4 year old and 13 year old. Pretty crowded now that school is out. LOL I rarely get out shopping during the day. I go out on specific nights. Tuesdays usually while my son is at his swimming lessons I run around for that 1 1/2 hours and do 3 or 4 stores mostly looking for coupons. I could be on one of those grocery shows where you have 3 minutes to fill your cart. LOL Wednesdays Walmart specials start here in Mtl. so if there is anything I run there. Most big stores are a 5 minute drive from me so I'm lucky. It's not easy but I will say that planning with the flyers and using SC has helped tremendously. I don't go anywhere without my list or coupons and I usually stick to it unless there is an instore special. I am also happy to say I have almost completely eliminated Costco and those $300-$400 shopping trips there.

No matter what your situation, it's not easy.

[EvilTofu]

Why would you want to shop everyday anyway??? I do my research here on S.C. once a week so that I can finish all my shopping in 3 hours on Saturday morning.I use about 30 minutes a week to do coupons and flyer.

The best time saver for me is to declutter. Less stuff > less cleaning > more time.

Another tip is to make everything automatic. Auto payment, direct deposit and epost are big help.

You also need to know if some work is worth outsourcing. e.g. if you make about $25 an hour and it take you 8 hours to do your taxes, it would make sense to pay someone $50 to do it. You CAN buy time, sort of.

If you make $25 an hour, it also doesn't make sense to spend hours to do coupons just to save $5 a week. You will have to see how much saving is really worth against the value of your time.

If you need more tips on time management and simplified living. Try reading "The 4-hr work week". I also love "The Unclutterer" blog.

[blueegg]

Where is the 4-hr work week blog?

[AmberLab]

Why would you want to shop everyday anyway???

Some people do it for fun or to snag early clearance deals.

[freebiehunter]

I am a SAHM, but I would waste alot of gas and time if I shopped every day. I think the trick is to hit a few places when you're already out **and move fast**. Last night I dropped my daughter at dance and decided to check Canadian Tire for razors, because I have a million razor coupons - got lucky and hit Fusion for $5.19 and Venus for $5 as well. Almost cleaned them out and flew back to pick up my daughter on time!

If I worked, then I guess I'd try to hit somewhere close on my lunch hour and maybe stop on the way home for a quick run through somewhere.

[mdutka]

i am on mat leave right now and still have very little time for shopping. usually i use shopping as my "me time" so i do that instead of going for coffee with friends etc. and i try to shop late after the kids are in bed so i might go at 9.30 or 10 at night (wm, sdm and rcss still open ) fortunatly in mississauga these kinds of stores are usually grouped together so you can hit a few stores in a short amount of time.

[terryberry]

I work fulltime but have no kids at home. On my way to and from work I drive by: Sobey's, Zellers, Save-on-Foods,Safeway, London Drugs and Shoppers. Superstore is about 5 minutes out of the way so I am very lucky. I check for coupons about once a week. I get all my flyers Friday and Saturday, make my list, gather my coupons and do the whole loop in 1-2 hours depending on the sales.

[Lilyana'sMommy]

During the time I was out on leave from work til I had my little one it was easier to go out but now that I have a 6 month old it's too much work to pack up everything I need and then have to put her in the carseat and then take her back out numerous times a day so I try to limit going out to just a couple of afternoons during the week before we pick up her daddy from work. Plus distance and gas are another two things that limit my shopping time as most stores are located on the other side of town from me granted we do have a superstore, sobeys, dollarstore and zellers close but they are smaller than the ones out east and I vary rarely go to them.

I know it probably seems like most of the ppl on here go coupon hunting or shopping everyday but I think probably there are only a few that actually go out each day. I find I've really started planning out trips so that I don't waste time bc my dd doesn't like shopping, lol just like her daddy. Geez we went to pick up a few things at Superstore last week and he was practically running through the store, lol.

[Litesandsirens911]

I work 2 jobs part time to equal full time hours...I have 4 kids (+ 5 pets) at home between 8-15, I do daycare for my sisters twins on occasion, and I barely have alone time with my husband because he is a shift worker..... I work days and he works nights, 13 hour shifts...I only shop once a week or sometimes twice if I am not organized (for groceries that is, as I HATE SHOPPING & SHOPPING MALLS).
I make my grocery list on friday night and will shop usually Sundays.If there is something I need but isn't on sale, I will wait until couponlady or Arch_Dandy post for the following week..if it's still not on sale, either I won't buy it, or I will go back and get it whereever it is cheapest.
I usually pricematch everything at WM Supercenter.
If I read about awesome deals on here, I will make an extra trip out somewhere with my coupons to get stuff for almost free or free.

I envy people sometimes like Jojo's N Kelowna, MiniV, Patty, or Redmouse who get amazing deals, but honestly sometimes I just can't bring myself to drive to another town (I live in a really small town with no grocery stores) to go shopping.

[Justine]

Even sitting around the house all day long, without a job, I still wouldn't want to shop everyday. It isn't as fun as it sounds, crappy cashiers, people pushing you in the store, crowds. And you gotta spend money even if you are using 100+ coupons every time you do go out.