Couponing Diva Victory

Summer is here, and now, I can get back to one of my favorite things: couponing. I love couponing. It saves me money, and I get to purchase the products I need for a low price.

Well, I went on a couponing mission on Saturday at our local Dollar General store. I used my $5.00 off of $25.00. I also uploaded the store coupons on the website. And, I used coupons from my local newspaper.  I spent $57.00 on items that should have cost me about $80.00. I had a savings of 22%. This was awesome, but in all honesty, I wanted to have a savings of about 50%. Well, I didn’t make it on this particular trip, but when I looked at my saving for the last 30 days (on the store website), I had an overall savings of 88%. Can you say, “Awesome!”?

To add icing to the cake, on my store receipt, I got another opportunity to save more money. They offered a coupon for $3.00 off of $15.00 for completing a survey about the store. I did the survey and got the coupon.

When I did couponing more regularly, I always put about $20.00 back and purchased one particular item. My goal for the month of July is to store up on my favorite toothpaste. So, I will be actively looking for toothpaste coupons. I had 5 years’ worth of toothpaste. I am just now running out, and I want to store back up. I also have plans to load up on laundry detergent and shower gel.

How Couponing Helped Me Achieve a Lifelong Dream

 

One of my photography clients

 

I first became turned on to couponing after watching “Extreme Couponing” on TLC. It opened my eyes to the wonderful things that I could do with coupons. After watching only one show, I was hooked. I became fascinated by couponing and the things that it could do for me.  I began couponing two years ago, and I can’t imagine life without coupons. Couponing not only helped me to save hundreds of dollars on groceries and other items, but it also helped me to achieve a lifelong dream and to start my own business.

I wanted to be a writer all my life. Although I had won a few writing contests, I did not know how to make my dream a reality. It was through my hunt for more knowledge on how to successfully use my coupons that I discovered how to become a published writer. While reading article on The KrazyCouponLady, I discovered an article that explained how to publish articles for online sites like Yahoo Voices and Helium Network. I was intrigued by the article, and I decided to give online writing a try. The first site that I tried was Helium. It was there that I learned how to write online articles. My next stop was Yahoo Voices. Now, two years later, I am a content writer for two online sites and the host of four blogs.

Not only did I want to become a published writer, but I have always had a passion for photography. I loved taking pictures, and I worked hard to give those pictures a polished, professional look. Even though I worked miracles with my camera, I couldn’t capture some of the more difficult shots that only a more expensive camera could. I wanted to start a photography business, but I knew I would need to upgrade my camera. The problem was I need the money to purchase the better camera.

This is where couponing came in again. I sat down and figured out how much money I would need to save in order to purchase a new camera. Through couponing and careful budgeting, I was able to save enough money to purchase the camera I needed. Thanks to couponing, I was able to start my own photography business.

My love for couponing has helped me achieve two of my lifelong dreams. It helped me become a published writer and the owner of my own photography business.