This is a guest post from Esther Julee of Esther Julee Photography. Esther is amazing photographer specializing in Wedding and Lifestyle Photography and an Avid Couponer. You can find Esther on her blog Esther Julee
Ever since I was young, I thought couponing was for stingy, cheap people. I’m not sure why coupons carried that sort of stigma for me, but it did. I remember being embarrassed when one of my boyfriends pulled out a coupon to pay for dinner and thought he was being a cheap date.
I didn’t realize until my late twenties that couponing was actually the smart way to shop and dine. You shop smart by saving on groceries and household items so you can spend more on what you care about – like travel, and at the time I started couponing, I was saving up for a nicer wedding. Now, I never let myself buy anything at the grocery store for full price, unless I know it never goes on sale.
Here are a few tips on how I got started off:
-Change the way you shop. Stock up on items when they are on sale + when you can use a coupon. (There are many resources like Southern Savers, I Heart Publix, The Krazy Coupon Lady and The Coupon Diva) that match up coupons with sales)
-Everything takes practice, so don’t get discouraged if you make mistakes in the beginning. I made many, many mistakes when I started off that resulted in lots of returned items.
-Start off with one store and build on another from there. It’s too overwhelming to learn all the different store policies all at once.
Soon enough you will be saving at least 50% on all your groceries and household supplies!
Andrea is the Chief Chick of Smart Money Chicks. After filing BK twice (once because she panicked, second time because the pro messed the first time up), she realized that it all could have been avoided if she understood more about how her Finances worked and the options available. At that point, she wanted to help as many as she could never make the same mistakes again. Our Promise is that all the content you read on here is created or edited by Andrea