Couponing... not just for little old ladies!

I know that when I mention coupons, it may conjure up images of cute little old ladies pushing their carts through the grocery store at a snail's pace. However, couponing is definitely not just for little old ladies! What if I told you that I got everything pictured above (10 SoBe Lifewaters, Dove for Men Body Wash, Dove Shampoo and Conditioner, two Degree deodorants, two packs of Trident Layers, and a sample of Skintimate shaving cream) for a whopping 50 cents? Well it's true, and it was really easy to do! Since I started couponing earlier this year, we have not paid for any toothpaste, body wash, mouthwash, deodorant, razors or shaving cream, yet the area under our sinks are overflowing with extras of each product! These are all things that you can easily get for free with coupons, and each week I get lots of other fun things for free or next to nothing as well.

Now, you may be thinking, "Eh... coupons... not really worth my time and effort!" but let me put it into perspective for you. Let's look at the things I mentioned above that you can stop paying for if you put a little time and effort into couponing:

Toothpaste (bought 6x a year at $3.50 per tube) - $21

Body Wash (bought 6x a year at $5 a bottle) - $30

Mouthwash (bought 12x a year at $4 a bottle) - $48

Deodorant (bought 6x a year at $3 a stick) - $18

Razors (bought 12x a year at $7 a razor/cartridge) - $84

Shaving Cream (bought 6x a year at $4 a can) - $24

Grand Total: $225

That's a Lilly dress, or a lot of consignment shopping ;) Those are conservative estimates, too, and are for only one person. If you're married, you could double that and save $450 a year just by couponing and getting those items for free. Other things that I rarely, if ever, pay for include detergent, paper towels, tissues, lip gloss, and lots more! If I were to factor all of those things in and add them up, I would say that you could easily save well over $1000 a year, and there are some couponers who save way more than that. No matter where you are in life or what your income is, who couldn't use an extra grand? 

I know that when I first got into couponing, I was really worried about switching the brands that I loved. I was always a Crest girl, for example, and didn't ever branch out when going down the toothpaste aisle. With coupons, you get the opportunity to try different brands if you want, and if you don't like them you really have nothing to lose since they were free in the first place. Also, most brands put out great coupons, so we currently have a stockpile of every type of Crest and Colgate toothpaste you could think of! I'm still a Crest fan, but I'll admit that Colgate isn't too bad either! I also have more scents of body wash than you could ever imagine :) 

So are you convinced and ready to get started? Over the next couple of days, I'll give you a crash course in couponing so you can start saving. Before tomorrow's post, make sure you buy a copy of your Sunday newspaper, since that's still the best place to get coupons.

Let me leave you with this question... what would you spend an extra $1000 on?