Today Nancy took her first trip with binder in tow and coupons. She told us on Facebook she was headed out and we wished her good luck.
Then, I kept thinking about her.
Do you remember the first time you went shopping on a big planned trip with coupons? I sure do, I was freaked out! Would they take my coupons? What if the store didn’t actually take coupons at all, and I looked like a big idiot. What if I had all this stuff at the register and none of the coupons scanned and I used all the coupons on the wrong products because I didn’t get it, and the cashier threw them back at me and my total was $100 more then it should have been.
But, it turned out O.K. and once in the store I actually found a few more deals then I had planned on and even had coupons for those. I went home having saved $26 and I was so proud of myself. It felt really good.
Nancy saved over $80 tonight. That is really cool. She put all the work into getting everything ready and it paid off, and the more she does it, the easier it will get.
This is the really cute part, that changes everything (IMO) for Nancy!
This is Nancy’s husband, AKA the gopher (go fer this), we saw another lady with her binder in Walmart also. I am proud of Nancy for this.
I can’t stop reading that. What a great guy! It seriously keeps choking me up and my computer screen is all fuzzy.
Sometimes we just need a little support. The best support we can get if from a spouse, but even if we have a good friend, sister, or neighbor it makes all the difference. Even if Jeff is the gopher, most husbands end up that way, just his loving support of her will give her the encouragement to keep going.
I just want to thank each one of you who comes here for being so supportive of each other and helping answer questions on Facebook and in the comments, I appreciate it so much!
Part comedian, part Dad, part athlete. He will boss around your children while they play ball.
Just as angelic as she looks, this girl could easily raise a Village by herself, and all the children would grow up to be President.
Self proclaimed, she would be a webkinz dog. Because, "they're cute, and puppies are too. And they're sweet and they always get along with other puppies."
This mini-Martha Stewart can handle ANY craft you send her way. She isn't all bows and rainbows, she's got karate kid moves!
Not "Pick-Me-Up" like caffeine, she wants you to pick her up! AND NOW!
Anything that can be destroyed WILL be destroyed!
Practically Perfect in Every Way for now! Nicknamed "The Panda" she is rolly polly and lives by the motto, "the little one, is KING!"
The resident Labradoodle, Miller got his name because Mom won and got to name the baby! Need something chewed up? He'll take care of it. Especially if it's expensive..
i totally understand that need for support by a spouse…one person made a comment towards me saying “extreme couponing was just organized hoarding.” i started feeling a little down abt my new obsession and told my husband that probably everyone looked at me that way…as a hoarder. he looked at me and said”i poke fun of you, but in a loving way. this couponing thing you do is one of the best things you have done for our family and im glad you enjoy helping me out!” i felt so much better after that! i dont bring in income but i help him by keeping our house stocked full of things we need for pennies and he appreciates me for it!
The last time I overheard someone make a snide comment about couponing = hoarding, I just gave her the sweetest smile and followed up with a perfectly straigt face and said “Well, don’t come running to me when the Zombies come!” The look on her face priceless. I guess if they are going to think I am a nutcase at Ican a little fun with it!
I love this post! I am also blessed with a supportive husband and we go together to do deals and a lot of nights he gets excited about a deal and will go out for me. He is very proud of me and it keeps me going and motivated to put in all the hard work it takes!
That is so sweet! It’s a lot more fun when our family is supportive of our couponing!
Well said. Loved this Tiffany! 🙂
lol – My hubby and I have developed this game – I’ll come home with bags of things, and then line them up on the kitchen table, to admire my booty. Then, I’ll drag my husband into the kitchen, begging “Guess how much I spent! Come on, Guess!” I’ll tell him and he’ll roll his eyes at me. Then I say, “”You want me to stop?” which stops him short, as he says, “NO!” 🙂
I do the same thing with my husband! I like to leave the stuff on the counter for the evening, I get all excited whenever I pass by it!
I’m glad to see I’m not the only one who does that – lay out the booty. What my hubby now loves to do is guess the amount so low that it ruins my big “Ta-dah.” He gets a kick out of ruffling my feathers.
OMG.. I feel the same way.. and my husband says the exact same thing as Monica’s husband. He’s wonderful! His family made some mean comments about my “stash” and my new hobby everytime something negative comes up in the media about couponing esp EC. It’s really hurtful. I’m just trying to help us get through these tough times. My husband works really hard at work. We have 3 kids and money is always tight so I try to save whereever and whenever we can.
Have you given any more thought to having a binder making coupon class? With school aboutt to start, I am going to go and look for the binder you use. I remember from the other coupon class you said where you bought it but now I can’t remember.
Jill, wal-mart has a ton of them right now! they have the case it zippered binder (the single binder and the double one as well!), and they run from $10-$15….that is where I got mine. They also have the dividers and baseball card holders. I have so many coupons to put in my binder right now…lol…it’s going to take me a while to do it…
Thanks! I am going to go get one!
aww my husband is the same way! we’ve made it a “thing” to go every sunday morning to cvs and walgreens. he supports me fully and it definitely helps!!!!
Hopefully my husband will hop on board. I am just really starting out and I got me a binder. He saw me working on it the other day. He is a bit worried that I am going to be buying stuff just because I have a coupon and spending more money than I need to. I am happy for all the supportive husbands out there.
Just he wait, Stephanie, until you come home with his favorite snacks or something he uses and you tell him you paid less than $1 for it all (or free) he’ll get it then 🙂
I totally agree. My husband thought I was loony until I brought home his favorite snacks!! Now he wants me to go shop more often . . . 🙂
I think that’s how it always works. My husband was SO skeptical and was worried I was spending more than I normally would to save. Now he see’s our few month stock pile and is entirely supportive of the idea.
Last I brought home my first totally free purchase. What a great feeling!! My husband is so sweet and supporting for me. He wants to shop with me but……girls, we know how long the attention span can be. I know his limitations. He will support me from the sidelines. Hehehe. This is what I consider my girl time out with friends
My family and my husbands family all think i am crazy and make fun of me for couponing. BUT….who do they come to when they need to borrow money or want something I have gotten for free or very cheap because they have wasted their own hard earned money! Don’t let it get you down ladies! We work REALLY hard to get those deals and I am in AWE of all of you!
I’m excited about my money saving! There are too many things we have no control over – We have control of our spending on what our family needs! Good Job Ladies! I need a shoppong buddy in Conroe!
I love it! It really does feel good to know you have someone supporting how hard you work, because it IS hard.
My husband and I work together, and on my day off I had forgot my binder so I had him run it out to my car. He went to tell the girls in my area how proud he was of me and so forth. Next day I came in and was told, “You have the greatest husband. As soon as he left we all started going on and on how lucky you are to have someone so supportive.” I then started to tear up.
ALL OVER COUPONING! hahah
My husband didn’t really care either way when I started and couldn’t understand why I didn’t just buy generic. It took a few times of him seeing that the name brand alot of the time is cheaper after the sale price and coupons. Also, I think he got on board more than anything because when we’re shopping older men will stop and tell him how lucky he is to have a “trained” wife, lol, or just that he has ‘a good wife, saving money like that’. I prefer the latter.
I am on board with anonymous. I don’t do as well as free, but am saving lots of $$ with my shopping trips. My family makes fun of me and I just tell them I’m the one with the teenage boy that can eat & eat. My cousin’s boyfriend says I just need a gas tank and can have my own mini mart(kiddingly). If I can save my family $$ then so be it. I am a single mom living on child support and saving from when I was working. So to make my savings stretch further is awesome to me =)
I have felt the same. My husband is super great and very supportive. He takes me to Walgreens and CVS every Sunday before church. And hs is encourages me especially after coming home from shopping trips and I have had people mad at me behind me and the cashiers are putting me through the ringer as if I’m trying to rip the store off. Those days I’m super greatful of him and his encouragment.
Oh my need to check before I hit submit. I meant to put he encourages me
Thanks to everyone that commented on this post! Thanks to Tiffany! Had it not been for me watching an episode of extreme couponing, I would have never thought to do this! It seems to take quite a bit of time organizing shopping trips, but it really pays off! I went today and got the non-food household items I needed as well as my 5 year old’s school supplies (she starts kindergarten!!) and spent $80. I had coupons for almost every item I bought. I’ll post my savings and the deals I got a little later. My husband is wonderful! He was so good to me last night while helping me at the stores. We kind of did a you go get these items and I’ll go get these things…the kids even had fun.
that is so sweet! My hubby is my gopher/cart pusher as well. He helps me print, cut and is always excited when we save a ton of money 🙂 When I told my hubby I was going to start couponing, he promised his support/help and I have held him to it 🙂
My husbands family thinks i’m crazy since i coupon. They think i need to get a real job. But i save alot more money going shopping. I think people who put down couponers are just jealous of what we are able to save.
and they are too lazy to actually learn how to do it themselves and get it done.
This is so neat to read about all of these supportive husbands! There’s so much negative stuff out there about husbands, and men in general, being lazy, stupid, louses, disinterested dads, etc. which always makes me sad.
I am blessed to have a husband equally crazy about couponing as I am. Our game is to go to Walgreens together, shop separately, then compare receipts in the car to see who saved the most. We both win, though, since the booty goes to the same house – and we high five and smile ourselves silly all the way home.
Love to hear all the savers on this blog. I have always been a couponer but not to the extent this past year. (Thanks to TLC (Tiffany episode & I heart the mart!!) My 14 yr old teases now with “do you have a coupon for that” when he wants something. Although my husband has always “put up with” my frugalness, my 11 year old was the queen of couponing this week. She helped calculate the better deals, held coupons, hunted down items and added up the savings on the way home. She was so excited she texted her Dad “We saved $89.53 –Woot!”
The only downside is stockpiling….the kids (& husband) want to eat it all up!!