Marie Turner VA
I dont know about most of you, but I tend to be on what I call a coupon roller coaster. Sometimes I am riding high doing so well. Saving on everything and receiving refund checks and premiums in the mail. Other times I am at the low end where I will forget to bring my coupons to the store, or miss a deadline on a really good refund.
When I first started couponing money was REALLY tight. I was a SAHM to only one child. My DH was in college full time. I used a lot of coupons and stockpiled and got in on some great offers. Almost 3 years later, DH was on his final year of school. I now had 3 children and continued to stay home. At that time, we were on almost every government program available to us. Food stamps, WIC and others helped us get by.
During this last year of school, I couponed heavily. Even though I was on food stamps, I would use coupons and send in for refunds. I took advantage of frequent shopper cards and worked hard to save money. The month before my DH graduated, he was accepted in to the Navy. He went to Officer Candidate School, while my kids and I stayed with my parents.
While I lived with my parents, I wasnt required to pay anything. Here I was without paying rent, utilities, food , absolutely nothing. I let my subscription to RC expire. I rarely used a coupon and when I did go food shopping, I usually just bought store brands.
After my DH graduated we headed to Port Hueneme, CA. While we were there the Navy paid us per diem which was substantial. We made plenty of money, more then we ever had. We were able to pay for the things we needed. Although at this time, I learned about the commissary. I loved going and picking up the coupons and getting great deals.
Fast forward a couple of years, after we moved from CA, we headed to Norfolk, Va. No more per diem. Suddenly we were faced with "real life". Rent, food, preschool tuition and very high utilities. We struggled on my DHs pay. However, deals are a little easier to find here then in Oregon where we were when we were students. I could find forms, and high value coupons that people would talk about. I was able to stock up on Electrosol, the Nabisco 12 packs of snacks, Ore Ida fries and the Bistro Gourmets. It was a lot of fun.
We moved from the house we were renting into a town house. The rent was much cheaper and we were saving more on utilities. Then I became pregnant with my 4th child. Sick almost all 3 trimesters, I barely used a coupon. Getting off of the couch was hard. I finally got back into it after my husband returned from a deployment. I had just purchased all the Pepsi and Frito Lay products to get a nice refund when guess what happened? I went into labor. I was in the hospital for a few days and when I came home, I was faced with receipts and upcs all passed the forms expiration date! Grrrrr...
Now today I am back into it. I am doing as much as I can, while shopping with at the least 2 little ones. I was able to stock up on plenty of Rice a Roni Express. They are regularly priced at .89 at the commissary with the recent .75/1 I got them for .14. I have used the wine tags to get discounts on items like produce and meat. I am having fun again and have even kept up with the coupon clipping! I am enjoying saving money again.
One day as I was in Walgreens getting things for a refund, the checker asked me if I did this regularly. I told her I was really trying to get back into it. She said, "boy do I have a story for you then." I asked her what and she told me that the day before she had been in the commissary. The woman in front of her had two carts full of food. Not just packaged food but meat, produce and cheese. She then asked me to guess what I thought the womans total was. I guessed $20 and she looked at me and said $7! I was shocked to say the least. So to whoever that stranger in the commissary was, if you are reading this, you helped me to get back into refunding. So thanks, your story was inspiring!
Marie Turner
Norfolk, Va
