"FREE" FUN
Has the adage "freedom isn't free" been overused much yet? That I am not too sure...
But I have figured out a few things in life.
First, helping others is key to making life go by faster. And the faster life goes the faster you die. So my helping out folks is high on my scale of speeding up time.
Second, helping people can be fun, beneficial, and downright exhilarating when it comes to the nightly process of gambling. I’m not talking casino gambling or poker with the buddies, I’m talking couponing. It’s a fun skill I have “learned” by following paint-by-number easy instructions on a website and in the long run, it’s a great help to a lot of friends, family, and struggling people I know here and there. And it takes up an exorbitant amount of otherwise stale time, hence, I’m that much closer to the grave...
Oddly, a small thing like a new toothbrush can really make someone’s day sometimes. Add in a care bag of goodies they may or not have needed and you may just be the hero of the week for them. Anything from diapers to wipes to razors to laundry to shampoo to household cleaners to cough and cold meds and vitamins… I can go on… these little things make people’s day. And life is a long list of little things that make the bigger things go by so much easier than thought before.
So I decide to check on my amounts this morning to see how much I have saved in the business of couponing and lo and behold I just creaked over $1,100 saved at CVS. So I decided to call them and see how much I spent.
Firstly you have to remember a lot of this stuff I got for free following a free website called the “krazy coupon lady” to the core. A lot of the stuff I have no idea what it is or what its used for but its free so who cares? Someone knows what it is and what its used for so let them have the item! (even tampons and condoms, two things I rarely use… half a boo…) Some of the suggestions on the website turned out to be false due to regional sales, but for the most part the girls are pretty much spot-on. When they aren’t, you just pass up the deal and move on to the next deal. They even let you know about deals that are unadvertised.
Then add in the cost of the coupons. Yup, they cost money too. I get 2 newspapers a week to help with my addiction, and it has been a great investment. My yearly cost for weekly coupons in the newspaper is $208/yr… ($4/weekend x 52 weeks)… some coupons are printed, so you need a printer too. picked up an all in one printer for 79 bucks that kills the deals and has already paid for itself.
So I called CVS this morning because on the site it says what I have saved, but not what I have spent. In the first 3 quarters of 2012 so far, it’s currently mid july, I have spent $278.20. this is on miscellaneous sales items I have used coupons on and in calculations I just performed, I have saved myself 75% off of everything I have bought in the store with a simple piece of paper found in your newspaper, or online among other places.
Mind you, yes the coupons cost money, and yes, I could just stay home and not do this and save money by not spending anything on anything… but I have a few bags full of stuff I give away for nothing, and the appreciation I get from it is not only gratifying, it’s the cherry on top of the addicting adrenaline rush of walking out of the store with pounds of weight in your shopping bag while spending a penny or less on some well calculated transactions.
The only problem I find with this is one-fold…: CVS is right next to rite aid, and I haven’t even looked at my YTD savings/spending with them yet, but I’m sure it’s not off the mark by much. The rite aid receipt says I have spent over a grand due to the points I have accumulated, but how much of that was whittled down due to couponing is yet to be determined.
Plus with both stores, the two I “rape”, money spent doesn’t include those rebates I get back.
Though I am upset I didn’t get into this years ago. the woman at CVS customer care said since 2003, I have spent just shy of 3 grand at CVS. I can only imagine what that would have been had I started couponing then… or I can speculate 75% off $3k would be $750 spent in that time. meaning I’d have saved $2,250 too. yet it’d probably be more as well due to the amount of trips I make there now vs during that time of regular shopping (couponless). . . I’d also have to have a permanent stockroom for the stuff I have on my own shelves may need their own house soon.
I wonder if 214 Herr St. is still on the market…
III
