Coupon Class – Lesson Three

Welcome to lesson three of my FREE 9 lesson online coupon class. Please ask questions and leave comments so that we can all learn from each other.

Assignment  #1 - Find a Place to Store your Stockpile

Think about how you want to organize your stockpile and work on organizing it this week.

They key to saving the most at the grocery store is to buy at rock bottom prices and then use coupons to make the prices even lower (maybe even FREE or a money maker).  Store sales follow a cycle (have you noticed that they repeat sales?). Generally stores follow a 6 – 12 week cycle (each store in each area is different).  To maximize your savings you should try and purchase enough of the item priced at rock bottom to last you until it goes on sale again (approximately 6 – 12 weeks’ worth of product). That doesn’t mean that I haven’t bought more than that of a product (see my post here on my dishwasher detergent stock up) but I generally follow the 6 – 12 week rule. You will find others who stockpile enough to last years, but that’s a personal preference. I don’t like having a lot of stuff in my home (my husband is always complaining that I throw away too much stuff). You will need to decide what works best for you and your family.

The best advice that I can give you (to keep your sanity) is that sales repeat. If you miss a sale or can’t make it to the store one week, it’s OK. The sale will repeat in 6 – 12 weeks and you can get the deal next time.

Once you start to build your stockpile you will need to find a place to store it! Here are some ideas:

• Pantry
• Closets
• Bookcase in a bedroom/office
• Garage
• Tub under the bed

Since there are only 2 of us at home now, my stockpile is much smaller than it was before. I use my pantry, the hall closet, and a big tub under my bed.   

Assignment #2 – E-mail a photo of Your Stockpile

I would love to showcase your stockpile. Please e-mail a photo to me and I will put the photos up on the blog. Send the photos to julia@couponingtobedebtfree.com.  

Assignment #3 - Create your Monthly Household Budget

Think about things you spend money on and develop a monthly budget. Remember, every household is different and what works for me may not work for you.

Budgeting is the key to getting your household expenses as low as possible. A deal is only a deal as long as you need it or will use it in the near future. If you have 6 months worth of toilet paper stockpiled at home you need to ask yourself if you really need to buy more. A sale will come around again within the next 12 weeks. Don’t spend money if you don’t need to. A good place to start with your budget is to think about how much you have spent each week on groceries during the last 8 weeks and then average that amount to get a weekly beginning budget amount. As time goes on, you should be able to decrease that amount quite a bit.

Here is our monthly budget:

• Groceries – $200.00
• Drugstores - $40.00
• Pets - $20.00
• Eating Out - $20.00
• Miscellaneous – $40.00

You might think that $200.00 a month on groceries is a lot to spend on 2 people (my daughter just got married 2 weeks ago). It is….. However, we have a lot of pets – 3 dogs and 3 cats. Two of the dogs are very large and they eat a lot! The bulk of my drug store budget goes towards tax (6% in Kentucky) and the $20.00 in the pet category goes towards miscellaneous pet expenses (not food).

I decided to start using money envelopes for these expenses. The idea behind this system is that when the money runs out in a category, you have no more money to spend on that item for the month. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. Below are pictures of the cute new envelope system that I bought last week (it cost around $19.00). One of my readers recommended the company. I just love it! If the idea of an envelope system to organize your money appeals to you, don’t think you have to go out and spend money on an organizer. I used envelopes that I got for FREE from my bank for a long time. Here’s a link to the company (if you are interested) that created my money organizer.

Final thoughts on developing your budget:

• Be realistic (if you have a large family you will need to budget more money for groceries than my family)
• Be flexible (be prepared to modify your budget – it’s inevitable)
• Try budgeting using cash (you will be less likely to blow your budget)
• Try and decrease your budget each week (as you get a handle on couponing and stockpiling, you should be able to decrease your budget by 30 – 50%)