I am what could be called a serious coupon. I’m not the type of woman who signs up for an issue of the Sunday newspaper, cuts out four, five, or ten coupons and throws away the rest. That is too easy for people like me. Instead, I take my coupons out of the recycling bins. Once a week, I take my kids with my in-laws, then head to the local recycling center with a huge box to store my newly found inserts. I’m agile, athletic, and quite young, so it’s generally not a problem for me to get into those big metal recycling bins (by the way, they are NOT trash cans, there is hardly anything but newspapers!). I used to carry a flashlight, but it was too difficult to work efficiently.

For Christmas, my husband bought me a flashlight that clips to my head, freeing my hands and allowing me to dig, dig, dig for coupons. I look like a lost miner and tend to scare people who plan to put down their papers. For whatever reason, people don’t expect to find someone sitting inside a huge metal container full of newspapers. Consequently, I have been hit over the head with thrown papers multiple times, usually scaring the pitcher more than me. My husband says this only contributes to my mental problems.

Once I have obtained my coupons, I need to be sure that I can find them as needed. No ladybug envelope or 3×5 card holder for me! No sir, I have a large filing cabinet dedicated to my coupons. When I get home from my “dives”, I present each insert uncut. I usually get 20-30 of the same insert, which translates to 20 or 30 of each coupon. When I need the coupon, I open my Excel spreadsheet, where I have typed in each individual coupon and its location, find the desired coupon, and pull the insert file out of my drawer. That’s when I cut them. Believe it or not, this saves me time; otherwise you would be clipping and filing around 200-300 coupons each week and risk losing them.

People (usually my mom) often wonder why I go to such extremes with my coupons. It’s simple – coupons can be a huge money saver if used correctly. There are many coupons that, when combined with sales, generate free or very cheap items for me. I often go to the grocery store, fill two carts, and pay less than $ 25 for everything. And I never buy just one. Instead, I buy thirty of the same item (or all the coupons I have coupons for), almost guaranteeing that I will never have to pay full price again. This is called accumulation. Right now I have about 70 pounds of white rice, another 50 pounds of flavored rice (yellow rice, Uncle Ben’s, Rice-a-roni), about 45 pounds of pasta in various forms, 20 packets of Keebler Fudge Shoppe Cookies , 100 packages of Gerber baby food, 18 gallons of apple juice ….. and so on. All of these were free.

In fact, my biggest problem is storage. Right now, not only are my kitchen cabinets filled to the brim, I also have three cramped shelves, my entire laundry room is taken up by shelves, half of my linen closet is full of personal items, and the bottom is full. Both of the bathroom sinks are stocked with other goodies. I used to store my toilet paper (30 packs of 4) under my living room dresser, but then we got rid of that piece of furniture.

Many stores run promotions where they give out free movie tickets using the totals before the coupons. I have 40 boxes of Raisin Bran, for which I paid about .50 per box (and thanks to a site called Upromise, I’ll be making about .10 per box for my kids’ college fund). Every 7 boxes or so gave me a free ticket to an adult movie. I hate paying more than a dollar for a box of cereal, but sometimes I do. I recently paid $ 1.50 for Cocoa Puffs and got a free kids movie ticket with every box. I also participated in the Walgreen movie ticket special during the summer and got about 10 free movie tickets. So my grocery shopping frequently gives me free entertainment!

The big trick is coupons that say “any” or “any size.” Believe it or not, these really mean ANY size, including trial size. Consequently, I have about 200 trial size toothpastes scattered around my house and another 100 trial size shampoos. These are great for travel, but I honestly tend to give them away. I keep a box for charitable donations and usually throw at least a tenth of my gifts in it, and almost all of my test items (I save some for travel and “emergencies”). This means that I am not only helping myself, but I can also help others, even though we are on a tight budget.

Most people, especially my mom, think I’m crazy. My best friend tells me that she just doesn’t have the time or dedication to play with coupons like I do. For me, it’s not about time, it’s about money. With two kids in diapers (only one of whom is on baby food, thank goodness), I have spent less than $ 1200 on groceries, cleaning supplies, and personal items (shampoo, soap, etc.) this year (that’s a little over $ 100 / month). My cupboards are bursting; If I had to, I could buy just milk and bread for the next three or four months at least. That gives me a sense of security that more than compensates for the time and effort I have invested in my coupons.