Bring your coupons with you

Many of you know that we were on vacation before my grandmother’s health became worse.  When I travel, I almost always bring my coupons with me.  I have used so many coupons in the last few weeks simply because I had my coupon binder on hand.  When we were at the beach, we rented a condo.  While the rooms were slightly more than a hotel each night, we more than made up for that cost by cooking most of our own meals.  Did I mind cooking and cleaning while on vacation?  NOT AT ALL!  When you have local, delicious ingredients such as beautiful shrimp and blue crabs fresh from the boat, how could you not love cooking?   The coupons helped with the purchase of some of the ingredients for our dishes and breakfasts. 

HINT—When traveling think about what foods you might need to bring with you.  We brought a crate of our stockpile items for snacks and breakfasts—mostly items from our stockpile.  Homemade jelly added to some peanut butter and bread made a quick meal for lunches.  Also consider sales tax on food.  Our state has a pretty significant sales tax on food, but many of the states we traveled through did not.  By bringing my coupons and shopping savvy we were able to save more money by purchasing our foods at our destination rather than bringing tons with us. 

I’ve been spending a lot of time with my family the last few days due to my grandmother’s health.  I’ve done a lot of shopping and prep of meals for the family, and once again, my coupons have come in handy.  My male cousins have been the most excited to learn all of the coupon tricks.  My cousin Bill had never used a coupon before, and when on a quick run to the store, I sent him with coupons to use for specific items.  He was absolutely tickled to learn that he had saved over $11.  You should have seen his face! 

I just received a call from him and his twin brother as they were leaving the grocery store.  They needed Tabasco hot sauce (a staple in our family—we use it as much as some people would salt).  I had told him the day before that it is often a better buy to purchase a smaller unit when you have a coupon.  They noticed some blinkies for 75cts/1 Tabasco of any size.  John wanted to buy the larger size, noting that the price per unit was better.  My new coupon addict cousin Bill quickly pointed out that if they bought two of the smaller sizes and used two coupons that it would be much less cost for the same amount.  Now, who says that men don’t like to coupon??  He says that he now wants to be known as the Coupon King in the family!   How great is that??

Hint—Even if you are not the one going to purchase supplies at the grocery, take part in the grocery list.  You can send them with coupons to help lower the grocery bill.  What if you do not know what brand will be cheaper?  This was the case when my female cousin had forgotten her deodorant.  I sent her with a handful of options from which to choose.  She was able to price the different brands and see which was the best buy with the coupon. 

Keep your coupon binder handy—have coupons, will travel!