Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Couponing Grace Returns



Living in Opposite World is amazing. So is Grace, of course, but you already knew that.

Since I recovered from the shock of Tom's losing his job, these have been the Best of Times. See? Opposite World stuff. I think you're supposed to be miserable when your main income source disappears, right?

Back in 1995, I led two Saturday homemaking seminars at our church. A couple other women and I shared how to organize your home and we gave ideas for decorating, letter-writing and how to save money with coupons and refunding, etc.

The oddest thing, ever, happened while I spoke about the coupons. There I was, standing beside my display of items I'd bought cheaply at CVS, using coupons, and explaining how refunding worked, when mysteriously! All my years of coupon anointing, all the excitement of saving money this way, drained down, down into my shoes.

It felt like a balloon deflated within me. In one moment, after fifteen years of saving money with this method, coupons became BOR-ing. Yet I had to finish my rehearsed little speech anyway. Rough and, again, odd.

And afterward? Well, in the fifteen years since, I mailed maybe only five (ten?) refund offers and used coupons at the market just sort-of willy-nilly, when I felt like it or could remember to bring some along.

Mostly, Couponing Grace drained away into an abyss back there in 1995.

But guess what? She's BAAAaack.

You are now reading the blog of a Coupon Queen returned. Coupon Grace lives inside my head again because, well, she knows I need her. Now's the time for ol' Debra to do her part so to stretch the family finances.

The coupon anointing returned three weeks ago, making the whole deal a pleasure, as when I was a young Mrs. in my 20's and 30's. And now, wow! We coupon grannies have it way easier than we did in the 1980's. If we need a coupon for Yogi's Yummy Yogurt, we can just Google that, adding the word 'coupons' and voila! Sometimes there will appear a coupon just asking to be printed and whisked away to the supermarket. Even coupons for healthy food. Organic stuff, also.

Love that. Lots easier than in the Wild West Days of couponing. Trust me.

Don't you just love Grace? You can rely on her. She knows when to stay, when to leave and gives the clearest of directions just by being there--or by being gone.

She should design road maps on the side.  シ




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Want to share your favorite coupon website?




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3 comments:

Unknown said...

Never thought about the google search putting coupon after whatever but I will try it. I have always known that I need to use them but haven't made the effort. You have encouraged me.
Odie

Donetta said...

Grace and hard work save me 30%-55%+ every week
Remember lead in adds make a huge difference if you only get what you need.

*Reading Between the Lines* said...

Yea Debra!
I have been "couponing" for 2 years now...gotta love it, yes, love it!
My family likes to hear about what I have "saved". Where I live, Albertsons is the best place to coupon with the items on sale.
I could go "on and on".
Anyway...couponing sites I "follow" on my blog are:
www.athriftymom.com
www.thekrazycouponlady.com
www.hip2save.com
I occasionally look at others, but these are the "main" everday ones.
I love being able to follow them & seeing the most recent updates on my blog dashboard.
Happy couponing to All,
Nancy, Mommy 2