Today we’re going to hear from Rachael from over at Saving Centsably Workshops. I love to hear background information on why people begin couponing and what keeps them going. 

My passion for saving money began as a high-schooler. When my mom went to work full-time, I was driving and got the “privilege” of purchasing the groceries. The more I saved with sales and coupons, the more money my mom would give me. Essentially, anything I saved, I earned. Although this was motivating for me at that time, given what I know now about coupons and shopping, I’ll NEVER offer that reward to my children!!!
So let me give you some important information about our family. I have four children—three growing boys and one dainty little girl. My husband is a youth minister. I teach preschool part-time. We have carried a double house payment since October 2008, when we moved so my husband could take a job at a church in McDonough, Georgia. It was about this time, as we had 1 income, 2 house payments and 4 children, that I decided my coupon skills needed to be honed.
I saw a news snippet about the Grocery Game, and I enrolled for their free 90 day trial. I realized after joining that the information I was getting about what was on sale and how to match up the coupons could also be found online at no charge (I hadn’t found Michelle yet, but I would soon!!). So after the trial period ended, I cancelled my membership at the Grocery Game.
As I began to put into place the principles of stocking up on what’s on sale each week, instead of buying 1 of this and 1 of that, my pantry was quickly filling up. I had a friend at the church that we’d recently moved to in McDonough ask me if I’d consider teaching a class with her on coupon savings. In January 2009, she and I began teaching the “Saving Centsably Coupon Class” weekly in our church. It was definitely a ministry opportunity as we helped equip people with the skills they needed to stretch their grocery budgets in a time in which money was SO tight for SO many people. We swapped coupons, shared tips and collected our “extra” items—things we got for free or very cheap—for a women’s rehabilitation center.

Welcome to Rachael-Mart

Out of those Sunday evening classes, my “SavingCentsably Coupon Workshops” were begun. There were many people who couldn’t come to our church on a Sunday evening, and I’d get comments on my Facebook page from people who said, “If only I lived closer. I’d love to come to one of your classes.” So instead of them coming to me, I began going to them.
Last year, 2009, was the first year that I kept my receipts for EVERYTHING I bought. From toothpaste to Pull-Ups (for three kids) to milk and fresh vegetables, I kept all my receipts. Anything purchased at a drug store, a grocery store, a thrift store—it all figured into my totals. At the end of 2009, I’d spent less than $5,100 to purchase all toiletries, food, clothes and more for a family of 6! So what was my savings? Just over $7,000!
I’ve seen people in these last couple of years who’ve gotten really excited about couponing and then suddenly they fizzle out and return to their old shopping habits. For our family, shopping with coupons is not a convenience but a necessity. I don’t consider the process “saving” money, because we don’t necessarily have that money to save (or spend). I do consider this process a way to STRETCH the resources I DO have.  I refuse to shop any other way, and this is why!

Downstairs in the cabinets I try to stay organized!

Super-couponing the way I do it allows me to keep a stockpile of foods, paper goods and toiletries. Why is this important?

  • During the summer, I don’t have my part-time income from teaching preschool. This past summer was the first time ever that I was able to essentially “forget” the grocery store and shop from home at the “Rachael-Mart,” as my husband has nicknamed our pantries. In three months, I spent less than $250 on groceries and toiletries for the 6 of us.
  • Throughout the year, our family is able to do a monthly “mission project,” in which we are able to minister to an individual or a family in need. It’s really easy to go to the pantry and let the kids help me fill boxes and baskets of food or toiletries to give to a family who’s lost their income or is facing health-related or financial challenges.
  • I’m modeling good spending habits to my children. They now know that unless it’s on sale and Mommy has a coupon for it, we’re probably not buying it. As we eat our meals around the table, my 4-year-old’s favorite thing to do is play the “what did this meal cost?” game…..My 2-year-old always guesses $2, but I am able to show the kids that I can put a meal on the table for six people for a total of $1.65 or $2.15 or some other ridiculously small amount. This helps drive home the reason we DON’T eat out (unless we have coupons)—it’s a waste of our money!
  • I get the biggest kick out of my daughter as she loads up her grocery cart in her room with the boxes from the samples I receive in the mail, and proceeds to pull her imaginary “coupons” out of her purse to pay for her items!!! I must admit that tickles me to no end!!!

The kitchen pantry–holds about one of each item, along with some items we use everyday!
 

Now, as a Christian and a ministers’ wife, many people look at me strangely and say things like, “aren’t we supposed to thank God for our DAILY bread,” or “don’t you think stockpiling like this is not Biblical?” My answer? No.

Remember the story of Joseph in the Old Testament? After a long and rocky road, Pharaoh places Joseph in charge of stockpiling food for 7 years as he prepares the nation of Egypt for a 7-year famine. The economic times in which we are living call for this kind of action. Honestly, I think the Bible explains that wasting our money is being a “poor steward,” and if I can pay .50 cents for a $4.00 item, and buy 8 for the price of 1, I’m doing exactly what I should be doing!!!

I’m still teaching my coupon workshops, although currently our family IS eating through our stockpile and I’m shopping at the stores a lot less. I don’t worry, though—I know that I now have the skills to rebuild our stockpile without spending a fortune! I visit Michelle’s websites daily (or maybe 4 times/day, if I’m honest), I like couponmom, the blog Hip to Save and Totally Target, and I have a Facebook page dedicated to sharing the deals I find and the deals friends like Michelle post online.

Sometimes you have to take things out of the boxes to preserve your freezer space!
These are from a stockup on waffles!!

This year, to continue to “up the ante,” so to speak, I’ve photographed about 99% of what our family has purchased, and I’ve posted it all on our Facebook page. From an album with my Thrift Store finds, one with Garage Sale deals, to a month-by-month breakdown of my purchases, it’s my goal to be extremely transparent as I show other people that you CAN do so much more with less.
As a side note, I’d love to have you join my Facebook page. And if you’re in Georgia and want to host a SavingCentsably Coupon Workshop, I’d love for you to contact me!
In the meantime, keep working at this coupon thing, and keep SavingCentsably!!! You can do it!

Thanks so much for sharing today, Rachael!
In order to keep this new feature going, you all are going to have to volunteer to tell us all about something YOU do when you are couponing!! Your post can be about almost anything to do with couponing. You can tell us about a particularly good or bad situation you’ve dealt with as a couponer, about how you got into couponing or how couponing has impacted the rest of your life, you can make a list of things every new couponer should know…just about anything, really! If you think it’s interesting and it has to do with couponing, email me with your idea at contactiheartpublix @ gmail.com!