This week we’re going to hear from Heidi, who decided to use some of her coupon savings to REALLY celebrate the season. I’m so glad to have a ‘holiday’ story to share with you all and I hope Heidi’s story (and that picture with her son!) makes you smile as big as I did!

I grew up in the country up north. Christmas trees are big … and CHEAP. Not so much here in Georgia, huh? Every year, it makes my husband crazy to spend money on a big Christmas tree that he knows will die in a few weeks. Every year, it makes me crazy to hear, ‘you’ve only got $xx to spend on a tree this year’. (Don’t get me wrong – he’s not a scrooge! He’s just OK with a decent size tree and I prefer obnoxious size trees.)
In comes iheartpublix. Last year, when I began to do my best to be a serious couponer, I realized I needed a budget. I gave myself a certain amount of cash every week and went to Publix and Kroger to get the best deals. Any ‘overage’ from my budget went to the ‘Upgrade a Christmas Tree’ envelope. Seriously.
When we went last weekend to cut down our tree, we walked right to the big ones. My husband never said a word, just helped me pick the one that I thought was the prettiest. He cut it down, I paid cash for it, there were no arguments and everyone is happy.

Our tree makes me SMILE every time I see it and it’s thanks mostly to you. I even had money left over! You’ve also taught me how to get great deals for stockpiling and to be able to easily give to our local food banks and co-ops, which makes everyone happy!

I didn’t even realize that this 2nd picture didn’t make it to the star – sorry!  But that’s OK, because you can’t see that there are NO DECORATIONS on the top foot or so because I couldn’t reach. Next year’s envelope will be for a bigger ladder so I can decorate the amazing tree I’m sure we’ll have. 🙂

That is SOME tree, Heidi! I love that not only did you get the tree that you wanted, but now every time you look at it you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that you earned it! I think having physical reminders like this of just how much couponing can accomplish is super motivating. I admire your tree but I admire the skill and determination behind it even more!
In order to keep this new feature going, you all are going to have to volunteer to tell us 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!