Coupons

Almost everyone that knows me knows that I am big time into couponing. Actually, that might be a huge understatement, but what can I say? I wouldn't say I'm obsessed or an extreme couponer like some of those who are on the Extreme Couponing show on TLC, so don't worry about that. But my love for using coupons to save money has spread into my family's way of life. I find my husband making comments about whether things are a good deal or not. For example, he came home and told me that for work, he ran into a store with one of the guys and they paid over $4 for a 12-pk of pop - he couldn't believe it. He knows that I don't ever pay over $2.75 or $2.80, so he knew that was a horrible deal! And my kids have gotten used to the following phrases:

"I know it's a lot of cereal, but it's on sale and I have coupons!"
"No, we can't get that today because it's not on sale."
"Looks like I'm going to have to rearrange the pantry, again!"
"We can't have that now because I don't have a coupon for it."
"I need to split this into a couple of transactions."
etc. etc. etc.

My daughter Hailey has probably been the one to be with me most of the time during my preparation and shopping trips - partly because we usually did our shopping while Zach was in school and also because Zach hates shopping (which is probably due to the time it takes to shop using coupons sometimes). Regardless of the reason, she loves to sit and clip coupons with me or Nana whenever she gets the chance. A couple of Sunday's ago, I was clipping some coupons and getting my list together for a trip to Target and Smith's (my new two favorite places to shop) and she decided to sit down with a paper and pen with me. I didn't really notice what she was doing because she's always drawing, writing, coloring, etc. When she asked if she could cut with the scissors, I still didn't think anything of it because again, this is a regular thing with her. What came out of all of that was not anything I could have imagined:



Yes, she had made me her own coupons for Smith's! I couldn't help but smile. You'll notice the different sized coupons because she's observant enough to know that coupons do come in a variety of sizes. Looking back, I realized she had asked me how to spell Smith's at one point and then had heard me say I wished I had more coupons for a particular item at Smith's. So in her generous way, she was helping me out by making me more Smith's coupons to use - how sweet is that?!? She even made a set for her Dad because she was just sure he would want his own Smith's coupons too! Of course he was overjoyed when he got home with his own set of coupons to use. :)

You might think this kind of silly and that I'm corrupting my daughter into thinking that you can only shop using coupons. I tend to think of it more as teaching her how to budget and be resourceful with money. Although there are plenty of people out there who do not coupon for reasons either of time, monotony, or just plain advertion to the process, I definitely understand that it's definitely not for everyone. I have found that I actually enjoy it and get a bit of a rush when I pay little or nothing for something I need. Because I'm an organizer and perfectionist, the organizing, planning, shopping, etc. has become more of a hobby and one that saves me money - how many of those types of hobbies are out there? I have seen my family's grocery bill cut almost in half from what it was just a few years ago, so for me, it's enjoyable and oh-so worth it. I'm happy and proud that my daughter is understanding and even learning some valuable skills she might apply later in life.

And as for those coupons she made us? Well, they are going straight into my scrapbook because I JUST LOVE THEM and I LOVE HER FOR BEING SO SWEET!