Why I Started Coupon and How

This is my half of the room freshman year so take this times 2
and you have our room. It was small, but we made
it work and had a lot of fun.

I started couponing as a Freshman in college and after 2 years of couponing in college I'm finally going to write a blog post about why I started couponing and how. As part of my switching things up I want to share more about my life and my life as a college student is interesting. It is something I want to share more with you guys as I tackle the summer before my Junior year and my Junior year of college.

My mom has couponed my entire life. I have watched her save money off every grocery store purchase. Over the years I have realized how much money my mom has saved. We always joke that the more money we save the more money we have to spend at Disney. Here's the way I look at it. I have to spend money to buy grocery, but every dollar that I save can be put towards other items I would like to buy.

When I started college I began to look at couponing more seriously as I realized the grocery items I was going to have to buy even though I only had a mini fridge and a meal plan. I still would go to the grocery store periodically to pick up snack food, which is full of easy savings. Then when I started my sophomore year I moved into an on campus apartment. I went on a smaller meal plan and began to cook more meals for myself. I knew this was my year that I was really going to save money using coupons. In February I discovered rebate apps, which are another great way to save.

This is my kitchen from the summer classes I took. I realize
that I never took pictures of my apartment this year, but I will
be living there this year so I will get some pictures in the fall. 

My friends might think I'm crazy, but I have tracked my savings for this entire year and if I save this much money in one year then I can only imagine how much money I will save in a lifetime. My friends come with me when I use coupons and they see me save a couple dollars and they still aren't on board. That is okay. I realize it isn't for everybody, but I don't need to feel bad about couponing just because it is something not very many college students do.

I really think this is the best time in my life to start. I'm lucky that my parents still support me, but I pay for a lot of things on my own. I don't have a job during the school year, so I need to save money where I can. This means that I can not go out to eat all the time and I have to be responsible with my money. This isn't something you see among many college students.

I took this picture in our kitchen. Our fridge
was Olaf for most of the year. 

I coupon solely with printable and store coupons. Hy-Vee is my grocery store of choice and they offer a few in ad coupons every week. The difficult part about printable coupons is that I can not print them at school, so I print coupons about once a month when I come home. Everybody tells you that the best coupons are in the newspaper, but there is coupons that are almost of equal value online. Coupons.com is my favorite website for coupons.

Every week I look at the sale ad at Hy-Vee and then I make a list of the items I need that are on sale. Then I pair those items with the coupons that are available. I try to take advantage of always having fresh fruits and vegetables every week. Checkout51 and Ibotta have been helpful in giving me savings on healthy items such as fruit and vegetables.

Here's the other great part about the rebate apps is that I can redeem giftcards from Ibotta. I choose
amazon, so this becomes book money. Overall couponing is pretty cool. There is still a stigma surrounding couponing, but for me it is the right decision to help me buy items I need for less money. In all honesty the way I do couponing it doesn't take much time. Just print, scan the ad, and shop. That is the whole trick.

If you have any questions let me know. I love to talk about couponing and would love to help other people get started.