Thursday, January 29, 2009

Couponing for Fun & Profit....well, maybe

Feeling like poo the last couple of weeks, I did alot of sitting on my not-so-tiny rear staring into the internet via my computer's monitor. I have found some of the most interesting blogs and such just letting my fingers & my mouse take me meandering around cyberspace. I did a search a few yrs. ago on how to make an omelet in a ziploc baggie(a useful thing to know how to do if one is camping in the woods and has no Wolf Range outfitted with Calphalon to cook with). I stumbled upon a blog by a guy in Syracuse NY. Three hours later I knew more about this guy and his life than some people in real life I have known for decades.lol He was dealing with a grown son who relocated across the country, a combative father with Alzheimer's, a job that was unfulfilling(imagine that!), and a wife who he barely talked to anymore. It was so sad.....but enthralling! I followed his blog for a few months(it was like a train wreck...you can't help but watch even though you want to look away)until my ancient computer crashed. Back in those days, I had NO files backed up. UGH So I lost him and I have spent a few hours over the last couple of yrs. trying to find that blog again to see how he is doing now. It really bugs me sometimes that I don't know. Concerned? Maybe. Nosey? You bet!lol

Anyway, this was a Waaay too long way of prefacing what I meant to say. Meandering around the internet can be fun but also a huge suckhole for time. It can also spark you into a course of action sometimes. While poking around last week, I happened upon a Couponing blog. After a bit more looking I found there is this whole subculture of these SAHM(aka Stay At Home Moms) blogs & websites mainly about Food Shopping/Couponing/Deals/Frugality. They even speak a strange shorthand language....ECBs, SCRs, CRTs, Catalinas, 'rolling the deal', Peelies, RRs, MQs....I read and read until I couldn't hold my eyes open any longer.

Anybody who knows me knows that I am the gal that never met a Clearance Sale Sign she didn't like. That was before I joined the Compact List and swore off Shopping as a Lifestyle choice 2 yrs. ago.

But these Blogging Couponers are beyond intense in their devotion to finding the Deal! Have you ever seen some woman on tv(usually the local news) or in person in a grocery store and she's wheeling a cart out, overflowing with food and she's only spent $4 for it all? She would be one of these Couponing Queens! Ever gone to a drugstore and someone has wiped out the entire shelf of 1 certain product? That is the tale-tell sign that a Couponing Queen has been there!

Most of them don't get carts full of food for almost free but they are out there working the system, getting stuff for cheap and like a bee hive, communicating the deals with all the other worker bees in search of the great finds too. They buy stacks of Sunday newspapers just for the multiples of coupons, have elaborate filing systems & planners, trade/buy/sell coupons via eBay or online swap forums and plan their store strategies way ahead of a sale thanks to spies who post the upcoming Stores' ads surreptitiously weeks & weeks ahead.

What can I say? I was enthralled and hooked! And I went out Couponing about 10 days ago for the 1st time as a Deal Warrior. Want to know how I did? Check back for Part 2 in our next installment of DON'T READ THIS:IT'S BORING! I guarantee, you won't be able to look away....it's AWFUL!

sluggy

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