Kiss and Makeup

It's probably a surprise to people who know me that I love buying makeup and I've spent a mere fortune on makeup in the past. I tend to go on binges and purges. Usually starting with spending a couple of hundred dollars worth at Sephora and then be horrified by it and didn't buy anything for months then rinse and repeat.

I used pay about $18 for a lipstick and really not think twice. I used to think it was a bargain when I recycled 5 MAC empties at the MAC store and got a free lipstick but it's not really that free when you've already shelled out $100 plus. I've used drugstore brands on and off over the years and have really not found any major difference in the products apart from the buying experience and how it makes me feel once I've bought it. You have to admit that Chanel compacts have a certain heft to them and make a very satisfying click when you snap them shut.

However if I'm going to live McFrugal some things needed to change. I've had a few traumatic experiences over this part year that has made me realize there are a lot more important things than money and prestige. And if money isn't that important then I shouldn't be frittering it away.

Some of the best couponing finds are at the drug store razors and cosmetics can be found for mere pennies and I'm not talking generic Wet and Wild stuff either. I think the drugstore brand on the right looks more prestigious than the MAC lippie on the left.

This week I took advantage of a sale they had at CVS and combined it with a coupon. The regular price for a Revlon lipstick at CVS is $8.99. This week it was on sale for $6.99 but wait there's still more. When you buy one at $6.99 you get $5 Extra Bucks to spend on your next transaction effectively making the price $1.99. I added a $1 off any Revlon Color Cosmetic to the mix to make the price 0.99c. I also had $5 Extra Bucks from my last transaction so I only paid 99c out of pocket (plus tax Uncle Sam always gets whats come to him)

So $8.99-$2 on sale - $5 Extra Bucks - $1 Coupon = 99c = Happiness.

Now the limit for the week is 3 of this item so if you have 3 coupons you could roll your Extra Bucks and get 3 lipsticks for 99c each. Now if your only starting to shop at CVS and have no Extra Bucks to start with your first transaction will be $5.99 out of pocket but you'll still have $5 Extra Bucks left at the end for next weeks bargains.

Clear as mud?

Rookie Mistakes

Over the past week weeks I have made a few rookie mistakes and ruffled my feathers a little. I think what I picked up from the show Extreme Couponing is that checking out is stressful. Here are a few mistakes I've made and learned from.

Mistake #1: Not Knowing Your Store's Policy.

Don't worry this didn't result in a duel to the death with the cashier. Our first couponing trip after years of paying full price was at Ralphs. Now the last year or so I've shopped exclusively at Fresh and Easy and at Albertson's for last minute items. Now Albertson's doesn't double coupons and the cashiers are old and grumpy they have worked their since it used to be Lucky's. So we went to Ralph's because they doubled. How ever I "assumed" that doubled up to $1 meant that a $1 coupon becomes $2.

Mistake #2: Not Keeping All Of The Coupons.

When I first started couponing I just flipped through the Sunday coupon insert and clipped the coupons I thought I was going to use this week and threw the rest away. This turned out to be a big mistake as the sales cycles and the coupon cycles are not aligned as I thought they were. Sometimes a sale will come up the next week and if you didn't keep that coupon your SOL. Also sometimes you think you won't buy that or it's an expensive brand but the sale might come up where you can get it for free or next to nothing and then it might be worth trying.

Mistake #3 Buying Only One Paper

We already get the LA Times so I figured cool I have all the coupons I need I don't need multiples because I'm not planning to build a stockpile for 20 people just Don Coupon and I. Wrong. Sometimes the best deals will involve you having to buy 2 or more to trigger the lower price which combined with the coupon makes a deal into a steal. If you only have one of each coupon your going to pay more than you need to. Also sometimes you'll you use a coupon up one week and next week there will be an even better deal but you've already used your coupon.

Mistake #4 Not Organizing My Coupons

When I first started I didn't think I need to do an elaborate binder to keep my coupons in and I just kept them into a box which wasted a lot of my time and effort. I now use a binder.

Mistake #5 Not Having The Right Coupon At The Right Place At The Right Time.

When I first started I just took the few coupons I thought I was going to use to the market with me. This resulted in me say "Oh I have a coupon for that!.......at home." Now I keep the binder in the car just in case.

Mistake #6 Getting Stressed Out At The Checkout

Basically if you expect a problem you'll get a problem.


Now it makes it sound like I started years ago when really it's been only 21 days. A day at a time A day at a time

Ok this is the Deal so far.

So I've been couponing seriously for about 21 days now. I've learnt a lot so far and am encouraging others around me. My husband Don Coupon is very happy with each additional $ spent and has been encourage and helping me with my new "hobby.

I've made some mistakes, had some nerve racking checkouts but also managed to score some very sweet deals including several items that ended up free or being a "money maker" ( more on this later).

I guess I should first start with how my relationship with coupons first started. I immigrated from New Zealand in 1999 because I preferred to be in the same country as my husband and living with my Angelo husband sounded a lot more glamorous than living in semi rural NZ.

When I first moved here I of course fell in LOVE with shopping both the selection of junk stuff available and the prices compared to NZ. I loved spending time poring over the flyer's in the Sunday paper looking at all the kinds of things I didn't know I needed.

Of course at some point my husband hands me a pile of paper and says here are the coupons. Coupons? I frown and wrinkle my nose. Back home coupons are rare and usually hard to redeem. So he clues me in on a few things and I'm like so if I just give the store this scrap of paper they'll give me the item for cheap or free? Game ON.

See back in the late '90s and early '00s the supermarkets in LA did two things. The first thing was they doubled. True doubling. If you presented a 50c coupon you got $1 off your item. Give them a $1 coupon they gave you $2 off your item. Give them a $2 off you just got $2. They weren't THAT nice but still getting an additional boost to your coupons added up to serious savings.

The second thing was they would actually print in their flyer's that if you bought x and used y coupon + doubling = super awesome price. Yay premium ice cream for 50c. Cheap makeup? super yay.

So if it was so awesome why did I stop. Well a couple of things. First we started earning more money and doing well and just wanted to live the "rich" life with the other jones. Saving money didn't make you feel "rich". Also then there were the supermarket strikes and like many we left to go to trader joes and whole foods and stayed there. Then the supermarkets stopped doubling. Sadness. They eventually phased it back in at Vons and Ralphs but only up to a dollar.

So why they return to coupons. Well the main reason is I've become stingy over the years and spending money is painful so I stopped buying things but eventually your going to need/want something and it's better to get value for your money. Of course I'm not a miser either but if you can spend less rather than more on the same thing then why wouldn't you?

Everything starts in Hollywood

I'll admit it I have surprisingly bad taste in television. Nothing gets me more excited a marathon of Toddler and Tiaras. Not sure why. Maybe I like to torment myself? One of my new obsessions is watching TLC's Extreme Couponing. There's not a lot to this show each show features two extreme couponers starting with  a scandalous expose of their "stockpile" usually obscene stacks of toilet paper and cereal. Then it focuses on the couponer  discussing their "strategies" or showing them digging in dumpsters for coupons. Y'know the usual extreme embarrassing behaviours showcased on reality T.V. Then it moves onto the exciting part the shopping trip. This part features the couponer getting all hot and bothered and yelling at their husbands and in general just being a jerk. Of course no matter what episode you watch there is drama at the checkout that the couponer has to overcome. All in all this ain't your mothers couponing.

So I'm sitting back watching this thinking these chicks are crayzee. But.....just like I secretly wanted to don false eyelashes and tiara part of me was thinking. Could I do this and stay sane. Could I not go overboard and be cruel to my husband. Could I really save some serious money doing it?

The plan: Learn the lingo, Clip the coupons, Plan the haul, Save Money, Have Fun.