Image Credit: The Rachael Ray Show
Cindy on Rachael Ray
I am just so excited to tell you that I’ll be back on The Rachael Ray Show this Monday, 9/8. I feel honored and blessed that they have asked me to, once again, talk coupons on the show. It’s been nothing short of exciting.
In case you missed the last show, the segment was a Could You Feed Your Family for Free where I worked some magic couponing skills and got over $167 worth of groceries for free. The best part was when Chef Ryan Scott was able to make into 21 different delicious and healthy meals. Too fun!
Well, this time I’m shopping with a family to help them save. They were so fun and easy to work with and were so open and willing to learn how to truly save with coupons. We wound up saving them well over 50% on the things they usually buy at the grocery store. You can view the promo to Monday’s Rachael Ray How To Save a Thousand Bucks Segment. Be sure to tune in or set your DVRs!
If you are new around here, let me tell you my journey into the world of couponing and how it has transformed my life….
I started Living Rich With Coupons about 7 years ago when we were hit with unemployment, huge debt and kids in college. Having never had a budget in our many years of married life, we were in a state of panic and not prepared at all. I quickly had to figure out ways to cut my expenses so that we could keep a roof over our head and feed the family. Grocery expenses were at the top of that list coming in at over $15,000 a year. Yes you heard that right…over $15,000 a year. When you break that down to weeks, I was feeding my family of 5 for just over $300 a week. Yikes! I needed a fix and I needed it fast. Enter the wonderful world of couponing.
Quickly I learned to stack coupons with sales, store coupons and/or store promotions. I started small, first learning at CVS and slowly branched out to the grocery stores. I was hooked. After 3 months of building a small stockpile of groceries that I was getting for next to nothing, my grocery bill dropped to around $50 a week. It was amazing. I got to a point, where all I needed to buy each week was my produce and some meat. Everything else, my health & beauty aid products, cleaning, cereal, oatmeal, canned goods, even cheese were all sitting in my stockpile (or freezer) allowing me to decide how much I would pay for them. Why..well because I can wait and wait until the price of the product drops low enough for me to buy it again instead of having to run out and buy it when it’s full price. That feeling is quite empowering.
That brings me to today. Today, after 7 years of budgeting, saving on our groceries and FINALLY paying off all our debt (insert a big WOOHOO here!) we are in complete control of our finances. And, it couldn’t have come at a better time because, we have once again, been faced with another unemployment. Yes, it’s true…in January of this year, the division my husband worked for was completely shut down. It’s been rough but the difference this time, is we are not afraid, there is no panic. We have the tools and the knowledge to get us through. Empowering!
I want that same feeling of empowerment and control of your finances for all of you. Couponing will change the way you think about money & give you peace of mind knowing you have control over what you are spending. It’s really true…I’m living proof of it.
I hope you’ll tune in to the Monday episode and watch us save a family over $200 on one shopping trip. I might even do another coupon dance…and someone may join me in the dance too! 😉
New to the site, be sure to visit our Couponing for Beginners section which includes our 4 Easy Steps to Get Started Using Coupons.
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