I started Deal Detecting Diva in June of 2009, and it has grown tremendously thanks to you! I thought I’d do a post and share some things about me that you may not have known. I am just an average person. I am a wife, mother and hard-core couponer. I work outside of the home in downtown Wichita.
When I first started couponing, I signed up for the Grocery Game. It was $15 every 3 months, and I did that for about 6 months. The deals were decent, but once I started seeing the sales trends and cycles, I decided I was wasting my money paying someone to save me money on groceries. I decided to start DDD mainly to post my pictures of my good hauls. The first year or so of couponing, my husband thought I was wasting my time, taking forever to get ready to go shopping, spending hours finding deals. I tried out deals that didn’t work the way they were supposed to, and he just loved that! (can you sense the sarcasm?) As time went on, I got better and better, I was starting to remember what sales were going on where, how much was a good price, and I started figuring out round about when things would go on sale again.
I know many non-couponers think we are crazy, buying all of these “things we don’t need”. My answer? I will need that item sooner or later, and if it’s already in my stockpile (for FREE) then why not? Do I need several of them? Maybe not, but I use my knowledge of sales cycles and the lowest prices to decide how many I want to buy of a particular item. I do not go crazy at the store… ever. Personally, I want to fly as low under the radar as possible. I never buy more than my share of items with coupons, and I am always courteous to my cashiers and customer service reps.
I waited tables for years. That’s how I met the Dude as a matter of fact. He transferred to Wichita from a store in Kansas City. Having that experience has forever changed my view of the world. If a coupon won’t scan or a deal doesn’t work right, it’s no more the cashier’s fault than it is the server’s fault if your steak is over cooked. Never take out your frustration on your cashier, it is very rarely their fault if something goes wrong. Staying cool and friendly helps so much when you’re trying to get what you want.
I shop alone (or with my kids/hubby) 99% of the time. I will do shop-alongs if you’re new to couponing and you want me to come along to help you with the deals. If you want to do a shop-along and you’re in the Wichita area, send me an email and we’ll set up a date.
I shop at various stores, and I do weekly match-ups for 5 different stores. I try to post Homeland on Mondays (if I get the ad on time), Dillons on Tuesdays, Walgreens as soon as I am able to view the ad (usually on Tuesday or Wednesday), Apple Market on Wednesdays and Leeker’s/Checkers on Wednesdays, the last week of the month (when they do their $1 doubles).
I am constantly looking for new deals, and as soon as I find them, I post them for you. I always appreciate a heads-up if you find a great deal you’d like to share, please do! I always like to test my posts before I run them, so that I know (with a certain degree of certainty) that you all will be able to get in on the deals as well.
I am constantly finding deals, and I do not post everything that I come across. Trust me, you wouldn’t want that! I strive to post an array of items that would be appealing to a large group of readers. I am pretty picky when it comes to things that I post, and I do not want to bombard you with spam. If I know a deal will require you to submit your information and you will be spammed as a result, I do not post those items. I’ve been in the game long enough, I know which sites send you tons of emails, and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone!
I want to stress that I am an average couponer. I do not by any means do every deal that I find or even post. I shop about once a week, and I typically buy only what is FREE or extremely cheap. I spend on average about $200 per month, including all meat, produce, diapers and HBA items. Sometimes I spend less, sometimes more. It all depends on what is on sale and what I’m stockpiling.
Over the past few years, I’ve learned a tremendous amount of couponing tips. I will start a series of posts about some of those tips. I’m not sure how many posts there will end up being, but general coupon tips are always good! Anyone have any topics or issues they’d like me to explain to get us started?
