Jenna here! I wanted to do a little post on what I do with all the money I save from coupons and freebies. I love using coupons, but there's no point doing it if you waste all the money you save. This is just my personal goal, but you can use your savings toward anything you'd like.
My 2nd daughter (Maci) has some medical issues that stem from when I was pregnant with her. I'm a private person so I'm not going to spill all the beans about it on the internet, but I'll just say it's something that's required LOTS of doctor visits, hospital appointments, a neurologist, a physical and speech therapist, an EEG, an MRI, lots of bloodwork, and ongoing treatment that we're just getting started with. Needless to say, our family has LOTS and LOTS of medical bills! We're talking over $10,000 and she's only 16 months old. At one point about 6 months ago, we were paying 12 (yes, 12!) different doctors, hospitals, drug companies, or blood labs. A lot of our bills are due to crummy insurance, but there's nothing we can do about it and crummy insurance is better than no insurance so I try not to complain. It is what it is and luckily medical debt doesn't charge interest, so as long as we pay something the doctors will leave us alone.
Getting back to my point! My plan of attack when using coupons is simple. The face value (dollar amount) of coupons I use is what goes into savings. So, for example, if I go to Kroger and use $25 in coupons, I put $25 in savings as soon as I get home. If I use a coupon and it gets doubled, I put in the doubled amount, not the face value. Some weeks it's more, some less. Last week I did a tiny grocery trip and only used $6, but I still put $6 in savings when I got done. This small amount every week really adds up quickly if you stick with it. It also inspires you to try to use as many coupons as possible so you can deposit more into savings every week. At the end of every month I take that "coupon money" and apply it toward a doctor bill. It's an extra payment on top of what I normally pay them each month and I always pay the doctor with the smallest balance first so I have one less doctor to pay sooner. With the help of the money I save couponing we've been able to pay off half of our doctors and now only pay 6 facilities each month. The doctors we have left to pay are ones who we owe more than $1000 to so they're going to take a while. :)
The other money I add to savings includes 1)any free deals I get, 2)any 1/2 price deals I buy, 3)any survey money I earn. When combining all of these funds, I create a lot of extra money!
- If we rent a movie with a free rental code, I put $1 in savings. (Sounds dorky, but once again it adds up)
- When I bought my $20 Amazon gift card for $10, I put the other $10 in savings. Then, when I bought diapers on Amazon ($28.62 total) and paid with all gift cards, I put $28.62 in savings.
-When I earned $385 and a $25 Kroger gift card from surveys this month I put all that money into savings.
-When I redeemed my Visa Points for $50 Lowes g/c, $10 CVS g/c, and $10 Olive Garden g/c, I also deposited all of that money into savings!
I'm pretty hardcore when it comes to this because I refuse to be in debt! Basically, any deal I get that I would've otherwise spent money on, I put that amount into savings as if I did spend it.
So, grand total deposited into savings so far this month is:
CVS gift card redemption $10
Lowes gift card redemption $50
Olive Garden gift card redemption $10
Survey money/Kroger gift card $410
Amazon Gift Card Deal $10
Diaper Deal on Amazon $28.62
4 Free Movie Rentals $4
$6 in coupons used $6
Total in Savings $528.62
Hope this gives some of you an idea to maybe save your coupon money for either something you really want or some bills you need to pay down! Once again, there's no point couponing if you waste the money you save!! We're going to be adding a feature soon where you'll be able to see our savings goals and watch our progress as we get closer to them. Keeps us motivated and hopefully will motivate you, too!
**P.S. Think of me the next time you complain about getting a $25 doctor bill!lol I'll trade you anyday!**
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