Here it is, another "ON AIR" installment! I am loving this, and hope you are too! If there is someone you think would be great for me to do an "ON AIR" interview with for you guys, please let me know:)Today, we get to sit down with Extreme Coupon Canada's Veronica to find out a little about how she got started, and what tips she has for other couponers! ENJOY!
How long have you been "extreme couponing" and how did you get started?
I've been couponing for years now, but never to an "extreme" level -- I'd use coupons here and there, and knew enough to use them on good sale prices, but never to the extent that I am couponing today. I realized this week that I have been a member of the Shoppers Drug Mart Optimum Plan for almost 8 years now! I guess I became an "extreme couponer" when I became pregnant with my daughter in 2009 -- faced with a lower income during my maternity leave, I began stockpiling products and applying some couponing best practices from that point. I started to become more organized and more enthusiastic about couponing in May of 2011 -- thanks, of course, to that darn show! I love it and I hate TLC's Extreme Couponing, at the same time.
How did ECC come to be?
Extreme Coupon Canada is the brainchild of a group of friends who met online and love to coupon. We enjoyed reading the Canadian coupon sites we had come across, but found that a lot of them were either missing something or were not focused enough for our needs. We wanted to create a sassy, memorable blog that focuses on grocery and household deals, posted as quickly as possible for our readers. We work hard to provide unique content that you cannot find elsewhere -- in November, we compiled a list of over 1,000 Club Sobeys coupons for our members to use until the end of December 2011! I am pretty pleased with the direction ECC is taking and I hope our fans can say the same. :)
If you could only coupon at ONE store for an entire year, which store would it be and why?
If you could only coupon at ONE store for an entire year, which store would it be and why?
Hands down, easily, Shoppers Drug Mart. SDM has a bit of a reputation for having ridiculous prices, and for a lot of items, they do -- but you really cannot beat their Optimum Points system and if you know how to properly match up their GREAT sales to a coupon, then you are set. I find SDM to be a challenge, but it keeps me on my toes and when I can walk out of the store with 20,000 bonus points (that's worth over $50 on MEGA REDEMPTION weekend!) for less than $20 out of my pocket, it feels great. Every Extreme Couponer would be doing themselves a great service to learn how to take advantage of the Shoppers Optimum program. Like we say, ECC LOVES Shoppers Drug Mart!
What would be one piece of advice you would give a new couponer that you wish you had been given when you started?
The best piece of advice that I can give would be the same advice I received at my father's knee when I was a kid: "Measure Twice, Cut Once". Spend a good portion of your time researching and learning how to coupon and take advantage of deals before you try to get a cartload of product for free. You are going to spend more than you need to in the beginning, and you are going to make mistakes, so if you spend twice as much time learning how to coupon as you do actually couponing, I think you are going to be ahead of the game. It's a good idea to get some couponing mentorship if you're just starting off -- be it from online sites or a friend in real life. Couponing -- especially Extreme Couponing -- can be very time consuming and overwhelming at first, so take your time!
What suggestions would you have for someone with a busy schedule that wants to start couponing?
What suggestions would you have for someone with a busy schedule that wants to start couponing?
Well, let me say that part-time couponing is hard -- it doesn't take much to make it a full-time job! I would suggest that anyone with a busy schedule try to focus on only a few areas of savings at a time. Don't put too much on your plate and know your limitations. For example, if you only focus on getting really good household and HABA (health/beauty) deals, then you are freeing up your cash for your grocery bills and savings while you save your money on shampoo, deodorant, toilet paper, and so on. I would also recommend stockpiling -- saving up at least six months' worth of product purchased at the very best price. That way, once you have "mastered" one part of couponing, you can move on to another area and you can live off your stockpile. For six months of the year, stock up and save on HABA/Household products and live off your stockpiled groceries. Then, for the other six months, live off your HABA/Household products and focus on stocking up and saving on your groceries!
Quick! Choose one....food, water, or coupons?!?! lol
Quick! Choose one....food, water, or coupons?!?! lol
You're too funny! I guess I'd have to say coupons -- because, as we all know, you can find a coupon for pretty much anything, including food and water. ;)
Thanks so much for the interview! I really enjoyed answering your questions and hope you enjoyed my answers!
I absolutely enjoyed your answers Veronica, and I think our readers will too! Thanks so much for taking the time to share this with Save Big, Live Better!
Stay tuned for more installments of "ON AIR with..." in the new year!
HAPPY SAVING:)
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