Kelly’ Coupon Story

A little history – I’ve been a SAHM for a little over three years (DS is six and DD is four). Prior to my domestic diva title, I was a “marketeer” for the largest hamburger joint in the nation who has a clown for a mascot. I loved my job, loved the travel, liked the people, and loved my salary – so when I finally accepted the call to stay at home (…you can only argue with God for so long…) our family had to make some MAJOR changes to the way we were living and to our budget.

Don’t get me wrong, our little family is what I would call thrifty. We shopped on the sale racks, had a Costco membership, didn’t live beyond our means, ate at home most of the time, had a savings account, etc….but, we weren’t what I would call frugal or a family with a financial plan. (And we sure didn’t coupon – what a waste of time – or so I thought.)

Okay, fast forward to the moment I was “thrown” on to the couponing highway…December 2008. You all remember when the economy came to a SCREECHING halt and everyone was boo-hoo’ing because 401Ks and home prices were dropping in value. Well on top of all that cryin’ (cause I was cryin’ about that too), I watched DH remodeling business hit the brakes.

People were scared and holding on to every dime they had and while DH was doing everything in his power to bring in work – there wasn’t a lot of work to be found. So, consequently, there wasn’t a lot of money coming in and there were still bills – so we tapped into our savings account (thank goodness we had one) – and watched as it diminished in value too. So there I was – at rock bottom and I didn’t know how long the economic downturn was going to last. I knew something had to change. DH was doing everything he could – so it was my turn to do everything possible to cut expenses so we could stay afloat.

Now, I did what most Americans do when they have a question and need an answer – I prayed and I went to the internet. I stumbled on to Stephanie Nelson’s Couponmom.com website, read both of her e-books (which I HIGHLY recommend to all coupon newbies), joined the couponmom forum, started having the Sunday paper delivered, made a price book, and bought a big hanging file folder box for my inserts.

After completing all those tasks, I was ready for a ton of FREE or nearly FREE items – kind of like magic in a bottle – during my first month of couponing. Unfortunately there wasn’t much magic, it was more like a small puff of smoke – but I didn’t go over budget. So, I tried again next month and then next and kept growing my stockpile – while making a gazillion mistakes – and becoming addicted to the couponmom forum boards, CVS, Hen House (bless double coupons), and K-Mart Double Coupon Days (bless-bless double coupons.)

And I started talking about my couponing addiction – because by this point it was an addiction – to my friends and family, basically anyone who would listen….and they started talking about it with their friends, who talked about it to their friends, and then I started to send email with deal listings…and, you get the picture. And in August of 2009, Kansas City Mamas was born.