The Basics of Extreme Couponing, Class Overview

I actually remember when I was first introduced to coupons.  I was 16, and my friend Sara and I were at the laundromat.  There was a box full of coupon inserts that people could peruse while waiting for their whites.  I'd never really 'seen' a coupon until then, because growing up my mother bought nothing name brand.  Sara explained the seemingly simple process of how you give the cashier a coupon that matches up with the item you buy, and they take some money off your bill.  Sara told me of her aunt, who used tons of coupons and saved tons of money.  I took a coupon for Wrigley's gum from that box, in much the same way one buys a lottery ticket after hearing about a friend of a friend winning.

I shortly lost the coupon.  I guess after that I figured extreme couponing was some fabled activity, and I hadn't consider it much since.

Until today, that is, when I went to an Extreme Couponing Class held by Arizona Republic (our major area newspaper.)  After the demonstration ended, I left realizing extreme couponing isn't the mystical 'lottery game' it used to be.  The demonstrator presented a unified method of how to locate the sales at stores and match them to coupons, how to collect and organize coupons, and how to stock up on items to last until the next sale cycle.  She also shared with us how she personally shops, and gave tips and information that would allow anyone to do the same.

Finally, anyone could take on the intricate and obfuscated world of coupons and come out on top!

Part of this magic is in the promoted website, azsmartbuys.com.  AZsmartbuys.com, the Arizona area site from Grocerysmarts.com, does all the homework for you, providing sales from area stores (think those with their own flyers) and coupon match ups with those sales, all with an excel table format with 'discount' ratings, list making and print options.  This site is like talking to 8 great couponing friends, each with their favorite store to shop at, and being given the inside scoop on the best deals from each of them every week.   By unifying all the information into one site, it takes almost no time to locate super sales.

The organization method offered during the class was simple.  The website refers to coupons by which of the 3 coupon flyers they are in and the week they were sent out.  By using a simple 3 folder system, one for each flyer type, all you do is stash the coupons.  When the website says "use this coupon", you search just that flyer and clip away!

The aspect of stocking up for the sale cycles sounded like the hardest part, as space in a house is usually at a premium.  However, it will save you money.  By couponing on sales and buying enough to get you to the next sale, you save the most money per product.  In explaining the concept to my S.O., I came up with this example:

Let's say at the start of the year you buy your favorite brand of peanut butter on sale with a coupon for just $0.25 a jar.  You now have payed only $0.25 per jar for your favorite peanut butter!  But then you eat it.  If you only bought one, you now have to go to the store and buy more of your favorite peanut butter, but at full price, about $2.00.  Well, $0.25+$2.00= $2.25 / 2 jars = $1.13 per jar.  Your cost per jar just jumped by four!  Now I, the non-couponer, go to the store knowing I can't store 3 months of peanut butter (though in truth, I would MAKE room for peanut butter) and I don't have any coupons. I buy two of the $1.25 jars of store-brand peanut butter, and average $1.25 per jar for the same number of jars.  To summarize, this is what we pay:

Extreme Couponer -     $  .25 per jar of favorite brand peanut butter
Couponer -                   $1.13 per jar of favorite brand peanut butter
Non-couponer -            $1.25 per jar of store-brand peanut butter

So, while extreme couponing may not be for everyone, the math supports that if and when you get it working, you can have a lot of fun with extra money, surrounded by your super-affordable goodies.  The only things you need are a source of coupons, storage space for stocking up on goods, and organization skills to keep track of your purchases (to make sure food doesn't go to waste).  I won't be playing this game myself right now, as I cannot physically store the goods that make extreme couponing extreme, but I found the event entertaining and informational, and came away with some great ideas.

If your family uses packaged foods and goods, you should check this out.  If your family uses a lot of name-brand and packaged foods and goods, you have to check this out.   It will be worth your time.  Free seminars are being regularly scheduled in the AZ area.  Just go to AZsmartbuys.com, and click on your area to see if there are any upcoming events near you!  The classes are free to you, and there are dozens of tips and tricks I learned that will aid even my not-so-extreme shopping.  If you decide to jump into the Extreme Couponing, the AZ Republic is able to offer you, at these classes only, a special multi-paper subscription to get the multiple coupons.

Frugal Yoga: Getting Started

So, between January cloudy skies and being diagnosed with arthritis, I decided I had to do something to get my groove back.  I've experienced a lot of different types of exercise in my life, and in light of everything going on in my life, I decided to get back into yoga.  

Why yoga? First of all, yoga has been practiced by a variety of people over thousands of years.  No one has died from too much yoga, to my knowledge.  I believe it helped me when I had done it before, and in general: if people keep doing yoga, yoga obviously does something for people.  

Secondly, I know for a fact that aches and pains lessen with yoga (and most mild exercises, in general).  Regular exercise is shown to help reverse joint stiffness, as well as build up muscle and promote normal joint movement.  This means you become stronger and don't suffer fatigue as fast, which makes for more active and productive days.  

Thirdly, yoga is cheap.  Don't think so?  Then you've read too much yoga-hype and haven't looked around your house or your community.  Any expense from yoga is in one of three areas - classes/retreats/dues and educational material, clothing, or gear, and every one of those can be done for free or close to if you try hard enough.  

Classes CAN get up to $20-30 a pop, but free or affordable community yoga classes are often also available.  Check with your local yoga schools/gyms, libraries, or community centers.  I started doing yoga because a class was offered for free by my work.  Yours doesn't do that? I highly recommend you recommend something similar to your boss, as a morning yoga really does improve the rest of your day's productivity.  Usually you can find at least a 'free first class' with no obligation for a Yoga class series, which helps you figure out some basics.  If you have friends also interested in yoga, pool together a few bucks to afford an instructor to teach the group in someone's basement.  Otherwise, you can get online guides, videos and tutorials from the internet for nothing.  Go to your local library and check out their yoga books and DVD's.  There are quite a few free apps for phones, too, with poses and insight.  You will more than likely be able to make a routine for yourself and get to try new things.

*Update:  Check out these free yoga lesson videos / sites compiled by freebies.about.com.  I like how some of them are super-sortable - by time, types, and experience level.  

And how does one go on a yoga retreat for nothing, you ask?  Easy.  First, clean your house.  Declutter at least the area you yoga in.  The less stuff in the area, the more restful your eyes are.  For music in the background of your sessions, go to a music site like Grooveshark.com, and look for "yoga", "relaxation", "meditation", or "nature music".  Or, for some fresh takes on meditation music, look up artists like DJ Drez, Thievery Corporation, Lykke Li, or Desert Dwellers.  Just play music from your phone (placed in a glass bowl if you need it to be louder) or exercise near the computer.  Want some appealing scents?  Skip incense and candles (too smoky) and consider getting crafty by making aroma goodies like potpourri, Homemade Gel Air Freshners, or scentsy-styled heated aromas.  Keep the lighting low and make it uplighting if you can.  Want a really cool lighting effect  Hang a white sheet on the wall so it reaches the floor, and stick a lamp behind it so the light goes up the wall and is diffused with the sheet.  Put images of nature or natural things on the walls to look at while you breath, as it has been shown even looking at a picture of nature creates a sense of calm in humans.  Clip these from outdoor magazines, or look for posters at the thrift shop.  If you have any potted plants, move then to where you yoga.  Take any mirrors you can move and lean them against the walls / hang them in the area.  

The second cost, workout clothing, should NOT set you back $50 for a pair of pants.  I did my yoga in a pair of stretchy thin cotton pajama bottoms that cost my $0.80 at the thrift store - I went on Dollar Clothing Tag Day and had a 20% coupon, naturally.  I do recommend you find your pants in black (you are working out, after all, and should sweat a bit.)  Tank tops or sports bras are fine for covering your torso, so long as you can stretch out in it and not flash anybody.  Just make sure your clothing isn't too baggy, so (if in class or if looking in mirror) your actual body outline can be seen, to make sure you have proper alignment.

And the third cost, equipment, is the most over-inflated of them all.  You don't need a $30 starter kit with mats, blocks, and straps.  All you NEED for yoga is some comfortable open floor space.  Seriously.   All the yoga-related “stuff” you can get helps promote comfort and variety while exercising, but aren't required for most basic yoga.  If you really want to have all the stuff to perform all the moves, it is possible to make things work in place of the store bought item, like using a towel instead of a mat, or a bathrobe belt instead of yoga belt.  Assuming you have an average household of stuff, I realized you could make-shift most yoga equipment for a grand total of $0.33.  If you have a tennis ball floating around already, you could make-shift it all for free.  Don't believe me?  Check out my post on it here. 

So, since I can't seem to sleep past 5am lately, I'm going to start my own Frugal Yoga style, and save myself from stiffness and stress.  I'll post patterns, positions, and success rates as I do this.  It's all about motivation, really.  

Here are some other tips for anyone else wanting to get into yoga but not sure where to start: 

• Take one class before committing to any series of classes - usually the first one is the 'free' hook, and will let you know if you like it.
• Take a friend or spouse with you if possible – exercising with a partner motivates you to keep up with it.
• Call ahead before a first class to see if you need to bring anything - mat, belts, etc.
• Make sure to bring a water bottle.
• You will probably feel relaxed but energized afterword - try plan the time of yoga to make use of that feeling.  
• If you do yoga at home, set it for when you aren't likely to be distracted by anyone or anything making noise/needing your attention.

If you are arthritic or have some difficulty moving:

• Consider gentle or restorative forms of yoga like Iyengar, rather than more active Bikram, Astanga, or power yoga.
• Avoid poses that involve balancing on one foot, like the tree pose, or bending the knee more than 90 degrees, like the frog pose. Modify these poses to fit your flexibility limitations.
• Do 60 percent of what you feel capable of doing at first, and then build up the degree of stretching or speed.
• Find an instructor/source that offers ways to modify poses.
• Have blocks or other props to assist with modifications.

Free Magazines and How To Actually Read Them

I am currently receiving multiple free magazine subscriptions in my mailbox, and I realize I feel kinda guilty.  Not for getting them free (hah!), but because there are more eco-friendly ways to receive the same kind of information.  But, then I think about all the crazy good things I can do with them, and I hope things will balance.  So, I share with you today how to score free magazines AND what to do with them afterwards!

Magazine companies make money more from the ads in them more than the subscription fee.  For this reason, sometimes it is advantageous for the company to give out subscriptions to increase its 'subscriber's base' and so make more money on the ads.  

::FREE SUBSCRIPTIONS::

1. Go to deal websites like www.hip2save.com  and check out their freebie pages.  I know Hip2Save has a special tab just for magazines under their freebie tab.  These sites post recent 'free magazine' subscription offers, through other websites or deals, and often specify each as 'no cost/no obligation'.

2.  Some of the sites that those sites are sending you to, like https://mercurymagazines.com, offer free subscriptions to 'businesses'.  Make sure to provide an email you don't mind getting some ads in as the site does send 'further offers' email.  Others will have you perform a survey and get 'points' that you use toward subscriptions.

3.  Special sites let you collect or earn points, and these can be cashed in for magazine subscriptions among other things.  Cokerewards.com is one for the soda pop drinker (or one with access to a recycle center).   Recyclebank.com is a great site for accumulating information on recycling and reduction while being rewarded for it.

4.  Share with neighbors if you each get a magazine or 4 that the other is interested in.  Organize a day where you each deliver the previous months mags and you can meet up and swap, or leave on the back door.  Arrange ahead of time if you or the neighbor wants them back.

::READING TIME::

1.  Now that you are receiving a nice collection of magazines, make sure to READ THEM.  Keep them around where you end up with spare minutes.  Keep 'quick reads' with short articles in the car, fitness mags in your gym bag, and household mags near your couch.

2.  Take note of the ideas you enjoy in them.  I will take phone pictures of the articles or recipes that I like, so I have a digital account of what I like.  You can then Pinterest them.

3.  Cut out ideas or recipes IF AND ONLY IF you have a place to keep them organized.  Otherwise, they will just become paper clutter.  I keep recipes to digitize/use in a folder by my cook books (gone through once a month).  Articles I keep in a shoe box by the magazines by the couch, also gone through once a month. If you see an idea that you want to share with someone, cut it out and send it with a personal letter to them (snail mail is still meaningful, and everyone likes knowing someone is thinking of them.)