Hi & Welcome to Save The Coupons! I wanted to take a few minutes to tell you all about me… My Name is Sue… Ive been a stay at home mom (for about 8 years now) to 3 beautiful kiddos, Jessica 13, Zachary 10 and Bobby 5. I also have 2 step daughters, Krista who is 25 and Tina who is 22, both girls are married…Tina is amazing and is going to be making myself & DH grandparents in a few months!! I’m very excited for her, Tina is going to be an excellent Mommy! Zachary is a great boy and just discovering who he is in life =) Jessica is in middle school and a huge help to me…especially when it comes to caring for my littlest one, Bobby. Bobby has Down Syndrome and can be quite a challenge at times! He doesn’t talk, and keeps me super busy with the many Therapies and Doctors appointments. He wears me out a lot, and Jessica is always willing to play mommy for a bit and give me a break when I need one! My wonderfully supportive husband Bob (DH) is well…wonderful…and I love him sooo much! Bob works in the Automotive industry, and car guys unfortunately have really really long hours…like 9 to 9 everyday…so I miss him lots when hes at work! I LOVE the Lord!!! I’m a spirit filled Christian and I try to live my life the way I think the Lord would want me to, being positive, bringing up my kids knowing Him and teaching my family to be a light in the world.
Before I was a stay at home mom, I was a Pastry Chef and Wedding Cake Decorator. I still love to bake and create in the kitchen, Ive been blessed as well that my husband raves about my cooking and baking! You may see me post pictures of cakes Ive made and yummy treats here and there, whenever I make a cake I always take pictures for my portfolio. I may post a recipe every once and a while too! When Bob and I made the decision for me to stay at home we obviously went from 2 incomes to 1…which wasn’t easy. We had to make alot of sacrifices…We didn’t eat out nearly as much, I didn’t go to the Mall like I used to and buy things on a whim anymore, and as we tightened up the budget I tried to be a smarter shopper.
I have to admit though it took me a few years of being the “at home mommy” before I started to use coupons. I would shop at Walmart every week and think I was saving a ton of money because Walmart “has the lowest prices, always”. I never had an opinion about coupons and I never thought about them, period. But after a while I saw how crazy our budget was, I was spending almost $1000 a month on groceries and other necessities every month for a family of 5 (sometimes more)! That’s so CRAZY! At the time though, my husband and I thought we really were spending smart! A few years ago when the economy began to change and the auto industry took a down turn, Bobs income began to drop some and we needed to find a way to compensate. We needed more income, and we needed to find it in the budget we had…so that we had more money to meet our other needs, Doctor bills, car payment, heat, gas….
I began doing some research online on how to save money and discovered the exciting world of couponing! I started collecting coupons and made a coupon binder, I also began to build a stockpile and month by month I was able to reduce our monthly grocery budget! It went from $1000 a month to $800 and then $700 and then $600 and each month as I built up our stockpile larger the amount I spent became less and less until finally I was down to spending about $300 a month! I was very proud to have slashed our grocery budget from $1000 a month to just $300! 70% is awesome! I found a way to find extra money in our budget and I learned a whole new lifestyle! It became a game…how little can I pay? The rush rocks!
When I would go grocery shopping my favorite cashiers would praise me when I checked out and people in line would ask how I was able to save so much. I had friends who would ask me to show them how to coupon or if I knew of a deal on something. After a while I started thinking that I should share this with more people and so In March of 2010 I built Save The Coupons! Ive had a great time writing this blog and Ive enjoyed meeting fellow couponers too! Ive developed a passion for helping others find the missing money in their budgets. Over the last 2 years Ive really felt like God has put it on my heart to help others learn how to coupon, there are so many people who struggle with their finances and who need to find a way to stretch a buck, I want to help them and you find the way….Save The Coupons is here just for that reason!!
