Anyone in the Charlotte NC area

[FirefightersWife13]

& I have a hobby of saving money :) I love to spend it as much as I save it but id rather be spending it on the "fun" things, with that being said I thought I did an ok job with my groceries UNTIL I came here But I have been reading, and reading and reading and apparently still cant grasp this which is ridiculous Im a fulltime college student you think learning would come easy at this point...LOL SO is there anyone in the Charlotte NC area that would like to mentor me?? I am just "not getting" the whole concept and its frustrating me at this point so I was thinking if I had someone show me exactly how they do it I may grasp it a bit more.... at least thats what Im hoping for... ;)

[wealthybarney]

I don't possess enough skills to do so. Have been here 3 months. BUT, I wanted to encourage you.
I felt exactly the same way, & not having computer skills enough to know how to navigate even to find the newbie basics forum, I wrote an administrator & asked that she delete my membership.

Good thing she talked me out of it. But I felt sooo lacking in the trader in training group that when I did ask for rare help, I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND THEIR ANSWER & WAS TOO EMBARRASSED TO ASK a second time. No, once I DID ask a second time for clarification & STILL did not understand it-making me feel worse.

I mention the following to let you know that I completely sympathize & understand how you feel:
I felt more than dumb for the first time in my life. I suppose my career choice would be considered for the intelligent, and only 1% are chosen for my field specialty & are able to hack it.

Then, I wondered if I wasn't dumb-maybe I had an early adult stroke! I am not kidding-I cried & cried (And I usually don't cry for years at a time)
that I just wasn't creative & possibly brain impaired.
I am neither.
This site has been said by MANY to be hard to navigate. Good thing she talked me out of it. I have saved $980 since Jan 22nd.

I am starting to get it, & I have 30 trades posted, 8 not because I didn't know you could pm the person & ask for feedback. All trade feedback of mine has been good. I have been probably too generous as I have been told.

One thing that might be helpful was that I printed up the abbreviation page.
I love the "post your first brag" thread. They show the Q's, the price & the sale combo & math, & I would find something from there I needed, & then duplicate it.

Hope this helps, & please don't give up.
You have an understanding new friend in Washington State. I may not be able to help you, but I can listen if you want to vent.

[FirefightersWife13]

Thanks :) I know if i stick with it, I WILL get it, and I can shop like theres no tomorrow when it comes to sales but something about combining the coupons and such and such its like it becomes foreign..LOL I've been on here reading alittle bit each day all week and Im going to continue to do so till I get it, b/c I know once I get it its going to seem like 2nd nature and Im going to wonder what was so complicated at first...
Thanks for the encouragement :D

[cookin4less]

Hi , don't get discouraged and stick with it. There is so much info on here and it can get a bit overwhelming to begin with. So, don't try to do too much at one time. Just pick one store and read that store's forum for a while. Check the sales for that week and match your q's with it, to try to get the lowest price possible. When you find a product that you use that you can get free or almost then buy as much of it as you can that you know you will be able to use it and will have room to store it til you do.

Some of the stores with alot of extra rewards to keep up with can be harder to get a grip on so if you are having a hard time then don't start with those (CVS and Walgreens for instance)...which I know alot of couponers will tell you to start with them but I wouldn't if you are not getting it. Start with your grocery store and just concentrate on matching the q's and sales until you are comfortable with that and are seeing a savings over what you were already doing without the q's.

After you get that then pick another store and work on adding them in one at a time. Even the most extreme couponers had to start somewhere, it doesn't happen overnight.

I'm not in NC, but I would be glad to help you out anytime. You can add me to your friends list (if you want) to make it easier to find me and then just pm me when you need help and I will get back to you ASAP...I'm on here almost everyday. And don't let wealthybarney fool you, she may not be a computer whiz but when you explain it to her she does get it...she has a wishlist link in her siggy to prove it.

Good luck and don't give up...your right after a while it will seem like second nature.

[tmsmalley]

Maybe this will help a bit. The magic formula is coupon + sale + stockpile. You're probably getting hung up because you're trying to go straight from zero to sixty in one shot. Don't start with things like CVS bucks and WAGs RRs. Start with the grocery store you usually shop at and MAYBE one drug store if you really want to. Don't try to get every money-making super buy. Focus on the stuff you normally use and focus on getting it for a lot less than you normally would.

For example, let's say you like Pantene shampoo. You normally buy a bottle at a time for $3.99 each. Now that you're couponing, you're going to collect Pantene coupons when you see them and be ready to pounce when it goes on sale at the grocery store. Instead of getting 1 bottle when it does go on sale, you're going to get 6 bottles with your 6 coupons AND the sale price and save, save, save!

Once you get the hang of it, then you can get more complicated and get into the whole CVS, WAGS things, price matching, trading, MIRs, etc. etc.

Tess

[FirefightersWife13]

Thanks ladies!! Im going to keep giving it a shot and keep reading and hopefully here soon I'll be a pro ;)

[littlelilith]

I'm in the Charlotte area, or at least close.. Mooresville. Are you in Charlotte, or nearby? I'm also new to the couponing thing.

[dmw6879]

I am still new here really. So I would not be the greatest mentor. But I am heavily into coupons, and I live in NC. I'm near Wilmington. I'd be happy to help as much as I could. : )

[dorothy704]

I'm in Mt Holly, and I'm new too, so a lot doesn't make sense to me. I'd be happy to share what knowledge I do have of it. Maybe in our case two heads would be better than one...lol. We can both learn it together.

[Blondiinc]

I am in Statesville and shop Statesville and Mooresville. I have to say also... start small at something like CVS. I stopped doing the deals for a while and had to start over myself. At first..you have to spend a bit. I started off buying one paper with coupons and then two, three and now getting ready to do four papers. I just did one card and tried to do the money makers with the highes.t ECBs and keep rolling them. Today, I went to two CVS stores here and with ECB's and coupons..and clearance..I got over $100 dollars worth of stuff for $11 out of pocket. I have around $35 in ecb's between two cards for next week. Look for coupons here..online, papers, magazine, tear pads in stores and stickies and wine tags in store. You can even purchase coupons if you wish on Ebay.(I haven't purchased any myself)