Meet All You Super Saver Jeannie Ewing! We chatted with this New Paris, Indiana mom, who gets paid to take surveys and finds surprising deals in her own backyard.
Q: Who is in your household?
A: My husband, Ben, 33 and my daughter, Felicity, 2. And we have one more on the way.
Q: Why did you get started with couponing?
A: I’d always wanted to become a stay-at-home mom at some point, so when I lost my school counseling job in 2009, it was just an early opportunity for my family to learn how to live comfortably on one income.
Related: 15 Ways to Stretch Your Budget at Home
Q: How did you know where to begin?
A: We first took a detailed look at our finances to see where we could cut back on unnecessary spending. I realized that the easiest place to start was our food budget, so I learned how to clip coupons as well as buy in bulk and stockpile.
My husband and I also decided to plant a vegetable garden in our backyard. Neither of us knew how to garden, but we figured it out by trial and error! We bought two garden-bed kids for $20 each, and the seeds we started with were a dollar per pack. I bought some canning equipment and had a friend teach me how to preserve our supply.
I also froze some of it for soups and stews and stores it in the deep freezer that we keep in the garage. We were so successful with our freezing efforts that we then purchased another, larger deep freezer and ordered a pig from a local butcher so we could save money on meat. We tell him what cuts we like, and he sections the pig and wraps up our choices. For around $300 we get about nine months’ worth of meat.
Related: How to Slash Your Grocery Bill by $30 Per Week
Q: How much do you save on groceries each month?
A: Our efforts cut our bill from $400 per month for two people to $200 per month for three people.
Q: How much time do you spend couponing and looking for ways to save?
A: I spend 30 minutes each morning, before my daughter wakes up, filling out surveys online for points, scouring blogs and daily deal sites, and visiting coupon sites.
Q: What are your best sources for savings?
A: My favorite sites are BargainsToBounty.com, where I find grocery deals at my local stores, and SheSaved.com. I also usually shop at Aldi, CVS and Meijer, and I peruse the Sunday circulars.
Q: How else do you supplement your budget?
A: Thirteen years ago, I joined MySurvey.com, where you fill out questionnaires to earn points that you can put toward cash or gift cards. I’m also a member of ExpoTV.com, which pays you to record and upload videos with your opinion about products you regularly buy. They sometimes even send you brand-new items to review and keep — I once got a huge bag of dog food for free! In about two months, I earned enough points to get a $100 Amazon gift certificate.
Q: How has couponing changed the way you shop?
A: These days, I rarely pay full price unless it’s an emergency. We even saved on our new bed. My husband found an online coupon code for the model we chose, and it helped us save around $250. I didn’t even have to tell him to look for it!
Related: How to Use Half to Save Double
What ways do you save money on household expenses?
