Home » My Coupon Addiction

My Coupon Addiction

If you think clipping coupons is a big waste of time, I’m here to convince you that you are wrong!  I was once the biggest skeptic. No one was going to convince me that I could save money with coupons.  After all, coupons are all for brand name items and even with a coupon, they still cost more, right? Wrong again!

I started couponing in May of this year. I can’t remember the exact date, but I was prompted to give it a try when I read on Chrystie Corns I Love to Gossip blog that I could get free Vlassic relish at Shaw’s.  Hmmmm… my mother loves relish. 

I printed 4 coupons using my 2 computers.  I ran to the store.  The relish was on sale for $1 each.  The coupons were for 55¢ off.  I bought four jars and sure enough, after the coupons doubled, I got four jars of relish for FREE! 

But, that was only four jars of relish. Surely I was not going to go far on that. I drove home happy, just the same.  And I checked Chrystie’s blog several times a day. There always seemed to be more coupons, more great deals. Wacky Mac for pennies a bag. Raisin Bran for 59 cents a box. Salad dressing just 25 cents each. In a very short time, I had a pantry full of food.  It soon spilled over to a bedroom.

That’s how I started couponing. It all started with relish!

If you want a bedroom full of cheap, free, or near free food, follow my blog and “like” me on facebook at Deals by Darlene. I will show you how to get deals that you didn’t think were possible.

If you live near Sanford, Maine, you really MUST follow this blog because I will be giving you lots of tips specifically for Sanford stores.

You can see some of my early shopping trips here…

9 awesome items from Hannaford for only 65¢ total

First trip I was super duper happy about ’cause I got Gorton’s

$125.03 for just $5.97 and that includes cream and fresh berries

$100.50 for just $3.25… first time I try sorbet!

Just a few things for a couple bucks!

Whoopie!  Look at all I got for only $10.98… 9 items were FREE!!!

Hannaford road trip!!!  Hit 5 Hannaford’s and got ALL THIS for under $3.00

How I spent a Sunday afternoon and only spent $2.11

To see more shopping trips, use the Shopping Trips link at the top of the page.

And welcome to my blog! Please subscribe to my daily email so you never miss a deal!

  • Nan

    Hi Darlene,
    I’ve been couponing for almost a year and started following several blogs. I just found yours a couple of weeks ago and wanted you to know that I really enjoy it. Many of the others seem to be the same. There’s no indivuality. But I like your approach & sense of humor.
    I’m in NH & like all the Shaw’s tips. Many people think their prices are high, but their double coupon policy really gets some good deals.
    Oh, and my husband uses the Folgers bags and thinks they’re pretty good. I don’t drink coffee and it’s not worth making a pot, so they’re a good alternative. Lots cheaper than wasting coffee or buying one of those Keurig pots.
    Thanks for what you’re doing, Nan

    • Deals by Darlene

      Thank you so much for your comment! You made my day :O) I’m glad you enjoy my blog. And I’m always happy to meet another couponer! Please “like” me on facebook if you haven’t yet. I need all the followers I can get :O) http://www.facebook.com/dealsbydarlene

  • Wendy

    Hi,
    I have always used coupons, but now I am really getting into it! Even have made my own coupon holder to organize/store them. Just wanted to say “Thank you” and I appreciate what you do! :)

  • Nan

    I bought some of the chocolate flavored coffee creamer and my husband didn’t like it. I added it to milk and it made it really tasty.
    Love the ideas about the hamburger helper. Should have gotten more last week at .25 each. I’ll know better now.

  • http://savingstar.com SavingStar Grocery Coupons

    Thanks for the recent blog post about our customer service. We appreciate your feedback and willingness to share your experience with your readers!

    Josh from SavingStar

    • http://www.darlenemichaud.com Darlene

      Wow! I can’t believe you found that and took the time to leave me a nice comment! Thank you so much! Darlene

  • http://www.facebook.com/CouponsToTroops Lesley

    Great advice about sending expired coupons overseas, but I wanted to tell you about another option for doing so. Adopting your own overseas military family to send to, through CouponsToTroops (www.facebook.com/CouponsToTroops) The biggest advantage to sending directly to a military family is that they receive the coupons much quicker than going to a collection/distribution point either here in the US or there overseas, and when they receive quicker, they can use and save money that much quicker. It’s even the same postage cost to mail directly to a family overseas as it is to mail here in the states!!! To adopt a family, people can either visit our facebook page and submit their info on our form there or just email us at admin@couponstotroops.com

    :0) Thanks, Lesley

    • Deals by Darlene

      Thanks for this info!

  • MarieElena

    On the Musselman’s Apple Sauce and Apple Butter if you click real fast on your back button the go back to the page you sometimes can print out more than one coupon. I got two of each.

    • Deals by Darlene

      They always give two prints per coupon :O)

  • MarieElena

    I have string brochure of coupons from Bayers for Bayer Asprin, Aleve, Alka-Selzter cold remedy, Colon Health, diabeties meters, and Flintsone childrens vitamins. It say save up to $20 on these trusted brands. They sent it to me and I am not going to use it. It is good till 6/30/12. If you want it Darlene I will mail it to you. “M”

  • MarieElena

    Oh, Midol, Phillips, and One A Day Vitamins too.

  • MarieElena

    Free samples of Splenda Essentials on that site too.

  • Dawn

    Hi Darlene, Just sending you a huge thank you!! I just started couponing in November and have loads of drug store items stocked up. I was struggling with the groceries savings… that is until I found you a couple of weeks ago!!! I was thinking about how much you have helped me tonight when making dinner of items I got for dirt cheap or free. Above all, it was healthy! Until reading our blog, I couldn’t find deals on healthy food. Thanks so very much!! You rock!!

    • Deals by Darlene

      Thanks so much for your comment! I can’t tell you how happy it makes me that I’m able to help others like those before me helped me!

  • Lisa

    Hi Darlene! It is so nice to see local blogs about local stores and the deals to be found right here in New England. I’m in NH and have been couponing since 2008. Back then, there were very few local couponing blogs or websites. Most websites about couponing dealt mostly with Kroger Grocery stores LOL.

    I’m not an extreme couponer, I consider myself a moderate couponer. I just try to get the best deals or save money as much as I can. However, thanks to couponing, we were able to pay off our Jeep (bought it brand new) 2 years early. We were also able to pay off my student loan 2 years early.

    I’m so glad to have found your blog. I’ll be checking it regularly.

    • Deals by Darlene

      I think you are extreme! Saving the kind of money you saved to allow you to pay off a Jeep and school loans two years early is awesome!

  • Tami

    Hi Darlene, I live in Windham, ME and I use the Shaw’s grocery store here in Windham. I have gotten some awesome deals. In July I really got some great deals on the condiments. All free. I buy two newspapers per week and print out coupons during the week. When I did the weekly grocery trip, a lot of the times I couldn’t resist items on sale even if I didn’t have that coupon. Well now, I am pretty good at walking away. I try supper hard to buy the items I need when they are on sale and I have a coupon for it. Now there are times I will need that item and I will just use my coupon. I have been playing Shaws big give away. In January I got all of the game pieces I needed to win one of the $100.00 gift cards. Shaws called me this week on Monday, today I went and picked up my $100.00 gift card. That $100.00 will be used for grocery bill tomorrow. Thank you for your website and all you do with the coupon match ups. I too watched Chyristie Corns. She inspired me to get back with my couponing. I’m from AZ. Born and raised there. In AZ we used to have about 10 different grocery stores. Safeway was fanastic to get deals at. They would put out a store coupon book. Nothing but coupons. My mom and I would stack manufactured coupons with the store coupon way back in 1991-1993. We always found some great deals. We hadn’t figured out about stock piling back then. I have used coupons off and on all my life. But now its just part of my daily ritual.Thank you again, Tami Tompkins 2/2/2012

    • Anonymous

      Hi Tami! Thanks for sharing on my blog. I wish you much success in the coupon world. Sounds like you are a pro. How I wish I would have started years ago!