My Coupon/Refund Story

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This is My Coupon/Refund Story

I got married young, at the age of 16. My mom had always used coupons and sent off for refunds but I didn't really pay much attention to it. When I got married she introduced me to the hobby and gave me a box of cut and sorted coupons as well as some refund forms and the qualifiers that I need to go with them. This was in 1982.

I was hooked right away. Not long after I found out about Refunding Makes Cents magazine and subscribed to it. It was all over then! LOL
I just bloomed in my coupon/refund hobby. I made trades, trades, and more trades, and was able to continually mail in for more coupons, free products or refund checks.

In 1985 my husband got a job in Oklahoma City and we moved from here in Kansas. It didn't take me long to find fellow refunders in the area. Most of them I found in ads in the RMC magazine and looked them up. I had so much fun, especially with one of the gals that I met. We would drive around looking at the curb side trash for refunding treasure!
While living in Oklahoma City is also when I attended my first refund convention. Boy, when I walked in there di I feel totally unprepared! These women had brought boxes and boxes of things to sell and trade. All I had was a handful of items. Thankfully, it was a 2 day convention and I was able to pick up lots of forms that I could go home and make my own complete deals with to trade the next day.
I attended a couple more conventions there in OKC before we moved back to Kansas.

Once back in Kansas, my hobby was still alive. I started my own form exchange, advertising it in RMC. I had several subscribers, who paid to get the monthly list of what forms I had available, plus they mailed me forms for credit. After a few months I added a qualifier exchange to the mix.
I can still see that huge flat box that I kept under my bed with the forms and qualifiers nicely filed to fill orders. My mind slips me as to how or when I quit doing the exchange.

By now I am divorced and remarried, and missing those conventions like you wouldn't believe! I see one on OKC. I convince my new husband to drive us to OKC so that I can attend. It was loads of fun, we camped at a nearby KOA, although I left him for hours to entertain the children 5 of them) while I went to the convention.
Once home, I decided to start hosting my own conventions, which I did, with great success until they were "outlawed" I had them 4 years in a row before that happened.

At my last convention everyone was talking about the internet. It had just begun at that point to spread worldwide. They were talking of how many coupons and things there were getting on the computer. I was really jealous! LOL
In 1996, we finally got the internet at home. You know what the first thing I did was.....started searching for Kellogg's, Proctor & Gamble etc to get ahold of some of these coupons. I ended up finding a lot more than coupon related stuff...the rest of that story is history. hehe.

Here it is 2008. A lot has changed over the years. Coupons that are in the paper seem to expire before you barely have a chance to use them. Gone are the days of no expiration date. Forms to send for refunds are nearly non-existant. But, I plug away. I sit here today with piles of Sunday inserts that need to be cut and sorted. I tend to work on cutting and sorting coupons while I am doing my other things on the internet.

I use a website forum to match sales ads with coupons which has been a real blessing. I belong to a few coupon trading groups on yahoogroups as well as a private trading group. I occasionally check in on some of the other coupon/refund boards as well. About the only refund I do each month is the Walgreens in the form of adding it to my Walgreens gift card. At least there is still that. I picked up a refund flyer at Dollar General yesterday. I am always on the lookout for refund offers, especially for food.

I imagine that I will always consider myself to be a coupon/refunder despite the lack of materials. I have recently enjoyed reading others savings stories to encourage myself to keep up with my coupon cutting and sorting.

Thanks for reading my story.

Enjoy the links below that are coupon related. Ebay is a great place to buy coupons that you can use as well as sell coupons that you don't need.

Do you have a good coupon website or forum that you use? Please add it to the list below.

***Intro photo belongs to me, purchased through fotolia.com and uses fotolio's standard license***

****All photos on this page are copyright Lensmaster Marsha32 unless stated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. ****

Baby Coupons

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Here are my coupons, ready to be cut and sorted into my box.

Coupon Related on Amazon

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Fast Food Coupons

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Here is the notebook I use. I have sewn through pages to divide the coupons, then put them in by abc order. It's much easier this way to flip through the pages to find what I am looking for and to see the dates to take them out once they expire.

Pet Coupons

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Health and Beauty Coupons

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Food Coupons

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Visit my Blog

I blog on a variety of subject....squidoo lenses, host giveaways, coupon alerts, my coupon shopping trips and a lot more!
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  • veryirie May 26, 2012 @ 2:55 pm | delete
    I was doing a lot of the refund/rebate deals with my mother in law in the early 80s. It was fun to get "prizes" just for using products we always used anyway. Today with the Extreme Couponing shown on tv, I will truthfully say that I hate to see GREEDY people absolutely clear the shelves of certain products and leave nothing for anyone else. On a few occasions, some of these products were donated to shelters, churches, etc. but VERY FEW. :( But couponing to save money for items you'll use now or within a year let's say is great for saving money for families, for sure.
  • poutine May 9, 2012 @ 5:44 pm | delete
    Here, in canada, we don't have all those good offers that you have in the U.s.

    we never have double coupons days.
  • Lynne Feb 22, 2012 @ 11:14 pm | delete
    I sure miss the old days of refunding! I started back in the early 1980's, when offers were plentiful. Those $1.00 and $2.00 checks put gas in my car many a time. Coupons for free products helped put food on the table. I subscribed to a refunding magazine and kept my coupons and forms in a shoe box. I had several larger boxes filled with soaked-off labels and other proofs of purchase. Nothing made me happier than going to my boxes and pulling the required labels for a refund. We didn't have a washing machine then, but I didn't mind going to the laundromat because of all the empty detergent boxes in the trash. I carried scissors to snip off all those UPC codes. Things began to change when a few dishonest people rented post office boxes to receive multiple refunds. Companies began requiring cash register tapes for refunds, then dated cash register tapes. Refunds were no longer mailed to post office boxes. I never went to a coupon/refunder convention, but they gradually became a thing of the past because it was suddenly illegal to trade completed deals (according to an article in my refunding magazine). This magazine that I had subscribed to for many years became thinner and thinner as refund offers disappeared. Eventually I let my subscription expire. I still save coupons, but as an empty nester I no longer need a shoe box full. A coupon wallet works fine.
  • poutine Feb 9, 2012 @ 1:49 pm | delete
    Just "pinned" this lens.
  • KarateKatGraphics Jan 20, 2012 @ 10:19 am | delete
    I use coupon codes online all the time, but paper coupons only for pizza delivery, etc. Your lens makes me want to explore this, though!
  • Jan 13, 2012 @ 7:28 am | delete
    I am not a coupon user, but the idea has intrigued me.
  • wilsongoddard Aug 17, 2011 @ 7:59 am | delete
    I have a binder filled with coupons. I've started finding more coupons for healthier foods as of late, which has gotten me more into using coupons. However, there a still a lot of coupons for rubbish that one has to sort through in order to get to the good stuff.
  • nuestraherencia Apr 23, 2011 @ 3:07 pm | delete
    When I was in my early 20s I used to do this...I saved so much money...on Sundays at work everyone would just give me their coupons, while most girls my age made fun of me...it really helped...where I live they are mostly non-existent...I think THIS should be a school subject! it can make a huge difference in your budget...thanks for sharing...
  • Demaw Apr 22, 2011 @ 12:00 pm | delete
    I also use coupons, but now the manufacturers are trying to make them less valuable.
  • Ruthi Feb 26, 2011 @ 12:05 pm | delete
    I rarely find coupons for items I purchase on a regular basis. When I do, I use them. I kind of get annoyed with coupons in general, my thought being, Why not just lower the price and people will buy the product... and save the environment by not printing coupons!
  • brendayoungerman Feb 24, 2011 @ 12:47 pm | delete
    I, like you, also use coupons. I learned it from my mom as well. I had no idea there were conventions for this stuff!
    Thanks!
  • BeccaJ Nov 29, 2010 @ 1:44 pm | delete
    Wow! I so need to learn how to do all this!!
    And still have time for everything else - lol
  • 24websurf Jul 9, 2009 @ 2:29 pm | delete
    I absolutely love this lens! Since you live in OKC, you may know Melissa Garcia, the Consumer Queen. I am one of the moderators on her site. Please come by and say hello! You will find 18,000 or more just like you! Wonderful to meet you!
  • Astrieanna May 13, 2009 @ 11:21 pm | delete
    Nice story.
    I wish you would explain a bit more about what all those forms were and how they worked....
  • marymc May 6, 2009 @ 4:17 pm | delete
    Marsha, this is beyond good. Well done, I'm bookmarking it. Way to GO!
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marsha32

My name is Marsha and I am now a married woman, as of July 30 2011, residing in Kansas. I have 1 child left at home. We are a home school family.
I have...
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