i'm reaping the rewards!!

**rosey7415** · 02-05-2011, 10:38 PM

i am proud that i did one thing right.

it was in the 80's....i think. my mother was one of those coupon queens waay before it became so fashionable. she cut coupons and did a ton of rebates. she had 5 kids and she cut all those coupons so that she could pass them onto us. it was her way of helping us out. well, after we had all looked at them we passed them on to others we knew. at some point.......as i was overwhelmed with the volume of them....and too little money in my wallet. i started saving the no expiration ones on all the stuff that i would really use. fast forward.........i am still using them....i swear they are brown the ones from the newspapers. for example today....i had 20 cents off on lipton soup so i went to a store that doubled them. 40 cents off each box and i had bought 9 of them. that was all i had left for soup coupons and finished them off. i will be actively trying to use all i can of my others up. i still have a large shoe box full!!! not to say that i hadn't been using them, but now will do some more aggressive stocking up.

i don't know why i want to share this.....lol.... i just do!

**NikoSan999** · 02-05-2011, 11:05 PM

I remember the days of no expiration date...and when refunds were everywhere on everything
I refunded heavy.

**Darlene** · 02-06-2011, 09:05 AM

How wonderful for you!
I too miss the coupon glory days. Now you need to buy more than one of something to get the 50¢ and it expires the next month so you can't save it for the sale you know is coming soon.

**Booklover** · 02-06-2011, 09:56 AM

Ah yes, I remember those days! We kids would help peel labels, look for refund forms, etc. We got so many great things for free or almost free! It was still pretty good up until around '93 or so. Now, I'm not sure if clipping coupons are worth it anymore. My stores have such stringent policies, and put limits on how many they will double.

Anyone remember the getting a refund booklet in the mail every month called "Refundle Bundle"? You paid a small subscription and in return the book told of all rebate forms in the nation, and how to get them. It was really big in the 70's and 80's.

Of course, that was the only way we communicated back then. It's hard to remember what time was like before my new BFF, Google, existed.

**ladytoysdream** · 02-06-2011, 10:18 AM

When my kids were growing up, I used a lot of coupons and refunded heavy. I liked the ones with no expiration dates. I think I still have some left here somewhere hidden. I hope

Some of our stores still double for .99 and less.

"Refundle Bundle" .....oh yes

**rosey7415** · 02-06-2011, 10:35 AM

i know why i wanted to share this yesterday...i was full of myself and happy.....lol

i am sooooo glad that some of you remember just how wonderful it really was!! i remember that all 5 of us whenever we went in a store for anything we would go and look at the refund board and get some for ma........hehehehe we were well trained! never mind everyone else that knew she needed it....lol she had a table set up in the cellar and believe me she had all the proof of purchase labels ( or whatever was needed) cut off of each box of everything. nothing went into the trash until totally checked out. we saved ours for her also. she made a lot of money with those refunds. (my father was a miser and wouldn't help us kids at all) so ma would make up for it and had her stash. if anyone was struggling ma would offer her help. this caused much drama as she kept every dollar a secret from him. but she helped us kids.......lol

nikosan......wasn't it great back then?

darlene...... i love that phrase "coupon glory days" and that is exactly what it was! i think i started this thread so those that are starting out now......with what is out there.....know what it was like back in the day.....lol why coupons were the big thing. coupons are so rare and restrictive now as you said.

booklover.....you kids were involved too? hehehehe it was a family project wasn't it? refundable bundle? no, i don't remember that. does anyone else? we would have surely bought that if we had known.

i agree that couponing is hardly worth it now. once in a while you get some good ones, but the restrictions are awful. i really hate those if you buy 2 of these you get x free. and the coupons that you have to use within 3 weeks. the pressure. i don't shop every week. with a stockpile some weeks i just get milk and bread . kwim?

**shoiji** · 02-06-2011, 07:12 PM

To bad you can't save some for showing at the antiques road show. Yup, people used to cut the pieces of paper to save money on food. I have some mfg coupons in an old microwave cookbook that do not have expiration dates. I am always tempted to use them when I see them.

**Winkie** · 02-06-2011, 09:04 PM

Hey, since we are taking a trip down memory lane, does anybody remember Green stamps, or TV stamps? We saved those in a little book & then went to the redemption center to pick out the products we wanted. I ate all my meals seated on a yellow metal tool that was acquired with stamps & my parents got my first watch, a Timex with Twist-O-Flex band at the TV stamp store.

Along with the stamps, we were always sending in for something for box tops & a small fee. I still have a cookie dough press & a yellow Bundt pan that I sent away for as a young adult.

**mzpepper** · 02-06-2011, 09:19 PM

Yes, I remember the Green stamps. We saved them for years. I remember that they gave you a certain amount based on how much you spent. This was back in the sixties.

We were dirt poor back then and one year for Christmas my mother wrapped up and gave Green stamp books to her godchildren. One of my cousins said she thought at the time that this was one of the best gifts she had got for Christmas. She could look through the redemption book and pick out what SHE wanted. This was a novel concept for us kids back then. My mother was ahead of her time as there were no gift cards back then. LOL

**mauimagic** · 02-06-2011, 09:26 PM

My parents used to smoke Raleigh cigarettes (40s-50s) and there was a coupon on the back of every pack. Don't remember what they got for their coupons - but they were all carefully saved.

**ubumartin** · 02-06-2011, 10:22 PM

In 1984, my 84 year old grandmother handed me a check for over 900.00. Over the years, every week what ever she saved from coupons she would take that money and split it between her 9 grandchildren and put it in a bank account she had opened in our names. She also saved dimes and divided them. I used that money to buy my first car. She was very frugal and this was her way of giving the grandchildren something when she really had very little herself. She was widowed at 66 and was able to do that with coupons and dimes!

**Sassyclass** · 02-07-2011, 10:36 AM

LOL, I still have some NED's too. My dad laughed at me for buying 20 packs of them at a yardsale way back in 1983 when my daughter was born. I don't think they make them anymore, cheapskates! I used to subscribe to RefundleBundle too. They are still around but I can't see paying for it anymore when the internet is sooo nifty.

Cat