Sometimes it's tough living with Ms. Mommysavers. Just ask my daughter Sydney. It's hard to go shopping without Mom urging you to look at the clearance racks first. Sometimes you just want the t-shirt that isn't on sale. It can be embarrassing when mom pulls out snacks from her purse at the park instead of taking the gang through the drive-through. As a parent, you realize that bringing up your kids frugally isn't so bad. While they may grumble at times, they're learning important life skills they'll need when they get out on their own. Plus, saving money is even something you can have fun doing as a family.
Lately, my daughter and I have been clipping coupons together. We hit the target aisles yesterday, and I stepped back and let Sydney do her own shopping. She even brought a friend along to “impress” with her couponing techniques. Here is a little video that we put together where we show off our Target finds. I think it captures not only how much we saved, but how much fun we had (be sure to watch the blooper reel at the end!). We got $37 worth of merchandise for around $6. Some of the deals we got included:
- Glade Room Spray
- Carefree Pantiliners
- Ortega Taco Seasoning
- Suave Shampoo
- Kashi Products
- Heinz Ketchup
- Uncle Ben's Ready Rice
If you like Sydney's video, be sure to leave a reply below. She would like to do a regular feature on Mommysavers, and is looking for encouragement and suggestions for future topics.
Sydney, I love your laugh~ that blooper reel was great! I am showing this to my daughter Kelsey (She is 11 too) and maybe she’ll start helping me out clipping coupons and searching out the deals!
LOVE IT!!!! The blooper reel made me laugh too! Sydney, Sydney…do you remember asking me a couple years back why Ted and I leave so often in the evening & I told you we went to get a coffee? You told me that it would probably be cheaper to just make coffee at home. I responded that you were probably right and when I went in the house and recounted the story to Ted, we giggled until I ended up crying I was laughing so hard! YOU WERE COMPLETELY CORRECT-IT IS CHEAPER TO MAKE THE COFFEE AT HOME!!! SMART GIRL YOU ARE!!! Your video was great and I think you should do occassional postings on Mommysavers! LOVE IT!!! Keep up the great work! 🙂 Kayla
Fun…maybe you should pitch a book to one of the local kids publishers in Mankato…they always need more fun girl stuff!
Oh my gosh, Sydney is grown up to a fine young lady. Hard to believe that much time has past!
My daughter is also 11 and has just started helping me coupons after watching a few episodes of “extreme couponing”. I think i’s neat that maybe this generation can make living frugally “cool” !!
Very cool, Kim! My daughter also watches Extreme Couponing. It’s probably not the best example as a show, but at least it’s inspiring people to save.
I think this is wonderful and should be taught to students at school. The credit card company’s feed on students enrolling at college. If they are taught couponing, bargains, sales etc, they might just pass up those credit card people and not end up bankrupt before finishing school. All children should be taught coupons are money in the bank or in your pocket. The more money you put in the bank, the better off you will be down the road from now. Wish I had done this steadily starting out as a younger child myself! Maybe I would not have wasted so much money on concerts and bought a second hand record/tape/cd then instead and put the rest of the money to good use for retirement or a house or card down the road!
If she has a school project she can make a video with, this would be just great! YOU ROCK SYDNEY!! Keep up with the project!
Good job saving, Sydney! I always fought with my mom about money growing up, because she liked to spend it all.
I’d like to see you save on clothes shopping, or having some frugal fun!
Great video Sydney and Kim! With grilling and lake/cabin seasons approaching, that free ketchup will definitely come in handy! Thanks to both of you for sharing that video. Very well done! Sounded like there may have been a little brother in the background possibly trying to make you laugh? Loved the last bit at the end. Very funny!
Great job on the video…and the shopping! You are learning some great lessons that will stay with you throughout your life. I’d love to see more videos from you!
Loved your video. I also have kids and it is sometimes hard to coupon with them especially since they are BOYS! My youngest (9) helps me out alot but my other son (12) doesnt even like to go to the store with me but he loves to be able to go into the pantry and there is food packed in there. Go figure! I also think it is a great life lesson for kids to experience and I do hope they carry this with them as they become married and have families of their own. Sydney was great on the video I think she should do more it might inspire other kids to help their moms or dads out with couponing. Loved the bloopers at the end.
Fantastic job, Sydney! O.M.G., that was hilarious!!! Can’t wait to see where your next savings adventure takes you. Walgreens, CVS, perhaps Old Navy? Love it!
You did a great job! Good for you at 11 years old to want to do this and act responibly-very awesome. My 7 year-old LOVES helping me clip coupons. Before I head out for a Target trip she asks, “have you checked that thing?” (“thing” means “Mommysavers”). I am going to show her your video and I know she will love it! Thanks again and I can’t wait to see your next one.
Awesome! I use coupons all the time. Finally got my husband involved in seeking out new coupons. Now maybe I can get my daughter excited abou couponing too!
Great job! Sydney, I loved your video 🙂 My daughter loves coupons, too.
Excellent! Very well done! You have inspired me to try this with my 11 and 9 year old sons. Thank you ! It would be sooo cool if you could do a regular segment for kids by kids. I would really like to show my sons how this could work for our family and what the great benefits are. I know saving money is key for any family, but sometimes kids need to see that by saving money in one area, it means they can get a treat or fun adventure with the $$$ saved!
Great video…I especially loved her “kandoo” moment:)…funny:) About the couponing, its been really fun to see my 12 year old daughter’s eyes light up when we look at how much savings we have made on our receipt. I am just starting out with couponing and in no way do i intend to hoard a years worth of products, but to have a little extra in the pantry and be able to donate a great amount of food is awesome:)
It is great to save money, but too many people take this to an extreme. Why fill out a pantry of things we will not need?? I save alot with coupons, but I don’t like to have a pantry filled of things I really will not need in a year. That can be a waste of money too. I cut coupons and save a lot of money, but what I know I’m going to use and that it will not expire soon. I know many people that also give their stuff away because they have too much at home. I think that its just blowing the money away to someone else and that its not saving money. This is my opinion I don’t mean to be mean in anyway.
I agree with you, Momsadvice! I am very annoyed by the “Extreme Couponing” trend. Here are my thoughts on that: http://mommysavers.com/boards/couponing/181956-anyone-else-annoyed-tlcs-extreme-couponing-heres-my-vent.html. When Sydney and I do our couponing, we limit our stockpile to what we can use in 3- 4 months.
Sydney what a good job you did with the video and the shopping for bargins.
I love the bloopers!!!
Hey want to come and visit me, and show me how to find the bargins!!
Love it Sydney:) Can u come shopping with me sometime?
Oh! I see where we’re going to be in 2 years! Here’s a video that I made of my 9-year old daughter couponing too.
http://youtu.be/bRCMdC6ejmY
Great minds think alike! Isn’t it funny how similiarly we’ve taught our daughters to calculate & explain?!
What would happen if we sent our girls out shopping together?!
Great job Sydney! I loved your video. You should definitely make more in the future. Laura