Derek Kenny, a friend of mine for years and a local bartender, revealed to me a secret passion and hobby of his that I was pleasantly surprised to find out about; he was a big couponer. He is an avid collector who never leaves home without his coupon binder in hand. When he found out I started writing for Vouchercodes, we immediately bonded and now share tips and coupons with one another, and I found he was full of useful tips and tricks. He also helped me start my very own coupon binder.
The more talked about coupons the more I wondered why he had started in the first place and what was his motivation and how he got started. The more we talked about it; the more I wanted to share his story with you as I found it riveting.
If you take away only one thing from this article it’s that it’s not hard to start couponing and Derek is the perfect example of it.
What got Derek into Couponing?
A few years ago, Derek and his wife received great news: they were expecting a baby! Both being over the moon about the news, they started making plans and started to take a good look at what they would need for their little bundle. As they began shopping they soon noticed how quickly furniture and clothes alone were adding up, that’s when Derek realized that this new life was going to have a pretty hefty bill attached to it.
A few months down the line, friend’s of theirs welcomed a new baby into their life and Derek went along to buy formula with them one day. He did some quick math and figured out that formula alone would cost anywhere from $1500-2000 a year. He didn’t want to have to change his lifestyle, but he also knew that there had to be an alternative.
That’s when he discovered the world of coupons and the huge savings attached to them.
How did he Start?
A local baby convention was in full swing before their baby was due and there they discovered all the free samples and coupons available for parents. Thanks to that convention, he headed over to Pampers.com and registered his baby and, within 3-4 weeks, started to receive even more free samples and coupons.
Thanks to these coupons, he managed to accumulate a stock of diapers to last him a year.
He then visited every coupon site he could find–a good list of them you can find here on Vouchercodes— and had started a nice collection; not just on baby items, but for everything. His first big deal was on Tide Laundry detergent and, after that, he was hooked on the art of saving money.
A local store was having a liquidation sale on Tide and, after rushing home to get his coupons, he managed to pick up two of the big bottles for only $4, as opposed to the normal $5 each. From that day on, he never leaves the house without his trusted binder.
Hear it From Derek Himself
Want to learn more? Check out this video below of the self-proclaimed Coupon Daddy himself. He is inviting comments both on youtube and on this page. He is a regular Voucher Codes visitor and will respond to questions when they come through.