IF you’ve ever wondered why people collect ‘coupons…

Or have thought (like me) that coupons are a little old fashioned, then this is the post for you!

Because today I am going to introduce you to a ‘Coupon Detective’ no less, the brilliant Jennifer Drew who, let me tell you, is an absolute whizz at extreme couponing.

Previously a teacher, Jennifer has now teamed up with Ashleigh Swan, one of the UK’s favourite money savers, whom I interviewed a while ago to help us all save even more money!

And what’s more there’s a rather lovely story behind how the the two women met.

Pitched head to head in a money saving battle for a major UK broadcaster, Ashleigh told Jennifer, that if she managed to beat her, she would give her a job.

And so, well you can guess what happened next.

Yes, Jennifer won and is now part of the incredible Ashleigh Money Saver team!

Soon she’ll have her very own page on the super saver site and Jennifer has just also launched her Coupon Detective Facebook book page, so make sure you head over there and give it a like, if you want some more money saving tips!

But, before you do, settle down, grab a cuppa and find out more about the Coupon Detective herself.

I recently caught up with Jennifer to find out more about her and her brilliant couponing skills and this is what she had to say:

Jennifer, thanks so much for chatting to Pouting In Heels. Please tell us a little about yourself, your site and how it all began!

Hi sure! My name is Jenny, I am married to Neil with a 2 year old little boy called Nicholas.

Up until the end of July I was a secondary school English teacher in Derbyshire. The site I started at the nagging of my best friend Richard, who said I should be starting my own facebook page to help him and others save some money. And ‘the coupon detective’ is a bad pun on the Drew part of my name from Nancy Drew.

My own couponing started when I was pregnant with Nicholas, I had pregnancy insomnia and was watching telly at 2am when TLC’s extreme couponing came on.

I was curious to see if we had anything like that here as I was on maternity leave and my husband had just been made redundant so money was tight. By the next morning I had printed about £40 worth of coupons and was hooked!

What inspired you to start coupon saving? What response have you had from mums?

The mums and dads have been great, they love to share their own bargains as well as take advantage of the ones I have put up.

It’s nice to know there are other people going through similar stuff with their kids and finances, or can give you a glimpse of what’s to come.

What inspires you to be your best and to achieve?

I have always been uber competitive, I grew up in a large family with lots of brothers and a younger sister so there was competition for everything.

My mum also did a really good job of installing those pesky things like ambition and common sense, so for me there are no half measures, if I’m in, I’m all in.

Which woman inspires you the most and why?

Until she married my lovely stepdad, she was raising five kids by herself, went to school and learnt to drive all while giving us everything we needed.

I could see how sad she got when she could not give us everything we wanted and often went without herself, so that idea of you get what you work for and that nobody owes you anything has been a really great inspiration.

Now I can spoil her and Nicholas a little.

Being a working mum is tough! How do you achieve the impossible work/ life balance? (Or try to!)

I don’t always, I don’t think anyone does 100% of the time, the trick is not to let one overtake your life for too long. Not easy when you have a stack of books to mark and a toddler wanting mummy hugs.

I had to learn not to feel guilty for working and when to put the red pen down and pick the crayons up.

If you could give only one piece of inspirational advice to other women, what would it be?

You’re doing great. It’s not epic but it’s amazing how much those words help.

You can’t be everything to everyone all of the time, remember as well as mum/wife/job you’re also you so keep hold of one thing that reminds you of that.

Finally, if you could only give one piece of money saving advice to us all, what would it be and why?

Coupons! I know, a shock right?

But if you saw a £5 note in the street you would pick it up and think “what a good day, free money” so now imagine that each time you go to the supermarket. Don’t be embarrassed about trying to save money. If you can pay less, why not?

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Amazing huh?! Who knew coupons were still around so much and could be used to save some serious money!

I don’t know about you, but I think I rather like the sound of this!

With love,
Kate