Couponing: My New Addiction

Last Sunday I spent the afternoon watching the Extreme Couponing marathon on TV.  I was inspired, but skeptical.  So the hubby ran out, bought a Sunday paper and we started clipping.  We wanted to see if this was something that was actually worth while, so we decided to check out the savings that night.  Lucky for us Ryleigh had taken a late nap, so we were able to hit the grocery store at 8 p.m.  We had a pretty successful trip and I knew it was going to be something I had to continue.  A hobby if you will.

I began following thekrazycouponlady.com, one of the ladies who was featured on the show.  She also has a book out, which of course, I bought and have been reading to try to learn how to get the best deals.  I put together my binder, organized my coupons and was prepared for my next venture out.

This past Sunday I bought 3 papers, clipped my coupons, looked at all the ads, and wrote down by store which sales/promotions matched up with the coupons I had (which isn't many right now, but I'm trying to build it up).  So today I headed out, first hitting the grocery store.  Some of my best buys from today:

four jars of peanut butter on buy 1 get 1 free special + three $0.75 coupons = $1.94 each
three canteloupes on buy 1 get 2 free special = $1.33 each
two dishwashing liquid soap on sale for $0.99 + two $0.50 coupons (doubled) = FREE!
two deoderants on 2 for $3 special + two $0.50 coupons (doubled)= $0.50 each!

My total savings from this store was $37.99 from coupons and $24.76 from my store card.

I then headed to Walgreens to get some deals.  In order to get all the savings I had to do this in 3 seperate transactions, but it was worth it because I now have $4.00 in register rewards to put towards my next purchase there : ) My total savings from Walgreens was $28.53 + $4.00 in register rewards.

Considering this was my first "planned" couponing trip out, I'm pretty proud of myself.  My grand total today was $145 and I only paid $46.  I hope to get better and I can't wait to get my bill down to single digits : )  68% savings is definitely worth the coupon trouble...plus, I think I actually enjoy it.