I Extremely Couponed...And I Liked It

This morning I finally had it in me. I was determined to coupon! After realizing how much we spend on well...everything, I had an epiphany...I want to cut back. Not on everything. I need cable of course! But on things I actually can. With a little time and a lot of effort I was able to save $50.00 at the grocery store. And I'm not talking about the way these Extreme Couponing women do it on the show like when they buy 75 Vitamin Waters for nothing and call it a day. I actually saved money on our bi-weekly grocery bill on kid's juice boxes, turkey bacon, cheese and my lifeline... COFFEE! You know, normal things.

Now, I'm no Guru but I can organize and I can organize well. That's all it takes. That's the key. I wrote down our regular list of groceries. Then I took that list and checked it against the sale prices at my Shoprite or I searched for it on Shoprite.com to know the cost. Then I found the coupons to match. I went onto the basic sites such as Coupons.com, Redplum, P&G and SmartSource. But, for the coupons that weren't readily available on those sites, I Googled. By just entering my email address into a couple of sites I received some coupon savings. Here's one example: Cottonelle Bath Tissue, I went onto their website, I gave my email address and saved $1.50. Hell, I was going to buy bath tissue anyway, why not get some money knocked off right? Kids are expensive, I'll keep every dime I can where and when I can. But, my masterpiece of a find was for Butterball Turkey Bacon. At my Shoprite they are 3 for $5.00, there was a coupon for .75 off of one, so I printed three, my store doubles coupons everyday, so that was $1.50 off of each one. My savings were $4.50, which means I only paid .50 cents for all three turkey bacons. Ta-da! So I get how you can save big with coupons and being a club member. Of course, my store's policy is 4 coupons per item, so I wasn't going to push it by going nuts like the guys and gals you see on the TLC show. I just did enough for what we actually needed. 

So whatever I didn't have a coupon for, I just didn't really pick up, unless I REALLY needed it. Also, I mentioned a few cost saving tips in a previous blog but just to reiterate, if you use formula, sign up your friends and family on their website (like Similac) and they will receive the save coupons and savings you do, doubling/tripling/quadrupling your savings. 

Also, if you wanted to go crazy and double your savings with your manufacturer coupons, you can do two separate transactions or more. But, I have yet to find the time to accomplish that. I'm just starting afterall. But, I figured I'd share that little win that I had today because I know I have been so skeptical for so long about this that I'm sure others have been too. Well, here's proof that it actually works. Now, if only I can get all those things for free...then I'll be on that show and be famous for being coupon crazy! Or as my fiance says I'm "crazy for coups". :)

Ok, that's it. Go on about your day.