I like to coupon! Coupon is nice!

:)

Well, I have a new little hobby thanks to my friend Virginia and the mysterious Haitian man who I recently witnessed at Publix buying 40 tubes of toothpaste and paying a mere $4. I am forever changed.

Let me tell you the plain truth. I chuckled in a clenched-teeth kind of way at the couponing "creeps" who would take ages to check out of the grocery store because of their stack of coupons. I would invariably end up behind one and was always shocked at how much food they were buying. 15 cans of corn. Seriously? 12 boxes of Eggos. Say what? 6 bottles of laundry detergent. WHY SO DIRTY?

One day, out of the blue, I decided that, hey, I'm spending way too much cheddar* on groceries! This can't continue! Precious money that I could be using on scrapbook supplies and college savings for the kids was going into picnic roasts and delectable white powdered mini doughnuts. So, I thought back to the toothpaste guy and actually considered it might be a good idea. I happened to talk to Virginia about it and she made it easy enough to understand. I still had questions but friends on Facebook led me to websites that could help. One thing led to another and I have started couponing!

To sum it up:
1. Collect coupons from all different sources.
2. Start with one store (I like Publix) and look up their weekly ad for specials
3. Take advantage of Buy-One Get-One Free offers (BOGO or B1G1)
4. Plan your shopping list NOT on what you need now, but what is on sale that you WILL need.
5. Stock up on those items on sale (that you use... don't just start buying everything just because it's a good deal) by figuring out how much to buy (how much your family will consume) within the 4-6 week cycle (a cycle is the time until the item will be on sale again)
6. Use manufacturer coupons & store coupons to combine with in-store offers to get the most savings (you can use 1 manuf coupon & 1 store coupon PER item).
7. FOR ME: the key was changing my mind about how I shop. I buy what is on sale and resist buying something because I know eventually it will be on sale. I also plan my meals for the week around the meat & fresh produce on sale that week. :)

I learned most of this from Southern Savers where I scope out the weekly Publix ad and print online coupons. I'm just starting, but last week I saved about $84 on my grocery bill. This week I saved $113!

Anyways, pretty cool, huh? I am now that ANNOYING person in front of you at the grocery store with multiples of every item and a big fat stack of coupons. :) And I like it. :)


*cheddar= Urban slang term for money. LOL. I just had to use it.