Couponing

I'm sure many of you have seen or heard of TLC's show, "Extreme Couponing."  This show highlights shoppers (primarily women) who coupon like crazy and get savings of 90% or more at the grocery store.

Coupon policies in Utah are such that getting cart loads of free or nearly free items is not an easy task.  Although I have been able to get free items or items for just pennies, 90%+ savings can be tricky because stores around here don't normally double coupons (which is a technique used on TLC). Still, I find using coupons completely worth it.  I save so much money!  This week, I spent an hour cutting and printing coupons and comparing them to the local grocery store's ad (in my case, Smith's).

I've taken two trips to the store this week (to maximize the coupons I could use) and between the two trips, I saved $30 using coupons and another $85 using my shopper's card.  Ultimately, my average savings between the two trips was 67%.  I saved $115! That is like getting paid $115 an hour.  I'll take it.

This week I got some really great deals on cleaning products. This was my haul from today (and my shopping buddy):

 My haul included 12 bottles of cleaning supplies, 3 bottles of seasoning, and some apples (that I didn't have coupons for, I just needed them).

These 16 items would normally retail for about $62.  I got them for $16.96 (75% savings) AND got a $4 catalina coupon (a coupon that prints out for you at the register for you to use on future purchases) for a future order (and it can be used on anything!).  So really, I got all of this stuff for $12.96.

Russell is so happy about the savings!

 I don't consider myself crazy.  I don't have a stockpile of items that takes over my children's bedrooms and garage, I don't buy things I don't need just because it is cheap, but I do help my family's finances by trying to shop wisely and frugally.

So, coupon on!