Thrifty Thursday

So here's what I've learned from couponing... it's boring to listen to people talk about coupons. That being said, it has saved us a ton of money.  It's getting more and more difficult to take Betty along with me to the grocery store so it's nice that it's more efficient to only go once a week. I can't go every day anymore. it's just too much work to chase Betty up and down the aisles and too embarrassing to pretend I don't hear her screaming when she's in the cart and people are staring at me as I push her around the store. I try to plan out my meals ahead of time and buy only what I need. The one coupon rule I force myself to use is to never use a coupon for something I wouldn't have purchased anyway. Sometimes it's difficult because I often catch myself thinking things like "$5.00 off of a new water filter!?! YES! but I don't need a new water filter. Nor do I need spiced tea bags or a free cinnamon roll with my coffee at Tim Horton's - I might go for that last one, actually. A good website for lots of tips is thekrazycouponlady.com. My mother-in-law set me up with a really cool coupon binder and I started buying the Sunday paper. The most I've ever saved on a shopping trip was 38% but I'm pretty proud of that. I don't use the $500.00 limit that they use on Extreme Couponing All Stars - my limit is $200.00.

Go ahead and judge... just wait until I'm eating my free cinnamon roll

I shop at Shaw's because they double coupons under $.99 and they have lots of sales and specials. The Shaw's in Portland was featured on Extreme Couponing All Stars so I know it's possible to walk out of that place with pretty much free stuff, although I'm not there yet myself.

This is what my livingroom looks like after i;m done clipping. The blank space in the middle is where I was sitting.

At the end of the day I have the time to do this and if I spend an hour clipping coupons each week and that saves me up to $60.00 on my groceries then that's totally worth it. Sometimes I forget how worth it it is and I procrastinate but the competitive crazy person inside me needs to beat my last best percentage so keep your receipts on hand for extra motivation! You can do better next time.