Beginnings

Let's face it- most of us love shopping. Clothes, shoes, bags, jewelry, tools and fishing rods (or whatever men buy)... it's all so great!

Groceries? Not so much.

Unfortunately, we need groceries more frequently than we need the other products... but that doesn't mean that all of our money has to be spent on them!

Recently, I have been delving into the world of couponing. Until now, I had occasionally used coupons for an item here and there, but I found that I was usually spending more money than I wanted to just to make the coupon valid!  It really didn't work for me, so I brushed it off. Then, like millions of others, I watched in amazement as dozens of people on TLC's Extreme Couponing saved hundreds of dollars on their carts loaded with stuff, all by using coupons! I was inspired after watching the show for a whole afternoon, so again I tried to coupon effectively, and again I failed.

In the meantime, life was happening. My husband and I bought our first car, got insurance, subscribed to cable and internet services, had doctor's visits, and realized that the credit card needed to be paid off eventually... and it was going to be expensive. I decided that I really needed to study the art of using coupons to save money where we could. We bought a printer and a coupon caddy, and I got to work on my research.

It was overwhelming.

I was bombarded with information about manufacturer coupons versus store coupons, which stores double coupons, sales prices, stacking rules, catalinas, ONYO coupons, stockpiles, store policies, and much more. Can you use two coupons on one product? Are clearance items included? Will I have time to coupon effectively with a full-time job? How do those people save so much money?!

Luckily, there were a few websites that helped me sort through the mounds of information. I'll get to them later. The good news is, I have been able to use coupons and save lots of money in just a few weeks! (Oh, yeah... did I mention that this was all over the course of the past few weeks?) I shared my success on Facebook and got lots of responses to the pictures and statuses I posted. Several people sent me texts and emails about my methods and strategies, which is when I decided to start this little blog. Even if it only help a few people learn to save money, it'll be worth the time!