Who Doesn't Like Saving Money?

A couple of years ago Mark got rid of an especially persistent telemarketer by telling him, "no thanks, we're not really interested in saving any money today." While this may not have been exactly true, our family has been very blessed financially. At least enough that I never felt like I had to stoop to cutting coupons in order to save a little cash. In my mind, coupon-clippers were lumped right in there with freegans, and those people who tell you you'll never be able to taste the difference between your real brownies and their low-fat-low-sugar-gluten-free-refried-tofu-bean brownies. But my attitude started to change when several of my friends told me how they were saving hundreds of dollars every month by using coupons. Really? Hundreds? Using coupons?

Couponing basically entails collecting coupons, waiting until items go on sale and then using your coupons strategically on top of the sale price to stock up on products at a very low price. There are many websites that can give you the inside scoop as to what's on sale where and how to best use your coupons. Doubtful and a little trepidatious ("what if the cashier gets mad at me?") I ventured out to my local Kroger this week with my list of sales and my little envelope of coupons. My bill came to just over $70, but after handing over my savings card and my coupons, the total dropped to $40. Then I went over to Publix were I spent $35 on a $65 cart of groceries. Wow. I saved $60 in one week, on stuff we normally buy! How cool is that?!

While I am not quite ready to call myself a crazy coupon lady just yet, I must admit that if you've got the time, you can save a lot of money. And, hey, who doesn't like that?