Coupon Queen

I went to Target last night and by using the couponing technique of combining store sales with both manufacturer's coupons and store coupons, I was able to purchase 1 jumbo pack of Huggies diapers, 8 jars of Gerber baby food, 1 large container of powdered Enfamil, 2 liquid containers of Similac and a box of Gerber rice cereal all for about $19.00 plus I got bonus print outs at the checkout for $2.00 off my next trip to Target. All those items would normally retail around $50.00. Just the Enfamil alone is usually priced around $23.00! It really pays to look for the deals and stock up when the deals are available. I was able to stock up on diapers while I was pregnant and I have never paid more than $5.oo for a jumbo pack of Huggies or Pampers and I have never paid more than 50 cents for a container of wipes. I find it a fun challenge to save money on the things we need to keep our household running. I'm getting better and better at it by following tips that are given out on couponing websites and blogs. It's a fantastic cult world and the internet makes it a lot easier to find and share good deals with others. The only down side is that it's VERY time consuming. I'd say that I spend several hours a week cutting and printing coupons and then matching them up with sale items from ads and making my lists of what to buy where. It also takes more time at the actual store because I have to search for specific items and do a lot of cost comparisons, then I have to make sure my coupons are all in the correct order before handing them over to the cashier. I could easily spend my entire evening every day looking at couponing blogs and printing coupons off the internet but I try to limit myself to just enough time to save on the items I know we will use, and would likely have purchased anyway.
Tom told me last night that he dreams about a day when he will make enough money so that I will not have to cut coupons. Let me let you in on a secret- I think that I'd still use coupons even if I won the lottery (which will never happen because I never buy a ticket). It's the thrill of the hunt!

There's just something attractive about a stack of bills and a budget spreadsheet and finding ways to stretch the dollars in the budget. I think perhaps I had the wrong major in college...