Coupon Shopping

I must admit, I've always been a bargain shopper. I saw Extreme Couponing on TLC just like everyone else and thought OMG I could do that. It took a lot of research to realize that while the results seen on the show are really just that, extreme, it is still possible to save quite a bit of money using coupons.

 Photo from http://www.njfamily.com

Just the idea alone that all it takes is for me to spend a few minutes cutting or printing paper that is FREE for me to access and that alone will save me money at the registers. I was all in! Sign me up! Although it took a while for me to see the value in printing web coupons, I thought the trade off in using printer ink vs. the actual dollar value the coupons offered off just wasn't enough to substantiate the ink costs. Boy was I wrong! Especially in the land of refilling your own printer cartridges.

Then there are the freebies! Who can resist getting free stuff in the mail? I am careful though to only request the things that I will use in my household or things that someone I know will use. Otherwise my home would be overrun with stuff I got just to get free stuff and what sense does that make? As some of you know I have a magazine addiction and this getting magazines for free business does not make it any easier to control. It's still by far my favorite freebie! I love magazines!

While I don't plan to become one of those coupon bloggers that have been sooo helpful in guiding me through the couponing process. I do plan to share on this blog some of the great deals I've gotten. Also, it does help to coupon with a friend. I might not be able to snag all the great deals but my coupon buddy might catch one that I've missed or vice versa.

I am now ashamed to even think of all the money I've spent buying things at full price all these years. Or even looking at a coupon and thinking "Oh well, it's only 25cents off, so that's not even worth it." Couponing will show you how to easily turn that 25 cents into 50 cents or the difference between having to PAY 25 or 50 cents versus getting the item in question for FREE. It's not JUST a 25 cent coupon to me anymore.