Couponing...

Every week, I notice on our cousin, Elizabeth's, blog that she posts her weekly couponing deals from the grocery store.  She saves SO much money and it intrigued and inspired me.   I would show my husband, and he would tell me that I needed to learn what she was doing.

It is only the 2 of us in this house to by groceries for, but I can still easily spend $100 or more a week on groceries.  I LOVE to cook, and our grocery bill shows that.

Coupons are such a great way to save money on stuff that you are already purchasing.  Why spend more money than you have too?  I am all about saving some $$$$, so I decided to give it a whirl.

 I sat down and started clipping away.  As I did more research, couponing isn't just about using coupons when you head to the grocery store.  The key is to save the coupons and use them at the right time.  You can pair them with sales or even stack manufactures coupons with store coupons.

 All of that just made my head spin, and I was so nervous to even take my coupons to the store...
1.) Would the cashier look at me funny or give me a hard time?
2.) Would I hold up the grocery line and make other customers mad?
3.) Would it really even be worth my time?

So, I headed to the nearest Publix in the morning because I figured that the crowds would be much lighter.  I mean, who goes grocery shopping in the morning?  I was right and there were not many people there.  I gathered my coupons and my findings and scoped out all of the check out ladies.  I picked the one that looked like she would be most sympathetic to my coupon use, LOL!  It was a breeze.  She just rang everything up and then did all my coupons.  There were no problems and no judgement, and I just got a great deal!  SCORE!

So for my first trip the total was $49.87
I only paid $26.47
I saved $23.40

The next week, I went to clipping again and headed to Publix again (with much less fear this time).

This time my total was - $83.50

my cost: $43.94

Savings: $39.56

So, I am excited to learn more and keep on couponing!!