Couponing - What is involved?

Couponing can get away from you really quickly. Once you discover how much you can save, you tend to fall into a cycle where it is all you do. Every day, all day you become sucked into watching videos, searching for coupons and checking those matching websites.

The thrill of saving 50% to 90% is so thrilling, its like a drug. One month into couponing, I have saved us about $300 on items that we use. Nolen was really the one that got me started. He said he wanted to do it and I promptly took it away from him and ran with it. I think he is still a little bitter about that one. Hee Hee.

Basics of what I do:
On Sunday's Nolen goes and gets the double issue Sunday paper for $5.
Sunday's are my day of rest. I just want to sit on the couch and relax. So sitting and cutting coupons is a great way to still feel productive. I then sort them and put them in my binder. After that, I look through the sales flyers and see if there is anything that is a really good deal. I pay extra attention to the meat sales. When I find a good deal on meat I try to stock up. I can't wait until we get our freezer, so I can do this more effectively.

Once I look through the sales flyers I see if I have coupons for items that are on sale. I have a fancy spreadsheet that I put the different stores and the items on sale. I will do a video in the future, showing you this process.

I create my shopping list for the week for our groceries and items we NEED. Then I create a list of MUST have stock up items from the sales flyers. If I feel motivated I will go out grocery shopping and make a run to the drug store. Its best to get to the store the first day of the sale, because a lot of people will clear the shelves if its a great deal on something.

I also carry my binder in the truck at all times. You never know when your hubby will call up and say we are out of something. I would much rather use a coupon than pay full price.

Here are some topics that we will cover on future posts:

Where to find your coupons?
How do you organize your coupons?
Where do you find the best deals?
How not to get carried away?
Stock Piles, what are they?
And more!

I hope to have guest couponer's to share what they do. I will also post my favorite sites and videos. Come one people, welcome to the dark side.