I Love to Shop

There aren't many people who know this about me, but I am one of those crazy coupon moms. A lot of people know I use coupons, they just don't know to what extent. I began really couponing when Big Brother was about one year old and have not looked back. I have been slacking a little lately, but am ready to start up again full force. I think my husband thought I was a little crazy when I began this venture, but now he loves it when I tell him how much I've bought compared to how much I've spent.

I have a giant binder of coupons that I carry with me when I shop. I frequent Hot Coupon World, my favorite coupon message board. I love reading coupon blogs. I buy at least two Sunday papers each week, unless there are really great coupons, then I buy more. I usually buy those at Walgreens, which has the cheapest Sunday papers around. My mom and two of her friends also save coupons for me out of their papers. So most weeks, I end up with five to six coupon inserts.

I cannot wait each week for the new store circulars to come out. I match up sales with my coupons and since I have more than one of each coupon, I stock up on things we'll use for really great prices or even free. My favorite store to shop at is Dillons, a Kroger chain store. I can get so much there for so little. I used to think that Walmart was the best place to shop for good deals until my eyes were opened by other coupon moms online. Now I love my grocery stores and don't know what I'd do without them. One of my favorite trips to Dillons that really got me super excited to keep up with the coupons is when I bought over $60 of diapers for $13.

I'm not nearly as good at this as so many others I've come across, but I'm still learning. I get so excited talking about coupons, I may just have to start a coupon blog myself. Here are some pictures of things I've purchased over the weekend.

Above is my Dillons trip today where I bought:
2 Sunny D's (free)
6 Kitten Chows (free) We don't have a kitten, but the in-laws do.
2 Juicy Juice ($1.55 each)
1 12 pack pudding ($2.49)
1 box Special K bars ($1.49)
3 Kraft salad dressings ($0.19 each)
1 box Stayfree ($1.00)
Total before coupons and store savings=$37.19
I paid $9.22 with a total savings of 76%.

I also had another trip to Dillons last week (with more free Sunny D) where the total was $32.62.
I paid $11.71 with a total savings of 65%.

Above is my Walmart trip over the weekend. I usually don't go coupon crazy at Walmart, but this trip I had a coupon for everything except the Ajax dish soap and loaf of bread.
I bought:
1 bottle Ajax dish soap
1 box Ritz
5 boxes of Finish dish washing tabs (which I bought really cheap, but then found out if I would have waited another couple of weeks, I could have had them free from CVS. Can't win them all.)
2 packages of sliced deli ham
1 package of cubed ham
2 4 packs of yogurt
1 box Wheat Thins Artisan crackers (free)
My total before coupons was $41.
I paid $19.
This is my receipt from my best outing at Dillons yet. My receipt shows I had a total savings of 102%. I actually had more coupons and my balance went into the negative so I had to pay $0.90 then go to the service desk where they gave me money for the rest of my coupons. So I ended up being paid another $3 or $4 to buy $61 worth of groceries. I was so happy! I had finally done it. I had finally done what I had been reading so many others had done. I had finally been paid by the store to take groceries and it was an awesome feeling! I love to grocery shop!