My New Hobby...

It all started shortly after we moved here to Alabama. I headed out for my weekly grocery shopping! After wandering the aisles with just a small list of items, I found myself at the check out with over $250 worth of groceries for a menu that would only last me about a week and a half. "How did that happen?" seemed to ring in my mind again! As the cashier asked me if I had any coupons, I disgracefully shook my head. I came home and told Justin that we HAD TO do something about our grocery budget, not to mention the rest of our budget! So that's when the seed was planted! That's when I started studying! I started looking into ways I could be more frugal with our money! I stumbled across a couple of very interesting web sites and I was hooked! I started doing some studying...researching local store prices, and the weekly ad papers (did you know most grocery stores will double coupons?) I used to be a woman who wouldn't even use the available in the aisle coupons (what's a mere $ 0.50) to someone who actively seeks out every coupon I can get my hands on! I am only in the baby stages of this...and my goal is to SLOWLY cut my grocery and my household item budget week by week! That was 1 month and huge coupon bindger ago! This week at the store I had 30.00 worth of coupons for items that were also on sale. I can't remember when my grocery bill was so low, or the last time I had so much fun shopping. I still have a long way to go in this department, but like I said my goal is to slowly cut the budget!

The next baby step I have taken is to start to utilizing Walgreens and CVS pharmacies (Rite Aid is next) for some of my household items. I am what they call a "newbie" in this couponing business, but slowly I am learning how to stack my coupons, and how to use them when they give me the most benefit!

This is my first "real" CVS transaction which I why I am posting it! It is very small in comparison to what someone who is not a "newbie" could pull off, but I am very proud of my baby steps!

2 Johnson's Buddy bath bars - Free
2 Bottles of Excedrin ES - Free
2 Pkgs of Shick Razors - Free
2 Pkgs of Chex Mix - Free
L'Oreal Skin Genesis cleansers - Free
Womens Soft and Dry - Free
Mens Right Guard - Free

And would you believe it if I actually told you I made a couple of dollars by "buying" these!

O.k., so I'm not bragging, I am just telling you the possibilities are out there and they are endless! I could list about 15 other things (food, household, and personal items) that I have "bought" for free in the last 2 weeks, and it didn't even scratch the surface of what was available! I do have to say it is time consuming right now...Justin thinks I am slightly crazy (especially when I dash out of the house at 8pm to make a Walgreens run)...but the pay off has been huge already. There are hundreds of websites out there that basically teach you; and some that will do all of the work for you!! What fun!!

I haven't blogged much (really not any) for a while, and this is the reason why - because I have found a new hobby!

Check out 2 of the links I put on the right - who spell out the details a lot better than I ever could!