Don't Underestimate Coupons

About 6 months ago, the husband and I decided to quit throwing away the coupons in the Sunday paper. We started planning meals (thank goodness he cooks) and doing weekly grocery shopping instead of having the usual conversation which went something like this:

"Hey, what's for dinner?"

"Dunno, I thought you were making something"

"Mmm - nope, didn't do it"

"Well, whaddaya want?"

"I don't know, what do we have?"

"Not much, but I suppose we should feed the kid, huh?"

"Yep. We have 4 kinds of fruit, carrots, PB&J and yogurt."

"Let's order take out."

Well, that tab will run up pretty fast. So we started this coupon "thing", and we've been doing pretty well. There are entire sites out there dedicated to couponing where you can get coupon info, download coupons, order extra coupons, etc. I don't have that kind of time, so I rely on my fellow mommies at www.charlottemommies.com (If you aren't in Charlotte, try www.themommiesnetwork.com to see if there is one in your area) in the "Domestic Goddess" forum.

No kidding, these ladies have tricks up their sleeves you would not believe. Cleaning, organization, recipes, thrifty spending - all those things I should do, but don't.

Until the couponing. Now, I'm no coupon diva, but these days I usually manage to save about 50% per trip. Until today. Today was triples. As someone else said, this is like the "Coupon Olympics". There are spreadsheets and strategies and game plans and trades and buys and sells and sleep deprivation and meetings. I swear I am not exaggerating. There are people out there buying a few hundred dollars worth of groceries for $20 or $30. I didn't do that well, but I did spend $6 and save $42. Not bad.

And then to reward myself, I went and got a Frappuccino.