Target.

I headed out for my first coupon shopping experience today.  I didn't do too bad.  Nothing like those people who go and buy hundreds of dollars worth of stuff and then only pay sales tax, but I did save some money!  YAY!

I went in to take advantage of the FREE Excedrin (I had coupons for $3.00 and for .75) but unfortunately they were out of the Excedrin.  I guess others beat me to it.  Oh well, the coupons don't expire until the end of March, so I am sure I will get some before they do!

I was able to find some of the other items I was looking for.  Between the in-store markdowns and the coupons that I had, I saved $6.18 on $17 worth of product.  That is a 36% savings on my purchases today!  WOOT! WOOT!  Gotta love that!

Oh, and how could I forget to mention that one of my items was 100% FREE!  YEP!  I bought a 24 count ibuprofen for .99 cents and had a $1.00 coupon!  GO COUPONS!

So, to recap, I spent $24.39 on supplies to get started (see post below), plus another $1 today for a small coupon file for my purse.  My total expenses to get started $25.39 minus my savings today of $6.18, and now I am only in the red $19.21.  And that is after my small little shopping experience at Target.

Tomorrow I may try to pop into our Kroger store and get my shopping card.  I have actually never stepped foot into our Kroger, but I guess it's time I tried!  :)

Getting Started.

Okay, so I am not a believer yet!  I am tracking all of my spending to get the couponing thing started and I am definitely in the hole, which was to be expected.  Now, I just need to track how long it will take me to get out of the hole!

Supplies:
Zippered Binder $10.00
Dividers $2.50
Divided Page Protectors $2.39 (they were $3.99 but I used a 40% off coupon!  YAY!)
4 Sunday Newspapers  $9.50

For a grand total of $24.39

Can't wait to track and see how long it takes me to make that money back and then some!

Off to clip some coupons!  :)

New Obsession.

Just in case you are wondering, NO, this isn't an actual picture of me! :)

I admit, I can become a little bit obsessive about things.  Some of you may know me from my Paisley Passions blog where I share my OCD for being creative.  Well, here starts a new obsession.  COUPONING!

Last year I had a friend tell me about this couponing class that she had attended.  She went on and on about how great it was and how she was saving so much money.  It peaked my interest, but not enough for me to take the plunge and start for myself.  I mean, really, how much can I save from just using a few coupons?  Right?  WRONG!

A couple of weeks ago my kids and I were enjoying a quiet Saturday morning, just flipping through the tv channels. . .we came across a show called, "Extreme Couponing" on the TLC channel.  Since it seemed similar to what my friend had talked about last year, I decided to give it a watch.

All I can say is, WOW!  I had NO IDEA that there was so much money out there to be saved!!! My interest was definitely MORE THAN peaked at this point!  I am not going to lie, I wanted to go dumpster diving right then and there to find all the coupons I knew I had thrown out all week!!!

I have to admit, it seems as though it is quite possible to become completely consumed by the coupon phenomenon.  Some of these people live, eat, and breath, coupons.  It is a true OCD passion of theirs.  I am not sure that I want to get into it to THAT extreme, but saving as much as I can on my groceries, well, that I am into!!!

So, this little blog of mine is going to track my journey into the coupon world.  This Sunday will be my first time purchasing my newspapers and getting my binder all set up and ready for my first shopping experience with coupons.

All the coupon gurus say to start out slow.  Get your feet wet before diving right in.  So, here goes nothing!  I have just dipped my big toe in the water.  Wish me luck!!!