One of 'those' people

My newest hobby will come as no surprise to those of you who know me well. I love a good bargain. These days I ♥ couponing. It's good fun and has become quite the thing to do here in the "UC." If you see a woman going into a grocery store with a zippered binder tucked under her arm, she's a coupon-er. You'd be surprised how much money you can save. And not just on junk. You can get some seriously good stuff for little or no money. You save the most money by using coupons for things that are also on sale. There are websites that tell you what coupons match up with sales at specific stores, so you don't have to do much work. I've been following some of the local blogs, and I've seen the pictures they've taken of the groceries they've purchased using coupons. I'll just come out and admit that I've been jealous to see their deals all lined up and pretty. That's all in the past now. Now you can be jealous of me and my shopping prowess. Go ahead. Envy me if you want. I understand how it goes. I was there once too. I won't judge you either way.

I swung by Smiths on Friday night and this is what I picked up:

There are 12 things of pasta, 3 salad dressings, some cooking oil, 10 pouches of tuna, 4 jars of spaghetti sauce, 4 bags of candy, 1 jar of Nutella (I've been craving bananas with Nutella these days), 2 packages of english muffins, two little things of beef, some mouthwash, 3 bars of soap, and 4 boxes of Advil PM (great for those few nights where I have a hard time sleeping).

And here is my receipt... I have tried to rotate the picture, but it is now close to 1 in the AM and I gave up after a few tries. Feel free turn your head, or not look at it. Either way is fine with me.  

 So The total before coupons and sales was $133.76.  The sales knocked off $66.42, and I had $31.50 worth of coupons. Amount I paid = $35.84! I saved 74%!!!! And you'll notice that I paid with cash. I'm paying for things with cash these days. It's really helped me to be better with my money. I'll do a post on that one of these days.

I don't always save this much with coupons, but its nice to know that its possible. Here are some of the websites I follow:

savvyshopperdeals.com - Amy works with the Daily Herald and has a great Shopping Wizard that helps you to know what is on sale at what store, and what is actually a good deal.

utahdealdiva.com - They are based out of northern Utah, but still have some of the same deals down here.

thekrazycouponlady.com - I'm not sure where this one is based. Idaho maybe? Regardless, they have a great printable coupon database. If there is a coupon for a product that you can print via the internet, rather than clip from those that come in the newspaper, it will probably be listed here. A great resource.

So that's my new hobby. Good times. Yay for bargains!!