Coupon Virgin

Up until Sunday I had been a coupon virgin. Oh sure I dabbled in coupons here and there, getting lucky. Mostly from the store ad, right down the street. They offered a few items highly discounted with the "in-ad" coupon, so I would rush down and get them, often buying several other things I may or may not need in the process. But never full on couponing or better yet stacking* coupons, to actually save money.

Until Sunday...Sunday R said "I want hot dogs." A light clicked on and I remembered I had a coupon for free hot dogs, and that started the ball rolling. I then remembered I had the stores flyer and they had some in-ad coupons that I wanted to use, but I also thought I had some manufacturers coupons for their coupon items so I started searching. Pay dirt!

I headed to the store, an bit anxious I admit, to try out this coupon game. And it worked! I walked out of the store paying less then I actually saved. I spent $28.05. With club savings and coupons I saved $49.01!! 64%. And what did I get?

4 boxes of granola bars, 4 boxes of cereal, a jar of PB, a box of cheese-its, a 4pk of Easy Mac, 3 frozen lunches, 2 bottles of whip cream (yes we use this a lot and it was B1G1), Bryers Ice Cream, London Broil, hot dogs, and buns.

Not bad. And while I admit that I did spend a bit more time preparing to shop, I want to do it again. I want to see how much I can save! All in all, since I had the free hot dog coupon, I think I spent $1.50 on dinner that night!

Yea, I'm proud of myself.

*Stacking-I didn't even know you could do this till I read about it. You can use a manufacturer's coupon on top of the stores coupon.