Day 20- Couponing Fun

Yes, I love the show Extreme Couponing but NO, I do not need a mini grocery store in my garage. (Besides that would mean that I would have to kick out the HELLCo (Our 1964 ElCamino, and we all know that would never fly with the hubby!!!) Anyways I do love free stuff and love to get stuff for really cheap. I would say that shopping on the clearance racks is somewhat of my expertise! :) Well since one of our local grocery stores had a Double Coupon event this week I had to try my hand at Extreme Couponing. First and foremost let me say that I have been looking into this for quite sometime and just did not decide over night that I could do this! Lots of hours went into this prior; just like the tv show junkies say: it does take hours to get to that extreme. But I know that I can get what I need for the same deal, just not in an abundance!
I took the time to gather coupons, sort them and READ THE STORES' COUPON POLICY! The last step is crucial and I cannot stress enough to read it and each coupon you want to use! Well I didn't do this alone, I searched through hundreds of testimonials, tips and coupons on the internet before I headed to the store.
You can check out this particular website for anything local and tips of the trade in general. The Money Saving Queen is someone local that has got the buzz going around Tulsa and is my inspiration and educator to all things couponing. Check out her site to see how I got ideas to get started.
I do have to say though I did not use any internet coupons when I went on my shopping adventure because the thought of using all that expensive ink scared me! :) But to get more than one coupon I did take my family on a "paper" dumpster diving drive! We hit up a couple of community schools that have paper retriever bins and sorted thru the mess for our money (Coupons)! This was fun and my kid had a blast finding all the deals, she's a great scavenger hunter! :) All in all I took a little time out of my life to earn some free stuff and get a great deal on my grocery bill. I hope the next time you pay retail for anything you stop and think could I be saving or perhaps getting this FREE?!
 Heres just a glimpse at my first ever shopping trip and what I got free and how I saved.

Free Items:
- French's Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce- On sale for 2/$3, coupon for 75 cents off *doubled makes it FREE!
- KC BBQ sauce- On sale $1.68, coupon for $1 off *doubled makes it FREE!
- Chex Mix- On sale 2/$4, coupon $1 off when you buy 2, * Makes one bag free! :)


Really Cheap stuff
- Hormel Complete Kids meals- Regularly $2.29, coupon for $1 off *Doubled makes them $0.29!!
- Rhoades freezer Breads- Regularly $2.49, coupon for $1 off * Doubled makes them $0.49!!
- BarS Bologna- Regularly $1.19, Coupon for $1 off when you buy 2, * Doubled makes both $0.19!!

This is just somethings that I can remember my savings for. Over all my bill was over $70 and I paid under $35! I couldn't believe that it actually worked. I didn't get the chance to use all of my coupons that I wanted to use because the store had been worked over the day the DC(doubled coupon) event started. In our town evidently its like a Black Friday rush at the one store in town that does this event. *I found out about the chaos on the Money Saving Queen forums. But it was worth it in the end to my pocketbook, pantry and self confidence that it can be done without going to extremes!
So my advice, gather those coupons, find a store that doubles and take a run for you money! :) *Either way you will feel great on how much you saved! Oh yeah I must say this if you even dare try this, DO YOURSELF A BIG FAVOR::: ORGANIZE YOUR COUPONS, dont just take a handful and go, you will waste more time looking through them than getting what you need. *I actually went a purchased pocket page protecters (like for trading cards) and organized my coupons how the store was set up so that I didn't miss any! :) Hope your next couponing adventure earns you some free stuff! :)

~With Luvs,

DEZ