Coupon Mania!

Yep.  I have jumped on the coupon bandwagon.  I know. I know.  I really do know how some people feel about "couponers".  I was the same way myself.  I thought it wasn't worth the effort and I thought that only "poor" people used coupons.  Boy was I wrong on both accounts!

I have only been using coupons since the first of March.  So, it is all pretty new to me.  However, I have to say that I am AMAZED at how much money I save.  Actually,  I am pretty darn mad that I have EVER paid full price for some of the items I have paid full price for over the years!

Today was pretty fun.  I ended up scoring 8 FREE bottles of body wash and some other screaming deals!

Here is my loot from today:

There are some pretty high ticket items in there, like the body wash ($4.99 each, regular price), deodorant ($3.54 each, regular price), and the Olay  Regenerist Face Wash ($5.99 each, regular price), the Connect-4 Game ($19.95 regular price).  

The retail price of the items I purchased to day was, are you ready for it?  It was, $131.72.  Yep.  In years past, that is exactly what I would have paid for it too.

Today?  Well, today, I paid a total of $23.64.  Yes indeed!  I saved just over 83% on my purchases today.  I am pretty happy about it too :)  Especially since none of the stores in my area double coupons.  If they did, my total would have been MUCH less than that!

So, basically I got all of the items above for only $3.69 more than what I would have just paid for the Connect-4 game alone!

It is definitely the thrill of the hunt when I go shopping now.  I try and see how low I can get that total to go before I walk out the door.

The cashier was pretty impressed today.  He gave me my first total, and then when I handed him my coupons and he finished the final total he said, "Holy cow!  That's crazy!"  I just smiled and left the store thinking about how much money I saved and how my stash at home is growing by the minute at relatively little or no cost to my family.  Gotta love that!!!

Burned Out.

The end of this semester is almost here.  If I can just hang on for a few more weeks, I will have some FREEDOM (well at least from homework/school)!  I am setting my sights on the first week of May, and looking forward to it :)

Next week is going to be brutal.  A week from today will be a small celebration along the road to finals week.  I have several large assignments, two large presentations, a professor observing and evaluating me teaching in practicum, some quizzes, and a TON of reading, oh, and let's not forget internship interviews.  That list is just what I have to get done for school.

None of that includes cleaning my house, doing the laundry, fixing meals, grocery shopping, running errands, church calling/responsibilities, and being a wife and mom.

Just keeping my fingers crossed that May 5th gets here sooner rather than later!!!