Thrifty

Due to our lack of incoming funds (but never fear! there are job prospects on the horizon!), I have taken up frugality.

I've never been terribly good at being frugal, but certain aspects of it have always appealed to me. Like coupons. I love me some coupons. Speaks to my OCD, I think.

In any case, some time ago, I discovered the Coupon Mom website. Obviously, people who aren't moms can also use and benefit from it, because what it does is compare the weekly circulars from your local grocery stores with the coupons that have come out in the Sunday paper and then combines them for you so you can get the best deals. It's really kind of awesome. The idea is, if you buy things only when they are on sale and stock up, you will never have to pay full price for an item, which sounds good to me!

Today, we went and did some major shopping in preparation for yet another impending snow storm this weekend.

I spent $65.30 at Walgreens, but I saved $49.63 with a combination of sales and coupons. That means I got almost $115 worth of groceries (at full price) for $63.

Not too shabby.

For instance? I bought five boxes of cereal. Cereal normally costs about $4 a box. I paid $0.50 each for the five boxes. And now? I won't have to buy cereal for MONTHS. Cereal doesn't go bad, and we have room to store it. Where's the bad?

Not everyone likes clipping coupons. I happen to enjoy it. But the best part about the Coupon Mom system is that you don't clip the coupons! You save the entire circular, and then, when something goes on sale, you go back and clip out just the coupon you need. The online list tells you which circular it's in (by date and brand) and even reminds you when certain coupons are about to expire. It even tells you the percentage you're saving on any given deal, so you can decide for yourself if it's worth buying those five boxes of cereal.

Also? The web site is free, unlike some other grocery game websites. And we love free, precious. Yes we do.