(Not so extreme) Couponing

Have you seen the show "Extreme Couponing" on TLC?  Those people are nuts.  Those people spend 40-60 hours per week tracking down coupons and sales and get like $900 worth of groceries for $38 after coupons.  But who really needs 89 jumbo cans of Prego that are going to expire in a year?  Imagine the good they could do for food shelves if they spent a fraction of the time and gave what they didn't need? 

Anyways, I have started couponing myself.  I recently learned that Target allows you to "stack" coupons.  It means that you can use a manufacturer's coupon and a store coupon...on the same item!  Brilliant!

We started getting the Star Tribune on Sundays for $0.75.  I keep the Smart Source coupon book.  Then I go on this coupon site and look at the Target list. She does all of the work for you! I heard about Carrie because Target had her come to Headquarters to share her couponing expertise.  She tells you what Target has on sale that week, links you to coupons online, links you to Target coupons, and tells you what coupons to use from the Smart Source booklet.

Yesterday I spent $125 in groceries for the week (I have started (once again) meal planning each week, which saves mucho money and cuts down on waste!), diapers, and toiletries.  I saved $17.25 in coupons! And I didn't buy a single item that I wouldn't have bought anyways.  I also got my 10% employee discount and 5% RedCard discount.  By the way- if you shop at Target regularly at all, you really need to get the Target RedCard or you're just throwing away 5% every time you shop.  Don't like credit cards? Me neither. So you can get the Target DEBIT card.  It pulls it straight from your checking account!  We're so genius at Target!

I probably spent 10 minutes finding, printing, and organizing my coupons this week. I'd say that's worth $17.25.  Not to mention the pride I felt when I handed my wad of coupons to the cashier (aka "team member" in our Target lingo).  I'm not quite an extreme couponer but I'm saving some change!