Couponing- Getting my feet wet

I didn't even really know what a blog was until a month or so ago. Look at me now! We will see where this takes me, but I am up for the ride. I hope to use this blog to share about my journey to become a better mom, manager of my home and my quest to be as frugal as possible. I also am a theological nerd, so I am sure you will hear a few of my soap boxes from time to time.

Yesterday I went to a workshop in Athens, AL by the Thrifty Sisters. These girls were just like me and in the same stage of life with their kids, trying to save money. They gave some coupon 101 lessons to get us newbies started. I have been "couponing" for a few months now and have been able to take my grocery bill from about $150 a week down to $75. Now, when I say groceries, I mean food, toiletries, beauty products, diapers, everything. You might think it sounds pretty outrageous, but it really is simple.

The first time I ever heard of this type of thing was on Oprah. A lady stocked a church's entire food pantry from coupons and hardly used any money. I just did not understand it. How in the world could you do that? Then I came upon these sisters from po dunk Alabama who showed me the system. Wow. It has made a huge difference for me. Now, I don't have the time to look and match all these coupons up to the sales, but I don't have to. There are some websites like: Thrifty Sisters and Southern Savers that do it for you for free. All you have to do is save your Sunday paper and any other coupons you can get your hands on and follow their suggestions. It is so easy. Believe me, if I can do it anyone can.

Now...you can't be one of these picky folks who has your "have to get" brand of every item you use. There are 2 things I love to have: Viva paper towels and Pampers diapers. Other than that, I am game for anything. So this month I use Suave deodorant, next it's ladies choice. To me it doesn't matter because I got them both for free.

Soon I will try to post some examples so you can see what I am talking about. My philosophy is, this is better than a part time job for me. My husband has a good job, so if I were to work our tax bracket would change and between daycare and taxes most of the money I would be getting would be eaten up. Every dollar I save us using coupons has already been taxed and is free for us to use at will. Not to mention my time with my kids...yesterday I made my family omelets for breakfast and was able to spend the morning telling the story of Daniel and the Lion's den to my daughter for the first time. Her eyes were as big as saucers and my heart was just as full.