Coupon Adventures

I've been an amateur coupon user for a few years.
"Oh, I use that." snip
"Maybe this will go on sale." snip

My husband and I watched some youtube videos
a few weeks ago and decided to give this whole coupon thing
a trial of a few months and see if it's worth the time and effort.
There are many youtube videos out there about couponing,
but I have really appreciated this series by Living Well Spending Less:
Extreme Couponing for Normal People

(click above for the first episode and the others are on the side bar)

Yes, normal people! That's what we are!
Well, we have friends and family that would beg to differ...
but you know what I mean.
We're not going to be using underneath our children's beds
to store extra items.
And we're not going to buy things we aren't going to use.
That kind of normal.
Anyhoo... this intro to what I really want to share with you
is taking a long time because I'm rambling too much.

Living Well Spending Less also has an awesome
step-by-step guide to help you start couponing
that we found very helpful.
Here's the link to that: How to Start Extreme Couponing.
I'm not sure how comfortable I am with the label "extreme",
but that's what I'm doing and I guess that means I'm extreme.
If you decide to jump in and be extreme like myself (and others)
and you decide to follow her step-by-step guide,
please follow her suggestions when putting together
your first shopping list.
I thought I knew how to "coupon" and I went
too extreme (you might say) with my first trip
and I was so exhausted and burnt out just making the lists.
I almost gave up then and there!
So don't overwhelm yourself.
Take baby steps.
Start with a very small list.
Start with ONE store.

I'm only on my 3rd week and it was much easier this week.
I was so excited with my trip to Fry's today.
I spent $15.46 and saved... are you ready...
$39.89!!!!!! That is a 72% savings.
Yes, I'm pretty excited about that.
I spent about an hour getting my list
and coupons together.
I would say $40 for an hour is pretty good. =)

Before I decided to give this a try
I was doing a pretty good job of shopping smart
and saving money when I went,
but my percentage was usually anywhere between 35-45%.
The past few times I have gone shopping, my percentage has
been in the 50%-60%.

I definitely have more to say about all this,
but I don't have the time at the moment.
I just wanted to share my results with you thus far
and also share the list for Fry's this week (5/4-5/10).
Deals & Coupon Match-ups @ Frys

Hope you're enjoying your week!