Not Extreme Couponing

I have always been a frugal shopper. I realised pretty early that most items went on sale at some point. I live near to a Publix, Sedano's and Winn Dixie and typically do most of my grocery shopping at Publix and Sedano's. Publix always has great Buy One Get One sales and Sedano's usually has great deals on meat and produce. I rarely buy anything at full price.

I always got Red Plum and Procter & Gamble inserts in the mail but I never really used them much. Slowly I started going through them but I found that there were never coupons for items I really used so I would use them only rarely. I started reading more and more about couponing and following couponing websites such Two Frugal Friends (no longer active) and I Heart Publix. I started seeing that I could get great deals. But I also realised that it took a lot of work. I would also need to have multiple sets of inserts to really take a great advantage of coupons. Too much work, I decided.

I started really understanding how these persons used coupons and decided that it was time. I got myself a coupon boxes and started clipping. Of course, a few months into clipping (and still not fully catching on), the inserts stopped arriving in my mailbox. ARGH! I guess I need to now subscribe to the local newspaper to get them. I still haven't done that because I am not yet couponing full time.

I feel a little awkward sometimes because there is NEVER anybody else using a coupon at my store. I don't want to hold up the line. And I also worry about the language barrier. I live in a predominantly Spanish area and it's not uncommon to have a cashier that does not speak a lot of English. There is usually no English whatsoever in Sedano's. I would not dare to try to use coupons there or ask about the coupon policy.

I am ready to take the plunge, subscribe to the newspapers and print internet coupons. Join me as I try to save a few pennies here and there. It won't be extreme but there will savings.