Adventures In Extreme Couponing

I've been working on a different kind of project at my house since the first of this year and have thought about sharing it here but it's not paper crafting so I've been undecided.  It's been fun and frustrating and lots of work but very rewarding too.  I've also saved a ton on money so I thought maybe I should talk about it here on my blog. 

I've watched a few episodes of Extreme Couponing on t.v. and been skeptical about all the "savings" these women rack up in the shopping trips they show.  It's hard for me to believe you can shop for free.  
But... costs are rising for everything we purchase and our income stays them same, what to do, what to do?

I think I should give you some of the reasons I'm skeptical about this too:

I worked as a grocery clerk at one of our local grocery stores for 18 years.

I live in Parker - a small resort town along the Colorado River in western Arizona.

We have a family of four living at home along with 2 cats and a big dog.

These things seems like obstacles to me so I need to change my thinking and consider them simply challenges.

Watching extreme couponing on t.v. made me curious so I "googled it" and was surprised to find Extreme Coupon Bloggers!  Okay I'm intrigued... 

I've been doing my homework reading the blogs and have found a few Arizona Extreme bloggers to follow so I can see just how it works and how to put it all into practice.   I've started buying the Sunday Arizona Republic so I can get the coupon inserts, organizing, clipping, planning shopping trips after looking at grocery ads for our local stores and I'm on my way to becoming a bargain hunter!  

I've been at it six weeks now and have to tell you that using coupons is a lot of work but also fun and very rewarding.  I also understand that not everyone has the time or the interest.  The retail stores count on consumers being busy, busy, busy and get a great deal of our hard earned income because we are in such a hurry all the time.  I'm tired of paying through the nose for everything we purchase and having very little to show for our grocery shopping trips. 

 My adventure into Extreme Couponing starts here.  We have three grocery stores to shop at in Parker.  Safeway, Basha's & Walmart, one drug store - CVS and two dollar stores, Dollar General & Family Dollar.

I'll be back soon to share some shopping stories, valuable tips and links.

See you then...