Have I ever told you...

About the time I had to strip color off of my hair? Go get a cookie,,, I'll wait.....When I was pregnant I was afraid to dye my hair.... I read in a book that it could be harmfu(obviously written by a man)...so I bought some organic hair dye made from vegetable roots or dog snot or some other such earthie goo. It turned my hair PURPLE! Since 'turnip' wasn't the look I was going for I called my hair chick and told her what I had done. After she cleaned the sweet tea off her phone receiver where she spewed it from laughing so hard, she told me to go buy some color strip/correcting concoction from Sally's Beauty Supply. It was like $749 or something outrageous like that but hey, it worked and I didn't look like a Tele-Tubby any more.

New Wal-Mart coupon Policy

Okay peeps! It looks like Wal-Mart has stepped up the game and you no longer have to wear a stripped shirt and green pants in order to redeem a coupon!! Woohoo!! No, really, it's much better than that. From what I'm reading, it appears that we will be able to use register rewards and Catalina's that print from other stores....I'm sure it will take a while to get all of the stores trained in this. But if we are all friendly and take a printed copy of THEIR coupon policy with us, it shouldn't take long.
Go HERE to view and print!

I hope to have my Wag's scenarios up tomorrow night. Let me know if any of this helps...if not, I'll stop.
Thanks!!

Coupon Insert schedule for 2011

2011 Sunday Coupon Insert Schedule (Smartsource Coupon Preview 2011, Redplum Coupon Preview 2011, Proctor & Gamble Coupon Preview 2011, General Mills Coupon Preview 2011) You can go here to get a listing of each coupon.

January
2— (2) Smart Source (2) Red Plum and General Mill
9— Smart Source and Red Plum
16 — Proctor & Gamble
23 — Smart Source and Red Plum
30 — Smart Source and Red Plum

February

6 — Smart Source
13 — No Inserts scheduled (Valentine’s Day)
20 — Smart Source, General Mills and Procter & Gamble
27 — Smart Source and Red Plum

March
6— Smart Source, Red Plum and Procter & Gamble
13 — Smart Source and Red Plum
20 — Smart Source and Red Plum
27 — (2) Smart Source, Red Plum and Procter & Gamble

April
3— No Inserts scheduled
10 — Smart Source and Red Plum
17 — Smart Source and Red Plum
24 — Smart Source and Red Plum

May
1 — Smart Source, Red Plum and Procter & Gamble
8— Smart Source and Red Plum
15 — (2) Smart Source and Red Plum
22 — Smart Source and Red Plum
29 — No Inserts scheduled (Memorial Day)

June

5 — Smart Source, Red Plum and Procter & Gamble
12 — Smart Source
19 — Smart Source and Red Plum
26 — Smart Source and Red Plum

July
3 — No Inserts scheduled (Independence Day)
10 — Smart Source and Red Plum
17 — Smart Source
24 — Smart Source and Red Plum
31 — Smart Source, Red Plum and Procter & Gamble

August
7 — Smart Source and Red Plum
14 — Smart Source and Red Plum
21 — Smart Source and Red Plum
28 — Smart Source, Red Plum and Procter & Gamble

September
4 — No Inserts scheduled (Labor Day)
11 — Smart Source and (2) Red Plum
18 — Smart Source and Red Plum
25 — Smart Source and Red Plum

October
2 — Smart Source, Red Plum and Procter & Gamble
9 — Smart Source and Red Plum
16 — Smart Source and Red Plum
23 — Smart Source and Red Plum
30 — Smart Source and Red Plum

November
6 — Smart Source, Red Plum and Procter & Gamble
13 — Smart Source and Red Plum
20 — Smart Source and Red Plum
27 — No Inserts scheduled (Thanksgiving)

December
4 — Smart Source, Red Plum and Procter & Gamble
11 — Smart Source and Red Plum
18 — No Inserts scheduled (Christmas)
25 — Procter & Gamble

Back again! Excuses, excuses and sales at Walgreen's!

Yes, people. I'm back again. I'm sorry that I am such a sporadic blog poster person....but...I can't seem to help it. I post, I don't post, and then, as you you can see, I post again!
Facebook has been the main reason that I have not posted. I tend to leave quick one lined blurbs there and it requires little thought I my part....which is a good thing for me after homeschooling the girls and keeping up with daily life by 4 or 5 p.m.each day my brain is pretty much fried. That smell of burnt microwave popcorn would be my brain cells sizzling.
While fb may be the means of my communicating blurbs of needless info, it can also be a quagmire of garbage that takes hours to wade through...there is a fine line between "I should do a status update about that" and "I should talk to a therapist about that". All that to say, I've not been spending my time wisely people.
I'm going to try to do better. Here, I am going to post about some sales at Walgreens that are taking place starting tomorrow. This is meant to help my new coupon peeps that I have been helping recently.
Here is a listing of the things that Wags has on sale this week. Look over the blog and ck out monthly sales as well as the weeks sales items. Get any printables you can to match up with the sale items.
As requested, I am including my scenarios for the week.
#1 Applied Nutrition Total Body Defense
2 Motrin IB 20 ct @3.00 each
use $6/2 coupon for Motrin
use $10 rr I had from previous sale
pay only tax oop(out of pocket)
Get back $10 rr and $3 rr

#2 1 Baby Magic Lotion or wash
use $3 rr from transaction #1
pay only tax oop
get back $3 rr

#3 Colgate Total Defense $2.99
Peroxide .39 with in ad (q) coupon from this weeks flier
Super Poligrip $1.99
use Colgate $1/1 mfg (q)coupon from Wags Diabetes and You
use Wags coupon $1/1 from same booklet
use $3 rr from transaction #2
pay $3.37 oop
get back $3 rr and $2 rr

#4 Aquaphor Lip Repair $4.99
Peroxide .39 w/ in ad q
Schick Hydro Razor $8.99
Use $1/1 Aquaphor
use $2/1 Razor
use $10 rr from trans #1
pay $1.37 plus tax
get back $5 rr and $6 rr

#5 Schick Hydro $8.99
Listerine $2.99
Naso anti-drip spray gel $4.99
use $2/1 Schick
use @2/1 Listerine
use $10 rr I had from previous transaction
pay $2.97 plus tax
get back $6 rr $1 rr and $5 rr

#6 Drinking water $2.49 w/ in ad q
Jet Dry $3.49
use $1 off Jet Dry from Wag's March booklet
use $1/1 mfg q for Jet Dry
use $2.99 rr
pay .99 plus tax


In the end, I'll have $25 worth of register rewards left over to use towards other purchase. Since Walgreens carries such a wide variety of products these can be used on a lot of different items, or save them for next weeks sale. Happy shopping!

Wag's week!

Walgreen's is the place for me this week! Today I spent $14.53 pre-tax for....2 newspapers, 2 Gillette body washes, 2 men's Nivea body washes, 2 Old Spice body washes, 3 tubes of Crest Pro-Health, 4 can's of Swanson's Chicken Broth, 1 Red Barron Pizza, a 40 count pack of Huggies, 4 pair of Knee Highs, 1 75 foot of Reynold's Wrap, 4 Right Guard Deodorants, and a pck of M&M's. WOW!! I used some register rewards, but also left with $8.50 in additional RR's! Total before Q's was $77.94.
I love coupons!
It was a good day to double up on your newspaper purchases as well!!
I'm headed back to Kroger tomorrow. I 'll shout if there is anything crazy. Don't forget they are having the MEGA-EVENT buy 10 get $5 off on MANY items.

Sunday's inserts

There should be a General Mills insert as well as a SmartSource and Red Plum inserts this week. These vary by region. I don't get a RedPlum. Makes me very sad....anyway. I've added a new widget to the right where upon you may click to see the up and coming inserts!

This week in coupons....

I didn't take pics this week. I got in a hurry and put it all away before I thought about it. I started to dig it all back out and realized that was insanity. All in all this was a great week for me with my coupons. I had a slight set back at the Hernando Wal-Mart. As one of my friends pointed out, I obviously wasn't wearing my striped shirt.
A local store had Kraft shredded cheese on sale for $1.57, and Kraft sliced cheese on sale for $1.37. The unfortunate thing is that they won't take internet coupons because they are a sadly misinformed Mom and Pop store and thus, do not know what in the world they are missing out on. The revenue they could collect from these manufacturers is endless. Oh well. Anyway, I took my ad to a second Wal-Mart where they did graciously price match. Then I gave them my $5 off of $5 Kraft cheese items coupons. ( I had 3 of them to use) It took a while for them to figure this out. Their registers were recognizing this as a $5 off one coupon and they can not give you more than you pay for the item. Therefore it only wanted to $1.37 off of my purchase. I tried to explain this to the cashier. Imagine how well that went for a moment and when you're through laughing, return to the post......glad you had a chuckle. Anyway, she said it was because it was comped....whatevah. So take it off and charge me full price and see what happens....then it only took $2 off because that is how much their cheese was. Okay, so now to you understand. Yes,yes she did. I also explained to her that she can't give me only $2.00 off an item and then claim the full $5 from Kraft, that is coupon fraud. What they so often want to accuse the customer of. ....She understood this concept, So they price matched and then just kept scanning the coupon for $1.37 until she got tired of it which was 12 times. This meant I got $16.44 off instead of $15. I'll take it. I'll consider that mileage payment for having to drive to two Wal-Marts. I got 15 packages of shredded and sliced cheese for .38 per pack. That was a good coupon day. Wal-Mart also had an unadvertised price roll back for Goldfish and they are $1!! I had several $1 off one q's so that was another happy coupon moment.
I got 6 canisters of Clorox wipes for .50 each from Walgreen's. I also got 2 Tilex for .50 each and 2 Clorox Toilet bowl cleaners which we were slap out of, for .75 each. I had the $1 off one for the Deli Fresh lunch meat also so I got 4 of those for $1.50 each, and the Soft Soap refills for $3.50 each with q's all from Wag's as well.
All in all, it was a great coupon week. I'm looking forward to hopefully hitting CVS tomorrow to take advantage of last weeks AND this coming weeks sales. Post any really good sales you got this week in the comments. I'd LOVE to hear them!

Walgreen's is the place to be this week!

Wags has some serious sales for my family this week.
If you become a fan of Clorox on FB then you can print a $1 off coupon for their wipes..any size! You can print two. They are on sale 2/$5 with a 2 rr...so really 2 for $3, if you print two coupons then theyn are 2 for $1! That's a good deal for germaphobes like us!!
For more awesome deals at wags this week, click HERE!!

Kroger Week!!

Okay, so I had quite a coupon fiasco at Kroger on Saturday.(who knew the system would stop doubling identical coupons after 15...so I had to make 7 different transactions....) Alas, I have recovered and I am ready to head that way again! All of you who listened a few posts back and started saving the Pillsbury and Frozen veggie coupons are about to have a good week at Kroger! This week, starting Tomorrow afternoon(you can get the new week's sale prices as well as the old week on Tuesday afternoons) the Green Giant frozen veggies AND the Pillsbury biscuits and other frozen breads will be on sale. There are multiple ecoupons at shortcuts.com and Kroger.com and Cellfire.com which you can load directly to your Kroger card to go along with your paper coupons you've been saving. There is also a Green Giant Catalina that is going on...from 9/6 until 10/3 buy 4 get $1, buy 6 get $2 buy 8 or more and get $3 off your next shopping purchase. I'd buy my veggies first and then use my catalina to offset my Pillsbury purchase!!
At CVS this week you can get free Revlon lipstick with their ECB deal. If you're interested in this go to Southern Savers and click the CVS tab for further instructions!
Any site I've mentioned here can be accessed directly from the sidebar where it says "I heart these blogs"
Happy Shopping!!

Spanish Coupons

My Spanish is pretty much non-existant. I hope to change that over the next two years as we study Spanish at home with Rosetta Stone. However, I was able to make my throught this WEBSITE for General Mills that appears to offer coupons for FULL size items. Go and fill it out and you should get them in the mail.

Good coupons!

There are some good coupons to be found HERE. These are mostly $1 off coupons which are no better than .50 q's used at Kroger where they double. But these will go great at Target and Wal-Mart!

Schnucks and CVS

Okay, this is shaping up to be a great week in the Memphis area for couponers. Not only can you rack up on the free SoBe waters at CVS, but you can find some awesome deals with the HUGE 10 for $10 sale at Schnucks. Remember they double up to .60 each day!! They also give .20 off PER GALLON when you have spent $100, and this accumulates, unlike Kroger. Make sure you have ALL of your coupons with you when you go because I don't think they have everything that is $1 listed in the add. We should be able to pick up some freebies there this week! Here are just a few of the items on sale that I know there are coupons for...Land Of Lakes Butter, Totino's Pizza Rolls, Hamburger Helper, Delmonte fruit cups, Bisquick Shake and Pour, Palmolive dish soap....head on over.
This is a pic of my finds at CVS this week. I got it all for $5.70. Don't forget when you go into a CVS to scan your card at the coupon station. It prints out extra coupons for you to use on your purchase that day. In fact, if you're near a CVS and have a minute to kill, go in and do this and just see what you can get. On this visit I got an additional $3 off of my purchase and $3 off of any as seen on TV item.
Can't beat it for less than six bucks!

What do coupons and the moon have in common?

They both go around in cycles.....Sales and coupons are ran and generated in cycles. You will usually notice that you are seeing the same ole coupons and the same ole sales for about 10-12 weeks. Then you will start noticing a new set. This will run for 10-12 weeks and then another. It's a rotation. This is another GREAT reason to STOCK UP when they are on sale and running coupons. For the entire summer we've been getting free razors and deodorant, however I've been missing all of the great frozen veggie coupons I saw in the spring. I'm glad to see they are coming back. ..go over to the sidebar in my faves and click Coupons.com and print some!! There are several good ones. You will start to see a LOT of candy coupons because of the harvest fest formerly known as Halloween.
Make sure you print extras to save for the Christmas candy that they'll put out the day BEFORE Halloween....sheesh.
Anyway, tonight I found some cheap razors, and cheap Pizza Rolls at Target. They had Pizza rolls on sale for $1.36. If you happened to print out the .40 Target q for 2 boxes, and the new $1/1 (print two) at Pillsbury.com then you can get two boxes for .32!!
Y'all have a good night. If you know of any good bargains out there, then share the love and leave a comment!

Free SoBe and cheap Dr. Pepper!

I love cheap dranks dontcha know!! FYI....starting Sunday at Walgreen's they will have have $5 rr when you buy 3 12 packs at 3 for $11. This means 3 for $6 when it's all said and done...that's $2 a 12 pack folks...and I love me some Dr. Pepper!!

Also, CVS will have SoBe Water B1G1, so go to SoBe Lifewater and play the game every day for a chance to win a B1G1 coupon. (print it twice), that way they will both be FREE. Last time they ran this sale a month or so ago and I got 8 free SoBe Waters!

Went to Kroger today. Saved $81.29 and spent $29.74...savings of 76%!!!

The years remaining coupon inserts....

This is a list of the years remaining coupon inserts. Remember that this is regional. Some areas don't get every insert. I don't get Red Plum. So if any of you want to share with me....LOL...Also, If you don't get one of these inserts in your local paper, they can always be purchased from a clipping service.

September

5 -- NO INSERTS (Labor Day)

12 -- Smartsource, Red Plum

19 -- Smartsource, Red Plum

26 -- Smartsource, Red Plum


October

3 -- Smartsource, Red Plum

10 -- Smartsource, Red Plum

17 -- Smartsource, Red Plum

24 -- Smartsource, Red Plum

31 -- Smartsource, Red Plum


November

7 -- Smartsource, Red Plum

14 -- Smartsource , 2 Red Plum

21 -- Smartsource, Red Plum

28 -- NO INSERTS (Thanksgiving)


December

5 -- Smartsource, Red Plum

12 -- Smartsource, Red Plum

19 -- NO INSERTS (Christmas)

26 -- NO INSERTS (New Year's)

Stocking up, and naming your price!

Who among us has not read the posts by people claiming to be able to feed their family of four and a stray cat on twelve cents a week? I know, I know, I exaggerate, but really. We've all read the ones who claim to only spend about $30 a week to feed their fam. I thought it was a pack of lies. But, friends, it can be done. And done well. The secret behind this ability is to STOCK PILE. I am going to post some pics here of some of my stashes...

The Capri Suns are something we consider a staple at the Witness household, so at $1 per box, I stocked up. They won't last long...we'd already gone through two boxes when I snapped this pic.

We LOVE Smores Goldfish, and most any other type of Goldfish for that matter as long as I don't have to change it's bowl......Kroger had these 10 for $10 and I had .75 off each one in paper coupons,,I also had ecoupons for .50 off of two. I got FREE Goldfish. The Flatbreads are another of my addictions, they are normally around $3 so when I scored these for $1, I stocked up.


I don't pay for toothbrushes. Kroger also had OralB 10 for $10 and I had .50 q's which they doubled. Wag's (Walgreen's) had Reach for .99 each and I had $1 q's....so those were free. I'm waiting for them to do that one again!


Again, Kroger had the Crest 10 for $10 and I had .50 q's which they doubled. I had a couple of .75 cent ones so I had to pay a quarter for those since they only double to .60.....I paid $1.25 for 14 of them...plus tax

All of the men's razors where either FREE or FREE plus money back. Don't get confused, they will not REFUND money to you. The way this works is that the money is applied to the rest of your bill. So don't go in and buy ONE item and have a coupon worth more than the value and think they will give you money for it....if you find a store than does, call me, I'm goin' shopping there. Most all of the women's razors were free at Target. I had to pay .50 each for two packs, but the rest were freebies.

The shaving cream was .50 per can after a Wag's coupon matched up with a manufacturer coupon. The 3 Nivea Body washes were .99 each and the other body washes behind it were free, all at Wag's.

The pepsi products I got at Wag's yesterday. GREAT SALE. they were 4 12 packs for $8 after a $5 rr. My sister mailed me two q's from her paper that were for $2 off 4 so I got them for $1.50 a 12 pack. Thanks Sis!!She's my partner in this thing.


The pantry is a crazy mess, please excuse it. I plan to organize it this week....bwahahahah. Yeah right. The puddings were almost free at Target when I matched their q's, the fruit cup packs were .94 for each container of 4. Lots of free soup in the background.



That is just what I have handy. I also have a stash of Laundry Detergent and Fabric Softener that I've been living off of for almost a year. I have over 15 Toaster Strudel pkgs in the deep freeze, ditto for Lean Cuisines, and so forth. I got most of these for nearly free if not totally free. When I can get items for almost nothing I will get as many as I can, so that I will not be at their mercy when I need something. If you have a stockpile then you can name the price you are willing to pay for an item instead of having to pay what they are asking. For example....I'm not willing to pay for than .25 for toothpaste. I'm not willing to pay for toothbrushes at all, the same goes for deodorant, which I didn't take a picture of, but I have about 15 sticks. If you don't have any and you need it, then they have the upper hand. So you get the idea. Stock pile your regulars and then you don't have to buy them later. You'd be surprised how low your grocery bill is if you don't have to buy washing products or toiletries. If you're stocked on cereal and soup and such that's even less. I'm to the point that I really only need to buy meat, milk, and bread for a while. But if I do that I'll lose my stock pile. So I just stay on top of what I can get for free or close to it.

Another thing about coupons is that you can't be brand loyal if you want to maximize your savings. If Sure is on sale for .99 and you have a $1 coupon, then that's the kind you might want to use instead of Secret this month. There are some things you just can't change though and for those go ahead and get the free item and donate it to a needy cause. I can't tell you how many bags of things I've given away 6 bags of things in just the last 6 weeks. If there is a favorite, like Crest at my house, then consider going to a clipping service like Kuntry Klippers and purchasing a bundle of coupons for your favorite item. That way when it goes on sale you can buy bulk.

Now go...clean off a shelf and get ready!

Sunday 8/29

Don't forget to buy multiple papers on Sunday 8/29. These will have an extra coupon insert from Proctor and Gamble. It usually has some great high value coupons!!

Coupon Organization

Organization is key in successful couponing. I've tried numerous methods for organizing my coupons. Everything from the box method, to having them in envelopes by store, or carrying them around in little accordion coupon holders in my purse. These methods may work great for you, but the binder method works best for me. With the binder method, I have all of my coupons with me ALL the time. I can see them, I don't have to DIG through to find them. It makes it MUCH better. Here are some pictures of my binder.

I bought this binder in the fall last year marked down to $3.


I keep a pen and a little pair of fold out scissors to clip any coupons that I may come across at the last minute.

I have a clear view zipper pouch up front that I keep rainchecks and store coupons(rr rewards/catalinas/ECBs)in. This way I don't forget about them since most of these expire rather quickly. On the left there is a three section accordion that is sized perfectly for shopping ads, and grocery lists, etc.

I downloaded my dividers from Krazy Coupon Lady.





My coupons are in baseball card holders that I bought for $5.77 a pack.
Lastly, I used "Post It" stick on tabs for labels to keep them in order according to the table of contents. I adjusted the contents to fit my needs. For example, I didn't need a baby section.....Thank you, Krazy Coupon Lady for making this available.

This is the only method I found that didn't leave me completely frustrated, standing in the isle with a stack of coupons going through them over and over trying to find a particular one.
I know it may look cumbersome, but it's so worth it.

Let's Go Krogering....

Today, I went to Kroger. My bill was $116.45, but I paid $46.05, and the manufacturer's paid for the rest.

Okay...Time for true confessions! I was a shopper who made a list of needs for the week, thumbed through the Sunday paper and clipped what coupons I thought would go with it and then headed to the store only to find that once my coupon was redeemed I would still be better off to just buy the store brand. Those were sad times people.
I didn't have a CLUE what I was doing.

Who doesn't have a Kroger card? I think everyone in the central part of the United States has one. They are HANDY. You can load couopons DIRECTLY onto your Kroger card and never cut one out again...but you'll want to before I'm done. First, here is a list and link to the places from which you can load coupons directly to your Kroger card:
Kroger.com That's right. You can go to their own website and choose coupons to load directly to your card.
Shortcuts.com
Cellfire.com

At each of these sites you will need to register your Kroger card number, found on the back of your card. I have never received junk mail, or a phone call or text from any of these sites. I have, however, saved a ton of money using their coupons.
Once you have loaded the coupons on your card they will automatically come off when the cashier scans your Kroger card. There is no need to even mention it to the cashier, because they don't have to do anything. The fun part is that you can ALSO use a paper coupon for the same product. AND MY KROGER DOUBLES up to .60. So you can very likely get some FREE or really cheap items. Here is an example:
Kroger had these on sale in their buy 8 get $4 off promotion this week...That would make them .69 each. $2.76 for all four....

I had 3 coupons loaded on my Kroger card from varios e-coupon sites listed above. I had two q's loaded for .50 off, and another loaded for .75 off this took $1.75 off immediatly. Then I had 2 paper coupons for .50 off one. They doubled both of these, and then I had a coupon for .75 off of two, so I saved $2.75 in paper coupons. So the total I owed for these before coupons was 2.76, when I was done, they owed me $1.74....which was just applied to the rest of my grocery bill. Not only were they FREE, they were a money maker.
Now get off of here and go register your Kroger card!!

The Wal-Mart Deception

Back in the day did you ever know one of those kids who talked tough? I mean the kid that everyone was intimidated by and NO ONE wanted to cross. Then one day somebody got sick of it and stood up to the bully and found out he wasn't so tough after all. Well, that is the deception of Wal-Mart. They have this reputation, which they've spent millions to build, of having the lowest price any where in the land. But, like the bully, they are all talk. When faced with a public armed with "shopping savvy" they roll over, or "ROLL BACK" as the case may be, and play dead. I grew up in Wal-Mart country. I remember the FIRST super-centers. Every time the would open a new one, they would start HUGE price wars with the local grocery chains. Milk for $1 a gallon, Bread for $.25, and so forth. This is one of the ways they got the reputation for having the lowest price. But man can not live by bread and milk alone,,,and Wal-Mart knows this well. Wal-Mart will price comp your ads.....this is a fairy tail most of the time. They will price comp, if: you have your ad present, the advertising store is local, you are wearing a striped shirt at the time you are making your purchase, AND if the cashier is in a good mood. LOL but really THIS is where I was deceived. I was a shopper who would look at the ad for other stores, and see that most of what they had on sale in their ad was not what I was buying, and just assume that everything else they had was more expensive than Wal-Mart. So I didn't even bother going to them. The truth is, that other stores are on to this price matching game and have more UNADVERTISED sales than they have in their sale ad. Quite often over HALF of the good deals I find while shopping are unadvertised. AND..even if they were, and I had Wal-Mart to comp them, they won't double my coupons like Kroger will. They don't have Wal-Mart coupons online that you can match with manufacturer coupons like Target does. I think if more Target Super Centers would go in, Wal-Mart would have to change the way they do business.


I was among the imtimidated, and shall I say it, uneducated shoppers who threw money at Wal-Mart in obscene amounts. I thought at one point we'd be better off to have our paychecks directly deposited to Wal-Mart and they could just pay us what was left. In loose change. I have gone from spending well over $600 a month at Wal-Mart, to around $150 or so per month.

Once I began to coupon, and started shopping at stores other than Wal-Mart, mostly because they are not overly coupon friendly, I began to see how I'd been deceived. Wal-Mart does still have their good deals. But all in all, NOT the best bang for the buck, FO SHO!! Our local Wal-Mart is pretty easy going about couponing. But I've been to a couple that are insane about it. They'll take your coupon if both YOU AND the CASHIER are wearing striped shirts, and she/He is in a good mood.

I say all of this to encourage you to get out and look around. It may take a little time at first to familiarize yourself with other stores prices, but it's worth it. If you are shopping at Wal-Mart for convenience, then they can't be beat. Otherwise....it's time to see other people...umm, err, stores.