My Couponing Start

I am so super super proud of my self right now. I'm actually quite amused that I'm so happy (as in smiling from ear to ear happy) about my first real couponing trip. A few months back I started clipping coupons. I've used a few of them here and there, but hadn't really gotten into it like I had wanted/hoped to. I have quite a few coupons that I've divided into categories using small photo albums. Unfortunately I've had to throw a lot of them away due to procrastination (on my part) and expiration (on the coupons part). Until today I'd also only bought 2 or 3 newspapers to clip from. So, basically, I haven't jumped on the whole coupon horse fully.

This is something that I'm going to make a point of getting good at over the summer. I've seen pictures on couponing websites of people's "stockpiles" and honestly I'm in complete awe over them. And these aren't stockpiles that cost a fortune either. These people are serious couponers and get incredibly great deals on the items that they are buying. I would absolutely love to be able to help myself and my family with learning the ins and outs of couponing and actually putting them into practice!! And trust me, this is no easy task. It sounds easy enough, clip a few coupons and save some money. But this is not the case. What I'm talking about is researching, saving coupons, finding store deals and combining them with coupons. It's harder than it sounds. But after tonight I've realized that it is so fulfilling in the end!! And I also want to add that for some hardcore couponers out there I actually spent too much on my stuff!! That's how good they are!

Anyways, let's get to my first couponing expedition. On my way home from church today I decided to go ahead and get the Sunday paper and clip the coupons out of it (this is something that I haven't done in at least 6 weeks or so). So I did that and started off by looking through the weekly store ads. The one that caught my the most was the Walgreens ad. They have a lot of great specials all of the time. I found the Walgreens specials/coupons that interested me the most and jotted them down. On top off the specials there was a '$3 off of a $10 purchase' coupon in there good only at the Walgreens by my house since they just moved into a new building!! Jackpot! Anyways here is how my trip breaks down:

~2 Sunlight Dish Soap (reg. $1.79 each) - B1G1F coupon - total $1.79
~6 Jello packets (reg. $.89 each or 5/$4) - $.39 each coupon limit 6 - total $2.34
~2 Lady Speed Stick Deodorants (reg. $2.99 each) - $.99 each coupon limit 3 PLUS $.75 off 2 coupon - total $1.23
~2 Morton Salt (reg. $.89 each) - 2/$1 coupon - total $1
~4 cans Butterball Chicken Broth (on sale for $.99 each) - 4/$2 coupon - total $2
~6 packs 2 sheet Hallmark Gift Wrap (reg. $.69 each or 2/$1) - 3/$1 coupon - total $2
~$3 off of a $10 purchase coupon

My total savings with all of my specials and coupons was $12.78!!
I paid (out of pocket) a total of $7.43 for all of that stuff!!!

Here's a picture of all of my loot!!



YAY! GO ME! Do you see why I'm so happy right now?! I think I did pretty darn good for my first couponing trip!! May this be the first of many to come!