Do You Coupon?

Have you seen that show, Extreme Couponing? This week I made my first attempt at couponing.   In the past 6 months our grocery bill has doubled.  Our children have become human garbage disposals!  Now, I'm not complaining about the garbage disposal thing.  I have a 2 year old who weighs 21 pounds, and a 5 year old on chemo.  Them shoving their faces makes me happy!  However, it does not make my checkbook happy.

Hence the couponing.  I went to the store equipped with my shopping list, sales paper, and coupons...and I failed miserably.  My mistakes?

1. I didn't look closely at my coupons, and many of the items I grabbed weren't what was specifically listed on the coupon.

2. I took my kids with me (BIG MISTAKE IF YOU'RE TRYING TO SAVE MONEY).

3. I didn't look closely at the sale ads in the sale paper.  For instance, I got two 2 liters of Sprite, because they were listed under a heading of "Assorted Coke Products Buy 1 Get 1 Free".  However, the Sprite itself wasn't one of those "assorted" items.


Okay, so I haven't totally given up, and I intend to do better next time.  What about you?  Do you have any tips to save money at the grocery store?  Share them, please!


And on an aside, here is a lovely little commercial that played during the Super Bowl.  It made me both happy and sad, and yes I cried.