Guess what I've been doing....,

My sister in-law started couponing several months back.., when I first heard she was doing it..., I was strangely intrigued.., but yet did nothing with it.  About 3 months ago..., being frustrated with our money situation or lack there of ...., I jumped in to couponing and have loved it.  See the picture below????   I paid less than $13 bucks for the entire bunch!  The contact solution alone was $12 at Target (it's a double pack if you can see from the picture)! 

A few things I've learned over the last 3 months regarding couponing ...,

1.  It takes a lot more time than I thought it would to get the best deals.
2.  We are saving far MORE money than I imagined.
3.  I'm buying name brand items for far less than store brands.
4.  There's a learning curve..., it takes time to get good at it.  You need to be patient and put the time in to be good at it.  I'm not always patient!
5.  Target, though typically more expensive than Wal-Mart,  has better deals because they let you stack coupons...., using a store coupon plus a manufacturers coupon or two.
6.  Wal-Mart is the BEST at price matching!  Love them for that!  So easy to use!  There policy is you just have to tell them the price and where you saw it at.  No advertisements necessary!  I've had dumb cashier that don't know their store's coupon policy and have asked for the ad...., but then I just show them a copy of their store coupon policy that I keep on hand.
7.  Other couponers are NOT crazy hoarding, cat ladies like I've thought in the past.  They are typically SO helpful and willing to chat with folks new to couponing.  I've ask random strangers questions because I see their stack of coupons and assume they are one of the couponers.
8.  The website Freebies to Deals is by far the best help with couponing for me...., did I mention I'm pretty much with Christmas minus a few things I need to sew and things for DanO????  Yep.., I'm pretty stocked about that!  Thanks Freebies to Deals for that!
9.  There's a strange shoppers high I get when i see how much I've saved on a particular shopping trip.