Couponing With the Best of Them

The season premiere of "Extreme Couponing" aired on TLC tonight, and while most of the slightly OCD coupon clippers on the show were more than annoying, I must say I was extremely impressed and a little intrigued by just how much these people were able to save! I'll give credit to anyone who is willing to spend hours finding, clipping and organizing coupons, and then spending an hour at the grocery store checkout line making sure they're maximizing their savings by organizing items into 18 different transactions to diminish $600 totals to $10 or less....on the other hand, who has time for this?!?!

This show made me think about my own spending habits. I go to the store as often as I feel like picking up groceries, and I never really think about what I'm buying or whether there may be a coupon for what I'm buying. After watching the show, I immediately went online and googled different coupon websites. I printed off a ton of coupons for toilet paper, pizza rolls, toothpaste, etc. while my boyfriend stared at me with a look of amazement (or shock). While I still have no idea HOW these people save as much money as they do (besides the fact that they devote as much time to clipping coupons as some people devote to their full-time jobs), there may be some reasoning to their madness. Even if I'm not saving hundreds of dollars on groceries, saving the tens of dollars I can by clipping coupons when I have time might not be a bad idea!

My plan for the week is to clip all the coupons I can during down time on work breaks, etc., because most graduate students who also work full-time just don't have a lot of extra time to devote to something like this. On Sunday, I will calculate what I would have spent had I paid full price for the groceries and my savings. I will be shocked if I save enough to make this a habit, but who knows. I might just surprise myself. After all, I am a complete sucker for a good deal.