Couponer-in-Training:

thanks to a training session at riverdale baptist by the queen-couponer herself, kim blair, i'm going to give it a shot at saving some money using coupons (gasp!). i like looking at coupons, i like cutting coupons out, but for some reason i really don't like using them. i guess it seems like a lot of work to save a little money and add the big inconvience of making people wait in line while i drag out the coupons (not to mention the looks!).

thanks to a little confidence from the lesson last week and my peer support in leigh ann and lots of online resources, i gave it a shot last night at kroger and saved 20% - not a huge amount considering the experts save about 50-70% on each trip out, but i was proud of that $$ i saved with minimal effort.

i'll never be able to hang with those ladies, i'm sure, since i have my own rules like:

1. i'll only go to one or two stores (i'm not driving all over town going to 5 different stores just to get a free toothbrush or brownie mix)
2. i'm not going to buy something i wouldn't normally use just because it's 75-90% off
3. i'll only go to walmart when it is ABSOULTELY necessary - it's best for my mental health if i stay away
4. my free time is very valuable to me because i don't have much of it and i'm not going to spend more than an hour per week digging through and clipping out coupons

so, i'll keep trying and see if i can move a little money from our food budget to our home-redecorating budget ;)