Grocery Budget Gone Crazy!

     Well, well, well, I am ashamed to admit that for quite a few months I have been very lazy about my grocery shopping.  I somehow convinced myself that easy and convenient was far more important than money as far as grocery shopping was concerned...well, my bank account is now reminding me of how silly that notion was.  For the last few months, I would guess we have been spending around $800 each month on groceries (yikes) and eating out way too much because I do not always have enough food in the house to cook.
     Fortunately, there was a marathon of Extreme Couponing on the television and I spent a few hours engrossed by the coupon success of my fellow couponers.  I was inspired again to get busy!!!  I keep a stockpile, nothing like the people on the show, but none the less, a small stockpile and this has proven to be a HUGE money saver.  Well, the last two months, my stockpile has been pretty empty and I am feeling the cost of that in a big way.
     So, last week, while watching the show, I organized all my coupons, purged expired inserts, labelled and filed current inserts and began making lists. (I still use Coupon$ense because it really does save me the most time and effort.)  After a small amount of time getting reorganized, I had a list and coupons ready and made successful trips to Safeway and Frys, awakening in me a love for the process and profitability of coupon shopping.  Here is what I brought home!

 Fry's:  Retail Value $55.95, I paid $9.50!

Safeway:  Retail Value $62.38, I paid $16.29!

Beautiful, blond, couponer in training, not included.

     All in all, my first day couponing again was a great success and my stock pile has increased a little.  But most importantly, I have been reminded that a little time and effort is really not much to give up for such huge savings! If you would like to learn how I do this, you can check out all my Grocery Savings blog posts, click here is one specifically on how Coupon$ense helps me!  As always, feel free to send me an email with any questions!