Pick Another Checkout Lane, Honey

As you know, I've gotten into couponing lately. A friend of mine started it all when she read this book and hooked me up with the website (thekrazycouponlady.com). Since then my addiction to saving money on groceries has grown and become an actual hobby.

But, after collecting coupons and planning my menus based on store sales, I still felt like I was missing something. I wasn't getting the savings that I had read about on their website, so I decided to check out their book too, Pick Another Checkout Lane, Honey by Heather Wheeler and Joanie Demer.

It was a really quick read and quite entertaining. Kind of like talking to your coupon-fanatic girlfriend over dessert or something. Very informative and inspiring. Maybe even empowering. The whole point of couponing is not to brag about the deals you got (although, that part is quite fun), it's about financial freedom and spending your money the way you want to spend it (not giving it to the grocery store). They share several stories of how couponing allowed families to thrive while unemployed or pay off debt while being a one-income family, etc.

The trick it seemed I had been missing is two fold: I only subscribe to one Sunday paper so I only have one set of coupons to clip each week, while the Krazy Lady recommends having at least 4 but preferably 6 copies! The second part is stockpiling. These ladies have garages and cupboards full of food and toiletries. They wait for a great sale, then use their 6 coupons and stock up for cheap! I don't have a ton of space in my one-bedroom apartment, I do stock up when I can, but I can't have a 4 month supply of cereal in my closet! These two things are their keys to saving hundreds of dollars a month on groceries.

I will continue to coupon and try to stretch my grocery dollars but I don't think I will ever save the $600 dollars a month that these Krazy Ladies boast about - I only spend $400 each month the way it is! But if I could get that down to $200 that would be pretty great! Hm . . . what would I do with an extra $200 a month?!?

As you know, I've gotten into couponing lately. A friend of mine started it all when she read this book and hooked me up with the website (thekrazycouponlady.com). Since then my addiction to saving money on groceries has grown and become an actual hobby.

But, after collecting coupons and planning my menus based on store sales, I still felt like I was missing something. I wasn't getting the savings that I had read about on their website, so I decided to check out their book too, Pick Another Checkout Lane, Honey by Heather Wheeler and Joanie Demer.

It was a really quick read and quite entertaining. Kind of like talking to your coupon-fanatic girlfriend over dessert or something. Very informative and inspiring. Maybe even empowering. The whole point of couponing is not to brag about the deals you got (although, that part is quite fun), it's about financial freedom and spending your money the way you want to spend it (not giving it to the grocery store). They share several stories of how couponing allowed families to thrive while unemployed or pay off debt while being a one-income family, etc.

The trick it seemed I had been missing is two fold: I only subscribe to one Sunday paper so I only have one set of coupons to clip each week, while the Krazy Lady recommends having at least 4 but preferably 6 copies! The second part is stockpiling. These ladies have garages and cupboards full of food and toiletries. They wait for a great sale, then use their 6 coupons and stock up for cheap! I don't have a ton of space in my one-bedroom apartment, I do stock up when I can, but I can't have a 4 month supply of cereal in my closet! These two things are their keys to saving hundreds of dollars a month on groceries.

I will continue to coupon and try to stretch my grocery dollars but I don't think I will ever save the $600 dollars a month that these Krazy Ladies boast about - I only spend $400 each month the way it is! But if I could get that down to $200 that would be pretty great! Hm . . . what would I do with an extra $200 a month?!?