couponing anyone?!

It seems like the craze lately is couponing. Has anyone seen the show Extreme Coupon? That's where I first became aware of it. The first show I watched was a lady that bought $1000 worth of groceries and paid $40. That's insane. and impressive. So the next day, I got online to start looking up how they do this. Completely stressed me out. This extreme couponing definitely isn't for me. Who seriously has 30-40 hours a week to devote strictly to clipping coupons, reading ads, shopping around?! Not this lady. The show did however make me aware of some of my spending habits. So i've been paying attention to store ads and deals on items we use and etc. I'm a walmart shopper bc of the convenience but lately have been hitting the sales at Albertson's.

Anyway, all that to preference how proud I was of myself on Saturday. With the baby coming up, I wanted to start a small stockpile of diapers and wipes. The stuff we will go through like crazy. My mom had forwarded me a one day only coupon to Babies R Us. The coupon happened to be the brand that I love for newborns, pampers swaddlers. The coupon was $8 off diapers and $3 off wipes (had to be pampers). So we went to babies R us and I grabbed the wipes I like. 500 ct for $14. I noticed it said buy pampers diapers and get half off the wipes. So do the math....$14/2 is 7 - 3 is $4. So I move onto the diapers. The swaddlers were 108 ct for $29.99. (first off, I had totally forgotten how ridiculous diapers are priced!!!!) So do the math....$30 - 8 is $22. So I figured I'd spend a little under $30. Not great, but still saving me $12. So I go to check out and end up spending $17. She rang everything up, I didn't scam or cheat anyone, but I still am not really 100% sure how I did it. (Note: I had bought a couple other items bc I had a gift card, so I didnt' really start looking at my receipt until I got in the car). I guess the diapers were on sale bc they ended up costing me $15 and the wipes, for 500 wipes!!, ended up costing me $1.49. So I'm really proud of myself for driving the extra distance and using my coupon and getting a heck of a deal. Even if I'm not 100% sure how I did. Which this is also the reason that coupons stress me out. My only wish was that I had realized how great of a deal it was and doubled up on it. Oh well. Live and Learn. Welcome to my life of couponing. :)