Ingle's Triple Coupons

14 bags of groceries.
Total before discount: $164.92
Advantage card discount: $17.92
Coupon totals: $46.80

Amount I paid: $100.20

This week I bought lots of stuff that there were no coupons for, ie., produce, grains, etc.

The store on 25N in Hendersonville near my house was packed & the staff was absolutely haggard.

Time invested to use the coupons: almost 4 hours between weeding out the coupon book for expired coupons, clipping & adding the new ones, & shopping (it takes alot longer to shop using coupons).

I'm not so sure it was worth it but then again I really don't like spending money if I know I can get a discount. Also, I haven't updated my book for a couple of weeks now (since the Harris Teeter triple coupon week).

Who am I kidding? Of course I'll keep using the coupons.

There Really Is A Trick To It

Couponing that is. I used to hear about these folks who would walk out of the store with a cart full of groceries for $10 or some insanely low amount like that & I would think that there was no way they could get anything but Ramen & pinto beans for that. Then my sister in law started getting into the whole coupon thing & I decided to check it out for myself. Yesterday I spent a grand total of $44 dollars & yes, I had about 18 bags of groceries & no, it wasn't crappy food (anybody who knows Randy is aware of what a picky eater he is). I've been "working the food system" for about 12 weeks now, which is the amount of time I was told it would take to build up to this level.

The rest of my shopping for the month should be perishables--milk, bread, produce. I would like to keep bill around $100, which would take about %75 from our usual monthly average. There's something very satisfying about knowing I have saved that kind of money in this economy.

I figure I will spend roughly 8 hours this month "couponing". I don't know about you, but that's alot of time for me to spend on anything that doesn't involve live music. It also takes longer to shop with coupons because like I wrote earlier, there really is a trick to it.

We'll see if I keep it up or wimp out.

Expect multiple posts today as I am basically sititng at my desk all day. One appointment out & that's it so I will probably post when I get bored or need a break from coding.