Getting Krazy!

Now that I'm off on my own, and in charge of buying groceries (who knew food actually cost money!?!?!!?), I have decided to become a Krazy Coupon Lady by learning the art of "extreme couponing." Basically, you match coupons to sales, and try to buy goods when they hit their absolute lowest price. It takes a lot of practice, I am definitely a couponing beginner. There are a number of web sites devoted to helping extreme couponers by listing available deals, tracking sales, and providing links to printable coupons. Even though I am far from proficient, I have already saved $50 this month!

My biggest handicap is that I have been working without access to the Sunday newspaper. Most of the available coupons come in the ad inserts. I was hoping to locate a generous donor here in Ft. Wayne so that I wouldn't have to actually buy the paper (I am apparently also an aspiring tight-wad). So far, my quest has been unsuccessful. This Sunday I'm finally going to cave and buy three copies of the Journal Gazette.

The key to successful couponing is getting your coupons in bulk. When prices hit rock bottom, you use your coupon stash to stockpile as much as you need for the next six months to a year, which will get you through until the item hits rock bottom again. I can't begin truly stockpiling until we get to California, but I have scored a few things that will keep very well for at least a year, but probably more.

My biggest coupon success? Eight packages of Kotex liners, not just for free, but I actually made $.12 on each one! Wal Mart will allow you to use a coupon that exceeds the price of the item, and they will actually give you money back out of the register if your coupons exceed your total purchase!!! That was pretty exciting. :-)

Now I'm stalking a tub of butter which hopefully I can get for free. Wish me luck!