The cashiers at Publix, Walgreens, Target, CVS and even Walmart know me most of them by name.  These people have watched my son grow up is that strange?  When they first got to know me I was the crazy coupon lady, then I was the lady who knew all the sales, then all of sudden they started to see a pattern and wanted to be my friend and know how to do what I do.  Some of you reading this are probably my cashiers since I’ve handed out more cards then I can count.  I love my cashiers at least the ones that treat me right and give me no hassles with my coupons, I get in your lanes on purpose even if you have the longest line.  Does that make me crazy?

I’ve lightened up on my shopping over the past year due to having a fabulous stockpile built up and I got thinking am I still the crazy coupon lady??  I guess it’s in the eye of the beholder really a few weeks ago the new bagger at Publix probably thought I was nuts when I bought 12 jars of peanut butter but the cashier didn’t even flinch.  I know some of you reading must think couponing is hard or takes lots of time but let me tell you it doesn’t!!  There are great sites out there that have fantastic people who do all the work for you.  Sure I like to help and I’ll post the best deals when I see them and I really appreciate it when you click through my links or print your coupons from my sidebar that all helps me and keeps me here posting deals for you, but I can’t post all the grocery store deals and I don’t post all the drugstore deals.  If you are new to the game you might wonder where else do you get deals well I’ll tell you head on over to Afullcup.com and/or HotCouponWorld.com and check for your grocery store.  This is where I get my deals from and it’s so easy since they tell you where the coupons are and when they came out.

So I’m going to give you a run down of a typical shopping week for this Crazy Coupon Lady (maybe I should be the former CCL  LOL).  Sunday I get my papers due to a great Groupon I get one delivered so I see what coupons it has to offer than I go out and purchase usually 3 more papers.  I like to have even numbers of papers because we have lots of BOGO sales here.  Before I head out to buy more I have my coffee and flip through the ads (my grocery ads don’t come out till Wed so it’s only the other stores) if I see anything that interests me I jot it down on a notepad with the store name item and price.  Then I get on the computer and check the forums to see what others have found and I start making my shopping lists.  If the deals are really great I clip the coupons, get dressed and shop (and get my other papers).  Usually I’ll go to Walgreen’s and start with their RR deals and pick up my papers and then come home, I like to relax on my Sundays and I honestly prefer shopping without Shawn in tow.  Sunday evening or Monday morning I go back online and make notes of sales that people have found (why not let them go find the deals and report back) and I decide what I need to buy this week I clip my coupons plan a trip (making sure to best utilize my gas).  Then Monday or Tuesday I go out and do all of my shopping depending on the week and my motivation this may mean 1 trip to Target and 1 trip to Walgreens or I may stop at a few Wag’s  but it usually only takes me 1-2 hours (this also depends on how much wandering I do).  Wednesday or Thursday we get the grocery ads and I quickly scan it and go online to find the match-ups and clip my coupons.  Again depending on the sale I’ll go Thursday (the first day of my ad)  or like this week wait until Sat (special weekend only sale) or if there isn’t anything to great I may wait until Sun/Mon after we have another set of coupon inserts to possibly match with the sales. 

I would say in total for my personal shopping I spend maybe 30 minutes over the course of a week online, 15 minutes clipping coupons and a couple hours shopping.  I have done the math before but I can’t remember the exact numbers anymore but I would say that for less than 3 hours (at least 1 of those hours you’d have to be shopping anyways) of work a week I save around $100 at least which works out to $33/hour.  It might take you a bit longer at first but before long you’ll have the clipping, shopping, and deal finding down pat and for $33 an hour I’d say it’s worth the time.  But remember that 3 hours is me shopping at a SuperTarget, Walgreens, Publix and Walmart.  If you are new to this start small and pick 1 store once you’ve got that down pat add another store.  Now I spend alot more time online than 30 minutes but I do try and keep up this blog, read a few of my favorites, I read paid emails, sell items on Ebay/Etsy, plus a few other addictions LOL

Feel free to post any comments or questions I’d be happy to hear your take on couponing!!