Coupons... not just for blue haired old ladies anymore!

Not to long ago, I viewed coupons with some level of disdain. In my mind, coupons were associated with old women saving pennies on margarine and toothpaste until I caught a clip of that TV show 'Extreme Couponers'. Yes, yes, I know... I am late jumping on this train – it's a life long habit of blocking out main stream hype on movies, books and 'trends'. But perhaps, this time, there is something to this particular craze.

We all know the economy sucks. Layoffs, pay cuts and investment losses abound still. Even the lure of getting ab MBA has lost it's luster with hundreds of well educated folks underemployed or unemployed. We are more then a generation removed from the Depression Generation who took nothing for granted.. the original reuse, repurpose, recyclers. My generation was raised by Baby Boomers whose hey-day was in the Partying 70's and the More More More 80's – mass consumption and disposable everything. By the time the 90's hit, I was in my teenage/early 20's... and the course was set. Maybe that explains this re-fascination with saving money through coupons? I don't know but watching these men and women and their extreme couponing skills - I was fascinated, amazed, horrified and a tad bit inspired.

The fascination and amazement came through the strategy and planning that these people created and implemented to save hundreds and walk out with essentially 5 free grocery carts full of stuff. The horror was when they gave tours of their stock piles... I mean come on, who needs 75 boxes of Fruity Pebbles, 42 toothbrushes and 36 cans of stewed tomatoes?!?!  I'm pretty sure one woman had 3 years worth of diapers and didn't have children. And while I admire that strategic shopping, there is no way I would want to - or be able to - dedicate 40+ hours towards planning such a shopping trip.

The other thing I noticed was that most of the grocery savings come from the 'inside' aisles. In an effort to eat healthier, when Eric and I shop, we mostly fill our cart the perimeter items. (Good rule of thumb when grocery shopping is "If the food can go bad fast, it's good for you. If the food can keep longer, it's bad for you.) Saving big at the grocery store probably isn't in the cards for us – I don't want to save money at the cost of health. It is, however, inspiring to think, that I could save big on all most of our personal care items  - like soap, deodorant, diapers and such.

My co-worker, Lisa, took some couponing classes our company offers from time to time. She has been taking photos of what she has been getting from store like CVS and sharing the tales of her savings with me. Check out this weeks latest score:

Lisa's CVS score!

She saved 77%! The value of goods was $101 and she paid just $23 for everything. Those Olay moisturizers alone cost $26 each. Basically, she bought one of those – at a discount – and got all this other stuff for free. I want to do this!!!!

As a primer - she used this blog post to plan her attack shopping trip: My Shopping Trip: CVS

Here are some coupon resources to help you get started
Extreme Coupon Professors (This is the woman who works with my company)
Coupon Divas
Living Rich with Coupons (my personal fave at the moment!)
Hip 2 Save

And a YouTube tutorial as well!