As if my life could not get any lamer, I add a coupon obsession.

I have always been somewhat a failure at couponing.  I have, for years, clipped them sporadically from the Sunday paper and organized them in a little plastic thing and kept them in my purse.  I would, occasionally, even remember to fish a few out for some products I was purchasing.  Then, once in a while, one of them perhaps didn’t expire four months ago, and I would save a grand total of fifty cents on a box of cereal.

I didn’t know how to do it.  I had read these amazing stories of women saving hundreds of dollars a year by using coupons, but it baffled me.  Alluded me.  Confused me.  How do these crazy coupon ladies do it? I wondered.

Well, now I think I officially qualify as a Crazy Coupon Lady. 

Behold!  How much do you think all this is worth?

Thirty dollars?  Please notice they are all name brand products.  I’ll also tell you that they came from Publix, one of the more expensive grocery stores in our area.  Forty dollars?

Yep, it was just about forty dollars.  But I only paid $10.12!

See?  Told ya’!

Okay, here’s how I did it…

First, I discovered the site www.southernsavers.com .  It is an amazing wealth of information and saves consumers a lot of time and effort.  Basically, every week the author tells you exactly which store to shop in, which coupons to use, and which sales to hit in order to score your best savings.  You can move your computer’s mouse right down a shopping list for a specific store and click the items you want to buy and then print a customized shopping list.

The key to achieving your maximum savings is to use a coupon for an item that is on sale.  Yesterday at Publix, here’s what I paid for each item….

• Fresh Express salad in a bag:  It was a Buy One, Get One (B1G1), which made it approximately $2 a bag.  I had a coupon for $.55 off, so I paid $1.44 for one bag.
• Log Cabin syrup:  B1G1, regularly $3.49, now $1.74.  I had a coupon for $.50, which Publix will double, so I paid $.74.
• Krustaez pancake mix:  B1G1, regularly $2.19, now $1.09.   I had a coupon for $1 off 2 boxes, so I paid $.09 each.
• Krustaez cookie mix:  B1G1, regularly $2.29, now $1.14.  I had two coupons for $1 off each box, so I paid $.14 each.
• Ronzoni Healthy harvest pasta:  B1G1, regularly $1.79, now $.89.  I had two coupons for $1 off 2 boxes, so I paid $.39 each.
• Progresso bread crumbs:  B1G1, regularly $1.83, now $.91.  I had two coupons for $1 off 2 containers, so I paid $.41 each.
• Betty Crocker fruit snacks:  B1G1, regularly $2.69, now $1.34.  I had a coupon for $.40 off, which Publix doubled, so I paid $.54.
• Pillsbury Toaster Strudel:  On sale for $1.67.  I had a coupon for $1 off, so I paid $.67.

Most of these things I would buy on a regular trip to the grocery store anyway.  I admit that I don’t normally buy toaster strudels or cookie mix.  The toaster strudels are just a fun treat.  Normally I make cookies from scratch, but for fourteen cents I’ll try a boxed mix for sure!

My family is getting a kick out of my obsession.  Bonny Annie thinks it’s fun, except she refuses to carry my green, one inch, three-ring binder that holds all of my coupons.  Something about being thirteen and cool…whatever.  Big D just had one question:  Why do we need four containers of bread crumbs?

My answer:  So the next time I get lost taking our son to his baseball game, I can leave a trail so that he can find me.  You know…since I don’t have a GPS and all.