First Couponing Experience

Yesterday afternoon I made a last minute decision to go pick up a few groceries. It was a last minute decision because I take a class at the seminary at 7:00 on Thursdays and I decided to take this trip at about 5:45. I needed to go to the grocery store because I had promised my students that I would bring them a special treat, so I was going to make them a cookie cake. Since I was already going to have to buy cookie dough, I thought I might as well pick up some other things that we needed as well. Plus when I checked my email and Southern Savers, I found many items at a good price.

So, Thursday afternoon I made my first coupon inspired grocery-shopping trip. For more on my coupon preparations click here.

Here is a picture of my purchases.

I bought the following items:
• 3 boxes of hamburger helper
• Charmin toilet paper
• 2 bottles of hair gel
• 2 bags of bagels
• 2 loaves of bread
• 2 cans of refrigerated biscuits
• 2 rolls of cookie dough
• 1 bag of taco blend shredded cheese
• 1 bag of mozzarella shredded cheese

At Harris Teeter, these items would have rang up to cost $50.34 (without tax). Do you want to take a guess of how much I paid for them? Go ahead guess………..

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I only paid $26.44 (with tax) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am kind of proud of my first coupon inspired grocery-shopping trip.

Here’s how I did it:
I had special prices available to me with my Harris Teeter VIC card.
The Hamburger Helper was on sale for $1 a box.
I had a coupon for $0.75 off when you buy 3 Hamburger Helpers.
Harris Teeter doubles all coupons less than $0.99.
So, I paid $1.50 for 3 boxes of Hamburger Helper.
The Charmin toilet paper was on sale for $9.89.
I had an e-VIC coupon for $1.00 off Charmin toilet paper.
So, I paid $8.89 for Charmin toilet paper.
The hair gel was buy 1 get 1 free.
I had a coupon for $1.00 off the hair gel.
So, I paid $1.99 for two bottles of hair gel.
The bagels were buy 1 get 1 free.
So, I paid $3.69 for two bags of bagels.
The bread was buy 1 get 1 free.
I had a coupon for $0.75 off bread.
Harris Teeter doubles all coupons less than $0.99.
So, I paid $1.49 for two loaves of bread.
The biscuits were buy 1 get 1 free.
I had a coupon for $1.00 off biscuits.
So, I paid $0.79 for 2 cans of biscuits.
The cookie dough was on sale 2 for $5.00.
I had an e-VIC coupon for $1.00 off when you buy 2 rolls of cookie dough.
So, I paid $4.00 for 2 rolls of cookie dough.
The shredded cheese was on sale buy 1 get 1 free.
So, I paid $2.65 for 2 bags of shredded cheese.

I saved $25.13-according to my receipt.

Savvy Couponing

Several weeks ago, I attended a couponing class to try and learn how couponing works. Since then, I have become an avid coupon collector. I check the Internet sites for the newest and best coupons and we buy a Sunday paper every week that I can clip coupons from. However, I have yet to use any for my grocery shopping. I have used several restaurant coupons and Lee has used a coupon I found for a free drink from CVS, but that has been the extent of my coupon usage.

The main reason I have not used them is because we don’t need anything. My way of grocery shopping has always been to make one huge trip to last several weeks. I happened to have made a trip a few days before I took the couponing class. But the time has come. We are starting to run low on food.

Another reason I have not used them is because I’m a little intimidated. Couponing is an art form. I keep trying to tell myself that I’m smart and I will figure it out. I also try to tell myself that I’m not going to be great at it to begin with, but with practice I’ll get better.

So, why coupon? The main reason is if you do it right-you can save a lot of money. Now, I’m not talking about being one of those crazy people on the Extreme Couponing show. Who needs 50,000 boxes of pasta?!? I just want to be better stewards of the money God has blessed us with. Plus if we save more money on ourselves, we can give more away.


My coupon clipping station.


What kind of deals will I find this week?


My coupon notebook.


I love being organized!



I plan on going on my first coupon grocery-shopping trip this weekend. I will let you know how it goes.

They're Back (and by "they" I mean "my shows")

One of the weirdest parts about working at a year round school was working when none of my shows were on. I’m a routine person. I’m used to working (or going to school in my past) and knowing on certain days that I had one of my shows to look forward to. When I was in college, watching shows with my roomies was always so much fun.

Being in school and then becoming a teacher has my body and mind believing that when you’re working or in school-shows should be on and when you’re off and relaxing-nothing good is on TV. However, I worked an entire 9 weeks with none of my shows to come home to.

I did feel my summer with some guilty pleasures like Toddlers and Tiaras and Keeping Up with the Kardashians (Don’t judge me…these “reality” shows suck you in. Just ask Lee about Jersey Shore)

Anyway…but now fall shows are back in full swing! In our house this equals a full DVR and occasional fighting over the remote.

One of my new favorites to watch is The Sing Off. These people have major talent and a capella is awesome! This was my favorite performance from the first episode.



The other competition show I enjoy, Dancing with the Stars is also back. Lee dislikes this one the most because it takes up so much recording time. I must admit that it won’t start getting interesting until a few more people have been eliminated and the competition gets tougher.


So far, he's been my favorite. He did a great job plus his positive outlook on life is inspiring.

Then, I have my “must discuss with bestie” shows: Glee and Vampire Diaries.

My one question from Glee is this: Why does the “cool” kid have a mullet?


The last show I’m watching is Desperate Housewives and I admit I’m glad this is the final season. This is one of those shows that I started watching several years ago and have continued to watch simply because I want to see how it ends. I’m ready to move on. This is also how I felt with Lost. It seems you can only keep a show interesting for so long.

So I’m glad to now have my shows to look forward to. Some may argue that watching these types of shows can be a waste of time and also that our lives shouldn’t revolve around our TV schedule. Lee and I have even discussed this ourselves. For me, though, these shows provide me with a chance to sit back and relax. It’s almost an excuse to sit down and focus on nothing else but being entertained (even though I often am doing something else while watching).