And so it begins....

My adventure starts with a tv show, a light bulb, and a pre-existing shopping habit.

I've been sick with the flu for what feels like an eternity, and I'm slowly running out of tv shows to watch while I work from home. Today, as I was trolling for things to pre-record for long stints on the couch, I came across the tv show 'Extreme Couponing.' I'm pretty well versed in reality shows and your weekly tv dramas, anywhere from Gossip Girl to Family Guy, but I had never seen this show. So I was instantly intrigued...

The show chronicles a couple women per episode who do some SERIOUS couponing. These women clip coupons, look for coupons online, order coupons, and scout out the best deals at the local grocery stores; then its time to shop!! Most of the ladies come out with 80-98% savings for every trip, and sometimes a trip will include 500+ items. One of the ladies had over $1200 worth of groceries and walked out of the store paying $6.... that is some seriousss savings. Now, I've never used a coupon in my life, but it seems to me I am really missing out on some good deals and free food. Not to mention all that extra money could go towards fun shopping, like clothes, shoes, purses, travel, more shoes, you know how it goes....

This is when the light bulb goes off... I could harness my shopping fervor (addiction if you will) towards massive savings at the grocery store. The ladies on the show all said they did a lot of work online... so that's exactly where I started. My first stop was a website for couponing 101, giving a little bit of tips and tricks for us buding couponers; the best tip was that all the coupons are in Sundays papers and items typically go on sale every 3 to 6 months, so collect coupons accordingly. Along with tips on how to organize (since coupons do expire) and you will have LOTS of them, how and what items to stockpile, additional sites for coupons, where to purchase/order coupons, you name it, they had info on it.

I decided I needed to start building my coupon repertoire, so I'll wait until Sunday to go collect papers and coupon circulars.

Until Sunday friends.....