New Coupon Queen

We've always been good with our money, but when we found out that we're adding to the family it was time to make some life changes. Nothing dramatic, but we've heard that babies cost an arm and a leg to raise, so we sat down and made a budget and figured out what we can cut back on every month. Seeing the numbers and Nate's expert Excel spreadsheet really put into perspective how much money we're spending. Our grocery bill every week is a little over $200, which in my opinion is high since there's only two of us. In this moment, I found my inner TLC Extreme Couponer and decided that I was going to start clipping coupons.

I know, I know... am I really becoming one of THOSE women?! No. I don't have time nor the patience or math skills to sit down and coupon for 10 hours every day. I also don't want to buy more than one newspaper, who does that? I want to enjoy life and not think about money all of the time. The easiest way for me to start was to make a coupon organizer.

Vintage 2004 Binder

It's nothing serious, but it keeps all of my coupons in check. Typically you'll want to use baseball card holders but I don't have those and the whole point behind this thing is to save money. I pulled out some high school vintage dividers and clear page protectors. They're working just fine...

So how did we do on our first shopping trip? We saved $53.00! All from coupons and my store card. It may not seem like a lot, but hey, money is money and it'll all add up in the end. I spent mayyybe 20 minutes cutting coupons and going through Sunday's ads figuring out who has the best deals. Target, of course, had some awesome sales and so did our grocery store of choice (Kroger). Spending the time to cut and organize was worth it.

Hopefully I can keep this up and save more and more before the baby gets here. If you or someone you know coupons, send them my way! Any tips are greatly appreciated. Have you ever couponed?