Coupons

Using coupons is a craze, and I recently decided to bite. I have been attempting to save money through coupons for a couple of months now. Some of the things I've discovered:

1. Cutting out and using coupons requires a significant amount of time.
2. The food that I purchase more of rarely goes on sale with a coupon - fresh fruits and vegetables and meat are not often on sale with a coupon... which means that in order to try and eat a little healthier, and fresher, coupons are not much help.
3. I can, however, get great deals on household items and toiletries using coupons.

So, I do use coupons... but I do it my way. I still make my meal plan as usual, and my grocery list... then I go through my coupons and pull out the ones I can use based on my list. Then I head to the store! My last two trips I have saved about 10% of my total bill by using coupons.

I feel proud of 10% - although I'd like it to be more. And then I remember discoveries 1 and 2, and think 10% may be my magic number. :)