Extreme Coupon wannabe

This past year or maybe longer it is really hitting home how bad the economy is and I feel like I can't control anything.  The cost of everyday staples keep going up but our paychecks are still the same.  I was never one to make a budget or follow one let alone have an allowance.  I was never taught that nor do I like that.  BUT......lately I feel this strong urge that we need one.  How?  Where do I start?  Since becoming a blogger I think that I have saved money especially at the food and drug stores since many of my fellow bloggers are nice enough to post where to find coupons and deals.

In an effort to save money and pay bills I have been learning to create a little stockpile and to use coupons, register rewards and extracare bucks more to my advantage.  I would let those things expire before I could use them and now I have learned to split my orders and use them right away. 

Now I am addicted to watching Extreme Couponing on TLC and I am a wannabe! I don't want to be that extreme.  Who the heck needs a 40 year supply of toilet paper or 200 tubes of toothpaste?  I sure would like to try to get my groceries for next to nothing.  Groceries are the only thing that I can control with the proper meal planning and shopping.  I am on my way to be becoming a semi-extreme couponer...last week our grocery store had a triple coupon event (rarely ever does that happen) and this past weekend they had a double up to $2.00 coupon event.  I probably spent about 4+hours organizing and writing down by aisle what I wanted to buy.  It paid off.  I had more than $200 worth of groceries and paid less than $100.  WOOHOOOO!!!!