Psst! I've got a secret!

Okay, you may have attributed my silence on the web all to busy mom stuff. But I've got to tell you what is taking up all my spare minutes right now. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a cheapo about a lot of things. Why did none of you introduce me to the art of the coupon? Seriously, looking back I think I was an obvious candidate. Think what could have been clipped and saved if I'd started on this obsessive road years ago. I've been doing it for a couple of months now I think, and it's hilarious how giddy I can get about it all. For instance, take the picture below. On this particular Saturday morning, Dan and I made a couple of stops (Target and Kroger, and got everything pictured for $30 and change. If you were to look closely, you'd see that there are 32 items there, and some are bigger ticket items, like 4 jars of peanut butter, cheese, 3 lbs of beef, bags of apples, etc. It's absolutely fascinating to see what you can get for ultra cheap and free. We've got Pepperidge Farm Goldfish coming out our ears because we hit a big sale where we could get them for $.50 each, and then we had COUPONS, so they were FREE! I've taken the goal of trying for a percentage savings of greater than 50% everytime I shop. With a little planning I usually hit around 57%, but on my trip to Publix two days ago I hit a new record of just over 70%! See what I mean? I'm totally obsessed. And don't get me started on what you can get for free if you're willing to jump some rebate hoops. I don't think I'll have to buy toothpaste or toothbrushes for a long time. Anyway, I thought I'd hang out a little dirty laundry today so you know what I'm really up to.