The Beginning of a Journey

Come along with me on my journey to savings. I have always considered myself a "couponer", even matching coupons with sales when I can. But I never fully realized what an "extreme couponer" was until I started doing some research. Then I found a whole new world opening up to me. In this world, toilet paper and toothpaste are free! Intrigued by this, I found myself getting caught up in this crazy couponing obsession. I attended an awesome coupon workshop this past weekend and learned exactly what it means to stockpile, get "free free" items, and buy "money makers." With all of this new knowledge in hand, I'm determined to see just how much I can cut our grocery budget.

I am not going to reinvent the wheel and do store ad match-ups or anything like that. There are plenty of other sites that have already done all that work for us. I will post my purchases, including what the sale price was, what coupons I had, how much I paid, and most importantly, my savings. I'll also pass along links for special deals and coupons.

My first and foremost purpose in this new couponing journey is to decrease our grocery budget. Feeding a family of 6 in this economy is no easy task, especially when you're looking for good, healthy food. If I can reduce our budget by even a little bit, that is more than nothing.

Provers 3:9-10

Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.

This verse was shared at the workshop and it really spoke to me regarding this. God wants to bless us, He wants to bless me, and through others, He has provided this knowledge for me to be able to have our "barn" overflowing without going to the poorhouse. I was challenged to do my part. If God will provide the deals, then I will do the work to search them out. Because, like it was said at the workshop, Jesus wants me to have free toilet paper!

My second reason is so that we as a family will be better equipped to help others in need. If I can get more for less, we'll be able to share more. Another verse was used at the workshop.

I Timothy 6:18

Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.

I want to be ready and willing to share and to teach my children the value of giving. So as a family, we are going to start gathering items that I can get free or cheap to donate to the local food bank or Christian Social Services. I'd even like to eventually have enough of a donation stockpile that we can make care packages for special things like holidays. Anything that can make a difference in the lives of others. We have been so abundantly blessed by God already and I want to make it more of a priority to pass those blessings along to others.

So join me if you will on this journey. I hope you will enjoy the trip.