So this past couple of weeks i have been having this uncontrolable itch to coupon! I have been trying to figure out the magic of it all for quite some time, but it never really seemed to click. The problem with Texas is a.k.a (San Antonio) is that H-E-B has a monopoly over the entire city! Coupons and H-E-B just don't go well together, so therefore i gave up when i found out that i would never be able to walk away with hundreds of dollars of free grocieries from H-E-B.
About 2 weeks ago, i stumbled upon some you tube videos about how to coupon. The show Extreme Couponing had peeked my intrest once again, and i just had to figure out a way i could coupon like those women! Happily i found out that i could still coupon here in San Antonio! Two places: Target and CVS have become my new best friends. I read about how to get great deals and how ECB's worked and what Catalinas are and Red Plum and Smart Source. All of them = money. (Yeah i can't believe all those times i threw out the sunday paper with coupons and never thought once about it!)
Anyways, last week i gave it my first try at the new CVS they opened up down the street. I did pretty well my first time, not bad, but i knew i could do better. I ended up buying $55 worth of shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, mouthwash and a couple of other things i can't remember for $13. I was really excited and took a pic. But the next time i went, which was this week, i got all of my items for free! Yes that's right, free! It is the greatest feeling in the world to walk out of the store with a whole handful of items that i really needed and didnt have to pay one penny for them. I remember the look on the cashier's face when it all wrang up zero. She thought the system was broken! She even brought her manager over to see if it was correct. I think it was that shopping trip that first fed my obsession.
Anyways, i see couponing as a hobby and i am in desperate need of one. Before James and i got married, my hobby was spending money and shopping for new clothes. Now that has gone away and we have to budget and save, i have transfered it to coupons. Hey, at least i still get to shop and James is super proud of me. He is a saver and i am a spender. So we had to iron out those differences pretty quick. But even if one day we become mega millionaires and we own 5 houses and 20 cars and can buy a whole spermarket if we want...i will always be a devoted couponer. I'll just have a Louis Vuitton coupon binder by then ;)
