I need to...
They stare at me longingly, waiting patiently for me to tear open the top and poor out those thin sheets of clipped, shiny, 4 color-printed paper.
Oh. No.
There are the weekly grocery ads. They are almost as bad as coupon day. There they put pretty pictures of all the things I have to have to satiate the greedy cooking beast inside of me at discounted prices. I'll do that first. Make my list to go out on my weekly grocery trip...
And they stare at me atop my red covered laptop, screaming to be gone through, and organized. I have 2 envelopes today. Both are fat and juicy like a suckling pig, making the envelope bulge ever so enticingly.
Maybe I will watch some Big Bang Theory. I have tomorrow off. I can go through them then.
Yes. T.V. I can do it. I can resist the excitement of coupon day.
No. No. I can't
Rip. Tear. Sigh.
What is it that gets me so excited about coupons?
Is it the small amounts of money that I can save, or the larger ones when they get doubled and added to things already on sale. Is it just the excitement of opening a small package, kind of like opening presents on Christmas, except it's Christmas once a month? Is it the fact I get to organize and sort them, like I do with my pictures and music on occasion...making sure everything is in a folder that clearly labels it, every song has an artist and album, every picture name and date and event. I get just as excited about doing those things too. Maybe it's my OCD kicking in, like the way the dishes have to be done before I can cook or the sofa cleaned off before I can sit down to watch t.v.
The computer desk can be piled with stuff and barely space for my keyboard, and paper can be stacked on the kitchen table with the cat food on top (to keep dog out) during dinner, but the kitchen and sofa must be clean. Maybe it's like that?
All I know is, I am not as bad as those extreme couponers they show on t.v. buying 6,000 containers of hand lotion because they have really, really dry skin, plan on using it in the coming zombie apocalypse as a component of of some anti-zombie chemical, or plan on doing really dirty things with it.
Cough. Cough.
BUT...I do have 25 bottles of salad dressing from Ken's just because between my coupons and mom's (which she then sends me the bottles she has purchased) I have that many, and I do have 15 boxes of cereal, but they were REALLY cheap and I had COUPONS! But cereal and dressing are things I use regularly and they will be gone in less than a year. No zombie apocalypse needed.
I have even started teaching a friend of mine how to do the coupon thing to help her reduce their enormous grocery bill. I bought her a coupon holder from target and everything, intent on sharing my coupons with her and also sharing the links to websites to print even more.
I am not addicted. I am not addicted.
Ok. I am. But it's a good thing. It saves me money, has taught me to be excited about saving money which has made me more responsible with my money. I make less than $1000 a month, but can pay all my bills and have plenty of extra to buy the random things that pop up and sometimes even a splurge on a date with the kids (which I can do, for the 3 of us, for under $20, dinner and a movie out) now and then. Sometimes when I feel really flush, I even buy myself a new shirt from work or a $15 a bottle container of conditioner for my hair.
So I love coupon day because it saves me money, has taught me responsibility and has made my life better all in all.
Don't ask why mom sends me coupons. That's a whole other thing...
Oh. Before I forget. Here are the links I use for extras. On a side note, signing up for an email account just for spam mail is a good idea. Also, all your favorite restaurants probably have email subscriptions... which usually means free appetizers, desserts and meals on your birthdays.
coupons.com
couponmom.com
kelloggs.com
kashi.com
bettycrocker.com
Cereal.com
redplum.com
Couponnetwork.com
retailmenot.com
couponcabin.com
Local grocery stores sometimes have them too. On the west coast...
safeway.com
albertsons.com
fredmeyer.com
Midwest...
mypricechopper.com
henhouse.com
hyvee.com
mysunfresh.com
I am sure there are a million other, so please feel free to add! I only have time to surf a few sites on my days off, but others I am sure will be thrilled! :-)
