First Grocery Run of the Blog/The Coupon Countess

I had a great dinner with my friend today and told her about this blog. This got me very inspired to get started on it! So what did I do, you ask? I sat in my living room and clipped some coupons. Very exciting, I know. You may be shocked to hear that some feel coupon clipping is tedious and unglamorous. And as my friend Jordan would say, I am secretly a 40-year old soccer mom. I prefer to think of it as being a Coupon Countess - a fabulous (and yet frugal) form of royalty. In other words, coupons... are bitchin'. That IS the technical term.

Let's get into the types of coupons out there. There is of course your "store card" discount which acts as an instant coupon- keep an eye out on these sales. When you combine this with your actual paper coupons - the true power of the coupon will be revealed. Added bonus: Many grocery stores such as Ralph's and Kroger double paper coupons up to $1 or $1.50. For paper coupons, you will most likely find them in a Sunday paper - I get mine from the LA Times. There will usually be 2 little booklets of coupons in a Sunday paper and sometimes a bonus and personal favorite P&G Saver booklet. Now that you have your coupon books, 'tis time to cut. Grab your scissors and sit in front of your TV. I recommend cutting coupons whilst watching Brain Candy - my favorite flavors include: Real Housewives of NYC and New Jersey (Seriously. These women throw tables. Quality. Entertainment.), Gossip Girl, The Daily Show (the informative flavor of BC), Anything involving Seth Rogen, and generally any variety of reality TV will do. If you are feeling particularly adventurous, you can use scrapbooking scissors to spice up your life. Who doesn't love small pieces of paper with scalloped edges?

For those of you who are looking to kill fewer trees or perhaps you just enjoy the internet, there are many sites for you! My favorite is http://shortcuts.com. On this site you can link online coupons to your Store Savings Card. Current Partner stores are

• Baker's
• Carrs
• City Market
• Dillon's
• Dominick's
• Fry's
• Fry's Marketplace
• Genuardi's
• Gerbes
• Hilander
• JayC
• King Soopers
• Kroger
• Kroger Marketplace
• Owen's
• Pavilions
• Pay Less
• QFC
• Ralph's
• Randalls
• Safeway
• Smith's
• Smith's Marketplace
• Tom Thumb
• Vons

The best thing about coupons is, sometimes the online coupons double up with your scanned coupons. Prime example: Today I bought a 4-Pack of Fiber One Yogurt. (Side note: I love to talk about the importance of fiber. You laugh. You won't be laughing when you don't get enough fiber.)

4-pack Vanilla Fiber One Yogurt
Actual Retail Price: $2.99
Ralph's Club discount: - $0.20
Shortcuts coupon: - $1.00
Scanned coupon: -$0.40
Double Coupon: -$0.40
Final Yogurt Price: $0.99

That is just one example of The Coupon Countess's mad skills. Today I bought 7 types of fresh produce, laundry detergent, body wash, frozen meat, milk, salad dressing, snacks and 3 Air Wick products at Ralph's. My total bill (retail price) was $68.58. By keeping an eye on sales and clipping coupons my bill was $35.43 - a savings of $33.15! 50% of my Ralph's bill. Totally worth cutting some paper while shamelessly watching bad TV.