Deal Diva Diary: Retail or not to retail

Throughout last week on several websites I frequent I found the horrible news that there were no coupons sheets thatwould be in the Easter Sunday paper. How couldthis be? My life was over. What was I going t have to take shopping with me one of the several times I would need to go out? How was I going to find any freebies after coupon? I startedto shake and have withdrawals. My husband looked at me and said the nasty "o" word...he told me I was "obsessed" with this couponing thing.

Me? Obsessed? No...I am not obsessed. I just like a good deal. I just like having multiples of a variety of deodorents, body washes, toothbrushes, and toothpastes! Okay...I am totally obsessed with couponing. But is that a sin? What's so wrong with saving money? He liked it the week before when we saved 58% of our bill at the store. Couponing is now a part of my life. Sure, I am obsessed with it. I actually dream about saving money now at night. With this obsession comes opportunities for us to have things we couldn't afford before. In a way, its a game. A game to see how much I can get for cheap or free.

When I had to pay retail on Thursday night while at the local Kroger's I started having a panic attack. My chest got tight and I realized that I was having to pay retail. It had been weeks and even months since I had paid full retail on anything. Unfortunately on this night there was nothing I needed that had a coupon or was on sale. But I bucked up and paid for the groceries.

Sometimes I may not have a coupon and there might not be a sale. And no matter how many times I search coupons.com or bloggs like Debbie Does Coupons for the next big sale, there will be times that the coupons are dry. It's important though to remember that no matter if you are a seasoned couponer, an extreme couponer, or a newbie to it all, please do it ethincally. It is against the law to copy or use coupons in a way other than how they were intended as stated on the coupon. Please keep couponing available to all of us.

So, enough of my 5 cent soapbox (free after coupon)...I am getting down now.

A coupon "clip" for the day: Dove Men's deodorant is on sale this week at CVS for $0.99. a couple weeks ago there was a $1.00 off coupon for it in the sunday ads. CVS will take the coupons and it makes the item free! Good shopping!

Deal Diva Diary: New to Couponing? Welcome to the Club!

I am not new to couponing in general, but to the extreme "sport" of it I am new. I call it a sport. A sport because you have to have agility to hold all those coupons in your hands or on your cart all while keeping in mind how many of each coupon you have and how many items that will give you. All the while you have to lift those heavy groceries from shelf to cart, cart to conveyer belt, and from your cart again then into your car and once home, from your car into your house and into your pantry! (I think that next year I will try out for the grocery bag lifting competition in the weighlifting section of the olympics! Just kidding!).

Couponing can be everything you want it to be but you have to remember that it takes time and patience. Unfortunately, it also involves acknowledging that you have a problem when you "free" items start taking over your childrens bedroom closets, your dog's doghouse and cage, and your bathroom shower. Couponing can becoming addicting. I will be the first to acknowledge that nothing feels as good as walking out of a store having spent only $14.00 on $115.00 worth of goods. Or, more so, walking out of a store with a $0.07 bill because you got everything free except the tax on an item. I love showing off what I got for free. I love telling others about the great deals I have gotten. I love openning my linen closet and seeing the 12 bottles of body wash, 8 Air Wisk air freshners, 4 Air wick Candles, the 7 deodorents, 10 toothbrushes, and the 4 backages of dental floss that I got for free, not to mention the 6 packages of Parkay I scored as well for free. I breathe in the fresh smell of newness and glory. But it is addictive.

My only advice is that when you get to that point that you know you can't find a sensible spot to store items, or when you begin hiding the free stuff so you can bring it in the house and again sneek to hide it from your husband/wife so that they don't say to you, "Dear, you have a problem..." then please seek help. If you can't give up that feeling of amazingness on the great score, then be kind to your family and keep a box in your car to put some the free things in there and immediately drive down to the local homeless shelter, church pantry, or local military troop donation site and give some of the things to charity. It is all worth it. Donations to charity are also a great writeoff on your taxes.

Till the next blog, this is Melissa the Deal Diva signing off.

Deal Diary...Day 2

It's been a busy last few days. One thing I have learned about couponing and getting the best deal possible was that it takes a bit of time. You don't just wake up won morning, decided to be a deal diva like myself, and go out and save thousands of dollars at the store on that same first day. Rather, once you decided to start saving coupons and to start saving money, sometimes you will have to save and save coupons for a few weeks to a month before you will find all the good deals and be able to start to be able to really save alot. This is going on my second month of really saving coupons. But how do I do it? I cut out every coupon out of every paper, regardless of whether I need it or not. I follow other blogs and websites like The Coupon Teacher, and weusecoupons.com. My parents save their coupons from the Sunday paper for me as well as others I work with and even some neighbors save their coupons sections. I also organize my coupons into a binder that allows me to see my coupons easier at first glance. The best way to stockpile purchases like some extreme couponers do is to contact your newspaper carrier and ask for extra copies of coupon adds that they have left. Unfortunately, since our paper is delivered early in the morning it has been quite difficult to get to him and ask him this favor. Whatever you do, don't give up. If you are serious about saving money this can help you. Just today I saved 86 % of my total purchase. Whereas the total may have been $96 I only payed $14.00 today at one store alone! Keep going and don't give up. Tomorrow I will give you examples of some great prices and coupons that are out there right now today. Happy shopping!

Deal Diva Diary..Day 1

Over the last couple of weeks I have gotten stronger and more knowledgable about couponing. My nearly empty bank account started to scream at me, telling me to do something....that it couldn't go on living this way. It needed me to do something. I needed me to do something. Alas....the Deal Diva was born. Over the last week I have saved nearly 70% of my grocery orders thanks to couponing. I have started this blog to help others begin to coupon and to link others to places that have helped me to grow in my ability as well as help me not to feel like the poor broke person that I am. You will learn what I have learned through reading of this blog. Feel free to leave me comments or suggestions. I hope to learn from you as much as you learn from me.