Grocery Extremist?

The Extreme Grocery Gal? I have always had an eye for a bargain when it comes to daily purchases. Over the years I have visited many of my local retail stores and familiarized myself with the average price of almost anything! I know where every clearance rack is in every store I visit! I soon found myself at yard sales and rummage sales and consignments sales all over. I realized that I could find perfectly used and even brand new items for a fraction of what they were in the store. Eventually I started buying to sell. I have many outlets...ebay, yard sales, consignment sales, rummage sales, etc.

One day I ventured into CVS and noticed little yellow tags on items that told me I could get paid to buy their products...the coupon queen was born. After a few months of collecting tons of items for free from CVS and mastering their Extra Care program I ventured into Rite Aids Single Check Rebate Program and was able to master it also.

I was buying two papers every Sunday and clipped every single coupon. I noticed that I always threw away the grocery coupons and told myself that I was nuts for doing this. After a couple of months of buying, and a ton of time researching I have figured out how to use different online resources to cut my grocery bill in half or more (usually around 70%) and plan to share that knowledge here with you!

Cashiers usually cringe at the site of me, or cheer me on to see the total of my bill (depending on who you get) because I usually have 30 or more coupons in hand at all times! Some people behind me get upset but then there are those who are completely amazed by what I am doing. I stockpile to the extreme and have a years worth of any product (grocery or toiletry) that you could imagine. ALL for a fraction of the price and most of the time free.

I have a select few friends that I send emails to but have decided to start a blog to make it easier for me to share my knowledge with YOU and them! I was once told, by my wonderful cousin, that I have turned shopping into a game and I really like to think of it that way. What is the cheapest price that I can get an item for? Can I get it free? Is it cheaper at another store? Thinking of it as a game helps me get through the hour that I spend clipping and sorting coupons and the other 2-3 hours that I spend shopping on Tuesday evenings at 3 different grocery stores! Sometimes I don't want to do it but I know that if I don't....paying full price for something is in the near future! I also look at is as paying myself an hourly wage. For 3-4 hours worth of work I am saving myself enough money to equal an hourly wage of between $40 to $60 dollars per hour. Now that's a job I'd love to have one day!

My addiction has turned into a profitable venture for me and my close friends. Before, I was spending about $150 a week for groceries and toiletries and now I have a budget of $50 that allows me to buy for my household, donate to families/friends/food banks, and to throw in for a profit in yard sales (most of the time I don't even reach to $50 and roll it over!)!

I hope that my passion for this money saving game rubs off on everyone. NO ONE can truly afford not to take advantage of money saving strategies, whether you make $10/hour or $150,000 per year. I even feel that even if I were a millionaire that I would still clip coupons and try to get things for free...I enjoy it that much! There are so many more things we can spend our money on...why spend it on groceries? Why pay full price for something that a grocery store and manufacturer are trying to give away for free?