Hello, my name is Melissa and I'm addicted to coupons...

I've only admitted this little known fact to a select few... It all started while living in our temp apartment waiting for our home to sell. We had double house payments and I decided to give the coupon world another try to save money. I signed up with a website http://www.grocerygame.com/ for a few dollars a month (I think they are still doing free trial memberships). Anyway, you plug in your zip code and sign up for the grocery/pharmacy stores in your area. Each Monday they post a list of of what is on sale at your store and which coupon to use for certain products to get the best deal. I knew I didn't have time to keep an eye on the deals and match up coupons, so this is the perfect formula for me. In fact, I usually skip down to the bottom of the lists for the 70% off or more items and then stock up. In fact, I get the coupon inserts from 5 Sunday papers and stick them all in the binder you see above. It takes a couple of minutes, but is well worth it.

Who needs 10 bottles on Ken's salad dressing? For $.50 a bottle, I do! I'm set on salad dressing for the next 6-8 months! (p.s. the Honey French flavor is Divine) Yesterday I got Tylenol at Publix for $.50 a bottle also - score. Or the Eggo waffles I stocked up on for Nathan at $.67 a box. I stopped at Winn-Dixie yesterday and got $61.00 worth of groceries for $18.00.

CVS Pharmacy should be your new best friend.....

One of my favorite places to get great deals is CVS. If you are not taking advantage of their "Extra Care Bucks (ECBs)" you are missing the money-saving boat. The ECBs are like gift certificates that you can turn around and spend on anything in the store (they will print on the bottom of your receipt). You essentially buy the items they give ECBs back for and then use them to purchase more items that come with ECBs. Sounds confusing, but once you get the hang of it, you will never want to pay full price for anything at a pharmacy again! The best part is CVS is one of my lists on the Grocery Game website so it tells me when to use coupons and how many ECBs I should expect from certain products. In fact, I went to CVS a couple of weeks ago and got $70 worth of diapers, toilet paper, and paper towels for $10.00. Then got $10.00 back in ECBs at the register. So essentially I got it all for FREE. Those are my favorite trips! CVS is the best place to get shampoos, soap, deodorant, razors, etc for free or almost free.

For those of you who might think my massive binder is a bit extreme, join the club. I still am not to the point that I drag it around the store in the seat of my shopping cart. (my pride draws the line somewhere). Plus I go with a strict list and only take coupons I need.

So there it is, my little secret... holler if you want help getting started. I would be happy to post good deals on this blog each Monday. Or just send me an email. Or if you feel you have absolutely no time in your life to deal with clipping coupons, send them to me - you will have a friend for life! If you sign up at the grocerygame website, please plug my name in as a referral (I think I get some kind of perk - haven't gotten that far yet)

Remember, the more money you save on groceries, the more pairs of shoes you can buy! (I hope my hubby doesn't read this post! haha)