My REALISTIC grocery shopping trip today 1/7 - Not EXTREME, saved 54%!

By now most of us have seen or heard of the TLC show Extreme Couponing, and while it is fun to watch and see how much stuff those people got for free, the reality is not EVERY shopping trip will be like that.   A little time and effort can go a long way with coupons, For today's trip I spent about an hours worth of time getting my coupons ready - I saved $36.51!  That's alot of money for an hours worth of work, not too many jobs pay that much an hour!!

Everything you see in the picture is food we will eat, it is not junk food or alot of convenience foods.  SO those who say you cannot eat healthy using coupons, I say you are wrong!  There is alot of produce,dairy, whole grain breads in my shopping trip today.  In face I forgot to have my oranges in the picture, I purchased 8 oranges today as well!

Using coupons shouldn't be about changing the way you EAT, it should be more about changing the way you SHOP!!

I went to 2 stores (Cub Foods and Target) and a gas station today(Kwik Trip) (not to get gas - to get the bread and oranges, believe it or not!).  I live in a small town and the stores are close together, so I am not driving far distances to save money.

Total retail value of everything purchased $80.81, OOP I paid $44.30 - Total savings of $36.61 = 54%!

I can put together a coupon match-up for this if you would like, but right now I need to put all this food away!