Ok this is the Deal so far.

So I've been couponing seriously for about 21 days now. I've learnt a lot so far and am encouraging others around me. My husband Don Coupon is very happy with each additional $ spent and has been encourage and helping me with my new "hobby.

I've made some mistakes, had some nerve racking checkouts but also managed to score some very sweet deals including several items that ended up free or being a "money maker" ( more on this later).

I guess I should first start with how my relationship with coupons first started. I immigrated from New Zealand in 1999 because I preferred to be in the same country as my husband and living with my Angelo husband sounded a lot more glamorous than living in semi rural NZ.

When I first moved here I of course fell in LOVE with shopping both the selection of junk stuff available and the prices compared to NZ. I loved spending time poring over the flyer's in the Sunday paper looking at all the kinds of things I didn't know I needed.

Of course at some point my husband hands me a pile of paper and says here are the coupons. Coupons? I frown and wrinkle my nose. Back home coupons are rare and usually hard to redeem. So he clues me in on a few things and I'm like so if I just give the store this scrap of paper they'll give me the item for cheap or free? Game ON.

See back in the late '90s and early '00s the supermarkets in LA did two things. The first thing was they doubled. True doubling. If you presented a 50c coupon you got $1 off your item. Give them a $1 coupon they gave you $2 off your item. Give them a $2 off you just got $2. They weren't THAT nice but still getting an additional boost to your coupons added up to serious savings.

The second thing was they would actually print in their flyer's that if you bought x and used y coupon + doubling = super awesome price. Yay premium ice cream for 50c. Cheap makeup? super yay.

So if it was so awesome why did I stop. Well a couple of things. First we started earning more money and doing well and just wanted to live the "rich" life with the other jones. Saving money didn't make you feel "rich". Also then there were the supermarket strikes and like many we left to go to trader joes and whole foods and stayed there. Then the supermarkets stopped doubling. Sadness. They eventually phased it back in at Vons and Ralphs but only up to a dollar.

So why they return to coupons. Well the main reason is I've become stingy over the years and spending money is painful so I stopped buying things but eventually your going to need/want something and it's better to get value for your money. Of course I'm not a miser either but if you can spend less rather than more on the same thing then why wouldn't you?