I saved $60 on my groceries!

I'm really not sure how to start this post. All I know is that I'm pretty excited about what I'm about to share with you and am looking for any tips/suggestions you have.

Part One: A few months ago, Curtis told me about an article he read on MSN. There was a family who decided they wanted to retire in their 40's (I think). Anyways, what they did was live like they were broke so that they could save save save. He walked to work, she hung their family's clothes to dry and cut coupons. They shopped at thrift stores and drove an old truck when everyone he worked with had BMW's etc. She talked about going to one of his work parties in her thrift store dress and Payless shoes. She felt like a million buck...because they really did have a million dollars! They reached their goal 2 years early and he retired. I think she's getting a PHD now and they're set for life.

Part Two: For one of my New Year's resolutions, I wanted to start reading educational books. I really didn't have a direction: health, running, marriage, finance, whatever seemed interesting at the time. Curtis ordered a few books on money that seemed interesting and had good reviews. I started with “The Total Money Makeover” by Dave Ramsey. He had a lot of really good advice and I would recommend it to anyone who hasn't already figured out how to be a millionaire.

Part Three: I'm really not obsessed with money or whatever. I just want to do something productive with my time. I only work about 35 hours a week. I did that and more while going to school full time at one point in my life. I don't ever want to go back to that, but I know I can do more. One way I decided to do more is by saving on our food bill. I never thought that coupons were worth it, but if you get $0.75 on enough things, it all adds up.

Here's what I do. I get two or three papers on Sunday, then I cut out and file anything I think I might use. I even cut out brands I don't buy (I'll explain why). Then I go on www.pinchingyourpennies.com and click on grocery finder to find out all of the things that are on sale at the stores I shop at. I make my grocery list accordingly. I buy what I need for my meals and storage items that are on way good sale. Having a usable food storage is wonderful. Last weekend, we went to St George and I didn't have time to go shopping. It didn't really matter though because we were able to make the same food as we usually do with what's in our freezer and pantry. I've found that putting the deals together with the coupons is great! Here's what happened last week: I cut out some Brauny paper towel coupons (even though I've never bough Brauny) and later found them on sale. With the coupon, they'll cost about half the price of what we usually pay for paper towels. Reynolds wrap is on sale for .89 at Wallgreens this week and I have a coupon from a few weeks ago for $1 off. That means they'll pay me .11 to get some tin foil. Pretty good! About a month ago, Albertson's was having a deal. Buy 4 boxes of cereal and get some Silk (soy milk) for free. I had coupons for the cereal and for the silk, so it hardly cost me anything. I've had a few really good weeks and I'm getting better. Last week, I spent $40 and saved $60 between store sales and coupons. Anyways, maybe this will inspire some of you to save money just because you can. If you have any info that might help me to save more, please let me know (because I know there are lots of people who get food for free all the time).