Day 5: Crazy Coupon Lady

I love Saturdays. It's so nice to have Shawn home from work, if for no other reason, just to have someone else to talk to, or someone else for Lucy to talk to. But believe me, I have plenty of other reasons to love having him home on Saturdays. One of those other reasons will be my focus of today's post, and that is that I can go to the store ALONE!!! I can grab my purse, get in the car and leave! All by myself! Do you understand how wonderful that is? I don't have to load 3 kids into car seats, and then unload them, and then reload them, and repeat it at least 3 times for every outing. Running to the story can be just that, running. It's freedom. It really makes the theory "Absence makes the heart grow fonder" ring true. As great as it is to leave them, it's even better to come home and hear how excited they are to have you back. It helps you feel loved, and not so overlooked.

Today, I left the kids with Shawn (except for Alivia, she had to come with me) and I went grocery shopping. My sister-in-law Adriana has been doing really well with coupons lately, and she has agreed to train me. I've tried before, but I got frustrated with it because one of the secrets to success is getting your hands on multiple coupons so you can double or triple them up. Well, that is something I haven't been able to do, until now. Adriana and my mom both have paper routes in their house, and so they are sending me some of their extra coupons, and it is life changing. I got some from Adriana today, and I ran to the store and got free deodorant, free margarine, free toothpaste, and practically free dishwasher detergent and canned tomatoes, and no less than 3 of each! I will be going back on Monday for more of the same due to coupon limits. It's such a rush, and you feel so good about getting things you know your family needs for free. Adriana and mom, I owe you BIG time. Keep those coupons coming! At least until I can find a way to get tons on my own.

I'm just starting in this coupon thing, but it is a little addicting, and it is a lot of work. First of all it takes a good 2 days to plan a successful trip because you have to be extremely organized before you go. Then you have to take your time at the store being careful that you buy the exact right product, and then you have to watch carefully when you check out. Lucy asked me what I was doing as I got my coupon folder started today, and all I could say is "I'm turning into a crazy coupon lady."