Coupon Craze

I'm the kind of person who gets very excited about new ideas, endeavors, projects, etc. and find that I don't always follow through. In other words, my excitement wanes. I've been doing so well lately, however, collecting and using coupons, that I shared with my husband the other day how I hope this excitement and organization doesn't disappear. It feels so key to keeping our grocery budget intact. One thing on that note, I know some people don't include non-food items in their grocery budget, but we do, things like Pull-Ups, detergent, are all included. On that note, I can't wait until our son is out of Pull-Ups. He just went to the next size up too, which is a bigger expense. Others tell me though, that that savings is just used somewhere else. Does everyone find that to be true?

Anyhow, back to collecting coupons. I feel like somewhat of a newbie at it. I used to get them out of the paper on Sundays, and that was about it. If I happened to have a coupon for something I planned to buy, I'd use it. Sometimes I wouldn't even look. Now I plan my grocery lists around things that are on sale and that I have coupons for, as much as I can (thanks to hints from couponmom.com). I'm also getting online coupons and reading a number of different money saving blogs. (I'd love to hear about those that others use as well.)

I'm very, very interested in learning as much as I can about saving money when it comes to grocery shopping. I've found I love cutting my coupons (I've even bought more than one newspaper one weekend to get the additional coupons), organizing them, checking the sale ads, and organizing my weekly shopping list. I feel like I'm just getting the hang of buying more when things are on sale too, of products I use frequently. But, this month, I found myself tight on my budget at the end of the month, because I think I bought too much of the sale items (I think I'm set on toilet paper for the next 3-4 months). I thought this was the best thing to do and it makes sense. Then I read a this post. This is somewhat of the opposite philosophy, of not buying more than you need that week, even considering sales. The problem (or good thing) is, we are not frugal, nor do we want to be, even though we should. We enjoy what I consider "regular" meals, and things we enjoy, without being extravagant. I don't mind simplifying, but I sure don't think I could get much that I enjoy for $40/week. But that's me, and I guess our values play a part.

What kind of helpful hints do you have that help you save money on groceries?