Coupons Galore

Who says you can't save money by using coupons? Well I decided to see how much money I actually save & to see if it's worth cutting all those coupons out. From July of 2009 thru the end of Dec 2009 I saved a total of $274.18. Not to shabby if you ask me. I will say that I do have a coupon system that works good for me. I look thru coupons first thing Sunday morning. If I don't do it then, it doesn't get done. My mother-in-law also gives me hers after she looks thru hers. I only cut out the ones that I know I use stuff for, or have been wanting to try. There seem to be a few that is always coming out like Suave shampoo, Tide, Crest toothpaste. I always cut those even if I don't need it at that time because I know I'll be needing some eventually. I have a little container that is like a basket (small & long). I have folded 8.5x11 papers in half & wrote on the top of each one the month. I sort my coupons by expiration date. Whenever I get ready to make a Walmart run I go thru my coupons & look for ones I want to use. Only con to this system is sometimes I know I've saved a coupon & it's got a date on it that is not that current month. Takes a bit longer to find. So I only end up taking into the store the ones I have planned on using, not my whole container & spend 14 hours looking thru my container for coupons I know is in there. Also makes throwing out the expired ones a breeze. First day of the following month I just pick up the whole previous months & toss. No need to look thru them & boo hoo about what I missed out on, ya know. Anyways just wanted to document how much I've saved.