Its a Two-fer day

Since I've been left alone at the house today, I thought I would take advantage of the time and have a little fun. No, I have not been playing video games all day, but I am about to get started. I mean a different kind of fun. OK, if what I am about to describe is fun to you too, then you are as cheap as me. Otherwise, you probably will not understand this one....

I figured I could get a jump start on my couponing and planning for tomorrow's trips to various stores (this is now an every Sunday effort for me). The circuit generally includes Publix, CVS, Walgreens, and if the sale or BOGO items are just right, Winn-Dixie. The planning process for these trips currently takes me about 3 hours depending on the quality of the sales and the coupons that I need to find (including Internet search efforts and printing). I generally handle this fun time on Sunday mornings while the girls are asleep and I can watch a movie in peace and quiet. Today, I have peace and quiet, so I am getting it done early.

Now, the reason for the blog, I figured it was a good day to sort through the coupons and pull the expiring coupons out of the envelopes (where I store them sorted by type). To my digust, I have a larger pile of expiring coupons (by March 31) than I have not expiring. In fact, my expiring pile is nearly three inches tall. Think about that, three inches tall stack of coupons!!!!! That is a tremendous amount of savings that I didn't take advantage of. Now, I admit that there are hundreds of coupons in that stack that I would never take advantage of but there are many I would have used.

Here is a quick breakdown of some of the coupons I didn't use ...

1. $50 plus dollars of Oil of Olay coupons
2. $25 dollars of Home fragrance coupons (Febreeze, candles, etc.)
3. $10 dollars of laundry detergent coupons
4. An insane amount of dish detergent (hand and machine wash) coupons
5. A few mouthwash and toothpaste coupons
6. $10 dollars in hair care products
7. $25 dollars or more in shaving (male and female) products. Do you know what razor blades cost?
8. At least $50 dollars in general cleaning coupons.
9. Another $25 plus of body cleaning coupons.
10. There are a few food coupons in there but not many (at least I used those wisely).

I don't know why I am allowing the expiring coupons to bother me today. I guess it's that this is the first month to have so many expiring simultaneously. Did I not use them wisely or am I just collecting more? Either way, I feel like I left something on the table (savings wise) and I dont like to ever leave something on the table!

Oh well, I have a few days left in the month, hopefully I can find a reasonable sale to pair some of them with. Otherwise, I will be in for a bad day next Sunday.

Speaking of next weekend, it is a BIG day for a couple of people. At least one person will be crossing into a new decade of ages and one will be getting another day younger. I will have more on that topic soon.

Until next time, use your coupons or send them to me. I promise I will try to put them to good use.