I've mentioned before that Jason and I are working to become debt free.

One of the areas that I totally stink at is couponing. I mean really, save $.25 on something? What's the point? I shop a lot at a dent and bent store and their prices can't be beat by using coupons elsewhere, and I do most of the rest of our major shopping at a club store ... usually Sam's (I'm dropping my Costco membership ... too much packaging on their produce and their prices don't beat Sam's). And I'm terrible at keeping coupons organized and available.

I've had some decent success reading the circulars and using a coupon here and there ... but I've also gotten sucked into the "must buy item because coupon is in my hand" mentality, which is a recipe for failure.

I have learned never to pay more than $.50 a box for pasta and never buy cereal unless it's buy one get one free or better. I usually stock up when things are on sale at a price I like, and bypass things that aren't on sale.

I've managed to cut my shopping bill down by a bit.

Well, apparently, I've been missing out on a whole world of savings! I had no idea how great the deals can be out there with coupons, sales, etc.

The other night Jason left a newsweek article by the computer for me and it included a link to the blog Be Thrifty Like Us. And suddenly I've discovered how to really save and find the deals. She just posted that she bought seed packs and four packs of Wrigley's gum for $.03! From her blog I went to Centsible Shopper and Freebies for Mom and Money Saving Mom and so on.

I never know, not in a million years, that I could combine coupons and rebates and actually come out paying almost nothing, or even earning a profit. Woo hoo! I've already maxed my grocery budget until Thursday, but rest assured that on Thursday I'll be shopping and saving like never before.

I like to believe that I'm not the last person on the face of the earth to find out about these deals, so I hope this post helps someone find the resources to stretch their dollars.

Also recommended is this blog, Get Rich Slowly. I haven't taken a good look at it, but from what I glanced at it looked good.

And this brings me to my lasest Bloglines question ... is it possible to set up folders for different catagories of blogs (crafty, money saving, home schooling, etc.)? Each time I try to set up a new folder I run into trouble. I figured it out ... I had to put something into the folder for it to show up.