Am I too busy to coupon?

Hi again, remember me? Sorry about the hiatus, school work hit me like a truck, and while I am still crazy busy, maybe even more so right now, I thought I'd take a break to come back and visit you. Hopefully with some more consistancy. :)

The other day at Pick N Save (double double daze!), a customer and I struck up a short conversation while we were searching for items on our list. I was discouraged that I could not find the yogurt smoothies I had on my list - they would have ended up being only $.16 after double coupon! I had never bought one before, and I was looking forward to trying them. The lady sounded surprised when I told her how much they would have cost me, and she responded "oh, I don't normally coupon, I just want to use these up." I laughed as I showed her my coupon binder, to which she responded "Oh, I don't have that kind of time."

Do I have that kind of time? How much time does she think this takes me each week? Do I come off like one of the crazy people on TV who spend 40 hours a week? I was surprised by her comment - sort of. Yes, I am a crazy lady with a coupon binder, and other couponers recognize me in the store because of it. I had one lady that same day, ask me if I was on my first, or second around... well in general, I only have enough time and money to shop once, but oh boy wouldn't it be nice to have the time to make two lists?! :) But even if I AM one of those crazy binder ladies, I don't buy ten papers, I don't jump in recycling bins, and I don't spend 40 hours cutting coupons. So how much time DO I spend?

Well, since school is in full swing, not as much as I used to but my stockpile is still growing, and we are eating delicious dinners for little money. In general, it all starts with Sunday morning and the paper. I used to have it delivered, but since I never had time to actually read the paper, getting everyday was a waste of paper, and money. Now I drive into Cascade in the morning, and pick one up.
 It usually takes me an hour or two to clean out expired coupons, cut the new ones, sort, and file. Now mind you, I usually do this in the livingroom, on the floor, with a DVR'd tv show playing on the tv... relaxation time!!
As for making the lists, I will pull up the ad matching blogs I have saved, and take a half an hour sometime during the week. Another night, I may pull out the ads from Sunday's papers and make a list of things I am interested in. That is maybe another half an hour. Then another night I will look at my list, pull out all the coupons I can use, and print others. Since I already sorted my coupons, it is easy to see what I have, and what I need. Then on shopping day, I grab my binder which has all my coupons and my list, and I shop. Shopping for me, used to take forever - because I would wander the store aimlessly trying to decide what I wanted, or what I could afford. Then came coupons! Now I know what I want, and how much it will cost, so grocery shopping takes half the time!

So if we estimate 4 hours of couponing a week (a little less if you count the time I save in the store now), and 40% savings on groceries, then I would say couponing is well worth it for me. Also, since we live off a construction workers pay, that stockpile of extra products under the stairs leaves me with a nice feeling of security knowing I won't have to worry when the weather turns nasty and Cecil is home for an entire week. We just skip the grocery shopping that week, and snuggle in with a bowl of 'mater soup and grilled cheese and enjoy our extra time together. :)

Yes, I think I have enough time for coupons. :)