Love Coupons/ Hate Coupons/ Love Aldi

I would not recommend getting behind me at the grocery store.  In fact I am probably very annoying to the people who are in the same aisle with me at the store.  I am the lady with two kids in the grocery cart.  They are both eating a cookie from the bakery however, one is in the back of the cart squashing the grapes while he refuses to sit still and the other is reorganizing my not so organized coupon binder.  I am the lady who is somehow able to ignore all of the commotion that is coming from my grocery cart.  I am usually trying to attempt to spend the least amount of money on the food we need.  Figuring out price per unit, what do I have a coupon for, what's on sale, and do we really need that.
I am an avid coupon lady.  It saves our family money and sometimes I enjoy doing it.  However, most of the time I find that I have a  love hate relationship with coupons.  I love the fact that they save me money.  I use approximately $100 to $150 worth of coupons a month.  I love getting free things and kind of get a little rush when you see the tally at the check out counter go down every time the checker scans a coupon.  My family rarely pays for things like hair care products, deodorant, toothpaste, and soap all because of coupons.  If you don't coupon I would recommend doing some research into getting starting.  I have been weekly matching coupons to sales for years and enjoy the fruit of the work.

However, man is it work.  Couponing takes organizational skills that I seriously lack.  It is difficult to find that coupon in my binder while shopping with two toddlers.  It also takes a lot of time.  It takes time to organize, clip, print, and plan a trip to the store with coupons.  I know many people are turned off to couponing because of the time it takes.  If you are one of those people I have found several ways to save on the grocery budget without coupons.  The number one thing I would say is shopping at Aldi's.  I try to make a trip to Aldi's once or twice a month.  You just can't beat the price at Aldi's.  They don't take coupons, so you don't have to deal with them, YEAH!!
If you decide to take the adventure to Aldi's here are a few tips for the first time Aldi shopper.  Take a quarter.  You basically use the quarter to rent your grocery cart, you get it back when you return the cart (Heather stop laughing).  Take your own bags.  One of the way the keep cost down is by not providing you with free bags for groceries.  This is great opportunity to be green and use those reusable bags.  You can also pick up an empty cereal box as you are shopping and use that for your groceries.  Take either a debit card or cash.  They do not accept credit cards, therefore saving you more money.  Good Luck.  Please post any other tips I might have forgotten.

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