Couponing.....it's come to this.

Necessity is the mother of invention.  Right?  Well, that little phrase has nothing to do with this post.  Except the necessity part.  And maybe the mother part (I do have three kids)....but the rest of it you can just throw out.

Like almost everyone I know I am barely scraping by (please note the dangling preposition and realize that it's an indication of just how desperate I am).  I'm so broke that I can barely PAY attention  (stop groaning, you).   Phrases, like that one,  have started resonating with me that before I never fully understood.

"Trying to make a dollar out of 15 cents" sounds so charming until you really have to do it (and cashiers at Meier have no patience for the tune that accompanies it sung at the top of your lungs during checkout).  "Robbing Peter to pay Paul" makes me wonder where Peter lives and how hard it would be to get into his house.  Because Paul is starting to get aggressive about getting paid, and I ain't got it.  I digress...

All of this désespéré has culminated in my need to ensure that whatever I  spend is absolutely the least amount that can be spent.  This means my cart no longer runneth over (unless my mother is in town and she's footing the bill).  And everything in my cart has a coupon for it, sometimes "stacked" (which is black belt couponing lingo for two coupons on the same item -- one from the store and one from the manufacturer).   You live for the deals where you stack coupons and then get a fabulous catalina (those coupons that spit out after you check out) or gift card back. 

I'm a newbie.  I just bought my first coupon carrier (I had been carrying them around in increasingly large envelopes).  I just discovered Jill Cataldo who is amazing and does make it a little more fun (even the poverty stricken like fun). 

I'm pretty sure any minute now I will stop being able to function in regular society...you will just find me stumbling through the aisle of Target mumbling about expired coupons and their b#$sh*t catalina policy.  Don't worry.  I'll post about it.

Comments

[Llama Momma]

I'm also a coupon addict--I mean, user.

I also like "mashup mom" --she's a chicagoland blogger and posts a lot of local deals.

Praying you find a job soon...unemployment sucks.