Couponing 101 in 2011

I admit it - I'm a lousy couponer. I know that people routinely save hundreds of dollars at the store, and that billions of dollars (literally!) worth of coupons are thrown away each year, but I've never quite gotten the hang of it. Sure, I've clipped and printed, but that's as far as I get. I might remember a coupon or two on a given trip, but usually, all I do is waste printer ink. Frankly, I need to cut my grocery budget to support my printer ink habit, and I'm pretty sure that's backwards.

So here we are in a new year, 2011, and I've seen many of my friends blogging away their resolutions and new ideas. Now, a full week into the new year, I've finally written down my goals and aspirations for the year. Most of them are dull, I'm sure, to anyone else (like you want to hear about yet one more person who will "Lose the baby weight" this year!). However, one of my financial goals is to "Become a Coupon Shark". Nope, not a Coupon Queen, a Coupon Shark. That's not quite the norm, is it?

For me, the difference is that the "Queens" all seem to be really nice, Mid-Western moms of large families who simply enjoy saving and entertaining. Ok, so I'm a mom, and my family is growing, and I do enjoy saving and entertaining, but I'm not from the Mid-West, and to be honest, I'm really not that nice. I like the idea of a shark because it gives me the sense of having the knowledge and power to choose how I shop. I'm in control. See what I mean about the not-very-nice part? Don't get me wrong! I don't want to steal anything, cheat any system or take food from anyone else - it's not that kind of power! I do want to be able to save money, yet still buy champagne when I want to, or bake from scratch, even though "staples" like flour are never on sale, or pay full price and not feel guilty if I'm running late or tired some evening. I want to learn enough about couponing to be able to buy myself some leeway with the savings. I don't want to be so tied to the system that I beat myself up for going to the import store for a wedge of real Parmesan every now and then.

I also don't want to become an "extreme couponer" - ever. TLC recently aired a special called "Extreme Couponing", which profiled four women who really do take couponing to the extreme, saving amazing amounts of money and collecting giant stockpiles. I didn't see the whole show, but apparently it was popular enough to justify a new series. The viewer reaction, from what I've read, ranged from amazement to disgust, but personally, I was saddened by the one profile that I watched. It seemed to me that this young newlywed had a serious addiction to the "score", rather than simple shopping smarts, and it was costing her more than 70 hours a week, her health, her marriage and yes, even money, in the form of coupon services, newspapers and printing. I kept thinking that if she couldn't be "cured", at least her head for numbers could be better used to supply a food bank, homeless shelter, or other charity. By the way, the general opinion of this particular woman in the couponing community was that she was a greedy, thoughtless b**** who cared only about herself. Ouch!

In 2011, I plan to learn enough to settle myself somewhere between where I am now (broke and lazy) and extreme couponing (somewhat psycho, but well-financed). My goals are to trim back our family budget for food and household goods (it's the latter that always kick my fiscal butt), to collect a small stockpile for after my next baby is born (so I don't have to brave the grocery store with a newborn, again), and to be able to contribute to some local charities, whether in goods or cash.

With that in mind, I raided the local library for all the classic Coupon Queen handbooks, and I signed up for a 4-week trial of The Grocery Game. I'll keep you updated as I climb the coupon learning curve, and hopefully help you reach some of your own goals in 2011.