Everyone likes free stuff, right? But I know what you’re thinking, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Bull poopy. As an educated consumer, I get free groceries every week. My secret is no secret at all. In fact, it’s a very well known technique that takes just about 5 to 10 minutes of your time a week. Coupons.

How many times have you seen a coupon in the newspaper for a product you use and like and you quickly dismissed it? “It’s only 50 cents off. Whatever.” What if there was a $5 bill sitting in your Sunday paper? You’d use that, right? So if there are 10 coupons for 50 cents off products you already use isn’t that the same as a free $5 bill? It blows my mind when people throw away and dismiss coupons. We gotta eat. You’re going to the grocery store anyways. Take the free money sitting right in front of you in coupon form. I saved $21 last time I went grocery shopping. Now combine my coupon savings with sale items and I got several grocery items for just nickels and dimes. Total savings with coupons and sale/bonus card came to $53. Show me one person who wouldn’t want to be handed $53 as they walk into Walmart, Tops, or Wegmans to do their shopping. Full retail price is for suckers.

So the other night I’m surfing the web when I came across a story about a lady who is so skilled with coupons that she saves 2/3 off the actual cost of her groceries a week. Her story lead me to a few web sites and my journey deep into the world of “couponing” began. What an exiting and scary world it is. I discovered that there are communities of couponing people who buy, sell, and trade coupons; online listings of past and future Sunday insirts; links to special online coupons and unadvertised sales like this one for $5 off at Tops; and my favorite, the free sample industry. Want some free Excedrin? I also learned some tips and techniques like how to parlay a sale and a coupon into a highly discounted product.

I explored for several hours, absorbing as much knowledge as I could. These people are way more hard core than I could have ever imagined. I admire their passion for savings. When the dust finally settled I had signed up for coupon mailing lists, bookmarked some online coupon sites, sent away for free paper towels, aspirin, coffee filters, and saran wrap. Visit those sites I linked to. Do a little homework and take a little time to clip and you too can start enjoying many more free lunches. I can’t wait until tomorrow because I am armed with coupons and ready to show Tops that I never stop saving me more.