Extreme Couponing

I finally, at long last, got to watch Extreme Couponing on TLC. I truly admire all of the people on the show that were able to get thousands of dollars worth of groceries for pennies. I must say, that I have absolutely no place to put 60 bottles of mustard, BUT the fact that it can be done is just fascinating to me. What's even better is that I am about to watch the third episode of Extreme Couponing, when I previously thought that I had missed the show while we were in church.

Couponing has actually helped me with something far more important than free groceries and toiletries. For reasons that I don't know how to explain, I have had a certain phobia about shopping. It was very hard for me to enjoy shopping for necessities, making shopping for enjoyment an impossibility. I have been known to literally break out in hives during shopping trips. Imagine my trip to purchase my first set of diabetes meds and testing supplies! Spending over $200 dollars for items that I literally can't live without was very painful. Discovering couponing has opened a whole new world for me. Not only have I established some very financially healthy habits, but I have found myself shopping for enjoyment. I have no explanation for the real reason that couponing has been so helpful except that getting what I need for pennies or even FREE is a lot less painful than paying hundreds out of pocket. Also, as a mother, it makes me feel good to know that if I were not able to shop for necessities for whatever reason, many of our needs have already been met via my budding stockpile from my coupon shopping trips. Will I ever bring home 150 Butterfingers or 1,000 boxes of cereal? I'm guessing not. Although I admire those that can do this, I don't have a special room to house my "grocery store", but I do enjoy the peace of mind that having extra supplies can bring.