Asking for Coupons

In an effort to be frugal and save for our wedding / lives together, Travis and I have decided to use more coupons. The problem with coupons is that they are not very often for things you were going to the store for anyway. In fact, I have spent more on groceries in the past when trying to use coupons than I did when I just stuck to my normal shopping routine. Recently, I have started using coupons ONLY for things I was going to buy anyway, and only using them if any brand switches to accommodate the coupon still prove worth the savings. so far, I have saved $5 over 2 shopping trips. Not bad, as every little bit adds up, but Travis was hoping for more.

Travis has encouraged me to start extreme couponing. First of all I don't think I have the time, nor the resources to take on such an endeavor, secondly, those people rarely seem to come away with anything you can really use to feed your family for a week. What would I do with seven thousand cans of tuna and half a ton of mustard?

"Yeah but you get it for like $17.00" Says Travis.

$17.00 for a lifetime supply of tuna and mustard still doesn't get us very far in life, if my argument.

I've noticed that my grocery bills are higher when I have to restock on cleaning supplies and household items than when I simply buy food. I've decided that in order to try to cut costs I am going to ask for coupons.

I am going to write letters to the companies from which I buy my cleaning supplies and groceries and ask them for coupons to help me in this troubling economic time. The worst that can happen is that they say no. The best that can happen is that I get a crate of bleach on my doorstep - which I will most certainly use faster than half a ton of mustard. I'll keep you updated on what happens next.