Crazy Coupon Lady?

If you would have told me a year ago that I would have become a Crazy Coupon Lady, I would have laughed you out of my house! My friend Donna -- whom I've affectionately referred to before as my "Coupon Queen"-- has been couponing for years. She tried to get me to do the coupon thing years ago, but I just couldn't figure it out. Yesterday, I was having a conversation with my friend Tara -- who has also recently became a Crazy Coupon Lady-- asked me why I didn't make her do this couponing thing before now. My response: "You have to be ready". You might think that's a strange response, but it's true.

Couponing has such a stygma attached to it. Some view couponing as beneath them or humiliating. Or they might be considered cheapskate or tight-fisted. But let me tell you, when you don't have any money and your cabinets are bare, and you begin to wonder how other people make it on budget, you have to make changes in your spending -- or lack thereof. Either way, you have to be ready to learn. Not everyone understands the concept and they don't really want to understand it.

Some coupon out of necessity, others might coupon for the thrill of it. The thrill of it??? Yes! When I started couponing it was definitely out of necessity. Now that we have a nice stockpile and all I have to do is purchase what's on sale -- with a coupon of course -- and normal purchases like milk, eggs, butter, flour, sugar, fresh produce and meats, shopping at the stores has become a game of who wins, me or the stores. And when I win, I get the biggest thrill!

In the beginning, I tried to tell everyone what I was doing and how much money we were saving. And some were interested in learning, while others looked at me like I was crazy! Monday when I was shopping at Walgreens for the deals, a huge line had formed behind me. I have terrible anxiety and starting sweating and becoming discombulated. But then I realized I have just as much right to be shopping as everyone else so they can wait their turn. (And I had already let two people go in front of me so they wouldn't have to wait.) Three transactions later, I turned to the line behind me and said "I'm sorry y'all got stuck behind the Crazy Coupon Lady!" They all laughed and were good-humored.

Yes, now I can confidently say I am the Crazy Coupon Lady and I'm okay with it -- are you?