My first coupon post!

Ok, ok...so I have been couponing for about 6 months now. But i am finally trying to stay organized enough to write about each shopping trip. These shopping trips include realistic goals and savings. A few questions and answers are below.

Q. Do you ever save 100%?
A. Yes! But realistically, this doesnt occur often.

Q. Why?
A. Because many stores changed their coupon policies after TLC aired "extreme couponers" and it made it much more difficult for normal couponers. But you can still save a great deal.

Q. Where do you shop?
A. Lots of places! I usually shop Schnucks, Krogers, Target and Walmart most often. Occasionally I also shop at CVS or Walgreens. It really depends on where the sales are. If you are serious about couponing, you have to be willing to learn to shop the sales.

Q. Are you brand loyal and what does that mean?
A. No, I'm usually not. Brand loyal means you only buy a certain brand (charmin or angel soft for example) even if it means you will pay more. There are very few items I am completely brand loyal on. A few of mine are folgers, almond breeze milk, and gain laundry soap. (Although I've bought other laundry soap, gain is still my favorite!)

Q. What about the store brand?
A. If its cheaper then absolutely buy it! This is about saving money. Most store brands are nearly identical to name brand items. Some are even made by the same companies! You really have to experiment for yourself and see what items you are wanting to only buy name brand of.

Those are just a few of the basic questions i had starting out. If you have other questions, please comment below and I will do my best to answer as quickly as possible.

Ready? Set? Enjoy!

Tada! Introducing myself...

Welcome to my new blog!

Let me introduce myself for all the new people I've yet to meet. How about a little face time?

You can call me Mimi. Imagine Beaker singing "Memories" from cats and you'll know exactly where the name came from, lol.

This is me. HI!

I'm a mom of 3 teens. They are the light of my life along with my hubby, and I'm pretty sure I'll have completely gray hair within another year or two.

Recycle is my middle name! My kids are learning all kinds of new ways to reduce our carbon footprint and reuse what so many people would throw away. The less things that go in landfills the better.

I AM A COUPON FANATIC! However, I will still buy store brands if they are cheaper.

I love finding new recipes and am recently transitioning to a vegetarian lifestyle. This is due to my being diagnosed as diabetic and having multiple health problems. I have narcolepsy with cataplexy as well and it's definitely a heavy presence in my life. After eating vegetarian for just one week, I was sleeping better at night, staying awake more during the day and felt so much more focused

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Having narcolepsy and now diabetes has created some unique challenges and my doctor advised me to try a vegetarian lifestyle. However, being vegetarian is not CHEAP!  So I look for all kinds of new ways to create meals. I have some very picky eaters, which creates it's own challenges. What kind of kid doesn't like pizza? Apparently mine.

This blog will be for different recipes, some product reviews, and just a few general things. I look forward to sharing some new ideas with everyone.

Once again, welcome and hope to see you soon!