My new favorite game?

I believe that I have inadvertently stumbled upon what may become my new obsession....my new favorite game...and probably ultimately my downfall.

You see that?  Yeah, that's what you think it is.  That's a stack of coupons.

I have never been one to clip coupons.  Not because I don't see the value in it, but because I don't usually plan out my shopping trips more than 5 minutes in advance.  Typically, I will drive to Target, pull into the parking lot, and think what do I need to get here?  I make a list on my phone, and I'm off.  This also happens at the grocery store, and just about every other store I go into.  Not very conducive to couponing.

But I'm going to be a wife now, you know, and this means I am going to have to learn how to plan shopping trips.  Specifically, trips to the grocery store, because stopping at Kroger every night on my way home from work and buying a box of macaroni & cheese is not going to cut it anymore.  I have embraced this change and in trying to make myself get used to looking for coupons, I was looking through the ones that came in the mail the other day and I stumbled across a $3 off coupon for Nivea bodywash.

I use bodywash, and I thought, well, that's a pretty big coupon, so I cut it out.  I had to make a trip to Wal-Mart today for groceries (just for one dinner, mind you, I don't have the meal planning thing down yet) and I thought I would check out the Nivea bodywash while I was there.  So imagine my surprise when I only found one bottle left on the shelf (this should have foreshadowed what was about to happen.)  I smelled it; not my favorite scent but I could live with it.  I look at the price tag to see how much I'm going to have to pay for this and the tag says: Rollback!!  $3.00.

WHAT?!?!?

I blinked about 20 times and realized that yes, the bodywash had been on sale for $3.38 but was on sale for $3.00, and my coupon was for $3 off....which meant.....surely not.....that bodywash was FREE!  I about died right there in the aisle.  Is this what it feels like to be an extreme couponer?!?!

Now don't get me wrong, I don't think I could ever be like those women on the show.  First of all, I think it's counterproductive to have to buy 45 bottles of mustard in order to get 30 of them free.  What am I going to do with 45 bottles of mustard?  Or 45 bottles of anything, for that matter?  I am not a hoarder and I'm not going to become one in order to become a couponer.  However, I definitely now see the value in looking for coupons (for the things I need only) because clearly it could save me some dollars.

Of course I know what will happen....I'll start buying stuff I use, but don't immediately need, just because I have a coupon.  So if you see me at Target, Wal-Mart, Kroger etc. and I have a cart full of junk, please stage an intervention immediately.