We have a winner!

Let me give an explanation first. I did this giveaway to stress, that you can save money and actually buy things that your family will use! Everything in the pictures will be used within six months or less. I have a dinner menu plan which I rotate through, these are recipes that are easy, budget friendly, and ones that my family will eat. I try to buy the ingredients for these dinners when they pop up on sale, but some never go on sale. About every 4-6 weeks, I have to do a large trip (large meaning $125-$200) to get the rest everything I need to make these dinners and just to buy stuff we need. For the rest of the weeks, I spend between $20-$60 on groceries, buying produce, milk, juice, and necessary things, besides what is on sale that week. Notice I bought produce, milk, meat, and other "fresh" ingredients for these meals.

I get 3-4 copies of each coupon insert per week through mad coupons. I find this to be a reasonable amount for my family. I also spend a couple of hours clipping, planning, and organizing for a large trip like the Albertsons one. The smaller trips take me anywhere from 10 minutes to 1/2 hour. I find this enjoyable and do it in my "down" time in the evening.

I use couponing to save money on our grocery bill (money I would rather spend elsewhere). I also use it to help plan my menu, build up my food storage, and of course for fun! I don't try to get the largest out of pocket or most free things, I use my skills to try and save the most money on things we would be using anyway. I hope that this inspires you that you can coupon and save money without going to "hoarding extremes".

On to the winner...retail amount of the 3 trips was $465.57 (of course...none of us would EVER pay that). My total out of pocket for all three trips was $166.35, so I saved 64%! (If I can save at least 50%, I am satisfied, especially at the grocery store!) Rachel guessed exactly 64%, great job! Thanks to everyone who entered and those who thought I saved more than I did, what a confidence boost :) Rachel, let me know which of my fab five store you would like your gift card to:

1. Rite Aid
2. Kmart
3. Albertsons
4. Macys
5. Ross

Thanks for reading, more giveaways and surprises to come.