Non-extreme couponing

I have mentioned on here that I am a coupon-er (and proud of it!).

However I am not the lady that clears the shelf, buys 200 toothbrushes, or  insures her "stockpile".

Those people are crazy.  I do not need that much mustard.

This was my first big trip, I think I paid like 28$ for all this...

I have adopted a philosophy of buying as many whole food items at as low of price as I can find. I also buy the things I can not make when they go on sale. I will buy a couple weeks worth. That way I am just running out by the time I can find it on sale again.

Doing this I tend to save about 60-75 percent on my grocery budget. I think this is fantastic savings. I save big on things like trash bags and coffee creamer. Two things I can not make for myself.  I was purchasing things like laundry detergent and dishwasher detergent with coupons as well, and saving a ton of money. Now I have recipes to make this for myself, and it will be even LESS expensive (and more natural).

For example, on my most recent shopping trip to Publix, I bought:

3 boxes of cereal
4 canisters of nuts
2 5lb bags of sugar
2 boxes of fruit snacks (I LOVE fruit snacks, its a weakness)

I saved 31.63$ on this purchase, buy finding sales and matching it with coupons. I actually use this site to do the work for me, so I do not invest a lot of time in it :)

Aside from the fruit snacks, these are basic items I can not produce for myself (And I have yet to find a fruit snack recipe I really like yet, if you have one please share :)