couponing 101

Last Sunday, my friend Shannon invited me to go with her to a Couponing Party where the host teaches you how to maximize the use of coupons to save loads of moola on your grocery bill. I went and it was very fun and interesting! Slowly, Doug and I are becoming coupon users with the hopes of saving ourselves some money. The woman who hosted the couponing party gets loads of great deals and NEVER pays more than $1 for toothpaste, deodorant, toilet paper, shampoo, conditioner, Kleenex, etc. and for the most part she uses name brands (Charmin, Crest, Pantene, etc.) AMAZING! Two days before I met Shannon to go to the party, she and her fiance, Dan, went to Wal-Mart and their bill came to $245, but thanks to coupons they only spent $130. That means they saved $115. Totally cool, if you ask me. I know Doug and I could certainly benefit from cutting our grocery bill by 30-60%, especially in the current economy. I have lots of couponing websites to look at and I need to get organized, but I'm looking forward to saving some money and using it to pay on other bills! Do any of you have sites or coupon sources you use that you'd be willing to share? Let me know!