My version of "Extreme Couponing" and a Fresh and Easy Visit...

Some of you may or may not have watched the show EXTREME COUPONING before.... and truth to be told, I haven't since I don't have cable, but BOY HAVE I READ ABOUT IT ...

Quite frankly, I'm all for getting a good deal if its legal and legit... and from what I've read and viewed (ie screen caps), I have to shake my head at the shows participants and how they commit fraud in the stores... (using coupons for items they didn't actually buy, etc).

In my world, my attempt at getting a good legit deal looks something like my trip to Ralphs this week:

• They were doing a promotion where if you buy 10 items, you save $5.00 at checkout instantly.

Normally, I ignore this because I seldom shop at Ralphs now that I've found Fresh and Easy, and because its mostly for processed crap... but each week I still look at the ad to see if there is a good deal on something...  and this time there were items that my fiancé and I would actually consume on the list...

• Whole Wheat Pasta was marked on sale for $0.99 a box.

I really like whole wheat pasta and my fiancé could care less if its regular or whole wheat. Now when he first moved to California, his mom sent him with a lot of pasta and some food stuffs to help us out... and we were incredible grateful. We have also weeded out a lot of what we have been given, and since it seems we eat pasta about once a week (and sometimes my fiancé will make spaghetti for lunch) our supply has dwindled.

• So I hit Ralphs on the way home from work... I bought 10 boxes of Healthy Harvest whole wheat pasta for $0.99 a box on sale ($9.90 total)... the Mega Deal took $5.00 off and made them $0.49 a piece.

Now if I had a bunch of coupons for the products, it could have been cheaper (or free even)... but I didn't, and I still got a fantastic deal without breaking any laws.  I then hit Fresh and Easy and did the rest of my shopping:

• 2 Bags of Salad ($3.98, or $1.99 each)
• Hamburger buns ($1.19)
• Tortillas ($0.98)
• 5lbs White Rice ($4.39)
• mushrooms ($1.99)
• Sliced Pepper Jack ($2.49)
• 3 cucumbers ($1.49)
• 4lb Oranges ($2.29)
• 1 lb of Tomatoes ($0.98)
• Hummus ($1.99)
• Can of pineapple ($1.49)
• Can of Olives ($1.49)
• Top Sirloin Steak ($9.98)
• Buffalo Wings ($2.00)
• Tortilla Chips ($2.99)
• Generic 7-up ($0.89 + $0.10 CRV)
• Cascade dishwasher soap ($6.99)
• Tax: $0.62

$51.31 - $6.00 off coupon = $45.31

We actually couldn't find a $6.00 off $30.00 coupon at the register. The nice lady who works there every Sunday (who we make a point of saying "Hi" to when we come in) actually went looking  for them when we couldn't find any coupons next to the bags. She made sure we left with a coupon booklet full off the $5 off $25 or $10 off $50 coupons to use for next week. We think it was just a mistake and maybe someone forgot to put them out because it was Mother's day. Either way, well be okay for this month with the booklet full of coupons.