Courting supermarkets

Here is what I like about clipping coupons and watching sales. The realization that supermarkets are really compeating against each other for my business. I am a little more empowered to purchase from stores that are offering deals that appeal to me. I've never really seen myself as having any real power over these giant shelve lined stores. I've felt something like a consumer pushed around in a current of other shoppers. As if my cart is being pushed down a track, pushing past things I have no intention of buying. They will make sure I see them though, those impulse buys that they want me to believe I really need. Watching shoppers, and figuring out how to get them to spend more has been a very profitable industry for a very long time. From placing the sugar filled cereal in view of the children, to making sure we enter through the area where the produce is (let's face it, produce has the highest mark up!) and filling end caps with items that are appealing to most shoppers and easy to throw into our carts. Today was different though, I started out with a list of things I needed to buy, and most of them items that were either on sale, or that I had a coupon for. As I strolled the isles on a busy Sunday afternoon, I had no need to see what was on sale isle by isle, because I had already visited the weekly ad in my Sunday paper. In fact I had reviewed all of the store ads, and went to the stores that offered the best deals for me. I told myself that I would try couponing for a month to decide if it is something that I want to continue doing for my family. But right now with a total monthly savings of over $150 dollars, and having more food then we normally buy for the money I've spent due to a little bit of planning, I already feel like this is something we will continue. I keep checking my bank account, and expecting to see it go down at a rate higher then t is. Now I just need to find a way to organize all of those little slips of paper!