Realistic Non-Extreme Couponing

I am a long time coupon user (or couponer if you want to use the industry jargon).  I used them back when I was single and had a very limited budget; I used them after I got married when it was just the two of us; I used them when I quit my job to be a stay at home mom.  That's almost 30 years worth of couponing (again industry jargon) experience.  For a number of reasons, a few years ago, I stopped using coupons for a period of time:  I was too busy; I had a couple of surgeries; I switched to more organic and natural products.  Those were a few of the reasons.

Is Extreme Couponing Really Worth It?

As moms, most of us would agree that feeding our families (hopefully nutritious) food is one of the most important things we do while raising our children.  Any way we look at it, it is time consuming and in these economic times it is becoming increasingly more and more expensive.  I personally am constantly looking for ways to feed my family more economically. And with four kids, three of whom are adolescent boys (plus the posses of friends they constantly invite over) it is a daunting task.  I go in and out of doing a good job of watching what I spend versus just throwing stuff in the cart and hoping for the best.