Super Saver

It's a sickness. Not so much an illness, but definitely a sickness. Perhaps even a potential addiction in the suppressed over-competitive individual. I'm not talking cigarettes, alcohol, or their illicit compatriots, but the seemingly benign Sunday paper. The thing comes stuffed with sale ads and the coupon inserts. While eventually bound to line the recycle bin in the garage, first said inserts must be scoured for every last bargain.
I once "couponed" from sheer necessity. Breaking the habit came slowly as our budget expanded to fully include luxuries like food and cleaning supplies. Still, occasionally a newspaper with the double coupon (2X the savings!) inserts would find its way into my shopping cart, and I would carefully scan the pages clipping out scraps of paper to be exchanged for pocket change or even a whole dollar off various items. Grocery receipts that tallied up savings greater than the payment required always provided a wave of glee on the triumphal march from check stand to parking lot.
And I have just purchased my third paper with double coupons in as many weeks. We are up to our eyeballs in granola bars and toilet paper. I could start my own make-up counter with the results of a buy one, get one free sale on my favorite brand that the store allowed me to combine with both store coupons and insert coupons. Kraft and Nabisco offered a rebate on $20 worth of products that we do not necessarily use that would cause them to be free. Perhaps my binge can be turned to good instead of evil with a trip to the food pantry?