Is saving all this money worth it?

I started couponing and going to CVS the last week. Thanks to the hotworldcoupon board I got a lot of good deals and even start a small stockpile! Yesterday I read the thread about how this lady bought all this stuff using BOGO free coupons and regular coupons on top of that plus use the CVS $10/$50 off coupon. I realized I have all those coupons so drew up a plan on my spreadsheet to try it out.This is so wimpy but I was so nervous that I had a hard time sleeping last night! Everytime I go to CVS or a store where I know I have to use lots of coupons, I get so nervous! I heart is pounding and I get scare like I am doing something wrong. I know I am not but I guess I am just nervous they will give me a hard time and cause a scene. I read about horror stories of some women on the board who got security called on them because they used a bunch of coupons and the cashier won't let them!

I am afraid of how the cashier will interpret those "gray" areas. For example, will they let me use multiple coupons per transaction or will they give me the "one coupon per purchase" spill. Also would they give me grief on the item that is not on the coupon picture even though it says "Any". I keep telling myself the worst they can do is say no and I return the item but it doesn't help much!Most of the time the cashiers are okay but the other morning 2 cashiers scrutinize every coupon I gave them. I only gave them 1 coupon per item so I don't know how people can give them 20 of the same thing plus rain checks and not be scare! These cashier ladies act like I am doing something wrong or that I am stealing from them! I know my coupons reduce a lot on my bill but it's not as if the store is losing money. They get all those money back from the manufacturer.

I am courteous and friendly to the cashiers but it seem like all of them just return my smiles with a cold stare. I said thank you and I appreciate it after each transaction. I wish I can find a nice cashiers because I've been to several CVS on several days and they all seem to be the same. As soon as I give them a stack of coupons, they read each one carefully and look at my purchase again to make sure I bought what's on the coupon. These are all insert coupons so can you imagine how they'll act if they are internet printouts??!! I only use one $/$ coupon also. I don't even want to think what they would do if I combine them.

I did walk away with some good deals this week even though the cashiers aren't very nice. First I advertise on my area's Freecycle group for Sunday inserts and hit the jackpot. This lady gave me 2 large envelopes of great coupons that took me almost the entire week to clip and organize. Some of them were expired so I save them to send to the military families oversea.

On Sunday I went to CVS and got 2 Waterbabies sunscreen, 1 bottle of eye solution, and SoftSoap body wash for $3.17 and get $12.99 back in their ECB plus $9 rebate for the eye solution.

Tuesday I went to CVS again and got:

• 4 Infusium shampoo and conditioner
• 2 Herbal Essence
• 1 Oil of Olay Moisturizer
• 1 Olay Body Washes
• 1 CVS Floss (because we need it)
• 1 Reese and 1 Orbit(to bring up my total so I can use the $10 off coupon)

I paid $2.02 cash for that purchase after manufacturer coupons, their store coupons, and ECBs I earned.

Then I went to another CVS store and got a card for Hieu because some deals are limit one to card and there's no policy that you can only have one CVS card per household. I found 2 smaller Waterbabies lotion for cheaper that gives you the same ECB back. So I got those and 2 Herbal Essence shampoo and conditioner using the BOGO coupon. Total cash I paid for that is a little high...$8.97 but I got $10 ECB back.

Before meeting Hieu for lunch, I went to Wal-mart because I heard from the forum that they are putting the older model of Pantene on Clearance for $2 each. The first Wal-mart I went to only let me use 1 set of my Pantene coupons ($5 off3, $3 off 2, and $1 off 1). I didn't want to argue so just bought 6 bottles of shampoo and conditioner for $3. I went to the nicer one in my area and bought 9 more bottles using the rest of my coupons paying $5.33 for them.

I spend so much time planning the shopping trips, searching the board for good deals or new posts, seeing if I have a coupon to make the deal even better, clipping coupons, studying the sales ad. I spent most of July 4th sitting on the couch clipping coupons! Is it worth all the time and effort I am devoting to it? Only time will tell I guess.