In my pantry, that is. I have been super-hounding (shopping) to get deals on cheapies and freebies to send back with my sister and her friend that came to celebrate DaMama's birthday weekend, and now - I actually have some space in my pantry. And in my freezer. Though a small dent was made in my pantry, I still have some re-arranging to do to make things more accessible. And my freezer - well, I've already started to refill that too.

I cleared out most of the cookie shelf, half the cereal shelf, and weeded out some of the chex mix collection that has been lingering and I've really opened up some areas where I had an over abundance. When I find items, like the Suave and the Colgate which are free after coupons (tax only kind of deals), I get as many as I can either store or as many as I have coupons for. I sent back a few dozen bottles of Suave (body wash, conditioner, and shampoo), 2-3 dozen tubes of toothpaste, jars of Ragu pasta sauce, boxes of Honey Bunches of Oats, and all sorts of other goodies.

Amy (sis) & Tanya (friend) were amazed by the amount of goodies they got to take home. I even took them "out-on-the-hound" so they could see just how easy it is to get all these goodies without breaking the bank. My sister's friend was surprised at how easy it was to spend very little and walk out with oodles of basic, usable food that most families would have on their grocery list. When I asked Tanya what cereals her family likes - she was puzzled - they typically don't get a choice on cereal, so when they have 3-4 different kinds of cereal on hand - that is amazing to them.

It's good for me to see how far I've come now that I coupon. Here just for a quick rundown on things that I have now th at I didn't have before:

1. Choices for meat - I used to stock chicken and ground turkey. Pork was a treat and beef never came into the house. Now - pork is on hand, so is deli meat, different cuts of chicken, etc. This gives me more flexibility on what meals I can make at any given time.

2. Cereal. I used to buy 1-2 boxes at a time at Aldi (I can't remember the last time I went in there!) and pray that it would last a few weeks - which it never did. Now, I pay $.50 or less per box of cereal. We have 8-10 varieties on hand at all times. I haven't run out of cereal since I started couponing. It's all good.

3. Condiments/Flavorings. I have tons of free salad dressing, cheap BBQ sauce, loads of free seasoning packets, and the list goes on. With my variety of meat - I can make any variation I choose. I still can't believe what they charge (regular price) for most condiments. It's insane!

What benefits do you see from bargain shopping, couponing, etc.? For me, it's all about choice and variety!