Smart shopper

I have recently decided that I would like to become a smart shopper. I often feel as if I have not been a good steward of what God has given me. I have always believed that it is crucial to tithe and give offering back to the Lord a portion of what He has blessed with. But, lately I am understanding more that all of our money is really God's. I find myself often, just buying what the grocerys that I need at the closest place to me, not paying attention to sales. My excuse is I work full time and by the time I get home around 6:45 I do not feel like spending extra time to seek out those deals. Since I have been struggling with being as good of a steward as I know I should be I started praying about 2 weeks ago that the Lord would help me to be a better steward.

With that said, the family I work for now live close to town and they told me last week that they want me to get rid of Eden's morning nap. So, to keep her awake we have been making trips in the stroller to Walgreens, Kroger, garage sales, the park, or wherever.
I began buying non-perishable items while I was out at these stores. Here are the advantages I have found with this new system.
1. It gets us out of the house and it keeps Eden from getting fussy.
2. I can buy a few groceries while I am on the clock which saves me time later
3. Since we live up 3 flights of stairs it benefits from making a "big trip" to the grocery with a bunch of stairs to carry them up.
4. It costs me nothing in gas.

So I started cutting out coupons and now I am becoming an addict! Here is the best deal of last week. I needed mouse for my hair. I cut out a coupon for $2.00 off any dove hair product. When I walked to walgreens they actually hair the dove mouse on sale, buy one, get one free for $4.99, plus I got to use my coupon. So I paid 2.99 for 2 containers of mouse with a total savings of $6.99. I was so excited! Actually I saved about $13.00 that day with coupons.
Maybe you think I am silly or crazy but I was so tickeled about my day. Before I never even would have paid attention. I just would have grabbed mouse and went on. That evening on my way home I was thinking about my great deals and then it dawned on me, "hey I have been praying God would help me in this area" then in my car I couldn't help but smile. God does answer prayer and it is not just that I am happy about my savings but that He loves me that much to listen to even my small requests.
I spent much time today trying to find the best deals for this week and cutting out coupons. I can hardly wait to get back out there for more bargain shopping. I think this might become a new hobby for me. Haha! If any of you have great money savings tip, please share.