About a year and a half ago, I decided to save money by couponing. I read all of the money saving websites, clipped every single coupon and tried to play the coupon game at CVS and Walgreens.
And I hated it. gasp
There. I said it. I hated it.
I know there are thousands of people who stock pile items this way and save hundreds and hundreds of dollars every year and get very excited when they buy a whole grocery cart full of cereal and toothpaste for mere pennies. And I know this should excite me and I guess it would have except for that time I bought a giant bottle of Sambucal and then accidentally let $21 worth of CVS bucks expire.
It was at this point that I realize I didn't have the energy or the gumption to clip every single coupon every week, scour the sale ads, match up coupons to sales and spend hours on all of the money saving websites.
Now don't get me wrong. I have several friends that do this and I have a huge amount of respect for them. But I am too lazy. But at the same time, I feel that throwing away all of those coupons that come anyway in my Sunday paper is a waste.
So I come up with a system that works for me. I keep each coupon circular. And I mark the front of them with the date and toss them in a folder. I have separate folders for Red Plum, Proctor and Gamble and Smart Source. This takes me about 30 seconds.
And when I see something as I am casually flipping through the weekly food circulars that I know I am going to get anyway that happens to be on sale and wonder if there is a coupon out there to match it, I head to
CouponTom.com
This site is awesome. All you do is type in a product name and it will tell you if there is a coupon out there for it, how much the coupon is worth, which circular it came from and when it expires. It also has a 'clip' feature. If you know you are going to use this coupon, you 'clip' it (by hitting clip) and it will mark it so that you don't think you have this coupon when you do future searches.
I know I'm not saving tons of money this way but I am saving some money, I'm not spending hours clipping coupons I'm never going to use and I can spend the rest of the time happily reading blogs...WORKS FOR ME!
For more Works For Me Wednesday, please visit Kristin.
12 comments:
It's all about what works for you and your family. I think this would be a really good way for people who work outside the home to take advantage of coupons.
99 times out of 100 I get to the store, and if I find the item at all...the store brand is cheaper than the coupon reduced price anyway (my kids tend to like the store brands better than the name brands)...drives me crazy. I use them occasionally, and I know there are people out there that save TONS of money...it just doesn't seem to work out for me.
Glad you found a system that you can "live" with!
Love it! Thanks for the tip!
I don't coupon. I know I should; but I don't. But this way? It might just work for me! Thanks for the tip!
Jac @ wuzzlemakesthree.com
Sounds like a good idea.
I am in love. WHAT an awesome site. I have tried and tried the couponing thing and scouring ads, etc and I hated it too. NOW I am gonna use this coupontom thing! I already played on the link a little bit! THIS is going to be new BFF!! Thanks!
YEAYYYY!
me too.
I mean- I'm in awe of those epeeps who are so organized and thrifty? but I just can't be bothered, y'know? Thanks for the link- I'll go check it out...when I'm not so lazy ;o)
I am ashamed to admit that I have NEVER used a coupon in my life for anything. I have no patience for it. I may not be the best bargain shopper, but I have two rules that I have stuck to when I shop and it has served me well. 1. Never shop when you're hungry and 2. Stick to your list. Not profound, but it works for me and I have five kiddos to shop for.
I started doing it this way too. It is MUCH easier for me because there are some weeks couponing doesn't fit into my schedule. Thats the beauty of it...you can drop it and pick it back up. Its really not for everyone:o)
I coupon, but I am nowhere near as organized as those who get stuff for free and can stockpile. I clip the Qs for our normally purchased items and use them the next time we go shopping! Saves me money, but doesn't waste my time. I'll have to check out that site!
I played the Walgreens and CVS game for a while til I noticed the sales clerks hide when they saw me coming in and that I had 15 boxes of pantyliners and 4 boxes of Tums QuickPaks and 3 bottles of Benefiber. It would take me about 25 years to go through 15 boxes of pantyliners - I will be in menopause. It will take me eternity to go through the Quickpaks and Benefiber. I don't use them.
I just look for stuff on sale.
I did like it for toothpaste deals or Tylenol, etc. I let too many register rewards and ECB's expire, too. Too sick of it.
KEEP BELIEVING
I too, have found that I CANNOT clip coupons. I am lazy and it may drive me insane. Not my thing. I will have to try that because I am a bargain girl...
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